Since its debut in Pokemon X & Y, Greninja has been a fan favorite. The version in Pokemon TCG Pocket uses its Water Shuriken ability to snipe your opponent’s Pokemon from the Bench, applying pressure to what’s normally a safe zone.
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When paired with Articuno ex, another Pokemon that pressures Benched Pokemon with consistent damage, Greninja becomes a significant threat that can score three or more Prize Points in a single turn. With multiple prints of Greninja available, there’s never been a better time to build your own deck around the slippery shinobi.
Sample Decklist
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Greninja / Articuno ex |
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Froakie x2 |
Frogadier x2 |
Greninja x2 |
Articuno ex x2 |
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Misty x2 |
Professor’s Research x2 |
Sabrina x2 |
Potion x2 |
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X-Speed x2 |
Poke Ball x2 |
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There isn’t much wiggle room in this decklist: each card is the best option for its slot, and there are few options to replace them. You can swap out one Articuno ex for a three-diamond Articuno, but if you’re missing both or Misty, you’re better off building a Greninja / Weezing deck.
Greninja Articuno ex Deck Strategy
The Greninja / Articuno ex combo is one of the few decks that can benefit from going first. The game doesn’t actually prohibit you from attacking on the first turn, just attaching Energy. Setting Articuno ex as your first Active Pokemon and getting a lucky Misty with at least two heads allows you to attack right off the bat, and even one heads gives you access to Ice Wing on your second turn.
Going first also allows you to place Froakie on the bench and evolve the next two turns, giving you access to its Water Shuriken ability. A second Greninja gives you another copy of the ability, allowing you to deal up to 50 damage to a benched Pokemon every turn.
Articuno ex is your primary attacker, so make sure to get three Energy on it as soon as possible in order to access its powerful Blizzard attack. Once it has three Energy, use your Poke Balls and Professor’s Research to find the second Articuno ex to attach Energy to as a backup.
Energy should only be attached to Greninja after all Articuno exs have three Energy attached or in an emergency where you need to retreat Greninja without X-Speed in your hand.
With three Energy on Articuno ex, use Greninja to soften targets so that you can take them out with Blizzard. Using Water Shuriken, you can hit your opponent’s active Khangaskan for 20 damage, then finish it off with Blizzard, pick off Pokemon on the Bench with 30 HP remaining, or take out the Active Pokemon with Water Shuriken and hit a fresher one with Blizzard.
Sabrina is a particularly useful card in this type of deck: your opponent may swap a low-HP Pokemon into the Active position to protect another one, but you can use Sabrina to push it back to the bench to be KOed by Blizzard’s effect. Or use Greninja to KO it, then use Sabrina to push the one your opponent wants Active back to the Bench.
Greninja Articuno ex Matchups
Arcanine ex is one of the best decks in the current meta, but it’s at a terrible disadvantage against Greninja and Articuno ex. Inferno Onrush, Arcanine ex’s attack, isn’t able to OHKO Articuno, even with Giovanni active, but it takes 20 more damage from Water-type attacks.
One Blizzard while Arcanine ex is setting up, or a Water Shuriken and Inferno Onrush becomes a death sentence for Arcanine ex. Even a trade is usually favorable to you since Articuno ex is less resource-intensive to set up than Arcanine ex.
Charizard ex decks don’t face the same issues thanks to Charizard’s higher HP, devastating Crimson Storm attack, and the lack of recoil on any attack. Blaine decks, on the other hand, are at a more pronounced disadvantage due to lower HP and damage output.
Pikachu ex is a terrible matchup for Greninja / Articuno ex for several reasons: Pikachu ex sets up incredibly quickly, all Pokemon in your deck has a weakness to Lightning, and it’s one of the most common decks in the meta.
While Pikachu ex, like Arcanine ex, cannot OHKO Articuno ex, it doesn’t need to because it outruns Articuno ex, allowing it to score a KO while Articuno ex finishes setting up. In that kind of race, you’re unlikely to get enough Energy on your second Articuno ex to get another hit before that one, too, hits the discard pile.
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