Kash Top 20 List: Decks from BRS to PRE and how rotation will affect them (Rotation Day in Japan)

 

Picture from @hororopokeca

It's January 24th (in Japan) and while it may not mean much to us everywhere around the World, it's release day for the new Battle Partners set in Japan. But even bigger than that, it's Rotation day in Japan! Which means cards from the F-Block are no longer legal for Standard play. For the rest of us, it will be April 11th.

Let's have a reminder of what cards are rotating, there a whole load of them so I will only focus on the ones that are playable and have seen play in many decks.

Want an easier way to figure out what cards are rotating? Literally anything with a yellow border (unless they have been reprinted with the silver border). So this isn't just any normal rotating, we are also rotating the yellow board cards era which stretches back to Base Set back in 1999 (and yes I still have some of my old Base Set cards still with me)! This is the new era!

First things first, every and ALL Pokémon Vs are gone. If it has the big V, it's gone. That also means the VSTAR mechanic is rotating. Which means were are now no longer able to:

• Starbirth (Arceus)
• Find any 2 cards and put into hand
• Star Portal (Palkia)
• Attach up to 3 Water energies to any of your Water Pokémon
• Star Chronos (Dialga)
• Do 220 and take an extra turn
• Star Abyss (Darkrai)
• Take 2 Item cards from discard and put into hand
• Ancient Star (Aerodactyl)
• Gains ability to stop V and VSTAR mons from using their abilities
• Moisture Star (Goodra)
• Heal all damage from this Pokémon
• Star Requiem (Giratina)
• KO opponent's active Pokémon if you have 10 or more cards in Lost Zone
• Legacy Star (Regidrago)
• Discard top 7 cards from your deck, then take 2 cards from discard into your hand
• Summoing Star (Lugia)
• Put 2 Archeops  Colourless Pokémon from discard onto your bench
• Star Alchemy (Forest Seal Stone)
• Yes it's a Tool card but it still works as a VSTAR on any V Pokémon. Find 1 card and put into hand.

Yes they were all called Star if you never noticed it. As for Giratina, there's another big loss, that is the Lost Zone mechanic. Which means we lose:

• Comfey, the main draw mechanic for Lost Zone (LZ)
• Cramorant, hits for free when LZ is 4
• Miragate Gate activates when LZ is 7
• Sableye spreads 12 to anything when LZ is 10
• Giratina VSTAR KOes active when LZ is 10
• Colress adds 2 more cards to LZ while adding 3 cards to your hand
• Lost Vacuum sends one Stadium or Tool from either side to the LZ including one card needed to use this card

There's one cool mechanic we are also losing, which is the Radiant Pokémon! You can only have one of these in your deck but they can be game changing.

• Radiant Greninja, draw engine
• Radiant Charizard, late game attacker as a single prizer
• Radiant Hisuian Sneasler, adds poison damage
• Radiant Alakazam, moves 2 damage counters around your opponent's side 

But in reality, there are some big cards rotating from this block that will change the game, especially because some of them are the engine for successful decks we all know and love:

• Lumineon V, takes any supporter
• Rotom V, draw 3 card then ends turn
• Manaphy, bench protection
• Bibarel, draw engine
• Radiant Greninja, draw engine
• Kirlia, draw engine
• Comfey, draw engine using the LZ
• Snorlax, blocks retreat
• Archeops, engine accelerator
• Regigigas, engine accelerator

It will take some time to get used to not seeing some of these staples for sure. I especially will miss having Arceus, Giratina and Bibarel legal as these three were instrumental in my Regional win and also my Worlds run in 2023. But we're not just losing Pokémon cards obviously, we will have to say goodbye to some big Trainer and Energy cards as well!

It's not a big list of cards but I felt these were the more important ones to point out and I included some old favorites just in case. 

When it comes to Supporters, we'll miss some really helpful cards:

• Irida, finds a Water Pokémon and item
• Cyllene for the gambling people
• Roxanne, disruption when your opponent is down to 3 or less prizes
• Colress, draw power
• Worker, stadium bump and draw power
• Thorton, currently a favourite with many decks to help switch Basic Pokémon from discard with bench

But the biggest hit I feel might come from the Items because we do lose some really important stuff here:

• Cancelling Cologne, I mean need I say more? Cancels opponent's active effects
• Feather Ball, great for searching out Pidgeot ex especially
• Hisuian Heavy Ball, a card I personally like because you can look at your prizes then take a Basic Pokémon. Helps with prize checking!
• Switch Cart, another switching option
• Trekking Shoes, helps to thin the deck out a bit
• Lost Vacuum, stadium or tool disruptor
• Capturing Aroma, ball search on a coin flip

There aren't any real big Tools we will lose but the obvious big one is Forest Seal Stone, it's too good as mentioned on my VSTAR bit. For Energy we're only losing two big ones. Gift Energy is mainly for Lugia decks but losing Double Turbo Energy will hurt a lot of decks and now decks have to find another way to power up attackers needing two colourless energy to attack. 

And finally Stadiums, there are some big ones here:

• Magma Basin, helps to attach energy from discard for Fire attackers
• Collapsed Stadium, limits bench to 4, often used to get rid of a bench sitter
• Temple of Sinnoh, stops Special Energy from having their effects
• Lost City, sends a Pokémon that was KOed into the Lost Zone
• PokeStop, discard top 3, any Item card discarded goes into hand. 

Losing PokeStop will hurt a lot of decks and it was one of the main draw engine for many decks. That could also be changing as playing a lot of Item cards now may not be the best of ideas with the introduction of Budew into the format. Still a good way to thin the deck out!

And with that, I wanted to share 20 decks from the current format and show how rotation will effect these decks. There are some notable exclusions but these are for the obvious reason that the main attacker is rotating, be it Regidrago, Palkia or Lugia.

#20 Iron Thorns ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 21.67%

Iron Thorns may not look like it will lose much from rotation but losing Double Turbo Energy hurts the deck way more than losing the other 3 cards not named Cancelling Cologne I feel. 

Yes losing Cologne is a big deal for the deck as now it will have no answers to stuff like Mimikyu. But without DTE, the deck might just seize to exist. I feel like if anyone still wants to play Iron Thorns, they should switch over to the Dragapult built.

#19 Dusknoir/Charizard ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

This might be the only rouge deck that won a City League in Japan and it's a really cool way to play Charizard with Dusknoir and of course Budew. It's quite a turbo build with Radiant Greninja, PokeStop and Trekking Shoes in this list which you don't usually see in Zard decks.

And guess what? Those cards, along with Lumineon V, are the only ones rotating so this build might not even last as there aren't many good replacements for these specific cards. So if you want to try this version of Zard, you got a few months to make it work!

#18 Hydreigon ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 6.67%

This build of Hydreigon is only going to lose 4 cards, one of the lesser affected decks but three of them are major losses for many decks! This is just the first of many decks on this list will feel the pain of losing the Forest Seal Stone combo package (Stone + Lumineon and/or Rotom). 

Losing Dark Patch does mean you lose a way to power up your benched Dark mons but that shouldn't be a big issue. In fact, I feel Hydreigon gains one big thing from the rotation, that being the loss of Manaphy from many decks. 

And you might notice one yellow border card wasn't cancelled off because you can easily swap this Duskull to the one introduced in Shrouded Fable. 

#17 Charizard ex/Noctowl

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

Ok let's address the elephant in the room. Yes that's a Brandon in the list. I don't even know what it does. I just took the first decent list for Charizard/Noctowl I could find and this looked the most decent of the others so yeah, it is rotating, but let's act as if it's a Cancelling Cologne or something else.

This build of Charizard won't be missing the Stone package, in fact it won't lose much. Sure losing DTE means Terapagos can't attack out of nowhere now and has to rely on either two attachments in 2 turns or Zard ex powering it up. For this, I can see either Mela or Crispin making it's way to the deck to solve this issue. Losing Manaphy does suck, but Rabsca is still a thing just in case. Other than that, Zard Noctowl doesn't really lose much. But like any other good Zard deck, losing Thorton will hurt, and we will have to play more of our basic mons now.

#16 Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 21.67%

Yes Chien-Pao is still a thing. Yes Baxcalibur is still around and while the two of them are staying, the deck is losing a number of key pieces. Thorton is a new inclusion so it won't miss that more than others. But we are losing Irida, the key piece to establish Baxcalibur on board!

But if it's not Baxcalibur we are getting out of Iridia, often times it's Radiant Greninja as it is one of the draw engine of the deck, and well that is rotating. But here comes the bad news, the other draw engine in the deck, Bibarel, is also rotating. The deck could turn to Revaroom as a psudeo replacement for both Greninja and Bibarel. But wait it gets worse, PokeStop is also gone. The deck will need a complete makeover to get back into contention but I do think it can adapt. These raindance-type abilities have always been good anyway.

#15 Dragapult ex/Charizard

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 11.67%

Dragapult and Charizard had a big showing this weekend in Birmingham and it's not as if it's a new idea that just showed up, Pult and Zard have had some results over in Japan as well and I do expect it to still be a thing going into rotation. Sure, you will miss the Stone package and Manaphy, but other decks will also have to adapt to it.

The one thing the deck might miss greatly, like any other Dragapult deck, is Radiant Alakazam. It helps to move damage counters around, especially to help you get KOs on 70 HP Pokemon when you can only spread 6 damage counters from Phantom Dive. Alakazam helps to set up some big KOs and sure Hawlucha can help as a replacement to it but while Hawlucha's effect only comes in once, Alakazam effect comes every turn so that's a huge change. 

#14 Pidgeot ex Control

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 26.67%

Pidgeot Control is one of the more affected decks by rotation. It loses a tone of stuff. You can't discard cards from your opponent's hand from Luxray anymore or retreat lock with both Snorlax and Mawile. It also loses Miss Fortune Sisters, one of the best ways to run your opponents out of important item resources. 

But the big loss surely has to be Rotom, Lumineon and Forest Seal Stone. These decks tend to rely on Rotom early on to draw them enough cards to start setting up the perfect board state to either lock opponents or slowly disrupt their setup or hand. Without the Stone Package, it will be much harder to set up Pidgeot ex by Turn 2, which is what the deck needs to get everything going. Losing DTE also means Wellspring Ogerpon now has to do 20 damage with Sob instead of no damage, which is not ideal.

#13 Gouging Fire ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 20%

Gouging Fire actually loses a few important stuff to make the deck running the way it does currently. Not having Radiant Greninja will make the deck significantly slower and not having Magma Basin means you can't just establish an attacker with 3 energy attack cost out of nowhere now. It loses a few attackers as well, Entei V is now gone and even though it's not in this decklist, Delphox V is another big loss as it can help take two prizes on someone not prepared for it. 

The other main loss is Switch Cart. Gouging Fire ex needs to retreat to use it's Blaze Blitz attack again and without Switch Cart, now you are just relying on either hard retreat (or Latias ex), Jet Energy or the new Surfer supporter card. It's still a decent rogue choice all things considered, and can easily adapt to the new format. Let's not forget Hop's Zacian ex is weak to Fire type so there's some food for thought. 

#12 Terapagos ex/Dusknoir

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

Technically, this deck only loses 5 cards. One of them is enough to competely change the way this deck looks into the new rotation. Without DTE, Terapagos will now need to find another way to attack, and that might require the use of Glass Trumpet or Supporter cards like Mela or Crispin. 

Losing Thorton means the deck can't get a surprise Cursed Blast out of nowhere anymore as well. The other cards rotating aren't as big but losing Feather Ball does mean that you now just can't use Noctowl to search out a Feather Ball and Rare Candy to get a Pidgeot ex up and running so we're back to old faithful Ultra Ball for the time being. The new Brock supporter card from the next set might also help with that.

#11 Gholdengo ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

As you might notice, I'm not sharing the Palkia build for a very good reason, Palkia is gone so Gholdengo players will switch over to the Energy Search Pro build. But either side of Gholdengo will miss 3 main cards. Radiant Greninja is one of the deck's draw engine along with Gholdengo itself and also PokeStop, another card also rotating. You could replace Greninja with Revaroom as a new sub-draw engine alongside Gholdengo.

Losing Irida is also big as now you can't directly look for an Item card, likely Super Energy Retrieval or Energy Search Pro, to use right away. The deck will now have to rely on the likes of Ciphermaniac and the combo of either Gholdengo or Fezandipiti to find those specific combos. Ignoring all that, it's still the same deck that just wants to see lot of energies to Make It Rain.

#10 Roaring Moon ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 18.33%

Turbo decks in general will take a big hit in this next rotation as a number of them will lose the combination of Trekking Shoes, PokeStop and Radiant Greninja. Roaring Moon ex is no different but it also loses Dark Patch so like Gouging Fire before it, now it can't power up an attacker that needs 3 energy to attack out of nowhere.

Everything else is still the same, Sada is still the best way to get energies onto your attacker but the deck might start to morph more into a toolbox type deck where it starts off attacking with Roaring Moon and Koraidon first while trying to get Roaring Moon ex ready to attack later on.

 

#9 Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

Speaking of Turbo Decks, I present to you the king of Turbo Decks! And unlike Gouging Fire and Roaring Moon, Raging Bolt only needs two energy cost to attack so it's attack is not affected by rotation. The deck's draw power however, is the one that takes the hit. 

Without Radiant Greninja and PokeStop, the deck now has to rely solely on Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Prof Sada's Vitality and Fezandipiti ex. The big question going into rotation is the more intruging one, does the deck still partner up with Teal Mask Ogerpon ex or the incoming Iono's Bellibolt ex, which charges up Lighting Energies. Ogerpon attaches energy once but you get to draw a card. Bellibolt attaches energy as often as you like, but it has to be on an Iono Pokémon. 

#8 Ancient Box

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

It might look as if not much is rotating from Ancient Box but the cards rotating is enough to affect the deck, just ask any Ancient Box players. The deck is another one that is heavily reliant on the Radiant Greninja and PokeStop to run through the deck as quickly as possible. Greninja could be replaced by a Revaroom line which might mean more energies in the deck.

Hisuian Heavy Ball is also helpful to get, usually, Radiant Greninja out of the prizes. The deck still has plenty to survive the rotation, it will just have to get used to finding new ways to thin through the deck as there aren't any good replacements for PokeStop.

#7 Terapagos ex/Klawf

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 25%

This Poison build of Terapagos is one of the decks most affected by rotation. A few of the cards work in tandem so if one were to leave, naturally the other would too. 3 Switch Cart was usually the best way to get Oranguru into or out of the active to get a Forest Seal Stone, and yes those 3 are gone. 

Radiant Hisuian Sneasler is a big loss as it was one of the ways to put more damage counters on Poisoned Pokemon in between turns to help you get KO at the perfect timing, be it before their turn so they can't use Fezandipiti ex or going into your turn so you can get another KO. The other big issue is the loss of DTE. Terapagos and Klawf will now need to find another way to attack, and relying on double energy attachments in two turns isn't always the best way. This poison build will need a complete makeover to be viable going into the next format, or perhaps find another partner.

#6 Archaludon ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 3.33%

We go from one of the most affected decks by rotation to probably the least affected deck by rotation. Yes, there is a Dialga build but since that is rotating, I will showcase the other build that is just based on Archaludon. It's only losing 2 cards! 

Lumineon V isn't even a big loss for the deck as it has ways to find the supporter it needs with PokeGear and these supporters are mostly 2-offs or more. Radiant Greninja however is the big loss, the deck was quite reliant on it to not just draw cards, but to help discard energies for Archaludon ex to make use for it's ability. Thankfully there is a natural replacement in the form of Revaroom, and this is probably the one deck that can easily get Revaroom out of the active thanks to Archaludon, Turo and Scoop Up Cyclone. 

#5 Ceruledge ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

While I chose not to showcase the loss of Dialga VSTAR in Archaludon, I felt I had to do so for Ceruledge with Palkia VSTAR. Ceruledge has often relied on it not just as a back-up attacker but also to threaten Moonlight Shuriken with Radiant Greninja. 

There is a replacement for Greninja thankfully for the deck in Revaroom and even PokeStop isn't as big as a loss for the deck as it can just replace it with Cycling Road, which helps to discard energy which is what the deck wants anyway. With all that in mind, the deck actually doesn't lose much from rotation and might just be in a better spot for it.

#4 Miraidon ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 11.67%

Miraidon is one of the few decks, perhaps the only one, on this list where it actually loses attackers more than Trainer cards. Losing Raikou V and Raichu V means the deck now no longer has an attacker with 2 or less energy cost for attacks. Both are important for the deck, Raikou for extra draw and Raichu to hit big numbers for a one-hit KO. 

Even Zapdos will be missed as it helped to fix numbers, especially against stuff like Iron Thorns ex with it's 230 HP. And even though Iron Hands isn't rotating, losing DTE means the deck now has to either rely on hitting energies off Electric Generator or from Magneton. And with Budew lurking, you might not even get to use Generator. But there is some hope in the form of Iono and her Bellibolt, that card might completely unlock new combos for this deck to exploit. 

#3 Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 8.33%

And now we come to my personal favourite deck. Charizard actually loses just 5 cards, but they're all quite important to the deck. We've got the trio from the Stone package which helps to unlock the deck's combo pieces so it will greatly miss that. Rotom has a natural replacement in Cleffa but there aren't any replacements for Lumineon or Forest Seal Stone.

Another card that helps with getting the perfect combos is Thorton, you now can't surprise your opponents out of nowhere after they had taken a KO on your Pidgey or Charmander or the occasional surprise Cursed Blast out of nowhere. 

Maybe the biggest loss for the deck is Radiant Charizard, it's the only true single-prized attacker in the deck and it help with the late game prize trade. So yes, Zard is one of the least affected, but the cards rotating will leave some big gaps in the deck. That said, it will still be one of the strongest decks going into rotation however as you still have the holy trio of Charizard, Pidgeot and Dusknoir.

#2 Dragapult ex/Dusknoir

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

With the introduction of Budew, Dragapult might replace it's dragon brethren Regidrago as the best deck in the format. And going into rotation, well Regidrago VSTAR is gone so Dragapult goes back into being it's own deck and it's already doing so in the Prismatic Evolution format. 

But it does lose some big cards from rotation. Lumineon and Forest Seal Stone helps to enable some key combo pieces for the deck as it does rely on getting the perfect board state. Radiant Alakazam, as mentioned previously, is another big loss as it loses another key piece for it's combo to take multiple prizes. Manaphy is another dangerous loss as the deck might now be open to early game snipes. 

Losing Lance is quite a shame as Lance as finally found it's home in this new build of Dragapult. There are some natural replacements in the form of Jacq or Perrin but for a Dragapult deck, Lance will always be the best choice to help set up your Dragon line. Like Zard before, the deck is still in a fantastic spot going into the next rotation. It still has it's draw engine in Drakloak. The same cannot be said about our final deck on this list.

#1 Gardevoir ex

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

8 cards rotated. It may not sound like much but half of them will be the reason the deck changes completely. The current Ralts we all play can be easily replaced with another 70 HP Ralts. Kirlia however is irreplaceable. Refinement, or Trade, has always been one of the best abilities in the game and this helped Gardevoir to become one of the best decks since the introduction of Gardevoir ex. 

And we're not just losing this draw power, the other draw power of Radiant Greninja is also gone so the deck might to rely on something like Revaroom, since you do want to discard Psychic energies anyway. Losing Manaphy might not be as big of a deal if the board isn't filled with Kirlias now. 

I'm very curious to see a Gardevoir ex deck will look like post rotation without Refinement Kirlia. Those are all the decks I've got for you and if you're wondering how they all fare for rotation, here's a quick little recap:

Decks affected by rotation from least to most

1. Archaludon ex - 3.33%
2. Hydreigon ex - 6.67%
3. Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - 8.33%
4. Dragapult ex/Dusknoir - 10%
5. Ceruledge ex - 10%
6. Ancient Box - 10%
7. Charizard ex/Noctowl - 10%
8. Miraidon ex - 11.67%
9. Dragapult ex/Charizard - 11.67%
10. Gardevoir ex - 13.33%
11. Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex - 13.33%
12. Gholdengo ex - 13.33%
13. Terapagos ex/Dusknoir - 13.33%
14. Dusknoir/Charizard ex - 13.33%
15. Roaring Moon ex - 18.33%
16. Gouging Fire ex - 20%
17. Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - 21.67%
18. Iron Thorns ex - 21.67%
19. Terapagos ex/Klawf - 25%
20. Pidgeot ex Control - 26.67%

Thanks for reading!

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!