Pokémon TCG - Destined Rivals: 9 Decks for Standard!

Destined Rivals is finally here! Let's see a few decks with the new cards.

The idea behind this list is quite simple and solid. Cynthia's Garchomp ex DRI 104's first attack draws until you have 6 cards in your hand, and its second attack deals a lot of damage considering how many energies it uses. You'll have to discard them to use this attack, but, since it just uses 2 energies, this isn't a problem. You can also retreat this Pokémon for no energies at all, which is great.

To deal even more damage with Draconic Buster, this list plays Cynthia's Roserade DRI 8. With this Pokémon's ability, you'll deal 30 extra damage.

Furthermore, this list also plays Cynthia's Spiritomb DRI 129, which is an efficient "single prize" attacker. It deals damage according to how many damage counters your benched Cynthia's Pokémon have.

We, at Cards Realm, already explored a deck idea with Cynthia's Garchomp ex DRI 104 and Mega Evolutions. If you'd like to see more about it, click click here.

This deck, with Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34, is one of the many ways to play a "Trainer's Partners" list with single prize cards. It is a great choice if you enjoy powerful attacks that don't cost a lot of energies, as Typhlosion's main attack only costs one Fire energy.

This list's main strategy is similar to Braixen SIT TG01's, which deals damage according to how many Serena SIT 164 are in your discard pile.

That being said, Typhlosion's attack, Buddy Blast, deals damage based on how many Ethan's Adventure DRI 165 are in your discard pile.

To deal even more damage (more than 280), this list plays Victini SSP 21. Its ability makes your evolved Fire Pokémon deal 10 extra damage. This list also plays Defiance Band sv1 169, which is useful if you're losing the game, as then it makes the Pokémon it is attached to deal 30 extra damage.

And, to take down stage 2 meta Pokémon, this list plays Gravity Mountain SSP 177. This Stadium gives -30 HP to stage 2 Pokémon, so, with it, you'll be able to Knock these Pokémon Out more easily.

If you like Mewtwo, then this deck is for you!

Its attack, Erasure Ball, deals 160 base damage plus 60 extra damage for each energy you discard from your benched Pokémon. However, it only lets you discard two energies this way, so Mewtwo can only deal 120 extra damage. In total, it can deal up to 280 damage.

However, this damage restriction isn't that interesting for the current format, particularly considering a few decks in the meta, like Raging Bolt ex PR-SV 145, deal more damage than that and don't have that restriction.

Furthermore, Mewtwo's ability makes everything a bit more complicated. To attack with it, you need to put at least 4 Team Rocket Pokémon on your bench, and the options are limited.

So, the heart of this list is Team Rocket's Spidops DRI 20. Its ability recycles an energy from the discard pile and lets you attach it to one of your Pokémon, so you'll always have energies to discard with Mewtwo's attack.

Another weak spot is that this list doesn't play any particular card to retreat Team Rocket's Spidops DRI 20, which means it is more vulnerable to your opponent. However, once Black Bolt & White Flare, the next special set, comes along, we'll be able to use the reprinted Air Balloon, which might be very useful in this list.

Our next Team Rocket list centers around Giovanni's signature Pokémon, Nidoking!

This list's main strategy focuses on its first attack, which Poisons enemy Pokémon and lets you add 8 damage counters to them in-between turns instead of just 1. This means you'll be able to deal 80 damage to that Poisoned Pokémon per turn!

Then, this list plays a few cards that let you put even more damage counters on Pokémon, like Perilous Jungle TEF 156. It lets you put 2 extra damage counters on Poisoned Pokémon (yours and the opponent's), as long as they aren't Darkness Pokémon.

To move these damage counters from your Pokémon to your opponent's, this list uses Munkidori PRE 44's ability, Adrena-Brain.

To retreat your Pokémon, this list uses Pecharunt ex SFA 39, which lets you retreat Darkness Pokémon for free once per turn. It does Poison the Pokémon you move to the active spot, but you can use Binding Mochi PRE 95 to benefit from this and deal even more damage with it!

This is another deck with Destined Rivals that plays incredibly strong "single prize" attackers.

Misty's Gyarados DRI 49's main strategy is simple: it discards the top 7 cards in your deck, and deals damage according to how many Misty Pokémon you discard this way!

To make the most out of this, this list plays Misty's Psyduck DRI 45. Its ability states that, "if Psyduck is on your bench, you may discard a card from the bottom of your deck. If you do, discard all cards attached to Psyduck, and put it on the top of your deck." This means you'll be able to find at least one of Misty's Pokémon on the top 7 cards in your deck with Gyarados.

This theme deck is included in Marnie's and Steven's Rival Battle Deck.

Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136 is this list's main attacker, but it also deals "sniper" damage. Besides dealing 180 damage to the opponent's active Pokémon, it also deals 30 damage to one of their benched Pokémon.

Froslass TWM 53's ability is quite useful, as it puts 1 damage counter in-between turns on any Pokémon in play, as long as it has an ability (both yours and the opponent's). You can then move these damage counters to enemy Pokémon, and use this disadvantage to your favor.

That's why this list also plays Munkidori PRE 44. Its ability, Adrena-Brain, lets you move these damage counters if it has one Darkness energy attached.

Electivire ex DRI 69's second attack, High-Voltage Press, is powerful for two reasons: its first mode deals 180 damage, but, if you attach two extra energies to it, its second mode deals 100 extra damage, so it deals a total of 280 damage!

Now that we can play Magneton SSP 59 in Standard, attaching energies to Electric Pokémon is easy and fast. Even though Magneton SSP 59 will be "destroyed" as it will sacrifice itself when you use its ability, this is an advantage, not a disadvantage. Your opponent will have less Prize cards, so you can just play Counter Catcher sv4 160, pull a key Pokémon from the opponent's bench, and attack it.

Furthermore, Electivire ex DRI 69 is great with Iron Hands ex PRE 31. If you attach Heavy Baton TEF 151 to Electivire ex DRI 69, you can move all energies attached to it to Iron Hands ex PRE 31. Then, with its attack, Amp You Very Much, you'll be able to take down "baby" Pokémon and draw an extra Prize card.

This is just the first version of this deck.

Its base, because of Cetitan ex DRI 65's ability, is practically the same as the old Primal Groudon-EX PRC 86, which protects itself from Supporters/Items. This means it is immune to cards like Boss's Orders or Counter Catcher.

The idea behind this list is to use "sniper" attacks to help Cetitan ex DRI 65 Knock Out Pokémon.

You'll start with attackers like Articuno sv3pt5 144, which is a "single prize" attacker. Then, there's Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 27, which is a more aggressive "sniper" attacker. It deals 120 damage to one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon.

But, to use their attacks, you'll need to set up Baxcalibur sv2 60 and use its ability to then attach Water energies to your other Pokémon.

Yanmega ex DRI 3 is a great Pokémon, but it is quite underrated. Its ability states, "if you move it from your bench to the active spot, you may look for 3 Basic Grass Energy sv2 278 and attach them to it". Then, you can use its attack to move these 3 energies from Yanmega ex to your benched Pokémon.

To draw cards, his deck also plays Blissey ex TWM 134.

This is the combo, then:

1) Use Yanmega ex DRI 3's ability as you move it from your bench to the active spot.

2) Then, use Yanmega ex DRI 3's attack to attach energies to your Pokémon, either your Blissey ex TWM 134 or Iron Hands ex PRE 31.

Finally, with Blissey ex TWM 134's ability, Happy Switch, move a Basic Darkness Energy SFA 98 to Munkidori PRE 44. Then, use this Pokémon's ability, Adrena-Brain, to move damage counters from your Pokémon to any enemy Pokémon.

Furthermore, Blissey ex TWM 134's attack also draws up to 6 cards.

To finish, this list also plays Chansey sv3pt5 113. Its ability states that, "if you draw this Pokémon from your Prize cards, and your bench isn't full, you may put it on your bench and also flip a coin. If you hit "heads", draw one extra Prize card!"

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!