How To Beat The Gible Drop Event Battles In Pokemon Pocket TCG

Since its introduction in the fourth generation of Pokemon games, Garchomp has been a fan favorite. If you’re working on your Garchomp ex deck for Pokemon TCG Pocket, you’ll definitely want to check out the Gible Drop Event!

Like other Drop events, the Gible Drop Event introduces a couple of mechanically new cards, new art for existing cards, and additional rewards for players looking to progress their collection or flair their favorite decks. And while this one doesn’t offer a powerful, mechanically unique ex Pokemon, it does feature everyone’s favorite chompy boy, Gible!

What Is The Gible Drop Event?

Drop events are Solo Battle events that occur about once per month. The Gible Drop Event is the Solo Battle event for March, 2025. It runs from March 3rd, 2025 until March 17, 2025. Pokemon TCG Pocket events begin and end at 12:00AM CST, so check your News tab for the exact time it ends in your area.

This event gives you two weeks to earn Promo Packs containing unique cards. Like previous Drop events, there are five promo cards, including two mechanically unique cards. Since Event Stamina recharges every twelve hours, you have time for about 32 Solo Battles before the event ends.

Gible Drop Event New Items

As with all Drop Events, the Gible Drop Event gives you access to five new cards, each with new artwork not previously available in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Of the five cards, three are reprints from Triumphant Light, and two are brand new.

The card the event is named after is Gible, which is featured on a full-art card illustrated by Uninori. This is a reprint of the version in Triumphant Light, so you can live without it, but it’s a great addition to a Garchomp ex deck.

The other two reprints are the Triumphant Light Raichu, featuring brand-new art from Kazumasa Yasukuni, and the Sunshine-Form Cherrim. Cherrim features art from the 2018 Ultra Prism expansion, illustrated by MAHOU.

The first unique card is Nosepass. This version features art by Tomokazu Komiya, originally found in the Pokemon Trading Card Game’s Guardians Rising expansion. With two Energy, this Nosepass can prevent all damage for a turn… on a lucky coin flip. This is one less Energy than the Triumphant Light Probopass ex needs to attack, allowing you a little breathing room to set up.

The final card and second unique one is Staraptor, featuring new art from Hasuno. While Pokemon TCG Pocket doesn’t use Resistance like the original game, Staraptor’s Defensive Whirlwind gives it a functional 30-damage resistance against Fighting Pokemon.

Gible Drop Event Battles

There are four difficulty levels available, but you need to beat each one before the next one unlocks. Each has unique missions and rewards, but the real prize is the Promo Packs.

You can receive Promo Packs as a random prize for winning at any difficulty level, but the higher the difficulty, the better the odds. The Expert deck always gives a Promo Pack.

Beginner – Gabite Deck

The Gabite deck is a really simple deck, featuring 16 Basic Pokemon, two Stage 1 Pokemon (Gabite), and two Poke Balls. All 18 Pokemon in this deck are weak to Grass, but with a maximum of 80 HP, it’s a simple Battle that you should be able to beat with your original tutorial deck.

In order to get all of the Battle Task rewards, it’s a good idea to use a reasonably quick Grass-type deck. Celebi ex / Exeggutor ex is a perfect build to win this quickly and earn all of the rewards in a single shot, minimizing the Event Stamina spent to earn rewards.

Intermediate – Gabite & Rhyperior Deck

The Intermediate deck switches out a bunch of Basic Pokemon to add a full Rhyperior line and two Professor’s Research to help find the Rhydon and Rhyhorn you need to get it rolling. These changes make the deck much more powerful, but also much slower.

This deck keeps the Grass weakness from the previous version, as well as the task to score KOs with Grass-type Pokemon. If you’re using a Grass deck from the Beginner Battle, you probably don’t need to change anything.

You can complete the second and third Battle Task without winning, and you don’t lose Event Stamina unless you win. After finishing this battle once, you can build a deck where the only Basic Pokemon is the Jigglypuff from the Venusaur Drop Event. Use Sing as soon as possible, then concede to collect three Event Stamina.

Advanced – Garchomp ex & Gliscor Deck

The Advanced deck is starting to get problematic. The addition of Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop makes the deck a little less weak to Grass, and Hitmonlee allows the CPU to attack your Benched Pokemon. Meanwhile, Gliscor can do 60 damage on one Energy, and Garchomp ex can attack your Active or Benched Pokemon.

Despite these improvements, the deck can still be taken down by most well-played decks without using big ex Pokemon. We were able to win our first attempt using the SkarZone deck, which also completed the Battle Task that required a deck using only Pokemon of one, two, or three-diamond rarity.

If your deck uses the promo Skarmory from the Cresselia ex Drop Event, swap it for the two-diamond version from Space-Time Smackdown. Promo cards do not meet the rarity requirement for the Battle Task.

Expert – Garchomp ex & Lucario Deck

The Expert-level deck loses some of the versatility of the Advanced deck by dropping Hitmonlee, but picks up the slack with a big damage boost. Lucario can come out as early as turn three and its Fighting Coach ability adds 20 damage to all Fighting-type attacks against your Active Pokemon. That bonus stacks, so the CPU can swing for 70 damage before you’ve had a chance to evolve your first Pokemon.

Fortunately, it takes a while for Garchomp to set up, and the CPU prioritizes Hitmonchan as an early attacker. If you can KO Gabite (especially after your opponent has two Energy invested) you’ll have a big advantage. It’s also a good idea to try to KO Lucario, which will both score a Prize Point and reduce incoming damage for the rest of the match.