Sun & Moon—Team Up Deck Tips: Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

Sun & Moon—Team Up Deck Tips: Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX was the first TAG TEAM to be revealed, back at the 2018 World Championships in August, and it’s proven to be a card worthy of the spotlight. This pairing has made a thunderous entrance into Pokémon TCG tournaments, quickly becoming the centerpiece of one of the most successful decks in the Standard format.

This TAG TEAM’s strength is its powerful attacks, aided by the support of some useful Trainer cards that synergize specifically with Lightning-type Pokémon. Its first attack, Full Blitz, does 150 damage and lets you search your deck for up to three Lightning Energy cards and attach them to one of your Pokémon. The extra Energy will come in handy, because for six Lightning Energy, Tag Bolt-GX can do 200 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon plus 170 to a Benched Pokémon.

With such potent attacks at the star’s disposal, the main goal of this deck is straightforward: get enough Energy on Pikachu & Zekrom-GX to start attacking as quickly as possible and blow your foe away before they can execute their own strategy.

  • Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
Pokémon
  • 3
    Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
    33/181
    sm9 33
  • 3
    Jirachi
    99/181
    sm9 99
  • 2
    Zapdos
    40/181
    sm9 40
  • 1
    Absol
    88/181
    sm9 88
  • 1
    Marshadow
    45/73
    sm35 45
  • 1
    Tapu Koko-GX
    47/145
    sm2 47
  • 1
    Tapu Koko ◇
    51/181
    sm9 51
  • 1
    Tapu Lele-GX
    60/145
    sm2 60
  • 1
    Zeraora-GX
    86/214
    sm8 86
Energy Cards
  • 11
    Lightning Energy
    nrg1 29
Trainer Cards
  • 4
    Guzma
    sm3 115
  • 4
    Lillie
    sm1 122
  • 3
    Volkner
    sm5 135
  • 1
    Cynthia
    sm5 119
  • 1
    Aether Paradise Conservation Area
    sm2 116
  • 1
    Thunder Mountain ◇
    sm8 191
  • 4
    Electropower
    sm8 172
  • 4
    Ultra Ball
    sm1 135
  • 3
    Energy Switch
    sm1 117
  • 3
    Nest Ball
    sm1 123
  • 2
    Choice Band
    sm2 121
  • 2
    Escape Board
    sm5 122
  • 2
    Switch
    sm1 132
  • 1
    Escape Rope
    sm3 114
More Info Copy Deck List

This deck was used by Lucas Henrique de Araujo Pereira at the Oceania International Championships, where he finished in the Top 8. Many of the cards in this deck have been selected to help get Pikachu & Zekrom-GX going as quickly as possible, potentially even on the first or second turn of the game.

Tapu Koko Prism Star’s Dance of the Ancients Ability can net you two quick Lightning Energy, assuming you’ve managed to get those Energy cards into the discard pile. Thunder Mountain Prism Star’s effect reduces attack costs for all your Lightning types, while Volkner can help make sure you have an Energy in hand so you don’t miss your regular Energy attachment for the turn. Lightning-type decks like this one really benefit from the incredible Electropower Trainer card—use the extra damage to speed things up and turn lesser attacks into one-hit Knock Outs.

You’ll ideally want to spend most of your turns slugging away with the massively powerful Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, but most players include Zapdos as a secondary attacker. Zapdos can easily Knock Out many Basic Pokémon with Thunderous Assault when swooping in from the Bench, and its Resistance to Fighting (where most Lightning types have a Weakness) makes it a key attacker against decks based around Fighting-type Pokémon. Tapu Koko-GX is a useful addition—its Ability helps get Zapdos back to the Bench, and if you can’t spare the resources for Tag Bolt-GX, a timely Tapu Thunder-GX can be just as devastating to an opponent who has lots of Energy in play.

Since this deck features only Basic Pokémon, there’s plenty of room to include complementary Trainer cards and Pokémon. Jirachi’s Stellar Wish Ability has quickly made it a star, and most Pikachu & Zekrom-GX decks include at least a couple. It can be tricky to get Jirachi back to your Bench when it’s Asleep after using Stellar Wish, so this deck includes several copies of Escape Board, Switch, and Guzma, plus a single copy of Escape Rope, to keep Jirachi from being stranded. These cards, plus Zeraora-GX’s Thunderclap Zone Ability, also make it easier to keep Zapdos moving so its Thunderous Assault always does 80 damage instead of 10. Marshadow and Absol are included to disrupt opponents while your Lightning-type Pokémon keep hammering away.

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX has been the most impactful TAG TEAM in tournaments, so this is definitely a deck worth practicing! Check back to Pokemon.co.uk/Strategy soon for more Sun & Moon—Team Up decks and other Pokémon TCG and video game tips.

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