Notice
This page has yet to be updated for the rotation effective 14 April 2023. Some of the information contained below may be out of date for the E Regulation Mark onward Standard format.
Disruption
Resource Removal
Pokémon
Clefable RCL 75
Supporters
Sidney FST 241
Items
☆ Crushing Hammer SSH 159
Team Yell Grunt SSH 184
☆ Tool Scrapper RCL 168
Fan of Waves BST 127
Lost Vacuum LOR 162
Ability Lock
Galarian Weezing RCL 113
Path to the Peak CRE 148
Gorebyss FST 67
Resource Lock
Vikavolt V DAA 60
Tool Jammer BST 136
Healing / Scoop-Up Denial
Mimikyu DAA 81
Hand Disruption / Revelation
☆ Marnie SSH 169
Judge FST 235
Roxanne ASR 150
Milling / Deck Manipulation
Cursed Shovel RCL 157
Miscellaneous
Galar Mine RCL 160
Shiftry VIV 12
Dusknoir VIV 71
Huntail FST 66
Goodra FST 197
Muk BRS 85
Temple of Sinnoh ASR 135
Resource Removal
Pokémon
Clefable RCL 75 and its Prankish ability has the double effect of removing an attached Energy from your opponent’s Active Pokémon and controlling the card that your opponent draws at the beginning of their turn.
As a Stage 1 Pokémon, Clefable doesn’t see much play in the current Standard format metagame. When it saw play, it was commonly included at 2 copies, with 2 copies of Clefairy, the Basic Pokémon.
Supporters
Sidney is best used in control-style decks that need options to strip away their opponent’s Tool, Special Energy, and Stadium cards. Sidney provides away to lock a Galar Mine or Path to the Peak in place by removing any potential counter Stadium cards from your opponent’s hand, removes retreat cost reducing tools like Air Balloon, making it easier to lock Pokémon in the Active Spot, and can strip away problematic Special Energy cards, like those that make a Pokémon immune to Special Conditions.
Because of its best use in control archetypes, Sidney sees limited play in most decks. Decks that do include Sidney tend to include just 1 or 2 copies of the card.
Items
Crushing Hammer is a common inclusion in decks that need to slow their opponent’s setup by disrupting their Energy attachments. Although its effect is dependent on flipping a heads on a coin flip, the fact that the card discards your opponent’s Energy makes it an especially potent card if you find your deck needs a little extra time to set up.
Decks that play Crushing Hammer tend to include 4 copies of the card.
Team Yell Grunt is another form of Energy disruption that sends the energy card back to your opponent’s hand. In combination with other types of Energy disruption, Team Yell Grunt can help put your opponent behind on Energy attachments to the point where they have a difficult time preparing to take knockouts.
Decks that run Team Yell Grunt tend to be less focused on aggression strategies and are typically more focused on an alternative strategy, like control. These decks tend to run just 1-2 copies of the card.
Tool Scrapper serves to remove troublesome tools, like Big Charm, Cape of Toughness, or Tool Jammer. You can also use the card’s effect to discard one of your own tools so that you can attach a different tool to the Pokémon that had the discarded tool attached to it.
Not every deck needs Tool Scrapper, but Tool Scrapper can be especially handy in decks that have issues with specific tool cards in opposing decks.
Decks that play Tool Scrapper tend to run 1-2 copies of the card.
Fan of Waves is an Energy disruption effect that finds its place in decks that need a bit of extra time to set up or that need to slow their opponent down. Although Fan of Waves is a dead card against decks that don’t run any Special Energy cards, it can be a huge hamstringing against decks that are reliant on them.
Decks that play Fan of Waves tend to include 2-3 copies of the card.
Lost Vacuum is a Pokémon Tool- and Stadium-removal card that is very easily splashable in a variety of decks. For the cost of putting a card from your hand into the Lost Zone, you can remove any Pokémon Tool or Stadium card in play, putting it into the Lost Zone.
Lost Vacuum’s inclusion in decks will be very meta-dependent, with decks running anywhere from 0 copies to as many as 2.
Ability Lock
Galarian Weezing RCL 113 has an extremely potent ability in its Neutralizing Gas, which shuts off all of the abilities on your opponent’s Pokémon when Galarian Weezing is in the Active Spot. This means that the abilities of common utility Pokémon—like Crobat V’s Dark Asset or Drizzile’s Shady Dealings—are shut off and inaccessible to your opponent. Galarian Weezing works well in control decks and in spread decks that can take advantage both of the slowing down of its opponent’s setup and of the poison damage caused by Galarian Weezing’s Severe Poison attack.
Decks that run Galarian Weezing tend to include 3 copies of the card, in addition to 3-4 copies of Weezing from Shining Fates to take advantage of its Ascension attack to get Neutralizing Gas out as early as possible.
Path to the Peak is the hostile stadium of choice for any deck that isn’t especially reliant on abilities from Pokémon with a Rule Box. Path to the Peak cuts off your opponent’s access to their utility Pokémon with a Rule Box, like Crobat V and its Dark Asset ability or Genesect V and its Fusion Strike System ability. Path to the Peak can work especially well in combination with other disrupting cards, and Energy and Hand disruption in particular, to put a stop to your opponent’s setup.
Decks that run Path to the Peak tend to include 3-4 copies of the card.
Gorebyss is a card that, when included, is put in entirely for its ability that disrupts the abilities of Rapid Strike Pokémon’s abilities—shutting down common abilities like Inteleon’s Quick Shooting or Passimian’s Throwing Coach abilities.
Gorebyss finds itself most at home in control style decks, like those built around Zoroark EVS, with only a single copy of the card included, and without copies of Clamperl, the Basic Pokémon accompanying it.
Resource Lock
Vikavolt V DAA 60 and its Paralyzing Bolt attack slows your opponent’s setup and overall strategy but cutting off their access to Item cards. Paralyzing Bolt’s attack cost is its biggest limiter, with the two attachment requirement often making this card effective only after two separate attachments. With acceleration like Turbo Patch, Melony, or Raihan however, Vikavolt V can be used to stall a turn or two if needed.
Decks tend not to run Vikavolt V, and decks that do include it generally only include a single copy of the card.
Tool Jammer shuts off opposing tools, such as retreat-cost reducing tools like Air Balloon and HP-buffing tools like Cape of Toughness. Played at the right time, Tool Jammer can be a real thorn in your opponent’s side and can mean that your opponent can’t react as they’d hope—or that their Pokémon can’t survive an attack that they otherwise would be able to.
Many decks would prefer to run Tool Scrapper instead of Tool Jammer, leaving their tool slot available for some other tool.
Decks that run Tool Jammer tend to include 2 copies of the card.
Healing / Scoop-Up Denial
Mimikyu DAA 81’s Heal Jamming puts an end to your opponent healing off their Benched damaged Pokémon. Using Mimikyu in combination with some form of spread damage can mean setting up easier knockouts for later in the game or can make a deck reliant on healing itself with cards like Cheryl or Crystal Cave unable to recover when it needs to.
Decks tend not to run Mimikyu, both those that have tended to run just a single copy.
Hand Disruption/Revelation
Although Marnie does not draw as many cards for the player as Professor’s Research, Marnie is especially potent as both a means of ensuring you don’t draw into the same bad hand and disrupting your opponent’s good hand.
Decks that run Marnie typically include 3-4 copies.
Judge draws just four cards, but disrupts your opponent’s hand in the process. Unlike Marnie, Judge shuffles both players’ hands into their deck, making it possible for the player to draw back into the cards that have been shuffled away. This makes Judge an inherently weaker disruption card than Marnie and, as it draws one less card than Marnie, too, it’s also a weaker Draw supporter.
Because of the popularity of Marnie, Judge doesn’t see very much play. Decks that run Judge tend to run a couple of copies of it in addition to Marnie.
Roxanne is a niche comeback card that finds its way into a handful of decks. Although not as universally useful as cards like N before it, Roxanne offers a comeback option in the Standard format for decks that can find it at the most opportune time.
In conjunction with a well-timed Path to the Peak, Roxanne can mean locking your opponent out of the opportunity to win the game entirely.
Not every deck will run Roxanne, because the card is a dead card for much of the game. Those that do run it tend to run just 1 copy of the card.
Milling / Deck Manipulation
Cursed Shovel is a card built for decks wanting to focus on the mill strategy instead of an aggression strategy. The card helps push the power of a deck’s mill a little further each turn the Pokémon Cursed Shovel is knocked out, making it quicker and easier to drive you opponent toward deckout.
Most decks will not run Cursed Shovel, but those that do will run 4 copies of the card.
Miscellaneous
Galar Mine is a hostile Stadium card that in addition to removing an opposing Stadium card, can also make it much more difficult for your opponent to retreat their Active Pokémon and can force them to dig for a switching card like Switch or Escape Rope instead of relying on preexisting options like a manual retreat or Air Balloon. Galar Mine also can make it more difficult for your opponent to ‘save’ a damaged Pokémon on their bench, lessening the likelihood of you needing a gust card to successfully take a two-hit knockout.
Decks that run Galar Mine tend to include 4 copies of the card.
Shiftry VIV 12 and its Shiftry Substitution ability may be an option for control decks looking to choke out their opponent’s draw and gusting options. More traditional aggression style decks are unlikely to ever make use of Shiftry because of its nature as a Stage 2 Pokémon.
Control decks that would include Shiftry would most likely include just 1 copy of the card, in addition to a single copy of Nuzleaf, the Stage 1 Pokémon, and no copies of Seedot, the Basic Pokémon. This card would be most likely to be included in a Zoroark EVS style control archetype.
Dusknoir VIV 71 and its Spectral Breach ability are an option in control decks that are looking to shut off the effects of Special Energy cards or to reduce the amount of energy provided by Special Energy like Twin Energy or Rapid Strike Energy. More traditional aggression style decks are unlikely to ever make use of Dusknoir because of its nature as a Stage 2 Pokémon.
Control decks that would make include Dusknoir would most likely include just 1-2 copies of the card, in addition to 1-2 copies of Dusclops, the Stage 1 Pokémon, and no copies of Duskull, the Basic Pokémon. This card would be most likely to be included in a Zoroark EVS style control archetype.
Huntail FST 66 is a card that, when included, is put in entirely for its ability that increases the attack cost of Single Strike Pokémon’s attacks—making it more difficult for Single Strike Pokémon to get off their attacks which already have a higher than average attack cost.
Huntail finds itself most at home in control style decks, like those built around Zoroark EVS, with only a single copy of the card included, and without copies of Clamperl, the Basic Pokémon accompanying it.
Goodra FST 197 and its Slimy Room ability may be an option for control decks looking to prevent an opposing deck from being able to power up its attacks. More traditional aggression style decks are unlikely to ever make use of Goodra because of its nature as a Stage 2 Pokémon.
Control decks that would include Goodra would most likely include just 1 copy of the card, in addition to a single copy of Sliggoo, the Stage 1 Pokémon, and no copies of Goomy, the Basic Pokémon. This card would be most likely to be included in a Zoroark EVS style control archetype.
Muk BRS 85 is a Pokémon that serves its function primarily via its hostile ability, Sludge Street, which can also make it much more difficult for your opponent to retreat their Active Pokémon and can force them to dig for a switching card like Switch or Escape Rope instead of relying on preexisting options like a manual retreat or Air Balloon.
Muk can also make it more difficult for your opponent to ‘save’ a damaged Pokémon on their bench, lessening the likelihood of you needing a gust card to successfully take a two-hit knockout.
Most decks won’t include any copies of Muk, but those that do will want 2-3 copies of the card.
Temple of Sinnoh is a direct counter for decks that find themselves in particular need of Special Energy cards. Temple of Sinnoh strips Special Energy cards in play of any special effects they provide—additional Energy or Energy types, any protections, etc.
Temple of Sinnoh won’t find its way into every deck, but it can be a potent choice when used wisely. Decks that run Temple of Sinnoh tend to run 1-2 copies of the card.