Rebel Clash, Pokemon TCG's latest expansion, had a big influence on the standard format. Several new archetypes have spawned from Pokemon V and VMAX combos, and this guide will show you the five best Rebel Clash decks as standard.
The decklists below are not definitive and are meant to give you an idea of what to put in your own builds. But of course, you can still use them as is, as these exact lists dominate the standard meta.
Click on the images with maps to enlarge.
Pikachu and Zekrom Tag Team
This game is currently the biggest Pokemon TCG winner with some exciting synergies and some hard-hitting new cards from the latest Rebel Clash set.
The base of the roster consists of Dedenne-GX, which draws you six cards when played; and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, which collects Energy cards and deals Benched opponent Pokémon.
New additions to the game are Boltund V, another energy harvester and potentially massive damage dealer; and Eldegoss V, which brings back important support cards from your discard pile.
Lightning energy plays a big role in this game, and that's why there are 10 pieces of basic lightning energy cards and four copies of Speed Lightning Energy, which also draw cards to you.
The most important support card on the list is the all-new Boss Orders, which replace Benched Pokémon with Active Pokémon. This disrupts the opponent's game plan and gives you a clear match advantage.
Dragapult
This new archetype is based on the new Pokemon evolution pair from the Rebel Clash expansion: Dragapult V and Dragapult VMAX.
On its own, Dragapult V isn't terribly dangerous, but if it evolves into the VMAX form, you can spread five damage counters on the benched opponent's Pokemon according to your preference. This will cause your opponent to take a defensive stance.
Horror Psychic Energy can help produce even more damage counters on opponent's Pokemon, including Active Pokemon, which will further assert your dominance in the given match.
If your Dragapult VMAX is threatened, you can use Scoop Up Net, a new support card, to bring it back to your hand and save the day.
rill boom
Another Pokemon evolution from Rebel Clash has a surprising breakthrough in this meta. It turns out that Rillaboom V and Rillaboom VMAX are pretty amazing.
Rillaboom's base form has a devastating 220 damage attack called Wood Hammer, which is unusual for a base Pokemon card. When it evolves into the VMAX map, it greatly increases its HP and has the ability to grow its attack by getting rid of grass energy.
Speaking of grass energy: this Rillaboom deck has a new Turffield Stadium card from Rebel Clash that grabs grass energy from your deck, making the combo so easy to execute.
Toxtricity
Poison Effect is the star of this decklist, which focuses on three cards from Rebel Clash: Toxtricity V, Toxtricity VMAX, and Garbodor.
Toxtricity V must poison an opponent's Active Pokémon first, then it can deal 180 damage using the Electric Riot ability.
It gets even better when it's gone VMAX, in which case Toxtricity deals 240 damage, which is more than enough to knock out almost any Basic Pokemon for a prize or two.
Garbodor helps this evolution team set up those devastating beats using his Pudonous Puddle ability, which inflicts a poison status effect on the opponent's Active Pokémon.
Cinderella
Today's standard format wouldn't be complete without some sort of welder's rig. Cinderace V and Cinderace VMAX fully embrace the power of the Welder and the energy of fire in this meta.
Here you want to access the VMAX evolution as quickly as possible and allow your opponent to attack your Cinderella with as much power as possible. Cinderace VMAX has a huge reserve of 320 HP and absorbs all damage dealt. Then he uses all that extra damage and retaliates.
It's certainly a very unusual approach to a welder's bridge, but it works. That's why it's currently one of the top tier decks in the Pokemon TCG standard.
That's all about the best Rebel Clash decks for Standard, and check out more Pokemon TCG guides here.
