If the first pack you opened in Pokemon TCG Pocket was the Pikachu pack, you were immediately rewarded with the Legendary Pokemon, Arcanine ex. Unfortunately for Arcanine fans, the fiery canine hasn’t been a meta pick to build a deck around, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful.
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Arcanine ex decks made a splash when players realized that they were uniquely suited for taking down the incredibly powerful Pikachu ex decks that dominated the early Pokemon TCG Pocket meta, making them a dark horse contender in online tournaments. Learn how to build and play them here!
Arcanine ex Sample Decklist
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Arcanine ex |
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Growlithe x2 |
Arcanine ex x2 |
Moltres ex x2 |
Aerodactyl |
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Professor’s Research x2 |
Giovanni x2 |
Sabrina |
Old Amber |
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X-Speed x2 |
Poke Ball x2 |
Potion x2 |
Red Card |
Aerodactyl with Old Amber provides two benefits. First, if your opponent is running a deck with few Pokemon, like a strict Articuno ex/Misty deck, it can win by “donk,” shuffling away your opponent’s only Pokemon for an easy win. Second, it can gust away dangerous Pokemon like Blastoise ex after your opponent has spent several turns attaching energy, which is a major setback.
If you’re missing Aerodactyl or Old Amber, you can swap them out for an extra Sabrina and Red Card. You won’t miss them in most games, and Sabrina can offer a similar effect, pushing away a dangerous Pokemon so you can attack a weaker one.
Alternatively, swapping out Old Amber and Aerodactyl for Drowzee and Hypno will allow you to put your opponent’s Active Pokemon to sleep without risking giving up a Prize Point. The downside is that you may end up with Drowzee as your only Basic Pokemon.
Arcanine ex Deck Strategy
Arcanine ex follows the same basic strategy as Charizard ex: use Moltres ex to place Energy on your Growlithe and Arcanine ex, then retreat Moltres ex and start attacking.
Charizard ex has higher HP and does significantly more damage, but Arcanine ex is much faster to set up. Inferno Onrush only needs three Energy compared to the five Charizard ex needs to use Crimson Storm two turns in a row, and Arcanine ex is a Stage 1 Pokemon, so you only need to evolve once.
Whenever possible, Moltres ex should be your first Active Pokemon, with a Growlithe on the bench. Don’t panic if you only have a Growlithe in your hand or don’t have one to put on the Bench, since Poke Ball is reasonably reliable for finding the Basic Pokemon you’re missing.
Moltres ex serves as both your Energy acceleration and as a shield for Growlithe while you try to evolve it. Use Inferno Dance to attach Energy to your Growlithe while you dig for Arcanine ex to evolve it. Potions should be used cautiously on Moltres ex, since you may also need them for Arcanine ex, whose Inferno Onrush damages itself.
Once Arcanine has three Energy, retreat Moltres ex (using an X-Speed or two) so that Arcanine ex can use Inferno Onrush for 120 damage. Additional Energy can be played onto Moltres ex so that it can use Heat Blast, onto a second Growlithe on your Bench to replace the first one if it’s Knocked Out, or onto Aerodactyl.
One extra Energy on Arcanine ex will allow it to retreat, and then be ready to attack the next turn after attaching another Energy.
If your opponent brings out a big threat like Blastoise ex or Charizard ex, both of which can OHKO Arcanine ex, switch in Aerodactyl and use Primal Wingbeat to try and shuffle it back into your opponent’s deck. For Stage 2 Pokemon, they’ll need several more turns (and lucky draws) to rebuild, giving you time to pick off their weaker Pokemon.
Arcanine ex Deck Matchups
The biggest reason to play Arcanine ex (aside from being a fan of the goodest boy in the Pokemon franchise) is because of the stellar matchup against Pikachu ex, the dominant deck in the game. Arcanine ex decks win almost 70 percent of matches against Pikachu ex thanks to the ace Pokemon’s bulk and perfect damage to Knock Out everyone’s favorite electric mouse.
Moltres ex does have a weakness against Lightning-type Pokemon, but Arcanine ex powers up fast enough that you should be safe from anything short of a lucky Thundering Hurricane, which takes longer to set up than Arcanine ex.
Venusaur ex can heal an absurd amount of HP (up to 160 per turn, with the right build and hand!), but its weakness to fire means that you should have no problem taking it down, as long as you can get the first hit in.
Venusaur ex takes a long time to set up, so you’ll have time to score a Knock-Out on Exeggutor ex before Venusaur can get all the Energy it needs. Judicious use of Sabrina can bypass whatever Pokemon your opponent tries to block with to score the last point you need.
Blastoise ex isn’t a common deck, but it’s uniquely threatening to Arcanine ex. With Misty’s Energy acceleration, Blastoise ex can build up enough Energy to OHKO every Pokemon in the Arcanine ex deck, or pull off revenge KOs after a single Inferno Onrush with the help of Giovanni.
Arcanine ex is still faster to set up, so you should be able to snag a Knock-Out while your opponent’s Blastoise is still a Wartortle. Sabrina and Aerodactyl will be useful for forcing vulnerable Pokemon to the Active position, but the biggest advantage is how uncommon Blastoise ex decks are.
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