Now that we've got IRL events again (well some of us at least), we don't just need to rely on results from online events to find the best decklists around, and I believe most of us will probably lean on the decks we seen that have done well in these big events. So far we've had 3 Regionals in 3 different regions (OC - Brisbane, NA - Salt Lake and EU - Liverpool), and we've got one coming this weekend as well (LA - São Paulo).
So I thought why not try this again, finding some of the best decklists around, compare them in terms of price and how the 2022 Rotation will hit them (I know, that's 6 months away but still doesn't hurt to have an early peek right?). I've always been curious on how cheap or expensive a playable deck can be and it could be helpful for others who are looking for a cheaper alternatives to the usual Mews and Arceus decks (which we know will be expensive).
I wanted to try to do this list differently and instead of ranking them by how each deck has done, I thought I'd rank by the archetype and just have them go back to back on these lists even if one version has done super well and the other not so much, to make it easier to compare if a certain version of Arceus is more expensive or cheaper than the other and which one is better for the long-run, well past rotation. Decks that I've gotten on here have scored at least a top 16 finish in these regionals and the ones who didn't, scored a top 8 finish at 256+ players online events so have something consistent to work with.
Decks featured on here:
- Mew VMAX
- Arceus VSTAR
- with Inteleon
- with Duraludon VMAX
- with Galarian Moltres/Inteleon
- with Galarian Moltres/Galarian Zapdos V/Galarian Moltres V
- with Galarian Moltres/Inteleon/Crobat VMAX
- with Gengar VMAX
- with Beedrill/Flygon V
- with Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX/Inteleon
- Malamar
- with Inteleon
- with Cinccino
- Gengar VMAX
- Suicune V/Ludicolo
- Jolteon VMAX
- Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX
- Zoroark Control
- Galarian Moltres/Hoopa/Inteleon
- Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX
- Durant Mill
- Dragapult VMAX
And also a short summary at the end:
- Decks affected by rotation
- Not by much (0-25% or 15 or less cards)
- Slightly (26%-41% or 16 to 25 cards)
- Severely or Gone (42%+ or 26 or more cards
- Prices of decks
- Budget Friendly ($0 to $100)
- Standard ($101 to $150)
- Spend big to win ($151+)
And as you will see, the guys over at Limitless have made things easier for us and made my life a lot easier when trying to look up these information by showing us how much each card would cost to build the deck and the total price itself. So now you don't have to look at my excel (except for the online based lists) and instead see what you'd see from their excellent site. To keep things consistent with them, I'll also use USD for this and prices are taken from TCG Player as of March 31st 2022.
List: 1st Brisbane Regional - Natalie Millar
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 16.67%
Total Price: $162.53
The undisputed BDIF (best deck in format) in this set, last set, next set, and probably up until it rotates in the middle of 2023. No deck has the tools Mew VMAX has and the scary part is, most of it are staying on for the start of the next season, all it really loses is Quick Ball which can be replaced, Rotom Phone which has a straight swap with Switching Cups, and two Switch which at the moment has no straight swap.
This will still be a force for the next months, and surprisingly enough it's not even the most expensive archetype on this list! In fact it wouldn't even make the top 5 for the priciest decks of all listed on here. This is also likely to be the base list for most Mew VMAX decks you'll see being the first Regional winning deck in 2 years.
#2 Arceus VSTAR with Inteleon
List: 7th Salt Lake City Regional - Xander Pero
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 30%
Total Price: $199.12
And the reason Mew VMAX is not even on the top 5 priciest decks is simply down to Arceus VSTAR. A 4-3 Arceus line already cost $166, more than the entire Mew deck! Not just that, the Inteleon line on here would cost you another $15. So for that reason alone most Arceus decks will be quite pricey. This one is just third on that list.
This is likely to be the base line for many Arceus decks as well as it has been one of the popular versions for Arceus decks and has been successful in two different regionals already. This version of Arceus will have to adapt when rotation hits as important pieces such as Drizzle, Quick Ball, Evo Incense, Scoop Net and Big Charm will all be rotated.
#3 Arceus VSTAR with Duraludon VMAX
List: 2nd Brisbane Regional - Louis Pozzacchio
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 25%
Total Price: $177.99
Initially the favoured partner for Arceus VSTAR, Duraludon VMAX has taken a step back lately but is still one of the better decks in the format for it's tankability against most things. It plays differently to all of the other Arceus decks and it doesn't use any other support Pokémon which does make it a little cheaper as you don't have to get the Drizzle lines. It's also one of the least affected by the new season rotation.
List: 3rd Brisbane Regional - Peter Lo
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 33.33%
Total Price: $146.85
While most were trying to make Dark Box (Galarian Moltres/Hoopa/Inteleon) work in the new format, Peter decided to try something different and add an Arceus line into that package. And now it's one of the more viable ways to play Arceus. In fact, the next two decks following this one on the list have been in some ways inspired from this version to include other V attackers and even a VMAX one. And with Mew still the top target, Moltres will continue to be a viable option for these decks.
#5 Arceus VSTAR with Galarian Moltres/Galarian Zapdos V/Galarian Moltres V
List: 4th Salt Lake City Regional - Nicholas Moffitt
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 35%
Total Price: $145.76
The one good thing about playing just a 2-2 line of Arceus is that it won't cost as much as the other lists, just $100 for the 2-2 line, $22 for the Inteleon line and the other $20 for the rest of the deck including the Galarian Birds. With Mew and Arceus the two top decks we have, Dark and Fighting type attackers are some of the best counters to have and this deck is one of the few to make good use of both. It plays different to the other Arceus decks since it's not the main center-piece and more of another part of a big puzzle along with many other pieces.
It is also the cheapest Arceus deck to build if that helps, but on the flip side it gets affected by rotation the hardest of all but one of the Arceus decks mainly due to the Inteleon line and the pieces with it (Quick Ball, Net, Air Balloon) and the pieces to get those counters going (Energy Search, Cape, Court). Future Arceus-style counter boxes will need more help for the future sets to find the like-for-like replacement for these cards.
#6 Arceus VSTAR with Galarian Moltres/Inteleon/Crobat VMAX
List: 4th Liverpool Regional - Alessandro Frenda
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 35%
Total Price: $203.47
This is the other deck hit hardest by the upcoming rotation in 6 months and also the 2nd most expensive deck on this list. As mentioned before, the 4-3 Arceus line and the Inteleon line here would cost you around $180 but that's the price of having a combo that works I suppose. It's built similarly to the previous list but with more of a focus on Arceus with the option of Crobat VMAX to take cheeky KOs. Like the last deck, it's also the hardest hit of the Arceus decks when the next rotation comes around.
#7 Arceus VSTAR with Gengar VMAX
List: 1st Salt Lake City Regional - Drew Kennett
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 30%
Total Price: $216.74
Would you be surprised if I told you this deck was the most expensive deck on the list? Probably not as it does feature two lines of two very strong evolving attackers, but not known to work together. That is until Salt Lake where it won the whole thing as a pair. The 4-2 Arceus line itself cost $130 and the 3-2 Gengar costing $71, with the other $15 spread around the rest of the deck.
Maybe it's a good thing this deck prefers the Bibarel engine over the Inteleon engine. And because of that, it won't lose as much as other Arceus decks (Quick Ball, Evo Incense, Switch, Big Charm, Air Balloon being the main losses). This list could also be used as a base line for future Arceus decks that might feature other VMAX attackers as the supporting or secondary attacker.
#8 Arceus VSTAR with Beedrill/Flygon V
List: 9th Salt Lake City Regional - Charlie Lockyer
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 30%
Total Price: $147.93
Now for a different kind of Arceus deck that does not feature either an Inteleon engine or a Bibarel engine. The Beedrill box plays a little different as it relies a lot of V support mons like Crobat and Lumineon to get some of the pieces and let's not forget, Arceus VSTAR is also does search out two things for you, another great support mon.
Not having to rely on a Drizzle engine does have some benefits as the deck is one of the cheaper Arceus decks and also one that won't be that affected by rotation, losing stuff like Quick Ball, Ordinary Rod, Training Court and Air Balloon mainly.
#9 Arceus VSTAR with Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX/Inteleon
List: 10th Brisbane Regional - Duy Le
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 21.67%
Total Price: $177.93
Initially hyped up as the preferred partner for Arceus but lately has seen little play, with just a one top 16 result in Brisbane and Liverpool which is still better than nothing to be fair. I'm still willing to say the deck hasn't been explored with that much and it could still be a contender if someone breaks it. It is after all one of the better options for an Arceus deck with a VMAX mon.
And it's got a few plus sides too. It is one of the cheaper Arceus decks to build even with the 4-3 line that costs $166, the rest of the money will go into the Inteleon line, the 2-2 Ice Riders and that should be about it. And the deck is also one of the least affected by the upcoming rotation, losing said Inteleon line and a few stuff like Quick Ball, Leon, Incense, Buck and Net. Losing Leon might be the more painful one which takes away the option for one-shotting some VMAXes especially with Quick Shooting Inteleon gone as well.
#10 Malamar with Inteleon
List: 11th Salt Lake City Regional - Gabe Shumway
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 21.67%
Total Price: $33.80
The best budget deck on this list has to be Malamar. Why? It's got two different versions that has placed very well in Regionals, even making finals with this list. Not the easiest deck to play, this takes a lot of practice to perfect as I have been finding it out myself lately. And the two lists are in the top 3 for the cheapest decks to build on this list! This one being a bit pricier only because of the Inteleon line, the 4 Drizzles alone cost 1/3rd of the total price needed to build this deck.
Last time I did a list like this, Malamar was the least affected deck by rotation. It gets a bit more affected this time, losing 17 cards namely the Inteleon line, Incense and Net (which all go together). The next Malamar on the list might have an answer for the future.
#11 Malamar with Cinccino
List: 14th Salt Lake City Regional - Nathaniel Kaplan
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 30%
Total Price: $21.19
And here is the cheapest deck on the list, all it cost is under $22! And it got 14th out of 600+ players so it's a proven quantity even if it's not the favoured way to play Malamar (even Nathaniel mentioned that the Inteleon version might be better). The other reason is cheaper is the lack of any expensive cards in this list, specifically Drizzle.
Cinccino is the more expensive piece in this deck. But it's also part of the reason why the deck will suffer a bit more from the upcoming rotation too since Evo Incense, Great Ball, Scoop Up Net and Ordinary Rod are all rotating too. The good news is that there is a like-for-like replacement for Cinccino in Liepard so that part fixes itself. So Malamar is still likely to be a strong deck going into the next season.
#12 Gengar VMAX
List: 3rd Salt Lake City Regional - Zac Cooper
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 26.67%
Total Price: $130.71
With Mew VMAX being the undisputed BDIF so far, surely there has to be a Dark deck that counters it right? Many have tried and most have failed but Gengar VMAX is one of the few that has given Mew some troubles so far. The deck can be bricky at times but when it works, it has got answers to a lot of the top decks in the current format as we speak.
It's one of the cheaper 4-3 VMAX decks to build too that has gotten big results at a Regional (with a Top 4, Top 8 and a few Top 16s as well). That's not the only good news, it's also one of the few deck that doesn't get that affected by rotation. Losing Marnie does hurt the Path+Marnie combo but the new Roxanne might fix that, not a clear replacement as it needs to meet a criteria. Only other thing you'd lose are Quick Ball and Switch, which is a big one as Gengar VMAX does need to reset it's second attack so future lists might have to rely on Escape Rope for the time being.
#13 Suicune V/Ludicolo
List: 2nd Salt Lake City Regional - Phinnegan Lynch
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 41.67%
Total Price: $49.46
One of my favourite decks on this list, and the one I played the most ever since Welder rotated but thanks to the emergence of Jolteon, Suicune has not showed up as often as it did early on. It's still a good deck and if you need any evidence, watch Phinnegan's games from the Salt Lake City regionals. There is a reason why it finished 2nd out of 600+ players.
Strangely enough, it is also one of the cheaper decks on this list. For a deck relying on 4 Vs, it costs less than $50 USD in total! And almost 20 of that is going into the Inteleon line. Sadly it's one of the hardest hits decks in the upcoming rotation, mainly because it's main partner, the Inteleon line, will be gone. Quick Ball, Evo Incense, Rare Candy, Cap Bucket and Cape are all gone as well so any Suicune V deck looking to see play next rotation will need to find a new bunch of partners to make it the force it once was.
#14 Jolteon VMAX
List: 8th Salt Lake City Regional - André Chiasson
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 43.33%
Total Price: $132.06
Since it was released, Jolteon has been a force in the meta and even with the new Manaphy being released to stop spread decks, it hasn't stopped Jolteon from topping a few big events, even winning an online regional before this top 8 result from Salt Lake. The deck didn't gain anything new from the latest set but it didn't need it much and it was already a very successful deck.
Jolteon V being a promo does make it one of the more expensive VMAX decks around since the V wasn't even in an actual set. It also will lose it's Inteleon pieces come September and many of the search power along with it. It also loses one of it's best game plan of going Path and Marnie as the latter is also rotating (but Roxanne is coming).
#15 Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX
List: 1st Liverpool Regional - Robin Schulz
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 40%
Total Price: $46.83
The old favourite has been missing since the start of this format but former World Champion Robin has brought it back to the spotlight and many will likely rely on his new list for it as it is a regional winning list, even if it may look very different to other Rapid Strike Urshifu lists of the past year. It is now the cheapest deck featuring a V or a VMAX attacker on the list, mainly due to the League Battle deck and because this list only uses a 2-2 line, you could take that deck, add in the Inteleon lines, the Dark package and the wacky 1-offs and the supporters to have the deck ready to play.
The deck will soon have to face the rotation which means it's favoured partner since the release of Chilling Reign, the Inteleon line, will be missing in action. The deck did so alright without it first but it will need a new draw/search engine to keep up. And many other stuff for that matter as 40% of the deck will be rotated. It should still find a way as stuff like the Octillery engine and the Dark stuff will stick around.
#16 Zoroark Control
List: 5th Liverpool Regional - Sander Wojcik
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 48.33%
Total Price: $31.59
Well Control is back and surely we're not surprised by this, Sander always finds a way to make it work. This list will likely be the backbone for all Control decks going forward for the next few months with a few changes likely to be made to adapt to the meta. There are some pros and cons for these types of decks, the pro being how cheap the deck is to build, it's the second cheapest on this list. The con however is the fact that almost half the deck is rotating, the second highest of any deck on this list.
#17 Galarian Moltres/Hoopa/Inteleon
List: 16th Salt Lake City Regional - Muhammad Ideis
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 43.33%
Total Price: $50.26
This version of Dark Box has been a budget favourite for the last few months, relying mostly on just Galarian Moltres, Hoopa, sometimes Galarian Weezing, and a few times Sableye V as well. The deck has evolved to a point where having a few V attackers is the right way to go, with both Moltres and Zapdos in this list but both not costing that much to get making the deck still a great budget choice.
It will sadly take a big hit when the new rotation comes. The Inteleon line will be gone, and taking Quick Ball, Scoop Up Net, Evo Incense, Energy Search, Air Balloon, Training Court and Energy Retrieval along with it, all very important pieces to allow the deck to keep attacking with Moltres and whichever attacker is needed. One of them, Hoopa, is also rotating so it'll need to likely rely on a new support attacker for the early game.
#18 Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX
List: 4th Late Night 30 - Pedro Vicêncio
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 31.67%
Total Price: $61.46 (I forgot to put the $7.62 for the 2 Inteleons from CRE on this list)
Personally, Ice Rider is still my favourite deck to play out of any deck on this list. Is it the best? Even I know it's sadly not but it's one of those decks that on it's day, can take a big win just as Le Bui just did on the same day of me writing this down. This is a deck that can beat Arceus, can also beat Mew if all the pieces fell your way, can beat Gengar and can also beat Malamar if they miss a beat.
Ice Rider is one of the cheapest VMAX attacking decks to get as well, cost only $62 at most to build the whole thing and it will get cheaper as Ice Rider will get a new league battle deck with a 3-3 line included, which will give it the Rapid Strike Urshifu effect and make it cheaper thanks to the box being easily accessible. It will lose some important parts though, mainly the Inteleon line along with Marnie, Quick Ball, Evo Incense, Cap Bucket, Scoop Up Net and Air Balloon, all cards that are not easily replaceable with cards in our current card pool as it stands so the deck, if it were to survive, will have to look a lot different come September. That or just be another Arceus deck.
#19 Durant Mill
List: 1st Place Late Night #29 - Andrew Weiss
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 46.67%
Total Price: $36.71
We don't just have a good Control deck that has proven itself in this format but we've also got a Mill deck that has won a 256+ person tourney already, albeit in the online world. Still, it was one of the first few big events of the new BRS format so everyone was still trying to figure out what worked and what didn't. Durant apparently worked well right off the bat.
And it's not that difficult to build, being the 4th cheapest deck on the list. That's the big plus. There is however a big minus, as it's the 3rd highest affected by the rotation of any lists on here. Sure, losing Cinccino won't hurt it much with the new Liepart but losing stuff like Quick Ball, Scoop Up Net, half of their energies, Snorlax but most importantly, Cursed Shovel and Galar Mine could give the deck a real re-think going into the next season.
#20 Dragapult VMAX
List: 6th Late Night 31 - Zach Porlier
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 48.33%
Total Price: $62.10
Once the BDIF of the format, those days are long gone now that Mew VMAX is not just the best Psychic attacker in the game but the undisputed BDIF in the game. It's still a decent choice to be fair, if it can hit all the Dark-attackers whose primary aim is to get Mew and Dragapult sadly gets in the crosshairs of that war, as does another former BDIF in Shadow Rider Calyrex.
It is one of the cheaper VMAX decks to build in all fairness, having been released as a promo-set thanks to Shining Fates. The biggest issue for this deck is that this whole thing will be gone come rotation as Dragapult VMAX, the only main attacker on the list, is one of the few surviving VMAXes from the first few sets that still has some presence in the meta. For that reason I don't see many wanting to spend any money on this when there's a few better options out there, be it VMAX attackers, decks relying on Inteleon engines or spread attackers.
- Mew VMAX - 16.67%
- Arceus VSTAR/Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX - 21.67%
- Malamar/Inteleon - 21.67%
- Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 25%
- Gengar VMAX - 26.67%
- Arceus VSTAR/Inteleon - 30%
- Arceus VSTAR/Gengar VMAX - 30%
- Arceus VSTAR/Beedrill/Flygon V - 30%
- Malamar/Cinccino - 30%
- Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX - 31.67%
- Arceus VSTAR/Galarian Moltres/Inteleon - 33.33%
- Arceus VSTAR/Galarian Moltres/Galarian Zapdos V/Galarian Moltres V - 35%
- Arceus VSTAR/Inteleon/Crobat VMAX - 35%
- Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 40%
- Suicune V/Ludicolo - 41.67%
- Galarian Moltres/Hoopa/Inteleon - 43.33%
- Jolteon VMAX - 43.33%
- Durant Mill - 46.67%
- Zoroark Control - 48.33%
- Dragapult VMAX - 48.33%
- Malamar/Cinccino - $21.19
- Zoroark Control - $31.59
- Malamar/Inteleon - $33.80
- Durant Mill - $36.71
- Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - $46.83
- Suicune V/Ludicolo - $49.46
- Galarian Moltres/Hoopa/Inteleon - $50.26
- Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX - $53.84
- Dragapult VMAX - $62.10
- Gengar VMAX - $130.71
- Jolteon VMAX - $132.06
- Arceus VSTAR/Galarian Moltres/Galarian Zapdos V/Galarian Moltres V - $145.76
- Arceus VSTAR/Galarian Moltres/Inteleon - $146.85
- Arceus VSTAR/Beedrill/Flygon V - $147.93
- Mew VMAX - $162.53
- Arceus VSTAR/Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX - $177.93
- Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - $177.99
- Arceus VSTAR/Inteleon - $199.12
- Arceus VSTAR/Inteleon/Crobat VMAX - $203.47
- Arceus VSTAR/Gengar VMAX - $216.74
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