In today’s article, I’ll be reviewing my top five decks for the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) Pocket. After extensive testing, I’ve refined my strategies and selected the five decks I believe stand out in Pokémon TCG Pocket's competitive scene.
These top-tier decks are all tournament-ready and capable of grinding wins on the ladder. I won’t be ranking them from best to worst; each of these decks has unique strengths suited for various matchups, so let’s dive in!
1. Pikachu EX: The Ladder King
Pikachu EX is one of the most popular decks in the Pokémon TCG Pocket meta, especially in online tournaments. If you’re interested in participating in or following the online scene, definitely check out Limitless TCG, a site used by many trading card communities to organize events and share tournament results. Pikachu EX’s popularity is well-deserved thanks to its powerful yet low-cost attacks and consistency.
Pikachu EX’s Circle Circuit attack dishes out 30 damage per Lightning Pokémon on your bench. With three Lightning Pokémon benched, Circle Circuit can deal a solid 90 damage with just two Lightning energy on turn two. This consistent, hard-hitting attack makes Pikachu EX a dominant force in early meta.
Key Partners: Zapdos EX and Raichu are ideal partners. Zapdos EX, with its single retreat cost and durability, is a perfect bench filler and backup attacker. Raichu serves as a game-finishing powerhouse with its Thunderbolt attack, which does a massive 140 damage, perfect for one-shotting key Pokémon like Pikachu EX and Zapdos EX in mirror matches.
Strategies and Tips: Use Lieutenant Surge to move Lightning energy across your Pokémon, building up Raichu for a powerful Thunderbolt at the right moment. The synergy between Pikachu EX, Zapdos EX, and Raichu makes this deck a solid choice in a variety of matchups.
2. Mewtwo EX with Gardevoir: Psychic Powerhouse
With its massive 150 HP, Mewtwo EX has become a popular choice for countering Pikachu EX decks. Side Drive, its signature attack, hits for 150 damage but requires discarding two Psychic energies, and its attack cost of two Psychic and two Colorless energies is steep. This is where Gardevoir comes in, supporting Mewtwo EX with its Shadow Ability to attach an extra Psychic Energy from your Energy Zone to an active Psychic Pokémon once per turn.
Key Partners: Gardevoir is essential here, providing extra energy acceleration to enable Mewtwo EX’s Side Drive attack consistently. To keep the deck consistent, use only Mewtwo EX and Ralts as Basic Pokémon, reducing the chance of starting with an unwanted Pokémon.
Strategies and Tips: Consider using Giovanni to enable Mewtwo EX’s Psychic Sphere attack, dealing 60 damage to snipe basic Pokémon like Charmander and Pikachu. Fossils also play an important role in this deck, acting as “fake” Basics that can throw off your opponent’s targeting strategy, buying you time to set up Mewtwo EX for devastating attacks.
3. Charizard EX with Moltres EX: The Fiery Powerhouse
For raw damage output, Charizard EX is unmatched with its massive Crimson Storm attack that hits for 200 damage. Charizard EX’s only downside is the high energy requirement—two Fire and two Colorless—and the need to discard two Fire Energy after each use. Thankfully, Moltres EX provides energy acceleration with Inferno Dance, which lets you attach Fire Energy from your Energy Zone to any of your benched Pokémon.
Key Partners: Moltres EX is a must-have in this deck, accelerating Fire Energy to Charizard EX to power up Crimson Storm as quickly as possible. Like the Mewtwo EX deck, limit your Basics to only Charmander and Moltre EX for maximum consistency.
Strategies and Tips: Using Potions will help Moltres EX stay in play longer, allowing you to build up Charizard EX on the bench. Sabrina can be helpful in this deck to disrupt your opponent’s plans by forcing them to switch Pokémon, giving you more control over the battlefield.
4. Blaine’s Ninetales and Rapidash: A Budget-Friendly Option
This budget-friendly deck is surprisingly powerful without any Pokémon EX. The deck’s strategy is simple yet effective, relying on Rapidash and Ninetales to deal consistent damage. Rapidash’s Fire Mane attack costs only one Fire Energy and deals 40 damage, which can increase to 70 with Blaine’s support, allowing you to quickly KO evolving Basics.
Key Partners: Blaine boosts the damage of both Rapidash and Ninetales. Ninetales’ Flamethrower attack does 90 damage with two Fire Energy and can be increased to 120 with Blaine, making it a serious threat to Pokémon like Pikachu EX.
Strategies and Tips: The utility of Vulpix’s Tail Whip attack is often underrated; a successful heads on Tail Whip prevents your opponent’s active Pokémon from attacking on their next turn. This can buy valuable time to build up your board and prepare stronger attacks.
5. Articuno EX and Starmie EX: The Water Duo
Articuno EX is one of the most fun and unique decks but faces a challenge against Pikachu EX due to its Lightning weakness. Starmie EX is the core of this deck, with its Hydro Splash attack that deals 90 damage for just two Water Energy. With Starmie EX in play, you can apply constant pressure on your opponent from early in the game.
Key Partners: Articuno EX is a powerful secondary attacker with Blizzard, which not only hits for 80 damage but also deals 10 damage to each of your opponent’s benched Pokémon. This spread damage can be valuable for finishing off Pokémon weakened by Starmie EX’s Hydro Splash.
Strategies and Tips: Misty is a fantastic supporter in this deck, allowing you to attach additional Water Energy through coin flips. Since Starmie EX only requires two Water Energy, a single successful head on Misty is enough to power it up. Giovanni is also useful here, adding extra damage that can help Articuno EX and Starmie EX reach key knockouts on more bulky Pokémon.
Final Thoughts
That’s it for my top five decks in Pokémon TCG Pocket! The Pokémon TCG Pocket meta is still developing, and new strategies continue to emerge, so these rankings are far from set in stone. Buy Pokemon TCG Pocket Account from MMOexp.com then be sure to experiment with different decks and find what works best for you.
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