The 2017 Pokémon TCG Play! Pokémon season is in full swing, and the first International Championships in London, England, is on the horizon. Players will be coming in from every corner of the world, eager to earn major Championship Points on their way to the 2017 Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, California, next August.

We’ve seen a lot of different strategies find success at Regional Championships and other events, and now we’ve seen some clear patterns for what decks to expect in Standard, the format that will be used in London. Remember that you can watch matches streaming live all weekend long at Pokemon.com/Live.

At first glance, the addition of XY—Evolutions doesn’t seem to have produced any major new decks, but some cards certainly have improved existing strategies. New promo cards from special collections have also made an impact on some decks. Let’s take a look at the top strategic decks heading into the European Internationals, including how recent cards have affected these decks.

Mega Mewtwo

It’s still early in the 2017 Championship Series season, but so far the card to beat in the Standard format seems to be Mega Mewtwo-EX. With the help of Double Colorless Energy and Mega Turbo, the Psychic Infinity attack can do massive amounts of damage in a flash. Most strategies just can’t keep up with a monstrous 210-HP Pokémon that’s capable of taking down nearly any Pokémon in a single attack. Most players are also using Garbodor’s Garbotoxin Ability in this deck to shut down several strategies to counter Mega Mewtwo-EX. For example, one of the best ways to beat Mega Mewtwo-EX is to hit its Weakness, but Garbotoxin prevents Mew and Mew-EX from using their Abilities to do so. If you’re heading to London for the International Championships, you should expect to see quite a few decks featuring Mega Mewtwo-EX.

What’s New: Not much changed for this deck with the release of XY—Evolutions. The only major difference is the appearance of the new Mewtwo, another Psychic-type Pokémon that can do a lot of damage in the right circumstances. If Mega Mewtwo-EX has five Energy attached to it, Mewtwo’s Psychic attack will do a total of 240 damage after Weakness. Cards such as Fighting Fury Belt and Giovanni’s Scheme can make things even messier: with the extra damage from these Trainer cards, Mewtwo’s Psychic attack could Knock Out a Mega Mewtwo-EX with just three Energy attached. Be careful not to attach too much Energy!

Mega Gardevoir

With the popularity of Mega Mewtwo-EX, Mega Gardevoir-EX has emerged as a popular counter play. The dual-type Pokémon can attack Mega Mewtwo-EX for Weakness, giving it a very easy matchup against one of the strongest strategies in the Standard format. Beyond that, this deck is aggressive, hard-hitting, and consistent. It removes the downside of having vulnerable supporting Pokémon such as Shaymin-EX and Hoopa-EX in play by simply discarding them with the Despair Ray attack after their Abilities have been used. The Sky Field Stadium card can be used to increase the Bench size to 8, meaning the Despair Ray attack can reach 190 damage—enough to Knock Out many Pokémon-EX in one attack.

What’s New: XY—Evolutions had a huge impact on this deck. Dragonite-EX’s Pull Up Ability is exactly what Mega Gardevoir-EX needs after Despair Ray discards a bunch of Benched Pokémon. One Dragonite-EX can bring back Hoopa-EX, whose Scoundrel Ring Ability can find three more Pokémon-EX, and then things take off from there. Another sneaky option is Rattata. Its Mischievous Fang Ability can discard a Pokémon Tool attached to your opponent’s Active Pokémon, something that’s extremely valuable in the Standard format. For example, it could discard a Fighting Fury Belt from your opponent’s Pokémon, reducing its HP by 40 so one Despair Ray attack could take it down. And there’s even Brock’s Grit as an option to get back a bunch of Pokémon and basic Energy you’ve discarded over the course of the game.

Mega Rayquaza

Mega Rayquaza-EX was expected to be the deck to beat in the Standard format, but it didn’t quite work out that way. The sheer number of decks using Parallel City, which can limit Bench size, really hurts the damage output of the Emerald Break attack. Combine that with the increased usage of Garbodor’s Garbotoxin Ability, which prevents the Mega Rayquaza-EX deck from using Hoopa-EX’s Scoundrel Ring or Shaymin-EX’s Set Up, and the environment just wasn’t right for this deck. But as Mega Gardevoir-EX gains popularity, Mega Rayquaza-EX can sneak its way back into the metagame by preying on this excellent matchup. With Cédric Gouin’s recent win at the Regional Championships in Liverpool, England, this classic strategy is back on the radar—its raw power can never be ignored.

What’s New: Just like Mega Gardevoir-EX, Mega Rayquaza-EX certainly welcomes Dragonite-EX and Brock’s Grit to the team. One thing to watch for is the prevalence of Giratina-EX. The combination of the Renegade Pulse Ability and the Chaos Wheel attack is an absolute nightmare for Mega Rayquaza-EX. Jirachi’s Stardust attack can exploit Giratina-EX’s reliance on Double Dragon Energy, giving the Mega Rayquaza-EX player an opening to take advantage with a timely Hex Maniac.

Mega Scizor

Mega Scizor-EX certainly isn’t a flashy card, but it has found a niche in the Standard format. It’s a bulky 220-HP Pokémon that does enough damage with Iron Crusher to Knock Out just about any Pokémon in two attacks, and it can be disruptive in the process. The other Mega Evolution decks we’ve talked about struggle with Mega Scizor in some way: Mega Mewtwo-EX relies on Special Energy and has a difficult time with Psychic Resistance, Mega Gardevoir-EX has Weakness to Metal, and Mega Rayquaza-EX does poorly against Energy and Stadium disruption. Combined with other disruptive cards such as Garbodor and Crushing Hammer, this resilient deck has the chance to be a real contender.

What’s New: Not much has changed in terms of cards this deck wants to include, but the metagame has shifted in its favor. With fewer Fire-type Pokémon and more Mega Gardevoir-EX and Xerneas being played at tournaments, this Metal-type Pokémon is in the right place at the right time. However, there’s always an inherent risk to using this particular deck. Mega Scizor-EX doesn’t play well with Fire-type Pokémon, and getting matched up with a few of them at a tournament could ruin your day.

Darkrai/Giratina

With the success of the various Mega Evolution Pokémon, it’s no surprise to see Giratina-EX seeing play. Its Renegade Pulse Ability can shut down Mega Evolution Pokémon completely, and its Chaos Wheel attack is incredibly powerful against all sorts of strategies. Darkrai-EX is a great partner for it: it’s a no-nonsense attacker trying to pile up as much damage as possible. With the help of Max Elixir and Double Dragon Energy, the damage from the Dark Pulse attack can snowball quickly. This deck took three of the Top 8 spots at the Regional Championships in Orlando, Florida, and there’s no reason to think it won’t continue to see play.

What’s New: Salamence-EX could provide a boost against decks that use a lot of Pokémon-EX. Its Beastly Fang attack does an extra 50 damage for each of your opponent’s Pokémon-EX, which can add up quickly. For example, if your opponent has a Mega Mewtwo-EX, Mewtwo-EX, Hoopa-EX, and Shaymin-EX in play, the Beastly Fang attack will do 210 damage, enough to take down Mega Mewtwo-EX in one attack. The flexibility of Double Dragon Energy allows this deck to include any Dragon-type Pokémon, and Salamence-EX looks to be a great one.

Volcanion

Volcanion-EX and Volcanion form a simple duo of Pokémon that can create complicated situations for your opponent. Volcanion-EX’s Steam Up Ability makes your Basic Fire-type Pokémon’s attacks do more damage, and Volcanion’s Power Heater attack gets things warmed up by getting some extra Energy into play. The pure power of Volcanion-EX is what makes this deck dangerous. With enough uses of the Steam Up Ability, its Volcanic Heat attack can do as much as 250 damage, and that kind of damage output is going to win a lot of games.

What’s New: Not much is new here. Volcanion-EX’s success is largely influenced by the usage of Garbodor and Silent Lab in other decks, and it’s never easy to predict how much those cards will get used. On the bright side, XY—Evolutions provided some awesome-looking Fire Energy to throw into your deck.

Yveltal/Garbodor

We’re never too surprised to see an Yveltal-EX deck win a major tournament, but it certainly wasn’t the deck people predicted to win the Orlando Regional Championships. With two great attacks, Yveltal-EX continues to adapt to the times and stay relevant in tournament play for nearly three years. But perhaps just as important is the regular Yveltal, whose Fright Night Ability can really mess with certain decks while the Pitch-Black Spear attack damages multiple Pokémon at once. Wrap it all up with the disruption of Garbodor’s Garbotoxin, and you have a winning deck on your hands.

What’s New: Like the Volcanion deck, there haven’t been any major changes for this deck. It’s just a solid strategy that’s capable of dealing with nearly any deck out there. It’s never really the favorite to win an event, but nobody will be surprised if it has some success at the European Internationals.

Vileplume Toolbox

Even after Sam Hough’s 3rd place at the World Championships and Alex Schemanske’s 2nd place at the Orlando Regional Championships, it feels like this wild and crazy Vileplume deck continues to fly under the radar. The idea is to shut down Item cards with Vileplume’s Irritating Pollen Ability, and then use whatever Pokémon is appropriate to limit your opponent’s options. Jolteon-EX can lock down Basic Pokémon, Glaceon-EX can stop Evolution Pokémon, and Regice can deal with Pokémon-EX. Mew-EX’s Versatile Ability gives it the flexibility to switch between these attacks when necessary, or you can use Ninja Boy to swap with the right Pokémon for the situation. The prospect of a quick Vileplume thanks to the Forest of Giant Plants Stadium card is always a threat to any strategy.

What’s New: The surge of Garbodor’s Garbotoxin left this deck in an awkward spot. If the opponent can attach a Pokémon Tool card to Garbodor before Vileplume comes out, then your strategy of shutting down Item cards won’t work. That changes quite a bit with the addition of Beedrill-EX. Its Double Scrapper attack allows you to discard the Pokémon Tool from Garbodor, reactivating Vileplume’s Irritating Pollen and preventing the opponent from playing another Pokémon Tool. This one card could make a major difference in how this deck functions in a tournament environment.

 

The European International Championships are going to be unpredictable, but one thing is for sure: this is going to be an exciting event. The competition will be fierce, and there’s no telling which decks and players will reign supreme. Be sure to watch the live stream at Pokemon.com/Live to follow all of the action!