Standard: 9 Decks with Twlight Masquerade

Now that Twilight Masquerade is out, I thought it was a good idea to bring you a few different suggestions for decks with cards from this set, as well as some older decks that got a few updates.

Dragapult ex

Decklist

Analysis

As this is a Dragon Pokémon, you don't have to worry about weakness because we no longer have the Fairy type in this format.

It is also incredibly easy to set up its energies, as you only need two: Fire and Psychic. This Pokémon deals 200 damage and also puts damage counters on your opponent's benched Pokémon. This is efficient against many basic meta Pokémon, like:

One of the few Pokémon that can act as a "counter" for these effects is Rabsca TEF 24.

Iron Thorns ex & Iron Hands ex - Twilight Masquerade Upgrade

Decklist

Analysis

Speaking of "Future Paradox decks, this is an upgrade of the Turbo Box archetype, with the addition of Future Paradox Tyranitar.

Its ability *disables the abilities of all Pokémon in play with a Rule Box (yours and the opponents), except for "Future" Pokémon, but only if it is your active Pokémon. So, this is an incredible buff for you because of Iron Crown ex TEF 81, which will let you deal more damage with "Future" Pokémon.

Raging Bolt ex - Twilight Masquerade Upgrade

Decklist

Analysis

For this deck, we'll "go back in time" and upgrade some Paradox Johto beasts like Raging Bolt ex TEF 123. We'll use a new basic Pokémon, in fact, the star of the new set, to set up energies more efficiently: teal-mask-ogerpon-ex-twm-25. This Pokémon attaches Basic Grass Energy sv2 278 to one of your Pokémon straight from your hard, so you'll be able to use Raging Bolt ex TEF 123's second attack, Bellowing Thunder, without any issues.

Greninja ex Terastal & Froslass

Decklist

Analysis

This deck focuses on dealing "sniper" damage:

Froslass TWM 53's ability, in between turns, puts 1 damage counter on any Pokémon with an ability, except for Froslass itself. As there are many ability Pokémon in the meta, particularly ex and V, and now that Path to the Peak CRE 148 rotated out, it is the perfect time for Froslass to be a problem on the board.

Greninja ex TWM 106's first attack is incredibly strong because it deals a considerable amount of damage and also gets you any card in your deck. Its second attack, however, knocks out any damaged Pokémon in play. Because this Greninja has the Fighting type from the "Terastal" mechanic, it also easily knocks out Lightning Box Pokémon and even Pokémon like Iron Hands ex sv4 70 and Iron Thorns ex TWM 77 in Future Box decks.

This deck's priority is to evolve as many Snorut as you can into Froslass, and a great "Maybe Board" option is the new ACE SPEC card that has just come out in Twilight Masquerade, Hyper Aroma TWM 152. I also recommend Unfair Stamp TWM 165 to sabotage your opponent's hand.

Regidrago VStar - Twilight Masquerade Upgrade

Decklist

Analysis

This is another list we upgraded. This time we added Dragapult ex TWM 130 so you can use Regidrago VSTAR SIT 136 to copy its attack. It will be a nightmare for decks that rely on "stage 1 and 2" Pokémon to set up because of Phantom Dive's damage counters.

Blissey ex

Decklist

Analysis

Now that we don't have Path to the Peak CRE 148 in the meta, Blissey ex TWM 134 stands out because of its ability, which transfers basic energies. It also has synergy with a new Pokémon from this set, Munkidori TWM 95, which can move 3 damage counters on your opponent's Pokémon. As Blissey deals 180 damage, you'll quickly knock out any low-HP "baby" Pokémon, or Pokémon with more HP in the long term.

You'll also use Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 and its ability, Painful Spoons, as you play.

Blissey ex TWM 134's attack is also incredibly strong as it draws you up to 6 cards! Not to mention Chansey sv3pt5 113's ability, which enables the following combo: if you draw this Pokémon as a Prize card after you knock out another Pokémon, and your bench isn't full, you may put it on your bench, and toss a coin: if it's "heads", you'll draw one extra Prize card!

Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon ex

Decklist

Analysis

As we'll possibly see more Grass Pokémon around to "counter" Charizard ex sv4pt5 54, I suggest you play Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 40 to deal with these decks, most notably Espathra ex and even Teal Mask Ogerpon ex.

Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 40 deals more damage according to each damage counter on it, and its second attack is great against evolution Pokémon, as it deals 280 damage to them. This means this Pokémon knocks out all VStar Pokémon in this format with one strike, like Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69 and Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70.

Gengar ex - Twilight Masquerade Upgrade

Decklist

Analysis

This deck changed very little, and we mentioned it quite a lot in this article when we covered Temporal Forces.

What's new about it is the new tool, Handheld Fan TWM 150: "If the Pokémon this card is attached to is in the Active Spot and is damaged by an attack from your opponent's Pokémon (even if this Pokémon is Knocked Out), move an Energy from the Attacking Pokémon to 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon".

So, this allows you to somewhat control your opponent's energies, not to mention Gengar's own attack, which also moves your opponent's energies!

Kingambit & Froslass - The Shogunate

Decklist

Analysis

This is an option for anyone who doesn't want to spend that much money and have fun with a "rogue" deck that isn't meta but may surprise your opponents.

Its theme is traditional Pokémon that reference Japan (Kingambit is a clear reference to a Shogun, and Froslass was inspired by the Yuki-Onna folk tale), and the deck itself wants to put as many damage counters on the board as you can and destroy every Pokémon that have at least 4 damage counters with Kingambit sv3 150's first attack.

However, your best matches will be against decks with many ability Pokémon, which is when Froslass TWM 174's ability is more effective.

What do you think of all these new decks? Would you change anything? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!