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Itching to try out new cards from Shining Revelry and get some day 1 practice in before Ranked Match Season 1 launches tomorrow? I’ve got you covered.
In this article, I’ll be featuring decks you can try using the latest cards from the upcoming expansion. While they might not be fully competitive just yet — since we’re still in theorycrafting mode — I can assure you they already show strong potential.
Charizard Moltres
I know this is the deck everyone wants to try — and with the addition of A2b-069, one of the top cards I featured, it's about to get insanely consistent. Especially for a deck that’s all about finding a specific combo: A1-047 into A2b-008, then evolving into the new A2b-010.
If you don’t open with the combo, A2b-069 gives you a powerful way to reset and dig for it. In fact, it’s strong enough here that running two copies is justifiable — even if it means cutting A2b-070 to make space.
We’re using the new A2b-008 and A2b-009 from Shining Revelry, since they’re just outright better than the old ones. The new Charmander can attack right away, and Charmeleon only needs two Energy, which smooths out your curve.
As for Charizard, we’re including the new one (A2b-010) as a one-of, so you can still play the old A1-036 too, depending on how the meta shifts. With the help of A2-146, you’ll be able to grab whichever version fits the situation best.
This is definitely one of the new decks I’ll be testing right away when Shining Revelry drops — and if you’re into Fire decks or love explosive combos, this one’s a must-try.
Wugtrio Origin Palkia
This is definitely a competitive take on A2b-019, and it's looking quite strong. It’s one Energy faster than both A2a-023 and A1a-018, while still sticking to a similar gameplan — making it a very efficient Water-type attacker.
If you’re not familiar with this kind of playstyle, I recommend checking out my A1a-018 + A2a-023 guide for deeper insight. The core strategy remains the same: charge up A2b-019 with A2-050, while A2a-023 serves as your backup attacker or early-game tank in case you can’t set up A2b-019 immediately.
Since A2b-019 only needs 3 Energy, we can make great use of A2-154. After powering up with A2-050, you can retreat it, promote A2b-019, then use A2-154 to transfer an Energy from another Water-type Pokémon onto it. Add your manual attachment for the turn, and you’re already at 3 Energy — ready to attack in one turn.
Clodsire Weezing
This is one of the decks I’m really looking forward to playtesting as soon as I get my hands on A2b-048. You can probably get away with running just one copy and covering for it with A2-146 — not ideal, but it could still work out depending on your consistency needs.
We’re replacing the old A1a-055 line with A2b-048, which already feels like a strict upgrade. Since Clodsire is only a Stage 1, the deck becomes much more consistent and quicker to set up.
A1-177 is still here to support A2b-048, ensuring Poison is always active for Venoshock. Even if you only have A2b-047 on board, it’s not a terrible fallback — it also applies Poison, keeping your pressure going.
The main damage dealer in the list is A2-110, with its Nightmare Aura being a constant threat. It can hold the frontline just as well as A2b-048 and gives the deck more flexibility in its pacing and damage spread.
The list is already pretty tight, with A2-147 and A2-146 acting as the main flex spots. I still really like Giant Cape to help A2-110 or A2b-048 survive longer, and Pokémon Communication goes a long way in keeping the deck smooth and consistent.
If you’re feeling spicy, you could also consider swapping in a single A2b-069 instead of A2-146 to make sure you find what you need at the right moment.
Mewtwo Giratina
Operation: Revive Mewtwo is coming in hot — and surprisingly, A2b-035 might just be the missing piece that brings this deck back. It offers a proactive damage dealer whether it’s on the Bench or in the Active Spot, while charging up A1-129 in the background. The key is managing your retreats efficiently while funneling Energy to your attackers — which is why we’re running 2 copies of A1a-068.
A2-150 is still a major pain point for the deck, as always — but that’s been a consistent weakness, and not one that breaks the deck entirely.
We’re also making room for the new A2b-071, which helps push Psydrive’s 150 damage over key thresholds — especially with A2-147 being so common now. A2b-071 also allows A2b-035 to reach 150, giving you another reliable threat.
There's not much that can be cut at this point. If anything, A1-225 might be the only flex slot — but she’s still valuable for clearing annoying tanks that might otherwise block your path to clean knockouts with Psydrive.
A2-146 is essential here, ensuring we get A1-132 online as quickly as possible. The entire gameplan hinges on that — charging up A1-129 efficiently so you can use Psydrive every turn, with A1-132 providing that crucial extra Energy. A2b-035 acts as your backup tank and secondary damage option, giving you a solid two-pronged approach.
Lucario ex Garchomp ex
A2b-043 might be a bit of a hard sell right now — especially when decks like A2-089 are doing what Fighting decks do best: dealing huge single-target damage up front. In contrast, A2b-043 leans more toward bench pressure, which can feel underwhelming if you're not fully committing to that strategy.
That said, if we’re going to attack the bench, we might as well go all-in. That’s where A2a-047 comes in — one of the stronger bench attackers available — and to add even more pressure, we’re also including A1-154, which helps keep the opponent’s bench constantly under threat.
The main issue with the deck right now is the Energy curve. Both A2b-043’s Aura Sphere and A2a-047’s Dragon Claw require three Energy, which slows down your tempo significantly. Because of that, you’ll often need to rely on Linear Attack in the early game to chip away at your opponent’s setup — and hope to close things out with A2b-043 once you’ve softened their board.
It’s definitely a more niche Fighting deck, but I wanted to showcase A2b-043 in case you’re looking for something new to build around.
Tinkaton ex Dialga ex
This might be a scuffed version of A2-119–A2a-071 for now, but there’s still real potential here — especially with A2b-054 having the ability to one-shot most of the competition on a successful flip. The biggest drawback, of course, is that it’s a Stage 2, which makes setup a bit of a hurdle. But if you start with the A2b-052 → A2b-053 → A2b-054 line early, you can definitely get by — and A1a-032 is a decent starter to help smooth out those opening turns.
You could consider adding Shaymin, similar to the classic A2a-071 build, but I think the priority should still be starting with A2-119 when possible. That gives you a better early-game tempo while you work on building up to A2b-054.
To alleviate the deck’s slower setup, we’re running A2-146 and A2b-069, which help you dig for what you need and get A2b-054 online as quickly as possible. From there, A1-225 and A2-150 give you the reach to cleanly remove threats once A2b-054 is ready to swing.
We’re also running A2b-072 as a bit of soft disruption — mostly to stall your opponent’s momentum while you buy time for A2b-054. That said, it’s the most flexible slot in the deck. You could easily swap it out for A2-147 to help your attackers survive longer, or A2b-070 for sustain.
Overall, it’s a rougher take on A2-119–A2a-071, but if you’re a fan of high-ceiling damage decks that just need a bit of setup time to dominate, this one’s definitely worth testing.
Beedrill Leafeon
This deck definitely has some real potential, though it's held back by A2b-003 being a Stage 2, as usual. But as long as you’re able to find and set up A2b-003 early, the list starts to look formidable — especially since it's backed by healing options like A1-219, which make it harder for your opponent to keep up while A2b-003 removes their Energy.
A2a-010 serves as your backup damage dealer and tank while you work on setting up A2b-003. It provides a stable frontline and helps you stay in the game if your Beedrill line takes too long to come online.
You also have the option of teching in A1-023, but that introduces the issue of high retreat cost. And personally, I don’t want to commit to running a retreat cost reducer like A1a-068 just to make that one card work.
Overall, if you can manage the setup, this deck brings a disruptive and sustainable gameplan that can put serious pressure on slower builds and punish decks that rely heavily on Energy ramp.
Articuno 18T
And if you're running short on the new EX Pokémon, there's always a go-to option: the cheapest and still incredibly competitive deck — A1-084 with 18 Trainers. With the addition of the new A2b-072, this deck has become even more annoying to deal with — in the best way possible.
A single successful A1-220 or A2b-072 activation is often enough to win the game outright, so increasing your odds of pulling that off is key. The deck focuses entirely on leveraging Supporter cards while keeping A1-084 alive as your main attacker and control piece.
Even when flips don't go your way, the deck is still incredibly disruptive, thanks to the sheer number of powerful Supporters at your disposal. We’ve also included the new A2b-071, which helps address one of the deck's core weaknesses: clearing bigger threats that A1-084 might struggle to deal with directly.
We opted not to run A2b-070, since the deck is already packed with Supporters, and Potion is often a more flexible option for quick healing in clutch situations.
Overall, this is a deceptively powerful and frustrating deck to face, and it’s only going to get more dangerous as future sets introduce even more powerful Supporters. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly but highly competitive control deck, this one’s a top-tier pick.
Final Thoughts
Hope you picked up some ideas for decks to try on Day 1 of Shining Revelry, and maybe even for ranked! Good luck with your pulls — and feel free to share any decks you’re excited about in the comments!
