Arceus ex And Dialga ex Deck Guide For Pokemon Pocket

The world of Pokemon is filled with creatures both big and small, strong and weak. However, at the peak of all that exists stands is the one Pokemon behind creation itself, Arceus. With the God of the Pokemon universe finally making an appearance in Pokemon Pocket, many are wondering what the best Arceus ex deck is.

With enough time having gone past and multiple tournaments concluded using Triumphant Light cards, one of Arceus ex’s best decks seems to be the Arceus ex and Dialga ex deck, boasting a winrate so high it might very well be one of the best Pokemon Pocket decks in the game.

Arceus ex And Dialga ex Sample Decklist

What Are The Important Cards?

The Arceus ex and Dialga ex deck has a very straightforward core that includes Arceus ex, Dialga ex, and a Shaymin.

Since these are all Basic Pokemon, their evolutions won’t clog up deck space, allowing you to run a lot of different cards for different deck variations.

Arceus Ex

Arceus ex is the card that gives this deck its identity. It’s a Basic Pokemon, which increases your chance of drawing it early. If you can’t get it on time, your Pokeballs are almost guaranteed to fetch one.

Since Arceus ex is a Basic Pokemon, this also means you don’t need a setup that involves multiple turns to evolve it. Simply playing it from hand gives you a high 140 HP Pokemon that can start dealing damage early.

Arceus ex is your main damage dealer in the Arceus ex and Dialga ex deck. On just three Colorless-Type Energy, Arceus ex can use Ultimate Force to do 130 damage each turn, so long as you have a full bench.

For added tankiness and consistency, Arceus ex also has the Fabled Luster ability. This passively protects Arceus ex from any status effects. This includes Sleep, Poison, Paralysis, Burn, Confusion, etc.

Dialga Ex

Dialga ex is just as important as Arceus ex in this deck, having similar roles as it does in a Dialga ex and Yanmega ex deck.

First, Dialga ex functions as a nice opening tank with its high 150 HP despite being a Basic Pokemon. This lets your Dialga ex tank hits without worrying about dying to a Farfetch’d or Skarmory too early.

With Metallic Turbo, you can enable your Arceus ex and Mew ex as soon as turn three since they both need only three Energies to function, two of which can be given with Metallic Turbo.

The main reason for Dialga ex being in this deck is the Metallic Turbo attack that lets you put two Metal-Type Energies to your benched Pokemon.

If push comes to shove, Dialga ex’s Heavy Impact can also deal 100 damage to either force your opponent to retreat or as a finisher.

This also lets you run Shaymin for its Sky Support ability, since it can make Dialga ex retreat for less.

You’d almost always want to start the game with a Dialga ex. The card being a Basic Pokemon increases your chances of doing so.

Sky Support Shaymin

One problem you may face with this deck is its high retreat costs. Both Arceus ex and Dialga ex retreat for two Energies. This can be a problem that forces you into unfavorable trades due to your inability to retreat.

Using Triumphant Light’s version of Shaymin is one of the best ways to combat this weakness due to its Sky Support ability.

Shaymin’s Sky Support lets you retreat your Basic Pokemon for one less Energy each turn. This usually isn’t that strong, since Basic Pokemon usually have low HP pools and aren’t the greatest threats.

However, with Legendary Pokemon like Arceus ex and Dialga ex, it becomes an amazing card that lets you play riskier without worrying about not being able to retreat on time.

If you’re playing Dawn in the deck or plan on putting a retreated Pokemon back on the active spot later on, Shaymin also lets you be more efficient in Energy by saving one.

Lastly, since Arceus ex needs a full bench of Pokemon to deal full damage, Shaymin acts as a splendid bench filler due to it being a Basic Pokemon and having a passive ability that works from the bench.

Other Cards

While the Arceus ex and Dialga ex core is extremely strong by itself, you’ll need a proper set of cards to go along with them. Here are some options that synergize well with the two Legendary Pokemon.

Mew ex

Arceus ex is a strong attacker by itself, but having a backup for when you don’t draw your Arceus ex in time or if it dies to an early Misty Palkia combo helps you win more often. Mew ex is the Pokemon that fits best here.

First, Mew ex is a Basic Pokemon like the other two. This means it can benefit from all the same advantages as them, including more consistency, lack of setup time, and Shaymin’s discounted retreat costs.

This means adding Mew ex to the deck makes your Dialga ex more consistent as well, since no Energy is being wasted.

Mew ex also requires three Colorless-Type Energies for its Genome Hacking. This means that Dialga ex’s Metallic Turbo can help ramp up your Mew ex alongside your Arceus ex.

Furthermore, Mew ex is a strong counter against many Meta Pokemon, especially those with strong one-hit KO attacks.

This is because of Genome Hacking letting Mew ex copy their attacks and use them against themselves, oftentimes quicker and at a cheaper cost, such as when facing a Charizard ex.

Mew ex being a Psychic-Type Pokemon gives you another Type advantage to make use of. This lets you hit many Darkness-Type decks, such as Darkrai ex decks, for +20 damage.

X-Speed

X-Speed is one of Pokemon Pocket’s strongest item cards, letting you retreat for cheaper, oftentimes for no Energy at all.

However, the card works best with decks that retreat a lot and have single-Energy retreat costs, since using both your copies of X-Speed to retreat a Dialga ex is rarely worth it.

Using X-Speed lets you save up Energy and keep your Arceus ex’s Ultimate Force and Dialga ex’s Heavy Impact prepared for a game-ending turn.

The reason we’re using X-Speed in this deck is due to its combo with Shaymin’s Sky Support ability. Since Sky Support already lowers the retreat cost to one, a single X-Speed can let you retreat for free.

Cyrus

Arceus ex hits for quite a bit, but the 130 damage is not enough to one-shot tankier foes. This allows your opponent to retreat their injured ex Pokemon, stopping you from gaining those sweet double points.

For this reason, adding Cyrus to your deck lets you snipe away high-priority targets by pulling them back to the active spot.

Alternative Card Options

Arceus ex and Dialga ex make a solid core by themselves. As such, you have a lot of freedom on what cards to put around the two.

Here are some other cards that you can use to replace the ones in our sample deck.

Shaymin

While not as strong as its Triumphant Light counterpart, the Leaf-Type Shaymin is still a decent option that fills Arceus’s need for a full bench.

Furthermore, while the healing isn’t as great as a Venusaur ex and Butterfree deck, the high HP values of Dialga ex and Arceus ex make the 10-20 HP heal each turn a nice bonus.

Leaf

Without Sky Support, you’ll need some other way of retreating your Dialga ex and Arceus ex when needed. Unfortunately, just two copies of X-Speed won’t make much of a difference.

You can take out the X-Speeds altogether and replace them with two copies of Leaf. This is less-versatile than the Sky Support Shaymin since you can only use one Trainer card per turn, but it’s still a decent option.

Arceus Ex And Dialga Ex Deck Strategy

If you start with a Dialga ex in hand, put it in the active spot. If you have to use any other Pokemon on the active, try to pull for Dialga ex to swap to it as soon as possible.

Try to draw all your necessary cards while investing Energy into Dialga ex the first two turns. You only need Dialga ex on the active spot and an Arceus ex on the bench to get your engine going.

The Arceus ex and Dialga ex deck works best when you have a Dialga ex in your active spot and are going second.

Put a Giant Cape or Rocky Helmet on your Dialga ex and use Metallic Turbo to ramp either your Arceus ex, Mew ex, or another Dialga ex. By the third turn, you should have an Arceus ex or Mew ex ready to start hitting.

You can spend Dialga ex’s Energies to retreat to Arceus ex, or use Shaymin’s ability or X-Speed to retreat for cheaper if you plan on making Dialga ex the active Pokemon at a later time.

Once your Arceus ex is on the active spot, continue using Ultimate Force each turn to deal 130 damage. This should be enough to end most opposing Pokemon in 1-2 hits.

While you’re doing this, invest the extra Energies into any of your benched Pokemon with strong attacks. This can be another Arceus ex, a Mew ex, or if you don’t have those, even a Dialga ex.

Since the deck is filled with ex Pokemon, you can add a copy of Mars to your deck. Then, if any of your ex Pokemon dies, you can use Mars to reshuffle the opponent’s entire hand into their deck.

When Arceus ex is low on health and can be one-shot, retreat to a benched Dialga ex (or another Pokemon if Dialga ex isn’t available). You can then continue using their attacks or retreat to Arceus ex for a surprise KO.