Refreshed Decks for Pokémon: Journey Together

Older Decks Getting a Refresh

What’s up Ultimate Guard readers? Journey Together is our latest set, and while it might be a lackluster for competitive play, the real metagame shift comes from our rotation! We’ve shed everything before Scarlet and Violet, and are in a new land filled with only silver-bordered cards! It might be easy to look at top performing decks, like Tera Box or Dragapult ex [Twilight Masquerade] / Dusknoir [Shrouded Fable], but what about some older decks that have been sitting in the dark for a while? In this article, I’m going to share three archetypes that have received a Journey Together “refresh”, include lists for all of them, and of course let you know the strategy to play around with each of them! All of these decks have a decent shot at competitive play, and maybe they’ll be in contention for the best decks in format! Let’s hop into it!

Future Box Deck

Future Box has existed for a while, but was bested by Miraidon ex [Scarlet and Violet] decks that featured many powerful Pokémon V! Now that rotation has happened, this is the best “Lightning Box” deck in our early Journey Together format, and arguably the best way to use Iron Hands ex [Paradox Rift] right now! This deck takes an aggressive approach to the game by attacking with Miraidon [Temporal Forces], ramping up that damage by having multiple Iron Crown ex [Temporal Forces] in play, and ultimately getting Iron Hands ex ready to rumble! In the mid to late game, Iron Hands ex attempts to score extra prizes with Amp You Very Much, and keep energy afloat with Heavy Baton [Temporal Forces] to keep the pressure on. While this deck isn’t as successful as Tera Box, it has some solid matchups, and you can blow the dust off your old Future Box archetype - it's finally back! Let’s check out my latest list!

Looking for some sweet sleeves that match the aesthetic of Iron Hands ex? The Yellow Katana sleeves shuffle amazingly, and would look great protecting your Future Box deck! Check them out here.

Froslass Deck

My friend Mike has been in my ear telling me this is one of the best decks in our format, and after seeing Landen Kaetler’s base list for it on X, I definitely think that Froslass [Twilight Masquerade] can take some decks by surprise! There isn’t too much to it - use Budew [Prismatic Evolutions] throughout the entire game to stop your opponent’s Item Cards, and then Froslass provides chip damage to all of their Pokémon! How can you make it even better? Munkidori [Twilight Masquerade] allows you to move damage counters from your side to help line up multiple Knock Outs at once! Place your damage strategically, lock your opponent out of the game, and find yourself being victorious! Let’s check out my most updated list for this deck!

As much as Green or Purple sleeves might match this deck, I’m a huge fan of Budew, so I recommend the Jade Garden Katana sleeves for this one! Check them out here.

Terapagos Deck

Arguably the most competitive deck on this list, Terapagos ex [Stellar Crown] shakes the dust off, and finds its way in a Bouffalant [Stellar Crown] defensive deck! It's as easy as using Fan Rotom [Stellar Crown] to find all of your consistency pieces for Noctowl [Stellar Crown], and your defensive support in Bouffalant. Terapagos ex can hit for a hefty 240 damage all while your opponent can’t OHKO it back, especially with a Bravery Charm [Paldea Evolved] attached! With a few tasteful techs for poor matchups, like Lillie’s Clefairy ex [Journey Together], and a build similar to Tera Box, this deck is truly one of the coolest “refreshed” decks around! Let’s check out my latest build!

This deck features almost all Colorless Pokémon, so using White Katana sleeves seems like a clean choice to show off this archetype! You can check those out here.

My Next Adventure

As I prepare for my upcoming Regional Championship event in Monterrey, Mexico in our new format, I’m having a lot of fun discovering new decks and old decks alike. While there is a decent bit of crossover between our previous format and our new Scarlet and Violet on format, there are plenty of little nuances that have caused massive format shifts - there is definitely time for more testing! I’m going to continue to share my findings here, and stay tuned for more articles covering everything Pokémon TCG related right here on Ultimate Guard! I’ll catch up with y’all later!