Table of Contents
Welcome to the Pokémon TCG Standard Meta Tier List! This is your best place to understand the competitive meta of the Pokémon card game, the changes going on, and find the best deck that suits your playstyle.
I'll separate the archetypes into three tiers in order of their relevance, from top to bottom in each tier.
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | • Chien-Pao ex • Charizard/Pidgeot |
| Tier 2 | • Giratina VSTAR • Pidgeot Ex Control • Arceus/Giratina VSTAR • Dialga VSTAR • Lost Zone Box (Paradox Box) |
| Tier 3 | • Gardevoir ex • Ancient Box |
Tier Explanation
Tier 1: The top performers and most represented decks in the meta. They have good matchups in the current meta and can adapt to different game scenarios. Expect to encounter these decks frequently in tournaments, with players strategizing specifically to counter them.
Tier 2: Popular Meta decks that have solid matchup tables. Tier 2 decks can rival Tier 1 decks in performance, but may have weaknesses and less representation, holding them back from joining Tier 1.
Tier 3: Comprising less popular decks or those experiencing a decline in performance, Tier 3 includes options that may still yield respectable results in tournaments. However, they often struggle against certain prevalent matchups. Additionally, this tier encompasses decks with limited data, making it challenging to accurately assess their placement in higher tiers.
Tier 1
Chien-Pao ex
Chien Pao is on the rise as a powerful counter deck to Charizard Ex! baxcalibur-sv2-60 lets you attach Basic energy on one of your Pokemon, setting up your Chien-Pao ex as a win condition. As long as chien-pao-ex-sv2-61 is in the Active spot, their Shivery Chill can search the deck for 2 Water energy. Depending on the opposing Pokemon, you'll decide the number of Water energy to discard when activating Hail Blade. Each discarded energy pumps your damage by 60.
Charizard/Pidgeot
The Charizard Pidgeot deck has been dominant in the meta for so long. Using pidgeot-ex-sv3-164 as a search tool to find the right pieces, you're able to drop charizard-ex-sv4pt5-54 by using Rare Cady, and from there, Infernal Reign will find you the Basic Fire energy to start activating Burning Darkness. The more Prize Cards your opponent takes, the more damage Burning Darkness does.
Tier 2
Giratina VSTAR
The Giratinia VSTAR deck paired with the Lost Zone engine is more difficult to pilot compared to the Arceus Giratina version. comfey-swsh11-79 plays an important role in this deck's game plan. With Flower Selecting, you're able to look at the top 2 cards in your deck, draw one, and put the other in the Lost Zone.
The goal is to get to 7 cards in the Lost Zone, and from there you can use cards like mirage-gate-swsh11-163 to attach basic energy on giratina-vstar-swsh11-131. We're aiming to have 10 cards in the Lost Zone, allowing us to activate Star Requiem.
Pidgeot Ex Control
This deck's game plan revolves around running opponents out of resources using cards like counter-catcher-sv4-160, eri-sv5-146, and miss-fortune-sisters-swsh11-164.
The list runs a lot of 1-offs, which might make it seem inconsistent, but with pidgeot-ex-sv3-164's Quick Search ability, we're able to look for the cards we need and draw them. Mimikyu is bothersome for opponents, forcing them to build more attackers and expend resources.
luxray-v-swsh10-50 is the strongest attacker in this deck, allowing you to have two win conditions! Either knock out opponents' Pokemons or run them out of resources until there's nothing in their deck.
Arceus/Giratina VSTAR
The Arceus version makes use of arceus-v-swsh9-122's Trinity Charge and arceus-vstar-swsh9-123's Trinity Nova to search for energy cards in your decks and attach them to giratina-vstar-swsh11-131, setting you up Knock out opponent's pokemon with Lost Impact.
Dialga VSTAR
The plan is to set up multiple metang-sv5-114 and use Metal Maker to find your energy cards and attach them to origin-forme-dialga-vstar-swsh10-114. Eventually, you'll be able to activate origin-forme-dialga-vstar-swsh10-114's Star Chronos, deal 220 damage and take an extra turn.
Lost Zone Box (Paradox Box)
With comfey-swsh11-79's Flower Selecting, your goal is to put 4 cards in the Lost Zone and then aim for 7, and then 10 cards. The switch cards let us move other comfey-swsh11-79 to the active spot and activate the ability again.
When you have 4 cards in the Lost Zone, you can use cramorant-swsh11-50's Spit Innocently without needing to use energy on it.
iron-hands-ex-sv4-70 and roaring-moon-ex-sv4-124 are the carries in this deck, you'll need mirage-gate-swsh11-163 to attach 2 energy cards on one of them.
