Top 5 Cards from Pokémon Destined Rivals

Team Rocket Returns

Destined Rivals is our latest Pokémon TCG set, and it continues the trend of Journey Together by introducing new Trainer’s Pokémon. Marnie, Steven, Ethan, Arven, and even Team Rocket all have featured Pokémon in this set. You might be hyped for the new Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex [Destined Rivals], or Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex [Destined Rivals], but how do they compare to other cards that are already competitively viable? Financially, they are some of the most anticipated Pokémon cards ever, but there are so many cards to choose from that might end up working in one of your decks! In this article, I’ll be sharing my personal top five cards from Destined Rivals, sharing where they might see success, and letting you know why some of those common or uncommon cards might be better than Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex. Let’s jump into it!

Card 5: Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex

Kicking off the list is going to be one of the main Pokémon from Destined Rivals - Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex! Many players love playing “Big Basics” that attack quickly, and this card is a heavy-hitting Pokémon! Being able to utilize the new “Team Rocket’s engine” with some standout cards, like Team Rocket’s Receiver [Destined Rivals], and Team Rocket’s Energy [Destined Rivals], you can easily have control over every element of your deck! Team Rocket’s Spidops [Destined Rivals] is a great refresh and outlet of your Energy to discard with Eraser Ball to keep pumping and dumping your Energy! While it isn’t gonna be a tech in many decks, like Lillie’s Clefairy ex [Journey Together], Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex seems to be a unique offering to the competitive landscape as a Team Rocket’s featured archetype on its own - even Tord Reklev played it to a Champions League in Japan. We’ll have to see if this deck turns into anything after all!

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Card 4: Ethan’s Typhlosion

Ethan’s Typlosion [Destined Rivals] might be the making of a new single Prize Card deck, and that is incredibly exciting because those types of decks usually end up being strong against many decks that primarily feature Pokémon ex. In this case, we are able to scale our damage by pitching Ethan’s Adventure [Destined Rivals] to bring Ethan’s Typhlosion to a whopping 280 damage for a single Fire energy. What does Ethan’s Adventure do? Being able to get your board setup with the same Supporter you want in your discard pile is great, but it gets even better when you consider that Ethan’s Quilava [Destined Rivals] wraps this whole strategy all together with a nice little bow on top of it all! Being able to search out the Supporter that you want to play to put in your discard pile makes this a fully self-contained archetype that has been played on its own, but has also seen a hybrid deck with Dragapult ex [Twilight Masquerade] or Gholdengo ex [Paradox Rift]. I’m sure many will experiment with this efficient combination in preparation for the first Destined Rivals legal tournaments

Card 3: Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex

Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex [Destined Rivals] seems to be the “best new deck” from Destined Rivals, and after trying it for myself, it seems to live up to the hype. Taking the core of Froslass [Twilight Masquerade] / Munkidori [Prismatic Evolutions] / Budew [Prismatic Evolutions] deck from the past few sets, it adds Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex as a big attacker - something that the deck desperately needed to see success! Having a built-in Energy acceleration ability allows this Pokémon to self-accelerate Energy to itself, and maybe even another one of your Marnie’s Pokémon, like a Marnie’s Impidimp [Destined Rivals]. Better yet, you can use Spikemuth [Destined Rivals] to proprietarily search for your Marnie’s Pokémon, which means we’re often just a Rare Candy [Scarlet and Violet] or Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex away from getting out a big attack. Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex looks like it will be a top contender of a deck as we continue to explore the metagame, so keep a lookout for this deck!

Card 2: Team Rocket’s Watchtower

While other Destined Rivals cards might be more impactful as a deck, like Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex, Team Rocket’s Watchtower [Destined Rivals] aims to be more of a powerful tech option to stop Colorless Pokémon from using Abilities. Some key Pokémon that might be a target of this powerful Stadium card are: Pidgeot ex [Obsidian Flames], Noctowl [Stellar Crown], and Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex [Twilight Masquerade] to name a few. Pairing Team Rocket’s Watchtower with a well-timed Iono [Paldea Evolved] can stop your opponent in their tracks, and leave them without any Colorless options. Even though it might not see play right away, Colorless Pokémon are released every set, which makes this card have longevity for as long as its Standard legal.

Card 1: Shaymin

Finally, Manaphy’s [Brilliant Stars] hole that was left unfilled in the metagame is finally getting patched up by our next Bench barrier Pokémon - Shaymin [Destined Rivals]. Notably, it's different; you can’t grab it with Buddy Buddy Poffin [Temporal Forces] because it has 80 HP, and it only stops your non Rule Box Pokémon from getting sniped by Bench damage, but it still blocks Bench damage, right? It poses the question, “Should I play it?” and that alone can adjust our entire metagame. Techs like Raging Bolt [Temporal Forces] and Scream Tail [Paradox Rift] will create an equilibrium of balancing Shaymin play-rates, and other Bench sniping decks, like Hydreigon ex [Surging Sparks], will be pushed to the back of the metagame. It might not do the most damage, but Shaymin will prevent some key Knockouts that will prove its value in many top-tier decks. It isn’t so much that this card will see play in every deck, it's much more powerful knowing that there is the option to prevent Bench damage - the band aid solution we’ve been praying for!

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Next Stop: Unova

There is always something new when it comes to the Pokémon TCG, and we have already started to see our next set(s) Black Bolt and White Flare - our first ever dual set available globally! It seems like these cards will be released right before the 2025 World Championships, which will certainly shake up the metagame once again - it's never a dull moment! As for me, I’ve already locked in my invitation to the World Championships by being one of the top players throughout the 2024-2025 season in North America, and I’m excited to represent Ultimate Guard at this prestigious event! I hope to share some of my top choices, strategy, and more as we get closer to that event, and the 2025-2026 Pokémon TCG season! Stay tuned for more content from me in the future, and I hope to run into some Ultimate Guard readers at future events! Until next time, take care!