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Shining Revelry was well on its way to looking like a set with some fun EXs to build around, a nifty ramp engine in Pachirisu, and the sure-to-be-busted double Giovanni Red.
Then I got ambushed by Team Rocket Grunt leaking the entire set.
Needless to say, five decks isn't going to cut it - especially not with the first-ever ranked season launching alongside our new cards! The first few decks on our list are going to be variations of tried-and-true existing archetypes, and likely the decks I would bring on a ranked climb into the unknown meta. The end is going to be where the spicier brews lie, as per tradition.
Team Rocket's Articuno EX
Several of the decks are going to either include Team Rocket Grunt or be at least partially inoculated to its effects. Like Misty, the Grunt is best used to steal the energy advantage at least half the time in the event we go first. This opens up lines like T1 Misty T2 Grunt in order to maximize our attempts at getting a tempo advantag early and beating down with our Basic of choice. Red's ability to push damage to opposing Pokémon EX enables us to play the double Giant Cape to live breakpoints, such as opposing Giratina EX or Arceus EX aided by an opposing Red. 18 Trainer Water is the deck I am taking to Ranked first unless something else shows up as incredibly strong to counter it.
Other options: Pokémon Center Lady, Giovanni, Mars, Rocky Helmet, Palkia EX as your attacker
Weavile EX
I'm taking the risky angle of only running 1 copy of Leaf in order to squeeze in the maximum amount of "oops I win" attempts: Dawn to enable the turn 1 90 damage combo with Nightmare Aura into an immediate Scratching Nails, Red in conjunction with Rocky Helmet to push high early damage before our opponent gets a great opportunity to respond, 2 copies each of Cyrus and Sabrina to manipulate the opposing active slot, and of course the Team Rocket Grunt to either steal the energy advantage or to stifle revenge kill attempts. Again, this should be a ranked superstar thanks to its consistent early aggression.
Other options: Giovanni, Giant Cape, the second Leaf, Pokémon Communication, Mars
Exeggutor EX/Arceus EX
This is the Arceus EX deck that both utilizes - and defends against - Team Rocket Grunt the best. This is due to having two early attackers that only need to attack for anywhere from 40 to 80 damage, giving ample time to pile on early pressure while Arceus EX builds up in the back. This is an archetype that only started picking up steam late into the Triumphant Light meta, and Team Rocket Grunt + Red gives a higher-risk, higher-reward alternative to the Giant Cape that is standard to the deck. After nearly a full month of absence, the premier Go-First Stage 1 EX is back with a vengeance!
Other options: Giant Cape, Rocky Helmet, Pokémon Center Lady
The next several decks are more in the vein of experimenting with the new EX's, and while I think they're well-constructed, I would not expect immediate success taking these to ranked. Then again, every meta has had its surprises!
Cele-Bee
Team Rocket Grunt and Beedrill EX are a perfect match, providing a potentially filthy amount of energy disruption to the opposing Active. Of course, in the event that our opponent is cravenly loading up a backline threat, we can use Sabrina to either secure a point from the garbage they play to load their bench, or otherwise deny energy from their now-Active win condition. This is also secretly the shell Celebi EX has been dying for, as it is frequently rudely interrupted from its sweep attempts by getting revenge-killed with its pathetic 130 HP. Since we can virtually guarantee our opponent has to spend a Sabrina or else punch through our frontlined Beedrill EX - and its much bulkier 170 HP - we can use that time to rack up chip damage with Crushing Spear while keeping our opponent off the energy critical mass they will need to stop our eventual Powerful Bloom spam.
Other options: Giant Cape, Red, Pokémon Center Lady, X Speed
Pure Psychic Giratina EX
Giratina EX is certainly the trickiest deckbuilding puzzle in Shining Revelry, but one that's worth the effort once online thanks to its ability to both cheat energy and threaten high damage on repeat. This first build uses Mewtwo EX as an alternative mode, relying on baby Giratina and Mew EX to frontline until one of our big legendary monsters is ready to unleash high damage. The only attack we lose out on by using a Broken-Space Bellow on turn one is Mew EX's Psyshot, which is usually worth losing out on in order to get the extra energy on turn one every time. The linchpin of the deck is, once more, Dawn, as Mewtwo EX can utilize a banked energy on Giratina EX to threaten back-to-back Psydrive to bring the match to an abrupt end. Alternatively, it can be used to attach an energy to a baby Giratina, retreat it for free, and then move the energy to one of our high-damage attackers for early acceleration. As both Mewtwo EX and Giratina EX have a retreat cost of , playing without Leaf is irresponsible at best. Rocky Helmet keeps our Giratina and Mew EX from being fully passive, or can alternatively be placed on our active attacker for increased KO pressure. Running only -type Pokémon opens us up to maximum value from Mythical Slab, and I'm honestly going to put Team Rocket Grunt and Red into the vast majority of my decks until someone shows me it's a bad idea. Giratina EX in particular appreciates the potential extra turns granted by the Grunt while it works its way online. Bear in mind that once you pick an attacker, you are priced into attacking with it for the rest of the game; neither Mewtwo EX nor Giratina EX are good at sharing the spotlight!
Other options: Budding Expeditioner, Giant Cape, Giovanni, Blue
Girati-ninja
The main alternative form of decks I foresee Giratina EX fitting into are going to run the ever-efficient Druddigon and some damage option that doesn't rely on us actually giving it energy from our hand, as Giratina EX itself is fairly energy-hungry with its four-energy requirement to swing with Chaotic Impact. I'm more drawn to Greninja for these types of shells, as Water Shuriken helps Giratina hit the 150 damage breakpoint fairly easily and we can guarantee direct damage while skipping turns attaching. This also enables us to run Cyrus to maximum effect, as the combination of Water Shuriken + Cyrus has been useful in numerous decks since the two have existed together. Pokémon Communication is mandatory, as we are much less threatening without the frog evolved and online on our bench. The two copies of Leaf are likewise mandatory in order to allow us easy retreats from both Druddigon and Giratina EX thanks to both of them having a retreat cost of .
Other options: Iono, Giant Cape, Rocky Helmet, an alternative Stage 2 attacking line (STS Magnezone is the most obvious)
Wugtrio EX
Manaphy has seen new life in the Triumphant Light metagame thanks to the addition of Origin-Forme Palkia as a 3-energy attacker. Wugtrio EX threatens much higher damage potential than even a lucky heads flip on Palkia - 150 damage from Pop Up Throughout is no joke for just three energy! If our opponent doesn't play to the bench heavily - either because they have bad draws or they're playing something like 18 Trainers that doesn't play heavily to the bench at all - our "random" rolls will hit fewer targets, potentially hitting the opposing active for 150 and winning the game in one hit! Dawn + X Speed and Misty both accelerate our Wugtrio EX to attack as soon as possible. Cyrus turns the random spread into a boon, as we can threaten to strand a weakened high-retreat Pokémon into active to keep swinging with little worry of retribution. We do require an additional attacker, and Palkia EX is a tried-and-true endgame finisher once our opponent has been softened up.
Other options: Baby Articuno, Rocky Helmet, Origin Forme Palkia, Articuno EX, Team Rocket Grunt
Venoshock
"If there ends up being Poison support that works from the bench or a strong secondary attacker for the deck, this is the card that could easily turbo-charge the Venoshock archetype." -Myself when reviewing Paldean Clodsire EX
We did, in fact, get the Poison support that the Venoshock archetype needed! Grafaiai, while unreliable, gives us the opportunity to apply the Poison status while it remains benched thanks to its Poison Coating ability, allowing us to keep our Venoshock attacker of choice in play after getting an early KO and still threaten high damage the following turn. In this case, our best attacking option is the loveable Paldean Clodsire EX, which hits the sweet spot of being a Stage 1 (as opposed to Scolipede being a Stage 2) that attacks for (as opposed to Muk requiring 3 energy). As expected, Paldean Wooper automatically poisons the enemy Active with its Poison Jab, giving our opponent the ultimatum to switch, evolve, or potentially lose their active the following turn to a followup Venoshock.
Notably, the archetype does have a deathly allergy to Arceus EX thanks to its total immunity to status conditions, meaning we can't threaten it with high-damage Venoshocks. This initial list does not include Red, opting instead for Rocky Helmet, but the Kanto champion might become a hard requirement if Arceus EX's high play rate continues into the Shining Revelry meta in order to consistently threaten a two-hit KO through Giant Cape.
Other options: Iono, Red, Giant Cape, an additional attacker
Pikachu EX Combo
I'm sure Volkner's team in Platinum would have had this Pikachu instead of a Raichu if he could have had the choice! The unorthodox supporter core of Volkner, Lt. Surge, and Dawn enable incredible attacking flexibility after an initial ramp from Pachirisu and its Plasma. When combined with X Speed, Dawn, and an energy from Plasma, Pikachu EX can threaten a massive 150 damage Thunderbolt as quickly as our second attacking turn, almost assuredly demolishing anything the opponent sent in front of it. The combo line comes from utilizing the newly discarded energy with Volkner in order to enable Electivire and a followup Exciting Voltage for 40 -> 120 on the immediate attacking turns afterwards if we can draw into the second X Speed. The single copy of Lt. Surge is a poor man's Dawn to get a third-turn-onwards Exciting Voltage barrage - just remember to Surge before evolving into Electivire! This deck almost feels like the purest essence of as a high-risk high-speed attacking type!
Other options: Team Rocket Grunt, STS Electabuzz, TL Shaymin
All-In Beedrill
Let's get the following statements out of the way before I discuss this monstrosity:
- This deck is not good
- I don't want this deck to be good
That said, if your goal is to make the opponent miserable moreso than efficiently winning, DeNa sure gave you the tools to do it! The extensive support shell is enabled by Weedle finding its twin 100% of the time with Multiply, which means we can run 0 copies of Poké Ball; we will always find our second basic and get it out of the deck! From there, we want to evolve to Beedrill EX as soon as possible to start shredding our opponent's energy from their active. Kakuna even provides some stalling power on the way thanks to its String Shot occasionally Paralyzing the opposing Active slot, giving us time to draw into the bee. Iono pulls double duty, drawing us into our evolutions while simultaneously potentially disrupting our opponent's sculpted hands.
Once we get evolved, it's off to the races. Sabrina and Team Rocket Grunt give us the same positives they did in the (again, much better) Celebi EX variant of the deck. Giant Cape and Erika combine to keep Beedrill EX swinging as long as possible - the Cape is extra mandatory, as Weedle and Kakuna have pitiful bulk while we're getting set up. In the event our opponent punches through the first Beedrill EX - no easy feat between Erika, Cape, and its base 170 HP - Mars is there to set our opponent to a measly one card while we go back to ruining their energy economy.
Again, I don't think this deck is particularly good. Notably, aggressive starts from Weavile EX or Exeggutor EX have a chance to put it in the grave before it even gets rolling. In the event I'm wrong? This could easily be the most frustrating deck to face in the game.
Other options: Red, Red Card, Rocky Helmet, Pokémon Communication, uninstalling the game and finding something joyful to add to the world
Honorable Mentions
The decks I wasn't able to come up with good lists for - but I'm still intrigued to try - include: Giratina EX + Darkrai EX + Druddigon; Meowscarada; Lucario EX Toolbox; Gholdengo + Dialga EX; and Blaine with the new Magmar.
Even still, hopefully the lists here give you something to try! The A2 set trio has come together to give us ample deckbuilding options. We're no longer in the "Pikachu, Mewtwo, or lose" Genetic Apex metagame - a whole slew of decks are here just waiting to see success!
Until next time, may you resist the urge to get tilted by Team Rocket Grunt!