Surging Sparks will be legal for tournament play this week all around the world but the thing is, Japan (technically some parts of Asia too but they have half the set) has had it legal for quite some time now which means we've got some info on how the meta should look like and which new cards have made an impact (or not) in the current metagame.
So with that in mind, I wanted to make not just the usual Top 24 cards from this set kinda list but I wanted to rank them on how much play they have been seeing in the Japanese City Leagues. Then there's the other issue, not all the cards were released at the same time in Japan, which means some cards would have naturally seen more play than others. For those who might not know, our Surging Sparks is made up of 3 different sets:
- Stellar Tera Type Starter Set - Released August 30th
- Sylveon ex, and
- Ceruledge ex
- Paradise Dragona - Released September 13th
- Super Electric Breaker - Released October 18th
All the information I will have are from September 7th so the STTSS cards will naturally show up in more City Leagues in my database. I will make a point to show which cards came from which mini-set to give you an idea of how well they've done in relative to the time they've been available.
I'll also try to show the deck the card sees the most plays in (and will include the percentage number for the most popular ones).
Stats are as of Nov 20 (Kyōto).
#24 - Gastrodon
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Disruption
Placements: 18
Played in:
- 10 different decks but mostly in
- Roaring Moon ex
- Milotic ex/Noivern ex
- Flygon ex
We are starting the list off with with a card that could put some Stage 2 decks in a sticky situation. Gastrodon, as long as it's on the bench, stops abilities for both side's Stage 2 Pokemon.
So no Pidgeot's Quick Search, no Gardevoir's Psychic Embrace, no Charizard's Infernal Reign, no Archeops Primal Turbo and no Dusknoir's Cursed Blast. Of course, these all can play around Gastrodon by simply being in the active spot. Not my favourite card, I think it's too easy to play around it, don't really think it's that good to be honest (hey I love my stage 2 decks, stop hurting us) but it works for these control and wall decks.
#23 - Drayton
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Consistency
Placements: 22
Played in:
- Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
- Archaludon ex/Revaroom
- Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Dusknoir
- Dragapult ex/Charizard ex
Not the supporter I expected to see on this list, I probably rate Cyrano higher than Drayton but this is the one that's seeing play in some of these decks. Finding a Pokemon and a Trainer card sounds like a much better Arven for set up decks, or literally just Irida for other decks, right?
The catch is, it has to be in the top 7 cards in your deck. So I'm personally not a fan of this because you need some luck in the hopes to find the exact cards you are looking for. Probably works well for set-up decks as seen above but the randomness just puts me off from wanting to try this.
#22 - Megaton Blower
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Disruption
Placements: 23
Played in:
- Snorlax Control
- Cornerstone Ogerpon ex Control
- Pidgeot ex Control
- Gardevoir ex
- Froslass Munkidori
Now here's a cheeky card that against the right deck could blow their chances of winning a game. The effect is quite simple. Discard all tools, special energies and the stadium in play. Think about Lugia, all the energies are gone. Think about Klawf, all the tools are gone. Up against Terapagos? Good bye DTE and stadium.
In a vacuum, it can be very good against certain decks, but that's the issue. It only works against a few certain decks which is why we are likely to only see this card in controlling or walling decks.
#21 - Hydregion ex
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Attacker
Placements: 25
Played in:
- Hydreigon ex
- with Pidgeot ex
- with Lost Zone
- with Dudunsparce
- with Dusknoir
Out of all the attacking Pokémon ex we'll get from this set, I honestly believe Hydregion ex has the most potential out of any of them. Which is why it's a little bit surprising to me to see it all the way down here. The folks in Japan don't seem to want to clash heads I assume?
This will be it's own deck, be it with the Pidgeot ex engine, Lost Zone engine, Dusknoir engine or whatever else you fine folks can come up with. 200 damage and milling 3 cards from your opponent's deck for just 2, sometimes 1, energy is a bit crazy. And it's also got a good 2nd attack, 130 to 3 Pokmeon (1 to active, 2 to bench) can easily board wipe some decks if they are not prepared for it. This will see more play, it's already won one of the earlier big swiss-only online tournaments, be prepared to see more of these. And if you're a Lost Box or Ancient Box deck, you don't want to see this.
#20 - Alolan Exeggutor ex
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Tech Attacker
Placements: 34
Played in:
- Regidrago VSTAR (98%)
Swinging into the 20th spot is our old friend Alolan Exeggutor. It's got some interesting attacks. The first one hits for 150 and can help accelerate energies from your hand to your board. But it's the second one that some decks might fear more.
Sure, you do flip a coin but, as long as the active Pokemon is a basic Pokemon, you're likely going to get a KO one way or another. Heads KOs the active Basic, tails KOs a benched Basic. So pretty much a guranteed KO against big basic decks or the turbo decks we will see mentioned a bit later on. So far only Regidrago VSTAR is using it but hey, it's the best deck in the game!
#19 - Lively Stadium
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: HP Modifier
Placements: 36
Played in:
- Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex
- Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex Control
We don't just have one good stadium in this set, but two! Ain't that lovely! It's a simple effect, basic Pokemon gets +30 HP. That's good for big basic decks, but the funny thing is, most of these Turbo decks already have a specific stadium they prefer to use so they might not even use it much. The one that does is Raging Bolt.
In fact, this could also see some fun plays into other decks where you try to purposely increase the HP of a Pikachu ex, hit for anything around 200 and above, and when the time is right, remove your own stadium to knock it out. I can see some cheeky plays for that type of situation, and not just Pikachu ex.
#18 - Milotic ex
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Wall
Placements: 38
Played in:
- Iron Thorns ex
- Pidgeot ex Control
- Walls:
- with Noivern ex
- with Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex
- with Mimikyu
The creatures of the ocean have sadly splashed us with another walling Pokemon. This time, it's for Tera-Pokemon. Quite simple, Milotic ex's job is to stop Tera attackers, be it Charizard ex, Terapagos ex, Ceruledge ex or Hydregion ex to name a few.
It's also got a decent attack to make your opponent asleep and hit for 160, often times enough to two-shot most things, if they don't recover from the sleep. This type of attacker immediately finds a home in wall-type of decks and also the control type of decks.
#17 - Call Bell
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Consistency
Placements: 37
Played in:
- Roaring Moon ex (56%)
- Venomoth/Froslass
- Gardevoir ex
Ring Ring! Another "can only be played on your first turn" item card has arrived. And this one has the added effect that you can only use this if you go 2nd, so it gets even worse.
But the effect makes up for it. If you are a deck that naturally wants to go 2nd (aka Turbo decks or Gardevoir), you probably don't mind having 4 of these to find either the Prof Sada or Arven you're looking for to set up your board. Good effect, but needing to meet two conditions, along with you actually needing to open up with this card, is a bit too much for my liking.
#16 - Black Kyurem ex
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Tech Attacker
Placements: 42
Played in:
- Pidgeot ex Control (38%)
- Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur
- Lost Zone Box
Dragon attackers beware, Black Kyurem might end up frosting your game plans with it's first attack Ice Age! Ok so it's for 3 colourless energies but there are ways around it. And if you do power it up, the ability to paralyze a Dragon attacker might be enough to buy you a turn or two against those types of decks.
This has already seen in all sorts of decks. Naturally Control decks can use this for the likes of Regidrago and Raging Bolt, but also Lost Box can use this for both the attacks. 4 energies might be a lot but it's not an issue for decks with Baxcalibur. 250 is a big chunk of damage!
#15 - Togekiss
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Prize Manipulation
Placements: 54
Played in:
- Gholdengo ex (87%)
- Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
- Terapagos ex/Dusknoir
- Gardevoir ex
Pucker up buttercup! This is one of the funniest and maybe cheesiest additions to the game in a while. You're not attacking with Togekiss even though it has the goated Speed Wing attack (looking at you Archeops).
No no, we are using this just for Wonder Kiss. If the active is knocked out, you flip a coin. If heads, you take 1 more prize card. Need I say more? It's seen the most play with Gholdengo so far but a few other decks that already play Stage 2 cards could tech in Togekiss. It could be the difference between winning a game and not. And for those wondering, you can use Dusknoir to KO the active and flip a coin from Wonder Kiss. I've done it!
#14 - Dusk Ball
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Ball Search
Placements: 76
Played in:
- Lugia VSTAR/Archeops (97%)
Out of the abyss, Dusk Ball return to the game 15 years or so after it was first rotated. It's still the same effect. Bottom 7 cards, if you find a Pokemon, you take it. So it's a reverse Great Ball. So naturally, Lugia decks has been the one to play it.
But I think this could see play in a few other decks. If you think about it, say you've got a Pokemon you're holding off on and are planning to use it for the next turn, but you get Iono'ed. Dusk Ball can fix that issue because it's likely to be on the bottom 7 cards of your deck. It's no Ultra Ball but it can help.
#13 - Magneton
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Energy Acceleration
Placements: 101
Played in:
- Miraidon ex (99%)
Magneton is a new type of exploding discharger to the game. We've see Fortress ex but this one only gives up one prize card. The benefit is attaching 3 Basic energies to your Lighting Pokémon.
And it's not limited to Lighting energies so this is one of the best ways to charge up a Pikachu ex with it's ridiculous energy cost. Iron Hands could spring off a surprise attack thanks to Magneton. And hey, Raichu V has found it's way back into Miraidon decks because now you can easily charge more energies for the big KO! And if you're wondering what the 1% was that played Magneton, it was an Arceus VSTAR/Regieleki VSTAR that placed 3rd in Kanagawa last month!
#12 - Archaludon ex
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Attacker/Energy Acceleration
Placements: 167
Played in:
- Archaludon ex:
- Turbo (18%)
- with Dudunsparce (22%)
- with Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR (19%)
- with Luxray (18%)
- with Revaroom
- with Bibarel
- with Scizor
Archaludon ex is here and is assembly a new line of energy acceleration decks. You can attach 2 metal energies from discard to any of your metal Pokémon when evolving this Pokémon, so think of it as a reverse Charizard ex in some ways. But because it's from discard, you'll likely never run out of it and you will always know if you have the energies necessary to use it.
It's also a very good attacker in it's own right. 220 is the magic number to hit a lot of big basic V and ex Pokemon. All the supporting bench sitters have HP less than 210, including Fezandipiti ex and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex. And it also cancels out it's own weakness from the effect of this attack so no suprise return Radiant Charizard attack the next turn. It's go all sorts of partners so who knows which is the best way to go about playing Archaludon ex.
#11 - Gravity Mountain
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: HP Modifier
Placements: 173
Played in:
- Ancient Box (20%)
- Lost Box (20%)
- Regidrago (13%)
- Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
- Gholdengo ex
From the lively highs of having big Basics go a little bigger, now we've got the gravity defying lows of Stage 2s go a little lighter. Very simple, it's another Stage 2 hate card, they get -30 HP.
And because it's pro-active, it's far better than Lively Stadium. If you're up against a Stage 2 attacking deck, all you have to do is find your Gravity Mountain, play it, hit for likely 300 damage and see that Stage 2 go down. It's already seeing plays in basic-attacking decks like Ancient Box and Lost Box. Heck, even Charizard ex could use it to knock out another Stage 2. Or you could hit 300, buy yourself a turn and play it down and take a prize. We'll see more of these moving forward.
#10 - Pikachu ex
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Attacker/Supporting Pokémon/Wall
Placements: 175
Played in:
- Miraidon (52%)
- Lost Box (35%)
- Blissey ex/Pikachu ex
- Pikachu ex/Noctowl
Bolting it's way into the 10th spot here is the poster child of the Surging Sparks set, of course it's Pikachu ex. And a good one for once too! It's quite the interesting card because it can be an attacker, a supporting bench sitter and a wall too!
The ability is nuts, you never get KOed pretty much, Pikachu will often times survive any hit more than 200 damage. And it can hit anything for 300 damage. And in combination with the card we just saw (Gravity Mountain), this little Pikachu can knock out the mighty giants like Charizard ex, Hydregion ex and Gardevoir ex to name a few. Without the mountain, even stuff like Regidrago VSTAR can't survive the hit. Awkard energy cost yes, but there's ways around it. It's also now given Miraidon a useful Lighting tera type Pokémon to use Area Zero Underdepths too, unlike Mewtwo ex.
#9 - Brilliant Blender
Original Set: Stellar Tera Type Starter Set (Ceruledge)
Type: Consistency [ACE SPEC]
Placements: 172
Played in:
- Ceruledge ex (56.39%)
- Ancient Box (20%)
- Lugia VSTAR/Archeops
It's a better Battle Compressor, brilliant isn't it? Ok maybe not quite since it is your Ace Spec for game but discarding 5 cards from your deck can help some types of deck.
For Ceruledge, it's 5 energies. For Ancient Box, it's 5 Ancient cards. For United Wings, it's 5 United Wings attackers. For Lugia, it might as well be 4 Archeops and some random card. For Gardevoir ex, it's 5 Psychic energies. So it's good for these types of decks. Some of them won't play it because having Legacy energy or Unfair Stamp is way better.
#8 - Energy Search Pro
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Consistency [ACE SPEC]
Placements: 178
Played in:
- Gholdengo ex (99%)
From an Ace Spec that could see play in many types of decks to now an Ace Spec that is likely to see play in only one deck and because of this, that one deck is about to become even better!
Energy Search Pro searches out any number of Basic Energies of different types. Aka, you can find as many as 8 energies in this one search, that's quite a good value from one card. And because Gholdengo ex wants to attack with as many energy cards in hand, yup the story writes itself. Is it time for more people to make it rain with Gholdengo ex, now in it's rainbow form! And of course, there is a 1% and if you're curious, it's Ceruledge ex because that deck wants to see many energies as well, just in the discard.
#7 - Counter Gain
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Comeback
Placements: 192
Played in:
- Hydregion ex/Pidgeot ex (19%)
- Pidgeot ex Control
- Arceus VSTAR
- Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Dusknoir
- Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
- Iron Thorns ex/Milotic ex
I love this card. I played it back in 2018-19 during the old Zoroark GX days and it sure showed it's power back then, so I have confidence that Counter Gain will do the same thing in this format as well. If you're behind on prizes, you just use one less colorless for your attacks. Simple, yet so effective.
And as predicted, it's seeing a lot of play, mostly in decks that uses Pidgeot ex, be it a control variant or an attacking variant. This can help Hydregion ex use it's first attack for just 1 dark energy (needing just 2 to hit 200 and mill 3 is nuts already), and it can also help Radiant Charizard to hit for just 1 fire energy when your opponent is at 3 prizes. Or Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex for free when they are at 2! Or Terpagos ex hitting for a single energy (if you play those). Or my favourite from this list, Arceus VSTAR can now hit for just one DTE! I'm excited to see how Counter Gain will be implemeted in this format.
#6 - Gimmighoul
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Attacker
Placements: 255
Played in:
- Gholdengo ex (100%, obviously)
This one is just me being a bit cheeky but it fits the bill. It's a card that came out in this set, and it's seeing a lot of play. 255! And obviously they are all Gholdengo ex players. But hey if one deck is seeing a lot of play, it must be good!
Gimmighoul, you all know it's purpose. It's just there to evolve into Gholdengo ex. So why does it matter which one we're playing? Well this Gimmighoul has the answer to that question. Do you want to flip coins in an attempt to hit 20 times whatever heads you get? Or do you wanto find 2 Basic energy cards, of any typing too? It's obviously the latter because it works so well for Gholdengo ex as it wants to see as many energy cards in hand as possible. And those decks will now be playing all sorts of energies because of said Energy Search Pro from a few entries before this.
#5 - Ceruledge ex
Original Set: Stellar Tera Type Starter Set (Ceruledge)
Type: Attacker
Placements: 280
Played in:
- Ceruluedge ex (96%)
- Gholdengo ex
- Archaludon ex
Ceruledge ex will be a card you will see often in the next few months. Some might say this is the new Raging Bolt ex. And in a way, it is. You don't need to do much to set up your attackers and away you go. The more energies you discard, the more you will hit and with how the decks are currently build, you can run through your decks with cards such as Carmine (you can use that Turn 1), Professor's Research, Ultra Ball, Squawkabilly ex and Radiant Greninja just to name a few.
And let's not forget, Ceruledge ex does have 270 HP, it's not an easy Pokémon to take down so some decks might struggle to KO the first one and the more turns are lost not taking prizes, Ceruledge will hit even harder. But the deck does have some issues. It is quite linear, and people can easily tech against it. But the card is that good that it's also seeing play with other partners such as Gholdengo ex and Archaludon ex. This is one to watch out for in the next format.
#4 - Koraidon
Original Set: Super Electric Breaker
Type: Tech Attacker
Placements: 294
Played in:
- Ancient Box (51%)
- Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (23%)
- Roaring Moon ex (22%)
- Gouging Fire ex
Possibly a surprise inclusion in the top 5 but there is some merit to Koraidon. Unlike the last few Ancient-type attackers we've seen not named Roaring Moon or Flutter Mane, this one is actually good. Sure it does have the condition that another Ancient Pokemon has to have attacked the previous turn (you can't stack this attack), but the payoff is a cool 180 damage from a single prize attacker. And there are loads of Fighting-weak two prizes in the game right now.
Koraidon naturally sees play in decks like Ancient Box where you are always attacking with Roaring Moon, Raging Bolt ex because that is your main attacker, Roaring Moon ex also for the same reason and even Gouging Fire ex, it is an Ancient Pokémon after all! And because it only requires two double colourless energies, all these decks can splash a Koraidon for a cheeky 180 attack outta nowhere.
#3 - Precious Trolley
Original Set: Stellar Tera Type Starter Set (Sylveon)
Type: Ball Search [ACE SPEC]
Placements: 311
Played in:
- Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex (53.37%)
- Dragapult ex/Iron Thorns ex (18%)
- Blissey ex/Pikachu ex
- Archaludon ex
- Gardevoir ex
Here comes the best Ace Spec pulling it's way into the 3rd spot. Even though I said this was a type of ball search card, it's not really a ball but hey it works the same way. It helps with your consistency and that's never a bad thing. Precious Trolley pretty much helps you fill up your bench. Got an Arven going 2nd in hand? Now you don't have to rely on just Buddy-Buddy Poffin or Nest Ball to get your set-up going.
And because it says any basics, that includes your Vs and ex Pokemon. The deck that has used it the most was obviously Charizard ex and as someone who plays the deck all the time, yup it works. Now you can get your Charmander, Pidgey, Rotom V and what not all in one go! Dragapult/Iron Thorns is another deck that is using it more than others. I can even see it being played in some Tera deck where, with a Tera Pokémon and Area Zero Underdepths, you can search out potentially 8 Basic Pokémon in that one go!
It's good but there is a trade off, it is your Ace Spec for game. So are you willing to give up a likely more game changing Ace Spec for one that helps you set up the first turn? Some people seem to be ok with it.
#2 - Tera Orb
Original Set: Stellar Tera Type Starter Set (Both)
Type: Ball Search
Placements: 325
Played in:
- Dragapult ex (62%)
- Charizard ex (22%)
- Regidrago VSTAR
- Terapagos ex
Tera Orb is a superb ball search card for Tera decks. The more they show up, the more this will see play. You can liken it to the old Cherish Ball that simply searches out a GX Pokemon, it's the same thing here.
Now some decks don't have to rely on Ultra Ball to find their evolving Stage 2 Tera Pokemon, and the biggest two decks to have used it so far have been Dragapult ex decks and Charizard ex decks (and in some cases, both combined!). Of course I do expect to see this in some other decks, namely anything using the Terapagos ex/Noctowl engine and also decks using Teal Mask Ogerpon ex. More outs to your Pokemon is always a good thing.
#1 - Latios ex
Original Set: Paradise Dragona
Type: Supporting Pokémon
Placements: 442
Played in:
- Miraidon ex (33%)
- Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (21%)
- Roaring Moon ex (14%)
- Klawf
- Gouging Fire ex
To nobody's surprise, Latios ex is the number 1 on this list. This card just gives Turbo decks an even bigger boost. Now you can't stall these decks out for a turn or two when they can simply bench down a Latios ex and go about with their day. And because it works for Basics, it's the Turbo decks, your Miraidons, Raging Bolts, Roaring Moons and Gouging Fires, are all using it. Even Klawf, a deck that typically only has Basics but not really a Turbo deck.
More big basic decks will keep showing up in the next year or so, which means more decks can use Latios ex to get them out of some sticky situations. It's already helpful to these decks. Have your Iron Hands ex stuck with it's hefty retreat cost? Not a problem. Need to switch out your Gouging Fire? No problemo. Need to get an attacker to jump in to cancel out poison for Roaring Moon? You betcha! Need to retreat your Bibarel? Well sorry but it only works for Basics.
A simple one line ability but yet so effective. If the attack hit for 220, it'd be even more amazing but we can't have it all I suppose. Thanks for reading!
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