Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Best Deoxys of All Time!

Today, we'll keep exploring the Hoenn Pokédex with Deoxys, a mythic, Psychic Pokémon who first appeared in the Ruby & Sapphire block as Rayquaza's rival. Back then, Rayquaza considered Deoxys a galactic threat, and battled with it in space.

It is a "virus" Pokémon from an unknown region. With time, it molded its own DNA structure and evolved, taking on many shapes. The four most popular ones are: Normal Forme, Attack Forme, Defense Forme, and Speed Forme.

As the Pokémon franchise is wide and diverse, Deoxys has shown up in different stories and gathered multiple different legends. For instance, Deoxys has a different backstory and lore in the manga series, the Ash Ketchum anime series, the digital games, and even the movies, namely Destiny Deoxys, and certain OVAs. So, please note that the legends surrounding this Pokémon come from different universes and sources.

Movie: Destiny Deoxys

Japanese trailer:

American trailer:

Animated series: Pokémon Generations

Japanese episode:

English episode:

Portuguese episode:

Spanish episode:

Deoxys might not have been all that relevant since it came out in Ruby & Sapphire, but, in this article, we'll see the best Deoxys ever printed, from its "baby" versions to its stronger "ultra rare" versions.

Let's go!

10 - Deoxys "Baby" - Attack Forme & Speed Forme (Ruby/Sapphire: Deoxys & Emerald)

We'll start with the versions printed in the Ruby & Sapphire block, as only two of the four forms had relevant attacks, namely Attack Forme and Speed Forme. Check them out:

- Attack Forme Deoxys EM 2's attack, Energy Crush, deals 10 base damage plus 10 extra damage for each energy attached to enemy Pokémon.

- Speed Forme Deoxys EM 2's attack, Swift, deals 30 damage, but you can't apply weakness or resistance bonuses to it. However, it also ignores any enemy effects, like abilities (Poké-Power and Poké-Body) or attack effects.

All these Deoxys forms shared one ability called Form Change, which lets you get another Deoxys in your deck and replace it (but keep all damage counters, special conditions, and everything else attached to it). Then, you'll have to send the other Deoxys to the top of your deck and shuffle it.

You can use it in the U150 and Palace formats.

9 - Deoxys "Baby" - Normal Forme & Speed Forme (Diamond/Pearl: Legends Awakened)

Moving on to the Diamond & Pearl block, we have this Deoxys, which is very similar to the Deoxys printed in the Ruby & Sapphire block. Once again, out of the four forms printed, only two were relevant.

In this case, Normal Forme and Speed Forme stood out at the time. These are their attacks:

- Deoxys Normal Forme LA 1's attack, Energy Crush, deals 20 base damage plus 10 extra damage for each energy attached to enemy Pokémon (similar to Deoxys EM 2, from Ruby & Sapphire).

- Deoxys Speed Forme LA 26's attack, Speed Shot, deals 30 damage, but you can't apply weakness or resistance bonuses to it. It also ignores any enemy effects, either from abilities (Poké-Power and Poké-Body) or attack effects. However, this Pokémon lets you pick which enemy Pokémon you want to deal damage to (unlike Deoxys EM 2, which only deals damage to the active enemy Pokémon).

Just like in the Ruby & Sapphire block, these Deoxys all shared the same ability, Form Change.

You can use it in the U150 and Palace formats.

8 - Deoxys "Fusion Strike" (Sword/Shield: Fusion Strike)

This Deoxys was overshadowed by Mew VMAX FST 114 at the time, in Sword & Shield's Standard format. Nonetheless, it was a great "single prize" attacker that used Fusion Strike Energy FST 244 to deal even more damage. This way, you would deal up to 160 damage with it.

You can use it in the Expanded format nowadays.

7 - Deoxys ex - All Formes (Ruby & Sapphire: Deoxys & Emerald Sets)

Just like the "single prize" ex cards that starred in this block, these Deoxys ex also stood out.

Each form is unique:

- Normal Forme Deoxys ex DX 97's attack, Energy Burst, deals 10 base damage plus 10 extra damage for each energy attached to Deoxys ex and the opponent's active Pokémon.

- Attack Forme Deoxys ex DX 98's attack, Psyburst, deals 50 base damage plus 20 damage for each energy attached to the opponent's active Pokémon, as long as you discard two energies attached to Deoxys ex*.

- Defense Forme Deoxys ex DX 99's attack, Psychic Shield, deals 50 base damage and protects this Deoxys ex from enemy Pokémon ex. This means it will be protected against any damage and attack effects.

- Speed Forme Deoxys ex EM 93's attack, Fastwave, deals 50 damage and goes through any enemy effect, either abilities (Poké-Power and Poké-Bodies), attack effects, or resistance.

Just like Ruby & Sapphire's "single prize" Deoxys, all of these Deoxys shared the same ability, Form Change.

6 - Deoxys-EX (Black/White: Plasma Freeze)

This Pokémon was critical in Black & White's Standard format, particularly in Team Plasma lists.

Its ability, Power Connect, makes your Team Plasma Pokémon deal 10 extra damage (except for Deoxys-EX itself), and its attack, Helix Force, deals 30 base damage plus 30 extra damage for each energy attached to the opponent's active Pokémon. However, to use this attack, first you needed to attach at least one Plasma Energy PLF 106 to Deoxys-EX PLF 53.

At the time, it was a great counter for the iconic Mewtwo-EX NXD 54, particularly in Psychic mirror matches.

Currently, you can only use it in Expanded.

5 - Deoxys V (Sword/Shield: Promo Cards)

This Deoxys was a promo card in this block, and was considered more "for fun", instead of actually being relevant in Sword & Shield Standard format. The same applies to its VMax and VStar forms.

Its first attack, Psychic, is what made it stand out, as it deals damage for each energy attached to the opponent's active Pokémon.

4 - Deoxys VMax (Sword/Shield: Promo Cards)

Moving on with more Pokémon V mechanics, we have this VMax Deoxys, which is more defensive, as its Defense Forme artwork suggests.

Its ability protects it from enemy VStar Pokémon, namely, it blocks 30 damage.

Its main attack deals 160 damage and also heals Deoxys by 30 points.

It is great if you want to build a deck around healing and "tank" strategies. That is, if you want your Pokémon to last a long time on the board and still deal a lot of damage. After all, with these heals, you'll be able to keep them alive for a long time. This strategy, of course, is better in the Expanded format, as you can play tech cards like Moonlit Hill sv4pt5 81, Suspicious Food Tin CPA 66, or Indeedee V SHF 39.

If you also use cards that let you use attacks from previous evolutions, like Relicanth TEF 84's ability, Memory Dive, or Memory Energy LOT 194, and Memory Capsule VIV 155, you will be able to use Deoxys V PR-SW SWSH266's attacks.

You can use this Deoxys in Expanded, but it is still a casual strategy.

3 - Deoxys VStar (Sword/Shield: Promo Cards)

Another Pokémon V upgrade in this list is this VStar Deoxys.

Its Attack Forme attack is great against Benched enemy Pokémon V, as it deals 190 damage to the opponent's active Pokémon and 60 damage to a Pokémon on their bench, as long as that Benched Pokémon is also a Pokémon V.

Its VStar attack, Star Force, deals 60 damage for each energy attached to both active Pokémon. It is a powerful strategy against Pokémon that need a lot of energies to attack.

Just like Deoxys VMax, this Deoxys is great with cards that let you use attacks from previous forms, like Relicanth TEF 84's Memory Dive, Memory Energy LOT 194, and Memory Capsule VIV 155. With them, you'll be able to use Deoxys V PR-SW SWSH266's attacks as well.

You can also use it in Expanded as a "for fun" strategy.

2 - Rayquaza & Deoxys "LEGEND" (Heart Gold/Soul Silver: Undaunted)

This is considered the best "LEGEND" card from Heart/Gold & Soul/Silver. It stands out because of its ability, Space Virus, which lets you draw one extra Prize card whenever you Knock Out a card with it.

So, when we Knocked Out Pokémon LEGENDs, Pokémon LV.X, and Pokémon-EX from HG/SS to the beginning of Black & White's Standard format, we'd draw three Prize cards instead of two!

In the Unlimited format (which lets us use cards from HG/SS and Black & White), its attack, Oozne Buster, deals 150 damage, which was a lot at the time. Nonetheless, to use this attack, you have to discard all Fire energies attached to it.

In any case, we can play around this with Emboar BLW 20's ability, which lets us move Fire energies from our hand to Rayquaza & Deoxys "LEGEND". It is similar to "Rain Dance" for Water archetypes. Then, we just have to get our energies back with Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103.

1 - Espeon & Deoxys-GX (Sun/Moon: Unified Minds)

Our best Deoxys of all time is Deoxys TAG TEAM, from the Sun & Moon block. This Deoxys had a lot of potential, but it was forgotten when it was released because we didn't get any "staples" to play with it and make it a real strategy. It only became viable in Expanded from Sword & Shield onward.

Its main attack, Psychic Club, deals damage according to how many Psychic Pokémon are on your bench. The most common strategy in Expanded at the time was to play this Deoxys with Sky Field ROS 89 to expand your bench to 8 slots.

Then, Scarlet & Violet gave us Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131, and this card lets us expand our bench even more if we or the opponent have a Tera Pokémon ex in play. The best combo with this card also includes Dedenne ex sv2 93.

With all of these cards, you can use this Deoxys to deal 250 damage, considering all the bench slots you'll have!

It also stands out because of its GX attack, Cross Division, which lets you put 10 damage counters on enemy Pokémon. If you use three extra Psychic energies with it, you can put 20 damage counters on those enemy Pokémon!

This attack might cost a lot of energies, but, in Expanded, we have many ways to get the energies we need to use it. For instance, you can use Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX CRE 75, or Gardevoir NXD 57, which turns a basic Psychic energy into two. This way, you'll be able to use this attack faster.

We even created a deck tech for this Deoxys TAG TEAM featuring a damage counter strategy with Mimikyu VMax. If you'd like to know more about it, click here.

Do you agree with our picks? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!