Howdy everyone!
My name is Timm and while I’m not the most competitive player, I’m a full on meme deck expert! To bring you guys some more content I decided to do a top 10 list of the cards I think will see the most play from Ultra Prism. Without further ado let’s dive right into it and start with number 10!

 

#10 Empoleon 34/156

Ultra Prism’s Empoleon is very similar to the one we got from Dark Explorers back in the day, except that it kinda doubled in damage. This card is mainly playable for its Total Command attack. For two energy this attack can deal up to 200 damage! Add a Choice Band and that’s a OHKO on most Pokémon GX in the game. On top of that it is a non-GX attacker with a very solid 160 HP. The lightning weakness is also not that bad since there are basically no lightning type attackers in the meta right now. Empoleon’s water type gives you access to energy acceleration with Aqua Patch so you can get these Total Commands off more often.

One of the downsides Empoleon has is that is a stage 2 Pokémon which makes it a bit clunky. Other stage 2 decks such as Gardevoir GX can make good use of Sylveon GX which helps a lot in the early turns. The other big issue this card has is the fact that your opponent can control your damage output by putting less Pokémon in play. While that might be not that good for opposing Zoroark GX decks since they need benched Pokémon of their own to deal damage, Zoroark GX decks are much more consistent than stage 2 decks and should win the early game almost everytime. Parallel City is another card that hurts Empoleon a lot and sees a good amount of play in certain decks.

Overall Empoleon is still a very solid card and could see some play in the lower tiers and of course make a great budget deck.

#9 Heat Rotom 24/156 & Frost Rotom 41/156

There are a bunch of different Rotoms in this expansion that all share the same ability, which lets them use their attacks for free if you have 9 or more Pokémon Tools in your discard pile. Out of all of them the heat and frost versions are probably the best ones. Heat Rotom deals 80 damage and has no additional effect, but that’s all we need. With a Choice Band attached you can OHKO Golisopod GX. Frost Rotom on the other hand is a bit more situational as it deals 20 extra damage for each energy attached to all of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack can deal massive damage against decks like Gardevoir GX which generally have a lot of energy in play. It’s also good against Volcanion due to the water type weakness.

These Rotoms however do not fit in every deck. Having 9 Pokémon Tools in your discard pile is not that easy to achieve. Even decks like Garbodor only play 8 Pokémon Tools most of the time. What comes to mind is Gourgeist, because that deck heavily relies on Pokémon Tools. Sometimes Gourgeist can run out of tools and thus damage in the late game and that’s where these Rotoms could come in handy.

#8 Magearna 91/156

Magearna is not a very flashy card, but it definitely deserves some attention as it has a great ability for not only metal type decks. Its Change Clothes ability lets you pick up a Pokémon Tool attached to one of your Pokémon. This is great for moving around Float Stones to grant free retreat across the board. It can also be used to switch around between Float Stone and Choice Band. This could definitely see play in some Golisopod GX decks as well.

#7 Garchomp 99/156 & Lucario 67/156

This is probably the most obvious combination of cards when you look at Ultra Prism. Garchomp on it’s own doesn’t look that spicy as it is a stage 2 Pokémon, but in combination with Lucario this could definitely work. Lucario’s ability has a very unique requirement as you need to have a Garchomp in play in order to use it, but it’s 100% worth it. Lucario can search your deck for any card you would like each turn and you can also use it multiple times if you have 2 Lucarios in play. That makes it very easy to gether cruicial pieces every turn such as Cynthia or Double Colorless Energy to keep attacking with your Garchomps for 200 damage every turn. Garchomp’s dragon typing also makes good use of Devoured Field so you can hit those 210 damage against popular Pokémon GX.

Ability lock is a huge problem for this deck as it runs very clunky without Lucario’s ability, but it’s still a solid deck and just like Empoleon could make a great budget deck.

#6 Super Boost Energy 136/156

There’s not much to say about this card, except that it should be run in most stage 2 decks. While the single energy rainbow type might be not that impactful, but if you ever manage to set up 3 stage 2s and then play Super Boost Energy for a total of 4 rainbow type energies for just a single card then that’s great. You can’t really build your deck around this card because it can only be played as a 1-of due to the prism star rules, but it should be an auto include if you’re building a stage 2 deck.

#5 Pal Pad 132/156

When VS Seeker rotated out of the format you had to be much more careful with your cruical supporters such as N, Guzma or Acerola. That changed a bit when Zoroark GX decks with Puzzle of Time became a thing, but with Pal Pad in the format again, these supporters can be played more often again. Pal Pad will surely see some play in quite a few decks and should definitely be very good in Zoroark GX decks because of the Trade ability.

#4 Leafeon GX 13/156

Leafeon GX is a very interesting card. Thanks to the Sun & Moon Eevee all of the Eeveelutions become much more playable because they’re technically basic Pokémon. Leafeon GX has a solid 3 energy attack which 2HKOs most things and a decent ability which can come in handy against decks that aim for a 2HKO strategy such as Zoroark GX or Golisopod GX decks. The reason this card is on the list however, is its GX attack. Grand Bloom GX lets you evolve each of your benched basic Pokémon. With Brigette being a thing this could lead to some impressive turn 1 plays because if you’re going second you can also get Leafeon GX in play immediately. The best combination that comes to mind is Leafeon GX and Decidueye GX because of their typing. You can use Brigette on turn 1 and search for 3 Rowletts, then attach an energy to your Eevee and use Grand Bloom to evolve all of these Rowletts. That way you could easily set up 3 Decidueye GX on turn 2! Leafeon GX is definitely a card to look out for.

#3 Cynthia 119/156

Professor Oak’s New Theory is back! PONT was a great shuffle draw supporter back in the day and Cynthia will be no different. Professor Juniper and Professor Sycamore were the best draw supporters for quite a while now, but sometimes you were in a spot where you had to play Professor Sycamore in order to proceed with the game, but you had to discard important tech cards such as Rare Candy or Double Colorless Energy. With Cynthia you no longer have to do this. This card will surely find its way into most competitive decks.

#2 Metal Support

The big winner of this expansion is definitely the metal type. There are too many good and interesting cards that support this theme to split them up. There are two cards which should help straight metal decks become viable. Magnezone 83/156 and Mt. Coronet 130/156. Magnezone is very simple, but effective. Its ability is the same as Blastoise back in the day or the lightning type Magnezone, but for metal energies which we haven’t seen before. It’s a stage 2 so you kinda have to build your deck around it in order to get there, but once it’s set up you can use the otherwise expensive attacks from Dusk Mane Necrozma GX 90/156 or Dialga GX 100/156 more frequently.

There is also Solgaleo Prism Star 89/156 in this expansion. It has a great single energy attack that can be used in the lategame to get back a large amount of energies. It can also be used very early in the game if you get some lucky discards with Ultra Ball and Professor Sycamore. It also has a decent attack that deals 160 damage, but that might be just 20 damage short of getting OHKOs on 210 HP Pokémon GX if you have a Choice Band attached.

Overall the metal support in this expansion looks very promising and we will definitely see some of those decks at the top.

#1 Glaceon GX 39/156

Glaceon GX is without a doubt the most impressive card in Ultra Prism. Glaceon GX has a fantastic, if not game breaking ability and two great attacks. In combination with the Sun & Moon Eevee this card could win you the game straight up on turn 1. If you’re going first and get Glaceon GX up with just the Eevee and a Water Energy you can leave your opponent with no ability and thus no Tapu Lele GX into Brigette on turn 1 which ruins the set up of most decks. Of course this can be played around with cards like Guzma, but then again that is also their supporter for the turn. Ability lock has seen a ton of play before with the Garbotoxin Garbodor, but the difference between Garbodor and Glaceon GX is that Glaceon GX can put up the lock much faster and more consistent, plus it’s nut vulnerable to Field Blower.

Its attack Frost Bullet might be a little bit lazy when we look at Umbreon GX’s Shadow Bullet attack, but it is still very good. With a Choice Band attached you not only get 2HKOs on most things, but also set up opposing benched Pokémon for easier knock outs in furure turns. Glaceon GX’s GX attack is something like a reverse Tauros GX. Instead of multiplying damage on itself, it deals 50 damage for each damage counter on the defending Pokémon. After some Frost Bullets this GX attack can be used to finish off bigger Pokémon such as Gardevoir GX or Decidueye GX.

Glaceon GX has only 200 HP which is a little bit below average when you take a look at other stage 1 Pokémon GX and the metal weakness might be a problem with all the good metal type attackers being introduced in the game, but Glaceon GX is still the main star of this expansion.

 

If you’re interested in stocking up some Ultra Prism singles or sealed products, be sure to stop by at Cardicuno to get your hands on some sweet packs or single cards!

 

Scans are from pkmncards.com