Looking at the Best Decks from Players Cup 3

How’s it goin’ PoTown Store readers? It’s me, Zach Lesage, and I’m here with another article to help you out. As a Players Cup Champion myself, my goal for this article is to showcase the best decks from the recent Players Cup 3 Global Finals! The event featured many powerful decks from our most recent Pokémon TCG Online set, Battle Styles, and it featured many top players. In the end, Azul Garcia Griego (@Azul_GG) won the whole event with his broken Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX (Battle Styles) deck, and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (Team Up) came in second. Let’s look at these top-performing decks!

Griego won the entire event with this deck, and after reviewing his list, I think he did an amazing job at constructing it. I recently covered my research on his deck for my Youtube channel, and if I could pinpoint any reason for his success, it would be his foresight into what the Global Finals would look like. He correctly predicted that Mimikyu (Cosmic Eclipse) would be strong against Mewtwo & Mew-GX (Unified Minds), Mew (Unbroken Bonds) is great against Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, and Giratina (Unified Minds) can take Weakness Guard Energy (Unified Minds) off Eternatus VMAX (Darkness Ablaze). Looking at the entire results, Griego put the odds in his favor and succeeded - let’s look at his championship-winning Pokémon TCGO deck!

The strategy of this Pokémon TCGO deck is to hit Pokémon with Gale Thrust for 150 damage and line up Pokémon to get those multi Prize Card turns with G-Max Rapid Flow! This sounds easier said than done, but it requires a lot of patience. If you fall behind on Prize Cards, you can utilize both Martial Arts Dojo (Unbroken Bonds) and Karate Belt (Unified Minds) to grab a stronger hold during the late game. Jirachi (Team Up) with Scoop Up Net (Rebel Clash) balances it all and makes this deck as consistent as possible!

David Daritan (@daviddaritan) from Australia took the core from my Players Cup 2 Championship winning deck and ran with it all the way to the finals! Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (Team Up) has been a dominant force since it was released, and here we are over two years later, rocking with it at the top of the metagame. The reason why Daritan struggled against Griego was from the lack of Stealthy Hood (Unbroken Bonds), which would have stopped Mimikyu (Cosmic Eclipse) from blocking Mewtwo & Mew-GX (Unified Minds). It left PikaRom in the open to get hit by Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX for huge OHKOs and ultimately cost him the Players Cup 3 Champ title! Regardless, second place is a huge accomplishment so let’s check out his list!

The strategy of this Pokémon TCGO deck is to use Boltund V (Rebel Clash) to power up a handful of Pokémon that can utilize Lightning-type Energy! Those Pokémon include PikaRom, Mewtwo & Mew, and Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX (Unified Minds). Usually, the goal is to use Full Blitz to further set up other attackers and use disruption cards, like Marnie (Sword and Shield), to hold your opponent back as much as possible. This deck is a combination of consistency, power, and disruption, which makes this deck a great choice! Pro Tip: Remember to add in Stealthy Hood to stay current to the metagame!

Davide Innocente from Italy brought a commonly played deck, Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX (Cosmic Eclipse) / Zacian V (Sword and Shield), and brought it all the way to a fifth-place finish! Most ADP decks look similar, but Innocente brought a handful of techs to use each game which likely helped him get this far! Zamazenta V (Sword and Shield) is great against VMAX decks, Cryogonal (Unified Minds) can stop anyone in their tracks, and the Trainers in this deck also included a handful of surprises. I usually like to keep my lists as tech-free as possible, but in smaller tournaments like this, Innocente’s deck seemed to be effective. Let’s check out his Pokémon TCGO deck!

Your goal is to start by attaching either Metal Energy or Water Energy to your ADP as soon as possible. You usually want to attach a Metal Energy first because Crushing Hammer (Sword and Shield) is popular, and if they get Heads, you can always use Metal Saucer to use it again. After you’re able to build up Water and Metal on ADP, you can use Altered Creation GX for the full effect. What’s the full effect? Doing an additional 30 damage when you attack with any of your Pokémon, and you draw an additional Prize Card for each Knock Out. If you’re able to get off Ultimate Ray, you usually win the game because you can get your Zacian powered up, which can almost OHKO all Pokémon.

Even though these decks are from the Players Cup 3, they’re all great to play for the Regional Qualifiers in the Players Cup 4. Why not learn from the best players in the world who recently earned fame from their top accomplishments? I think these decks are great, and I’ll personally be testing them myself as I prepare for this event. At the end of the day, remember to have fun, try your hardest, and enjoy the game! Best of luck at the Players Cup 4.

Zach Lesage is a contributing writer for PoTown Store. As a Toronto local, he has been playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game since 2005 and creates Pokémon content as his full-time career. He creates YouTube content, coaches players to become better in-game, and provides hot takes on his Twitter. With multiple prestigious accomplishments in the game, such as the 2020 Players Cup 2 Champion and the 2020 Oceania International Championships Finalist, he has proven his success in the game. Outside of the game, he travels the world, enjoys the culture of designer streetwear, and is a professionally trained chef. You can catch him at most Pokémon events and follow him on Twitter @ZachLesagePTCG.