Hello everyone! The Pokemon Pocket community tournaments are thriving, with hundreds of players joining from around the world! Participants bring their favorite decks—or the latest meta choices—for a chance to win it all.
In this article, I'll break down the three largest tournaments held on November 16-17 (Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #3, Pocket Legends League #7, and Pikaverse Pocket Cup #2), analyzing the meta distribution, the top performers, and the underdogs!
The Data
Deck Distribution:
Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #3 (1368 Players)
Pocket Legends League #7 (519 Players)
Pikaverse Pocket Cup #2 (663 Players)
a1-129-mewtwoex a1-132-gardevoir remains the most played deck with the same two Pokemon. This deck is crushing tournaments and has become an auto-pick for many players joining these events. However, a1-96-pikachuex has 4 different variants in these tournaments, with all lists relying on a1-96-pikachuex as the main win condition. They're technically all similar decks, but for analysis, I will separate their stats so we can see which version is performing best.
If we sum up all the a1-96-pikachuex versions, then it becomes the most-played deck in Ursiiday's Pocket and Pocket Legends League tournaments. However, the a1-129-mewtwoex a1-132-gardevoir has it beat in the Pikaverse Pocket Cup tournament!
When it comes to the a1-96-pikachuex variants, the a1-106-zebstrika version remains the favorite choice among players. However, things have changed when it comes to the a1-100-electrode and a1-95-raichu. a1-100-electrode was rivaling the a1-106-zebstrika version but players have been dropping it and favoring the a1-106-zebstrika or a1-95-raichu versions. In all three tournaments a1-95-raichu overtook a1-100-electrode in meta representation.
a1-36-charizardex a1-47-moltresex is usually rivaling the a1-95-raichu for third place, managing to steal it in the Pocket Legends League tournament.
With a1-41-arcanineex a1-47-moltresex performing in last week's Pocket Legends League tournament, we see more players picking up the deck. It showed up in the top 10 most-brought decks in all three tournaments.
Top 32 Decks
- This week’s tournaments showcased total domination by a1-129-mewtwoex and a1-132-gardevoir, claiming most of the top 32 spots across all three events!
- a1-96-pikachuex a1-95-raichu was the second performer in Ursiiday's Pocket's top 32, outperforming the a1-106-zebstrika version. In Pocket Legends League, a1-95-raichu and a1-106-zebstrika had same number of representation in the top 32! However, we need to keep in mind that a1-95-raichu had less overall players than a1-106-zebstrika, so it had the edge in performance.
- Again a1-146-machampex a1-203-kangaskhan shows up in the top 32!
- Other off-meta decks also fought their way to the top 32 like a1-76-starmieex promo-19-greninja, a1-153-marowakex a1-142-primeape, and a1-84-articunoex promo-19-greninja.
- a1-41-arcanineex a1-47-moltresex is the deck we're keeping an eye on after its performance last week. Two a1-41-arcanineex a1-47-moltresex players made it to the top 32, one in the Ursiiday's Pocket tourney and the other in Pocket Legends League.
Top 4 Decks
| Tournament | First Place | Second Place | Third Place | Fourth Place |
| Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #3 | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir | Pikachu ex Raichu | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir |
| Pocket Legends League #7 | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir | Pikachu ex Zebstrika | Pikachu ex Zebstrika | Machamp ex Primeape |
| Pikaverse Pocket Cup #2 | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir | Mewtwo ex Gardevoir | Marowak ex Primeape |
Alright, time to look at the real winners of these three tournaments!
- a1-129-mewtwoex a1-132-gardevoir is the clear winner this week, claiming first place in all three tournaments. Its dominance didn’t stop there—a1-129-mewtwoex a1-132-gardevoir also claimed second and fourth place in Ursiiday's Pocket, as well as second and third place in Pikaverse Pocket.
- Two a1-96-pikachuex a1-106-zebstrika players made second and third place in the Pocket Legends League. One a1-95-raichu ended up in third place in the Ursiiday's Pocket tourney.
- Both a1-146-machampex a1-142-primeape and a1-153-marowakex a1-142-primeape ended in fourth place in Pocket Legends League and Pikaverse Pocket Cup, respectively. Both are off-meta picks with low number of representation, so it's always a delight to see them perform and go far in these tournaments.
Ursiiday's Pocket First Place
The first place a1-129-mewtwoex in the Ursiiday's Pocket. This deck relies on a1-129-mewtwoex as a win condition, using Psydrive to deal 150 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon. This should be enough to knock out most targets in your path. Psydrive requires 4 Energy to activate and will discard 2 Psychic Energy every time you use Psydrive. This is why a1-132-gardevoir is a must in this list, accelerating your strategy by giving your a1-129-mewtwoex an extra Psychic Energy.
Although this list doesn't include them, many lists are adding either a1-127-jynx or a1-128-mewtwo. They can act as early plays before you switch to the a1-129-mewtwoex win condition or to tank hits if opponents play Sabrina.
Ursiiday's Pocket Third Place
The a1-95-raichu version ended up in third place in the Ursiiday's Pocket tournament. This deck heavily relies on a1-96-pikachuex to win games, dealing up to 90 damage with only 2 Lightning Energy. a1-95-raichu can go for the game-winning attack, using a1-226-lt-surge to move Lightning Energy from Benched Pokemon to a1-95-raichu and go for Thunderbolt for 140 damage.
Interestingly, the list is also running a1-100-electrode, cutting out a1-225-sabrina entirely for more Pokemon.
Pocket Legends League Second Place
a1-96-pikachuex a1-106-zebstrika remains the most popular version among players, managing to take second and third place in the Pocket Legends League tournament. a1-106-zebstrika doesn't deal much damage, but Thunder Spear can target Pokemon on the bench, so if a damaged Pokemon is hiding in the back, you can knock it out and get the Match points.
Pocket Legends League Fourth Place
a1-146-machampex a1-142-primeape makes it into the top 4 in Pocket Legends League! This deck relies on a1-146-machampex's heavy punches to win the late game. However, since a1-146-machampex is a Stage 2 Pokemon, it can take several steps to sit him up as a win condition. Instead, we'll use promo-17-mankey and a1-142-primeape for the early stages of the game.
a1-142-primeape pushes a lot of damage early into the game if damaged, capable of getting early knockouts. You usually want to try to retreat it to safety before opponents knock it out and have a1-146-machampex carry the late game.
Pikaverse Pocket Cup Fourth Place
Another off-meta deck that went far in these tournaments is the a1-153-marowakex a1-142-primeape deck, making top 4 in the Pikaverse Pocket Cup deck. a1-153-marowakex plays aggressively with its Bonemerang attack, flipping 2 coins and dealing 80 damage for each heads. This means we could deal up to 160 damage with one attack, swinging the game in your favor if you knock out an important win condition.
Underdog Inclusions
8th Place Ursiiday's Pocket Arcanine Moltres
We had a lot of hope for the a1-41-arcanineex deck to make it to the top 4 again, however, it came in one game short of making it. a1-41-arcanineex plays faster than the a1-36-charizardex version. It's a Stage 2 Pokemon that deals 120 damage with Inferno Onrush. The downside is that you will self-damage your a1-41-arcanineex for 20, which can put you in vulnerable spots.
10th Place Ursiiday's Pocket Charizard Moltres
a1-36-charizardex a1-47-moltresex underperformed this week, with no players making it into the top 8. We still had a couple of players manage the top 16! Here's one list from Ursiiday's Pocket that ended in 10th place.
Since a1-36-charizardex is a Stage 3, it can take a while to get him into play. We'll use a1-47-moltresex for the early game. attaching Fire Energy on our benched Pokemon with Inferno Dance. This speeds up our game plan and we'll have a1-36-charizardex ready to start attacking with Crimson Storm, knocking out anything in its path. Since Crimson Storm discards 2 Fire Energy from a1-36-charizardex, you want to have at least 5 Energy on him to activate Crimson Storm twice in a row.
27th Place Ursiiday's Pocket Starmie ex Greninja
a1-76-starmieex has lost a lot of its initial popularity but there are still players picking up the deck and making it into the top 32. This version is using a1-89-greninja's Water Shuriken as backup damage to a1-76-starmieex's aggressive attacks, helping you knock out Pokemon, especially those hiding on the Bench.
This is the more popular a1-76-starmieex version, running a1-84-articunoex as the late-game damage dealer. a1-76-starmieex's strength is in its ability to damage the opponent's Bench, potentially knocking out damaged low-health Pokemon.
Closing Words
Mewtwo ex is crushing tournaments along with the Pikachu decks, so it can't be difficult for other decks to push their way through. However, we still see off-meta choices make it far in these tournaments, proving you can beat the best decks in the meta.
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