Hey y'all! We got this great article from one of our staff members Ervinn! Our resident Pokémon player! He tells us all about the Temporal Forces metagame! Enjoy!
The rotation is finally here! Time to say farewell to the old meta and hello to the new Temporal Forces metagame! The decks are still up in the air, so we'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks. Here are my top 3 picks of what will be/stay in meta till the next rotation.
1. Charizard/Pidgeot
I do believe that Charizard ex is still a powerful card, with its ability Infernal Reign setting it up, and its move Burning Darkness dealing tons of damage quickly. Team that up with Pidgeot ex for its Quick Search ability is still the top support for this deck, Can go find anything from another Charizard, to interrupt your opponent or take advantage with a Boss's Orders. The deck is essentially the same as the E block format, just with 4 of the new Buddy-Buddy Poffin, and 4 Nest Balls instead of the last format meta card Battle VIP Pass. The major difference now is you don't have to play as many Stadium cards since Path to the Peaks has been rotated out.
2. Snorlax Stall
If you weren't a fan of this deck back in the Paradox Rift format then you'll definitely not like it now. The Block ability has gotten stronger in this format, with the introduction of the new card Eri. Snorlax PGO's block ability prevents the opposing Pokémon from retreating and the rest of the deck is mainly focused on forcing Pokémon that can't attack and into play then into the active spot. You use Erika's Invitation to pick Pokémon out of your opponent's hand, and then Eri to look at their hand and strip the item cards out of their hand. You'll then have Miss Fortune Sisters to discard your opponent's item cards from their deck and Giacomo to get rid of their Special Energy in play.
3. Iron Hands
Iron Hands ex is still surviving even after the rotation. The Amp You Up Very Much ability it has is still devastating, as you can punish poor starts from your opponent by taking extra Prize cards. To get all 4 Energy onto Iron Hands, you have to also have the new Miraidon from Temporal Forces. Its Peak Acceleration attack can find up to two Energy from your Deck and be able to put them onto any Future Pokémon, with the main focus on Iron Hands. You can also have the new Iron Crown ex whose Cobalt Command ability boosts the damage for all your Future Pokémon attacks. With a Future Booster Energy Capsule and four Iron Crowns, Amp you. You Very Much can hit for 220 Damage, that's enough to KO most basic Pokémon ex.
For the most part, as far as I can tell most of the recent Pokémon TCG Championship Series have seen a mix of these 3 decks in the top Decks. Till we see more Championship Series time will only tell what Meta will stay, and what Meta will rise to power.
Here are some of the cards Ervinn mentioned in his article:
