Ultra Prism - The Most Popular Decks

Dusk Mane Necrozma GX Deck

With Ultra Prism being a newly released set in the Pokemon TCG, there are lots of players testing cards from the set on the Pokemon TCG online. It seems like two decks have been used the most, a Dusk Mane Necrozma GX deck, and a Glaceon GX deck. In my opinion, the Dusk Mane Necrozma GX deck is a superior deck, especially since it can take down Gardevoir GX and any deck with Alolan Ninetales very easily. Glaceon GX is usually paired with Zoroark GX, this is more of a two hit knock out deck, but Glaceon GX does shut down Abilities of EX and GX cards of your opponents when Glaceon is in the Active Pokemon spot.

Most decks built around Dusk Mane Necrozma GX also use Solgaleo Prism Star and Magnezone. Both Solgaleo and Magnezone from Ultra Prism help accelerate Metal Energy into play, plus, the way Energy cards are accelerated can't be stopped by something like Glaceon GX. This deck is certainly a one hit knock out deck, since Dusk Mane Necrozma GX can do at least 220 damage when attacking. This deck does go through a lot of Energy cards, but Mt. Coronet from Ultra Prism can help retrieve Energy from the discard pile, putting them into your hand, plus you can add things like Energy Recyler to get more Energy cards back into your deck. Dusk Mane Necrozma is overpowered, 100%, since its GX move can do 250 damage with no consequences. You can also use Solgaleo Prism Star as a primary attacker, since it can do 160 damage, and a card with 160 HP is a lot to try and knock out and only get 1 prize card. So essentially with this deck, if you are looking for massive power, this is a deck to consider building.

Cards featured in a Glaceon GX deck.

Glaceon GX was one of the most hyped cards in a long time, now that the card is released, many are doubting how good it will be. Like I mentioned above, any deck with Glaceon GX is mainly a two hit knock out deck, since Glaceon GX can only normally do 90 damage per turn. However, if you do need to knock out something, Glaceon's GX move does do massive damage, if the defending Pokemon already has some damage on it. Most Glaceon GX decks I've faced so far include Zoroark GX. Zoroark GX is used for its Ability from the Bench, allowing you to draw two cards, but also for its Riotous Beating move, which does 120 damage per turn. I've seen both Alolan Ninetales from Burning Shadows in Glaceon GX decks, since its Ability prevents all effects of attacks from GX and EX Pokemon, and I've seen Alolan Ninetales GX used in Glaceon GX decks, Alolan Ninetales GX can do more damage when attacking, 160, and it can do 50 damage to any Pokemon in play, allowing Glaceon to use its GX attack more effectively.

So for now, the two most popular decks from Ultra Prism would be decks based around Dusk Mane Necrozma GX and Glaceon GX, both decks certainly are good, but going forward, I expect Dusk Mane Necrozma to be much more popular. I will be reviewing versions of both decks on my YouTube channel in the near future.

Shopping for Ultra Prism Pokemon Cards

Ultra Prism at Target

As many know, yesterday, February 2nd, 2018, was the official release date of Ultra Prism. The goal on my channel is to always open products as soon as they are released. When Crimson Invasion was released, I did a shopping video where I went to my local Walmart and showed everything they had in stock, plus purchased everything that was new, that video was well received, so I headed to Mankato, Minnesota, about an hour away from where I live, in hopes of recording the Ultra Prism selection at several different stores there, unfortunately, several hours later, I am writing this blog post instead of uploading a shopping video to YouTube.

I took a vacation day from working to head to Mankato to hit up all of the stores in search of Ultra Prism, I figured in a town of 50,000+, at least one store would have the set in stock. After a full day of searching, only one store had Ultra Prism in stock, and even then, it wasn't a full selection. In the picture at the beginning of this post, you can see the selection of Ultra Prism that was at Target, they had the theme decks, individual booster packs, each of the 3-pack blisters, and unfortunately had already sold out of the Elite Trainer Boxes. I was still hopeful, thinking the toys section would be stocked up with Ultra Prism, I went back to that section, and it was pretty much empty, the newest set back there being Burning Shadows, I was so disappointed! I actually preordered the theme decks, both Elite Trainer Boxes, and the 3-pack blisters, so I was really only in search for the 1-pack blisters and the Collector's Album, and Target didn't have these in stock at all.

Next up, in the mall where Target is located is a GameStop, I had a lot of success with Pokemon cards during the Clearance Sale there, so I figured they would have at least some Ultra Prism products in stock and for sale, but no luck at all!

GameStop

They had some Crimson Invasion products as well as lots of older Sun & Moon Base Set booster packs, I think they should have just sold those during their clearance sale! I can see why the Elite Trainer Boxes were gone at Target so fast, if no where else was selling the set.

All hope wasn't lost shopping in the River Hills Mall, on the other end of the mall was a Barnes and Noble store, I had been there several times, and every time I was there, my book was always in stock, of course the one day I have my video camera with me, my book is gone! Oh well, I'm glad someone purchased it, I hope they're enjoying it. Barnes and Noble usually does have a nice sealed product assortment, so I stopped to look, no

Barnes and Noble

Ultra Prism products here either.  Knowing that Shopko is always behind stocking new Pokemon cards, and that the Walmart located here never has a good selection of Pokemon cards, that ended my hunt for Ultra Prism.

The day wasn't all terrible, I did have a wonderful time with my fiance, we ate at Olive Garden, and she bought! We did some shopping in the mall, and relaxed in the massage chairs and watched the people for awhile. If you've been following me on Twitter, you know my fiance bought me two Parakeets as an early Christmas present, unfortunately Daisy fell ill and passed away, so we used the time in Mankato to go to the three pet stores and find a new bird. After lots of searching we purchased a beautiful white and blue/gray/purple female that is very friendly, without any training she hopped on my finger and even sat on my shoulder, her name is Priscilla.

My new Parakeet, Priscilla.

I did head to the local Walmart when I got back into town, they did have Ultra Prism in stock, but it looked like the card section was in the middle of being stocked, there were theme decks, Elite Trainer Boxes, and individual packs, but no blister packs. The hope is to head to Walmart Saturday night and record a shopping video for YouTube. If you have any suggestions for me in that particular video, let me know.

Ultra Prism at Walmart

Pokemon TCG Ultra Prism - My Initial Thoughts

Today, February 2nd, 2018 is the official release date of the 77th expansion set in the Pokemon TCG, Ultra Prism. Although today is the official release date, I've already personally opened around 100 booster packs. Below, you'll find my initial thoughts on the new set...

Wow, this is one large set! With 173 total cards in Ultra Prism, this will not be an easy set for the wallet, this may be the first set in quite some time where I have to sell my duplicates in order to afford all of the ultra rares and secret rares in the set. Also, this is the first new set released where I can honestly say I have a good understanding of the current format and can jump right into building decks for the 2018 Standard Format with cards from the set. So the collector in me, and the competitive player are really pleased overall with the set, there are so many good cards in this set!

As a collector I can't wait to pull 1 of the 2 gold-colored GX Full Art Secret Rare cards, Lunala and Solgaleo. I've watched lots of openings and have been told that these cards are hard to come by, we're talking about less than 1 in 5 booster boxes, these cards may be the next Gold Star cards, we'll just have to see if they continue to appear in Forbidden Light and other future sets. I was lucky enough to pull a golden Solgaleo GX in my Japanese GX Battle Boost booster box, so I hope I don't have to end up buying each card individually in this set! I also like that 3 Ultra Beasts, Pheromosa, Xurkitree, and Celesteela are available as GX Full Art and GX Rainbow Rare cards in this set, after having regular GX forms, as Black Star Promos, in the Ultra Beasts GX Premium Collection Boxes.

Solgaleo Prism Star 89/156

I also really like the Prism Star cards in this set, they come in the reverse holo slot of the pack and are very appealing to the eye, with a black border that really stands out. I am assuming these cards will be in lots of decks in the future, although only 1 copy of the same Prism Star card can be used in a deck. The last thing I like about Ultra Prism, when it comes to collecting would be that the set includes lots of 4th Generation Pokemon, Pokemon featured in the Diamond and Pearl series of games and sets, I personally started on YouTube back in 2008, right in the heart of the 4th Generation, so this particular Generation is certainly special to me.


As someone fully involved with the competitive side of Pokemon cards right now, the best card in the set is easily Cynthia, both the uncommon Trainer and the Full Art. Instead of having to discard your hand with Professor Sycamore, or refreshing your opponent's hand with N, Cynthia allows you to shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 cards without touching your opponent's hand. Without Ultra Prism being legal in the Standard Format, it is hard to test what decks work best,

Glaceon GX 39/156

but there is lots of hype around Glaceon GX and its Ability which prevents all Abilities on GX and EX cards from working, it is unfortunate Glaceon has to be in the Active Pokemon spot for this to work, and things like Garbodor's Ability, or any Pokemon that isn't an EX or GX, will continue working just fine, but this card definitely has potential. I would say the first deck I plan on reviewing in this set would be a Metal type deck with Dusk Mane Necrozma GX, Solgaleo Prism Star, Magnezone, and Mt. Coronet, this deck can do major damage when attacking, we're talking 220+, and it accelerates Energy into play with both Magnezone and Solgaleo, plus it can easily take down any Fairy type deck out there, i.e. Gardevoir GX.

Dusk Mane Necrozma GX 90/156

So to summarize, I really like Ultra Prism, at least so far, the pull rates are excellent, you're looking at 8-9 Ultra Rares, Secret Rares, and Prism Star cards per booster box, and right now, there are lots of valuable cards in the set, with Cynthia Full Art and the golden GX cards leading the way. I will certainly be opening both Elite Trainer Boxes, and all of the blister packs very soon on my channel. I would like to wish everyone the best of luck with their openings, I hope you're able to pull exactly what you're looking for from your packs!

I am hoping to get away from writing the daily card reviews on my blog that I've been writing for so many years, instead the hope is to write more articles like these a few times a week. I hope to write more strategic and advanced articles on my blog, ones geared mainly towards the Standard Format of the competitive TCG. If you have any suggestions for me, feel free to contact me or leave a comment. Also, if you'd like to battle me on the online TCG, my name there is primetimepkmn.