Standard 2020

September 2019 – August 202016 legal sets10 top decksSet-Based Rotation

Legal Sets

sm5Ultra Prism
sm6Forbidden Light
sm7Celestial Storm
sm75Dragon Majesty
sm8Lost Thunder
sm9Team Up
det1Detective Pikachu
sm10Unbroken Bonds
sm11Unified Minds
sm115Hidden Fates
smaHidden Fates Shiny Vault
sm12Cosmic Eclipse
swsh1Sword & Shield
swsh2Rebel Clash
smpSM Black Star Promos
swshpSWSH Black Star Promos

Official Rules

  • 60-card decks exactly
  • Maximum 4 copies of any card with the same name (Basic Energy exempt)
  • Must include at least 1 Basic Pokémon
  • First player cannot attack on Turn 1
  • Pokémon V give up 2 Prize cards; VMAX give up 3
  • TAG TEAM GX give up 3 Prize cards
  • GX attack usable once per game
  • 2020 World Championship CANCELLED due to COVID-19
  • Players Cup online tournaments replaced in-person events
  • Sword & Shield introduced Quick Ball, Marnie, Boss's Orders, Professor's Research

Format Overview

Standard 2020 was the first season disrupted by COVID-19 — the World Championship scheduled for London was cancelled, and competitive play moved entirely online through the Players Cup series. Despite the unprecedented circumstances, the metagame was one of the most well-defined in recent history, dominated by Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX (ADP) paired with Zacian V.

ADP's Altered Creation-GX made all attacks deal +30 damage and take an extra Prize card for the rest of the game — effectively turning a 6-prize game into a 3-prize one. Zacian V followed up with 230-damage Brave Blade (260 after Altered Creation), enough to OHKO virtually anything. Metal Saucer from Sword & Shield provided rapid energy acceleration. The deck warped the entire metagame around it.

Rebel Clash introduced Dragapult VMAX (the format's premier VMAX) and critical Trainer cards like Boss's Orders (guaranteed gust as a Supporter), Quick Ball (search any Basic), and Scoop Up Net (pick up small Pokémon). The format also saw strong performances from Baby Blacephalon (single-prize Fire aggro), PikaRom (Lightning TAG TEAM), and various Mewtwo & Mew-GX toolbox builds. Tord Reklev won the Players Cup Kickoff with Dragapult VMAX, proving that VMAX strategies could compete with the ADP juggernaut.

Key Cards

Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX (Cosmic Eclipse) — Altered Creation prize accelerationZacian V (Sword & Shield) — Brave Blade 230 + Intrepid Sword drawDragapult VMAX (Rebel Clash) — Max Phantom spread 130+5 countersQuick Ball (Sword & Shield) — search any BasicBoss's Orders (Rebel Clash) — guaranteed gust SupporterMarnie (Sword & Shield) — hand disruptionProfessor's Research (Sword & Shield) — discard hand, draw 7Metal Saucer (Sword & Shield) — Metal energy accelerationScoop Up Net (Rebel Clash) — pick up non-GX/V PokémonHorror Psychic Energy (Rebel Clash) — 20 damage when attackedSpeed Lightning Energy (Rebel Clash) — draw 2 on attachWelder (Unbroken Bonds) — attach 2 Fire + draw 3Reset Stamp (Unified Minds) — late-game hand disruptionDedenne-GX (Unbroken Bonds) — Dedechange draw 6Jirachi (Team Up) — Stellar Wish search top 5Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (Team Up) — Full Blitz acceleration

Top Decks (10)

ADP / Zacian V

1st Place — Malmö Regionals 2020

60 cards

Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX's Altered Creation-GX adds +30 damage and an extra Prize card for the rest of the game. Zacian V follows up with 230-damage Brave Blade (260 after ADP). Metal Saucer accelerates energy. The deck turned 6-prize games into 3-prize sprints.

Dragapult VMAX

1st Place — Players Cup Kickoff

60 cards

Dragapult VMAX's Max Phantom deals 130 damage and places 5 damage counters on the opponent's bench. Scoop Up Net reuses Jirachi for repeated Stellar Wish. Horror Psychic Energy punishes attackers. Boss's Orders pulls up vulnerable targets for spread KOs.

Baby Blacephalon

Top 8 — Players Cup Kickoff

60 cards

Single-prize Blacephalon's Fireball Circus discards Fire Energy for 30 each — no GX or V liability. Cramorant V's Beak Catch sets up. Fire Crystal and Energy Retrieval recycle discarded energy. Trades favorably against ADP since each KO only gives up 1 prize.

PikaRom (Pikachu & Zekrom-GX)

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX's Full Blitz attacks for 150 and attaches 3 Lightning from deck. Boltund V provides secondary attacker with Bolt Storm. Speed Lightning Energy draws 2 on attach. Electromagnetic Radar searches 2 Lightning GX/V. Tapu Koko Prism Star accelerates from discard.

Perfection (Mewtwo & Mew-GX Toolbox)

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Mewtwo & Mew-GX copies any GX/V attack from bench or discard. Welder provides energy acceleration and draw. Charizard-GX's Flare Blitz GX and Reshiram & Charizard-GX's Double Blaze GX give massive damage options. Jirachi-GX removes Weakness to avoid Lightning matchup losses.

Green's ReshiZard

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Zero-Ability build enables Green's Exploration to search 2 Trainers. Reshiram & Charizard-GX's 270 HP is extremely hard to OHKO. Victini V provides secondary attacker with Energy Burst. Welder plus Green's Exploration offers a powerful split between energy and Trainer setup.

Combo Zacian (Zacian V / Lucario & Melmetal-GX)

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Lucario & Melmetal-GX's Full Metal Wall-GX reduces all damage to Metal Pokémon by 30 for the rest of the game. Zacian V's Intrepid Sword draws 3 and attaches Metal Energy. Metal Saucer accelerates from discard. The deck walls out anything that can't OHKO 220+ HP.

Spiritomb / Spell Tag

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Single-prize Spiritomb attacks with Building Spite for 10 + 60 per damage counter on itself. Spell Tag places 4 counters on opponent's Pokémon when Spiritomb is KO'd. Jynx moves damage counters to optimize KOs. Shrine of Punishment adds chip damage. Trades favorably by never giving up more than 1 prize.

Cinccino Mill / Control

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Cinccino's Make Do draws through the deck while Oranguru's Primate Wisdom controls the top card. The deck uses Bellelba & Brycen-Man and Chip-Chip Ice Axe to mill the opponent's deck. Mallow & Lana heals and switches. Wins by decking the opponent out rather than taking prizes.

Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel

Top Cut — Players Cup Series

60 cards

Blacephalon-GX's Mind Blown discards Fire Energy for 50 each — huge burst damage. Naganadel's Charging Up recovers Fire from discard each turn. Beast Ring provides mid-game energy surge when behind on prizes. Cramorant V's Beak Catch searches any 2 cards to set up.

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Sources