Kash Top 15 List: Best Decks from BST to SVI and how much they cost

Well the new Battle Styles to Scarlet & Violet rotation is fully underway, we've now been playing the new 2023 Pokemon TCG standard rotation for a month now, so we should have enough information to figure out what are the best decks going forward and what to look out for the next month or so.

With that in mind, I wanted to showcase the best 15 deck currently in the game, but not just show the list, I also wanted to showcase how much these decks are worth. There are still many new players entering the game or current players looking for something new to try out. Even I am always on the lookout for newer ideas to test out. I'll also add a little new thing to these lists where I showcase the deck's 3 best matchups and 3 worst matchups so you know what to look out for and maybe knowing what decks your deck is bad against, perhaps find something to help improve those matchups.

Prices for the decks/cards are based off prices on TCGPlayer as of 18th May 2023, and based off USD. Lists are all on Limitless. Best and worst matchups are taken from Trainer Hill. For matchups, Lost Zone Box with Kyogre will be lumped together with Lost Zone Box with Radiant Greninja as the later. The order of the decks you see here are from the lowest performing to the highest performing on Play Limitless. 

Results from here, especially the ones making up the Limitless Points, are based off events from EUIC up till now, including Aichi Champions League, Surabaya Regional League and Thailand Regional League, all of which were played in the same format as this.

15) Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 7th Place Portland Regional - Anthony Perez

Wins: 

Top 4s: 

Top 8s: 2

Total Limitless Points: 44

Deck Cost: $44.57

Best Matchups:

• Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - 73.7%
• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 66.7%
• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 57.1%

Worst Matchups:

• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 32.6%
• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 33.3%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 37.7%

This deck is starting to gain some traction having scored two Top 8 finishes at major events as of late. While it lacks the higher out-put of Regieleki VMAX, it does gain a constant energy attacher in the form of Flaaffy. It can also get big KOs thanks to Raichu V. Miraidon ex and Raikou V are the two most expensive pieces in the deck, going for $2.39 and $6.62 each.

14) Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 10th Place Philippines Championships 2023 - Mickel Paul Kinomes

Wins: 

Top 4s: 

Top 8s: 

Total Limitless Points: 12

Deck Cost: $43.87

Best Matchups:

• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 66.1%
• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 60%
• Gardevoir ex - 50%

Worst Matchups:

• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 31.4%
• Mew VMAX - 35.5%
• Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - 37.5%

One of the fun/budget decks on this list that have seen some success so far this season, which is better than the other Origin Forme VSTAR deck (Palkia). The deck's whole plan is to set-up the ideal board state to start taking KOs, especially with Dialga's Star Chronos. 

The most expensive pieces of the decks are the 3-3 Dialga (cost a total $18 at least) and of course Radiant Greninja, which is the same story for many other decks.

13) Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 1st Place EUIC - Alex Schemanske

Wins: 1

Top 4s: 

Top 8s: 2

Total Limitless Points: 130

Deck Cost: $86.35

Best Matchups:

• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 73.6%
• Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 58.2%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 56.5%

Worst Matchups:

• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 33.3%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 39.4%
• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 40%

Arceus/Duraludon is still alive but instead of being a tank deck, now it's formed into a toolbox style deck. It's already seen success with the likes of Alolan Vulpix VSTAR back in EUIC and most recently with Umbreon VMAX in Portland. 

Still, the deck has proven results and with Arceus being back into the limelight, it's price has gone up. The 4-3 Arceus line itself will cost $56.76 but everything else is affordable. 

12) Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 12th Singapore Regional League - Keenan Jacob Victor

Wins: 

Top 4s: 

Top 8s: 

Total Limitless Points: 37

Deck Cost: $56.58

Best Matchups:

• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 70.5%
• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 66.7%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 62.5%

Worst Matchups:

• Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 26.5%
• Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - 40%
• Gardevoir ex - 45.8%

Another fun deck on this list that isn't really a budget deck for a good reason, it plays two different VMAXes! Like Dialga, this deck hasn't seen much success but more than Dialga so far, on two occasions almost hitting Top 8. 

It's not the easiest deck to play as you have a lot of lines to take for a variety of matchups, and you have to keep track of the numbers on the board. Even though Rapid Strike Urshifu is quite affordable because of the theme deck, the same cannot be said about Inteleon VMAX, the 3-3 line almost costing $22.

11) Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - 25th Place Portland Regional - Grant Shen

Wins: 

Top 4s: 

Top 8s: 1

Total Limitless Points: 124

Deck Cost: $68.15

Best Matchups:

• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 62.5%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 61.2%
• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 60%

Worst Matchups:

• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 26.3%
• Mew VMAX - 42.7%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 43%

It's the other Gardevoir deck! This one is twice the amount of the usual Gardevoir ex decks and there are 4 culprits for it, Mewtwo V-Union, all 4 pieces costing a total of $33.93. It plays differently to the normal Gardevoir as you can also go for the disruption route with Klefki and set up a board state to have Mewtwo V-Union clean house at the end.

10) Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 16th Place Portland Regional - Kian Amini

Wins: 

Top 4s: 1

Top 8s: 2

Total Limitless Points: 191

Deck Cost: $45.02

Best Matchups:

• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 68.6%
• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 62.7%
• Gardevoir ex - 62.5%

Worst Matchups:

• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 26.4%
• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 29.5%
• Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - 38.8%

SableZard is back but so far it hasn't had the big results that either the Greninja/V Mons variants or the Kyogre variants of Lost Box has had so far (apart from EUIC). The deck, unlike other Lost Box decks, has a linear gameplan in mind but it works most of the time, if it hits the right matchups. 

The deck isn't that difficult to build either, just Radiant Charizard, Sableye and Battle VIP Pass being the slightly costlier cards in the list and it's probably stuff you already own if you have other decks so just change a few stuff and you have a pretty good deck ready to go!

9) Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 1st Portland Regional - Landen Kaetler

Wins: 2

Top 4s: 1

Top 8s: 4

Total Limitless Points: 235

Deck Cost: $86.17

Best Matchups:

• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 60.6%
• Gardevoir ex - 59.7%
• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 58.3%

Worst Matchups:

• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 38.1%
• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 44.9%
• Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 46.2%

Now here's a deck that near and dear to me, it gave me my first ever Regional event win just two weeks ago! ArcTina is one of the best decks to utilise the Path + Judge strategy and it's quite simple. The gameplan is EA Sports as I call it. 

If you have Energy (E) and Arceus (A), you're in the game (Sports). Then you try to disrupt with Path and Judge and finish games off with Giratina VSTAR. It is one of the more costlier decks with the Arceus line going for about $57 and the Giratina line about $15. Don't forget to pick up that 6 cents card called Skwovet, it might just win you games!

8) Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 5th Place London Cup - Öjvind Svinhufvud

Wins: 

Top 4s: 2

Top 8s: 2

Total Limitless Points: 372

Deck Cost: $41.31

Best Matchups:

• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 67.4%
• Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 62.2%
• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 60.9%

Worst Matchups:

• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 33.9%
• Giratina VSTAR - 41.7%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 41.7%

Goodra is still sticking around and still Rolling Ironing everyone in it's path! It didn't lose much in the rotation so it's almost the same old trusted Goodra. Rolling Iron is an annoying attack to deal with as it makes Goodra takes less damage. Goodra isn't the most expensive attacker too, the 3-3 line only costing $15 so it's an affordable choice and in fact, one of the cheapest decks on this list.

7) Miraidon ex/Regieleki VSTAR - 8th Place EUIC - Robert Kinbrum

Wins: 

Top 4s: 

Top 8s: 1

Total Limitless Points: 76

Deck Cost: $71.12

Best Matchups:

• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 56.6%
• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 55.6%
• Giratina VSTAR - 53.8%

Worst Matchups:

• Mew VMAX - 35.4%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 37.3%
• Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 38.6%

Miraidon is the new aggro deck of the format, and it's gameplan is quite simple, set up the lighting guys, hit your energies and start attacking and often times you can start hitting for 220 by Turn 1 itself, which is knocking out a number of V Pokémons. 

And the deck is very consistent thanks to Miraidon's ability to search out two Lighting type Pokémon to be put onto the bench. The Regieleki line will be the hardest ones to get as they cost at least $26 and even the 2 Raikou Vs are costing a total of $12! Everything else apart from Forest Seal Stone shouldn't be too difficult to get.

6) Giratina VSTAR - 2nd Place Bogotá SPE - Jonathan Torres

Wins: 

Top 4s: 2

Top 8s: 

Total Limitless Points: 151

Deck Cost: $56.91

Best Matchups:

• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 59.0%
• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 58.3%
• Gardevoir ex - 52.8%

Worst Matchups:

• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 41.8%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 43.2%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 43.7%

Technically you could say Giratina is also a lost box deck, it just has a 3-3 VSTAR line to go with it. The gameplan is similar but you do have a heavy hitter to take down opposing Vs and ex Pokemons thanks to Giratina VSTAR, including it's ridiculously good Star Requiem VSTAR move. 

The Giratinas themselves will cost you around $22 to get, and the likes of Sableye and Radiant Greninja are the cheapest cards to get either. And the deck does play 4 Battle VIP Pass, not the cheapest items to get but it certainty gets the job done.

5) Mew VMAX - 1st Place Philippines Championships - Joshua Doctolero

Wins: 1

Top 4s: 5

Top 8s: 6

Total Limitless Points: 422

Deck Cost: $50.53

Best Matchups:

• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 64.6%
• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 64.5%
• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 58.8%

Worst Matchups:

• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 43.2%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 46.6%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 46.7%

Mew VMAX is still a big favourite for many in the game despite the vast amount of counters it has to face in the game. Even then, Mew VMAX is so consistent it can usually beat those tricky matchups too. 

Wins in Philippines Championship and Indonesia Championship (technically not in this format but one set ahead of us) proves that Mew VMAX is still a very good choice. It's not hard to build too thanks to have a league battle deck released last year (even though the Mew line does still cost around $22 altogether).

4) Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 3rd Place Bogotá SPE - Gabriel Smart

Wins: 2

Top 4s: 7

Top 8s: 6

Total Limitless Points: 756

Deck Cost: $80.40

Best Matchups:

• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 73.5%
• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 61.4%
• Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 58.7%

Worst Matchups:

• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 37.8%
• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 41.8%
• Gardevoir ex - 47.1%

Easily the BDIF last time out and while some thought Lugia might not be as good in this new rotation, early results are suggesting otherwise. It's got the most Limitless Points in this format so far so that is saying something! 

The gameplan is simple, get Lugia VSTAR to set up the two Archeops and start to attack with a variety of attackers for all sorts of decks. It does come with a heavy price, the Lugia line will cost you at least $60, the most of any lines mentioned on this list so far. Everything else however is quite affordable so still a decent deck to pick up.

3) Gardevoir ex - 2nd Place EUIC - Tord Reklev

Wins: 1

Top 4s: 6

Top 8s: 8

Total Limitless Points: 448

Deck Cost: $38.54

Best Matchups:

• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 56.4%
• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 55.3%
• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 54.2%

Worst Matchups:

• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 37.5%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 40.3%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 43.1%

Gardevoir is back and of course we've got yet another decent Gardevoir ex in the game. Gardevoir decks want to play the long game, they will have to take a while to set-up but once it does, it can start to clean house. 

Kirlia helps a lot with that thanks to it's Refinement ability, one of the best abilities in the game (just look at what Zoroark GX did all those years ago). And surprisingly enough, it's the second cheapest deck on this list! The Gardevoir ex isn't even the most expensive Pokémon in the deck, that goes to Radiant Greninja, Cresselia and the other Gardevoir.

2) Lost Zone Toolbox/Kyogre - 5th Place Portland Regional - Alex Schemanske

Wins: 

Top 4s: 2

Top 8s: 3

Total Limitless Points: 180

Deck Cost: $33.33

Best Matchups:

• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 62.3%
• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 59.7%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 57.8%

Worst Matchups:

• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 37.5%
• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 43.2%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 43.4%

We go from the second cheapest deck to build on this list to the cheapest deck to build on this list and some might say one of the best decks going so far. It's the standard Lost Box Ninja deck but with Kyogre to finish up games and often times these lists don't play Vs to make it even more difficult for people to win the prize race. 

Lately more Kyogre variants are starting to add the usual Vs see in the Ninja built but they all work towards the same game plan. Win the Lost Zone race, get to 7 first, hit the mirage gates, get to 10 first and be the first to attack with Sableye, which is the second most expensive Pokémon in this deck after Radiant Greninja. If you're looking for a cheap option, this might be the one but this is also one of the hardest decks to master.

1st) Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 2nd Place London Cup - Brent Tonisson

Wins: 4

Top 4s: 6

Top 8s: 5

Total Limitless Points: 589

Deck Cost: $66.41

Best Matchups:

• Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 62.3%
• Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 59.7%
• Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 57.8%

Worst Matchups:

• Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 37.5%
• Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 43.2%
• Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 43.4%

And finally to the typical version of Lost Box Ninja decks we tend to see lately that some are calling the Turbo build. It's gameplan is the same as before, try to hit 7 into the lost box but this version can easily get that done by Turn 2 thanks to stuff like Lost Vacuum and Forest Seal Stone. Raikou, Dragonite and Drapion have proven to be the best choice of attackers for these types of decks to deal with the current meta and just to deal with V mons. 

The Dragonite itself is going for around $14 as it is a promo card and the Raikou isn't the cheapest card to get either. Even stuff like Forest Seal Stone, Battle VIP Pass and Nest Ball will cost more than the usual item cards. Still, it's worth the investment as it has a proven track record so far.

So here's a short review of the decks:

Deck prices (as of 18th May 2023) from cheapest to most expensive:

1. Lost Zone Toolbox/Kyogre - $33.33
2. Gardevoir ex - $38.54
3. Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - $41.31
4. Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - $43.87
5. Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - $44.57
6. Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - $45.02
7. Mew VMAX - $50.53
8. Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - $56.58
9. Giratina VSTAR - $56.91
10. Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - $66.41
11. Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - $68.15
12. Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - $71.12
13. Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - $80.40
14. Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - $86.17
15. Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - $86.35

The first thing you might notice right away is the fact that not a single deck costs over $100! This might be the first time in a while I've seen that where by every top deck doesn't go above the $100 mark. That is only a good news for Pokemon TCG, it just shows how viable the game is and players wanting to get into a new deck won't have to spend on much!

The deck that could have won EUIC is the 2nd cheapest deck on this list! This really makes me happy to see, as someone who is still struggling with money, that the game is very affordable for all of us to play and enjoy it!

Highest scoring decks from Limitless points in BST-SVI format:

1. Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 756
2. Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja - 589
3. Gardevoir ex - 448
4. Mew VMAX - 422
5. Hisuian Goodra VSTAR - 372
6. Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 235
7. Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard - 191
8. Lost Zone Toolbox/Kyogre - 180
9. Giratina VSTAR - 151
10. Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 130
11. Gardevoir ex/Mewtwo V-Union - 124
12. Miraidon ex/Regieleki VMAX - 76
13. Miraidon ex/Flaaffy - 44
14. Inteleon VMAX/Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX - 37
15. Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Magnezone - 12

Seeing Lugia on top was a bit surprising to me, but the main reason for this was it's strong showing throughout EUIC. Even though it may only have 2 top 8 finishers, it had the most representation in Day 2, along with it's two wins in Malaysia and Indonesia Regional Leagues. After that no surprises to see Lost Box Ninja, Gardevoir and Mew make up the rest of top 5, along with the other deck that did really well in EUIC, that being Goodra.

There is still a lot to play for in this format! Especially for all of us here in Asia as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore Championships will all be played in this format. Probably the most important tournament for me this year so I will continue to keep an eye out for how this format evolves in time for June 17th. Thanks for reading!

Kash Top 15 List: Decks from SSH to SIT and how rotation will affect them

 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).

#15 - Eldegoss V/Yveltal Control

Sander Wojcik - 5th - São Paulo International

Cards Rotating: - 26

• 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.

#14 - Mewtwo V-Union/Yveltal Control

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

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

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

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

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.

#9 - Kyurem VMAX/Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR

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. 

 

#8 - Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Inteleon

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.

#7 - Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX

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.

#6 - Giratina VSTAR/Lost Zone

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?

#5 - Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Charizard

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.

#4 - Lost Zone Toolbox/Radiant Greninja

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.

#3 - Mew VMAX/Meloetta Fusion

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

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 

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:

1. Flaaffy Box - $32.62
2. Zoroark Box - $34.54
3. Lost Zone Box/Radiant Greninja - $38.03
4. Blissey V/Miltank - $41.63
5. Regi Box - $44.27
6. Giratina VSTAR - $45.69
7. Eldegoss V/Yveltal Control - $45.78
8. Mew VMAX/Fusion - $52.34
9. Mew VMAX/DTE - $53.32
10. Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Inteleon - $62.13
11. Kyurem VMAX/Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR - $63.51
12. Lost Zone Box/Radiant Charizard - $64.82
13. Mewtwo V-Union/Yveltal Control - $66.13
14. Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - $80.05
15. Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - $130.47

How much do rotation affect these decks, from least to most: 

1. Mew VMAX/DTE - 10%
2. Mew VMAX/Fusion - 11.67%
3. Giratina VSTAR - 20%
4. Lost Zone Box/Radiant Greninja - 20%
5. Lost Zone Box/Radiant Charizard - 21.67%
6. Flaaffy Box - 28.33%
7. Kyurem VMAX/Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR - 28.33%
8. Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR/Inteleon - 31.67%
9. Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 33.33%
10. Zoroark Box - 36.67%
11. Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 38.33%
12. Mewtwo V-Union/Yveltal Control - 38.33%
13. Blissey V/Miltank - 38.33%
14. Regi Box - 40%
15. 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. 

Kash Top 20 List: Top Decks from SSH-BRS, prices of the decks and how rotation will affect them

 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.

#1 Mew VMAX

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.

#4 Arceus VSTAR with Galarian Moltres/Inteleon

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. 

Just a summary of which decks are more or least affected and because we're still moths away from Rotation, I'll change the numbers around to make it look more fair than say if it was 2-3 months to go:

Not affected by much: (0-25% -> 15 cards or less rotating)

• Mew VMAX - 16.67%
• Arceus VSTAR/Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX - 21.67%
• Malamar/Inteleon - 21.67%
• Arceus VSTAR/Duraludon VMAX - 25%

Slightly affected: (26%-41.67% -> 16 to 25 cards rotating)

• 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%

Severely affected or gone case: (43%+ -> 26 cards or more rotating)

• Galarian Moltres/Hoopa/Inteleon - 43.33%
• Jolteon VMAX - 43.33%
• Durant Mill - 46.67%
• Zoroark Control - 48.33%
• Dragapult VMAX - 48.33%

Of the decks I've got on here, only one is completely dead in the coming months (Dragapult) but a few others will need a completely new direction with the loss of Drizzle. Jolteon, Dark Box, Suicune, Ice Rider and a few Arceus decks all get quite badly hit by losing them. 

As if Mew VMAX being the BDIF wasn't scary enough, it's the least affected of the current decks as things stand! All it loses is Quick Ball (can be fixed with the new Feather Ball) and Rotom Phone (also can be fixed with either Switching Cups or Energy Lotto) so it really doesn't lose anything. The Arceus decks that don't lose out much are the ones that feature secondary VMAX attackers since they either focus on a Bibarel engine or in other cases like Duraludon, are fine without anything else. Gengar is another one that won't lose much, a possible deck to get early on to use for the next few months or the whole year.

And just a recap or how cheap or expensive these decks are:

Budget Friendly ($0-$100)

• 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

Standard Prices ($101-$149)

• 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

Spend big to Win ($150 >)

• 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

Previous for the Spend big portion, I would put it as $200 or more but the differences for these decks didn't seem enough for me to justify $200 as the last part, so I went for $150 this time around. The full Arceus line itself will cost around $166 and a 4-3 Mew with 4 Genesect will cost around $147 so that made me think $150 was a better benchmark for it.

Obviously the spend big to win isn't all true, you don't need an expensive deck to win, Malamar almost did just win a Regional and it's one of the cheapest options for us. Those expensive decks are often times likely to win as they are usually the better decks of the format. It is interesting to see many older favourite now in the Budget friendly option like Suicune V, Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX, Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX and Dragapult VMAX, decks that at one point where quite pricey and also the top tier decks. And now that I mention it, I did spend quite a lot of money build all 4 decks (the only 4 I had before I spent on Arceus) so that's a big whoops for me. 

Thanks for reading, and I hope someone out there finds this helpful in anyway. Have a good day!