Terapagos ex Battle Pass Deck Strategy & Upgrade Guide
Terapagos ex is one of the hottest new decks in Stellar Crown. The folks over at Pokemon must be aware of this because they are releasing a free Terapagos ex deck you can get to play in Pokemon TCG Live when the new expansion gets released on Thursday September 12, 2024.
Below, we’ll be talking about the base level Terapagos ex you can get with the Stellar Crown Battle Pass in PTCG Live as well as some effective upgrade strategies you can use to make your deck better.
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Pokémon: 17
2 Terapagos ex SCR 128
3 Bouffalant SCR 119
2 Noctowl TEF 127
1 Noctowl SCR 115
3 Hoothoot TEF 126
2 Snorlax LOR 143
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 038
1 Lumineon V BRS 040
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 046
1 Fan Rotom SCR 118
Trainers: 33
3 Iono PAL 185
2 Boss’s Orders PAL 172
1 Arven SVI 166
1 Brandon SIT 151
1 Cheren’s Care BRS 134
1 Colress’s Tenacity SFA 057
1 Crispin SCR 133
1 Team Yell’s Cheer BRS 149
2 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
2 Town Store OBF 196
4 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
4 Ultra Ball SVI 196
2 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
2 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Switch SVI 194
1 Switch Cart ASR 154
2 Bravery Charm PAL 173
1 Rescue Board TEF 159
Energy: 10
2 Basic Energy SVE 009
2 Basic Energy SVE 012
2 Basic Energy SVE 011
4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
Terapagos ex deck overview
Most people who are excited about Terapagos ex cites its tankiness and consistency as their core reason of excitement. That being said, tankiness in-and-of-itself tends to not be a strong enough reason to make a deck powerful in the meta. Will Terapagos ex stand the test of time and deliver as a top tier deck?
Let’s look into the core strategy for this deck and some of the key cards that make it work.
Terapagos ex card breakdown
First, let’s talk about Terapagos ex itself. It’s an intriguing Pokemon for sure. It’s most exciting attack is Unified Beatdown. For the cost of just two energy, it’s capable of attacking for a combined total of 240 damage.
That’s an impressive amount of damage easily capable of knocking out basic Pokemon ex and V.
Meanwhile, Crown Opal can be an effective attack to counter basic decks that are very popular in the meta right now – decks like Roaring Moon ex, Ancient Box, and even Chien-Pao ex.
To get Crown Opal off, however, you’ll need to rely on Glass Trumpet, which allows you to add energies from your discard onto your Terapagos ex.
You can also use Crispin here to add an anergy automatically to Terapagos from your deck. All it takes is a single Trumpet and Crispin and you can get this powerful attack off.
Area Zero Underdepths
You can’t talk about Terapagos ex without also talking about Area Zero Underdepths, however. This powerful Stadium card is a game changer for Tera decks, enabling them to play up to eight Pokemon to their bench.
To make Terapagos ex truly optimal, you’ll need Area Zero in play. To help you get it, you can use your Noctowl or even Colress’s Tenacity to get it directly from your deck. Use Lumineon V to pull Colress’s Tenacity from your deck and quickly get your Underdepths set up and ready to go.
Upgrade tip
Given how imperative this stadium is to your strategy, you’ll want a total of four copies in your deck. You really don’t need the Town Store stadium in this deck so that’s an easy swap right there.
Beefing up Terapagos ex with Bouffalant
I mentioned the tankyness of Terapagos ex, and it does have some pretty impressive defensive capabilities. While it’s HP on its own isn’t enough to write home about, that HP can be a lot more deadly when you factor in Bouffalant’s ability. Effectively, have two of these in play and your Terrapagos ex takes 60 less damage, giving it an effective HP of 280 (although obviously damage reduction works differently than HP boosts).
Meanwhile, you have several Bravery Charms in this deck to also enhance Terapagos ex’s defense. Combined, you’re looking at it taking a 330 damage hit to knock it out, which puts it on the same level as Stage 2 powerhouses out there like Charizard ex and Hydrapple ex.
Return Terapagos ex to your hand after taking a hit with Cheren’s Care
Cheren's Care isn’t seen a ton these days in competitive play, but I remember very well when it was a staple in Areceus VSTAR decks. It works very effectively in this deck, letting you return your damaged Terapagos ex before it can be knocked out, denying your opponent valuable prize cards.
Making the most of Noctowl’s Jewel Seeker
Noctowl has the potential to absolutely upturn the Pokemon TCG meta as we know it today, giving unprecedented card search capabilities to Tera decks. All sorts of decks will be looking to take advantage of this ability, from Charizard ex to the one we currently are talking about.
To make the most out of Jewel Seeker, however, you’ll need to have the proper set up. To achieve this, you have a few options. First of all, you have Buddy-Buddy Poffin which is a great way to get your Hoothoot into play.
Upgrade tip
This deck only runs one copy of Buddy-Buddy Poffin. Realistically, however, you’ll be wanting at least two and probably more like three in your deck. This will make getting your key basic Pokemon into play much easier.
Additionally, the new Rotom Fan card that’s coming out in Stellar Crown will help make your deck more consistent, and many early builds of Terapagos ex are including two copies of this card.
Lastly, you clearly will want more Noctowl’s from Stellar Crown as the other Noctowl is virtually useless in this deck build in comparison. A three-three line of Hoothoots and Stellar Crown Noctowl’s would be much better, or at least a two-two.
Alternative secondary attackers to Terapagos ex
Finally, Terapagos ex is a strong attacker, but many are also finding the deck works best when it has access to alternate attackers to use as needs arise. While this deck runs two of the handy Snoralx from Lost Origin, you could run an Iron Leaves ex instead or the devastatingly strong Blood Moon Ursaluna ex which works as an effective late game closer.
ACE SPEC options
The Terapagos ex Battle Pass deck doesn’t come with an ACE SPEC, meaning you’ll have to swap in one of your own. Here you have a several strong options.
Prime Catcher: always a good option, in this deck Prime Catcher could help gust out more desirable targets your Unified Beatdown can OHKO.
Sparkling Crystal: helps remove an energy cost, making it easier for you to get your attacks off.
Scoop Up Cyclone could also be a good play here, letting you bring a damaged Terapagos ex back to your hand, or restart a Noctowl to use more Jewel Seeker abilities!
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Pokémon: 9
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141
3 Hoothoot TEF 126
3 Terapagos ex SCR 128
1 Lumineon V BRS 40
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
3 Noctowl SCR 115
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
3 Bouffalant SCR 119
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
Trainer: 18
1 Switch Cart ASR 154
1 Sparkling Crystal SCR 142
1 Brandon SIT 151
1 Rescue Board TEF 159
2 Nest Ball SVI 181
2 Bravery Charm PAL 173
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172
2 Iono PAL 185
1 Arven SVI 166
1 Colress's Tenacity SFA 57
1 Cheren's Care BRS 134
4 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
1 Crispin SCR 133
4 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 Switch SVI 194
2 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
Energy: 4
2 Basic {L} Energy SVE 12
2 Basic {G} Energy SVE 9
2 Basic {W} Energy SVE 11
4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
Total Cards: 60
Follow these guidelines (plus add in in another Terapagos which you can get from making your way through the Battle Pass) and the deck you’ll end up with should look something like the list above.
Hopefully this Terapagos ex deck list and guide helps give you some ideas to upgrade your very own Terapagos ex deck and start climbing the Pokemon TCG Live ladder all the way to the top!
