Twilight Masquerade Prerelease Deck Building Tips

Although we have yet to test out the Build and Battle decks from Twilight Masquerade, we have seen the prerelease promos from this set, giving us our first look at what tactics to look for in your Twilight Masquerade prerelease tournament.

Last prerelease (for Temporal Forces) saw these promos featured prominently in the decks. While each kit only includes one stamped version of the card, it also featured an unstamped version of one of the other cards, and cards that more or less supported a key aspect of their strategy.

Based on the assumption that the kits will be much the same this time, let’s look into some strategies you need to look out for, and what you can do to win your prerelease event.

Twilight Masquerade Promos

Tatsugiri SVP 118

I’m going to start with the strongest promo card first. While Tatsugiri won’t be your main attacker, if you happen to get it in your Build and Battle, you are in luck. It’s the strongest card search support in this set, and will give you a huge leg up against your opposition, especially if you happen to get more than one in your build and battle kit or in your packs.

Deck buiding tips for Tatsugiri

If you get the Tatsugiri in your kit, pay extra attention to the supporter cards you find in your booster packs, and include all of them. While including as many trainers as possible in your prerelease deck is usually the best way to go, Tatsugiri will benefit you even more if you have a healthy number of supporters.

Additionally, the fact that Tatsugiri is a basic Pokemon with an excellent ability means you can likely get your game going faster than most other decks out there in the prerelease that will require evolution Pokemon to function.

This means Tatsugiri will likely pair best with decks made out of basic Pokemon who can hit the ground running and start taking knockouts the turn they are played.

Why is Tatsugiri so good in prerelease decks?

Typically, prerelease decks are really limited in their card search and draw support. With a card like Tatsugiri, however, you should never be without a supporter to play (unless you just get really unlucky).

This means having access to hand replenishment supporters, a Boss’s orders or you name it!

Thwackey SVP 115

Assuming your prerelease kit gives you a card with Festival Lead (like the already revealed Dipplin), Thwackey could be almost as strong of a card in your deck for card search as Tatsugiri. I still give the edge to Tatsugiri here, however, as it’s easier to get off being a basic Pokemon and doesn’t need another card in play to use its ability.

That being said, being able to search your deck for any card you want is a huge advantage in prerelease decks.

Deck building tips for Thwackey

Thwackey’s epic ability Boom Boom Groove only works if you have a card with Festival Lead in the active spot. This means you’re going to want to get as many cards with Festival Lead into your deck as possible.

Although not revealed yet, I’m guessing Dipplin is going to be included in the Thwackey Build and Battle kit. Dipplin is quite, quite strong, giving you access to a pretty easy 100 damage off the bat, and an incredible 200 damage if you have Festival Grounds in play.

Combine this with Thwackey’s card search ability and you might just have the strongest overall deck in Twilight Masquerade prerelease kits.

Of course, the more Festival Ground stadiums you can include the better, so look for this in your booster packs or kit and include as many as you can in your deck.

Infernape SVP 116

Infernape is going to be your powerhouse/nuclear option. Infernape is pretty strong, letting you OHKO most of what you are going to see in a prerelease tournament with its Scorching Fire attack that does 200 damage. However, being a stage 2 Pokemon limits Infernape’s effectiveness somewhat, and he’ll do best when paired with a card like Tatsugiri to help you find what you need before you get too far behind faster decks.

Infernape deck building tips

Infernape is going to need a healthy stock of energies to take advantage of its Pyro Dance ability. Look to include 10 or more energies in your deck to ensure you always have one in hand. Additionally, pay close attention to the Pokemon cards you get in your boosters that run fire and fighting energies. High powered attacks that normally would be out of reach in a prerelease event might not be thanks to this energy accelerating ability.

Additionally, while it looks like the Thwackey kit is going to be the stronger deck, Infernape and its line is fire type meaning it will counter Thwackey and its likely grass-type build. Look to use this to your advantage even before Infernape comes into play.

Froslass SVP 117

Froslass is admittedly the weakest promo revealed with as somewhat lackluster ability that only works against Pokemon with abilities. Unless some really strong cards that work in synergy with this ability are included in your prerelease kit, I would look to ditch the Froslass in favor of other cards and strategies included in your kit.

However, there is one strategy that could work very well with Froslass, and that is if you either pull or have Brute Bonnet from Twilight Masquerade included. Brute Bonnet does 50 damage for each damage counter attached to your opponent’s Pokemon. Given it is a basic Pokemon, it can do a lot of damage when combined with Froslass.

And that’s it! Don’t forget to read our Pokemon Prerelease deck building guide for more info on how to prepare for your event and bookmark this page as we will be updating it with additional info as additional strategies and cards are revealed!