Hey everyone, I’m looking for feedback on a post-rotation deck I’ve been testing that focuses on early Item lock, disruption, and late-game inevitability, rather than racing prizes.
(The deck list will be in the comments below)
The deck generally takes one of two early paths:
Set up Frillish → Jellicent ex to apply early Item lock and slow opposing setups, or
Evolve quickly into Steven’s Metagross ex, which functions as an energy engine and mid-game attacker (often with Hero’s Cape).
Once established, the deck pressures with Metagross ex and Jellicent ex, disrupts hands with Judge + Xerosic, and closes games with a 1-of Mega Gardevoir ex for big damage and as a clean answer to Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex (since it has no Ability).
Key tech choices
Latias ex – helps with early pivoting to get into Frillish more consistently
Genesect ex – smooths hands after Judge/Lillie resets, which has been especially important in a Stage 2 deck
Battle Cage – protects the bench against Dragapult/Dusclops and Grimmsnarl/Froslass style spread
Team Rocket’s Watchtower – shuts off Colorless Ability engines like Dudunsparce
Psychic-heavy Energy count – supports early Jellicent pressure and scales Mega Gardevoir ex’s damage, while Metagross handles Metal acceleration
The list is built with the expected post-rotation meta in mind, based on early results from Japan, where decks like Dragapult/Dusknoir, Mega Lucario ex, and Alakazam–Dudunsparce have been seeing strong success.
For Supporters, I’ve landed on a mix of hand resetters and pure dig. Judge and Lillie’s Determination have been excellent at disrupting sculpted hands post-rotation, especially against decks like Dragapult and Alakazam, while Professor’s Research is there specifically as a dig supporter so I can find key pieces without always resetting my own hand. Genesect ex helps offset the downside of hand resets by rebuilding hand quality afterward.
Recovery has felt very solid with 2 Night Stretcher / 2 Energy Recycler, and the Switch + Air Balloon package has been extremely important given how many Pokémon in the deck have high Retreat Costs. That said, mobility is still the area I feel least confident about — I’m strongly considering whether an extra Air Balloon or Switch would meaningfully improve consistency, and what the cleanest cut for that would be.
Playing into Item lock
Another intentional aspect of the list is that it’s designed to function under Item lock. Between the multiple evolution lines and Genesect ex, the deck isn’t overly reliant on chaining Items every turn. Even when locked by opposing Frillish/Jellicent, the deck can continue progressing through natural evolutions and Supporter-based draw, which has made those matchups much more manageable than expected.
Testing notes & rotation context
One last bit of context: I’m aware that Nest Ball is Regulation G and won’t be legal post-rotation, so it’s currently acting as a placeholder. My expectation is to replace it with PokéPad once available, which likely means I’ll need to rework the Pokémon search package, potentially leaning more heavily on Ultra Ball to reliably find key Basics like Latias ex, Genesect ex, and Fezandipiti ex.
I’ve tested additional Trainer search cards in the past, but they consistently felt worse than pure draw, since this deck often needs multiple combo pieces at once, not just access to a single Trainer.
I’ve also tested Psyduck, higher counts of Munkidori, Jumbo Ice Cream, Lillie’s Pearl, and various other techs, but they were either too inconsistent or too low-impact to justify their slots.
The current Psychic-heavy Energy count is intentional, supporting early Frillish/Jellicent pressure while scaling Mega Gardevoir ex’s damage, with Metagross handling Metal acceleration.
I’m mostly looking for tuning advice, particularly around mobility and post-rotation Pokémon search (may bite the bullet and add a 1 of Dawn), but I’m also very open to alternative interpretations or angles if anyone sees a cleaner way to approach this deck for the expected meta.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
by BicolourDonkey