Welcome to our Pokémon TCG Pocket! In this meta report, we will look at the best decks of the Pokémon TCG Pocket card game metagame.
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 🟣 Mewtwo ex Gardevoir 🟡 Pikachu ex |
| Tier 2 | 🔴 Charizard ex Moltress 🔵 Starmie ex 🔴 Blaine Aggro 🟤 Marowak ex Sandslash ⚫ Arbok Weezing 🔴 Arcanine ex |
| Tier 3 | 🟣 Alakazam ex 🔼 🟢 Venusaur ex 🔽 🟤 Machamp ex 🟠 Dragonite 🔵 Articuno ex 🔴 Moltres ex Centiskorch 🔵 Omastar Control 🔵 Blastoise ex 🟡 Raichu Magneton Lt. Surge 🔵 Lapras ex 🟢 Exeggutor ex Vileplume ⚪ Wigglytuff ex 🔵 Blastoise ex |
| Tier 4 | 🟣 Gengar ex ⚪ Melmetal 🟤 Golem Brock |
Tier 1
Mewtwo ex Gardevoir
The Mewtwo ex Gardevoir deck relies heavily on a1-129-mewtwoex as the main damage dealer, using its early Psychic Sphere as an early damage dealer to threaten to knock out most Pokemon with two attacks. However, a1-129-mewtwoex's Psydrive is where things start kicking off, allowing you to damage the opponent's Pokemon by 150, knocking out almost any Pokemon with 1 hit.
To activate Psydrive, you need to attach 4 Energy to a1-129-mewtwoex, which can be a tad tough to get, on top of that, every time you activate Psydrive, you're forced to discard two Psychic Energy from a1-129-mewtwoex, stopping you from reactivating it on the upcoming turn. This is where a1-132-gardevoir comes to use, allowing you to attach 1 Psychic Energy to a Psychic Pokemon in the active spot through Psy Shadow, ensuring you get the most out of a1-129-mewtwoex's heavy attack.
Pikachu ex
a1-96-pikachuex plays aggressively, for only 2 Electric Energy we can start pushing up to 90 damage on the opponent's Active Pokemon, potentially ruining their strategy by knocking out a valuable Pokemon. a1-96-pikachuex's Circle Circuit is tied to the number of benched Pokemon we have, so we're dealing an extra 30 damage for each Pokemon on our bench. Filling up the bench is a must to get the most out of our attack.
a1-104-zapdosex is another heavy attacker with Thundering Hurricane, dealing 50 damage for each head you get after flipping a coin 4 times.
There are three popular versions of a1-96-pikachuex, each pairing a1-96-pikachuex with a different Pokemon. a1-100-electrode, a1-106-zebstrika, and a1-95-raichu are the lists you'll usually see. If you play the a1-95-raichu version, you have to add a1-226-lt-surge to use a1-95-raichu as a finisher.
Tier 2
Charizard ex Moltress
This deck uses a1-47-moltresex's Inferno Dance to give your Benched Pokemon Fire Energy. There is a randomness to it, having to flip 3 coins and for each head, you can attach a Fire Energy to a benched Pokemon.
Since the main carry in this deck is a1-36-charizardex. we want to focus on attaching Energy to him, even as we are evolving it from a1-33-charmander and a1-34-charmeleon. a1-36-charizardex's Slash deals 60 damage, capable of knocking out Basic Pokemon and requiring two attacks to knock out high-health Pokemon. Crimson Storm pushing a whooping 200 damage on the opponent's Pokemon, knocking out anything in its path. However, with great strength comes a downside, forcing you to discard two Fire Energy, so you can't reactivate it on the upcoming turn.
a1-43-rapidash isn't a must in the list, but it acts as a secondary damage dealer, especially in the early game.
Starmie ex
a1-76-starmieex is an aggressive Pokemon, requiring 2 Water Energy to activate Hydro Splash and push 90 damage, enough to knock out basic Pokemon. Before your opponent can set up a win condition, you'll be posing a threat in play, and with a1-76-starmieex's 130 health, it can't be knocked out easily with one attack.
a1-220-misty accelerates your game plan, flipping a coin until you get tails and for each heads you get, you can attach a Water Energy to one Pokemon. This can also set up a1-84-articunoex's Blizzard to deal up to 110 damage to an opponent's Pokemon. Since a1-76-starmieex has no retreat cost, you can switch it with one of your benched Pokemon to deny your opponent an easy Point.
You can cut out a1-84-articunoex and go for the a1-89-greninja line (add a1-87-froakie and a1-88-frogadier). a1-89-greninja can sit in the back and damage opponent's Pokemon with Water Shuriken, even their Benched Pokemon.
Marowak ex Sandslash
a1-153-marowakex's Boomerang is heavy on the luck factor, flipping a coin twice and dealing 80 damage for each heads. So depending on your luck, Boomerang can deal 0, 80, or 160 damage. Hitting the 160 damage on a high-health Pokemon is a game swinger, setting the stage for you to take the game.
As for a1-138-sandslash, it works perfectly with a1-153-marowakex since it needs the same type of Energy and can deal 70 damage with its attacks. Two Slash attacks combined with a Giovanni can knock out 150 HP Pokemon.
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. a1-43-rapidash deals less damage with its Mire Mane, but it requires only 1 Fire Energy means you can rely on a1-43-rapidash early in the game as you set up your other attackers. One copy of a1-44-magmar as an alternate damage dealer, pushing 50 damage with Magma Punch.
This list uses a1-221-blaine to boost the damage of either a1-38-ninetales, a1-43-rapidash, or a1-44-magmar by 30, making it easier for you to get knockouts and shut down opponents strategies.
Arbok Weezing
a1-165-arbok's Counter ability hits hard, dealing 60 points of damage for just two energy (and an extra 20 damage against psychic type Pokémon). What makes it even more powerful is its ability to prevent your opponent from retreating, often allowing you to secure prize points that would otherwise be out of reach. a1-225-sabrina works especially well with a1-165-arbok, as you can switch out your opponent’s main attacker, locking their backline Pokémon into a "prison" with nowhere to run.
a1-222-koga, plays a pivotal role alongside a1-177-weezing. Weezing, with its hefty health pool, can endure a hit or two before you use a1-222-koga to safely return it to your hand. This strategy allows you to reset all energy attached and also the damage a1-177-weezing has taken, which isn’t a big issue since it only requires one energy to attack.
Arcanine ex
Tier 3
Alakazam ex
Venusaur ex
a1-3-venusaur is a heavy tanker and he's difficult for opponents to knock out with his 190 HP. a1-4-venusaurex isn't pushing the most frightening attacks, but he's sticking in the Active spot for a while thanks to his Mega Bloom attack, healing him for 30 HP. The list has a1-219-erika and promo-1-potion for more healing power, ensuring the opponent has to do extra work to knock out a1-4-venusaurex.
The longer a1-4-venusaurex sticks in play, the more turns we get to activate Mega Bloom, getting more healing and 100 damage attacks through.
Machamp ex
Dragonite
The Dragonite deck is a powerful meta choice in Pokemon Pocket, using a1-185-dragonite as the main win condition. The only problem is that a1-185-dragonite's Draco Meteor is costly to set up, requiring 4 Energy to activate. This means we'll have to rely on a1-177-weezing to buy us time until a1-185-dragonite's Draco Meteor is ready to activate.
Draco Meteor deals 50 damage to 1 of the opponent's Pokemon 4 times, this means attacking with a1-185-dragonite twice should be enough to win the game since the opponent's Bench will also be at risk of getting knocked out.
Articuno ex
The a1-84-articunoex deck takes advantage of the Pokémon Pocket ruling, which guarantees you'll always start with a Basic Pokémon in your hand. By including only a1-84-articunoex and filling the rest of the deck with Trainer cards, you ensure that a1-84-articunoex is always your starting Pokémon.
a1-84-articunoex + a1-220-misty allows you to start activating your attacks as early as possible, knocking out your opponent's Pokemon and collecting Points before they start putting any pressure on you. The Blizzard attack is the real damage dealer, pushing 80 damage and dealing 10 damage to all of the opponent's Benched Pokemon, meaning if a damaged Pokemon retreated, it won't be safe from Blizzard.
Moltres ex Centiskorch
a1-47-moltresex's Inferno Dance attaches Fire Energy on a1-52-centiskorch while it sits on your bench. You can keep on attaching Energy to a1-47-moltresex to start attacking with Heat Blast and start dealing 70 damage to the opponent's Pokemon, but before that, you'll activate Inferno Dance twice, which should be enough to up a1-52-centiskorch as a late-game carry.
a1-52-centiskorch's Fire Blast deals 130 damage, capable of knocking out most of the Pokemon on the opponent's side.
Omastar Control
a1-82-omastar shuts down decks that rely on single, heavy-hitting Pokémon. With its Ancient Whirlpool ability, a1-82-omastar prevents the opponent's active Pokémon from attacking, forcing them to spend extra energy retreating to the bench. This drains their resources, requiring energy reattachment on subsequent turns or leaving their Pokémon at the active spot only to be knocked out by a1-82-omastar relentless attacks.
a1-76-starmieex offers 90 damage early into the game for just 2 Water Energy, and since you'll always start the game with a1-74-staryu (the only basic Pokemon in the deck) you'll have it in the Active spot, ready to evolve and start pushing damage. The retreat cost being at 0 makes it easy to pull a1-76-starmieex or [carda1-75-starmie[/card] to safety and get a1-82-omastar to carry the game.
Blastoise ex
Raichu Magneton Lt. Surge
Lapras ex
Exeggutor ex Vileplume
Gengar ex
Wigglytuff ex
Blastoise ex
On his own, a1-56-blastoiseex is a slow strategy to set up, he's a Stage 2 Pokemon requiring 3 Energy to activate Hydro Bazooka, so a1-220-misty will be useful to accelerate the heavy hits. Hydro Bazooka can push up to 160 damage on the opponent's Active Pokemon, knocking out most targets.
