The newest Team Rocket cards along with plenty of other Trainer's Pokémon cards. The new set is likely the last "standard" set for the Scarlet & Violet era, meaning that players can look forward to the return of Mega Evolved Pokémon to the game later this year.

As with every set, Destined Rivals contains a mix of cards that can be used as the foundation for a brand-new deck, along with several cards that can be slotted into decks and used in existing ones. While it's likely that the new set will primarily focus on enhancing existing deck archetypes, some intrepid players will almost assuredly try to make Team Rocket decks happen, just because the set contains so many villainous cards. Here are ten cards you should consider adding to your Pokémon TCG deck when Destined Rivals releases later this month.

10 Team Rocket's Watchtower

Shut Down Abilities To Control The Game

Team Rocket's Watchtower is a new Stadium card that can stymie opponent decks with its simple additional rule. No Pokémon in play (either yours or your opponent's) can use their Ability as long as Team Rocket's Watchtower is in play.

Not only does this unshackle powerful cards like Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex (which typically has a card count requirement to attack), but it also prevents decks like Gardevoir ex from activating key abilities needed to power those decks. Team Rocket's Watchtower could wind up being one of the most popular cards from Destined Rivals, if only because it has so much versatility and shuts down so many powerful decks in their tracks.

9 Ethan's Adventure

A Key To Ethan's Pokémon Cards

Ethan's Adventure is a new Trainer card that is specifically geared to interact with Ethan's Pokémon cards. The card allows players to pull a combination of three Ethan's Pokémon cards or Fire Energy from their deck and put them into their hand.

This can either jumpstart a deck that primarily uses Ethan's Pokémon cards or help draw up Fire Energy for any Fire-type decks. The ability to pull Fire energy from a deck (especially at the start of a game) gives this Trainer's card some additional versatility that should make this card useful for a lot of different decks, not just ones that use Ethan's Pokémon.

8 Energy Recycler

Keeping Things Humming

While there are other cards that can pull Energy from the discard pile, Energy Recycler allows players to pull five Basic Energy from a discard pile and shuffle them into the deck. Bringing cards back into play can be useful, but Energy Recycler is at its strongest in decks that also have cards that can pull Energy cards from a deck.

Decks with an energy pull requirement may want to bring Energy Recycler into play, as it's a way to keep the deck humming in mid-to-late game scenarios where energy starts piling up in the discard.

7 Shaymin

The Perfect Counter To A Strong Deck

Shaymin is an unheralded Pokémon that can help protect Benched Pokémon from attacks, which is a specific counter to one of the strongest decks currently in the game. Shaymin's Flower Curtain protects a player's Benched Pokémon without a Rule Box (meaning that Pokémon ex aren't protected by this ability) from taking damage from an opponent's attack. This ability specifically is aimed at stopping Dragapult ex, which is currently one of the strongest decks in the game.

Since Dragapult ex's strategy involves attacking weak Pokémon on an opponent's bench, Shaymin is a useful stopper that can at least ensure that a player gets their strongest Pokémon into play. Of all the Pokémon cards in Destined Rivals, it wouldn't surprise me if Shaymin ended up being the Pokémon that will appear in the most decks. It's such a useful Pokémon card and requires no setup to use. For players looking to stop dominant decks like Dragapult ex, Shaymin is a must-have addition to almost any deck.

6 Cynthia's Garchomp

Ground-Type Powerhouse

Cynthia's Garchomp is a particularly strong Stage 2 Pokémon that can deal a lot of damage at the cost of two Fighting Energy. The Pokémon's Dragon Buster deals 260 damage, but requires players to discard all energy from the Pokémon after the attack is used. What's useful about Cynthia's Garchomp is that its Stage 1 form - Cynthia's Gabite - can help pull Cynthia's Garchomp from a deck and help set it up for play. This means that the Pokémon can enter play consistently and deal knockout punches with minimal setup.

I wouldn't be surprised if Cynthia's Garchomp starts seeing significant play in some decks, as it only needs a few other pieces to really be a threat. While Team Rocket cards are definitely the focus of Destined Rivals, there are a few other Trainer's Pokémon that could pop off, and Cynthia's Garchomp is a dark horse coming out of the set.

5 Team Rocket's Spidops

Energy Retrieval Specialist

Team Rocket's Spidops is one of the secret powerhouses of any viable Team Rocket's Mewtwo deck. The Pokémon's Charging Up ability allows players to directly pull energy from the Discard Pile to attach to the Pokémon. While Spidops doesn't have any direct attacks that require a lot of energy to use, its ability syncs up well with Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex, which deals extra damage when energy is discarded from any Benched Pokémon.

If you want to use a Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex deck, you're going to need Team Rocket's Spidops to maximize its effectiveness. This Pokémon is critical to making sure that Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex is performing up to speed. If a player can get two Spidops into play at once, it means that they can utilize Team Rocket's Mewtwo's attack every single turn without any negative consequence.

4 Team Rocket's Sneasel

Backstabbing Extraordinaire

Team Rocket's Sneasel has one of the strongest attacks of any Destined Rivals card, provided that a player can deal just a little bit of damage to a Pokémon beforehand. The Pokémon's Backstab attack deals 20 damage for every damage counter already on a Pokémon. This means that, if a Pokémon is down 33% of its total health, Backstab is an automatic KO.

Given the number of cards that deal chip damage to Benched Pokémon, Team Rocket's Sneasel is a surprisingly cheap-to-use Pokémon that can score a lot of late-game knockouts. Players will have to watch out for chip damage, because Team Rocket's Sneasel could prove to be a lot of trouble in a lot of decks, including Dragapult ex. I wouldn't be surprised to see this card get splashed into a lot of different decks, simply because it's a cheap way of scoring knockouts in a lot of different circumstances.

3 Team Rocket's Ampharos

Shocking Evolution Attacker

Team Rocket's Ampharos guarantees that an opponent feels the pain whenever it evolves an opponent's Pokémon. Ampharos's Darkest Impulse causes an opponent to take 40 damage whenever it evolves one of its Pokémon. While the ability doesn't stack (meaning that a player doesn't benefit from having multiple Team Rocket's Ampharos in play), dealing chip damage to an opponent for free can be very useful, especially when paired with the aforementioned Team Rocket's Sneasel.

For players who want to keep the pressure on opponents' decks, especially those that involve Stage 2 Pokémon, Team Rocket's Ampharos is definitely a viable Pokémon card. Although it being a Stage 2 Pokémon means that it can't come into play quickly, it can be useful if players use cards like Team Rocket's Great Ball or Rare Candy to get it set up properly.

2 Team Rocket's Articuno

Protective Legendary Pokémon

Team Rocket's Articuno is another card necessary to make Team Rocket Mewtwo decks extremely dangerous. The Pokémon's Resistance Veil prevents all effects done to any Basic Team Rocket Pokémon. While this doesn't stop direct damage, this helps negate status effects and other negative abilities of many attacks.

If you're looking to maximize the power of Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex, getting Team Rocket's Articuno on the bench is a must, especially because its ability requires no additional resources to function.

1 Team Rocket's Mewtwo

Deadly Team Rocket Attacker

Team Rocket's Mewtwo is easily the most powerful card in Destined Rivals, offering a new powerhouse card that could end up as the centerpiece of a competitively viable deck. Team Rocket's Mewtwo can deal up to 280 damage per turn, although it requires a lot of setup to work. First, Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex requires a minimum of four Team Rocket's Pokémon in play in order to use its attack. Secondly, it needs to discard two Energy from Benched Pokémon to fully power its Eraser Ball attack.

Players will want to utilize Team Rocket's Spidops to keep its energy usage intact and Team Rocket's Articuno or Shaymin to prevent some of its weaker Pokémon from getting sniped while resting on the bench. If you're looking to build a new deck from Destined Rivals, Team Rocket's Mewtwo is definitely a card you'll want to consider, as its power is unmatched in the new set.