Prismatic Evolutions (releasing on January 17, 2025) has all the markings of an incredible set for Pokemon TCG collectors. However, if we’ve learned anything from special sets like these lately it’s that you can’t just overlook them from a competitive standpoint. Special sets like Shrouded Fable, for example, brought with them powerful cards that altered the way the game was played like Dusknoir and Fezandipiti ex. Meanwhile, sets like the popular Pokemon 151 unleashed the handy Mew ex which also quickly became a staple in decks focused on Basic attackers.

With that being said, let’s take a look at the cards and decks that are likely to make a splash on the Pokemon TCG meta following the release of Prismatic Evolutions.

To Budew or not to Budew

The card that’s arguably getting the most attention from a competitive standpoint in Prismatic Evolutions is Budew. Indeed, many are heralding that Budew will massively change the game given how effective it can be. However, it feels that Budew is something of a niche card despite its intriguing Itchy Pollen attack that many decks simply won’t be able to make proper use of.

Let’s dig a little deeper into Budew and whether or not it will be the game changer some are saying it’s going to be.

A turn one attacker for decks without one

It’s highly probable that Budew will make its way into competitive play and be a staple option for many competitive decks. However, there are a few things about this card that make it not entirely ideal for universal use.

To understand a bit more about what makes Budew so effective, let’s first look at the card that is most similar to it in the existing meta – Cleffa.

Cleffa is a strong option for decks like Charizard ex that don’t attack the first turn they are able. Essentially, you put Cleffa out into the active spot via retreating one of your other Pokemon or via a switch card and then refill your entire hand after using up all of your resources that turn. This gives you more options in the following turn while also denying easy access to a two-prize Pokemon. If Cleffa happens to make it to the next turn, you can easily retreat it for free and start attacking with your Charizard ex or other attacker depending on the deck.

Budew has all of the same advantages only instead of refreshing your hand it denies your opponent the ability to play items during their next turn – something which can be absolutely deadly in certain matchups.

Budew pros and cons

That being said, the fact that Budew doesn’t do anything much to help you with your own resource management (drawing extra cards) but rather counters your opponent comes with some strong pros and cons. Sometimes it certainly would be best to get more resources and sometimes the item lock down probably won’t save you that much.

Players will have to juggle these two things and make a decision on which route to go which makes Budew not a sure thing in your deck the way a card like Fezandipiti is – something with virtually no drawbacks for including, or even the way Manaphy has been since its release as its effect activates passively just sitting on the bench.

Ultimately, Budew will make its way into many decks while decks that have a stronger turn-one attack option or those that simply prefer moving quickly over stalling the opponent will do without.

Are there any new decks to watch in Prismatic Evolutions?

While it’s hard to know for sure whether or not the new attackers released in this expansion will form decks on their own, it seems unlikely that we will be getting a brand new top tier deck in this set.

The Eeveelutions come with interesting plays but none of them feel overwhelmingly strong to challenge the existing meta. That being said, let’s take a look at a few decks that could be interesting to try out.

Glaceon ex

My personal favorite new deck heading into Prismatic Evolutions features Glaceon ex and feels pretty interesting. This deck is an interesting mashup of Terapagos ex/Palkia VSTAR plays that should feel relatively familiar to anyone who has been following the meta recently, while it incorproates the fun if not ever quite meta Iron Valiant ex combo. Using this combo, you can take instant KOs after strategically placing damage counters on opposing Pokemon via Tachyon Bits and Glaceon ex’s attack.

Apart from the instant KO play via Glaceon ex’s Euclase attack, you also have a range of secondary attackers to help your cause as well as Radiant Greninja as a powerful bench snipe option.

Jolteon ex and Flareon ex

Jolteon ex and Flareon ex feature in this deck that looks to leverage Glass Trumpet to power up your Eevee before they evolve so that you can take advantage of their powerful Stellar Tera attacks. What makes Jolteon especially attractive amongst the Eeveelutions released in this set is the fact that its first attack, Flashing Spear, can be used for only two energy and has the potential to hit for 240. That’s a lot given you can easily evolve Jolteon ex using Eevee’s Boosted Evolution, meaning you can pretty easily get this attack off turn one.

Leafeon ex

Lastly, we have my custom build for the Leafeon ex deck. I’m a huge Leafeon fan so I had to put this deck together, but it’s anything but ideal. The cool thing about this deck build is that it lets you leverage both Leafeon ex’s Moss Agate attack and Terapagos ex’s Crown Opal, meaning you can do some nifty things to work around your opponent. Leafeon ex’s first attack also can get off with just two energy but it works better against some decks than others as damage output is dependent on the number of energies attached to your opponent’s Pokemon.

Other noteworthy cards in Prismatic Evolutions

Lastly, there are a couple more cards worth noting in Prismatic Evolutions that could have some handy applications in the meta.

For starters, we have Regigigas, a powerful new basic Colorless attacker who can hit for an insane 330 damage when attacking Tera Pokemon. Given there are so many powerful Tera decks in the meta, this card could certainly be an insane tech card to include in decks like Lugia VSTAR or in decks that run Glass Trumpet.

Also, the new Tyranitar ex card also looks fairly strong, with a solid combination of 340 HP and an attack that scales indefinitely. I’m not sure if many will be willing to build a deck around this attacker given it is a Stage 2, but it could be an interesting new archetype to try out as rogue deck regardless.

Blaziken ex won’t be included in Prismatic Evolutions

Lastly, there are a few cards that could have been interesting from a meta standpoint in Prismatic Evolutions given their release in the Japanese set that won’t actually be getting included here. The biggest one is probably Blaziken ex. I was actually pretty excited about this card for its potential to pair with Pikachu ex but I guess we’ll just have to wait for a future set to pair those two up and start dishing out some damage.

Prismatic Evolutions is clearly a solid set for collectors but is also looking like it may contain a few strategies that daring trainers can take advantage of both via online play and at their next tournament.

How Cards in Prismatic Evolutions Will Impact the Meta