Thanks to the Stellar Crown expansion set, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has been flipped on its head in the competitive world.
The introduction of Stellar Tera-type ‘mons to the game has been turbulent, to say the least—and there’s a turtle at the root of this. Here are the best Terapagos ex deck builds for the Pokémon TCG, including the standard deck list and our improvements upon this Stellar Crown star.
Standard Terapagos ex deck list
There’s a standard Terapagos ex deck available in Pokémon TCG Live for players to try out, and it makes up the root of most Stellar turtle decks on the scene right now.
Pokémon
There are only 10 Pokémon in this deck. You need:
- Three Hoothoot (Temporal Forces, 126)
- Three Bouffalant (Stellar Crown, 119)
- Two Noctowl (Temporal Forces, 127)
- Two Terapagos ex (Stellar Crown, 128)
- Two Snorlax (Lost Origin, 143)
- One Lumineon V (Brilliant Stars, 40)
- One Fezandipiti ex (Shrouded Fable, 38)
- One Noctowl (Stellar Crown, 115)
- One Fan Rotom (Stellar Crown, 118)
- One Radiant Greninja (Astral Radiance, 46)
The Bouffalant help to mitigate damage, while Fan Rotom, Radiant Greninja, and Lumineon V make finding specific cards to set up with a lot easier. Snorlax adds an element of stalling, and Fezandipiti ex acts as a secondary attacker who can grab more cards in a pinch.
Terapagos ex thrives when it gets onto the field quickly with lots of Pokémon on the bench—especially when you’ve got the Area Zero Underdepths Stadium in play—and it needs Grass, Lightning, and Water Energy to set up for its heaviest attack.
Trainers
Like most competitively viable lists, this is a Trainer-heavy deck with 19 different types in total. You need:
- Four Ultra Ball (Scarlet & Violet, 196)
- Four Glass Trumpet (Stellar Crown, 135)
- Three Iono (Paldea Evolved, 185)
- Two Town Store (Obsidian Flames, 196)
- Two Nest Ball (Scarlet & Violet, 181)
- Two Bravery Charm (Paldea Evolved, 173)
- Two Boss’s Orders (Paldea Evolved, 172)
- Two Area Zero Underdepths (Stellar Crown, 131)
- Two Earthen Vessel (Paradox Rift, 163)
- One Buddy-Buddy Poffin (Temporal Forces, 144)
- One Switch (Scarlet & Violet, 194)
- One Crispin (Stellar Crown, 133)
- One Switch Cart (Astral Radiance, 154)
- One Team Yell’s Cheer (Brilliant Stars, 149)
- One Brandon (Silver Tempest, 151)
- One Rescue Board (Temporal Forces, 159)
- One Arven (Scarlet & Violet, 166)
- One Colress’s Tenacity (Shrouded Fable, 57)
- One Cheren’s Care (Brilliant Stars, 134)
The aim here is to get Terapagos ex out and energized as quickly as possible, padding out the bench in the process. There are some cards in there, like Boss’s Orders, which aim to disrupt the opponent and make it difficult for them to set things in motion.
Energy
There are 4 Energy types in this deck:
- Four Double Turbo Energy
- Two Grass
- Two Lightning
- Two Water
There isn’t much Energy here, but the Double Turbos count as two each. They apply a -20 damage deduction to the user, but they’re handy for a quick setup.
How it works
The quickest way to win is to get Terapagos ex in position as fast as possible, giving it Energy and a boosted eight-Pokémon bench to ensure that it hits hard. With eight benched ‘mons, Unified Beatdown can OHKO most enemies, and Crown Opal helps to block damage efficiently.
Fan Rotom and the other draw Pokémon help get from A to B quickly, while Bouffalant and tools like the Bravery Charm ensure the turtle stays alive as long as possible.
Other Pokémon like Fezandipiti ex and Lumineon V also work as secondary attackers, adding extra utility with their draw abilities.
Terapagos ex takes some practice to master, as the set-up is very particular. It can struggle against behemoth decks like Charizard ex, but on the whole, it’s fun to play and easily sweeps once the star of the show is in position. It’s arguably one of the best Stellar Tera-types to come out of Stellar Crown, being contested by Galvantula or Lapras at a push.
Best Terapagos ex Pokémon TCG deck
While the standard Terapagos ex deck in Pokémon TCG Live is functional and enjoyable, it could be better. Here’s our revised take on the list, aiming for a more durable and punchy Terapagos ex that sets up quicker.
Pokémon
The Pokémon in our list are similar to the standard Terapagos ex deck, but we’ve swapped a few quantities around to help make the setup easier. You need:
- Three Terapagos ex (Stellar Crown, 128)
- Three Pidgey (151, 16)
- Two Hoothoot (Stellar Crown, 114)
- Two Pidgeotto (Obsidian Flames, 163)
- Two Noctowl (Stellar Crown, 115)
- Two Pidgeot ex (Obsidian Flames, 164)
- Two Fan Rotom (Stellar Crown, 118)
- Two Bouffalant (Stellar Crown, 119)
- One Radiant Greninja (Astral Radiance, 46)
- One Lumineon V (Brilliant Stars, 40)
We’ve switched out the Hoothoot for the more recent iteration, as it has the potential to deal 40 more damage, leading to a nice early-game opener.
There are also fewer of them than in the standard Terapagos ex deck, as they’ve been cut for the Pidgey line instead. Pidgeotto isn’t overwhelmingly useful, but Pidgey offers a handy deck search, and Pidgeot ex furthers this, adding some damage and Stadium control into the mix.
Trainers
Our Trainer list is vastly different from the standard list, with more variety and an Ace Spec that helps Terapagos ex thrive. You will need:
- Three Crispin (Stellar Crown, 133)
- Two Nemona (Paldean Fates, 82)
- Two Bravery Charm (Paldea Evolved, 173)
- Two Super Rod (Paldea Evolved, 188)
- Two Glass Trumpet (Stellar Crown, 135)
- Two Ultra Ball (Scarlet & Violet, 196)
- Two Great Ball (Paldea Evolved, 183)
- One Town Store (Obsidian Flames, 196)
- One Sparkling Crystal Ace Spec (Stellar Crown, 142)
- One Occa Berry (Stellar Crown, 140)
- One Boss’s Orders (Paldea Evolved, 172)
- One Area Zero Underdepths (Stellar Crown, 131)
- One Switch (Scarlet & Violet, 194)
- One Cheren’s Care (Brilliant Stars, 134)
- One Colress’s Tenacity (Shrouded Fable, 57)
Small additions like the Occa Berry aim to help with the trickier match-ups for the deck.
Sparkling Crystal and Area Zero Underdepths offer fantastic synergy with Terapagos ex, cutting Energy requirements and increasing Unified Beatdown’s damage, while Crispin offers an almost complete Energy set-up in one card.
Energy
Finally, we switched up the Energy list, too. You need:
- Four Lightning Energy
- Four Grass Energy
- Four Water Energy
- Two Jet Energy (Paldea Evolved, 190)
- Two Luminous Energy (Paldea Evolved, 191)
- One Double Turbo Energy (Brilliant Stars, 151)
The addition of extra Energies and Special Energies allows for better movement, quicker attacks, and freedom for other Pokemon on the board.
Jet Energy is particularly useful, as it allows Terapagos ex to sit safely on the Bench and prepare its main Crown Opal Energy before being dropped into place quickly. It also allows for emergency exits if things don’t go to plan, adding a safety net into the mix.
How it works
The addition of the Pidgey line means you can get Terapagos ex on the board quicker with Call for Family—it’s a Basic Pokemon, despite its bulk—and search for necessary pieces like the Area Zero Underdepths card with Quick Search from Pidgeot ex.
The Sparkling Crystal Ace Spec permits Terapagos ex to start swinging even earlier, cutting its Energy requirements, and the Jet Energy allows for speedy switches if need be. The Cheren’s Care card has been kept from the initial list, meaning you can snatch the turtle back up with ease.
There’s more Energy in this list than in the original, letting players deal taxless chunks of damage with Pidgeot ex, Lumineon V, and even Bouffalant in the early game.
The game plan for our Terapagos ex iteration is roughly the same—use tactical birds, prepare, and deploy the sparkly turtle—but it plays faster and offers more get-out-of-jail-free cards if you run into a tricky counter. The set-up requirements are specific, and a bad hand is possible, but once it’s in motion, it’s a powerful deck.
You could alter the list further with items like Rare Candies for easier evolution or Iono for a more disruptive playstyle. Other Pokemon like Palkia VSTAR can also be impactful in tandem with the turtle. The best Terapagos deck list will change and evolve as the season goes on, so keep experimenting and swapping things in and out if you try it.
During our testing, we found this deck to be powerful against most single-prize decks, most Loyal Trio decks, and most Ancient decks. It found an even match with Regidrago VSTAR and Gardevoir, with considerable effort required for a win.
It performs beautifully in mirror matches and doesn’t struggle against many popular decks, except Charizard ex, Dragapult ex, and some Future lists. It’s possible to win, of course, but these are the trickiest to take on, thanks to their quickly ramping damage output.
All in all, this deck offers plenty of utility and damage output, and it’s fun to get into as well. If you’re keen on trying it out, you can copy and paste the list directly into the deck creation tab in Pokémon TCG Live.
