Table of Contents
Best Pokémon TCG Pocket No Ex decks in the Triumphant Light (A2a) metagame! Click on the deck names to view the deck, as well as the latest explanation and report on how the decks were placed here.
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 🟤 Rampardos Lucario 🔼 [Guide] |
| Tier 2 | 🟠 Dragonite Druddigon 🟡⚪️ Magnezone Skarmory 🟡 Magnezone Snorlax 🔵 Greninja Palkia |
| Tier 3 | ⚪️ Skarmory Bastiodon 🟣 Togikiss Sigilyph 🔴 Blaine Aggro |
Tier 1
Rampardos Lucario
This fighting-type deck uses a2-92-lucario's Fighting Coach to boost the damage of your Fighting-type Pokemon, dealing an extra 20 damage with each attack.
This makes it easier for you to knock out your opponent's Pokemon, with a2-92-lucario, a2a-36-sudowoodo, and a1a-47-marshadow.
a2-89-rampardos is the late-game Stage 2 Pokemon to carry the game, dealing 130 damage with Head Smash, and becoming 150 damage with Fighting Coach ability. If a2-89-rampardos knocks out a Pokemon, it will deal 50 damage to itself, putting it in a vulnerable spot to the opponent's upcoming turn.
Tier 2
Dragonite Druddigon
a1a-56-druddigon is there to tank early hits, dealing passive damage with its Rough Skin ability. In the meantime, we'll evolve into our Stage 2 Pokemon, a1-185-dragonite, having it as the late game carry.
a1-185-dragonite's Draco Meteor, dealing 50 damage 4 times to random Pokemon on the opponent's side. So we're dealing 200 damage, which targets the opponent's Bench, two Draco Meteor attacks should be enough to win the game.
Magnezone Skarmory
Another variant of the lightning a2-53-magnezone deck, this one uses a2-111-skarmory for its early aggression. Attaching a tool to a2-111-skarmory increases its Metal Arms attack damage, becoming a 50-damage attack for just 1 Energy.
a2-120-heatran is another potential attacker, but it requires 3 Metal Energy to activate Steel Tackle. So it can take a couple of turns before it's ready, but the 110 damage is worth it!
As for a2-53-magnezone, it's a Lightning-type Stage 2 Pokemon, that needs 1 Lightning Energy and 2 Colorless Energy to attack with Thunder Blast. To get the Lightning Energy, we'll use a1-98-magneton's Volt Charge to attach a Lightning Energy to itself, ramping up Energy without having to attach to it.
Magnezone Snorlax
The 140 health a2a-63-snorlax is a massive early game tank that buys you time until your a2-53-magnezone is ready to take over. However, since we have a2a-74-barry in the list, we can reduce the cost of a2a-63-snorlax's Collapse, dealing a 100 damage to knock out a Pokemon. Since a2a-63-snorlax is a Colorless type Pokemon, we can attach Lightning Energy to it and have it attack.
As for a2-53-magnezone, it's a Lightning-type Stage 2 Pokemon, we'll use a1-98-magneton's Volt Charge to attach a Lightning Energy to itself, ramping up Energy without having to attach to it.
Greninja Palkia
a2a-23-palkia is the main damage dealer, pushing 60 damage with its Zone Smash attack and flipping a coin. If you get heads, then you're dealing 60 more damage, a 120 damage attack can one-shot most of your targets in a no-ex format. Zone Smash requires 3 Water Energy to activate, so we rely on a1-220-misty/ to ramp up and attack on an earlier turn.
Once a1-89-greninja joins in, it starts supporting a2a-23-palkia with its Water Shuriken ability, dealing 20 damage to one of the opponent's Pokemon. This also synergizes with a2-150-cyrus, damaging an opponent's Benched Pokemon and pulling it to the Active spot with a2-150-cyrus for a2a-23-palkia to knock out.
Tier 3
Skarmory Bastiodon
a2-111-skarmory is the early attacker, dealing 50 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon if you have a tool attached to it. So a2-147-giant-cape or a2-148-rocky-helmet will trigger Metal Arms' effect to deal the extra 30 damage.
The stage 2 a2-114-bastiodon joins in the late game, acting as a tank that can be frustrating to remove. a2-114-bastiodon;s Guarded Grill lets you flip a coin whenever a2-114-bastiodon takes damage, if you hit heads, your opponent's attacker deals 100 less damage. In a no ex format this can exceptionally slow down your opponent, buying more turns to go for the Headbang attack.
Togekiss Sigilyph
In the early game, we'll have a1a-33-sigilyph to tank early hits and draw cards with Spike Draw. In the meantime, we'll evolve a2-63-togepi and a2-64-togetic to get a2-65-togekiss into play. a2-65-togekiss's Overdrive Smash deals 60 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon, but activating a second time will increase its damage to 120, knocking out a higher health Pokemon.
a2-152-cynthia can boost your a2-65-togekiss's Overdrive Smash by 50 damage. This comes in use when you're first activating Overdrive Smash and you need to knock out a Pokemon with higher health than 60. If you're activating Overdrive Smash a second time, then you can deal 170 damage to knock out anything in the Active spot.
Blaine Aggro
This is an aggressive deck that dishes 90 damage with a1-38-ninetales's Flamethrower, but since it discards a Fire Energy you will have to keep attaching another Energy to activate it. a1a-11-rapidash's Rising Lunge is a 40-damage attack, but you'll also flip a coin, if it's heads, you get to deal 100 damage that could change the whole game in your favor by knocking out a Pokemon with one attack.
This list uses a1-221-blaine to boost the damage of either a1-38-ninetales or a1-43-rapidash by 30, making it easier for you to get knockouts on higher health Pokemon, potentially shutting down your opponents plans.
