Pokémon TCG: Black Bolt & White Flare in Standard - 8 Decks with the New Set!

Now that Black Bolt & White Flare, the new Pokémon TCG special set, is out, let's see a few decks with the new cards.

If you enjoy playing "control" decks, this is a great pick.

Jellicent ex WHT 45's ability states that, if it is your active Pokémon, your opponent can't play Items or Tools from their hand. It is a nice combo long-term, even more if you manage to play the Budew PRE 4 opener on turn 1.

You can also move damage counters from Jellicent ex WHT 45 to enemy Pokémon with the 3 Munkidori TWM 95 in this list.

And, to deal even more damage, this list also plays Froslass TWM 53. Its ability puts 1 damage counter in-between turns on all Pokémon in play (yours and your opponent's) with abilities. With the Munkidori TWM 95, you'll be able to spread a lot of damage on a single turn. Then, you can use Jellicent ex WHT 45 to Knock Out enemy Pokémon bit by bit.

Whimsicott ex is similar to Banette ex sv1 88's attack, Polteirgeist. Whimsicott ex WHT 5's second attack is what you'll focus on.

To make life harder for your opponent, this list plays Spidops ex sv1 19. Its ability, Trap Terrirory, increases the retreat cost of the opponent's active Pokémon by one colorless energy. If you combine this with Gravity Gemstone SCR 137, attached to Whimsicott ex WHT 5, you'll make it even more expensive and really put pressure on your opponent. They will be able to retreat their key Pokémon, but for a lot more energies. Or they'll have to let you Knock it Out because they don't have enough energies to retreat it.

Because this is a Grass list, it can face Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136, Cynthia's Garchomp ex DRI 104, and Charizard ex sv3 125 head on because they're weak against Grass lists.

This upgraded list plays the new Air Balloon BLK 79, which lets you retreat Charizard ex for free. This was a common problem for this deck before. It also plays only the necessary Fire energies, so this card made it a lot more fluid.

Air Balloon BLK 79 will help you retreat Archaludon ex SSP 130, which was one of the biggest issues this Pokémon had.

Another new addition was Genesect ex BLK 67, from the new special set. Its ability lets you filter two evolution Metal Pokémon from your deck and add them to your hand. With it, you'll be able to get your Archaludon ex SSP 130 faster.

This deck could become more popular precisely because it is great against Fire Pokémon. In fact, Emboar WHT 13, a powerful, recursive energy Pokémon, will most likely make the Fire archetype quite popular for quite some time. We need to pay attention to that, as Archaludon ex SSP 130's attack disables its weakness to Fire Pokémon for the following turn.

The idea behind this deck is attaching as many Basic Water Energy sv2 279 to Samurott WHT 23 as possible to deal extra damage with its attack.

That's why this list also uses Baxcalibur PR-SV 19. Its ability, Super Cold, lets you attach, from your hand, as many Basic Water Energy sv2 279 as you want to your Pokémon.

This is a "rogue" list that uses Zoroark WHT 62's Foul Play attack to copy any enemy attack.

Mew ex sv3pt5 151 is also an important part of this strategy because its attack, Hacking Genoma, does the same. Furthermore, it is a great recursive Pokémon because it draws 3 cards and you can retreat it for 0 energies.

As all of these Pokémon need 3 colorless energies to attack, this list plays Baxcalibur PR-SV 19 as well. Its ability, Super Cold, lets you attach, from your hand, as many Basic Water Energy sv2 279 to your Pokémon as you want.

To deal "sniper" damage, this list plays Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 27.

Iron Hands ex PRE 31 is also interesting because of its attack, Amp You Very Much. It costs (L)(C)(C)(C), that is, three colorless energies that you can easily get with Baxcalibur PR-SV 19's ability. You can get the Electric energy with Luminous Energy TWM 226.

This has been a very popular rogue list ever since Destined Rivals came along because it can easily deal a lot of damage with just the single energy Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34 gives you.

Gravity Mountain SSP 177 nerfs Stage 2 Pokémon in play by 30 HP less, so it sabotages evolved Pokémon ex and is pretty straightforward. Brave Bangle WHT 80 is also essential to Knock Out even more Pokémon.

This deck became a bit unpopular because Double Turbo Energy BRS 151 rotated out of the format in April 2025, and it was very helpful with Pokémon like Flamigo sv2 170. Yet, now it may get a new opportunity. That's because of Brave Bangle WHT 80, which makes your Pokémon deal 30 extra damage against Pokémon ex. You should attach it to Murkrow sv2 131.

Once this mechanic and Mega Gardevoir ex come out in the next set, this deck will become a great option. It will deal with the many Psychic decks that will become more popular in the upcoming months.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!