Preparing for Pokemon TCG Regionals in Utah – the Meta Post Brilliant Stars
Now that Brilliant Stars has been out for a while, it’s clear that what a lot of us predicted would be the best card from the set (that being Arceus) has had a massive impact on the game. Indeed, half of the decks that finished in the top 10 featured Arceus VSTAR. Arceus VSTAR with Duraludon has also won a big tournament recently, proving that the Duraludon VMAX archetype is really here to stay.
Perhaps the biggest change you will notice is the exclusion of Jolteon VMAX and Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX archetypes from this list. While those decks are incredible, the release of Manaphy, and its ability to block damage done to the bench by attacks, has hampered the unrivaled lethalness of bench sniping decks in general.
As trainers get complacent, however, you can expect to see these two decks start to win at tournaments again as players will simply neglect including Manaphy in their decks overtime.
With that being said, these are the top decks you should be paying the most attention to in the meta as you prepare for the first regionals in North America, taking place later this week in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Update – with the 2022 Salt Lake City, Utah Regionals completed, it’s easy to see that these decks listed below made a massive impact at the competition. Congrats to the winner, Drew Kennet, who used a combination of Gengar VMAX and Arceus VSTAR to seal the victory.
Update March 30th – Indeed, Jolteon and Urshifu are back on top! With several top finishes, including a win at the Liverpool Regionals, Jolteon and Urshifu are once again viable contenders in the top 10 best standard decks in Pokemon TCG.
Mew VMAX
Post Brilliant Stars, Mew VMAX remains the best deck in the standard format. Despite everyone’s best efforts to tech against it, the incredible draw engine Genesect V provides is challenging to overcome no matter what.
However, Mew VMAX is not invincible, and given the sheer number of people playing it right now, you’re going to need to come up with a solid game plan on how to win the mirror match.
Here’s a deck list that recently won the Brisbane regionals.
Duraludon VMAX with Arceus VSTAR
Duraludon was already a serious contender before Arceus came around. Now, however, with Arceus VSTAR, it’s that much stronger. This deck finished second at the Brisbane Regionals, and also won another big tournament. Thanks to Arceus V’s attack, which can be used with a single Turbo Energy, Duraludon can get powered up and ready to attack in one turn.
Here’s a list that got second at Brisbane.
Ice Ryder Calyrex VMAX
Ice Ryder is still a powerful deck, thanks to its ability to strike quickly and shut off Pokemon V abilities with Path to the Peak.
To be really successful, Ice Ryder relies on the Inteleon engine, allowing you to pull any trainer you need from your deck. Additionally, it pairs well with Suicune, which can attack for a potential 250 on turn one (with choice belt).
Get Ice Ryder Calyrex VMAX on eBay
Galarian Moltres and Galarian Wheezing
Any deck that can shut off abilities is going to be effective in a meta game that features the likes of Arceus VSTAR and Mew VMAX. Galarian Wheezing slows your opponent down without not giving them a chance to take many prizes, while Moltres allows you to take late game prizes.
This deck uses Sableye to take key knockouts as the damage from Wheezing’s poison attack takes its toll.
Gengar VMAX
Gengar VMAX is a solid deck right now thanks to its typing. However, despite its ability to OHKO a Mew VMAX with just two energies, Gengar will still struggle to content for the number one spot due to its lack of a powerful search engine like Inteleon or Arceus VSTAR. Still, it’s plenty good enough to land you a spot in the top 32 at Utah’s Pokemon TCG Regionals.
Update
Gengar VMAX recently won the Salt Lake City Regionals, making where it actually leveraged Arceus VSTAR (as mentioned above).
Arceus VSTAR with Inteleon Engine
Arceus is a great tool for many decks, but it also works well on its own when paired with the infamous Inteleon engine. This deck was also used at the regionals in Brisbane and did quite well. It’s ability to pull the cards you want from your deck when you need them contrasts with the raw draw power of the Fusion Strike system, while Arceus VSTAR only gives up two prizes when KO’d.
In theory, you should also be able to contend with these decks using a deck that’s not listed here. However, you are going to want to have a solid game plan in place for dealing with any of these strategies heading into regionals.
Good luck, and keep on training!
