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Pokemon TCGplayers are allowed to have a lucky charm on the table during sanctioned play, and small plushies of favorite Pokemon are a popular choice. But sometimes these beloved toys are left behind, either by accident or they were forgotten when a new stuffed animal was found. These discarded toys may grow resentful, building cursed energy until they come to life as the ghostly Banette!
Your favorite Shuckle plushie won’t come to life if you forget it, but you may still harness the power of Banette in a powerful deck, accompanied by the ever-popular Gardevoir.
Banette Ex Gardevoir Ex Deck List
To get you started, here’s a solid deck list that you can adjust to your needs.
Shuppet, SVI 87 (4)
Banette ex, SVI 88 (3)
Ralts, SIT 67 (3)
Kirlia, SIT 68 (3)
Gardevoir ex, PAF 29 (2)
Mew ex, MEW 151 (2)
Energy (8)
Psychic Energy (8)
Deck lists vary. The list provided above was used by Vinícius Fernandez, and placed sixth at the Santiago Regional Championship. Most successful Banette Gardevoir ex decks use the same Pokemon, but may adjust the Trainer cards.
Banette Ex Gardevoir Ex Deck Best Cards
The Banette ex/Gardevoir ex deck is a little less flexible than other archetypes, becauseit relies heavily on the two titular Pokemonand a handful of support Pokemon and Trainer cards to round out the strategy.
If you look up variations, you’ll mostly find that deck lists are identical except for the number of Trainer cards, where one or two copies of a card will be cut to add another copy of two of a different Trainer card.
Banette Ex
Banette ex is the ace of this deck, with two attacks that synergize for maximum results. Its first attack, Everlasting Darkness, only deals 30 damage, but it restricts your opponent from playing any Item cards on their next turn.
While Items may not get the spotlight as much as Supporters, restricting them meansyour opponent can no longer use Rare Candy, Switch, Buddy-Buddy Poffin, or any of the myriad Poke Ball variantsthat most decks use to set up their Bench.
For some decks, particularly those that rely on Rare Candy to set up, this can be a crippling blow. But it also sets up Banette ex’s second attack, Poltergeist. After a few turns of forcing your opponent to hold on to their item cards,Poltergeist makes them reveal their hand and deals 60 damage for each Item, Supporter, Stadium, and Tool card.
Official rules allow for note-taking during a match. When your opponent reveals their hand, quickly note which or how many item cards they have, then track how many they use each turn. This will help you predict the best time to use your next Poltergeist attack.
Kirlia
Kirlia will act as yourdraw engine and as a step towards Gardevoir ex, your backup attacker and energy ramp source. Using Kirlia’s Refinement ability, you can discard one card to draw two more.
Energy is the top choice to discard, since you can later use Gardevoir ex to attach those Energies from the discard pile onto your psychic Pokemon.
Gardevoir Ex
Gardevoir ex’s main job is tomove Energy from your discard pile onto your psychic Pokemon. You can do this any number of times, but be aware that each time you do the Pokemon you’re attaching energy to will get two damage counters.
In a pinch,Gardevoir ex can serve as a backup attacker: Miracle Force’s 190 damage isn’t incredible, but it can two-hit Knock Out almost anything.
Radiant Alakazam
Kirlia is doing the heavy lifting that Radiant Greninja does in many other decks, so Radiant Alakazam can take the single Radiant slot. Radiant Alakazam is able tomove two damage counters from one of your opponent’s Pokemon to another each turn.
This may not seem like much at a glance, but it allows you to avoid wasting damage on overkill attacks while setting up your opponent’s Benched Pokemon to be Knocked Out as soon as they become Active.
Banette Ex Gardevoir Ex Deck Strategy
The Banette ex Gardevoir ex deck functions similarly to theBanette ex deck, but is updated for the 2024 Standard format.
Since Banette ex is both your main attacker and a Stage 1 Pokemon,you should go first whenever possibleso that you can evolve on your second turn and immediately start disrupting your opponent’s strategy.
To avoid dealing with retreat costs, set a Shuppet as your Active Pokemon, and set a second on your Bench in case your opponent scores a first-turn Knock Out.
If you get stuck going second, Shuppet is still an okay play. For one energy, it can use Enveloping Shadow, which has a 50 percent chance of blocking items from being used,stalling for the turn you need to evolve into Banetteand switch to Everlasting Darkness. Enveloping Shadow also has a 100 percent chance of item disruption.
You’ll be able to use Poltergeist early, buthold off for a few turns, using Everlasting Darkness to prevent your opponent from playing any items. Once you’re comfortable that your opponent has a hand full of Items, usePoltergeist to secure a Knock Out.
The second Poltergeist should be more predictable, since you’ll get a peek at your opponent’s hand with the first one and can count how many Items they use.
Since your opponent won’t be able to use items after you use Everlasting Darkness, they’ll be forced to retreat by paying the retreat cost if they want to protect a Pokemon. The StadiumCalamitous Wasteland increases the retreat cost of all basic non-fighting Pokemon, making it a little more resource-intensive for them to retreat.
If your opponent manages to get enough energy to retreat their active Pokemon and bring out a threat, you canstall a little more with Boss’s Orders, Counter Catcher, or Prime Catcher to force their now energy-less Pokemon back into play.
Meanwhile, on your Bench, you should be using Kirlia, Mew ex, and Gardevoir toset up a second Banette in case you need to pivot. In a pinch, you can alsouse Professor Turo’s Scenario to scoop your Banetteback into your hand and start fresh without any damage counters on it.
Banette Ex Gardevoir Ex Deck Common Threats
Mirror matches against other Banette ex Gardevoir ex decks will put both decks in a tight spot: Gardevoir ex doesn’t rely on item cards,making your disruption strategy largely ineffective.
Your opponents will find themselves in a similar situation, struggling to get ahead while both of you focus on trying to get Knock Outs with Gardevoir ex and avoid accumulating enough items in your hand for a super effective Poltergeist to Knock Out your own Gardevoir ex.
Charizard ex remains a major threat to both Banette ex and Gardevoir ex, sinceit counts as a Dark-type Pokemonand is, therefore, able to score super effective hits against both for one-hit Knock Outs.
Charizard ex often relies on Rare Candy to evolve from Charmander early, bypassing Charmeleon, soyou might get lucky if you can get an Everlasting Darkness off beforethey draw either a Rare Candy or the one Charmeleon they run as backup.
