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Heya everyone! Pokémon TCG Pocket has quickly become a competitive card game, with more players on the hunt for the best decks to dominate in tournaments. Now that the Ranked system has launched in the mobile TCG game, competition is heating up, and players are leaning toward top-tier decks to boost their chances of climbing the ladder.
There are many unique decks with different playstyles in Pokémon Pocket, but today, I’ll be focusing on the top-performing ones in the Shining Revelry meta. The are decks you’ll definitely want to try out or learn how to play against.
9. Rampardos Lucario
a2-89-rampardos a2-92-lucario needs a bit of a set up since you need to evolve into them. So we have a2a-36-sudowoodo to go for early attacks and buy us time until our win conditions are online.
a2-92-lucario is the support Pokemon, boosting the damage of your fighting-type Pokemon by 20 through its Fighting Coach ability. It can still attack if needed, dealing 60 damage with its Submarine Blow attack.
a2-89-rampardos is the late-game win condition, dealing 130 damage with Head Smash, which we'll rely on to knock out high-health Pokemon. With Life Coach boosting our damage, Head Smash can one-shot 150 health Pokemon, which is most of the Pokemon in the current meta. However, Head Smash comes with a drawback, as a2-89-rampardos will self-damage for 50, making it more vulnerable to the opponent's upcoming attack.
8. Darkrai ex Greninja
a2-110-darkrai-ex a1-89-greninja is all about passive damage. We are going to use a1a-56-druddigon as an early tank, and through his rough skin ability, we can dish out damage back to the opponent's attacker, dealing 20 damage back to it.
Along with that, we have a2-110-darkrai-ex's Nightmare Aura as passive damage. We activate it whenever we attach a Darkness Energy to a2-110-darkrai-ex, dealing 20 damage to the opponent's active Pokemon and weakening it for our attackers to remove.
Greninja, on the other hand, can deal 20 damage through Water Shuriken. Unlike Nightmare Aura, we can choose which Pokemon we deal 20 damage to, so we aren't bound to the active Pokemon. We can also target the opponent's benched Pokemon. This helps us use Cyrus whenever we need to, allowing us to pull it from the bench to the active spot so we can attack it later on.
Our main attacker will be a2-110-darkrai-ex, using its Dark Prism to deal 80 damage. However, we do have a2b-35-giratina-ex, a one-off in this list, as an alternate win condition. We only run Darkness Energy in this list, but since a2b-35-giratina-ex can self-ramp with Broken Space below, we can get those three Psychic Energy on it, and then we can attach a Darkness Energy if we need to, to attack with Chaotic Impact.
Chaotic Impact deals 130 damage to the opponent's active Pokemon, so it can knock out almost anything with Nightmare Aura and Water Shuriken's extra damage. However, activating Chaotic Impact will deal 20 damage to a2b-35-giratina-ex, so it might put it at risk of getting knocked out on the upcoming turn.
7. Charizard Moltres ex
The a1-36-charizard-ex a1-47-moltres-ex is one of the oldest decks in Pokemon Pocket but remains a good choice to play competitively. a1-47-moltres-ex ramps up Fire Energy with its Inferno Dance, flipping a 3 times and for each heads, you attach a Fire Energy to your Benched Pokemon in any way you like.
So as you're evolving a2b-8-charmander and a2b-9-charmeleon to get a1-36-charizard-ex, we'll get the Fire Energy we need to immediately attack with a1-36-charizard-ex. a1-36-charizard-ex is the win condition in this deck, capable of one-shotting any Pokemon it faces with Crimon Storm's 200 damage.
However, activating Crimson Storm will discard 2 Fire Energy from a1-36-charizard-ex, so you'll need to have at least 5 Energy attached to attack twice in a row with him.
6. Weavile ex Darkrai ex
a2-110-darkrai-ex a2-99-weavile-ex is a Darkness-type deck that relies on the synergy of both Pokemon to deal extra damage. a2-99-weavile-ex's Scratching Nails deals 30 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon, but if that Pokemon has any damage on it, Scratching Nails will deal 70 damage instead.
This is where a2-110-darkrai-ex's Nightmare Aura comes into play. When you attach a Darkness energy on a2-110-darkrai-ex, it will activate Nightmare Aura, dealing 20 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon without passing your turn. You can then attack with a2-99-weavile-ex to deal the 70 damage.
a2-110-darkrai-ex can also become an attacker once you have 3 Energy on it, attacking with Dark Prism to deal 80 damage after it activates Nightmare Aura.
5. Gallade ex Hitmonlee
a2-95-gallade-ex is the carry in this Fighting deck, but since its a Stage 2 Pokemon, we'll rely on a1-154-hitmonlee and a1a-47-marshadow to put pressure in the early game until a2-95-gallade-ex can join the battle. The fighting-type deck has Pokemon with low-cost attacks, so you're usually playing at a fast pace, which can rush certain decks before they get their game plan ready.
We want a1-154-hitmonlee in the early game to start attacking the opponent's Benched Pokemon with Stretch Kick, potentially securing a knock out. a1a-47-marshadow can then join in, threatening to deal 100 damage with its Revenge attack if one of your Pokemon was knocked out on the previous turn.
After we've evolved a2-68-ralts and a2-69-kirlia, a2-95-gallade-ex can carry the late game, acting as a tanky Pokemon that deals 70 damage with its Energized Blade. Energized Blade also gains +20 damage for each Energy attached to the opponent's Pokemon, so you can deal more damage to a Pokemon and knock them out faster.
4. Meowscarada Beedrill ex
a2b-7-meowscarada a2b-3-beedrill-ex is an underdog Grass-type deck, thriving most against Ex-type decks. Since both Pokemon are Stage 2, it will take a couple of turns before we get our damage dealers in play. a2b-7-meowscarada's Fighting Claws can deal 60 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon. However, if that Pokemon is an Ex, you'll deal 130 damage to it. With a2b-71-red, you can deal 150 damage with a2b-7-meowscarada attack, knocking out even higher health Pokemon.
a2b-3-beedrill-ex is a tanky Pokemon, having 170 health that can deal 80 damage with Crushing Spear. a2b-3-beedrill-ex will also discard an Energy from the opponent's Active Pokemon, so you could slow down your opponent, potentially preventing them from attacking on a certain turn.
3. Giratina ex Mewtwo ex
In third place, the a2b-35-giratina-ex a1-129-mewtwo-ex Psychic deck is one of the most played decks in the current meta. This deck heavily relies on a2b-35-giratina-ex as the early and mid-game carry, using its Broken-Space Bellow ability to ramp Energy and attack on earlier turns.
a2b-35-giratina-ex's Chaotic Impact deals 130 damage, which can one-shot early Pokemon, and with a2b-71-red, you can knock out a 150 health Pokemon. However, activating Chaotic Impact means a2b-35-giratina-ex will deal 20 damage to itself, dropping it to 130 health. This will make it much easier for the opponent to knock out a2b-35-giratina-ex, but since it's a Singe Point Pokemon, we aren't too worried about losing 2 of our a2b-35-giratina-ex.
a1-129-mewtwo-ex can take over after a2b-35-giratina-ex, dealing 150 damage with Psydrive. a1-129-mewtwo-ex is your best option for high-health Pokemon, capable of one-shotting most Pokemon in the current meta.
2. Gyarados ex Manaphy
Although a2b-35-giratina-ex a1-129-mewtwo-ex is usually the second most played deck in tournaments, a1a-18-gyarados-ex has been maintaining a higher win rate, and for m,e it's the second best deck in the meta!
a2-50-manaphy is the early ramp Pokemon, attaching a Water Energy to two of our Benched Pokemon and getting them closer to attacking. So we're using a2-50-manaphy to tank at least 1 hit and have a1a-18-gyarados-ex ready to take over.
Once a1a-18-gyarados-ex has 4 Energy on it, it can start going for those 140-damage attacks, and along with a2b-71-red, you're knocking out 160-health Pokemon.
a1a-18-gyarados-ex might discard one of the Energy on it, so you'll have to attach another Energy to attack a second time.
1. Giratina ex Darkrai ex
In the number one spot, none other than a2b-35-giratina-ex a2-110-darkrai-ex. This deck has consistently remained on the top of the tournament meta, and I've been crushing with it on the ranked ladder. Although we have a2b-35-giratina-ex as a Psychic Pokemon, we're only using Darkness Energy. This enables a2-110-darkrai-ex's Nightmare Aura, making sure we can keep activating it for the 20 damage on the opponent's Active Pokemon before moving to Dark Prism and dealing 80 damage with our attack.
Since a2b-35-giratina-ex can ramp up Psychic Energy, we aren't too worried about having only darkness energy. Activating Broken-Space Bellow and attaching 1 Darkness Energy to a2b-35-giratina-ex will allow us to attack with its Chaotic Impact, dealing 130 damage to the opponent's Pokemon and one-shotting most targets with a2b-71-red.
Closing Words
Pokemon Pocket meta keeps evolving, with underdog decks fighting to prove their worth against the top contenders. Although most players prefer the established top meta choices, part of the community is still actively trying out other decks, trying to find the new anti-meta deck to beat the top performers.
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