Tournament Meta Report: March 3, 2025 – Triumphant Light (A2a)

Hello everyone! The Pokémon Pocket community tournaments are thriving, with thousands of players joining from around the world! Participants bring their favorite decks—or the latest meta choices—for a chance to win it all.

It's the first week of Triumphant Light (A2a) meta, and the tournament competition has taken a different turn, with a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex becoming the new number 1 deck, which funnily enough, doesn't use Link ability as part of its strategy. Many top decks have seen a drop in performance, and we're seeing older archetypes make an appearance again in the new meta.

In this article, I'll break down the two largest tournaments held on March 1-2 (Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #18 and BEC Exeggutive Series!), analyzing the meta distribution, the top performers, and the underdogs!

Deck Distribution

Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #18 (1487 Players)

BEC Exeggutive Series! (609 Players)

a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex is seeing the most play in tournaments, becoming the top choice among players in these competitive events.

a2-110-darkrai-ex a2-53-magnezone continues a great performance in the meta, being the most popular a2-53-magnezone version out there. Although it's second place, there's a huge gap between it and a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex.

Two Grass a1a-3-celebi-ex decks are battling it out to prove which version is better. a2a-10-leafeon-ex a1a-3-celebi-ex currently has a slight edge over the a1-23-exeggutorex a1a-3-celebi-ex version, but it's too early to determine which one is the better, stronger deck.

a1-36-charizardex a1-47-moltresex remains one of the most played decks. This Fire deck has stood the test of time, and remained a viable option over numerous Pokemon Pocket metas.

a1-84-articunoex is making a comeback, adding a2a-72-irida to the list to give a1-84-articunoex more survivability against opponent's attacks. This deck uses a1-84-articunoex as the sole carry along with a1-220-misty to speed up the Blizzard attack.

Two a2-49-palkia-ex decks are seeing play, one version runs a2-49-palkia-ex as a solo Pokemon, while the other pairs it with a1a-19-vaporeon.

a1a-18-gyarados-ex a1-89-greninja used to be one of the top choices for tournaments, but since A2a's release, the deck fell out of favor, and players are preferring other Water type decks over it. a2-110-darkrai-ex a1-89-greninja also saw a drop in popularity compared to the previous meta.

Off-meta new decks a2-29-infernape-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex and a2a-71-arceus-ex a2a-50-crobat saw representation in these tournaments.

Top 32

• a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex is dominating the tournament scene, taking half of the spots in the top 32! 16 players made top 32 in the Ursiiday tournament, whereas 17 players made top 32 in BEC Exeggutive Series.
• a2a-10-leafeon-ex a1a-3-celebi-ex had a better performance than the a1-23-exeggutorex version.
• The solo a1-84-articunoex made top 32 in both tournaments, an old archetype that resurged to the top of the meta.
• We're used to seeing multiple a1-36-charizardex a1-47-moltresex players in the top 32, however, only 1 player made it to top 32 in the Ursiiday tournament.
• Off-meta decks that made top 32: a2-89-rampardos a2-92-lucario, a2-95-gallade-ex a1-154-hitmonlee, a2a-71-arceus-ex a2a-50-crobat, and a2-29-infernape-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex.

Top 4 Decks

Tournament	First Place	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #18	Rampardos Lucario	Rampardos Lucario	Dialga ex Arceus ex	Dialga ex Arceus ex
BEC Exeggutive Series!	Dialga ex Arceus ex	Dialga ex Arceus ex	Articuno ex	Dialga ex Arceus ex

• The two a2-89-rampardos a2-92-lucario decks that made top 32 in the Ursiiday tournament kept on winning until they finished in first and second spots!
• a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex is hogging most of the top 4 spots, making 3rd and 4th in the Ursiiday tournament, and taking 1st, 2nd, and 4th spots in the the BEC Exeggutive series.
• a1-84-articunoex is proving it's a deck to watch out for in the new meta, making 3rd place in the BEC Exeggutive series.

Ursiiday's Pocket First Place

This fighting-type deck uses a2-92-lucario's Fighting Coach to boost the damage of your Fighting-type Pokemon, dealing an extra 20 damage with each attack.

This makes it easier for you to knock out your opponent's Pokemon, with a2-92-lucario, a2a-36-sudowoodo, and a1a-47-marshadow.

a2-89-rampardos is the late-game Stage 2 Pokemon to carry the game, dealing 130 damage with Head Smash, and becoming 150 damage with Fighting Coach ability. If a2-89-rampardos knocks out a Pokemon, it will deal 50 damage to itself, putting it in a vulnerable spot to the opponent's upcoming turn.

BEC Exeggutive Series! First Place

a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex is dominating the meta, using a2-119-dialga-ex's Metallic Turbo to ramp Metal Energy and attach them to your a2a-71-arceus-ex. You'll later use a2a-71-arceus-ex as the main damage dealer, dealing up to 130 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon if you have a full bench.

This list has a2-22-shaymin to heal your Pokemon for 10 damage each turn with the Fragrant Flower Garden ability, and it has a2a-69-shaymin to reduce the retreat cost of your Active Pokemon.

Many a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex favor adding a copy of a1a-32-mew-ex for Genome Hacking attack, copying the opponent's attack.

BEC Exeggutive Series! Third Place

With the addition of a2a-72-irida in A2a expansion, more players are picking up a1-84-articunoex again and performing well with the solo Water Pokemon. This deck heavily relies on a1-220-misty's ramp, speeding up your attack turn with a1-84-articunoex's Blizzard to deal 80 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon and 10 damage to all their benched Pokemon.

You're dealing a bit of damage to the Bench, which makes it easier for you to knock out a higher health Pokemon later in the game. fits perfectly with a1-84-articunoex as you can choose the Pokemon you want to move to the Active spot and attack it directly.

a2a-72-irida's heal for 40 damage has given this deck a boost in performance, preventing the opponent from easily knocking out a1-84-articunoex.

Underdog Inclusions

19th Place Ursiiday's Pocket

a2-95-gallade-ex is a Stage 2 Fighting type Pokemon, needing 2 Fighting Energy to start going for attacks. a2-95-gallade-ex's Energized Blade deals 70 damage, but will deal 20 more damage for each Energy attached to the opponent's Active Pokemon. So depending on the number of Energy attached to the opponent's Pokemon, Energized Blade can push for more damage.

a1-154-hitmonlee carries the early game as you evolve into a2-95-gallade-ex, attacking with Stretch Kick to deal 30 damage to one of the opponent's Benched Pokemon. You could disrupt your opponent's strategy by knocking out a key card on their Bench or at least damaging them enough for a2-95-gallade-ex to knock out.

27th BEC Exeggutive Series!

This deck has a2a-50-crobat and a2a-13-heatran as damage dealers, relying on a2a-71-arceus-ex for the Link ability.

a2a-13-heatran is the early tank, taking hits as you evolve into your Stage 2 a2a-50-crobat and get Energy on a2a-71-arceus-ex to later go for attacks. a2a-13-heatran's Speed Link allows us to retreat it for 0 cost, getting it out of harms way for another Pokemon to take its place, usually a Pokemon ready to attack.

a2a-50-crobat deals 30 damage a turn with its Cunning Link, and can activate its Darkness Fang to deal 50 damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon. a2a-71-arceus-ex is the heavy hitter, which we'll often rely on its 130 damage attack + 30 damage from Cunning to Link to knock out higher health Pokemon.

Closing Words

a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex is crushing it so far, but there are still multiple decks in the new A2a meta holding up well and players will try to counter the popular a2-119-dialga-ex a2a-71-arceus-ex. We're still in the early meta, and we could still see underdog decks like a2-89-rampardos a2-92-lucario make a huge performance in these tournaments.

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