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Heya everyone! Pokemon Pocket is a new trading card game based on the Pokemon TCG, and even though we're still in the soft launch phase, the community has already started organizing competitive tournaments.
This past weekend, we saw one of the biggest Pokemon Pocket tournaments yet (Pocket Legends League), with over 150 participants! It offered an exciting early glimpse into how the Pokemon Pocket meta is beginning to take shape. Here are the top 8 decks from this weekend!
1st Place Venusaur Exeggutor
We've seen a lot of a1-4-venusaurex decks lately, and although the initial impression of the deck wasn't the best by the community, a1-4-venusaurex has proven it's one of the best decks in Pokemon Pocket so far. It did though have a low representation in this tournament, having only 3.3% representation, which makes it more of a great accomplishment to win first place with a1-4-venusaurex.
What makes a1-4-venusaurex a great pickup in tournaments is its matchup against Pikachu ex and Starmie ex, two popular decks in the current meta.
This list is running two copies of a1-22-exeggutor and one copy of a1-23-exeggutorex, great for early pressure and can even sneak your wins. The downside is that you can't retreat them easily with the three Energy retreat costs, especially since you'll be busy attaching Energy to a1-4-venusaurex. This is why the normal a1-22-exeggutor can be a better choice since it only gives 1 Prize card, whereas the ex version gives two, making you vulnerable to a a1-225-sabrina play to steal the win.
The main win condition is a1-4-venusaurex, it's a bulky Pokemon with Giant Bloom dealing 100 damage and healing him for 30 damage, enabling the survivability strategy that forces multiple attacks out of the opponent to get the knockout.
a1-219-erika is probably the best Supporter card in this deck, healing one of your Grass-type Pokemon by 50 damage, ensuring you survive an extra turn to deal more damage and prevent the opponent from grabbing a Prize card.
2nd Place Mewtwo Gardevoir
Mewtwo Gardevoir has become one of the most known decks in Pokemon Pocket and it's not a surprise to see it perform in tournaments. This list made it to second place, losing to the a1-4-venusaurex deck in the finals. Mewtwo Gardevoir had the highest representation in this tournament, 27.8% of the decks brought, so we expected a couple of players to make it far.
a1-129-mewtwoex is the main win condition in this deck, dealing 50 damage early into the game with Psychic Sphere and combined with a1-223-giovanni, you can quickly knock out a 60 health Pokemon. Psydrive is the main damage dealer, pushing 150 damage on the opponent's Pokemon, knocking out most of the Pokemon on the opponent's side. It is a costly attack to activate, especially since you'll have to discard two Psychic Energy whenever you activate it.
To ensure you activate it every turn, a1-132-gardevoir is in the list to give you an extra Psychic Energy on a1-129-mewtwoex through Psy Shadow. a1-132-gardevoir can also act as a secondary damage dealer, threatening 60 damage with Psyshot.
3rd Place Marowak ex Sandslash
Most Marowak ex decks run a1-140-dugtrio as a second Pokemon. However, this version opts to include a1-138-sandslash along with a1-153-marowakex, and it managed to make it all the way to third place.
This deck uses a1-198-farfetchd and a1-138-sandslash to pose an early threat on the opponent as you build up for the a1-153-marowakex win condition. a1-153-marowakex's Bonemerang tosses flips a coin twice and for each heads, a1-153-marowakex will deal 80 damage. So it is dependent on the luck factor, but you can deal 0, 80, or 160 damage, and managing to hit that 160 damage on a high-health Pokemon can shift the game in your favor.
4th Place Mewtwo Gardevoir
Another Mewtwo Gardevoir list makes it into the top 4, solidifying its presence as one of the best choices for a competitive Pokemon Pocket. This list resembled the second place, only cutting down on 1 a1-223-giovanni for a a1-196-meowth, offering extra card draw with Pay Day early in the game.
5th Place Charizard Moltres
The Charizard ex Moltres is a brutal deck once you have a1-36-charizardex online, dealing 200 damage with Crimson Storm, the highest damage output in this game! You're guaranteed to knock out any high-health Pokemon in front of you with one attack, but you are forced to discard two Fire Energy from a1-36-charizardex, so you might find yourself unable to activate it twice in a row.
This is why you have to stack up Fire Energy on a1-36-charizardex and the best way to do so is through a1-47-moltresex's Inferno Dance, flipping a coin 3 times and attaching Fire Energy on your Benched Pokemon equal to the number of heads you got.
6th Place Pikachu Zapdos
In 6th place is Pikachu Zapdos, a top-tier meta deck that uses a1-96-pikachuex's Circle Cercuit for an early aggressive approach, its damage tied to the number of Pokemon on your Bench. a1-96-pikachuex was the second most brought deck, as it plays a bit aggressively and can beat Water decks like Starmie.
a1-104-zapdosex's Thundering Hurricane can be a huge damage dealer, dealing up to 200 damage depending on the number of heads you get.
This list doesn't have a1-100-electrode, instead it runs a1-95-raichu as an alternate high damage output, especially useful against decks like Mewtwo ex.
7th Place
Another a1-96-pikachuex list grabs a spot in the top 8 decks, this one though takes the a1-100-electrode route. a1-100-electrode needs only 2 Lightning Energy to start dealing 70 damage with Electro Ball.
Additionally, this list is running 1 copy of the normal a1-103-zapdos, a 1 Prize Point Pokemon that can join the battle early on as you work on attaching Energy on your other Pokemon.
8th Place Nine Tales Rapidash aggro
Finally, in 8th place, the aggressive a1-38-ninetales and a1-43-rapidash deck with one copy of a1-44-magmar as an alternate damage dealer.
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.
Closing Words
Pokemon Pocket has yet to officially launch globally, yet competitive tournaments are already flourishing within the community. It's exciting to watch how decks are performing in this early meta, and the landscape will only grow more as new cards are introduced. Interestingly, despite its potential, no Starmie decks managed to break into the top 8—an unexpected outcome given the hype surrounding the card.
