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Heya everyone! The Pokemon Pocket's Triumphant Light (A2a) expansion is finally out, and we have plenty of new cards to experiment with! We're still on day 1 of the expansion, so everyone is busy trying to build decks and refine them to perform better in Pokemon Pocket's meta. There are completely new decks joining the game, but we also have cards that can fit in older archetypes, giving them a better overall performance and consistent game plan.
I'll share a couple of new decks for you to test out on the first day of the expansion. Let's get started!
Garchomp Ex
I'm hyped for the new Stage a2a-47-garchomp-ex Pokemon, moving from the Dragon-type to the Fighting type, where it has many early Pokemon to play along with it. The list I shared uses a2a-36-sudowoodo, which is an ex-attacker dealing 50 damage with its fighting headbutt attack.
a2a-44-medicham can go for aggressive 80 damage attacks with its Kick Shot attack, but you're relying on the coin flips. If you get tails, Kick Shot will deal no damage, putting you behind on the game.
a2a-47-garchomp-ex is the late game carry, going for a 100 with its Dragon Claw attack. a2a-47-garchomp-ex's Linear Attack is perfect for sniping a damaged Pokemon on the Bench dealing 50 damage to it. This can help us win games if your opponent is hiding a low health Pokemon
Arceus ex Darkness
The Darkness a2a-71-arceus-ex activates Cunning Link on a2a-50-crobat, allowing you to deal 30 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon through its ability. a2a-50-crobat is a Stage 2 Pokemon, so we're looking for a2a-48-zubat and a2a-49-golbat to get it into play. For only 1 Energy, a2a-50-crobat can activate Darkness Fang, dealing 50 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon. So combined with Cunning Link, you're dealing 80 damage a turn to the opponent's Active Pokemon. a2a-50-crobat having a 0 retreat cost makes it an easy Pokemon to move out of the Active spot, preventing your opponent from knocking it out easily.
Additionally, promo-a-42-darkrai-ex can support us with its Nightmare Aura ability, dealing 20 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon, which makes it easier for us to get a knock out. However, to activate Nightmare Aura, you have to keep attaching Darkness Energy on promo-a-42-darkrai-ex, which eventually should allow us to attack with Dark Prism for 80 damage.
We'll rarely rely on a2a-71-arceus-ex to attack, since our Energy will go to activate promo-a-42-darkrai-ex's Nightmare Aura.
Probopass ex Dialga ex
This deck relies on a2-119-dialga-ex's Metallic Turbo to deal 30 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon, but more importantly, to ramp you up by 2 Metal Energy. You're giving 2 Metal Energy to one of your Pokemon on the Bench, which will get a2a-57-probopass-ex ready to carry the late game as a2-119-dialga-ex tanks the early turns.
We'll use a1a-68-leaf to retreat a2-119-dialga-ex and move a2a-57-probopass-ex to the Active spot, ready to attack with its Defensive Unit. You're dealing 90 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon and a2a-57-probopass-ex will take 20 less damage from the opponent's upcoming turn. With a 160 health on a2a-57-probopass-ex and the -20 damage, your opponents will be struggling to knock it out.
It doesn't stop there, we have a2-147-giant-cape to give a Pokemon +20 health along with the new a2a-75-adaman, lowering the opponent's attack damage by 20 to all your Metal type Pokemon. So a2a-57-probopass-ex's Defensive Unit + a2a-75-adaman will reduce the opponent's upcoming turn by 40 damage.
Arceus Tyranitar
The a2a-41-tyranitar is a Stage 2 Pokemon that requires you to evolve a2a-39-larvitar into a2a-40-pupitar and then you can get a2a-41-tyranitar in play. It's a beefy 160 health Pokemon with Land Crush to deal 130 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon.
We're running 1 copy of a2a-70-arceus to activate a2a-41-tyranitar 's Power Link, now going for a 160 damage attack to knock out most of the Pokemon you'll be facing. I deliberately chose the no-ex a2a-70-arceus version to keep this deck a single-point, forcing our opponent to knock out 3 of our Pokemon to win the game.
a2a-44-medicham is a nice early attacker, putting pressure and potentially getting a knock out as we evolve into a2a-41-tyranitar. a1a-47-marshadow can also be a backup damage dealer, going for 100 damage attack if your Pokemon was knocked out on the previous turn.
Only one copy of a2a-70-arceus since we're not in a rush to find it. We also have a2-146-pokemon-communication and promo-5-poke-ball to help find it.
Glaceon ex
The new a1a-61-eevee evolution, a2a-22-glaceon-ex is a Water type Pokemon that deals passive 10 damage with Snowy Terrain during Pokemon checkup when it's in the Active spot. You're dealing chip damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon and making it vulnerable for your attack. a2a-22-glaceon-ex needs 3 Energy to activate Freezing Wind, dealing 90 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon, which isn't too bad if you factor in the Snowy Terrain passive damage.
a2-50-manaphy is great early into the game to give a2a-22-glaceon-ex and a2-49-palkia-ex Water Energy. We also have a1-220-misty to potentially ramp us quickly. We're mostly using a2a-22-glaceon-ex as an early attacker, before switching to a2-49-palkia-ex as a game finisher.
Celebi ex Leafeon ex
The a2a-10-leafeon-ex Pokemon acts as a Grass Ramp card, which can support itself to attack on an earlier turn with Solar Beam's 70 damage, or attach the Grass Energy to your other Grass-type Pokemon on the Bench. So it's a no brainer to test around a2a-10-leafeon-ex with a1a-3-celebi-ex.
You can have a1a-3-celebi-ex on the Bench and use a2a-10-leafeon-ex to attach extra Energy on it, pumping up your Power Bloom attack for the later stages of the game and go for one-shot attacks.
With a1-219-erika, a2-147-giant-cape, and promo-a-1-potion your opponent will have a tough time trying to knock out your Pokemon. This buys you more time to get more attacks through, ensuring you can win the game before your opponent gets the 3 Match Points.
You could also consider adding a1a-6-serperior to go for the full a1a-3-celebi-ex win condition along with a2a-10-leafeon-ex's ramping.
Closing Words
Alright! These are still fresh day 1 brews to test out on the first day of Pokemon Pocket's Triumphant Light (A2a) expansion. I tried to cover most of the new Pokemon with potential to perform, but there's definitely more decks to build, especially with a2a-71-arceus-ex synergizing with different types of Pokemon. It'll be exciting to see how the meta evolves from here, and if a2a-71-arceus-ex becomes a core part of the meta, enabling multiple decks to perform.
If you’d like to stay updated on my card game shenanigans, feel free to follow me on Twitter or Bluesky.
