Pokémon

Building Pokémon TCG Decks with Evolving Skies

Taking it to the Skies What’s poppin’ TCGPark.com readers? I’m back with another article and help our community learn about the Pokemon TCG. Since I just started writing for this site, lemme introduce myself to all of y’all. My name is Zach Lesage, I’m a professional Pokemon TCG player, a YouTube partnered content creator, and […]

Zach Lesage18 Jan 2022
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Taking it to the Skies


Rayquaza VMAX

What’s poppin’ TCGPark.com readers? I’m back with another article and help our community learn about the Pokemon TCG. Since I just started writing for this site, lemme introduce myself to all of y’all. My name is Zach Lesage, I’m a professional Pokemon TCG player, a YouTube partnered content creator, and I’ve been involved with the Pokemon TCG since 2005. I earned my first invite to the Pokemon TCG World Championships in the 2005/2006 season and I’ve most recently won the 2020 Players Cup II event! I’m beyond blessed in my life to be able to do full time Pokemon TCG, via coaching, writing, casting, videos, and sponsorships, and my goal is to use my knowledge to empower the community! That’s where this article tunes into everything – I can share my knowledge of Pokemon to help you make informed decisions with your purchases here at TCGPark.com! Today’s article is going to be all about Evolving Skies (Evolving Skies Booster Box) and why it’s one of the best sets in our Sword and Shield to Fusion Strike (Fusion Strike Booster Box) Standard format. I’ve put a lot of effort into all of these decks and many of them are ready for competitive play! Let’s get it!

Duraludon VMAX


duraludon-vmax

Even though Duraludon VMAX (Evolving Skies) has been recently popularized with the release of Fusion Strike, you can find the main cards in this deck in Evolving Skies (Evolving Skies Booster Box). The goal of this deck is to stop your opponent from doing much with Duraludon VMAX’s Skyscraper Ability and that’s because many top performing decks play Special Energy. Popular decks, such as Mew VMAX (Fusion Strike), rely on Special Energy, like Fusion Strike Energy (Fusion Strike), and they basically can’t attack Duraludon VMAX. Some decks have cards, such as Path to the Peak (Chilling Reign), that can get around Skyscraper, but many decks don’t have that luxury. There are plenty of cards in this deck to make it difficult for your opponent to do much, such as Crushing Hammer (Sword and Shield) and Team Yell Towel (Shining Fates), and that makes this pseudo-control deck incredibly effective. Let’s check out this list:

Pokémon – 8
3 Duraludon VMAX EVS 220
3 Duraludon V CPA 47
2 Zacian V SSH 211
Trainer Cards – 38
2 Team Yell Towel SHF 63
4 Crushing Hammer UPR 166
2 Big Charm RCL 206
4 Crystal Cave EVS 230
3 Switch SUM 160
1 Flannery CRE 191
4 Professor’s Research CEL 24
3 Avery CRE 187
4 Pokégear 3.0 UNB 233
4 Boss’s Orders RCL 189
4 Adventurer’s Discovery FST 224
1 Tool Scrapper RCL 208
2 Raihan EVS 202
Energy – 14
10 Metal Energy EVS 237
4 Fighting Energy CRE 233

Single Strike Urshifu VMAX / Umbreon VMAX


Umbreon VMAX

Single Strike Urshifu VMAX (Battle Styles) might be one of the main Pokemon of the deck, but Umbreon VMAX (Evolving Skies) is really the glue that holds this deck together. Ever since Umbreon VMAX came out in Evolving Skies (Evolving Skies Booster Box) this deck has been popping off. It is arguably one of the best cards in the game and for good reasons, it has a built-in Boss’s Orders (Rebel Clash) with its Dark Signal Ability. The extra bonus is that it has the Single Strike stamp on it so it works great with other Single Strike cards, like Single Strike Urshifu VMAX and Houndoom (Battle Styles). The goal of this deck is to decide on the best attacking type for each matchup, either Darkness-type or Fighting-type, power up that Pokemon with Houndoom’s Single Strike Roar, and hit for a lot of damage quickly. Strategies like this have been successful for the entirety of the game and I think this deck truly has potential. There are many splashable techs, like Morpeko (Fusion Strike) that can be utilized to win specific matchups, such as Mew VMAX. Let’s peep this list:

Pokémon – 20
2 Crobat V PR-SW 110
4 Houndour BST 95
1 Morpeko FST 179
3 Umbreon V EVS 189
4 Houndoom BST 179
2 Umbreon VMAX EVS 215
2 Single Strike Urshifu V BST 151
2 Single Strike Urshifu VMAX BST 168
Trainer Cards – 32
4 Marnie PR-SW 121
4 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Switch SUM 160
3 Tower of Darkness BST 137
4 Professor’s Research CEL 24
1 Tool Jammer BST 136
2 Boss’s Orders RCL 189
4 Great Ball CPA 52
4 Quick Ball SSH 216
4 Urn of Vitality CRE 229
1 Air Balloon SSH 213
Energy – 8
4 Capture Energy DAA 201
4 Single Strike Energy BST 183

Leafeon VMAX


Leafeon VMAX

My eyes immediately lit up as soon as I read Leafeon VMAX (Evolving Skies) from Evolving Skies (Evolving Skies Booster Box) – it was a match made in heaven for Galar Mine (Rebel Clash). Increasing Retreat Cost is already a sneaky mechanic, but doing extra damage because of it sounds extra spicy! This deck has recently taken a bit of a backseat due to Mew VMAX and Jolteon VMAX (Evolving Skies) having free Retreat, but it’s still a really great deck! Drizzle (Sword and Shield) allows you to fish out Trainer cards whenever you need them from the deck and this deck generally works by getting whatever you need. Leafeon V (Evolving Skies) secures your turn one attachment so you are always ready to hit hard with Grass Knot turn two. Let’s check out this list:

Pokémon – 19
1 Crobat V PR-SW 110
4 Leafeon V EVS 167
3 Leafeon VMAX EVS 205
4 Sobble SSH 55
4 Drizzile SHF 99
1 Inteleon SHF 100
2 Inteleon EVS 227
Trainer Cards – 32
3 Marnie PR-SW 121
4 Level Ball BST 181
4 Evolution Incense SSH 163
2 Fan of Waves CRE 226
1 Switch SUM 160
3 Professor’s Research CEL 24
1 Escape Rope BUS 163
1 Tool Jammer BST 136
1 Energy Search SSH 161
4 Galar Mine RCL 160
2 Boss’s Orders RCL 189
1 Scoop Up Net RCL 207
4 Quick Ball SSH 216
1 Raihan EVS 202
Energy – 9
4 Capture Energy DAA 201
5 Grass Energy FST 283

Evolve Your Game


Well, that’s what we have going on for this article today! These are all great decks and there are many other great decks from Evolving Skies that seem super powerful, such as Jolteon VMAX. If you’re interested in picking up some of the cards for these decks, they’re available in Evolving Skies Booster Boxes (Evolving Skies Booster Box), and singles as they become available on the website. Most of these decks are competitive in our current format and they seem like they’ll be viable concepts for the foreseeable future. As for future articles, I plan on bridging that gap to help inform buyers of the best Pokemon TCG products for competitive play and doing my best to grow our competitive community. I’m also incredibly hyped for Brilliant Stars (Brilliant Stars Booster Box) to come out and it might be worthwhile to preorder a box for the articles I’m gonna cook up… I hope that you’ve enjoyed this article and I can’t wait to write my next one for TCGPark.com. Happy testing!

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