I finally pulled Darkrai ex in Pokemon TCG Pocket. I used my tried-and-tested pack method of getting my daughter to open my packs for me, and she pulled the beautiful alt art version. She didn’t understand why I was so excited – nearly 200 packs of Space-Time Smackdown and no Darkrai was sending me west – and complained that there wasn’t a Pikachu or Snorlax in there, but I quickly got to work.
It’s the nature of RNG that a second Darkrai ex followed shortly after, and I set to work building a deck. Darkrai and Weavile had caught my attention as soon as the new set dropped, so I started there.
But I didn’t get on with it. Sure, Weavile ex only needs one Darkness energy to do as much as 70 damage (90 with a weakness on the opposing side), but the whole deck wasn’t consistent enough. I couldn’t draw the cards I needed at the right time. I shifted the Trainers around, I tweaked and I tinkered, but no dice.
Other people were having success with the deck, but it just wasn’t working for me. So I went Full Meta. Darkrai ex and Magnezone. I’m not proud.
Wait a minute. This wasn’t really working either. Sure, sometimes I pulled out a win through sheer attrition, but it wasn’t consistent. I won about 50 percent of my matches, which is nothing compared to the devastating alchemy of my favourite Weezing/Scolipede combination.
Again, I tweaked, but nothing seemed to sit right. Finding success with a deck often entails a lot of practice, but I gave each of these a fair shake, and they just didn’t do it for me in the event matches. Perhaps they’re better in tournament scenarios than a random leaderboard? Perhaps they’re overrated? Perhaps they’re just not for me?
Pokemon TCG Pocket Electivire And Magneton Deck
The most important thing I took from my Darkrai ex experiments was that I didn’t find the deck fun. The constant plink, plink of Darkrai ex taking down your opponents 20HP at a time just didn’t appeal to me – and that’s coming from a Weezing player.
So I decided to go off-meta. I love Lightning-types, so I’d build around them. There’s got to be a way to utilise Magnezone in an all-Electric deck, right? Right.
Okay, you caught me. Using Magnezone isn’t exactly off-meta. Magneton’s Volt Charge ability is really good right now, and some of the very best decks in the game use it. But I haven’t seen many people use it in conjunction with Electivire. Here’s my list:
- 2x Electabuzz
- 2x Electivire
- 2x Magnemite
- 2x Magneton (make sure this is the Genetic Apex version with Volt Charge)
- 2x Magnezone
- 2x Poke Ball
- 2x Professor’s Research
- 2x Lt. Surge
- 1x Volkner
- 1x Sabrina
Everything here revolves around my trusty Electivire, Hugh. The idea is to set him up as fast as possible to deal 120 damage a turn. If he goes down, I should be able to set up my second Electivire, HughTwo, even quicker. However, I’ve made a few bold calls in order to do this.
He’s called Hugh because I made a typo in the deck name ‘High Voltage’.
Most Lightning decks find Volkner more important than Lt Surge. I disagree. While it’s handy to grab two energy from your discard pile, Surge can pull four (or more) energy off your bench to buff Electabuzz and pull a surprise attack. With Magneton generating energy so quickly and the potential to have two on your bench, you can set up an Electivire in a single turn. People don’t expect it, so they get overconfident, leave their precious ex cards in, and generally misplay.
A single Volkner is handy for the late game, don’t get me wrong, this 2:1 ratio of Surges to Volkners works best. Every other card barring Sabrina is vital, so there’s no room for any of the fun new Pokemon Tools, but I don’t think any would seriously impact this deck. You’re meant to hit hard, get knocked out, and set up again immediately to take the win.
A Giovanni would be nice, as that would allow Electivire to one-hit KO Palkia from full health, but a little chip damage from Magnemite would achieve the same result.
This isn’t a deck that never bricks, but also sometimes the stars align and you can have four energy on your Electivire by your second turn. This is a deck about speed and support, and it’s the most fun way to play Pokemon Pocket.
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Unsurprisingly, People Are Making Money Selling Virtual Pokemon TCG Pocket Cards
It won’t be long before the ban hammer falls on them.