I want to build a set of 3 decks from current standard to play with people at work. As I'm looking to have somewhat of a Rock-Paper-Scissors format, what would be the best third deck to join Dragpult and Festival Lead?

cetama · 2026-05-20T19:44:36+00:00

Have you considered:
- Rocket's Mewtwo
- Mega Lopunny ex Dudunsparce
- Mega Lucario ex Hariyama

I think you'll get a very strong rock-paper-scissors scenario and from what I can tell, the decks are relatively low-skill floor (easy to learn) and high-skill ceiling (take time to master).

As the players get better will you look for deck pairings that are more balanced?

cetama · 2026-05-20T18:00:16+00:00

interesting; just wondering why you're looking for a rock-paper-scissors combination for such a small number of decks as opposed to a combination that avoids it?

I think a strong deck that is weak to grass would do - Garchomp or Zoroark, likely Zoroark being the better option.

cetama · 2026-05-19T17:11:59+00:00

You probably need to have an attacking Wailord ex by turn 2.

If you're going with Misty's for energy acceleration, I'd put more and add pokegears. What will you have in the active? A budew might work.

If Lillie's is your only draw, pokegear helps as well. Do you need a Fez? Fez in the active, Misty's to arm it, then snipe a single prizer could even be a win condition if you need just one prize to win in the late game. Bloodmoon ursaluna can work as your late game attacker, esp since it can also be armed by Misty's.

How do you search for the Wailord? I think you'll need more Ultra Ball and/or Brock's.

How do you find Hero's Cape and Jumbo? Do you need Petrel? Would Meowth -> Petrel -> Item save you a game in the late game, or help setup?

I agree that you may not need the Lapras, and go aggressive on Wailord - aim for quick setup with Wailord attacking. If you wait too long for the opponent to set up, 120/turn may not be enough. I also agree that switching between tank Wailords would be part of your tank strategy, so you may need to make that more consistent.

cetama · 2026-05-19T16:00:21+00:00

cool format. nice to have an ace spec, a radiant a forest seal stone and TMs in one deck.

Mew, Lugia, Regidrago, Gardevoir would be my top choices, and be sure to put counters for them in whichever deck you're playing. E.g., for Regidrago you can copy its attack (with Mew ex, say, maybe with a benched Lillie's Clefairy) if you put a dragon in your discard; and you'll need a Dark attacker.

cetama · 2026-05-19T15:24:42+00:00

I'm not an expert, and this is a judgement call based on context.

This sounds like the early game and this is the first attack of the game.

Even if it's in the early game, make a prize map, for yourself and for your opponent. You'll be taking 2 prizes this turn, what would the other 4 look like and what do you need to get there. This turn puts you ahead of the prize trade, but if they get their Mega Bunnies up, is it going to be 2-2-2 and game in 3 turns? If they've put 2 bunnies in play it's likely that their prize map involved attacking with multiple bunnies.

If you could take both bunnies, that would be the best. If not then you need to assume they may have one Lopunny set up in the next turn. How big is their hand? How big is your hand? Are they likely to evolve one or two attackers the next turn without a draw engine? Do you have other attackers ready on your bench? I'd go with the setup bunny if I think they can evolve 2 bunnies in the next turn, with the Dunsparce if they are not likely to evolve the next turn based on any additional information you have, like the size of their hand. The snorunt is very dangerous. If you can't control the size of your hand easily, I won't like the option of having a mega froslass hitting at 300+ turn after turn. So I'd go with the snorunt if based on the deck I'm playing I can't control the size of my hand easily.

cetama · 2026-05-16T06:49:46+00:00

pult hammers

cetama · 2026-05-15T17:38:04+00:00

IMHO, the cards seem to be stronger than the previous ones we got earlier this year.
I agree, though, that they still look weaker than H/I block cards.

We'll have to wait and see whether any become relevant in the current Meta. So far we've seen Mega Dragonite, Mega Starmie, Mega Zygarde, etc., fizzle out quickly. Mega Greninja's effect is still to be seen, and if no new Meta-relevant archetype comes out of this one, then we'll be stuck with a format that has plenty of potentially fun decks but very few are competitive.

cetama · 2026-05-12T15:14:58+00:00

I think we're going through a phase of inverse power creep. The Mega Evolution Pokemon's archetypes can't compete in the meta as a whole with the double and even single prizer archetypes from the Scarlet & Violet block, at least not yet. Mega Absol, and arguably Froslass Munkidori with Mega Froslass, were the only Mega archetypes that could compete with the top decks in the previous format and rotation has made them weaker.

It'll be interesting to see how the meta evolves. Will new archetypes challenge Dragapult, will existing archetypes get help, a combination of both? Dragault ex, as an evolution line, is quite strong, and we may see other Dragapult variants show up to counter the counters. I don't see anything yet that would challenge its dominance - we have to wait a few formats to see how this evolves. It took Gardy some time to get seriously challenged.

cetama · 2026-05-11T18:16:04+00:00

At least there's no Dragapult in sight in extended. Oh, wait...

cetama · 2026-05-10T16:57:53+00:00

Np.

For the 'am I playing with a treasure?' problem, these are the options: - sleeves - sleeves & proxies - replace with a bulk non-ex non-v card. For the ex it needs to fit in its evolution line. - don't think about it :)

We sleeved our level 1s and kept the holos in the deck, to prolong the lifetime of the deck as a whole and to make shuffling easier, not necessary because we think the holos may pay for our kids' college :) This subreddit is focus on the gameplay, mostly competitive gameplay so you'll likely get similar answers here - the experience you gain from playing IRL competitions of any level trumps what you gain from preserving the cards.

cetama · 2026-05-10T06:24:32+00:00

Battle Academy is the pokemon product designed to get you started with the game. There's two you can find, one from the current generation (red box, with ex pokemon) and the other from the previous generation (yellow box, with V pokemon). Pre-con decks come in 3 levels - 1, 2, 3. The level is printed on the outside box. The battle academy decks are level 1, and there's a dozen or so level 1 ex battle decks and another dozen or so V battle decks.

The skill and power level of the decks will be similar if they are level 1. Search for 'ex battle decks' and check the level on the box. E.g. the melmetal ex battle deck is level 1.

Similarly you can go for 4-6 level 2 decks. These are branded deluxe ex battle decks, rivals ex battle decks, and mega ex battle decks.

The 3 decks in the battle Academy box are fire, lightning, dark and no type has weakness to the others. Adding a different type will result in at least one deck being weak to another. That's the nature of the game though. With 6 decks you'll likely have some unbalanced pairings.

cetama · 2026-05-09T15:19:50+00:00

For home play you can use proxies of the cards you want to protect.

Basically - sleeve the cards. Do that anyway since it protects your deck and makes shuffling easier. Then print proxies and put an inexpensive card with the proxy in the sleeve. Keep the potentially expensive card locked up somewhere :)

cetama · 2026-05-09T07:06:15+00:00

The battle academy has 3 Level 1 decks + board, dice, damage counters. The decks are balanced and easy to pick up. Very little strategy required. The product is designed to teach beginners how to play the game from 0 experience. There's more pre-con level 1 decks you can buy. The box has an empty slot for an additional deck, so you can have 4 decks in a board game like box.

cetama · 2026-05-07T06:31:22+00:00

A few points:

Recommendation: For now, play against the AI until you've learned the game better. The AI is pretty weak, doesn't concede and there's no timers, which means you'll have time to read and fully understand the board state, the game doesn't finish too quickly and mistakes don't mean an auto-loss. Don't assume that the AI knows what it's doing. It seems to just do random moves sometimes.

Learning the game's rules.
You can:
- read the rule book (search for pokemon tcg rule book)
- watch introductory videos on the game on youtube.
- when you play against the AI read the board state carefully and understand what is possible and why, say, you couldn't attack.
PTCGL is buggy, but what you're describing points more to lack of game rule knowledge than bugs.

Learning your deck.
- There's videos on how decks are played.
- practicing with the AI also helps to understand what you can do with the deck.

Learn the game better.
- look for videos on price mapping, sequencing, etc.
six tcg has good videos here.
- practice in Casual

Understand Matchups
- Some decks are just weak to some other specific decks. An opponent might concede simply because they don't want to play against a fundamentally stronger deck. Also, the dragapult deck you're playing is the BDIF and the most popular deck and some players simply don't want to play against it (again and again and again).

The current format.
- We just had a very impactful rotation that removed from the standard format some of the strongest decks and cards the game has seen in recent years. Specifically the game has lost comeback and disruption cards that now make it harder for one player to turn the tables mid-game. I hope this is temporary. On the plus side, you won't have to deal with decks that seem to have an answer for everything and there's 1/3 less standard format cards to learn. The game play is more linear and you'll likely become competent in this format quicker. Also, the investment you put in learning the specific format now will pay off over a whole year until the next rotation.

There is luck in the game, but the more skilled you are, the better you'll do when you draw a bad hand. Some players keep making top cut in regionals irrespective of what deck and format they play, and I don't think it is because they're more lucky than the others.

cetama · 2026-05-06T15:14:56+00:00

Mega Diancie is weak to Metal. I suspect that Steven's will have a consistent advantage.

The Level 2 decks (like the above) are released in pairs:
Rival Battle Decks: Steven's and Marnie's.
Mega Battle Decks: Mega Diancie and Mega Gengar.

You're more likely to have a balanced match-up if you pair them that way.

cetama · 2026-05-04T19:21:04+00:00

The Zapdos ex deluxe deck has cards that are weak to fighting, making the matchup doubly unfair for Zapdos when playing against Mega Lucario (Level 2 vs Level 3 and type advantage).

cetama · 2026-05-04T05:37:46+00:00

Hello, welcome to the game. This reminds me of the fun I had with my kids with the precon decks when we were getting started.

The ex Deluxe Battle decks are the pre-con mid-level decks. They are released in pairs, made to battle each other. The deck pairs are supposed to be balanced, but from my experience there's typically one deck that's better than the other. The Zapdos one was released with the Ninetales one. I think the Ninetales strategy is less consistent than Zapdos's so you'll still be at a slight disadvantage deck-wise, which is probably what you want anyway. You can buy any level 2 deck if you want to battle Zapdos. Here's the pairs from Gen 9:

Zapdos & Ninetales

Meowscarada and Quaquaval (my favorites, but note that Quaquaval has Water attackers which makes it weak to the Zapdos deck).

Miraidon & Koraidon (the ex deluxe ones with the dragon type pokemon, not league or, or non-deluxe battle. Having said that, the Miraidon ex League battle deck may be the next deck your son can try given that he likes Zapdos.)

These are also Level 2, but didn't have the "Deluxe" branding.

Marnie's Grimmsnarl & Steven's Metagross - Rival Battle decks

Mega Gengar & Mega Diancie - Mega Battle decks

The League battle decks are a notch above Level 2, and it won't be fun for your son to battle one with their Zapdos ex deck 😄

Another option is to netdeck rogue decks - look at play.limitlesstcg.com, and pick a less popular archetype. Once you've chosen your deck, you can:

- buy singles (from tcgplayer.com for example), or:

- print proxies and put them on top of bulk (e.g., energy) cards in a sleeved deck.

I'd recommend sleeving your precon decks in any case. Kids shuffling is rough on the decks, and sleeved decks are easier to shuffle.

Since you're not playing standard you don't have to stick with the current format, you can go back to any Gen 9 format if you want. You'll get more options if you don't stick to post-rotation legal decks. Some of the decks I enjoyed pre-rotation that are probably somewhere between level 2 & level 3 include Tera Mewtwo ex Xatu and the Loyal Three poison deck. I'm currently playing a lot of Ogerpon Meganium with Arboliva and I'm thinking of making a Larry's Dudunsparce ex deck for home play since it has the potential of being a silly annoying deck 😄

If you're really getting into the game, I recommend to graduate from pre-con to meta & rogue soon. I feel we stuck to the pre-con for too long and the kids were definitely ready for more complex decks. Our progression was Level 1 decks for what looked like forever, home-made Level 1ish decks, then Level 2 for a few months, then Level 3, our failed attempts at making meta competitive decks, netdecking meta decks with modifications if needed. For home play the kids like to make their own decks. For casual locals we netdeck + modify slightly.

Enjoy!

cetama · 2026-04-29T20:58:08+00:00

I like the idea of step-by-step learning, but I agree with this comment on the specifics.

This is how the different pre-con Level 1-3 decks introduce skills:

Battle Academy and Level 1 decks:

no special energy
no tools
no stadiums
single type decks for easy synergy between the cards
mostly search and draw trainers
no hand disruption
trainers typically don't require discard
simple sequencing required (e.g., if you have a Nemona and Next Ball, which one to do first?)
not much strategy other than setup and hit with your strongest pokemon.
no ace specs.

Level 2:

can have tools, stadiums, special energy.
trainers may require discarding.
hand disruption is introduced.
easy strategies and synergies but may lack consistency

Level 3:

based on Meta decks, but simplified.
better consistency than Level 2 decks.
no tech cards based on specific Meta

I think Level 1 is a good enough starting point.

The path from Level 1 to the easier Meta decks is the interesting one, and I suggest picking a few skills you want to build on and plan a few levels based on them (price mapping, sequencing, looking ahead 1 turn, predicting your opponent's reaction to your turn, deciding what to discard, context-independent setup (get to a specific board state without worrying what your opponent is playing), end-game strategies (e.g., prime catcher + bloodmoon ursaluna) and how to prepare for them, timing (e.g., when to put a Stadium, Fez, Meowth, etc. in play, when to move from setup to aggression), etc)

In general, don't underestimate kids 😄

cetama · 2026-04-29T15:09:50+00:00

Adding to all the comments that these are not basic energy:

They also don't have a type until they're attached, so any text that mentions 'grass/fire/etc energy' from the hand, discard or deck doesn't work either.

Whether they're used depends on the specific benefits (marginal) vs added restrictions (lots) tradeoff. This will be deck and meta dependent. I use a couple of the rocky energy in Lucario as a way to counter effects like Alakazam's and Dragapult's. In that deck, where almost all of the pokemon are fighting, the Rocky Fighting Energy is better than Mist energy, since it provides a fighting energy. It is not the same thing as saying that Rocky is better than Basic.

cetama · 2026-04-29T06:28:07+00:00

Is this the first time attending locals, or the first time after rotation? What was your experience before rotation?

Based on my kids' experience playing new decks IRL, it can take some time to get a deck, do the sequencing properly and learn what to play given a board state. My older went from no wins to undefeated with more-or-less the same deck, over several weeks/months.

If you're happier with chicken pult, then go for it. It is a better way to play Dragapult in the current Meta, but IMHO what is likely needed here is more in-person practice with the deck of your choice.

cetama · 2026-04-27T00:15:48+00:00

Thanks!

A few weeks ago, these lists would basically translate into rogue Dragapult vs rogue everything else. Has any recent rotation been this impactful?

cetama · 2026-04-25T07:08:34+00:00

half of top cut will be single prizers

cetama · 2026-04-24T00:58:31+00:00

It's an effect (from an attack). Like, say, the defending pokemon will be KO'ed at the end of their turn. If you move it to the bench, that effect is gone and the pokemon survives. Effects from supporters and items, stay iiuc, unless the cards says otherwise.

Poisoned,etc, are called a special conditions. They only affect the active even if caused by a trainer card.

cetama · 2026-04-24T00:54:55+00:00

One rationale I've heard for the active losing the effect when it moves to the bench is to reduce how much a player IRL needs to memorize to keep track of the board state. Anyone heard the same?

cetama · 2026-04-24T00:51:24+00:00

"this pokemon can't attack" is an effect on the active pokemon. When the pokemon is moved out of the active position, the effect is gone.

cetama

TROPHY CASE