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With so many different cards to choose from, Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s metagame is constantly shifting, with new decks appearing all the time. While most decks center around one or two powerful ex cards, there are quite a few decks that don’t, like the Arbok and Pidgeot deck that we’ll take a look at today.
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This deck uses the special effects from Arbok and Pidgeot to gain complete control over the enemy’s Pokemon, forcing them to retreat or stay in battle. This gives you flexibility on which enemy Pokemon to target, allowing you to negate their strategy. Below, we’ll go over every card in this deck and how to play it.
Arbok And Pidgeot Decklist
The two stars of this deck are Arbok and Pidgeot, with the remainder of the deck being to support their playstyle. Sabrina can be used if you don’t get Pidgeot fast enough, while X Speeds are used to facilitate quickly swapping between Arbok and Pidgeot to implement the deck’s main strategy of keeping the enemy where you want them.
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Arbok/Pidgeot Decklist |
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Ekans x2 |
Arbok x2 |
Pidgey x2 |
Pidgotto x2 |
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Pidgeot x2 |
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Potion x2 |
X Speed x2 |
Poke Ball x2 |
Sabrina x2 |
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Professor’s Research x2 |
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Because this deck uses no ex cards, it’s fairly easy to build. Plus, you can get Ekans and Arbok from any Genetic Apex deck, making it easy to get them while you pull for the Pidgeot line from Mewtwo packs. Sabrina only comes from Charizard packs, but you can pick her up from the Pack Point Exchange for just 70 Points.
Deck Strategy
The main strategy of this deck is to combine Arbok’s Corner with Pidgeot’s Drive Off ability. Arbok’s Corner attack deals 60 damage and makes the opponent unable to retreat, while Pidgeot’s Drive Off forces the enemy to switch out.
Using both of these abilities, you can very effectively control which of the enemy’s Pokemon stays in battle, allowing you to pick off weaker Pokemon and gain easy points. However, keep in mind that both Arbok and Pidgeot have fairly low-damage attacks, so this deck’s overall damage output is rather low.
Your main strategy is to take down basic Pokemon, as higher-health ex Pokemon just have too much health to deal with.
The best starting hand includes Ekans, Pidgey, a Professor’s Research, and ideally an Arbok. This will let you start with Ekans, attack, then evolve into Arbok and attack on the next turn, while also setting up a Pidgey to evolve later.
Pidgey is very weak before it evolves, so it’s better to set it up from the bench rather than the active position. Of course, this isn’t always possible, so make strategic use of Potions, X Speeds, and Sabrina to keep your weak Pidgey alive long enough to evolve.
Deck Matchups
While the goal of this deck is the same no matter what your opponent is playing, there are some favorable and unfavorable matchups to be aware of. Thanks to Arbok’s Dark-typing, this deck is fairly strong against the popular Mewtwo ex decks, and Arbok’s Corner can take out Mewtwo ex in just two hits.
This works especially well if you can
force Mewtwo out early
when it’s still gaining energy, allowing you to take it down before your team is in real danger.
On the other side of the coin, this deck struggles against decks like Pikachu ex or Starmie ex. These cards have very low energy requirements for high damage, meaning they can often outpace you and sweep your weak Basic Pokemon before you get a chance to get properly set up.
In these cases, you’ll need to be extra careful about how you use Corner, Drive Off, and Sabrina. If you’re lucky, you can force unfavorable trades for the opponent through these abilities, and hopefully squeeze out a win.
Next
Pokemon Pocket: How To Build A Melmetal And Bisharp Deck
Utilize the abilities of Melmetal and Bisharp to frustrate your opponent and lead your way to victory.