The Top 10 Cards from the newest Pokémon set Perfect Order

Hello everyone!

The next main set, Perfect Order, is about to become legal, and I couldn’t be more excited about its release. In today’s article, we are going to be covering the top 10 cards that are most likely to have an impact on the metagame and transform the way the standard format develops.

The capital importance of the new set

Before we dive into it, there are a couple of important things you need to consider about this new set. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining on social media, saying that it feels underwhelming and even disappointing because it does not contain any meta-altering cards or fails to introduce the next tier-S archetype. In a way, I get it, some decks like Dragapult ex or Gardevoir ex have been dominating the format with an iron fist for the past couple of months, and people are eager to see a change. But the change will come, whether we like it or not, because by the time Perfect Order becomes tournament legal, the rotation will have already taken place, and we will be facing a completely new territory, one where cards that might not have been historically powerful suddenly become the best option.

That is why I think that Perfect Order still has a lot to say, both in the short term and in the long run. Also, if you want my opinion, not every set needs to feature the most broken deck ever. Sometimes we just need a “calmer” expansion that focuses on giving players more resources - and that is fine! While I understand that some players want the excitement of building new top decks every few weeks, I still think Perfect Order is a really good addition for the 2026 format.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into my personal top cards!

10 - Doublade 

[C][C] Sword Stash: 60x damage. You may reveal any number of Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash from your hand. This attack does 60 damage for each card you revealed.

I think the reason why I decided to go with Doublade is that I really like its design (Aegislash is one of the best Pokémon ever, I don't admit a contrary view) and because I think that having viable one-prize attackers is really cool for the game. Doublade allows us to reveal as many Pokémon from the Aegislash evolution line and deal 60 damage for each card. In a metagame where most strategies heavily rely on big Mega Pokémon, this card has the potential to one-shot most other decks. And one aspect why I think this might be viable is because with the rotation, we lose any generic hand disruption like Iono…  Why not believe this card has a chance of being played? 

9 - Mega Skarmory ex

[M][M][C] Sonic Ripper: Shuffle all Energy from this Pokémon into your deck. This attack does 220 damage to 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)

Mega Skarmory is a personal bet of mine. Maybe I am being too biased because I think its design is really, really cool, but I think that it can provide a lot of flexibility to certain decks in the format. M Skarmory only has one attack that allows us to target any Pokémon on the field and deal 220 damage. Now, this might not seem like the highest damage number ever, but it is more than enough to target two-prizers sitting on the bench like Fezandipiti ex and such. In other words, this can be the way in which you get your last 2 prize cards, and I have to say this won’t be the first way that a Pokémon with the possibility of targeting the bench becomes very playable (anyone remembers the days of Cramorant V?). On a negative note, Skarmory is indeed a Mega Evolution, which comes with the clear risk of giving a lot of advantage to your opponent if it falls in battle, so that is the entire reason why I didn’t dare include it higher on the list. 

8 - Mega Zygarde ex

Mega Zygarde is the main legendary from the newest video game, ZA, and its counterpart in the TCG is the most powerful Mega Pokémon released yet, at least in terms of HP and attack potential. Mega Zygarde ex is a “high risk, high reward” type of card. I honestly don’t expect a lot of players actually play large tournaments with it, but the reality is that if Zygarde gets powered up, it has the potential of ending the game in one turn. Basically (because I know the wording of the attack might sound confusing), you have a 50% of dealing 150 damage to each of your opponent’s Pokémon on the field. If you can attack twice. I think we can assume the game is over, so I would honestly be concerned if I see a Mega Zygarde being played against me!

7 - Yveltal ex

[D][D][C] Death Soul: Knock Out each of your opponent's Pokemon that has 50 HP or less remaining.
[D][D][C] Dark Strike: 210 damage. During your next turn, this Pokemon can't use Dark Strike.

Yveltal has historically been a very strong Pokémon in the TCG, and while this new version is not the most amazing one, I still think it can have a lot of things to say. Yveltal’s first attack allows us to KO every single Pokémon with 50 HP or less. I know this looks like a very specific scenario, but there are many ways in which damage counters can be spread (Munkidori), so I think there is definitely potential to pull off a multiple-prize turn.  

6 - Tarragon

Put up to 4 in any combination of [F] Pokemon and Basic [F] Energy from your discard pile into your hand.

Considering Zygarde ex is the main Pokémon of the set, it is expected that we would receive fighting-specific cards. Tarragon might not be the meta-shaping supporter that we were all expecting, but in a format where Super Rod is no longer here and recycling options are very scarce, a supporter card that allows us to retrieve up to 4 cards from the discard pile is always cool. 
Now, as I always say, a card like this might lose its edge if we get more late-game options to get our resources back, but for the time being, I think some decks will be very happy with Tarragon. Fun fact, this guy has a very weird background story in the video games related to a certain female idol. Ok, that sounded very weird, never mind…

5 - Barbaracle 

Ability: Stone Arms
Once during your turn, you may attach a Basic [F] Energy from your hand to 1 of your [F] Pokemon.

Cards that allow players to overcome typical game restrictions are always very powerful. For example, those that help draw cards or that create card advantage. And in Pokémon, getting more than 1 energy in play is crucial to overtake your opponents (I mean, there is a reason why Gardevoir ex has been dominating the format for years!). 
Barbaracle is a stage 1 Pokémon, which means that it should be relatively easy to set up, allowing you to attach basic energy cards to your fighting Pokémon. That alone is pretty powerful, but I would say it is even more relevant for the fighting types than others, as they typically require a ton of energy in order to execute their attacks. 
Barbaracle can suddenly make cards like Garchomp ex very dangerous, enabling the card to use its Draconic Buster attack turn after turn. Of course, as I always say, a card is only as good as the context that surrounds it, so if there are not that many good fighting attackers, Barbaracle won’t be as strong… but I honestly think it is a fantastic option that immediately makes new fighting types a greater threat.

4 - Mega Starmie ex

[W] Jet Blow: 120 damage. This attack also does 50 damage to 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
[C][C][C] Nebula Beam: 210 damage. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness, Resistance, or any effects on your opponent's Active Pokémon.

If you have played the latest Pokémon video game, Pokémon ZA, you might be familiar with Mega Starmie, but I would dare to say that even if you have not, you might have still seen a lot of memes going around on social media saying that Mega Starmie’s design looks like Patrice from SpongeBob SquarePants. And I mean… I can’t disagree! I have already told some friends that as soon as Mega Starmie becomes legal i am going to get my Patrice Squaroes deckbok and take it to tournaments non-stop. 
And the thing is that, in the TCG, M Starmie is far from a meme card; it is actually one of the strongest Mega Evolutions we’ve seen in a while. It is pretty easy to put into play and has two very interesting attacks. The first one, the one we will likely use the most, allows us to hit very hard into the active Pokémon while softening up something on the bench. If Grimmsnarl ex, a card that is able to hit for 180 +30, was already a top deck, hitting for 120 + 50 is equally powerful, if not more. In Japan, Mega Staryu has been seeing a lot of success recently, being paired with Munkidori and Froslass to spread as many damage counters as possible and get rid of several Pokémon at the same time. 
While I don’t think Mega Starmie is going to be the next deck to beat, I still think it has a lot to offer and will give water-type fans a perfect excuse to try it out. 

3 - Telepath Energy

This card provides [P] Energy while this card is attached to a Pokémon.
When you attach this card from your hand to 1 of your [P] Pokemon, you may search your deck for 2 Basic [P] Pokemon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.

Searching cards is good. Searching multiple cards is amazing. A card that can do that without having a cost is just insane. And that is exactly what Telepath Energy is. This special energy card (meaning you will be limited to 4 copies per deck) is a must-have inclusion in any psychic deck that needs to guarantee a strong setup and can’t afford to have a weak turn 1. 
The only reason why this card is not higher on the list is just that it is not generic - at the end of the day, it will only work for certain types of deck but I feel this offers a ton of consistency to a type of Pokémon that were really hit after the rotation with the loss of Gardevoir ex. 

2 - Rosa's Encouragement 

You can only use this card if you have more Prize cards remaining than your opponent.
Attach up to 2 Basic Energy cards from your discard pile to 1 of your Stage 2 Pokémon.

Didn’t we just say that attaching several energies in one turn is something incredible in the Pokémon TCG? I guess that then you won’t be surprised to see Rosa’s Encouragement on the list. Rosa allows us to immediately power up our Stage 2 Pokémon as long as we are selecting basic energy cards. 
Historically, Stage 2 Pokémon (Other than Gardevoir and Charizard, who had its own acceleration mechanic) had really struggled to keep up with the game but adding a single copy of Rosa can truly make the difference in decks like Garchomp ex or Dragapult ex, allowing them to have a much stronger late game. 

1 - Meowth ex 

Ability: Last-Ditch Catch
Once during your turn, when you play this Pokemon from your hand onto your Bench, you may use this Ability. Search your deck for a Supporter card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. You can't use more than 1 Ability that has "Last-Ditch" in its name each turn.

And with this last one, we get to the end of the list! As I said at the beginning, I think this set is better than people are giving it credit for, and I am pretty sure players will come up with great ideas to use some of these cards in the next post-rotation format. Thanks for reading!