Standard: 7 Decks with Journey Together!

Now that Journey Together is finally out, we built a few decks with the new cards and mechanics - from meta lists to budget/rogue lists.

Let's see them!

Hop's Zacian ex + Archaludon ex

This deck is similar to the deck we covered in this article, but it uses a few Hop-centered cards to deal even more damage with Hop's Zacian ex JTG 111. The main combo involves using Hop's Snorlax JTG 117, Postwick JTG 154, and Hop's Choice Band JTG 148 to deal up to 90 extra damage.

This deck still uses Archaludon ex SSP 130's ability to attach energies, as it lets you get two Basic Metal Energy SFA 99 from your discard pile and attach them to your Metal Pokémon. However, it only lets you do this when you evolve it from your hand, and from one of your Duraludon.

Furthermore, Archaludon ex SSP 130's main attack is another way to deal damage, and makes this Pokémon immune to any weaknesses on the next turn. With Relicanth TEF 84's ability, Archaludon ex SSP 130 will also be able to copy Duraludon PRE 69's attack, which is quite useful if it has any damage counters.

Lillie's Clefairy ex + Gardevoir Box

A new card in this list is Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56, whose attack deals 20 base damage plus 20 extra damage for each Pokémon on both benches. In the best-case scenario, you can deal up to 220 damage with it (20 + 100 + 100).

You can get more Bench slots with Area Zero Underdepths PRE 94 as long as you have a Tera Pokémon in play. To do this, this list also uses Dedenne ex sv2 93.

To attach energies to your Pokémon, you'll use Gardevoir ex sv1 86, whose ability lets you get Basic Psychic Energy sv3pt5 207 from the discard pile and attach them to your Psychic Pokémon. The drawback is that you'll have to put 2 damage counters on them for each energy you attach.

You can then turn this drawback into an advantage with Dedenne ex sv2 93's Tail Swamp, which lets you move all damage counters on your Benched Pokémon and put them on your opponent's Active Pokémon.

N's Theme Deck

This deck centers around N cards. The main piece is N's Zoroark ex JTG 98, which can copy the attacks of your Benched N Pokémon.

Here are a few N cards this list uses:

N's Reshiram JTG 116's attack, Powerful Rage, is a sort of boosted Outrage, as it deals 20 extra damage for each damage counter on it. Considering Zoroark's HP, you can deal up to 540 damage with it (27 counters x 20).

N's Darmanitan JTG 27 is a counter against Ceruledge ex SSP 36 in particular.

N's Sigilyph JTG 64's attack, Victory Symbol, lets you draw a Prize card immediately if you only have one left, and, as such, lets you win the game immediately.

Furthermore, N's Zoroark ex JTG 98 is a Darkness Pokémon, so it interacts really well with Pecharunt ex SFA 39, as this Pokémon lets you switch it with your active Pokémon (if N's Castle JTG 152 is in play). This will Poison N's Zoroark ex JTG 98, but then you can use Binding Mochi PRE 95 on it and finish matches faster. Considering this deck doesn't deal a lot of damage, this tool can be a lot of help.

Iono's Pokémon + Raging Bolt ex

This is one of the weakest "Trainer's Pokémon" decks from this set. Our list makes this archetype even more powerful by combining it with Raging Bolt ex TEF 123, one of the most aggressive Pokémon in the format.

Instead of using Teal Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 12 in this list (which would force us to use Grass energies as well), we decided to use Iono's Electric Pokémon. This way, we can just use the Electric energies we need for Raging Bolt ex TEF 123 itself.

This is the main combo:

1) Put Iono's Kilowattrel JTG 55 in play and use its ability. Once per turn, you can use this ability to discard one Basic Lightning Energy sv1 257 attached to this Pokémon to draw up to 6 cards.

2) Later on, you can then use Levincia JTG 150 to recycle the energies you discard throughout the game. You'll be able to recycle up to two Electric energies from the discard pile and add them to your hand.

3) Finally, Iono's Bellibolt ex JTG 53's ability lets you attach one Electric energy from your hand to one of your Iono's Pokémon. So, you'll be able to use both Bellibolt and Kilowattrel to manipulate your energies to your favor.

This will be more than enough to get the energies you need for your Pokémon and to use Raging Bolt ex's second attack to deal a lot of damage. Remember, this attack will force you to discard energies from your Pokémon.

Water Rogue Box: Journey Together

This deck relies on Wailord JTG 41's Hydro Pump, which deals 10 base damage, and 50 extra for each Basic Water Energy sv2 279 attached to it. With 8 energies, you can easily Knock Out any Pokémon in the format, as it can deal 410 damage all at once!

This is only viable because of Baxcalibur PR-SV 19, which is the support Pokémon we'll use to attach Water energies in our hand to our Pokémon.

Our other attacker is Drednaw SCR 44, which is a barrier against Dragapult ex PRE 73 and Charizard ex sv4pt5 54. Its ability protects it from enemy attacks that deal 200 or more damage to it, so it's great against Dragapult's Phantom Dive, and Charizard's main attack, which deals more damage according to how many Prize cards the opponent took. This will corner them into a tough situation.

And, to Knock Out the Tera Pokémon ex in the format with a decisive, devastating strike, this list plays Regigigas PRE 86. It needs colorless energies, so it's quite flexible in this list.

Metagross Rogue Box

The idea behind this deck is simple: use Metagross JTG 63's second attack and deal up to 280 damage, as long as you have at least one Beldum and one Metang in play. That's what you need to deal the maximum amount of damage.

This strategy centers around keeping at least one Beldum ready to evolve as fast as you can. You should also keep more Beldum on your Bench as backup to go "through the evolutions" and keep progressing your game plan.

Tyranitar Rogue Box

This list includes one of the best "baby" Pokémon released in this set. Its ability prevents your opponent from playing Items from their hand, so it's a way to control them.

Furthermore, its main attack "mills" cards, as it forces your opponent to discard the top two cards in their deck. This will be devastating in any situation.

To play this control strategy correctly, you need to start with Budew PRE 4, put pressure on your opponent very early on until you can evolve your Larvitar into Pupitar, and, eventually, into Tyranitar.

We also use Paldean Evolved's Tyranitar sv2 135, and its attack, Rout. This attack deals more damage according to how many Pokémon your opponent has on their Bench. It is another way to control them, as well as deal even more damage with this deck.

So, what did you think of these lists? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!