4 Corners:
| Pokémon (19) | Trainers (25) | Energy (16) |
| 4x Dunsparce 2x Lanturn 2x Chinchou 2x Dark Hypno 2x Drowzee 2x Magcargo 2x Slugma 1x Rhydon 1x Rhyhorn 1x Jirachi |
3x TV Reporter 3x Celio’s Network 3x Steven’s Advice 1x Rocket’s Admin 3x Swoop! Teleporter 2x Pokemon Retriever 2x Switch 2x Crystal Shard 1x Strength Charm 1x Pow! Hand Extension 1x ATM Rock 3x Battle Frontier |
3x Double Rainbow Energy 3x Multi Energy 3x Lightning Energy 3x Psychic Energy 2x Scramble Energy 2x Fighting Energy |
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4 Corners had no real goal other than to exploit the weaknesses of the key matchups in the format, and as such the main attackers could be interchanged depending on the expected meta. Cards like Swoop! Teleporter, Magcargo and Celio’s Network provided the needed consistency to make a toolbox like this function, and the abundance of special energy available made setting up the strong attacks much more reliable.
Birds:
| Pokémon (17) | Trainers (19) | Energy (24) |
| 4x Zapdos ex 4x Moltres ex 4x Kangaskhan 4x Wobbuffet 1x Rayquaza  |
4x Lanette’s Net Search 4x Scott 3x Mr Stone’s Project 4x EXP ALL 4x Battle Frontier |
11x Fire Energy 11x Lightning Energy 2x Psychic Energy |
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An extremely simple deck created by Chris McGiven which was able to win the UK National Championships. It focused on setting up behind walls like Kangaskhan and Wobbuffet then eventually attack with a stream of Zapdos ex and Moltres ex. EXP.All allowed you to setup more attackers towards the end of the game, including a Rayquaza * which could steal games. The 4 Battle Frontier would also potentially outright shut down some decks that weren’t prepared.
Blastoise ex:
| Pokémon (24) | Trainers (21) | Energy (15) |
| 3x Blastoise ex 3x Squirtle 3x Delcatty 3x Skitty 3x Magneton 3x Magnemite 3x Dunsparce 1x Deoxys ex (Attack) 1x Deoxys ex (Normal) 1x Plusle |
4x Celio’s Network 3x TV Reporter 2x Copycat 2x Mr. Stone’s Project 1x Rocket’s Admin 1x Scott 4x Rare Candy 1x Swoop! Teleporter 1x Pokemon Retriever 1x High Pressure System 1x Island Cave |
11x Water Energy 2x Lightning Energy 2x Psychic Energy |
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A surprise deck at the World Championships, this deck achieved both a T8 and T16 finish in Seniors, and served as a predecessor of the popular LBS deck in the following season. Delcatty and Magneton gave the deck a lot of consistency, as well as strong 1 Prize attackers hitting for relevant weaknesses with Blastoise’s Energy Rain Poke-Power. The Deoxys ex’s provided another strong weakness to hit in a Medicham focused format, as well as an opportunity to deal with a high HP problematic Pokemon with ease.
Blaziken:
| Pokémon (25) | Trainers (21) | Energy (14) |
| 4x Dunsparce 3x Blaziken 2x Blaziken ex 3x Combusken 4x Torchic 2x Pidgeot 1x Pidgeotto 2x Pidgey 2x Rayquaza ex 1x Moltres ex 1x Jirachi |
3x Celio’s Network 3x TV Reporter 2x Steven’s Advice 1x Copycat 1x Rocket’s Admin 4x Rare Candy 2x Switch 1x Warp Point 1x Pokemon Retriever 3x High Pressure Stadium |
10x Fire Energy 4x Multi Energy |
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While not as strong as it was in 2004, it still saw a lot of play well into the 2005 season, even reaching T16 at Worlds. It maintained many of its strengths, but also gained the consistency engine of Pidgeot, as well as Celio’s Network allowing it to hit combo’s much more freely.
Dark Slowking:
| Pokémon (12) | Trainers (34) | Energy (14) |
| 4x Jirachi 4x Dark Slowking 4x Slowpoke |
4x Steven’s Advice 4x Professor Cosmo’s Discovery 2x Rocket’s Mission 4x Rocket’s Poke Ball 4x Swoop! Teleporter 4x Crystal Shard 4x Strength Charm 4x EXP ALL 4x Pokemon Retriever |
10x Psychic Energy 4x Darkness Energy |
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William Hung decided to make a far more aggro version of the T2 archetype with Dark Slowking. Dark Slowking’s Litter attack allowed you to deal as much as 100 damage Turn 2 with the abundance of Tool Cards and Rocket’s Secret Machines in his list. It’s Cunning PokePower also allowed you to control your opponent’s draws to disrupt as much as possible and EXP.ALL meant that it was easy to keep a string of attackers going at any given time. Its strong typing, as well as ability to avoid an annoying resistance with Crystal Shard meant it had options against a lot of the format.
Dark Steelix:
| Pokémon (12) | Trainers (33) | Energy (15) |
| 4x Dark Steelix 4x Onix 4x Jirachi |
4x TV Reporter 3x Rocket’s Admin 3x Steven’s Advice 2x Copycat 4x Swoop! Teleporter 4x Life Herb 4x Potion 3x Rocket’s Poke Ball 3x Oran Berry 3x Rocket’s Tricky Gym |
4x Darkness Energy 4x Metal Energy 4x Fighting Energy 3x R Energy |
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Cropping up and seeing success at Worlds, Dark Steelix provided a new take on the popular T2 archetype. It’s strategy was to overwhelm the opponent with a stream of single prize Dark Steelix’s, which could both tank hits and deal decent damage with Metal Energy and Darkness Energy respectively. Instead of disruption, the deck focused on using more healing cards like Life Herb and Potion, to make your main attackers even harder to KO.
Dark Tyranitar:
| Pokémon (20) | Trainers (23) | Energy (17) |
| 3x Dark Tyranitar 1x Dark Tyranitar 4x Dark Pupitar 4x Larvitar 2x Magcargo 2x Slugma 4x Dunsparce |
4x Steven’s Advice 4x TV Reporter 4x Rocket’s Admin 2x Celio’s Network 1x Mr. Briney’s Compassion 3x Desert Ruins 2x ATM: Rock 1x VS Seeker 1x Warp Point 1x Pokemon Retriever |
6x Fighting Energy 4x Darkness Energy 3x R Energy 2x Scramble Energy 1x Double Rainbow Energy 1x Heal Energy |
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This variant of Dark Tyranitar just focuses on setting up Dark Tyranitar normally, with the aide of either Pidgeot or Magcargo and relies on its incredibly strong attacks, high HP and it’s 6 prize game. The space this version provides allows for a lot of consistency and tech options like ATM Rock. This variant managed to get T4 at the World Championships in Masters, and 2nd in Seniors, both piloted by Japanese players.
DragTrode:
| Pokémon (20) | Trainers (26) | Energy (14) |
| 4x Rocket’s Sneasel ex 3x Dark Dragonite 3x Dark Dragonair 3x Dratini 3x Dark Electrode 3x Voltorb 1x Rocket’s Scyther ex |
4x Lanette’s Net Search 3x Copycat 3x Steven’s Advice 2x Rocket’s Admin 2x Mr. Briney’s Compassion 4x Rocket’s Poke Ball 3x Dual Ball 1x Pow! Hand Extension 1x Switch 2x Desert Ruins 1x Rocket’s Hideout |
4x Darkness Energy 4x Dark Metal Energy 3x Rainbow Energy 3x R Energy |
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Early DragTrode builds tended to lean towards a focus of Dunsparce and Pidgeot to setup, and relied more on using Dark Dragonite as the main attacker while healing with Mr. Briney’s Compassion. The combination of Dark Electrode’s Darkness Navigation and Dark Dragonite’s Dark Trance would allow you to accelerate energies fast and move them to the appropriate attacker given the situation. A more aggressive build started to see play later in the season, which cut the Dunsparce and Pidgeot entirely, and focused on aggression with more copies of Rocket’s Sneasel ex.
LudiCargo:
| Pokémon (21) | Trainers (25) | Energy (14) |
| 4x Dunsparce 3x Ludicolo 2x Lombre 3x Lotad 1x Articuno ex 2x Magcargo 2x Slugma 2x Lanturn 2x Chinchou |
4x Celio’s Network 2x Rocket’s Admin 1x Steven’s Advice 1x Copycat 1x TV Reporter 1x Professor Oak’s Research 1x Mr. Briney’s Compassion 3x Rare Candy 1x Switch 1x Warp Point 1x Swoop! Teleporter 1x Strength Charm 1x ATM Rock 1x Pokemon Retriever 1x VS Seeker 4x Desert Ruins |
6x Water Energy 4x Double Rainbow Energy 2x Scramble Energy 2x Heal Energy |
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This deck’s built in synergy between Magcargo’s Smooth Over and Magcargo’s Swing Dance meant you had access to any card you wanted to each turn. This combined with a mix of strong attackers in Ludicolo and Lanturn/Rhydon/Ninetales meant it could take on a lot of the format, as long as you tech’d correctly. The deck also had an inbuilt counter Rock lock and an aid against Medicham, with both Lotad and Lombre having the Rain Dish Poke-Body, and it’s lack of focus on ex’s or Pidgeot meant that it could run high counts of either Battle Frontier or Desert Ruins to disrupt any given meta.
Medicham:
| Pokémon (16) | Trainers (29) | Energy (15) |
| 4x Jirachi 4x Medicham ex 2x Meditite 2x Meditite 2x Ninetales 2x Vulpix |
4x Rocket’s Admin 4x TV Reporter 3x Wally’s Training 2x Steven’s Advice 4x Energy Removal 2 4x Pow! Hand Extension 4x Swoop! Teleporter 4x Team Aqua’s Hideout |
7x Fighting Energy 4x Fire Energy 4x Metal Energy |
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With the release of Emerald, Medicham quickly became a dominant deck, winning all 3 age divisions of US Nationals. It’s success continued into Worlds with Sami Sekkoum reaching top 8 with a Ninetales hybrid, designed to hard counter opposing ex decks (including the mirror). Medicham’s Wise Aura Poke-Body allowed you to shut off a large portion of the format early on, while Pure Power allowed you to play from behind the whole game, giving access to powerful cards like Pow! Hand Extension and Rocket’s Admin to disrupt your opponent while you set up your win condition.
Metagross:
| Pokémon (23) | Trainers (23) | Energy (14) |
| 3x Dunsparce 2x Metagross ex 2x Metagross 1x Metagross 3x Metang 4x Beldum 2x Pidgeot 1x Pidgeotto 2x Pidgey 1x Bellossom 1x Oddish 1x Jirachi |
4x Steven’s Advice 4x Celio’s Network 3x TV Reporter 2x Rocket’s Admin 4x Rare Candy 1x ATM Rock 1x Switch 1x Warp Point 1x Strength Charm 1x Magnetic Storm 1x Island Cave |
7x Psychic Energy 4x Metal Energy 2x Scramble Energy 1x Rainbow Energy |
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Piloted by Jay Hornung, this deck focused on setting up a tanky Metagross ex which could focus down opponent’s threats with Metal Reversal, while reducing damage done to itself with Metal Energy and Bellossom. The other Metagross allowed for quicker setup, sustainability throughout the game and alternate attackers, while the Pidgeot line allowed for more consistency.
Muk:
| Pokémon (12) | Trainers (34) | Energy (14) |
| 4x Jirachi 4x Muk ex 4x Grimer |
4x TV Reporter 3x Steven’s Advice 3x Rocket’s Admin 3x Wally’s Training 2x Scott 1x Copycat 4x Swoop! Teleporter 4x Pokemon Reversal 4x Energy Removal 2 2x Crystal Shard 4x Team Aqua’s Hideout |
10x Grass Energy 4x Metal Energy |
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One of the original T2 decks of the format. This archetype relied on putting pressure as soon as possible, both with Muk’s Toxic Gas Poke-Body shutting off opposing Poke-Powers, and its attacks starting to ramp up damage quickly. The low Pokemon count allows for lots of disruption cards like Energy Removal 2, Pokemon Reversal and Team Aqua’s Hideout which aimed to make it as hard as possible for the opponent to deal with multiple Muk ex’s.
Nidoqueen:
| Pokémon (21) | Trainers (24) | Energy (15) |
| 4x Nidoqueen 3x Nidorina 4x Nidoran 3x Pidgeot 2x Pidgeotto 3x Pidgey 1x Milotic 1x Feebas |
4x Celio’s Network 4x Copycat 2x Rocket’s Admin 2x Steven’s Advice 1x Mr. Briney’s Compassion 4x Desert Ruins 4x Rare Candy 3x Great Ball |
6x Grass Energy 4x Double Rainbow Energy 3x Heal Energy 2x Fighting Energy |
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A secret deck created by Jeremy Maron, Pablo Meza and Adam Capriola, this deck took the World Championships by storm achieving 1st and 3rd place. It’s consistency along with Nidoqueen’s ability to both disrupt with Toxic and deal a lot of damage with Power Lariat made it incredibly hard to beat with the format’s card pool.
PowTar:
| Pokémon (22) | Trainers (24) | Energy (14) |
| 3x Dark Tyranitar 2x Dark Pupitar 3x Larvitar 2x Electrode ex 2x Voltorb 1x Pidgeot 1x Pidgeotto 1x Pidgey 1x Magcargo 1x Slugma 1x Magmar 1x Jirachi 3x Dunsparce |
4x Celio’s Network 3x Copycat 2x TV Reporter 2x Rocket’s Admin 1x Steven’s Advice 4x Pow! Hand Extension 3x Rare Candy 3x Swoop! Teleporter 1x ATM Rock 1x Pokemon Retriever |
4x Heal Energy 4x Scramble Energy 4x Darkness Energy 2x Rainbow Energy |
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Similar in concept to ZRE, Ross Cawthon took this rogue deck to a surprise 2nd place finish at the World Championships. The deck relies on setting up a combo involving Electrode ex’s Extra Energy Bomb in conjunction with cards like Rocket’s Admin and Pow! Hand extension to cripple your opponent’s setup while setting up attackers. Scramble Energy becomes a key part of this combo, as it becomes active when you knock out Electrode, and allows you to take KO’s on most of the format, or set up Spinning Tail attacks to close out games.
Rock Lock:
| Pokémon (22) | Trainers (25) | Energy (13) |
| 4x Dunsparce 2x Dark Tyranitar 1x Dark Tyranitar 2x Dark Pupitar 3x Larvitar 2x Dark Ampharos 1x Dark Flaaffy 2x Mareep 2x Pidgeot 1x Pidgeotto 2x Pidgey |
4x Celio’s Network 2x Steven’s Advice 2x Rocket’s Admin 2x Copycat 1x Scott 1x Mr. Briney’s Compassion 4x Rare Candy 3x ATM Rock 2x Rocket’s Poke Ball 3x Desert Ruins 1x Rocket’s Tricky Gym |
4x Fighting Energy 4x Darkness Energy 2x Double Rainbow Energy 2x Heal Energy 1x Scramble Energy |
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Rock Lock, as the name suggests, focused on spreading damage around the opponents board and taking as many cheap prizes as possible, as well as stunting setups with Ancient Technical Machine: Rock. Dark Tyranitar’s Sand Damage Poke-Body complimented Dark Ampharos’s Darkest Impulse Poke-Body nicely, as it meant opponent’s Pokemon wouldn’t be safe whether they evolved or not, and the constant pressure of ATM: Rock would leave them taking more damage each turn. This deck primarily focused on the format’s reliance on evolution cards and Rare Candy as it could target down either Support Pokemon, or Attacking Pokemon should the situation arise.
Sharpedo ex:
| Pokémon (13) | Trainers (31) | Energy (16) |
| 4x Sharpedo ex 4x Carvanha 4x Jirachi 1x Wobbuffet |
3x Steven’s Advice 3x Rocket’s Admin 3x TV Reporter 3x Wally’s Training 1x Scott 4x Energy Removal 2 4x Pokemon Reversal 4x Swoop! Teleporter 1x Crystal Shard 1x Pokemon Retriever 4x Battle Frontier |
4x Darkness Energy 4x Dark Metal Energy 4x Rainbow Energy 4x Metal Energy |
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Similar to the Dark Slowking variant, this T2 variant focused on being aggressive, but allowed for more space for disruption cards again like Energy Removal 2, Pokemon Reversal and even Battle Frontier. Sharpedo’s Drag Off allowed the deck to disrupt early, picking off opponent’s key setup Pokemon, and Darkness Blast allowed the deck to hit for big numbers in conjunction with Darkness energy from Turn 3.
Vileplume:
| Pokémon (14) | Trainers (32) | Energy (14) |
| 4x Vileplume ex 1x Bellossom 1x Gloom 4x Oddish 4x Jirachi |
4x TV Reporter 3x Steven’s Advice 2x Copycat 1x Rocket’s Admin 4x Pokemon Reversal 4x Swoop! Teleporter 4x Energy Removal 2 4x Rare Candy 3x Master Ball 2x Battle Frontier 1x Team Aqua Hideout |
11x Grass Energy 3x Metal Energy |
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This deck’s pure focus was to get a turn 2 Vileplume ex to lock your opponent out of the game with it’s Block Dust Poke-Body, preventing them from playing trainers, and locking a disruptive Stadium in play for the entire game. It could then slowly whittle away at the opponent with Special Formula and disruption cards like Energy Removal 2 and Pokemon Reversal, while healing with a Bellossom on the bench.
ZapTurnDos:
| Pokémon (16) | Trainers (27) | Energy (17) |
| 4x Zapdos ex 3x Manectric 4x Electrike 1x Electrode 4x Voltorb |
2x Mr. Stone’s Project 2x Scott 2x Steven’s Advice 1x Lanette’s Net Search 1x Professor Oak’s Research 4x Dual Ball 3x Pokemon Reversal 3x Super Scoop Up 2x Master Ball 2x Switch 2x Battle Frontier 2x Space Center 1x VS Seeker |
17x Lightning Energy |
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As the name implies, the decks focus was to hit with Zapdos’s attack from Turn 2, using either Electrike’s or Voltorb’s Recharge attack. Against a fair amount of decks this pace would be too much to keep up with and could potentially make you go too far ahead for them to get back into the game. Cards like Super Scoop Up made you able to reuse Zapdos ex as much as possible, and Pokemon Reversal let you pick off key Pokemon. Manectric and Electrode provided alternative attackers considering you already had the pre-evolutions in the deck.
ZRE:
| Pokémon (15) | Trainers (28) | Energy (17) |
| 4x Magmar 3x Electrode ex 3x Voltorb 2x Rayquaza ex 2x Zapdos ex 1x Rayquaza |
4x Rocket’s Admin 4x TV Reporter 3x Lanette’s Net Search 2x Rocket’s Mission 4x Pow! Hand Extension 3x Energy Removal 2 3x Switch 2x Strength Charm 2x Space Center 1x Battle Frontier |
9x Lightning Energy 8x Fire Energy |
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Popping up more around the World Championships, this deck took the concept of ZapTurnDos but adapted it towards a combo focused direction to provide more stability vs the format. Using Magmar to set up early game, it would set up for a combo of Electrode ex’s Extra Energy Bomb to set up energy on your board, Rocket’s Admin to disrupt your opponent’s hand and then Pow! Hand Extension to disrupt your opponent’s field. This then allowed a Zapdos ex or Rayquaza ex to wreck havoc on an unoptimal board and hand state, or just use Rayquaza * to close out a game on an unprepared opponent.
Pokemon TCG Archive 