Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Guide - Post Black Bolt Miraidon EX!

Black Bolt and White Flare have only come out a few weeks ago, but a significant number of cards from these sets, like Jellicent ex WHT 45 and Genesect ex BLK 67, have already significantly impacted the meta. As some of these new cards are great for Electric decks, right now Miraidon ex PR-SV 28 is making a comeback too.

Before the last rotation, this deck played versatile attackers, like Raikou V BRS 48 and the iconic Raichu V BRS 45, which was one of the ways we could Knock Out stage 2 Pokémon with a lot of HP. With the new cards, this super aggressive archetype with Iron Hands ex PRE 31 is once again a viable option for aggro players.

In this deck, unsurprisingly, Miraidon EX is the core piece that makes everything work nicely. It is a formidable attacker because of "Photon Blaster", which deals 220 damage, but its ability, "Tandem Unit", is also the most important engine in the entire deck: it lets you get two basic Electric Pokémon from your deck, so you can use it to get Iron Hands EX and start attaching energies to Miraidon EX, or even a Tynamo, which you can evolve later on.

This deck also plays the new Zekrom as one of its main attackers because it deals a lot of damage in the late game.

To attach energies to your Pokémon, this list plays Eelektrik BLK 31. Its ability, "Dynamotor", recycles energies from the discard pile.

You'll also find the explosive Electric Generator sv4pt5 79 in this list. With it, you might be able to attack even on the very first turn. Please note that you must understand how to filter your deck and which cards to play and when with this list. The more you filter your deck, the more effective Electric Generator sv4pt5 79 will be.

Even with these two attackers, in most games you'll have to rely on Iron Hands EX's "Amp You Very Much" to attack, as it gives you one extra Prize card whenever you Knock Out a Pokémon. This is often crucial against stage 2 decks, like Dragapult ex PRE 73. After the first turn, which you must spend setting up your Pokémon, you should start attacking with Iron Hands EX every turn. If all goes well, you could even end the game in just 3 turns with it.

Most of this list is the same as before and just as consistent.

It plays 4 Nest Ball sv4pt5 84 and 4 Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91, so you'll definitely get Miraidon EX on your bench on the first turn (which, in turn, could even get you a second Miraidon EX from your deck). Consequently, you can also get any basic Electric Pokémon you want this way. This strategy is swift and explosive, so it also plays solid support Pokémon as well.

Squawkabilly ex sv4pt5 75 gives you nearly the perfect first turn, whereas Mew ex sv3pt5 151 and Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 are card draw tools. Besides these, this list also plays Latias ex SSP 76, which is incredibly helpful. To attach energies, as we mentioned before, you'll use Eelektrik and Electric Generator.

The main support kit is also quite explosive: Carmine PRE 103 puts Electric energies in your discard pile, and Professor's Research JTG 155 gets resources for you. Please note this list uses 4 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172 to punish opponents that don't play good openers and rely on a single Pokémon. You'll often target early-stage Pokémon with it, such as Drakloak PRE 72 or Ralts sv4pt5 27.

Finally, this list's ACE SPEC is Prime Catcher PRE 119, which lets you pull Pokémon from the enemy bench. You'll usually play them when you play card draw supporters (something you'll have to do a lot). In other builds, you can use Secret Box TWM 163, particularly if you also use Arven sv3 186. This isn't the case for this list, considering it was built to beat Budew PRE 4.

Dragapult EX - Neutral

This list plays Budew PRE 4 to delay us. Your best bet is setting up your Pokémon on the very first turn and going through all your Electric Generators as soon as possible.

The latest versions of this deck are slow and don't play Rare Candy sv4pt5 89, which is why you can easily punish them if you open well. Ideally, you should Knock Out 3 Drakloak PRE 72 with Iron Hands EX and try to win this way. If you can't do this, you might be in trouble because Dragapult EX has a lot of HP, and then you'll need Zekrom ex BLK 166 to Knock Out Pokémon.

Furthermore, your Tynamo BLK 30 only has 40 HP. This means the opponent can easily Knock them Out with "Phantom Dive", so you should try to evolve them quickly.

Raging Bolt EX - Unfavorable

Most of your attackers give the opponent two Prize cards, so if you can't open well, they might get ahead on the first few turns and win with this early advantage. You can counter this by attacking with Zeraora DRI 78, which only gives one Prize card to the opponent when Knocked Out and can also Knock Out their Benched support Pokémon, like Fezandipiti ex SFA 38.

Nonetheless, this matchup will still be unfavorable, particularly if they use Slither Wing sv4 107. Your only chance is focusing on giving your opponent only 1 Prize card at a time.

Gardevoir EX - Slightly Favorable

Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29 is very methodical and tactical, but it is also considerably slower than yours. Iron Hands EX is your main star in this matchup, as you can use it to Knock Out 3 of their usual attackers, such as Scream Tail PRE 42 and Drifloon sv1 89, and win.

Any aggressive strategy that delays your opponent will be essential in this matchup. You also need to set up at least 2 Eelektrik BLK 31 on your bench to defend yourself from their constant disruption and Knock Outs.

Pros

This deck is aggressive, punishes slow decks, and is great against Gardevoir EX.

Cons

It is a bit predictable, weak against Fighting Pokémon, and extremely linear.

This is far from the ideal build, but Miraidon has been a favorite since before the last rotation. We'll certainly see high-level players take it to the next level soon. Nonetheless, we can definitely still experiment with it, which is quite fun.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!