Hello everyone! This is Elena from Gaia Storm and welcome to another article at CCG Castle. As you might know, the fourth edition of the Players Cup begins this week and players from all over the world will have the chance to play a total of 50 tournaments and qualify for the final rounds. There are many viable decks to bring to the competition as Battle Styles has created a very healthy and diverse environment. But at the end of the day, you need to choose the most consistent strategy out there, something that is going to guarantee a solid run in these best-of-1 tournaments. Here are my top 5 decks to pick for Players Cup IV considering the current state of the metagame!

Arceus Palkia Dialga Tag Team: This should come as no surprise. And yes, I know what some of you might be thinking. ADP is not the best deck in the format anymore but it is still the most solid one. You just focus on doing one thing, regardless of what you have in front of you: Altered creation in the second turn, Boss Orders and Boss Orders. And that’s it. Believe it or not, with the power of crushing hammers to slow down your opponent’s play, ADP can still win against practically every other deck in the format.
 

Tempozard: This deck, also known as Cracephalon, is as good as a fire-type deck can ever get. With the power of Welder, the strategy is as straightforward as effective. It currently has a really good match-up against every deck that runs V or VMAX Pokémon with perhaps the only exception of Arceus Palkia Dialga, making it a very interesting pick.

Mad party: For someone that has been in love with Night March all her life, seeing that its heir Mad Party is now shining in the metagame is amazing. Mad Party might have a very challenging match up against ADP Zacian but can give other top decks like Urshifu V a real nightmare. Not to mention the fact that its aggression is enough to win against any other deck that relies in two or three-prizes attackers.
Rapid Strike Urshifu: The most hyped card from the past expansion has not let our hopes down. The deck is very solid and consistent, whether it is paired with Jirachi from Team Up or with Cinccino. No wonder why it was one of the most played decks in the recent tournaments but that popularity comes with a cost – It has also meant that many players have opted to play Psychic decks to counter it. So while I think that Urshifu is still a top tier deck, many enemies might await ahead.

Lucario Melmetal: It still amazes me that Lucario Melmetalis still a viable deck after so many expansions but the truth is that it is good, very good. Except for the fire match-up (which is terrible), Lucario has no real weakness and can hold its ground pretty well against Mad Party, Rapid Strike Urshifu and Eternatus. If you like control strategies, this is for sure a top option for Players Cup.
Of course, there are other viable decks to consider like the powerful Eternatus VMAX, Pikachu Zekrom Tag Team or even Dragapult but looking at their weaknesses and winning rates, I think they are not the most solid choices. I hope this article has helped you in some way deciding what to pick next. Thanks for reading and make sure you get the cards you need here at CCG Castle!