Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Tech - Armarouge Box

On June 15th, 2025, one of the biggest tournaments in the history of Pokémon TCG, The North American International Championships (NAIC), took place in New Orleans, and a total of 3812 players were present. It was a great opportunity for some familiar decks to battle for dominance, and some new decks to find some space.

Among the most classic decks at this event, you could find Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136, a strong bet from the last set, and Dragapult ex PRE 73, Raging Bolt ex TEF 123, and Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29, which fought for the title of favorites. On the other side, new players brought a few innovative lists, including the deck we'll explore today: Armarouge Box.

Main Strategy

This deck was named after its main Pokémon, that is, the Pokémon that makes this entire strategy work: Armarouge sv4pt5 15. Its ability, Fire Off, lets you move as many Fire energies as you want from your Benched Pokémon to your active Pokémon. The best thing about this ability is that it is very flexible, as it lets you move anything considered a "Fire" energy, such as Luminous Energy sv2 191. If your Pokémon only has this special energy attached, it becomes just like other energies, so you can use other attackers - you don't need to use only Fire Pokémon.

Another essential piece this deck needs to work is Ethan's Ho-Oh ex DRI 39, whose ability, Golden Flame, lets you attach basic Fire energies from your hand to your Pokémon. With it, we'll be able to set up our attackers quite fast, and even attack on our first turn, depending on how good our opening hand is.

The attackers in this list are what makes it so tempting. Iron Hands ex PRE 31 is great against evolution decks, such as Grimmsnarl and Gardevoir. As for Durant ex SSP 4, it is essential against Darkness Pokémon, like Charizard ex svp 196. Furthermore, this deck also plays Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56, which is incredible against Raging Bolt and Dragapult.

Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 27, another attacker, is efficient against Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34 when your opponent can't protect their bench with Shaymin DRI 10. As for Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 17, it stands out against evolution decks, such as Eevee Box. The other attackers in this list are Terapagos ex PRE 92 and Regigigas PRE 86.

Armarouge Box

You need to put Charcadet on your bench as soon as you can, ideally on your very first turn. Furthermore, because this list plays several attackers, it also plays a solid set of cards to search and draw other cards, such as 4 Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91, 4 Nest Ball sv4pt5 84, 4 Professor's Research, and 3 Iono sv4pt5 80.

In terms of energies, this list plays 3 Luminous Energy sv2 191 for attackers that need other types of energies, alongside 7 basic Fire energies, and 2 Earthen Vessel PRE 106 so you can get them. To beat the many dominant stadiums in the meta, this list plays 3 Area Zero Underdepths PRE 94 and 1 Jamming Tower TWM 153.

In this deck, recursion is critical because your attackers need a lot of energies to attack. So, we'll play 1 Energy Retrieval sv1 171, 1 Super Rod sv2 188, and 2 Night Stretcher SFA 61.

This list also plays a variety of support cards. More specifically, it plays Squawkabilly ex sv4pt5 75 for bad opening hands, Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 as card draw, Latias ex SSP 76 if you need to pivot, and Mew ex sv3pt5 151 so you can defend yourself against hand disruption, like Iono sv4pt5 80.

Your ACE SPEC is Legacy Energy TWM 167. It is a "rainbow" energy and a great strategy, as it makes your opponent take one less Prize card whenever they Knock Out the Pokémon equipped with it.

Grimmsnarl EX - Favorable

In this matchup, Munkidori PRE 44 lets you move damage counters, and Ho-Oh lets you heal all your Pokémon in play by 50 HP when you attack with it. This deck doesn't play a lot of card draw, so you're less vulnerable to Iono sv4pt5 80. Furthermore, Durant ex SSP 4 will often be able to Knock Out Grimmsnarl EX with a single strike, which will turn the game to your favor quite quickly.

Raging Bolt EX - Neutral

The attackers in our list usually give two Prize cards to our opponent, so Raging Bolt won't struggle as much to win this race. However, Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56 is our main counter-attacker and will even things out. Please note that you must set up two Armarouge because Prime Catcher PRE 119 can compromise the rhythm of the game. In that same sense, Legacy Energy TWM 167 is also crucial, as you can use it to play around any disadvantages.

Gardevoir EX - Neutral

In this matchup, both decks play cards that can completely change the course of the game: Scream Tail PRE 42 can easily Knock Out Armarouge, which means attaching energies will be difficult, and Iron Hands ex PRE 31 speeds up the Prize card race, so it's essential in this matchup. If any of these cards is one of your Prize cards, the scales may drastically tip in your favor.

Pros

This list features unique strategies, flexible ways to use energies, and diverse attackers to beat different meta decks.

Cons

It relies too much on a few supporters and Fezandipiti to draw cards. It is also vulnerable to hand disruption, like Iono, and can struggle if the opponent Knocks Out Armarouge.

Armarouge Box might be experimental, but it stood out to professional players and performed rather well in their hands. It even made it to Day 2 of the NAIC. It's unique and has a lot of potential, so we should probably keep an eye on it in the following competitions.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!