Best decks for Pokemon TCG Pocket

Decklist:

• Ralts x2
• Kirlia x2
• Gardevoir x2
• Mewtwo EX x2
• Poke Ball x2
• Potion x2
• Red Card x1
• X Speed x2
• Giovanni x1
• Professor’s Research x2
• Sabrina x2

If you’ve been playing multiplayer since Pokemon TCG Pocket launched, you’re probably already aware this is one of the best decks around, to the point that it’s quite tiresome for many. I’ve entered battles before, merely throwing down my Mewtwo EX, and my opponent immediately surrendered. That’s right. It’s so potent that people can’t be bothered to fight against it.

The reason? The damage is incredibly reliable. Psydrive always deals 150. There’s no RNG involved like some of the other deck choices. Its only drawback is that it discards two Psychic energy, something you can mitigate when you have Gardevoir on your bench thanks to its Psy Shadow ability. That makes the playstyle very simple. Getting a fully evolved Gardevoir is the trickiest part, so you have to stall your opponent with Sabrina and Red Card until you’ve got all the pieces together before wreaking havoc with your Mewtwo EX.

The downside is that it relies heavily on getting Gardevoir onto your bench. Given it’s a third-stage evolution, that can take some time. In particular, I’ve often found myself drawing everything but Kirlia for the majority of a match. Still, Mewtwo EX’s Psychic Sphere does a respectable 50 damage. So you can get by without, but it’s much more of a struggle.

Decklist:

• Ekans x1
• Arbok x1
• Grimer x2
• Muk x2
• Koffing x2
• Weezing x2
• Poke Ball x2
• Potion x2
• Giovanni
• Koga x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Sabrina x1

Tired of Mewtwo and Gardevoir bullying you? Want a deck entirely designed to counter it? Allow me to introduce you to Muk, Weezing, and Koga. It might not be the best deck option in Pokemon TCG Pocket, but it certainly allows you to put Mewtwo in its place. And that’s all some of us want.

The aim is to get Weezing into the active zone, Poison the enemy Pokemon and then use Koga to pull it back to your hand to avoid the high Retreat cost. You’ll then want to throw Muk into battle and attack with Venoshock, which does an impressive 120 damage to Poison-afflicted Pokemon. However, our good friend Mewtwo takes an additional 20 from Dark-Types, so one Venoshock, plus the damage from the Poison would be all it takes to topple that big old cat.

The drawback is that it’s quite slow, requiring a lot of pieces to fall into place before you can devastate your opponent, and there are no ways to accelerate Dark energy just yet. Still, when it works, it’s very effective. If you’re on a budget or dedicated to F2P, it’s an excellent cheap option until you can construct some of the more powerful decks.

Decklist:

• Snivy x2
• Servine x2
• Serperior x2
• Dhelmise x1
• Celebi EX x2
• Poke Ball x2
• Potion x1
• X Speed x2
• Erika x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Sabrina x2

With the Mythical Island expansion, we’ve received a fun new deck that’s shaking up the meta. While everyone expected Mew EX to become the new go-to, it’s Generation II’s Mythical, Celebi, that’s providing one of the best decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket. And it’s straightforward to play. Everything revolves around getting Celebi EX in your active slot and Serperior on the bench.

Celebi EX’s Powerful Bloom allows you to flip a coin for each attached Energy. So, if you have four, you can flip that many coins. Each time you get heads, the attack deals 50 damage. That means the magic number three results in a whopping 150. Serperior’s Jungle Totem ability allows you to bolster your chances of doing so, making each Energy attached count as two, meaning if you have two attached, that’s effectively four Energy. While you’re waiting to get everything set up, Dhelmise makes for a good interim battler, boasting good HP and solid damage.

The negatives are likely obvious. Celebi dishing out a lot of damage is highly dependent on RNG. Of course, this is mitigated by the presence of Serperior, but therein also lies an issue. Getting the Regal Pokemon onto your bench isn’t a quick process. Without it, you have less Energy on your Celebi and, therefore, fewer chances of scoring those all-important heads.

Decklist:

• Staryu x2
• Starmie EX x2
• Articuno EX x2
• Poke Ball x2
• Potion x2
• Red Card x1
• X Speed x2
• Giovanni x1
• Misty x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Sabrina x2

Speed is an integral part of Pokemon TCG Pocket. There are some seemingly great decks out there, but only in theory. They often take too long to get going, which means they’re quickly beaten by the likes of Starmie EX. On paper, it might not look that tough, with Hydro Splash only dealing a mere 90 damage, but it’s the quick set-up that makes this deck formidable.

For this one, you only need three Pokemon – Staryu, Articuno EX, and Starmie EX. With the right luck, you can have a Starmie out on turn two, ready to start knocking out Basic Pokemon or taking a large dent out of the likes of Mewtwo EX. It also has no retreat cost, meaning you can pull it away from a potential defeat without issue, subbing in another Starmie or Articuno. The latter serves as a backup and is the better option if the battle draws on longer than you’d like.

While this deck is extremely fast and effective, if you don’t draw Starmie, it does struggle. And by the time you hand one in your hand, it could be too late. Likewise, the Water typing means that Pikachu EX is a serious problem for this deck, which requires luck to overcome.

Decklist:

• Pikachu x2
• Raichu x2
• Pincurchin x1
• Pikachu EX x2
• Zapdos EX x2
• Poke Ball x2
• Potion x1
• X Speed x2
• Giovanni x1
• Lt. Surge x1
• Professor’s Research x2
• Sabrina x2

It seems only fitting that Pokemon’s long-time mascot, Pikachu, is the main focus of one of TCG Pocket’s best decks. The goal is simple. Get the electric mouse into your active slot and fill your bench with other Lightning Types. Doing so allows Pikachu EX to deal a respectable 90 damage for only two Energy. Much like Starmie, it’s quick to set up, and potentially more so, given that you can draw Pikachu using Poke Ball.

Pincurchin, meanwhile, acts as a way to semi-reliably stall your opponent, leaving you to power up your Pika. Raichu and Zapdos offer the bigger damage, although they’re both situational. Zapdos relies on RNG, while Raichu’s Thunderbolt is incredibly powerful but requires you to discard all of your Energy, making it better as a finisher than a reliable source of damage. If you prefer, you could run Electrode or Zebstrika instead, but I’ve personally had more success with Raichu and Zapdos EX.

The negatives of this deck become apparent if you hit the late game. By then, your opponent might have some powerful beasties out on the field that you don’t have the firepower to bring down. You have to set up quickly and strike fast. If not, you’re likely on your way to a loss.

And that’s five of the best decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket. If you’re new to the game, why not check out our other guides and learn how to get more precious Hourglasses in TCG Pocket? Or check out how to snag a few more Shop Tickets.