All You Need To Know About Build and Strategy
The introduction of the Stellar Crown set feels like you are rifling through a journal from Area Zero; chapter one in this instalment is all about Terapagos ex.
The legendary Pokémon from the Great Crater of Paldea is a newcomer to the Pokémon TCG, and its arrival is opening up a new world. The crystal world of Terastal Pokémon.
With this comes a new archetype that looks set to slide into the top tiers of the TCG, with Terapagos ex combining with a swathe of new cards. This build promises to send shockwaves from the underground caverns upwards by harnessing the power Terastal types and cracking open the bench to allow for more spaces.
It has already begun to trend in Japan, and players of the Pokémon TCG have speculated about what its impact on the meta will look like. But to even have a gauge, you need to understand what the composition of this deck looks like…
Table of Contents
Deck List
The Terapagos ex is all about getting Terastal Pokémon into play, surrounding them with some basic Colourless supporter Pokémon, accelerating energy to your attackers, and then smashing into the opponent’s active Pokémon with some unique moves.
As this is a brand new build, there’s likely to be variance across the landscape in how this is played – especially with your support Pokémon and second line of attack. At the same time, there are fundamental cards that this deck cannot work without.
Let’s see what we are working with as a basis for a deck that bears the hallmarks of competitive success…
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2 x Deck Strategy
This archetype fully focuses on unlocking the power of 230HP Terapagos ex and maximising the damage output of its attacks. Both moves that the Colourless legendary Pokémon boasts can be equally effective and devastating to the opponent.
The first, Unified Beatdown, truly rests on effective setup – the correct Stadium in play, loading your bench with Terastal Pokémon, and Energy supply, too.
Needing two Colourless Energy, Unified Beatdown hits for 30 damage for each of your benched Pokémon. Traditionally, this would be capped at five, meaning a maximum of 150 damage, but this deck has something else in store…The only caveat to this attack is that you can’t use it during your first turn if you go second.
Terapagos ex's second move blends attack with defence. Requiring one Grass Energy, one Water Energy and one Lightning Energy, Crown Opal does 180 damage to your opponent’s Pokémon. At the same time, the move prevents any damage done to Terapagos ex by basic non-Colourless Pokémon during your opponent’s next turn. That neatly rules out Raging Bolt ex, Chien-Pao ex, Iron Hands ex, Miraidon ex, Flutter Mane, Roaring Moon – the list goes on.
The stacked list of supporting Pokémon starts with Noctowl – another release from the sparkling Stellar Crown set. Noctowl occupies a unique position in this archetype with its ability, Jewel Seeker, helping you to clutch the cards you need from your deck.
Specifically, Jewel Seeker comes into play when your Hoothoot evolves into Noctowl and if you have any active Terastal Pokémon. At this point, you can search your deck for up to two Trainer cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. This allows you to search out key cards, such as Area Zero Underdepths and Glass Trumpet, that are integral to this deck.
Up next is the bulk with a new Bouffalant card. Another Colourless Pokémon, Bouffalant, uses its ability, Curly Wall, to give Terapagos ex that extra bit of protection. Curly Wall says that as long as you have at least one other Bouffalant in play, your Basic Pokémon take 60 less damage from attacks from your opponent's Pokémon (this effect doesn't stack). Suddenly, your main attacker looks like it can shoulder damage more effectively.
With the inclusion of Fan Rotom, you have a way to search out these much-valued supporter Pokémon and get them into play. This is because Fan Rotom has the ability Fan Call, which allows you to search your deck for up to three Colourless Pokémon with 100 HP or less, reveal them, and put them into your hand. So this can be your herd call to find Bouffalant or a hand to find Hoothoot. Naturally, it synergises well with Unified Beatdown, too as you vie to get as many Pokémon on your bench as possible.
Pivoting focus to the Pokémon in this deck that aren’t from Stellar Crown, we come to Squawkabilly ex – the final Colourless Pokémon in this build. This parrot with colourful plumage isn’t here for its ability to pack a punch but rather for how it can support your draw capabilities with Squawk and Seize. Squawk and Seize says that 'once during your first turn, you may discard your hand and draw six'. This is particularly useful if you are trying to search out those slightly more awkward Energy cards for Crown Opal or even if you are looking for that killer ACE SPEC.
We are then on to the much-used Manaphy. Manaphy is there to act as the guardian of your benched Pokémon, with its ability, Water Veil, preventing any damage done to them. Given that bench loading is the strategy, Manaphy is a key inclusion.
To round off the Pokémon we have Radiant Greninja and Iron Leaves ex. Both Pokémon use the deck’s mixed Energy inclusion; the former uses it to snipe your opponent’s bench with Moonlight Shuriken, and the latter can deal 180 damage with Prism Edge.
A consideration of some of the build’s best Trainer cards must first look at the Stadium card, Area Zero Underdepths. Much more than the mythical home of Terastal Pokémon, Area Zero Underdepths allows you to have up to eight Pokémon on your bench if you have a Terastal Pokémon in play. This means you can power up Terapagos ex's Unified Beatdown to do 240 damage, which can pose a threat to most Pokémon. You can also make more space for those bulwark Bouffalant, get your protective Manaphy into play, and even hold back a Radiant Greninja ready to take out some of your opponent’s benched Pokémon.
Glass Trumpet is the second new Trainer card from Stellar Crown worth a deep dive. This Item supports Energy acceleration in your gameplay by recycling cards from your discard pile. Specifically, the card says you may choose up to two of your benched Colourless Pokémon and attach a basic Energy card from your discard pile to each. This can be useful if you’ve discarded your hand using Squawk and Seize or even if you’ve simply had a Pokémon knocked out. The catch is you must have a Terastal Pokémon in play.
The last Trainer card to put in the spotlight is Sparkling Crystal, which neatly ties into this Terastal archetype with Terapagos ex as the figurehead. Sparkling Crystal attaches to a Terastal Pokémon and reduces the Energy requirements of attacks by one. This means that Terapagos ex can use Unified Beatdown for just one Colourless Energy card, with the potential to do hefty damage. You can even use Crown Opal for just two Energy cards and give yourself some protection for the following turn. It’s quite a frightening prospect.
Deck Upgrades
Clearly, this deck poses a threat to the top tier archetypes in the TCG. However, it is important to say it has landed on a definitive card that leads to guaranteed success.
Usually, it would be interesting to look at the tweaks that can be made to upgrade the deck, but this time it is slightly more wholesale. It’s time to look at how Terapagos ex can pair with Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR.
Just like Terapagos ex, the lustrous legendary from Sinnoh makes use of a heavy bench backing to punish the opponent truly. Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR's attack, Subspace Swell, does a base 60 damage plus an additional 20 for each benched Pokémon (yours and the opponents). You can create quite the surge. The fact that this component uses Area Zero Underdepths, as well as the fact it makes adept use of those Water Energy cards, means these two can be a special combination.
The third heavy hitter you can bring into this equation is Chien-Pao ex. The introduction Chien-Pao ex may give the once predominantly Colourless deck closer to a watery realm, but it does so to great benefit. That’s because Chien-Pao ex can use its ability Shivery Chill to search out basic Water Energy cards, which both Terapagos ex and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR require. The second reason is Chien-Pao ex's attack, Hail Blade, which does 60 damage for each Water Energy card you discard. It may seem costly, but these can be retrieved with the aforementioned Glass Trumpet.
Without a doubt, many attackers are ready to blend into this deck profile. Whether you choose to give it a Grass, Water or Lightning type edge or even keep the build solely focused on Terastal play, there is much to gain. What do you think?
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