We are at the tail-end of our Twilight Masquerade Standard Pokémon TCG format, and that means I have the best decks to share with you! By the time you read this article, there will likely be a handful of weekends left in this format for you to try some of the decks in this article, and maybe even score some Championship Points for the 2025 season! 

Twilight Masquerade has been a short-lived format due to the only major event in this format being the 2024 North American International Championships, and that was it for global events - no Regionals, and only a month of locals. The meta will become relatively stable heading into our next set, Shrouded Fable, which only has a few playable cards due to it being a mini-set. Most of the decks featured in this article will be familiar, but some might surprise you, so let’s jump right into it! Let’s get it!

5) Raging Bolt ex

Raging Bolt ex [Temporal Forces] gained Teal Mask Ogerpon ex [Twilight Masquerade] in this set, and a new archetype was born. The strategy revolves around accelerating Energy to your Teal Mask Ogerpon ex with Teal Dance, loading up even more Energy to your Ancient Pokémon in play with Professor Sada’s Vitality [Paradox Rift], and unleashing those Energy with Raging Bolt ex’s Bellowing Thunder. The deck is aggressive, can OHKO anything, and is fairly well positioned in the Twilight Masquerade format. Let’s check out this list!

You can copy and paste the below decklist right into Pokémon TCG Live!

Check out Ultimate Guard’s yellow Katana Sleeves to protect your Raging Bolt ex deck, and to match the aesthetic of your Lightning Energy. You can find them here.

4) Charizard ex

Charizard ex [Obsidian Flames] isn’t a new archetype that was created with Twilight Masquerade, but has instead received a few new cards to play around with, like Unfair Stamp [Twilight Masquerade], and can still hang with the metagame. While it didn’t necessarily have a great performance at NAIC, it has been crushing League Cups. The strategy remains the same as always - utilize Pidgeot ex [Obsidian Flames] to set up your board, and Charizard ex can self accelerate Energy to itself to attack. As the game progresses play disruptive cards, like Iono [Paldea Evolved], and target key Pokémon while aiming for victory! Let’s check out the list!

You can copy and paste the below decklist right into Pokémon TCG Live!

Wanna protect your Charizard ex deck in style? Be sure to check out the Black / Red Sidewinder to match Charizard ex’s Darkness type, and Fire Energy attack costs!

3) Regidrago VSTAR

Similarly to Raging Bolt ex, Regidrago VSTAR [Silver Tempest] became an archetype thanks to Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, and the Ability to accelerate Grass Energy into play with Teal Dance. The strategy varies a little bit by using Teal Dance, and then using Energy Switch [Scarlet and Violet] to move Energy from Teal Mask Ogerpon ex to Regidrago VSTAR to use Apex Dragon. Apex Dragon copies any Dragon-type Pokémon’s attack from your discard pile without needing to pay the Energy cost of the original attack, so there are many attacks to choose from! This deck has been picking up steam lately, so be sure to check out my most up-to-date list!

You can copy and paste the below decklist right into Pokémon TCG Live!

Check out Ultimate Guard’s red Katana Sleeves to protect your Regidrago VSTAR deck, and to match the aesthetic of your Fire Energy. You can find them here.

2) Gardevoir ex

Like Charizard ex, Gardevoir ex [Scarlet and Violet] isn’t a new archetype, but it did gain a new strategy with the release of Munkidori [Twilight Masquerade]. The strategy of Gardevoir ex is to accelerate Psychic Energy from your discard pile to various single Prize Card Pokémon, like Drifloon [Scarlet and Violet], and racking up damage on your Pokémon so they can scale their damage output. Munkidori allows you to move some of that damage to your opponent’s Pokémon, and that makes Gardevoir ex much more of a technical deck than it previously was. Let’s check out the list!

You can copy and paste the below decklist right into Pokémon TCG Live!

Wanna protect your Gardevoir ex deck in style? Be sure to check out the Purple Sidewinder to match Gardevoir ex’s Psychic type, and Psychic Energy attack costs!

1) Lost Zone Box

Lost Zone Box has been around since it was first released in Lost Origin back in 2023, and the deck recently won NAIC! The strategy is the same old get cards into your Lost Zone with help from Comfey [Lost Origin] and Colress’s Experiment [Lost Origin], scale them to be able to attack with Cramorant [Lost Origin], accelerate Energy with Mirage Gate [Lost Origin], and spread damage counters with Sableye [Lost Origin]. There are some new techs in this deck, like Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex [Twilight Masquerade] and Iron Thorns ex [Twilight Masquerade], that you can use in different top matchups! Let’s check out the list!

You can copy and paste the below decklist right into Pokémon TCG Live!

Lost Zone Box plays Water Energy for Radiant Greninja [Astral Radiance], which makes the blue aesthetic of the new Great Wave Katana Sleeves match the deck! Be sure to check them out here.

Time to Play

With all of these new decks, you should be rushing out to your local game store, and playing some Pokémon TCG! These are all tournament winning archetypes that are relatively easy to put together, and can kick start your 2025 Pokémon TCG season! As stated earlier, Shrouded Fable is coming out soon, so stay tuned for a similar article that will cover some of the top lists from that set! I’m actively preparing for that format because that's the format for Worlds 2024 in August, so that means the lists are going to be absolutely fire! I appreciate all of you reading this article, and I can’t wait for my next article to share with our Ultimate Guard community!