Most people are familiar with the Pokémon franchise in one way or another. Some played the video games; others watched the TV show, some played the TCG and others did all three. With that said, the preconstructed starter decks offered lots of players an on-ramp to the card game. Today we will be breaking down the very best Pokémon starter decks that have been available to players. So, let’s jump right in.
The best starter decks on the market today are the league battle decks. Here are my top picks:
- Pikachu & Zekrom League Battle Deck
- Zacian V League Battle Deck
- Inteleon Vmax League Battle Deck
- Single Strike Urshifu League Battle Deck
- Rapid Strike Urshifu League Battle Deck
- Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck
- Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck
- Mew VMAX League Battle Deck
These are some of the most cohesive and powerful starter decks to be released. But let’s not simply leave it at that; Let’s look at what makes them so good. Below we’ll break down the contents, deck lists, and pros and cons. As well as what cards you can add to take them to the next level.
What Are Pokémon Starter Decks?
They are prebuilt, 60-card, ready-to-play decks. As the name implies, they are primary products for beginner players and those trying to learn the Pokémon trading card game.
However, many of the newer products from recent years have a lot to offer experienced players as well. The decks have preconstructed themes and strategies and contain everything a player needs to play.
Are They Any Good?
Yes. Overall, there are some very good decks. While some are a lot better than others the League Battle Decks are designed to be fairly competitive straight from the box.
Furthermore, there is always room for some improvements if you’d like to be as competitive as possible. However, the best of these decks are highly focused, versatile, and have some very powerful lines of play even without upgrades.
Deck Contents
So, what can you expect to get when you pick one of these up? Let’s take a look.
Basic starter decks and the more powerful League Battle Decks we’ll be focused on today have slightly different contents. What is and isn’t included in each can be found below.
| Contents | Basic | Battle Deck |
| 60-Card Deck | Yes | Yes |
| Card Checklist | Yes | Yes |
| Game Coins | Yes (Comes with 1) | Yes (Comes with 2) |
| Playmat | Yes | No |
| Deck Box | Yes | Yes |
| Damage Counters | Yes (cardboard) | Yes (Dice) |
| Code Card to unlock the deck online | Yes | Yes |
| Pokémon TCG rulebook | No | Yes |
| Quick Guide explaining deck strategies | Yes | Yes |
| Competition-legal coin-flip die | No | Yes |
Top 8 Pokemon Starter Decks
Now that we have some idea of what the decks are, why they exist, and what they contain, let’s get into the best starter decks you can buy. You may or may not have noticed that these are almost listed in the order they were released. This is because Pokémon has been steadily upping their game on the power level of the preconstructed decks they release.
8. Pikachu & Zekrom League Battle Deck
Deck List
1 Aipom
1 Eelektross
1 Hoopa
4 Jirachi
2 Pikachu & Zekrom GX
1 Raichu & Alolan Raichu GX
1 Tapu Koko Prism Star
1 Zapdos
1 Air Balloon
3 Electromagnetic Radar
2 Energy Switch
2 Erika’s Hospitality
2 Mallow & Lana
2 Marnie
2 Ordinary Rod
4 Pokegear 3.0
3 Pokemon Communication
3 Professor’s Research
2 Quick Ball
2 Reset Stamp
1 Rotom Bike
4 Switch
2 Tag Switch
2 Vitality Band
11 Lightning
Value In The Box
The total value of the cards with the deck comes out to around $40. Over 50% of the overall value comes from the play set of Jirach and the two Pikachu & Zekrom-GX alone. With that said, the deck can be purchased online from TCGplayer for around $48.
Related: How Much Are Your Pokemon Cards Worth?
So, the deck may not blow it out of the water in terms of value. However, if this is the deck you want to play, you’ll at least get your money’s worth. Especially if you consider the value of the tokens, dice, and deck box that come included.
Strategy / Theme
This powerful lightning deck focuses on energy acceleration and using Pikachu & Zekrom’s abilities to try and knock out several opposing Pokémon in a single turn. The “Full Blitz” ability allows you to search for three energy and attach them directly to one of your Pokémon and does 150 damage.
Full Blitz is the perfect setup for Pikachu & Zekrom’s Tag Bolt GX attack. It does a solid 200 damage and if there is an extra three energy attached (beyond the three for the attack cost) it also deals 170 to an opposing benched Pokémon.
This combination allows you to pretty quicky damage multiple opposing Pokémon and makes it possible to draw several prize cards in a single turn. The strategy is supported by a few other ways to get out extra energy and bolster your attacks. As well as a nice suite of supporter cards to draw cards into your hand.
Upgrades
The upgrades here will be focused on cutting some of the weaker, less useful supporter cards for things that more directly help the strategy. As mentioned above, the deck is built to use the powerful GX attacks of its lightning Pokémon to deal large chunks of damage.
So, we’ll also be removing the single copies of many of the weaker non-TagTeam cards to increase the speed and power of the deck.
In:
- 2 Dedenne GX
- 2 Quick Ball
- 2 Boss’s Orders
- 2 Marnie
- 1 Professor’s Research
- 1 Air Balloon
- 3 Speed Lightning Energy
- 4 Crushing Hammer
- 1 Chaotic Swell
- 1 Raichu & Alolan Raichu GX
Out:
- 2 Erika’s Hospitality
- 1 Aipom
- 1 Hoopa
- 4 Pokegear 3.0
- 1 Eelektross
- 2 Ordinary Rod
- 1 Zapdos
- 2 Mallow & Lana
- 2 Tag Switch
- 3 Pokémon Communication
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easily upgraded | Doesn’t have great value to price ratio |
| Can win explosively | Stock list is a bit inconsistent |
| Disruptive and offensive |
7. Zacian V League Battle Deck
Deck List
1 Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
1 Galarian Meowth
1 Galarian Perrserker
1 Galarian Zigzagoon
4 Jirachi metal
1 Mewtwo
2 Oranguru
2 Zacian V
1 Big Charm
2 Boss’s Orders
1 Energy Spinner
3 Energy Switch
1 Great Catcher
1 Guzma & Hala
1 Mallow & Lana
4 Marnie
4 Metal Saucer
1 Ordinary Rod
4 Professor’s Research
4 Quick Ball
3 Scoop Up Net
4 Switch
1 Tag Call
1 Viridian Forest
1 Aurora Energy
8 Metal Energy
2 Water Energy
Value In The Box
The overall value of the cards within the deck comes to $44. With that said, nearly all (around $33) of the value comes from the Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX, the playset of Jirachi, and the Scoop Up Net.
The deck can be bought on TCGplayer for around $30 at the time of writing of this article. Considering that things like dice, tokens and a deck box are also included you’ll definitely get your money’s worth from this Pokémon Starter Deck.
Strategy / Theme
This deck focus is trying to quickly end the game by buffing its Pokémon’s attack damage and trying to gain extra prize cards when knocking out opposing Pokémon. The main means to do this is the “Altered Creation GX” attack found on Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX (We’ll call this ADP for short.)
ADP’s Altered Creation makes your Pokémon do an extra 30 damage to your opponent’s active Pokémon for the rest of the game. Furthermore, once you’ve used the attack, you’ll take an extra prize card whenever you knock out an opposing active Pokémon.
Related: The Best Card Sleeves For MTG And Pokemon
This, alongside powerful Pokémon and other ways to buff their attacks, means the deck can draw all its prize cards and close out games in only a few attacks.
Upgrades
As mentioned, this deck really looks to win the game quickly and explosively. With that said, our upgrades will be swapping many of the slower Pokemon and trainer cards for faster options.
Furthermore, we’ll be adding in more copies of some of the key attackers and a few other things to up consistency. This includes adding in a few more basic energy for each of the types so that the deck will have its legs under it early and often.
In:
- 1 Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX
- 1 Zacian V
- 2 Cherish Ball
- 2 Dedenne GX
- 2 Boss’s Orders
- 2 Air Balloon
- 1 Energy Spinner
- 1 Water Energy
- 1 Metal Energy
Out:
- 1 Galarian Zigzagoon
- 4 Jirachi
- 1 Ordinary Rod
- 3 Scoop Up Net
- 1 Tag Call
- 1 Mallow & Lana
- 1 Guzma & Hala
- 1 Aurora Energy
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Aggressive | Doesn’t have the best late game |
| Can win quickly | Stock list can give up prize cards in the early game |
| Fairly consistent right from the box |
6. Inteleon Vmax League Battle Deck
Deck List
2 Inteleon VMAX
2 Inteleon V
2 Frosmoth
3 Snom
2 Inteleon
2 Drizzile
3 Sobble
2 Galarian Zigzagoon
1 Suicune
3 Air Balloon
2 Bird Keeper
3 Boss’s Orders
2 Capacious Bucket
2 Evolution Incense
4 Great Ball
3 Marnie
1 Ordinary Rod
4 Professor’s Research
4 Quick Ball
2 Scoop Up Net
1 Training Court
10 Water Energy
Value In The Box
The overall value of the cards within the deck comes to around $28. The most expensive cards within the deck are the two Inteleon VMAX ($4 total) and four Scoop Up Net ($8 total). With that said, the deck can be bought on TCGplayer for around $24.
Strategy / Theme
The deck has a few key abilities that it is built around. First off, is the “Max Bullet” attack of the deck’s main attacker, Inteleon VMAX. Max Bullet deals 160 damage and 60 damage to an opposing benched Pokemon as well. This ability allows the deck to quickly threaten to knock out multiple Pokemon.
Next, the deck also features ways to disrupt or control opponents by switching their active and benched pokemon and returning their energy cards to their hands. This mix of aggression and disruption allows the deck to control the tempo of the game.
Upgrades
The upgrades for this deck aren’t as numerous as some of the other decks on the list. With that said, there are a few simple changes to be made. Overall, we’ll just be switching out some of the cards that are a little obtuse for the archetype to make room for more copies of some of the key pieces.
In:
- 1 Inteleon VMAX
- 2 Inteleon V
- 1 Drizzle
- 1 Training Court
- 4 Pokemon Communication
Out:
- 2 Galarian Zigzagoon
- 1 Suicune
- 4 Great Ball
- 1 Ordinary Rod
- 1 Evolution Incense
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Aggressive and disruptive | Not very streamlined |
| Good mid / late game | Slow starter |
5. Single Strike Urshifu League Battle Deck
Decklist
2 Single Strike Urshifu VMAX
2 Single Strike Urshifu V
3 Houndoom
4 Houndour
2 Oranguru
2 Stonjourner
2 Boss’s Orders
1 Bruno
2 Escape Rope
3 Evolution Incense
3 Marnie
1 Ordinary Rod
4 Professor’s Research
4 Quick Ball
2 Single Strike Scroll of Scorn
2 Switch
1 Tool Scrapper
4 Tower of Darkness
4 Urn of Vitality
4 Fighting Energy
4 Single Strike Energy
4 Stone Fighting Energy
Value In The Box
This deck has a slightly slower value than the others coming in at around $16. Around 25% of this value comes from the namesake cards Single Strike Urshifu VMAX and Single Strike Urshifu V. The deck can be purchased from TCGplayer for around $21.
Strategy / Theme
The deck is built around using and enhancing the powerful “G-Max One Blow” attack of Single Strike Urshifu VMAX. The deck’s overall game plan is to get the requisite energy to power it up as soon as possible with cards like Houndoom.
The attack deals a very strong 270 damage that is capable of knocking out most Pokemon in one blow, hence the name. Furthermore, the damage can’t be stopped with effects on opposing Pokemon.
With that said, the deck plays a few ways to make Urshifu attack for even more. Once the deck has Single Strike Urshifu VMAX online and buffed up, there aren’t many opposing Pokemon it can’t take down. This product is certainly one of the best to hit shelves.
Upgrades
The upgrades here are pretty straightforward. We’ll be trimming some of the less impactful cards and filling those spots with more impactful cards. The main areas where additional support is needed are energy acceleration and consistency.
In:
- 2 Single Strike Urshifu VMAX
- 1 Single Strike Urshifu V
- 1 Houndoom
- 1 Evolution Incense
Out:
- 2 Stonjourner
- 1 Ordinary Rod
- 1 Tool Scrapper
- 1 Escape Rope
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Very powerful attackers | Heavily reliant on Single Strike Urshifu |
| Needs lots of energy |
4. Rapid Strike Urshifu League Battle Deck
Deck List
2 Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX
2 Rapid Strike Urshifu V
2 Cinccino
2 Minccino
2 Octillery
3 Remoraid
1 Galarian Zigzagoon
3 Falinks
2 Boss’s Orders
1 Cheryl
2 Escape Rope
2 Evolution Incense
1 Fan of Waves
2 Korrina’s Focus
3 Level Ball
3 Marnie
1 Ordinary Rod
1Pal Pad
3 Professor’s Research
4 Quick Ball
1 Scoop Up Net
2 Switch
1 Tool Scrapper
2 Tower of Waters
4 Fighting Energy
4 Rapid Strike Energy
4 Stone Fighting Energy
Value In The Box
The total value for the deck comes to around $21. With that said, the majority comes from Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX. However, there are quite a few other cards with a bit of value as well. The Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX deck can be purchased from TCGplayer for about $24.
Strategy / Theme
The Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX deck plays somewhat like the Single Strike version but with a few key differences. Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX doesn’t increase the number of price cards you take for each knockout, for example.
The deck seeks to use the extremely efficient “Gale Thrust” and “G-Max Rapid Flow” to get ahead and out value/race opponents. Gale Thrust can do up to 150 damage for a single energy and G-Max Rapid Flow will do 120 damage to up to two opposing Pokemon.
These well-costed attacks are the bread & butter of the deck and can be powered up early thanks to Rapid Strike energy. With Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX at the core of the deck’s plan to victory the rest of the deck is mainly supporter Pokemon and powerful trainer/item cards to keep the deck on track and search out its most powerful pieces.
Upgrades
The upgrades here aren’t numerous but they do offer the deck a great deal more consistency. We’ll be switching out some of the less cost-effective ways to deal damage with more copies of the deck’s best, most efficient Pokemon.
The upgrades are simple but go a long way in making the deck a bit more powerful than the stock list.
In:
- 2 Cinccino
- 2 Minccino
- 1 Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX
- 2 Rapid Strike Urshifu V
Out:
- 3 Falinks
- 4 Stone Fighting Energy
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Cost-effective attackers | Relies heavily on a few cards |
| Stock list is consistent | |
| Has lots of support cards | |
| Streamlined strategy |
3. Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck
Deck List
3 Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX
3 Shadow Rider Calyrex V
3 Cresselia
2 Galarian Articuno
1 Pumpkaboo
2 Air Balloon
3 Boss’s Orders
4 Evolution Incense
4 Fog Crystal
2 Great Ball
4 Marnie
1 Ordinary Rod
4 Professor’s Research
4 Quick Ball
2 Switch
3 Training Court
15 Psychic Energy
Value In The Box
The value of the cards in the Shadow Rider Calyrex deck comes to around $21. The decks are currently selling for around $18 on TCGplayer. This makes it one of the better decks in terms of overall value compared to what you pay for it.
Strategy / Theme
The star of the show for this deck is the “Underworld Door” ability of Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX. It lets you add an energy from your hand directly onto your Pokemon once per turn. Then, if you do, you get to drag two cards. Furthermore, you can activate the ability once per Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX you have out.
So, not only does this ability accelerate your energy by a ton but the engine fuel itself by drawing cards each time. Considering you can do this multiple times per turn if you have several Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX out, it can spiral out of control quick quickly.
So, what does the deck plan to do with all this free energy? The “Max Geist” attack featured on Calyrex is exactly how the deck wants to close out games. It starts at 10 damage but it scales up 30 damage for each energy attached to your Pokemon.
The attack is an easy way to one or two hit KO Pokemon once Calyrex has peppered your bench with tons of free energy. The powerful built-in card draw really makes the deck run like a well-oiled machine that is hard to stop once the wheels are turning.
Upgrades
This deck comes pretty polished and won’t need many upgrades to get to a tier list. The one thing that is a must-have that isn’t included is a 3 – 2 line of Mewtwo V and Mewtwo VSTAR.
Other than that, we simply swap some basic energy for horror energy and add in a lone Roxanne to work alongside the Pumpkaboo and give the deck more outs against hate cards like Path to the Peak that could shut off the Underworld Door ability.
In:
- 1 Shadow Rider Calyrex V
- 2 Mewtwo VSTAR
- 3 Mewtwo V
- 1 Roxanne
- 4 Horror Energy
Out:
- 2 Marnie
- 3 Cresselia
- 2 Galarian Articuno
- 4 Psychic Energy
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Powerful value engine | Many cards rotate soon |
| Highly consistent | |
| Energy efficient | |
| Draws lots of cards |
2. Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck
Deck List
3 Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX
3 Ice Rider Calyrex V
2 Inteleon
4 Drizzile
4 Sobble
2 Air Balloon
3 Boss’s Orders
3 Capacious Bucket
3 Evolution Incense
4 Level Ball
2 Marnie
4 Melony
4 Path to the Peak
2 Professor’s Research
4 Quick Ball
2 Switch
9 Water Energy
Value In The Box
The value of the cards with this particular starter deck is $20 for the deck. With that said, you’ll pay around $24 for this on TCGplayer. Keep in mind that you also get, a few counters, some dice and, a small deck box as well.
Strategy / Theme
The release of the Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX battle deck upped the power level of Pokémon starter products. These top two are truly the best of the best. Let’s go over what makes them so great.
First off, like most of these decks, the deck is built around the attacks of its namesake Pokémon, Ice Rider Calyrex. Both the “Ride of the High King” and “Max Lance” attacks are very powerful for their energy cost. Max Lance especially is capable of dealing massive damage for only two energy. However, this upside does come with the downside of having to remove two energy from it.
With that said, the deck shines because it has several ways to turn this downside into an upside. This includes cards like Melony that recur energy cards straight from the discard pile to your Pokemon. This gives the deck tons of consistency to frequently and quickly get its VMAX Pokemon attacking.
Next, the deck is highly disruptive to opposing game plans with things like Path to the Peak that can shut off large portions of opposing decks. Lastly, the deck is highly consistent and versatile thanks to its ability to search out whatever trainer it needs with the Inteleon evolution chain.
Overall, the deck has many of the qualities of an upgraded starter deck with its stock list. It’s fast, cost-effective, disruptive, and consistent.
Upgrades
The deck has almost everything it could need and nothing it doesn’t straight from the box. With the exception of one absolute meta powerhouse and that is Palkia VSTAR. It is one of the most powerful water Pokemon in the game at the moment and fits into the strategy quite nicely. It is one of the few must-have cards that isn’t included.
Other than that, we are simply trimming down on a few of our Inteleon search engine pieces to round out the deck with one extra copy of Ice Rider Calyrex V. Overall, this deck needs a very little upgrading to be in top form.
In:
- 1 Ultra Ball
- 2 Palkia VSTAR
- 3 Palkia V
- 1 Ice Rider Calyrex V
Out:
- 1 Caspicuous Bucket
- 1 Drizzile
- 1 Sobble
- 1 Inteleon Water
- 1 Inteleon
- 2 Melony
Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Highly disruptive | Many cards rotate soon |
| Very consistent | |
| Power low-cost attacks |
1. Mew VMAX League Battle Deck
Deck List
2 Mew VMAX
2 Mew V
2 Genesect V
3 Meloetta
2 Deoxys
1 Oricorio
4 Battle VIP Pass
4 Boss’s Orders (Cyrus)
3 Choice Belt
4 Cram-O-Matic
4 Elesa’s Sparkle
2 Escape Rope
4 Fog Crystal
2 Old Cemetery
4 Power Tablet
2 Switch
4 Ultra Ball
3 Double Turbo Energy
4 Fusion Strike Energy
4 Psychic Energy
Value In The Box
The cards within the deck come to $33.38 cents on TCGplayer. About half of the overall value comes from the two Mew V and two Mew VMAX. Having said that, you can pick the Battle Deck up for around $26.84, which means the deck has a pretty good expected value. This is especially true when you consider the extras that are included with the decks.
Strategy / Theme
This deck is built around the “Cross Fusion Strike” attack of Mew VMAX. For two energy it allows you to “Choose 1 of your Benched Fusion Strike Pokémon’s attacks and use it as this attack.” This means you’ll be getting to use some very powerful attacks for only two energy.
The main attack the deck wants to be coping this way is the Techno Blast attack of Genesect V. It does 210 damage for three energy and says, “During your next turn, this Pokémon can’t attack.” However, when you use Mew to copy this attack, two things happen.
First, the already well-costed attack will cost two instead of three. Secondly, and more importantly, Mew VMAX can retreat for free. This means you can have Mew VMAX active, copy Techno Blast, then retreat the Mew that attacked for one that didn’t. Meaning you can circumvent the “During your next turn, this Pokémon can’t attack.” and use it turn after turn.
Genesect V also has the extremely powerful Fusion Strike System ability which allows you to draw cards until you have as many cards in your hand as you have Fusion Strike Pokémon in play. In my experience, this is six cards more often than not, which is incredible.
Another very cool interaction that saved me quite a few times was using Mew VMAX to copy the Psychic Leap ability to shuffle itself back into your deck when/if it is heavily damaged and facing a knockout. Doing this is a great way to deny your opponent three prize cards and makes the deck that much more resilient.
The deck also has several key trainer cards that help it to get this powerful Fusion Strike attack engine online. My favorite of the bunch is Battle Vip Pass, pictured above. It allows you to search out two basic Pokemon to your bench early in the game. This card lets you consistently get Mew V and/or Genesect V into play and helps the deck along quite a bit.
This list is literally only a handful of cards away from the list that Andrew Estrada played to the Top 8 in worlds recently. This is certainly the most powerful preconstructed deck to date.
Upgrades
As I said, this deck is very close to being a top tier deck straight from the box. There is, however, a few cards you’ll need to swap out if you’re trying to get this thing all the way there. And most of them are extra copies of the main cards that Pokemon left out for budget reasons.
In:
- 2 Genesect V
- 2 Mew V
- 1 Mew VMAX
- 1 Cyllene
Out:
- 2 Deoxys
- 4 Fog Crystal
| Pros | Cons |
| Has very powerful attackers | None |
| Great card advantage | |
| Resilient | |
| Designed to survive rotation |
Conclusion
So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen these are the very best Pokémon starter decks money can buy. Pokemon has really stepped up their games with their precons in recent years and there are tons of great decks out there now. If you’re looking to get into the game for the first time or looking for a convenient new deck as an experienced player there are starter decks out there for you. With that said, I hope you’ve found todays list helpful in figuring out which deck is best for you.
