Deep within Area Zero, a Pokemon sleeps. For millions of years, Terapagos has slept in the crater, but has finally awoken in time for you to play it in thePokemon TCG.

Terapagos has been the source of all the Tera Pokemon hijinks since the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in 2022, and it’s proven to be both a popular Pokemon and a force to be reckoned with, capable of taking multiple prize cards per turn even against single-prize decks. Learn how to play it and how to counter it with our guide.

Terapagos EX Pokemon Card Art

Terapagos ex Decklist

There are a few variations of the Terapagos decklist, but each versionincludes three or four Terapagos ex, two or three Duskull and Dusknoir, two to four Hoothoot and Noctowl, about three Area Zero Underdepths, and lots of ways to search for Pokemon.

Terapagos ex, SCR 128 (3)

The normal print of Terapagos ex.

Duskull, SFA 18 (3)

Dusknoir, SFA 20 (2)

Image of the Pokemon TCG card Area Zero Underdepths by Marina Chikazawa.

Hoothoot, TEF 126 (4)

Noctowl, SCR 115 (4)

A full art card of Dusknoir from the Pokemon TCG.

Pidgey, OBF 162 (1)

Pidgeot ex, OBF 164 (1)

Image of the Pokemon TCG card Briar Special Illustration Rare by DOM

Bloodmoon Ursalune ex, TWM 141 (1)

Fezandipity ex, SFA 38 (1)

The Double Turbo Energy from the Pokemon TCG’s Astral Radiance.

Energy (4)

Double Turbo Energy (4)

Other cards to consider include the Stellar Crown Bouffalant, to reduce the damage your Terapagos ex takes, and Squawkabilly ex for its Squawk and Seize ability to help with setup.

Terapagos ex Best Cards

Terapagos ex

Terapagos ex is your ace Pokemon and primary attacker, butthe only attack you’re going to use is Unified Beatdown. In fact, the deck doesn’t even contain the energy to use Crown Opal.

Unified Beatdown does 30 damage for each of your Benched Pokemon, which normally creates a 150-damage cap. However, you can make acombo with the Area Zero UnderdepthsStadium to get up to 240 damage for two colorless energy starting on your second turn.

Image of the Pokemon TCG card Terapagos ex Hyper Rare.

Area Zero Underdepths

Area Zero Underdepths increases the size of each player’s Bench by three,allowing you to have up to eight Pokemon Benchedas long as you control at least one Terapagos ex. This builds up Unified Beatdown but provides a target for opponents.

Area Zero Underdepths is necessary for Terapagos ex to do enough damage to be worthwhile, butit leaves the deck open to disruption: if an opponent removes your Stadium, like with Pidgeot ex’s Blustery Wind, you’ll be forced to discard Pokemon from your Bench until you can get another into play.

Prime Catcher by Toyste Beach.

Dusknoir

Dusknoir is here for the Cursed Blast ability, whichplaces thirteen damage counters on any of your opponent’s Pokemonat the cost of Knocking Out your own Dusknoir. This can be a one-for-one trade to eliminate a utility Pokemon on the Bench, or you may trade up for a KO against a two-Prize Pokemon.

The sample decklist we provided doesn’t contain Dusklops, so you’ll need touse Rare Candy to evolvein order to use this ability. Or include some more Dusklops and for more reliability, potentially replacing one Hoothoot and Noctowl.

Double rare Charizard ex from Pokemon TCG Obsidian Flames

Briar

Briar sets you up for a big finish, allowing you totake extra Prize cards, even if they’re using a single-prize Pokemon. The list only includes a single copy, because you’re unlikely to get more than one opportunity to use it.

Briar works alongside Dusknoir to takeup to four Prize cards in a turn, which more than makes up for Dusknoir’s self-destruct feeding your opponent a Prize card, and can end games fast.

Regidrago VSTAR, from Silver Tempest in the Pokemon TCG.

Double Turbo Energy

The deck containsonly four Energy cards, each one a copy of Double Turbo Energy. This pays for Terapagos ex’s Unified Beatdown, and can also pay for Pidgeot ex’s Blustery Wind or part of Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex’s Blood Moon in a pinch.

Searching for special energy can be rough, butEnergy Lotto and Pidgeot ex’s Quick Search both give you the opportunity to find it. Energy Lotto can be fairly reliable after a couple turns of thinning your deck via Buddy-Buddy Poffins and other search cards.

Terapagos ex Deck Strategy

Terapagos ex cannot use Unified Beatdown on your first turn if you go second, soit’s essential that you go firstin order to attack as early as possible. Use that first turn tofill your Bench as much as possiblewith Fan Rotom, Buddy-Buddy Poffin, and Nest Balls.

Depending on what your opponent is playing, you may want to wait until your second turn to play your Area Zero Underdepths. This prevents them from removing it and forcing you to discard extra Pokemon on your Bench.

On your second turn, you can evolve Pidgeot ex anduse Quick Search to look for whatever extra cards you need, typically either Double Turbo Energy or Area Zero Underdepths. Then progress Terapagos ex to the Active position if it isn’t already there and start attacking.

If your deck searches revealed that you’ve got a second Dusknoir available, feel free to use the first one toscore an early Knock-Out on your opponent’s ace Pokemon. If Cursed Blast only softens it up for Terapagos to get the KO, this also allows you to use your Counter Catcher to switch Terapagos ex into the Active position, saving Prime Catcher for later.

Once your opponent has three or four Prizes remaining, you cango for the win: use Cursed Blast once again to KO a Pokemon on the Bench, and then use Briar prior to attacking the Active Pokemon.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex serves as an emergency backup, allowing you to attack for 240 damage for free if your opponent has already taken five Prize cards. This is a little more than Terapagos ex does with an eight-Pokemon Bench, so it’s a good substitute if your opponent keeps removing your Area Zero Underdepths.

Terapagos ex Common Threats

Charizard ex

Terapagos ex is at aslight disadvantage against Charizard ex, but is still a strong matchup. Charizard ex decks also like to run CursedBlast and Briar, so you’ll need to be cautious about giving away Prize cards with your own Cursed Body.

The key to victory can often come down to Dusknoir:Cursed Body is an excellent way to disrupt your opponent’s setup, trading Prizes to KO utility Pokemon on the bench like Pidgey and their own Duskulls. It can also allow you to one-shot Charizard ex, trading one Prize for two.

Regidrago VSTAR

Terapagos ex has aslight advantage against Regidrago VSTAR, especially if you’ve included Bouffalant in your deck, which will counteract a lot of damage from Trifrost. Terapagos ex is a little faster to set up, so scoring an early KO can make it hard for Regidrago VSTAR to recover.

Be wary of your opponent using Phantom Dive to attempt to snipe your Benched Pokemon:60 damage is enough to KO your Duskullsand Pidgeys before they can evolve, preventing you from pulling ahead.

Raging Bolt ex

Raging Bolt is apretty even matchup. Against Raging Bolt you’re usually better off leading with a single-prize Pokemon, since it’s capable of scoring a first-turn KO against Terapagos ex. Play cautiously at the beginning, not committing Energy to Pokemon that are about to be Knocked Out, and look for opportunities to take the lead.

Dusknoir is once again a key player: It can trade to KO your opponent’s Radiant Greninja, crippling their draw engine. Take advantage of your Boss’s Orders and Counter Catcher to pull out double-Prize Pokemon you can one-hit KO, like Teal Mask Ogerpon ex to both disrupt their strategy and pull ahead on Prize cards.