Pokémon TCG: 6 Decks that Will Survive the 2025 Rotation!

Now that the Pokémon Company confirmed what we all suspected about the 2025 rotation, let's see which decks will remain unchanged!

Charizard ex

Charizard ex is a solid choice, as it didn't lose much to this rotation. The only cards that rotated out were Rotom V, Forest Seal Stone, and Lumineon V, which made the deck more consistent, as they let you get important cards from your deck. Despite this, this deck will remain strong. For instance, you'll easily be able to replace Radiant Charizard with Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex to dominate the endgame.

Furthermore, this deck got more accessible because of the release of the Charizard League Deck, so you'll be able to play it even if you need to change it a bit after the 2025 rotation.

Raging Bolt ex

This deck also didn't lose much to the 2025 rotation, and the cards it lost didn't add much to it. For instance, PokéStop PGO 68 is easily replaceable, as this deck already uses many items.

Maybe the most critical card it lost was Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146, which lets you get one basic Pokémon from your Prize cards. With this card, you could both get Raging Bolt ex and Ogerpon -Teal Mask-. However, the next set will bring us cards that will do the same thing they do.

As this deck is quite aggressive and fast, it will definitely be popular. It will also be one of the natural successors to Regidrago VStar.

Lightning Future Box

This deck will be a great option for anyone who likes aggressive strategies.

Similar to "Miraidon Box", this Future version will focus, as the name suggests, on "Future" Pokémon. Particularly because, after Magneton SSP 59 came along in the Surging Sparks set, we can now attach energies to Electric Pokémon quite fast. This will also address the fact that we won't be able to use Double Turbo Energy ASR 216 for Iron Hands ex's and Iron Thorns ex's attacks either.

Furthermore, Iron Thorns ex TWM 77 will act as a "stall/control" tool because of its ability, which disables abilities on "any Pokémon that have a Rule Box and are not Future Pokémon". This will heavily disrupt opponents that use cards like Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 and Mew ex sv3pt5 151.

To sum up: Iron Thorns ex TWM 77 will disable other Pokémon's abilities, and its attack will let you move energies to other Pokémon on your bench. Meanwhile, Iron Hands ex sv4 70 will knock out enemy Pokémon and draw you Prize cards.

Ceruledge ex

This Pokémon was, at first, heavily underestimated. Eventually, it stood out in Regional tournaments, and showed us it can easily deal a lot of damage for just one energy.

Of course, we had to combine it with cards that let you discard basic energies, like PokéStop PGO 68 (which lets you get items and put basic energies on your discard pile), and Earthen Vessel SFA 96, which you can get with the Stadium.

Considering that, this deck's greatest loss is PokéStop PGO 68 and Radiant Greninja ASR 46 because of its ability, which lets you discard one energy to draw cards. Trekking Shoes ASR 156 will also rotate out in March 2025.

It will still be a great option if you like this strategy. Just be careful to not lose by "deck out". It might also become a bit slower.

Gholdengo ex

This deck also won't change much after March 2025. It will lose a few interesting cards, though, like Radiant Greninja ASR 46, which draws cards if you discard one energy. Then, you'd get this energy back with Superior Energy Retrieval sv2 189, and PokéStop PGO 68.

Nonetheless, considering we'll have Fezandipiti ex SFA 38, this deck will still be able to draw cards consistently. We'll be able to knock out our Gimmighoul sv4 88 with no further issues and activate Fezandipiti's ability.

Dragapult ex

You can invest in Dragapult ex without a care in the world, as it will also become a big threat for two reasons: this Pokémon is a Dragon, so you don't have to worry about weakness, and it has a "spread" attack - Phantom Dive.

Your only concern will be with decks that use Gravity Mountain SSP 177 because they nerf your Dragapult ex's HP.

Furthermore, your attacks cost less energies (one Fire energy and one Psychic energy), so you'll be faster early on.

Archaludon ex

Even though we won't have Magnezone PR-SW SWSH208 as support for this deck, we can replace it with Metang PR-SV 90. This way, we'll get the Metal energies we need for Archaludon ex. This Pokémon also has an interesting ability that lets you get up to 2 energies from your discard pile.

You'll also lose Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR PR-SW SWSH256, which used to be its secondary attacker, but you'll be able to use new Pokémon like Hop's Zacian ex, included in the next base set, Journey Together.

Preview for Hop's Zacian ex:

Deep Cut (C): deals 30 damage to the opponent's active Pokémon and 30 damage to one of their Benched Pokémon.

Brave Slash (M)(M)(M)(C): deals 240 damage, but, next turn, you won't be able to use this attack.

Terapagos ex

This deck's greatest loss will be Double Turbo Energy ASR 216, as it makes its main attack less expensive.

However, we can go around it with Terapagos SSP 161, for instance. It will still be a slow deck.

Banette ex

This card will be great to beat many decks that lean on Trainers (similar to Gengar & Mimikyu TAG TEAM-GX from the Sun & Moon era), so it will be a good investment.

Even though you'll lose Banette LOR 73, the next set, Journey Together, will bring a new one. It will be a recursive piece, and sabotage your opponent's hand.

Preview:

Cursing Words (P): your opponent has to pick three cards from their hand and shuffle them back into their deck.

Spooky Shot (P)(C): deals 70 damage.

Ancient Box

This deck will lose many important cards that made its setup more flexible, like Dark Patch ASR 139, which lets you attach one basic Darkness energy to one of your Darkness Pokémon. It will also lose PokéStop PGO 68, and Radiant Greninja ASR 46.

United Wings

This deck lost Double Turbo Energy ASR 216, so you won't be able to attack with Murkrow sv2 131 and Wattrel sv2 80 as easily as before.

Furthermore, this deck's wildcard Pokémon, Ditto CRZ 107, will rotate out.

The next Standard metagame will be a bit slower, and feature Trainers that focus more on Supporters than Items. As a result, many decks will use Pokégear 3.0 sv1 186 again to filter even more cards.

Furthermore, we'll lose a lot of card draw, like Radiant Greninja ASR 46 and Bibarel BRS 121, which will make the meta even slower. To play around this issue, many decks will have to lean on Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 and Mew ex sv3pt5 151 to draw cards.

What about you? What did you think of the 2025 rotation? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!