The Best Decks After Rotation For The Pokemon TCG

Pokemon TCG’s Rotation for 2025 takes into effect in April, with some decks such as Lost Box and the VSTARS vanishing for good. However, there are still some decks that not only survive the rotation, but still retain most of their power as long as you make a few alterations to their deck cores.

So if you’re looking to see what decks will still be able to hit hard after rotations and which ones are up and coming, there is still time to make a change. With even more cards releasing before rotation comes into effect, you might even find a few new decks along the way that will carry you through the next era of competitive Pokemon TCG.

8

Charizard ex

The Fire Continues Burning

Charizard ex is still a powerful contender, even with Radiant Charizard, Lumineon V, or Rotom V out of the mix. The deck loses some draw power but the main thing to focus on is getting that Charizard ex out as soon as possible. Especially since Infernal Reign gets you the Energy cards you need to start swinging as soon as turn two.

Of course, there are some cards you can consider to get that Charmander to Evolve quicker. One example would be the Ace Spec, Great Tree, since it can let you Evolve through multiple stages using cards still in your deck. This is also still a great deck thanks to its fantastic reprinting as a League Battle Deck so the core is not too difficult to get your hands on.

7

Dragapult ex

Benefits From A Slower Meta

Rotom V may be gone, but Dragapult is far from a ghost in the Pokemon TCG graveyard. In fact, it is still a viable strategy to aim for due to being able to hit hard and spread damage counters all over the Bench. Dragapult is also quite flexible with what cards it can be matched up with whether you’re going for a Dusknoir route or an Iron Thorns variant.

Dragapult may be slow at getting multiple hits through in succession, but the fact that every other deck is slowing down gives Dragapult the chance to climb up the ranks. It’s all a matter of which decks can adapt the quickest.

6

Miraidon ex

A Shocking Comeback

Miraidon ex as a deck feels like it got gutted out due to how it loses so many of the V Pokemon that formed its core. Raikou V, Raichu V, and Lumineon V are all gone with rotation. So is the Forest Seal Stone and Double Turbo Energy. However, the deck still has some of it’s strongest hitters available to it.

It can still use Iron Hands ex to take multiple Prizes, Pikachu ex to withstand a one-hit knockout, and Magneton for Energy acceleration. All the tech is there and while it does take losses, there are other Pokemon that can easily slide in, such as Jolteon ex, Tapu Koko ex, or even Iron Thorns.

5

Terapagos ex

A Colorless Strategy

Terapagos ex has the benefit of being a relatively recent deck. This means while every other deck is hurting from the rotation, Terappagos ex remains mostly intact save for a few tech cards like Thorton or Feather Ball. The only thing of note that it loses as part of its core is the Double Turbo Energy. This allowed Terapagos ex to attack quicker at the expense of doing 20 less damage.

These issues are all fixable and while you may not be able to get two Colorless Energies in one go, you still have options for Energy acceleration. These include cards like Glass Trumpet or Counter Gain. The only downside is you either need to dump Energy to the discard pile or have your opponent be further ahead in Prize Cards to see their effects.

4

Roaring Moon ex

A Move Too Good To Give Up On

Roaring Moon ex has one of the best Moves in the entire meta. Frenzied Gouging doesn’t care how much HP your opponent’s Pokemon has, it’s just an instant kill. You also don’t have to use it right away since Calamity Storm can deal significant damage as long as you have a Stadium to discard from play.

This deck suffers from no longer having Dark Patch, Poke Stop, or Radiant Greninja. These are all cards that helped the deck reach maximum power. While a bit slower, there are still plenty of Darkness-type Pokemon that can bring out their A-Game in this deck from some of the more recent sets.

3

Gardevoir ex

Gardevoir Has A Pulse

Everyone loves Gardevoir, but it takes a major hit with the loss of Kirlia. Kirlia was vital towards Gardevoir being able to draw more cards, and it was an excellent middle of the road Evolution for Ralts. With the loss of Radiant Greninja as well, Gardevoir ex is in critical condition. However, its Ability, Psychic Embrace, is too good to lose to rotation and Gardevoir ex itself is still playable.

The same cannot be said about other strategies such as Snorlax stall, Regidrago VSTAR, or even Lost Box, which are completely dead in the water. Add a few more copies of cards you don’t want to see stuck as Prize Cards and some Rare Candies to resuscitate Gardevoir from this near-death experience.

2

Ancient Box

Dump It All To The Discard

With so many top cut decks getting killed off by the 2025 rotation, some of the runner ups move up in terms of usability. One deck that finds success is Ancient Box. This deck revolves around getting as many Ancient cards into the discard pile as possible to fuel Roaring Moon’s Vengeance Fletching. Meanwhile, Flutter Mane can disrupt any Abilities your opponent tries to put in the Active Spot.

Ancient Box doesn’t lose too many cards in the rotation except for Radiant Greninja and Pokestop. However, the good thing is that every other deck loses them too. So, as long as you find a way to get more cards into your discard pile for Roaring Moon’s devastating attack, you’ll be good to go.

1

Raging Bolt

An Electrifying Deck

Raging Bolt needs Energy discards if it wants to survive. Without Radiant Greninja or Poke Stop, the deck loses out on a mix of draw power and discard power. With so many cards making it easier to use multiple Energy in one go, it’s important to have that kind of setup to get Raging Bolt’s Bellowing Thunder Move to deal as much damage as possible.

Luckily, you have plenty of substitutes to choose from even if they aren’t as direct in their discards as before. Ultra Ball can be a great way of discarding while still getting a Pokemon in your hand. Meanwhile, you lose the 30 HP recovery that Switch Cart has to offer, but you can still use a regular Switch to keep half of that option available.