Ranking League Battle Decks From Worst to Best! (Pokemon TCG Deck Buying Guide 2023 Post-Rotation)
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- With so many different Pokemon Trading Card Game League Battle Decks to choose from, which one(s) should you invest in? I rank them all from worst-to-best in terms of how strong it is out-of-the-box, its potential ceiling, and how much it will be impacted by rotation! Hope this helps you in your pre-made deck shopping adventure! This updated version of the list factors in the 2023 Standard format rotation.
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Love that you do these and also love how you talk about the upgrades for the League Batlle decks! Good vids Jet!
Thanks for watching!
I'm watching your videos since i started playing TCG last year.
Last saturday i finaly joined one of your livestreams and realy enjoyed it!
I'm looking foward to the next one.
P.S.: My son got lucky and pulled fullart Gardevoir ex at eastern :)
Oh, and hello to Past-Chris! (0:01)
Good to see you on both Twitch and CZcams! Congrats to your son on pulling the Gardevoir!
Currently in the lab with Lugia for the next one.
We had huge delays on the MEW deck where i live so no it is THE most played deck in our local league. Don't like it to much with a bit of luck you need two cards to destroy it (of course not when you play elite players)
Love the videos! Collected for 19 years now getting into the game itself, you got me building decks and competing at my lgs! Love it
Thanks for watching and welcome to the playing side of the Pokemon TCG! I hope this experience has given you a whole new appreciation for your collection.
Please keep doing these there amazing and cool and very helpful 😊
Glad you like them!
Glad i only bought the hight ranked ones , i really dont like the rotation, but as long as the person i play with doesn't care then it doesn't matter
Super helpful, thanks!
Thanks
Great video.
If I'd want to pick up four of League Battle Decks to play against each other (like a boardgame of sorts), which ones would you recommend? I'm thinking mainly balance-wise
Neat idea!
Now is actually an awkward time to pull something like this IF you have any ambitions for playing competitively. 5 League Battle Decks will no longer be legal for Standard format play once the next rotation occurs (projected date spring 2024), making their shelf lives short in organized play. That said, if you don’t mind rotation, then disregard this disclaimer. For the record, the decks rotating are the Urshifu decks, the Calyrex decks, and Mew.
If I were to pick 4 strictly based on trying to find 4 decks that are decently-balanced against one-another, I’d go Ice Rider, Shadow Rider, Mew, and Palkia.
But if you have ANY ambitions of playing competitively or upgrading these decks, your only real options are Palkia, Miraidon, and Mew. With the major caveat that Mew rotates soon, but it’s so good right now that you could be upgrading it to the world championship build right now and have a great time for the next few months.
@@InThirdPerson thank you for this video and your replies! super helpful, i have subbed. Just a quick question, Miraidon looks fun to play, which other league deck is best matched to that for home use please? Would that be Mew or Palkia? (ie for playing against your kids :D )
@@protonb6090 Miraidon is awesome! It's your best bet in terms of competitive viability and future-proofing vs. the other options available.
As far as those other two decks go, it's a bit of a wonky match-up spread.
Mew VMAX is generally favoured against Miraidon. However, Miraidon hits Palkia for weakness, giving Miraidon an advantage on paper. That said, Palkia can also one-shot Miraidon most of the time, so it's potentially a bit more even?
If you do plan on playing in Standard format competitively, then I'd avoid Mew because the deck rotates soon (even though it's basically the best League Battle Deck ever made). If that doesn't matter, Mew is fantastic :D
Palkia has a lower competitive ceiling at the moment than Miraidon or Mew, but Palkia is also very strong and it's creeping back into the competitive meta of late. Choice is yours!
Apparently Pokémon tried to make us buy 2 mew vmax decks seeing only 2 geno, 2 mew v/vmax 😂I got palkia to combine with Chen pao.
W Jett. W early upload.
Thank you for the video
Thanks for watching!
Hey Jett, started playing Pokemon due to your league battle deck recommendations last summer. When can we get a Livestream game going together? Would love to help you get some content !
1 v 1 pokemon tcg live
Great video, thanks for the info. Keep up the awesome work!💪🏻
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
I’m stuck between getting shadow rider mew palkia and the miraidon deck I’m not sure which would be the best. (I’ve tried palkia and miraidon in ptcgl)
How important is it for you to play Standard format IRL or online?
The problem with Shadow Rider and Mew are that they both rotate out of Standard format in a few months (appears to be in March/April) and they will no longer be playable there. They will only be allowed for Expanded format. If that’s a concern for you, then I would be wary of both.
Shadow Rider is fun, but it’s not particularly strong in Standard. I’ve heard it’s amazing in Expanded but I don’t play Expanded and can’t confirm.
Mew is still very strong right now and is arguably the best League Battle Deck of the bunch but rotation could be a deal-breaker if you want a deck that will survive this upcoming rotation.
Palkia is mostly rotation safe and the deck is one of the more complete builds out of the box, but its competitive ceiling is lower than Mew or Miraidon when fully-upgraded. Even so, a Palkia deck recently got top 3 at a 1,000 player tournament limitlesstcg.com/decks/list/9211
Miraidon is rotation safe and has a very high competitive ceiling if you plan on fully upgrading it. However, the base build is missing many cards from the competitive standard and it doesn’t play great out of the box.
It’s an awkward time for League Battle Decks at the moment so there’s no clear cut answer. Which deck you get will depend on where your priorities lie.
@@InThirdPerson I play both but IRL it's more for fun only and I just play with my friends but I'm falling behind since IRL we play without rotation rules and online I'm trying to get into competitive play and I might start trying to find local competitions but I, currently is more interested in expanded so the rotations don't matter to me that much currently but that might change in the future. Thing with Palkia and Mew is they run a 2-2 or 3-2 line but miraidon also has regileiki but my older decks are all electric so which one do you think requires least upgrade overall? (expect miraidon)
Least upgrading is probably Palkia, though it has a generally lower ceiling. Then Mew, and its power-level when fully upgraded is one of the best Pokemon TCG decks ever. Miraidon probably needs the most work, but it’s the strongest of the three in the current meta when fully-upgraded.
Just picked up Shadow Rider because I found it for a cheap price. Probably planning on picking up Mew next since it needs the least amount of adjustments.
Congrats on the Shadow Rider deck! Lots of ways to spice that one up. And I hope you enjoy the Mew deck too!
@@InThirdPerson Thanks. I've already been playing around with the Gardevoir list you posted for PTCGL and I've had mixed results. It has a miserable matchup with Single Strike Lugia (Tyranitar mostly) and Snorlax Control decks. Seems to do okay with Miraidon and Arceus decks though.
Would be nice if you had them listed in the comments by rank.
Hey, nice video !
Me and my friend want to grab two league battle decks and play against each other for fun.
Irrespective of formats, are these all in the same ballpark in terms of power level ? Or is the choice constrained if we want to have some well balanced matches ?
Lets say old level 2 Urshifu decks versus newer level 3 decks ?
There is a definite difference between level 2 decks and level 3 decks. Level 2 decks are generally weaker, as they usually contain about half of the cards the the meta version would be. Level 3 decks are roughly 2/3-3/4 of a meta deck. The Mew League Battle Deck for example has 38 out of the 60 cards that just won this year’s world championships.
If your choice is between level 2 decks and level 3 decks, I would definitely lean towards level 3.
@@InThirdPerson Alright. I initially planned to buy Rapid Strike Urshifu and Palkia Vstar decks to play against each other. I guess we won't have balanced games if I stick to this then
@@pielto Palkia would destroy Urshifu. Besides Palkia being one of the most complete League Battle Decks ever made, Palkia is a 2-prize attacker with almost the same HP as a 3-prizer, making it so that Palkia can win in as few as 4 attacks on 2 VMAX's while Urshifu needs more. The big problem between Urshifu and Palkia though is that Palkia comes with Manaphy, which blocks bench damage. Urshifu's best move does damage to the bench, which Manaphy negates.
@@InThirdPerson I see, thank you for the answer. I'll have to find a more balanced pair
No comprendo mucho el ingles asi que mas o menos me gustaria preguntar mas o menos cual seria el top o otden que en tu opinión irian los decks, perdon si molesta el comentario
Los top son calyrex shadow rider, palkia vmax y mew vmax en ese orden, mew es el mejor
Next time I see a palkia deck at the store I’ll pick it up and build a chein pao deck to start playing irl
Awesome! I’m covering Chien-Pao with Palkia next week!
Im have one question if i have 2x mew battle deck wath i should use for thath battle deck but im have 120 cards and im dont know how to use it
Read the upgrade guide that comes with the deck. Should help you out
What is a rotation?? They ban cards?
The main format in which the Pokemon Trading Card Game is played and the main mode that The Pokemon Company runs official events for is Standard format. In this format, only the most recent cards dating back to a certain point are eligible for play.
As of the Sword & Shield era, cards feature a letter in the bottom-left corner denoting its legality. Currently, cards with tournament markings E (Battle Styles, Chilling Reign, Evolving Skies, Fusion Strike), F (Brilliant Stars, Astral Radiance, Pokemon Go, Lost Origin, and Silver Tempest), and G (Scarlet & Violet base set and pretty much most cards released in 2023) are legal in this current cycle. Crown Zenith is a bit weird, as many of its cards are reprints and have varying tournament markings depending on the card.
During the rotation that just happened, all D-block cards (Sword & Shield base set, Rebel Clash, Champion’s Path, Darkness Ablaze, Vivid Voltage, and Shining Fates) rotated out. Next year, all E-block cards will rotate out.
There is an Expanded format that supports older cards but it only goes back to Black & White. It is an official format recognizes by The Pokemon Company and supported in PTCGO (and someday to be supported in Live), but they currently don’t support any major events for Expanded play like they do Standard.
If you play with every card that has ever existed, that is known as Unlimited format. However, there’s basically no support for that method of play in an organized capacity.
More info:
- assets.pokemon.com//assets/cms2/pdf/trading-card-game/rulebook/svi_rulebook_en.pdf
- assets.pokemon.com//assets/cms2/pdf/trading-card-game/tcg-alternative-play-handbook-en.pdf
I'm looking for a VMAX battle Deck I can rip open and play against a friend at their house. Which one should I get? I originally wanted mew but you said Ice rider is probably the best Out of the box
Some other factors to consider:
- Do you have ANY ambitions whatsoever of playing the deck in an IRL tournament or on Pokemon TCG Live? The primary method of play is Standard, and unfortunately much of the Ice Rider deck isn’t Standard tournament legal anymore. You will not be able to use the deck as-is in a Standard format without basically overhauling the entire deck. Also, depending on how serious your friends are with adhering to formats, the Ice Rider League Battle Deck having cards that have rotated out may be an issue for them, though they’ll probably be fine with it. If playing outside of your friend group is a factor, then Mew would be the better option, followed by Palkia.
- What deck(s) are your friends running? Depending on what they have, you might be at a serious advantage (or disadvantage) based on power level or what weaknesses your opponents’s decks hit. For example, Ice Rider is weak to metal, which means your friends’ metal decks will likely eat you for lunch. Likewise, dark decks wreck Mew, but not always because Mew is amazing.
- if you have ANY ambitions of building these decks to their full potential, Mew leaves every League Battle Deck in the dust. Fully-upgraded Mew decks just won 4 of the last 6 major tournaments and it will likely continue to be a top-tier deck until it rotates next year.
@@InThirdPerson I ended up changing my order and grabbing the Mew deck! My friend is playing something called Pika-Rom but she has league decks as well so I can learn the game
@@nicholasrolo886 Congrats! Mew is my all-time fave deck and you're good-to-go if you have any aspirations of playing competitive in the next year.
Pika-Rom is an older deck from just before my time. I haven't played against it, but Pika-Rom sort of works like Arceus VSTAR right now, but just for lightning types. Hope you have some awesome matches together!
I want to buy something else along Palkia's deck to improve it. Which should be a good option? Etb, b&b, booster packs?
When upgrading decks, it is almost always better to buy single cards. You take the randomness of pack-opening out of the equation and save a lot of money.
As for what to get with Palkia, the Palkia-focused deck with Chien-Pao got 9th at the world championships. It’s a very strong and consistent deck!
My take on it: czcams.com/video/_BxMKvB9sSY/video.htmlsi=2_hczR7SiTiWWe5K
The build that got 9th: x.com/cyrusdavistcg/status/1690328389146562561?s=46&t=WvvseieK6nMMQ6rerZFlFw
2 copies of Chien-Pao is a great step in that direction. That said, depending on pricing in your area, the Chien-Pao ex Battle Deck may be almost the same price as Chien-Pao by itself. In that case, buy 2 copies of the deck for the Chien-Pao’s and get a bonus Baxcalibur line, rare candies, and a few good trainers for roughly the same price.
Worth it still to get the mew vmax deck?
If you’re looking to play in the Standard format, Mew is not worth it, as it won’t be Standard format tournament legal in under a month. I will be doing an update on this video soon, but if you can wait a bit, the Gardevoir deck is the one to get IMO.
Scarlet & Violet League Battle decks WHEN
Based on their release patterns since they started the League Battle Line in 2020, I expect Scarlet & Violet decks starting in spring 2024. We’re likely to get 2 more V decks in November/December this year.
damn, here I was already expecting some ex league battle decks haha, I guess that's why we're getting those deluxe decks, huh?
@@InThirdPerson
The Deluxe decks are a new product line that is now separate from the League Battle Decks. We used to get level 2 League Battle Decks (Inteleon and the Urshifus) but now these are in a different format with a different number of holo cards (actually went down from 4 holo cards in the old level 2 decks vs. 3 in the new ones).
I have a video on this subject coming out later this week. I say that it’s most likely V decks, but I did predict some ex decks that it could be, either for later this year or early next!
I think palkia should be first I have it and it,s really strong.
Palkia is strong! That’s why it’s #2 on my list. But it’s not #1 right now cause Mew is also strong but with a much higher competitive ceiling. Mew is a top 5 deck that perennially places top 8 or wins at every event (including wins this weekend at Philippines and Singapore regionals), while Palkia’s current ceiling is a rogue-tier deck at best while not having made any significant impact on the Scarlet/Violet meta.
However, Palkia will be much more relevant once Chien-Pao comes out in the next set. Furthermore, the next time I do this ranking, Mew will be on the cusp of rotating out and it’ll be tough at that point to give it the #1 spot. What will be #1 next?
Rotation kills the game should be like yugioh with a ban list instrad
If you don't like rotation just play expanded.
@@ultraxatu3027 is there tournaments with expanded?
@@EL_B3AST not any big tournaments, but there are some local ones. I personally think that rotation is amazing because it keeps the game fresh and affordable, plus it removes overpowered or annoying cards out of the format. With a ban list there is always a lot of controversy about which cards should be banned or not.
Rotation is fueled by greed rather than balancing same applies to power creep.
@@harrymanback3475 sad