Competitive Deck choices for the Prismatic Evolutions Format

Written by Samantha Turner

Hello! Sammy here and I’m going to give you a rundown on what I think some of the strongest deck choices are for the Prismatic Evolutions format. But before we dive into deck lists, let’s start with some of the changes that the new cards bring.

The format slows down considerably

All throughout the Surging Sparks format you’ve seen VSTAR and basic ex decks at the forefront. These decks aggressively search out the pieces they need and hit you with big attacks as early as turn 1 or 2. The fuel that’s enabled these decks of course is a high amount of item cards, some of these decks even run multiple Pokéstops to find the item cards sooner. But then along came this little guy

Budew’s Itchy pollen can be thrown at any opponent with minimal effort, it doesn’t need to evolve like Banette ex or flip a coin like Shuppet. It doesn’t even need any energy! So even if you don’t start Budew, you can use your energy attachment for the turn to retreat your active and promote Budew. This card’s success lies in creating a consistent stranglehold over an opponent's item cards.

Can’t I just ignore Budew?

You wouldn’t be the first to ask this question and it’s a valid strategy, but considering how the meta is shifting already, you need to evaluate the risks you’d be taking and perhaps consider playing something different in this format. At the very least you need to create a plan for removing Budew without access to item cards after your first turn. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of our best options in a post-budew world.

The phantom dragon descends! Is Dragapult the new ruler of the format?

It may be the start of the new format for us, but Japan got these cards a little over a month before us and there was one big standout, Dragapult! The Champions League Osaka featured no less than 4 Dragapult decks in the top 16 and results from City Leagues also placed Dragapult at the top of the meta. We all know the power of Dragapult’s Phantom Dive attack but the deck has always needed time to build up a strong board which is how the Iron Thorns version of Dragapult emerged and found some success. But in the Prismatic Evolutions format, Budew is the new way forward, it gives us time to evolve our Pokémon and only gives up 1 prize to the opponent, opening up opportunities to use Counter Catchers and spread damage until we can take multiple knockouts in one turn and win the game. Let’s take a look at a list

We want to go second with this deck, ideally finding Arven who can retrieve a Poffin and our Rescue Board so we can retreat into Budew and begin item lock until we build up to a Dragapult. If the opponent also plays Budew, then our backup plan is Lance to search out 3 of our Dragon Pokémon and keep pace that way.

Once we’ve evolved our Dragapult we can start building up damage on the board. Alakazam can also move small amounts to set up knockouts on 70 and 80 HP Pokémon. One more key Pokémon in this deck is Dusknoir. Dusknoir together with Phantom Dive can knock out just about anything, including opposing Stage 2 ex Pokémon. Using Dusknoir on our turn can also turn on our Counter Catcher and let us pick the best target for Phantom Dive.

One last thing to keep in mind is that Drakloak is your draw engine, you want as many of them on board as you can find, which will give you the fuel needed to find your combo pieces and close out games.

Psychic Embrace, a warm hug from our old friend Gardevoir

Gardevoir has always been a deck with a lot of flexibility to shape itself to the meta, there are many fantastic psychic utility Pokémon to disrupt your opponent in various ways such as Flutter Mane, Klefki, Spiritomb and Mawile. It’s also a deck that thrives on being able to achieve its goals once it sets up, once you get your Kirlias, you can dig for nearly any card you need to turn the game in your favour. It found some success during the Surging Sparks meta but it was hamstrung by Regidrago’s ability to remove your Kirlias which is what stopped it from being a Tier 1 deck at that time.

The list here features a few specific changes for the Prismatic Evolutions meta:

• Budew - To hinder faster decks like Miraidon, Raging Bolt and Lugia until you can set up your board

• Spiritomb - For some extra help against Lugia to cut off their access to Supporters through Lumineon. It also helps against Dragapult and Charizard by blocking Rotom V’s Instant Charge.

• Artazon - This is a great way for us to still find Pokémon when facing down Budew.

Now let’s cover the strategy for Gardevoir in this new meta. We want to go second, but there’s a few different paths we can take. If we’re up against another evolving deck like Dragapult then we want to use Arven to get Ralts on board from a Poffin and then evolve them with T.M. Evolution. If we’re up against an aggressive attacking deck like Miraidon or Bolt then we want to find Budew and attack with Itchy Pollen to stop them from developing their attackers too quickly.

Once we’ve managed to set up our board then we can play a similar game to Dragapult by setting up damage one turn and then using Munkidori so we take multiple knock-outs at once. You won’t always be able to do this when you’re facing down something like a Lugia VSTAR or Dragapult though and you’ll need to setup Drifloon to get a one-hit knock out.

Also remember that Gardevoir is a deck that can turn the tide now matter how far behind you are. You have tools such as Unfair Stamp, Counter Catcher, Turo’s Scenario and Scream Tail to stop your opponent from closing out the game. If you master these situations then you’ll find a lot of success playing Gardevoir.

Lugia, a VSTAR deck that’s still flying high

Lugia has a unique role in this new meta and that’s hunting down Tera ex Pokémon with the new Regigigas. This one card inclusion gives Lugia a solid game-plan against Dragapult, Terapagos and even Charizard which it’s struggled with in the past.

Lugia also gets to play some of the best attackers in the format, both Iron Hands ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex can take multiple prizes and remove valuable single prize Pokémon, Cinccino is a one-prize threat that can annihilate anything that Regigigas isn’t effective against and lastly Blood Moon Ursaluna ex is a powerhouse that can claim your last two prizes without even needing energy in most cases.

But you may be wondering, what does Lugia do when Itchy Pollen gets in the way? It’s true that you often need access to your items to get your Archeops into the discard pile but there are other ways we can achieve this. No matter if we go first or second we’ll be able to use Squawkabilly ex to dig into our deck and maybe even discard an Archeops. We can also rely on Lugia V’s Read the Wind. We also want to make sure we’re attaching energy manually as it’s pretty easy to get a Lugia or Pokémon ready to attack with Double Turbo energy. Then we can clear away those pesky Budew and continue our quest to discard Archeops.

So where do we go from here?

Review the results of the Merida Regionals and Carolina Special Event, especially if you’re preparing to compete at EUIC. These events will showcase decks that have a consistent strategy in this new meta. And even if you’re not going to a major event anytime soon, I hope you can take one of these decks and find success at your local game store. That’s all from me, so until next time, have fun and do your best playing Pokémon!

More about the author

Sammy is a two-time Worlds TCG Competitor from the Oceania Region who has achieved many Day 2 finishes since 2022. She loves to travel and share her positive attitude. You can follow Sammy on social media here or search for SammyTeaTime on most platforms.