The Best Decks For Triumphant Light Cards In Pokemon Pocket

Usually, when new set for Pokemon TCG Pocket come out, new deck types are created from the ground up. But Triumphant Light’s card pool was more about expanding already existing deck types. Cards are built in with specific links and tie-ins to others, with more decks featuring Pokemon of various card types.

Related

Pokemon Pocket: Every Arceus Link Pokemon, Ranked

As long as Arceus is in play, all these Pokemon TCG Pocket cards get powerful abilities.

Triumphant Light didn’t contribute to or create an overly dominant deck, but instead contributed to the emergence of a large variety of decks. There is no doubt that Triumphant Light’s powerful supporters and energy versatility will give it great longevity in Pokemon Pocket.

10

Pachirisu ex

Good Against Fast Water Decks

For the most part, Pachirisu ex decks haven’t been altered much, but what they match up well with has become more popular. Water decks have become much stronger due to Irelidia, and Pachirisu ex’s typing advantage makes it a great counter. Other decks that have Pokemon that can jumpstart quick offense, like Leafeon ex, mean that decks that can match their speed are rising in value.

To get the most out of Pachirisu ex’s speed, you’ll likely want to make it the only Pokemon in your deck. If one of your Pachirisu ex’s is discarded, there is now Celestic Town Elder to bring it back, and since it only needs two energy, a discarded Pachirisu ex can get back in the action quickly.​​​​​​​

9

Gengar

No Longer Needs an ex To Be a Threat

Pokemon Pocket hasn’t been kind to Gengar fans. Gengar has struggled to find any type of niche due to Gengar ex having relatively low attack and being overshadowed by Mewtwo ex. Now that Mewtwo ex decks have fallen out of favor, Gengar is starting to carve a nice niche for itself in more casual play.

Triumphant Light introduces a new Gengar line including a Ghastly that can affect your opponent’s hand and a Gengar that can attack with two energy. Modern Gengar decks will likely want to only play one Gengar ex as a Plan B option. Another notable thing about Gengar ex is that as support cards become more frequent and powerful, the ability to negate them continues to rise in value.​​​​​​​

8

Garchomp

One Of The Best Bench Sniping Decks

Garchomp became the best dragon type, and Triumphant Light launched an ex version, which also means Garchomp might be the best fighting type as well. Garchomp players have their choice of mixing the evolutionary lines with dragon and fighting types for typing advantages in certain matchups.

Garchomp ex is one of the best snipers in Pokemon Pocket. 50 damage to any Pokemon of your choice for only one fighting is massive. Pokemon communication can help you get your evolutionary Pokemon, and if you go a mixed energy route, you can burst your opponent with Cynthia and STSD Garchomp still.​​​​​​​

Counters 18 Trainer Decks Hard

The best typing for one-point decks continues to be fighting. Sudowudo is the latest one-point warrior to join the team. Sudowudo looks unimpressive at first, with only 20 damage for one energy. However, it totals 50 damage against any ex.

Related

Pokemon Pocket: Gible Drop Event Guide

Pokemon Pocket’s Gible event has some rewarding battles to conquer!

Basic ex Pokemon have always been valuable, but with 18 trainer decks (which manipulate the mulligan system to get a strong Pokemon into your opening hand) and Arceus ex becoming more popular, having a Pokemon that can open with 50 damage is incredibly valuable.

Arceus ex is also weak to fighting, so Sudowudo can beat Arceus ex in two turns. Following up with a Marshadow for a 100, or tacking on an extra 20 damage with an early Lucario can make Sudowudo contribute to deceptively large damage.

6

Yanmega ex

Irida Uniquely Boost Yanmega

Due to its colorless requirement for attacking, Yanmega ex works perfectly with two of the best cards in Triumphant Light. You can run water energy, which means Irida is at your disposal.

Leafeon ex, arguably the best ex Pokemon in the set, can run in any energy deck since it generates its own energy. Not only that, but Leafeon ex can also create energy for its peers, giving you the option of putting in a Celebi ex if you want a big finisher.​​​​​​​

5

Articuno ex

Healing Gives It The Longevity It Needs

The most popular Pokemon card we see in 18 trainer decks is Articuno ex. This is due to Articuno ex’s stable and diverse attacking options and scalability with energy accelerators like Misty. Articuno ex doesn’t have the best late game damage, which means that it needs two turns to defeat stronger ex Pokemon, and Triumphant Light has fixed this problem.

Iridia is shaping up to be the best card in Triumphant Light, and water Pokemon like Articuno ex are the biggest benefactors. Articuno ex now can tank multiple shots and has a chance at winning against bigger attackers. Celestic Town Elder allows you to bring back a fallen Articuno ex, which allows you to use retreat-based tactics.​​​​​​​

4

Darkrai ex

Crobat Is An Effective Alternative To Greninja

Along with Magnezone, Darkrai ex was a massive boost to dark decks in Space-Time Smackdown and was a nightmare matchup for most players in Pokemon Pocket. Darkrai ex’s most popular build usually paired it with Greninja, who could stack its passive damage alongside Darkrai ex.

Related

Pokemon Pocket: 7 Best Psychic-Type Pokemon In Triumphant Light, Ranked

These are the best Psychic-type cards for your deck from Triumphant Light.

Greninja and Darkrai ex are still a good pairing, but a competitive alternate in Crobat has arrived. Crobat can’t do passive damage to the bench, but does a whopping 30 to the active spot, the most passive damage of any Pokemon. Arceus ex makes for a solid partner that can soak up damage or tag in for late game damage since Darkrai ex is more of a mid-game Pokemon card.​​​​​​​

3

Skarmory

Has Massive Boost To Its Durability

Whether you’re running Skarmory or Dialga, it’s safe to say that metal decks of all types have become better thanks to Adaman. Adaman supplies a whopping -20 damage reduction. Considering many metal Pokemon like Bastiodon and Melmetal already have substantial damage reduction, this makes metal the hardest deck to do damage against.

The extra durability is well needed on Pokemon with subpar HP like Skarmory, who relies on rushing down its opponents early game. The -20 could mean that Skarmory gets an extra attack in, which is pivotal in coming out ahead.​​​​​​​

2

Dialga ex

Has Another Basic Ex Pokemon To Partner With

Although Dialga ex was a powerful card during the Space Time Smackdown, it never quite hit the top of the tiers in tournament play. Dialga ex’s new dance partner, Arceus ex, gives him an ally that can hit as hard as any other ex in the game.

Arceus ex is a colorless Pokemon, so it benefits from Dialga ex’s ability to supply metal. Arceus ex has HP nearly as high as Dialga ex but has the realistic potential of hitting for 130 damage. Since Arceus ex is a basic Pokemon, it’ll be more consistent to get out than Melmetal, who is a stage one and requires more energy to attack with.​​​​​​​

1

Starmie ex

Is Primed For a Comeback Thanks To Irida

There have been ups and downs in the career of Starmie ex. Arguably the best ex Pokemon during Genetic Apex due to its low energy requirements, it had a hard time finding a spot in Mythical Island and Spacetime Smackdown. Starmie ex’s 130 HP is on the low side, so if you couldn’t overwhelm your opponent within three turns or so, you likely were going to lose.

Giant Cape helped reduce this durability issue, but now Irelidia has greatly raised the consistency of healing Starmie ex. 90 attack by itself isn’t enough to one-shot any meaningful Pokemon, but two turns of 180 damage gets the job done against nearly every Pokemon, including Charizard, due to typing advantage. Ex monsters with subpar attack and HP have disproportionately gained value from healing in Triumphant Light.

Systems

Released

October 30, 2024

Publisher(s)

The Pokemon Company