Every Black Bolt and White Flare Pokemon Deck, Ranked

What’s the strongest new deck in Black Bolt and White Flare?

Releasing on July 18, 2025, Black Bolt and White Flare marks a lot of firsts for the Pokemon TCG. It’s the first time that both Japanese and English sets bear the same name, the first time an English Pokemon set is split into two parts, and the first time we’re getting unique BWR cards.

But what about the decks?

Generally speaking, Black Bolt and White Flare isn’t bringing net new decks as much as enhancements to existing strategies. This is pretty standard for special Pokemon sets as they tend to augment existing strategies rather than bring whole new decks into the fold the way a main Pokemon set does. That being said, in this article, we’ll be looking at the most impacted decks coming out of Black Bolt and White Flare, and ranking them from strong to strongest.

#6 Kyurem ex

Damage spread that just gets stronger

Kyurem has an interesting attack that’s similar to Zekrom and Reshiram although not exactly the same. Instead it has a damage spread component to it – one that once again gets paired with Froslass in order to maximize damage spread around the board. While not a heavyweight like Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex in this category, it’s strong enough to make you think twice about playing it.

Kyurem really starts to look good when you consider that Blizzard Burst maxes out at 60 damage to each opposing benched Pokemon each time you swing with it. While not exactly practical, with skilled enough hands this could equate to a lot of KOs in a single turn.

#5 Reshiram ex box deck

Take advantage of Reshiram ex’s closing skills

To be fair, calling this style of deck a “Reshiram ex” deck is a smidge misleading. After all, you’re only running one copy of Reshiram ex and it’s acting as a powerful closer not a primary attacker. Instead, Blaziken ex is your primary attacker. Use it to take knockouts while quickly powering up your secondary attackers.

Blaziken ex is a personal favorite of mine, and while it takes some setup to take advantage of its powerful ability (one that lets you accelerate energy from your discard), once you get it going its a powerful engine.

Meanwhile, Reshiram ex is a strong tool to help this deck out. As your opponent takes more prizes, they will only be further powering up your Reshiram ex’s strongest attack. Once fully powered up, it’s taking an OHKO against anything your opponent has to play against you.

With all of that being said, you could certainly build more heavily into Reshiram ex than this deck does, depending on what you are going for. Play it more like Charizard ex, scapegoat a few defenders, and you start hitting for much higher damage numbers early enough to justify running Reshiram at a higher number than just one copy.

#4 Serperior ex

At first glance, Serperior ex may not look like much. But look a little closer and you start to see its potential. Especially when you take Yanmega ex into consideration – a powerful attacker we got in Destined Rivals. Simply switch Yanmega into the active and you can quickly power it up with energies directly from your deck. Attack with it and move four energies to a Pokemon on your bench.

Not only is this a great way to power up Serperior ex’s attack which will let you search your deck for any three cards, just having Serperior ex on the field massively enhances the firepower of your Yanmega ex.

I’ve played a lot of Yanmega ex in my Hydrapple ex build (which I used to get to Arceus League on Pokemon TCG Live), and can personally attest to how strong and reliable this attacker can be. The idea of increasing its Jet Cyclone attack to a total of 260 damage output is a very, very enticing notion.

#3 Meloetta ex

Poison burn decks’ new partner in crime

Fans of the poison/burn/damage ping deck strategy will love getting access to Meloetta. This deck specializes in looking for turn one donks to either close out a game entirely, or to do irreparable damage to your opponent’s board before they can do anything to stop you. While for the most part these cards will look familiar to existing poison burn strategies, the big new add coming out of Black Bolt and White Flare is Meloetta ex.

Meloetta ex’s standout ability is “Debut Performance,” an ability that lets Meloetta attack on the very first turn (the only Pokemon in the Standard format capable of doing so). Meanwhile, Echoed Voice quickly buffs to more damage the following turn, making it an excellent blitz to leverage against lower HP Pokemon decks.

While 30 damage on the opening turn may not sound like a lot, when you factor in all of the other damage infliction this deck can do via poisons status effects, damage pings, and burn, it quickly stacks up.

#2 Zekrom/Miraidon ex

New support makes Miraidon ex stronger than ever

It’s been a while since Miraidon ex was a huge force in the meta, but that could change with some powerful new support for Electric type Pokemon to be found in Black Bolt/White Flare. The new support comes in the form of Eelektrik and Zekrom.

Eelektrik brings back the powerful Dynamotor into the game – an effect we haven’t had since Flaaffy from Evolving Skies rotated out of the game. Meanwhile, Zekrom delivers the same power benefit of Reshiram, albeit with a better lineup of total support, making for a truly powerhouse closer for electric decks.

With this kind of added power and consistency, Miraidon ex could once again climb to the summit of the Pokemon TCG meta.

#1 Jellicent ex with Gardevoir ex

As if Gardevoir needed to get any better

The number one deck coming out of Black Bolt and White Flare is easily Jellicent/Gardevoir ex. This one was absolutely huge at the Japan Championships post Black Bolt/White Flare, showing its versatility and viability in the open field.

While Gardevoir ex is a very established deck and part of the Pokemon TCG meta for years, what’s really new here is the powerful Jellicent ex, lending an all new attacker to Gardevoir ex’s strategy.

Really, Jellicent ex fits Gardevoir ex like a glove, easily reaching the threshold necessary to boost Power Press up to 160 damage each hit. Combine that with Oceanic Curse – an ability that fully locks your opponent out of items – and suddenly Gardevoire ex is looking very, very scary.