Roaring Moon ex [Paradox Rift] was largely one of the more popular decks in our previous Standard format, but many thought it would die in popularity with the departure of Galarian Moltres V [Chilling Reign] to Rotation. Well, anyone who thought that was wrong! This is your resident Pokémon TCG writer, Zach Lesage, and I’m here to share my thoughts on an emerging Pokémon TCG archetype since the release of Scarlet and Violet: Temporal Forces - Roaring Moon ex / Dudunsparce [Temporal Forces]. 

Who needs to worry about extra Darkness Energy attaches when you can use Professor Sada’s Vitality [Paradox Rift], and Dark Patch [Astral Radiance], to power up a Pokémon that can OHKO anything for three Energy? You can easily draw into those cards, and other powerful cards, like Prime Catcher [Temporal Forces], by utilizing Dudunsparce. Even though Charizard ex [Obsidian Flames] is the best deck in the format, this deck is the most fun best deck, so I’ll count that as a personal win. In this article I’ll be covering my decklist, the strategy, and more - so continue reading to learn more about my take on Roaring Moon ex / Dudunsparce!

Roaring Moon ex / Dudunsparce Decklist | Pokémon

With Ancient Box decks running around featuring a handful of different Ancient Pokémon, like Koraidon [Temporal Forces], or even Slither Wing [Paradox Rift], it might be confusing to some that there are a handful of decks that feature Roaring Moon [Temporal Forces], Roaring Moon ex, and / or both, but this is totally a different archetype. With Roaring Moon ex / Dudunsparce already claiming a successful day at EUIC 2024 by making Top 8, and following that back with another Top 8 at Orlando Regionals, this deck is poised to do well for the remainder of the format. I’ve made a few changes to those lists, so let's check out my list, then we can dive into the strategy, and more! Let’s get it!

This text version of the decklist is importable to Pokémon TCG Live by copying it, and selecting import when creating a new deck online:

Roaring Moon ex / Dudunsparce: Strategy & Key Cards | Pokémon

The strategy of this deck might be confusing at first, but I’m hoping this article will help out! Even though Roaring Moon ex is the star of the show, every good rockstar needs a solid opening act. In this case, we want to use Roaring Moon to score easy OHKOs on single Prize Card Pokémon in the early game with Vengeance Fletching, and we want to keep our board clean with only single Prize Card Pokémon if possible. As we put a few Dunsparce [Temporal Forces] into play, we want to keep the pressure going with Roaring Moon until our opponent attacks us with two Prize Card Pokémon, like Charizard ex. At that point, we want to get Roaring Moon ex out in a single turn with Professor Sada’s Vitality, Dark Patch, and a manual attach. If they respond again with another two Prizer, we want to repeat that, and that's where the extra draws from Dudunsparce will come in clutch.

You see, Dudunsparce isn’t necessarily used to draw cards each turn, but more as a way to save draws in play so you can have bursts of powerful attacks, or even being able to have enough cards in hand to survive a well-timed Iono [Paldea Evolved] from your opponent. So save those Run Away Draws for when you really need them, use Roaring Moon to attack single Prize Card Pokémon, and use Roaring Moon ex for two Prize Card Pokémon. Seems simple enough now, right? Let’s look into some of the individual cards in this deck that are interesting enough for their own side section!

• Explorer’s Guidance: While it might seem like Explorer’s Guidance [Temporal Forces] is trying to discard Ancient cards to rack up damage with Vengeance Fletching, it is also thinning your deck of cards that you don’t wanna draw into later on in that game. That way your draws with Radiant Greninja [Astral Radiance], Trekking Shoes [Crown Zenith], and Dudunsparce are more potent in the late game.
• Thorton: While most lists for this archetype are running Penny [Scarlet and Violet], I see Thorton [Astral Radiance] as a much better choice. Penny is used to have an answer against Control decks gusting up Pokémon that can’t attack, like Radiant Greninja, but now Thorton can be used on other Pokémon for unique plays. Sometimes you will have extra Energy in play, and now you can summon a Roaring Moon ex out of nowhere. You can also transform any Pokémon into a Dunsparce, bypass the turn of waiting to Evolve into a Dudunsparce, and draw three cards!

Frenzied Testing

As I’m giving this article some final touches, my car is packed, and I’m about ready to head to Indianapolis, IN for another Regional Championships. Roaring Moon ex / Dudunsparce is one of the decks sleeved up in some Orange Katana Sleeves, sitting in a Black Sidewinder Deck Box , and protected in my Samurai’s Chest Special Edition Omnihive. Am I gonna play it? I’m honestly not sure, but it is one of my top three choices. I’m between Charizard ex, Lugia VSTAR [Silver Tempest], and Roaring Moon ex, but I have another twenty or so decks on me that I can be convinced on.

I’m sure I’ll figure it out! Even though I am nonstop testing for the final few major events in our 2024 Pokémon TCG season, I’ll still have enough time to keep up with a few Ultimate Guard articles per month to keep our community up-to-date on everything that is going on! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, and I can’t wait to share my ideas with you for my next blog! Thanks for reading, and I hope to meet many readers at future events.