Every Ascended Heroes Pokemon Deck, Ranked

Special Pokemon sets aren’t necessarily always the best known for bringing powerful decks into the meta. However, Ascended Heroes will be a little different. Getting a rolling release throughout the year that begins on January 30, 2026, it’s the largest Pokemon TCG set ever in terms of pure cards included, and many of these cards will bring new decks and strategies into the game.

Below, I’ll be going over my top picks for the decks coming out in Ascended Heroes based on deck lists that have seen modest success already in Japan as well as informed by the man Ascended Heroes cards already released in English.

#9 Larry’s Dudunsparce ex

Starting with a new Trainer’s Pokemon deck we get – Larry’s Dudunsparce feels pretty solidly meme tier. While theoretically you can hit for a lot of damage with its attack, it’s a coin flip-based attack that’s too inconsistent to be a serious threat. There are some other more solid support Pokemon in this deck, however. Larry’s Komala, for example, is a decent Pokemon with energy acceleration for Larry’s Pokemon, meaning the deck could fair better if a stronger main attacker than Dudunsparce ends up getting announced at some point.

#8 Erika’s Vileplume

Both of the new Trainer’s Pokemon decks coming out in Ascended Heroes feel a little lackluster. While it’s admittedly cool to get an Erika’s Pokemon deck, couldn’t it have been a little stronger? The ability to heal all of your Pokemon for 30 damage does help against spread decks, but Vileplume ex isn’t doing a lot of damage for a Stage 2, making this a hobby deck almost exclusively.

#7 Mega Hawlucha ex

Mega Hawlucha ex is an intriguing deck strategy, but mostly just due to Mega Hawlucha ex itself. This Pokemon has a way of preventing itself from being knocked out when it would be – a powerful play for a big HP Pokemon.

Realistically this Pokemon’s not strong enough yet to be a threat on its own. It’s likely going to be more of a toolbox attacker in other fighting decks. But players are already playing it as its own attacker in Japan and seeing some local success.

#6 Mega Emboar ex

Mega Emboar ex is actually a decent attacker, although not an elite one. It benefits from all the support fire type decks have been getting in recent sets – support that really hasn’t been leveraged to its full capacity in the Standard format due to legacy decks from Scarlet and Violet still dominating the scene.

Mega Emboar ex’s greatest strength lies in its powerful Crimson Blast attack. Hitting three fire energies like this is also very easy to do thanks to Oricario ex’s solid energy acceleration skills. Yet, as cool as dealing 320 damage is, it would be better if this attacker had some other strong ability or incentive built-in to make itmore versatile. As it is, I’d rather run the Mega Feraligatr ex that does 400 damage – easily knocking out another Mega Pokemon ex while Emboar ex falls just a little short.

#5 Mega Feraligatr ex

Although it has admittedly been a while, there was a time when Feraligatr was a competitively viable rogue deck. Mega Feraligatr ex could be the extra juice it needs to show up at the top – at least in more casual play or on Pokemon TCG Live. Mega Feraligatr ex isn’t a very nuanced Pokemon: it’s more of a blunt but very effective instrument.

Mortal Crunch is a pretty insane attack, letting you swing for 400 damage – enough to knock out any Mega Pokemon ex in a single blow. This could be a strong differentiator as the game heads more and more towards Mega Pokemon ex battles and away from the more two-prize dominated format it has been.

Of course Mortal Crunch only meets its maximum power when the opposing Pokemon already has damage on it, meaning you will need to use a combo of your Feraligatr’s Torrential Heart ability with Munkidori to spread the damage around.

In a meta that’s been heavily about spreading damage around and strategically taking multiple knockouts in a turn, it’s nice to have a straightforward attacker like Mega Feraligatr ex joining the game, and I could see this one being quite popular due to its simplicity and power.

#4 Mega Dragonite ex

Mega Dragonite ex is a pretty cool card and could conceivably be strong enough to make up its own deck. Assuming that happens, this would be the first time we’d have a somewhat competitive Dragonite deck in the Pokemon TCG in a long time.

Mega Dragonite is a worthy primary attacker with a few key advantages. First of all, it’s got that massive 370 HP only a Mega Pokemon ex could have. Second, its Ryuno Glide doing 330 damage is pretty incredible – a damage output high enough to KO any non-Mega Pokemon out there. Finally, it’s the handy Sky Transport ability that adds a ton of utility to this card. Its an ability that could catapult Mega Dragonite ex to being a potentially competitively viable deck. Being able to switch your Pokemon in and out at will once per turn is a significant advantage, letting you take advantage of powerful draw effects like Mega Kangaskhan’s Run Errand.

At the same time, Sky Transport makes it easy to switch Mega Dragonite itself to the Active spot after powering it up via the Dynamotor ability on your Eelektrik.

Mega Dragonite ex stands out as a very versatile deck given its combination of attack power, Sky Transport ability, and toolbox of attackers.

#3 Mega Charizard X & Y

Who would’ve thought we’d ever see the day: Mega Charizard X and Y both teaming up in the same deck!

Of course, the main engine for this deck still feels very familiar to the typical Charizard ex deck. However, the inclusion of Mega Charizard Y is noteworthy as that Pokemon can be very dangerous under the right circumstances.

And with Charizard ex rotating out in the spring of 2026, it’s highly likely we’ll see decks leaning heavier into Mega Charizard X and Y then.

The way this deck works right now feels like a sort of Charizard toolbox deck. You have Charizard ex for most situations, Mega Charizard X ex to take knockouts against really big Pokemon, and Mega Charizard Y for attacks to the bench.

It’s admittedly an intriguing strategy that could do very well when piloted by a skilled player. Look for decks incorporating Mega Charizard Y from Ascended Heroes on both the Pokemon TCG Live ladder as well as at local play where it is likely to be highly popular.

#2 Mega Meganium ex

Grass decks are looking fairly strong post 2026 rotation. They have a few advantages when compared to other Stage 2 decks. For starters, the Forest of Vitality is a powerful evolution tool that will be handy in a post Arven world that made finding Rare Candies relatively easy.

Additionally, Bug Catcher Set works as a solid way to find grass energies now that Earthen Vessel will soon be out of the game.

However, in Ascended Heroes specifically, we get a new grass type attacker that works well with recent additions to the TCG.

Mega Meganium ex may not look like much at first glance, but it’s true power is unlocked via the Meganium we got in Mega Evolution.

Meganium’s Wild Growth ability quickly increases the number of energies considered attached to your Mega Meganium ex, rapidly increasing the power of its Giant Bouquet attack. You’ll be using a combo of manual attachments and Energy Switch to get energies from your Teal Mask Ogerpon ex onto your Mega Meganium ex. It should be a fun deck and perhaps the strongest grass type deck following Ascended Heroes while also being potentially viable in the format if its early success in Japan translates to the rest of the world.

#1 Mega Froslass ex

1st Place City League Hokkaido 01/10 - オオノ

This Mega Froslass ex deck took first place at a City League tournament in Japan by leveraging the powerful new Mega Pokemon ex to do some serious damage to foes. Froslass has been a popular tech in many decks like Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex, making the jump to Mega Froslass ex easy for some.

For the most part, the Mega Froslass ex deck works like most decks that leverage Froslass in them. Only, now you won’t need to tech in other attackers if you don’t want to. Use your Froslass to damage all characters with abilities, Munkidori to spread the damage around, and then evolve easily into Mega Froslass to take knockouts against your opponent’s weakened Pokemon.

Of all the net new Pokemon decks joining the game with Ascended Heroes, Mega Froslass ex feels like it has the strongest chance at becoming a top tier Pokemon TCG deck.