Pokémon TCG: Destined Rivals Review - Best Pokémon, Trainers, and Much More!

Greetings! Destined Rivals, the new Pokémon TCG set, was released on May 30th, 2025. It features "Trainer's Partner" mechanics just like the last set, Journey Together.

This new set included iconic trainers, like Misty, Ethan, Cynthia, and Arven, as well as Team Rocket characters, like their leader, Giovanni, and Ariana, Archer, Petrel, and Proton*.

10 - Team Rocket's Persian ex

This Persian can see play in Team Rocket archetypes as an alternative attacker.

Its first attack, Haughty Order, however, relies a bit on "luck", as you'll have to find something interesting among the top 10 cards in your opponent's deck. If you manage to find any Pokémon there, you may copy any of their attacks, and won't even have to spend any extra energies to use that particular attack.

Against Charizard ex sv4pt5 54, for instance, you can copy Burning Darkness, which will be very useful, as it is one of the strongest attacks in the mid to end game. You won't even need to discard energies to do it, like you would with Raging Bolt ex TEF 123's second attack.

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9 - Yanmega ex

This is an excellent option for the Grass archetype.

With its ability, this Pokémon lets you search for 3 Basic Grass Energy sv2 278 in your deck and attach them to it when you move it from your bench to the active spot.

Its main attack is very helpful, as it lets you move these energies to your benched Pokémon however you like.

It will be great in the future with Serperior ex, from Black Fire/White Bolt. With this Pokémon, you'll be able to get the energies you need ( (G)(C)(C)(C) ) to use Serperior ex's main attack, Grass Orders. It deals 150 damage, and also lets you get three cards from your deck.

8 - Cetitan ex

This Cetitan ex's ability is similar to the old Primal Groudon-EX PRC 86's Omega ability. It states that, "whenever your opponent plays an Item or Supporter card from their hand, prevent all effects of that card done to this Pokémon." This will be very useful in control decks.

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Furthermore, Baxcalibur sv2 60 is still available in Standard, so we can use it to get the energies you need to play these Water Pokémon.

7 - Electivire ex

This Pokémon will be a treat for anyone who enjoys Electric Pokémon.

To get the energies we need to use Electivire ex DRI 69's second attack, which deals 280 damage, we can use Magneton SSP 59's ability.

It might be very interesting with Iron Hands ex PRE 31!

6 - Ethan's Ho-Oh ex

This recursive Pokémon is a must if you want to play Ethan's theme deck. Remember, Ethan was the main character of the Johto games!

This legendary Pokémon's ability lets you attach 2 Basic Fire Energy sv3 230 from your hand to your benched Pokémon, as long as they're also Ethan's Pokémon.

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And, with Earthen Vessel PRE 106, doing this will be even easier.

5 - Steven's Metagross ex

This Pokémon's greatest strength is its ability, which lets you get a Basic Psychic Energy sv3pt5 207, a Basic Metal Energy SFA 99, or one of each from your deck, and attach them to your Pokémon.

And, the best of all, is that you don't have to attach these energies to Steven's Pokémon, so you can consider this card a versatile option for any Metal or Psychic deck!

4 - Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex

Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex DRI 81 will be critical in any Team Rocket list, even more so considering its ability.

It states that, it can only attack if you have at least 4 Team Rocket Pokémon on your board.

However, then you'll have to discard 2 energy from your benched Pokémon to deal 60 damage for each energy you discarded. In total, if you do this, you'll deal 280 damage.

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You can play around its ability if you use a Terastal Pokémon ex, like Teal Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 12 (which is excellent because its ability lets you attach basic Grass energies from your hand to it and also draw a card), as then you'll be able to use Area Zero Underdepths PRE 94, which increases your bench to 8 slots.

As such, you should put 4 Team Rocket Pokémon in play so you can attack with Mewtwo ex. Ideally, you should put in play at least 2 Team Rocket's Spidops DRI 20, another Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex as a backup attacker, and another recursive Team Rocket Pokémon. The rest of your bench can be a Teal Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 12 (or another Terastal Pokémon ex that fits this strategy) and three other recursive Pokémon.

3 - Team Rocket's Moltres ex

Team Rocket's Moltres ex DRI 31 will be an excellent "control" Pokémon. Its second attack, Evil Burn, forces your opponent to discard their active Pokémon and all cards attached to it. You'll most likely have to use Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182 with it to make it work.

Emboar, from the next set, Black Bolt & White Flare, should be very helpful with this Pokémon because it basically has the Fire "Rain Dance" ability (now popularly known as Fire Dance"). So, with it, you'll be able to attach 2 out of the 4 energies Team Rocket's Moltres ex needs.

2 - Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex

This is one of the most promising Pokémon in this set. We already discussed its potential when we talked about the "Rival Battle" theme decks, the beginner-focused precons.

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Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136's ability, Punk Up, lets you search for 5 Basic Darkness Energy SFA 98 in your deck and attach them to your Marnie's Pokémon. However, you can only do this when you play Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex from your hand to evolve one of your Marnie's Morgrem on your turn. In any case, with it, you'll be able to set up your game plan fast and efficiently.

Its attack, Shadow Bullet, deals 180 damage to the enemy active Pokémon and 30 damage to one of your opponent's benched Pokémon (don't apply weakness or resistance to the bench).

Some decks combine this strategy with Froslass TWM 53. Even though it will also affect Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136, you can play around it with Munkidori PRE 44. All you have to do is use its ability to move damage counters from Grimmsnarl ex to your opponent's Pokémon.

1 - Cynthia's Garchomp ex

The most promising Pokémon in this set is Cynthia's signature Pokémon. She, as most of the community knows, is an iconic character from the Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum eras.

We have also explored a deck idea that features her and Mega Lucario ex and should be incredibly strong in the next few months. click here to check it out!

Its first attack deals a reasonable amount of damage (100 points), but the best thing about it is that it lets you draw until you have six cards in your hand. This definitely makes up for not dealing that much damage!

Its second attack deals 260 damage, but forces you to discard all energies attached to it. In any case, it only costs 2 Fighting energies!

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And, the best part of all, you can retreat this Pokémon for zero energies.

"Baby" Pokémon

Grass

Shaymin

Its ability prevents all sniper damage done to "baby" Pokémon on your bench. That means all Pokémon that don't have a Rule Box!

Hydrapple

Hydrapple might inspire a new "rogue" deck in this meta. Its attack, Hydra Breathe, lets you Knock Out any enemy Pokémon on the active spot, as long as you discard 6 Basic Grass Energy sv2 278 from your hand. It seems hard, but it's actually not that difficult, considering you can set this up with cards like Earthen Vessel PRE 106 and Bug Catching Set PRE 102.

Cynthia's Roserade

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This Pokémon will support Cynthia's archetype, considering it makes all of your Cynthia's Pokémon deal 30 extra damage to the opponent's active Pokémon.

Team Rocket's Spidops

This is the Team Rocket support Pokémon.

Its ability lets you get a basic energy from your discard pile and attach it to Spidops ex. It is perfect with Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex DRI 81, as it will get you the energies you need to use its main attack again after you discard them.

Fire

Blaziken

This "baby" Blaziken should be quite useful with Blaziken ex JTG 24 in the Fire Box archetype.

Its second attack, Blaze Kick Flurry, not only deals damage to the opponent's active Pokémon, but also deals "sniper" damage to one of their benched Pokémon. But, to do this, you'll have to discard two energies attached to Blaziken.

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This should be a disadvantage, but it actually interacts with Blaziken ex JTG 24's ability, as it lets you recycle any basic energy from your discard pile and attach it to any Pokémon. It is a sort of "loop".

Ethan's Typhlosion

Another Pokémon that could become quite popular is Ethan's Typhlosion because it is a "baby Pokémon" (so it's great against Pokémon ex when it comes to the Prize cards race). Furthermore, its main attack, Buddy Blast, is actually quite easy to use.

Water

Misty's Gyarados

As we've shown in this rogue list, this Gyarados is also quite cheap and should be quite strong.

Its first attack deals 70 damage for each Pokémon you reveal from the top 7 cards in your deck with it. After that, you'll discard these Pokémon.

Team Rocket's Articuno

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This Pokémon goes straight into the Team Rocket archetype. It stands out because of its ability, which protects your basic Team Rocket Pokémon from effects. This makes it a great support for "special status effects".

Electric

Ethan's Pichu

Ethan's Pichu DRI 71 will be another excellent baby Pokémon (like Budew and Cleffa) in many decks as an answer to Budew PRE 4. It also draws cards.

Team Rocket's Ampharos

This Pokémon stands out because of its ability, Darkest Impulse, which states: if this Pokémon is in play, whenever your opponent tries to evolve a Pokémon from their hand, that Pokémon will get 4 damage counters (this ability doesn't stack).

It is great to sabotage your opponent and support "ping" strategies that eventually Knock Out enemy Pokémon, both in Team Rocket archetypes or any other archetypes.

Psychic

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Team Rocket's Mimikyu

This Pokémon's attack copies any attacks on enemy Terastal Pokémon ex, so it's quite useful, particularly against Charizard ex sv4pt5 54.

And, the best of all, Mimikyu can copy any enemy Terastal Pokémon ex, even if they're not in the active spot!

You can use it in Team Rocket archetypes or not. It's very versatile.

Fighting

Ethan’s Sudowoodo

This Pokémon is great because of its second attack, Try Mimicking, which relies on a coin flip: if it's "heads", you can copy any attack on your opponent's active Pokémon and use it!

Team Rocket's Tyranitar

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This Pokémon stands out because of its ability, Sand Stream. In between turns, that is, in "check-ups", if Team Rocket's Tyranitar DRI 96 is your active Pokémon, you may put 2 damage counters on your opponent's basic Pokémon.

It is definitely a reference to Dark Tyranitar TRR 20, from Ruby & Sapphire: Team Rocket Returns.

Furthermore, its attack forces your opponent to discard an energy from their active Pokémon. It is quite useful, but a bit expensive. You'll have to use Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182 in this deck to make it work.

Annihilape

This Pokémon is quite underrated, but it's excellent, particularly to make a deck centered around Annihilapes more diverse.

Its ability, Rage Point, states that, if this Pokémon has at least 2 damage counters, all its attacks will deal an extra 120 damage. Impact Blow, for instance, will deal 280 damage instead of 160!

Darkness

Team Rocket's Grimer

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This Pokémon should be great in control strategies thanks to its effect: after you declare an attack, if, on the following turn, your opponent doesn't retreat their active Pokémon and, instead, attacks with them, they'll have to discard it at the end of the turn, alongside all cards attached to it (energies and tools).

Team Rocket's Nidoqueen

To make Nidoqueen work, you'll need to put any Nidoking on your bench. This set, for instance, includes Team Rocket's Nidoking ex DRI 119. However, if you do, then Nidoqueen will deal 60 + 120 damage!

And, of course, you'll be able to use Team Rocket's Nidoking ex DRI 119's attack, Dirty Horn, which deals 100 damage and Poisons the enemy active Pokémon. During "check-up" phases, this Pokémon will let you put 8 damage counters on Poisoned Pokémon instead of 1.

So, these two Pokémon go really well together. It is a great combo.

Colorless

Team Rocket's Porygon-Z

This is an important card draw Pokémon because of its ability, Reconstitute, which lets you discard two cards in your hand to draw another.

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The most logical strategy is to discard two energies and then use Team Rocket's Spidops DRI 20's ability. This will also be really helpful to Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex DRI 81.

Supporters

Emcee's Hype DRI 163 draws two cards, and if, by any chance, your opponent has 3 Prize cards left or less, it draws two extra cards.

Ethan's Adventure DRI 165 is a must for his archetype because it lets you search in your deck for a combination of 3 cards. They can be Ethan's Pokémon and/or Basic Fire Energy sv3 230, but you have to reveal them before you put them in your hand. Finally, you'll shuffle your deck.

It is a great way to filter energies to use Ethan's Ho-Oh ex DRI 39's ability, and also get any of his Pokémon, like Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34. Typhlosion's attack, Buddy Blast, deals damage according to how many Ethan's Adventure DRI 165 are in your discard pile!

Supporters: Team Rocket

Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174 lets you swap a "Team Rocket" Pokémon on your bench with your active Pokémon. If you do, you may then pull a benched enemy Pokémon into their active spot.

You can only use Team Rocket's Archer DRI 170 if, on the previous turn, one of your "Team Rocket" Pokémon was Knocked Out.

If so, then you'll both shuffle the cards in your hand back into your decks. You'll draw 5 cards and your opponent will only draw 3.

Team Rocket's Ariana DRI 171 draws cards until you have 5 in your hand. If all your Pokémon in play are "Team Rocket" Pokémon, it draws 8 cards instead.

You can use Team Rocket's Proton DRI 177 even if you're first to play on turn 1.

It lets you look for 3 basic "Team Rocket" Pokémon in your deck, reveal them, and put them in your hand. Then, you'll shuffle your deck.

Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176 lets you look for a Trainer in your deck, reveal it, then put it in your hand. Then, you'll shuffle your deck.

Items

TM Machine DRI 181 is the best Item in this set because it lets you get Technical Machines from your deck. This includes Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178, Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177, Technical Machine: Blindside sv4 176, and Technical Machine: Crisis Punch sv4pt5 90, the most popular Technical Machines in the meta.

Sacred Ash DRI 168 is a "reprint" from X/Y: Flashfire. It recycles 5 Pokémon from your discard pile and shuffles them into your deck.

Energy Recycler DRI 164 is a "reprint" from X/Y: Ancient Origins. It recycles 5 basic energies from your discard pile and shuffles them into your deck.

Team Rocket's Venture Bomb DRI 179 forces you to flip a coin: if it's "heads", you may put 2 damage counters on one enemy Pokémon. If it's "tails", you'll put these 2 damage counters on your active Pokémon.

This card is essential in combos with Munkidori PRE 44 because, even if you get tails, you can move your damage counters to enemy Pokémon, so they'll always be affected by this card!

Tool

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Cynthia's Power Weight

This Item gives 70 extra HP to the Cynthia Pokémon it is attached to.

It is essential in Cynthia's Garchomp ex archetype, as we briefly commented on this article about Cynthia's Garchomp ex and Mega Lucario ex!

Stadiums

Character-Themed

Granite Cave DRI 166 interacts with Steven's Pokémon. The Pokémon that belong to him, both yours and your opponent's, take 30 less damage from the opponent's active Pokémon.

Spikemuth Gym DRI 169 interacts with Marnie's Pokémon. On both yours and your opponent's turn, you'll be able to look for a Pokémon that belongs to Marnie, reveal it, and add it to your hand. Then, you'll shuffle your deck.

Team Rocket

Team Rocket's Watchtower DRI 180 disables all colorless Pokémon (both yours and the opponent's), as it disables their abilities.

This card is perfect against the main colorless Pokémon in the format:

This stadium could make Slaking ex SSP 147 viable again, in a strategy similar to the one that used Slaking V PGO 58 with Path to the Peak CRE 148 in the Sword & Shield era.

Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173 lets you, when you play a "Team Rocket" Trainer Supporter that turn, draw 2 extra cards.

Special Energy

Team Rocket's Energy

You can only attach this energy to Team Rocket Pokémon, and you must discard it immediately if you attach it to any other Pokémon.

It gives the Pokémon it is attached to 2 energies, either Darkness or Psychic energies.

What do you think of this set? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!