Rotation is coming soon in Japan and a few months time for the rest of us so I thought why not see which current top decks will be least or most affected by the rotation coming in January/April (Japan/Not Japan). And that's with one more extra sub-set to be released next month (Crown Zenith).
I'll use decks that have done well in the past few month in major IRL events (Regionals, Champions League, Opens or Internationals), getting their total prices in case anyone wants to build the deck right now and also the percentages number for how much of the current deck will be rotated out.
Prices are from TCG Player based on US Dollars as of January 1st 2023.
There are some top decks that I won't cover for the obvious reasons:
- Eternatus VMAX/Galarian Weezing - Well they are both rotating and the deck can't function without them
- Articuno/Inteleon - I feel the Inteleon package is too important for this deck and without it, I don't see how the Articuno idea works well. Same can be said for many different decks that rely on the Inteleon engine
- Vikavolt V decks - Well if the Item locking guy is gone, what's the point?
- Centiskorch VMAX - I just wanted to put it here ok, I had a good run with it but goodbye old friend
Sets that will be rotating (D sets) are: Sword & Shield Base (SWSH), Rebel Clash (RCL), Darkness Ablaze (DAA), Champions Path (CPA) and Vivid Voltage (VIV).
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| Sander Wojcik - 5th - São Paulo International |
- x3 Snorlax (VIV)
- x1 Eldegoss V (CPA)
- x2 Bird Keeper (DAA)
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x4 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x2 Yell Horn (DAA)
- x1 Pal Pad (SSH)
- x1 Lucky Egg (SSH)
- x2 Cape of Toughness (DAA)
- x2 Galar Mine (RCL)
- x3 Twin Energy (RCL)
- x1 Wash Water Energy (VIV)
Deck Price: $45.78
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 43.33%
Well I'm not the best person to talk about Control decks, seeing as I've never played them but I'll try my best. The fact that near half the deck is rotating should tell you enough to know how much rotation will hurt this deck, in fact it's the most affected of all the decks on here. The biggest lost is Snorlax which allows these Control decks to keep drawing cards after their turn since they don't plan to attack. Eldegoss V also rotating does hurt the loop strategy. Galar Mine rotating also hurts as it denies you the chance to trap opponent's bench sitters in the late game.
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| Piper Lepine - 1st - Toronto Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 23
- x4 Snorlax (VIV)
- x1 Marnie (SSH)
- x1 Pokemon Center Lady (CPA)
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x4 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x2 Pal Pad (SSH)
- x1 Yell Horn (DAA)
- x2 Galar Mine (RCL)
- x4 Twin Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $66.13
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 38.33%
As mentioned early, the loss of Snorlax hurts every control-style deck, including this one. Other than that, losing important stuff such as Quick Ball and Scoop Up Net hurts with the set-up and also denying easy prizes on stuff like Miltank or Yveltal. Pal Pad rotating means you aren't able to loop the deck as much as possible. Mewtwo V-Union control decks can still be around as seen with Sander's new build with Gengar/Kirlia so never count these decks out.
#13 - Zoroark Box
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| Ross Cawthon - 52nd - Arlington Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 22
- x3 Cinccino (SSH)
- x1 Oranguru (SSH)
- x2 Marnie (SSH)
- x3 Evolution Incense (SSH)
- x3 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x2 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x4 Capture Energy (RCL)
- x4 Twin Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $34.54
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 36.67%
One of my personal favourite decks but losing Twin Energy AND Capture Energy will hurt the deck a lot as DTE will become the only way to use the attacks of Braixen, the fighting-type techs, Radiant Jirachi but the most important of them all, Slowbro for it's Twilight Inspiration so trying to win the game when your opponent has 1 prize left will get trickier but DTE is still around just in case so not all doom and gloom. The other big loss is actually Cinccino.
Sure, we can simply switch that line with either a Liepard line or a Kirlia line but the thing that made Cinccino more appealing was it having the Minccino with Call for Family, as it helps to set up your board. Without that, Zoroark Box might be a bit slower to set-up.
The other big loss I'd say is Ordinary Rod. Sure losing Evolution Incense is quite big too as it makes finding the right attacker at the right time more trickier but not having Ordinary Rod means you won't be able to continuously recover your Zoroark, Zorua or also possibly Manaphy. We have Klara to solve that but to waste a Supporter for that effect isn't the best idea for this deck. It is easily one of the decks most affected by rotation and you can see why, as the deck will be a lot slower.
#12 - Flaaffy Box
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| Joel Andrew Suryadi - 2nd - Brisbane Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 17
- x2 Zekrom (VIV)
- x1 Crobat V (DAA)
- x2 Marnie (SSH)
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x3 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x1 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x2 Air Balloon (SSH)
- x2 Speed Lighting Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $32.62
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 28.33%
Flaaffy Box is actually the cheapest deck to build on this list and it can spring a surprise as seen in the Brisbane Regional. For it to do that after rotation, it'll have to do so without one of it's main attackers, Zekrom. The main strategy is to use Zekrom to paralyse and trap stuff until the point where Medicham can clean it up for you to take another turn. That won't be possible without the guy who paralyses stuff.
The deck will also be less flexible with Net and Balloon both gone, meaning it'll be harder to move around Pokemon. And with Rod gone, some tech attackers may not get a 2nd chance to make an impact. Losing Crobat and Speed Lighting means less draw power for the deck.
#11 - Blissey V/Miltank
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| Yui Takao - 10th - Kyoto Champions League |
Cards Rotating: - 23
- x4 Marnie (SSH)
- x4 Hyper Potion (CPA)
- x2 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x4 Cape of Toughness (DAA)
- x4 Powerful Energy (DAA)
- x4 Capture Energy (RCL)
- x1 Twin Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $41.63
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 38.33%
Blissey is still one of the more affordable decks around and none of the Pokemon in the deck are rotating so that's the good news. The bad news? Well 2 very important energies are gone, Powerful Energy and Capture Energy! Which means Blissey or Miltank won't be able to hit hard and you can't set attackers up as easily as usual.
Losing Cape of Toughness might be the other more painful loss. Blissey V being 250 HP is annoying enough to deal with, then imagine a 300 HP Blissey V thanks to Cape. So the deck will be left a little vulnerable to big hits with Cape gone. Hyper Potion rotating also means you can't make Blissey V as tanky as possible. The deck can survive into the new rotation but with no Powerful, no Capture, no Cape and no Hyper Potion, things will get tougher for this colourless deck.
#10 - Regi Box
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| Christian Fontenot - 7th - Arlington Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 24
- x2 Marnie (SSH)
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x3 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x3 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x1 Yell Horn (DAA)
- x1 Air Balloon (SSH)
- x4 Aurora Energy (SSH)
- x2 Twin Energy (RCL)
- x2 Capture Energy (RCL)
- x2 Speed Lighting Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $44.27
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 40%
Well let's just state the obvious here. Aurora Energy is rotating. With that (and Speed Lighting) gone, all of your attackers not named Regigigas cannot attack! Sure, losing important stuff like Ordinary Rod, Scoop Up Net and Quick Ball hurts this deck as much as the other decks on this list that also plays it, but not having Aurora Energy is enough to possibly kill this deck off.
Just my plain and blunt opinion, I don't see how this deck will continue to be a thing with no Rainbow-style energy to use. We'll have to wait for the next one to show up. Even then, with Ordinary Rod gone, it spells disaster for Regis.
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| Jonathan Soto - 50th - Arlington Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 17
- x2 Oranguru (SSH)
- x1 Crobat V (DAA)
- x1 Marnie (SSH)
- x3 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x3 Capacious Bucket (RCL)
- x2 Rotom Phone (CPA)
- x1 Switch (SSH)
- x1 Energy Retrieval (SSH)
- x1 Training Court (RCL)
- x2 Wash Water Energy (VIV)
Deck Price: $63.51
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 28.33%
Kyurem is decently prized and doesn't lose as much as other decks to rotation, so what's the thing that hurts this deck going forwards? Quite simple, Oranguru and Cap Bucket. Without these two, you cannot make full use of Kyurem VMAX's Glaciated World ability. Bucket helps you get two Water energy out of the deck and Oranguru helps you switch one card from your hand with the top deck, with in turns means you can make it a Water Energy to make Glaciated World a success hit.
Without them (and Rotom Phone too for that matter), you can't manipulate your top deck anymore and leave it up to chance. Can the deck still work? Sure, Palkia is still a thing to help power up Kyurem but losing everything else makes it much slower.
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| Jake Gearhart - 6th - Toronto Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 19
- x3 Drizzle (SSH)
- x1 Inteleon (SSH)
- x3 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x3 Evolution Incense (SSH)
- x3 Capacious Bucket (RCL)
- x3 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x1 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x1 Training Court (RCL)
- x1 Wash Water Energy (VIV)
Deck Price: $62.13
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 31.67%
I wanted to include this onto the list to show how much losing the Inteleon line hurts decks that utilise it. Palkia is currently the best deck to use the Inteleon engine and with it being gone, it loses a lot of option to find exactly what it needs at the turn it's needed. If we include the Sobbles, the deck loses 38% of the deck to rotation.
Palkia will likely have to go the Kyurem route or go back to the Mew or Bibarel engines, which is still possible as you still have stuff like Radiant Greninja and Melony to power up Palkias. I'm more curious to see how Palkia adapts to rotation out of all the main attackers on this list.
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| Christian LaBella - 2nd - Toronto Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 20
- x2 Duraludon V (CPA)
- x3 Marnie (SSH)
- x4 PokeGear 3.0 (SSH)
- x3 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x2 Evolution Incense (SSH)
- x2 Hyper Potion (SSH)
- x1 Switch (SSH)
- x2 Big Parasol (DAA)
- x1 Training Court (RCL)
Deck Price: $80.05
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 33.33%
Arceus/Duraludon is actually the second most expensive deck to build on this list and only loses technically 1/3 of the current list. It still sounds big but not as big as other decks on this list. It will lose the tanky Duraludon V (the metal type) that does have a 250HP buffer but shouldn't be much of an issue since there is another V to replace it.
Losing PokeGear means less chances to hit that vital Boss's Orders or Marnie for turn but again, not the biggest lost. Hyper Potion is a big loss, making Duraludon VMAX more susceptible to two shot KOs. Big Parasol can be a bit of an annoying loss, it helps with stuff like Sableye's Lost Mine (but not Yveltal's Amazing Destruction, you will see why later). In all honesty, the deck won't actually lose much from rotation and can adapt quite well with changing certain counts and cards around.
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| Christopher Schemanske - 47th - São Paulo International |
Cards Rotating: - 12
- x4 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x2 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x2 Switch (SSH)
- x2 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x1 Air Balloon (SSH)
- x1 Capture Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $45.69
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 20%
Giratina has become quite an affordable deck to build from scratch and with only 20% of the deck rotating, it's one of the deck that loses the least to it. What it does lose are quite painful. Losing Scoop Up Net makes the Comfey engine a little slower as you cannot move it around as much as you would currently, meaning you might only get one or two Flower Selecting per turn and you have to time your switch outs perfectly.
Switch can be easily "switched" out to Switch Cart so not the worst switch you can make. Ok, with those puns out of the way, the other main thing Giratina loses is Ordinary Rod. Decks may decie to switch to Energy Recycler for that so not the worst change but not being able to recover attackers easily will hurt in certain matches if you need a Cramorant, Sableye or Giratina VSTAR at certain times. The deck will stay relatively the same, just without Nets and Rods, but as it's not seeing much play at the moment, will that change with rotation?
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| Thomas Happel - 35th - Arlington Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 13
- x1 Oranguru (SSH)
- x1 Galarian Zigzagoon (SSH)
- x4 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x3 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x1 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x1 Air Balloon (SSH)
- x2 Twin Energy (RCL)
Deck Price: $64.82
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 21.67%
All the Lost Zone decks don't actually lose out much to rotation as you will see from the previous, current and next decks. They, along with Mew VMAX, are the 5 decks least affected by it. This version is the more expensive version to build, thanks in part to Radiant Charizard being...well...a Charizard card that's actually playable.
Like every Lost Zone decks, losing Scoop Up Net, Quick Ball and Air Balloon will hurt the deck to continuously use Flower Selecting. Losing Galarian Zigzagoon means you can't make sneakily take two prizes with the use of Sableye's Lost March or set up numbers for other important KOs. The deck have lately included Twin Energy to get Radiant Charizard to attack much quicker than most are expecting it too and also for Snorlax, but with Twin rotating, it might mean more energies and stuff like Raihan/Mirage Gate will have to take it's place.
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| Grant Manley - 3rd - São Paulo International |
Cards Rotating: - 12
- x1 Oranguru (SSH)
- x4 Scoop Up Net (RCL)
- x2 Ordinary Rod (SSH)
- x2 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x3 Capture Energy (SSH)
Deck Price: $38.03
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 20%
This version of Lost Box loses lesser cards to rotation than the Radiant Charizard version but the losses are still the same. It being Scoop Up Net (less usage of Flower Selecting is never good), Ordinary Rod (can be switched to more Energy Recycler but no way to recycle attackers now), Oranguru (not much of a loss as Marnie is also rotating) and Quick Ball (straight swap for the incoming Nest Ball).
Unlike the other Lost Box deck, it will lose Capture Energy so the deck won't set up as easily as possible. Currently, the best usage for it is to get Capture energy onto a Comfey, get a Cramorant out of the deck with it, use Flower Selecting or Colress to get the Lost Zone to 4 cards and attack with Cramorant. Still, the deck should still flourish into the new rotation but will need to find answers for the incoming influxes of ex-pokemon that aren't basics.
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| Jamie Hindley - 8th - Stuttgart Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 7
- x1 Marnie (SSH)
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x1 Switch (SSH)
- x1 Pal Pad (SSH)
Deck Price: $52.34
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 11.67%
It's scary to think that Mew VMAX won't lose out much to rotation and it's already one of the best decks in format, a scary sign of things to come? This list loses Marnie which isn't a big loss as it can be replaced by Judge, the 4 Quick Ball can be switched for the returning Nest Ball (although you do lose the ability to think out your hand to make full use of Genesect V's Fusion Strike System ability to draw more cards.
Switch can be a painful loss as Switch Cart isn't a like-for-like replacement. Lately more Mew VMAX decks have gone back to Switch in reply to the amount of Paralysis decks entering the meta and as Switch Cart only works on Basics, Mew VMAX can't retreat with it. Switch is a card we've always seen in standard format so I'd expect to see it re-printed for the new Scarlet and Violet base set. Pal Pad can be an annoying loss as well, meaning you lose out the option to recycle important stuff like Roxanne or Boss for the late game.
#2 - Mew VMAX/DTE
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| Connor Chiappetta - 24th - Arlington Regional |
Cards Rotating: - 6
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x1 Switch (SSH)
- x1 Big Parasol (DAA)
Deck Price: $53.32
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%
As mentioned above, Mew VMAX doesn't lose out much to rotation and the DTE build is the least affected deck to rotation. Quick Balls will be replaced by Nest Ball so in all honestly, the deck only loses two cards, and one of them doesn't see play in other lists so for now it's just Switch that will be lost to rotation unless it gets re-printed.
Mew VMAX is a decently prized deck, costs less than $70, and loses little to nothing to rotation and is right now one of the best decks in the current standard format. All these things makes me think that Mew VMAX will continue to be a force to be reckoned with once rotation is in effect. This is the deck I'd recommend newcomers to get for anyone thinking of joining the game right now.
#1 - Lugia VSTAR/Archeops
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| Kang Yu Xian - 2nd - Asia EN Open 2022 |
Cards Rotating: - 23
- x1 Amazing Rare Yveltal (SHF)
- x1 Oranguru (SSH)
- x1 Bird Keeper (DAA)
- x4 Quick Ball (SSH)
- x4 Evolution Incense (SSH)
- x4 Powerful Colourless Energy (DAA)
- x4 Aurora Energy (SSH)
- x3 Capture Energy (RCL)
- x1 Hiding Darkness Energy (DAA)
Deck Price: $130.47
Cards affected by rotation in deck: 38.33%
Lugia is currently the best deck in the format, and it's price shows! Easily the most expensive deck to build currently. It is also one of the deck most affected by rotation, tied 3rd most of them all. On the energy side of things, it loses Powerful Energy so it cannot take big one-hit KOs and losing Aurora Energy means stuff like Amazing Rare Yveltal (who itself is also rotating), Lumineon V and Radiant Charizard would have a hard time getting powered up by Archeops with no Aurora Energy to use.
The deck does lose one of it's biggest attackers in Amazing Rare Yvetal so it can't take cheeky KOs out of nowhere. Some lists will use Amazing Rare Raikou which is also rotating so that's two attackers that usually uses Aurora Energy gone. Losing Bird Keeper makes the deck susceptible to the paralysis stuff again.
Quite possibly the biggest loss is actually Evolution Incense and Quick Ball, it makes it much easier for you to search out Archeops with the earlier and then discard it with the latter. With them both gone, Lugia decks might have to rely on other ways to get Archeops into the discard, be it drawing into them and using Research or Ultra Ball, or now going for the Professor Burnet to straight up discard the Archeops.
The deck will look a lot different with many special energies being rotated so it might have to rely on other special energies, be it possibly Rapid Strike Energy or Single Strike Energy, but Archeops is too good to ignore and it will still survive the next rotation, that much we know. But now that you've read all of that, you might forget what was what, like me, so here's a short re-cap:
Decks prices (as of Jan 1st 2023) from cheapest to most expensive:
- Flaaffy Box - $32.62
- Zoroark Box - $34.54
- Lost Zone Box/Radiant Greninja - $38.03
- Blissey V/Miltank - $41.63
- Regi Box - $44.27
- Giratina VSTAR - $45.69
- Eldegoss V/Yveltal Control - $45.78
- Mew VMAX/Fusion - $52.34
- Mew VMAX/DTE - $53.32
- Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Inteleon - $62.13
- Kyurem VMAX/Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR - $63.51
- Lost Zone Box/Radiant Charizard - $64.82
- Mewtwo V-Union/Yveltal Control - $66.13
- Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - $80.05
- Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - $130.47
How much do rotation affect these decks, from least to most:
- Mew VMAX/DTE - 10%
- Mew VMAX/Fusion - 11.67%
- Giratina VSTAR - 20%
- Lost Zone Box/Radiant Greninja - 20%
- Lost Zone Box/Radiant Charizard - 21.67%
- Flaaffy Box - 28.33%
- Kyurem VMAX/Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR - 28.33%
- Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Inteleon - 31.67%
- Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 33.33%
- Zoroark Box - 36.67%
- Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 38.33%
- Mewtwo V-Union/Yveltal Control - 38.33%
- Blissey V/Miltank - 38.33%
- Regi Box - 40%
- Eldegoss V/Yveltal Control - 43.33%
Thanks for reading and I wish you all the best for the upcoming year in 2023 and hopefully as many of you will make it to the World Championships in Yokohama this year and I'll cheer you lot on.
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