Palkia VSTAR/Terapagos ex Deck Guide – Stellar Crown
Of the new decks coming out in Stellar Crown, none is more hyped than the Palkia VSTAR deck featuring Terapagos ex. In this guide, we’ll be diving into the core strategy of this deck, how it works, and why it’s going to be a top meta deck in the Pokemon TCG, as well as how you can pilot this deck to success yourself.
-
Pokémon: 11
3 Origin Forme Palkia V ASR 39
2 Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40
2 Terapagos ex SCR 128
1 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64
3 Hoothoot TEF 126
4 Noctowl SCR 115
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
1 Bidoof CRZ 111
1 Bibarel BRS 121
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
Trainer: 16
4 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
4 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
3 Ultra Ball SVI 196
2 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
2 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
1 Switch SVI 194
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Night Stretcher SFA 61
1 Canceling Cologne ASR 136
1 Prime Catcher TEF 157
3 Irida ASR 147
3 Iono PAF 80
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172
2 Energy Switch SVI 173 PH
Energy: 1
7 Basic {W} Energy Energy 11
Total Cards: 60
Palkia VSTAR/Terapagos ex deck core strategy
The core strategy of the Palkia VSTAR/Terapagos build is to leverage Area Zero Underdepths to significantly bolster the power of Palkia VSTAR’s Subspace Swell attack. Even if your opponent doesn’t have any Pokemon (which is an unlikely scenario) assuming you can build up a bench of eight using Area Zero, you can take one hit knockouts against most basic Pokemon ex and V.
If your opponent manages to bench even more Pokemon, you quickly will see those numbers swell (pardon the pun), exceeding even enough damage to OHKO something as beefy as a Charizard ex.
Palkia VSTAR deck boasts a range of powerful secondary attackers
Having a strong primary attacker isn’t enough to make it into the Pokemon TCG hall of fame, however. The strongest decks are often the most versatile, and this deck has versatility in spades thanks largely to the Star Portal VSTAR ability. Able to be used once per game, you can quickly accelerate an incredible number of energies onto your Pokemon, enabling you to take double knockouts via Radiant Greninja or Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex.
You can also use this energy acceleration to beef up other powerful attackers like your Terapagos ex or Chien-Pao.
Terapagos ex is a powerful pinch hitter
Speaking of secondary attackers, we can’t forget about Terapagos ex. While this Pokemon is largely in this deck so you can take advantage of your other Tera based effects, it also is a powerful secondary attacker. You can use it to take KOs against almost all basic Pokemon ex via Unified Beatdown.
Noctowl is your card search engine
Lastly, we can’t talk about this deck without talking about the powerful new card search engine: Noctowl. Making its debut in this set, Noctowl lets you bring any two trainer cards from your deck into your hand, as long as you have a Tera type Pokemon in play when you evolve it.
For those of you who have been playing since the Sword and Shield era, you may get some dejavu – this is highly similar to the insanely powerful Shady Dealings engine that dominated that format.
However, this is more balanced than that ability as it can only be used in decks that run Tera Pokemon.
Palkia VSTAR potential weaknesses
Clearly this deck is shaping up to be quite, quite strong, and could very well catapult Palkia VSTAR to the top deck in the Pokemon TCG standard format. That being said, it isn’t without its own fair share of weaknesses.
Weakness to Phantom Dive
For starters, Palkia VSTAR is dependent on many low HP Pokemon who could pretty easily be taken out via Dragapult ex’s Phantom Dive attack. While Dragapult ex isn’t a populr meta deck, Regidrago certainly is, making that a real threat to this deck.
Assuming you go first and can evolve your Pokemon to beaf them up, that won’t be an issue. But it could be an issue when going second.
Dependency on a stadium
While most decks tend to be overly dependent on a small number of cards to function, Palkia VSTAR’s heavily reliance on a Stadium is something of a liablity given the ease with which Stadiums can be removed. Plenty of attacks remove stadiums from play, as do other Stadium cards getting played, and even popular removal tools like Lost Vaccum.
While the pictured deck list runs three copies of Area Zero Underdepths, I would recommend running four as you’ll likely need them.
To avoid this weakness, you’ll need to save your Stadium for the turn you actually attack, ensuring you have it in play and can power up your bench with a bunch of Pokemon to heighten the power of your attacks.
How strong is the new Palkia VSTAR/Terapagos ex deck build?
All of that being said, Palkia VSTAR is very strong and one of the most versatile new decks we’ve seen in a while, thanks largely to the new support for Tera types coming out in Stellar Crown. If you’re looking for a deck that is fun to play, straightforward, and has answers to a lot of different situations, this deck might just be the right one for you!
