How To Play The Yanmega Ex Deck In Pokemon TCG Pocket

Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s third major expansion, Space-Time Smackdown, introduced several new ex cards that have shaken up the meta and introduced interesting new combos. While a lot of decks are utilizing Pokemon Tools and high-health tanks to stall matches, some decks seek to finish the game as quickly as possible.

The Infernape ex and the Moltres ex cards from Pokemon TCG Pocket.

Pokemon Pocket: Infernape And Moltres ex Deck Guide

Here’s how to play the Infernape and Moltres ex deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket!

The Yanmega ex deck attempts to do exactly this, utilizing Dialga ex to quickly charge its attack and start firing off Air Slashes at the opponent’s team. Below, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about this deck, including how to build and play it, and some matchups to be aware of.

Sample Decklist

The Yanmega ex and Dialga ex cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket.

Yanmega ex Deck

Mew ex x1	Yanma x2	Yanmega ex x2	Dialga ex x2

Leaf x2	Giant Cape x1	Rocky Helmet x2	Cyrus x2

Dawn x2	Poke Ball x2	Professor’s Research x2

This deck uses only Metal-type Energy, so remove Psychic type from the decklist.

Alternative Cards

There are quite a few variations of this deck that have seen success. In particular, Skarmory pairs very well with Yanmega ex and Dialga ex as it can be used as an early game attacker while you set up energy on Yanmega ex. Keep in mind that Skarmory works best when it has a Pokemon Tool attached, which may run counter to saving them for Yanmega or Dialga.

A completely different variation of this deck replaces Mew ex and Dialga ex with Exeggutor ex, which acts as a tank while you set up Yanmega ex. This also lets you use Erika to heal your Pokemon, giving them some sustain. This version takes a bit longer to set up due to not having Dialga’s Energy acceleration, but it is a bit tankier overall and can deal more consistent damage with Exeggutor’s Tropical Swing.

In any version, you may also want to swap in a Potion or two in place of one Dawn or Leaf. This will add a bit of sustain to Yanmega and potentially let it survive an additional attack.

Deck Strategy

Dialga ex Pokemon TCG Pocket Space Time Smackdown Card Art.

The core of this deck revolves around Yanmega ex’s attack, Air Slash, having colorless Energy cost. This means that it can really pair with any Energy accelerating card. In this case, we are using the powerful Dialga ex, which acts as a tank and Energy supporter.

In an ideal match, you would start with Dialga ex in the Active Spot, with Yanma and Yanmega ex in hand or Benched. Put two Energy onto Dialga, then begin attacking with Metallic Turbo to attach energy to Yanmega ex.

The Rocky Helmet should also be used with Dialga to get a bit more damage out of attack trades, weakening your opponent’s Pokemon.

When Yanmega is ready, use Leaf to swap it in, reserving Dialga’s Energy for potential attacks with Heavy Impact later, if needed. Yanmega’s Air Slash deals a respectable 120 damage, but this is by no means the strongest attack in the game.

Additionally, Air Slash discards an Energy each time you use it, so you’ll need to be constantly re-attaching Energy to Yanmega each turn, which can make setting up back-up Pokemon difficult. The strategy of this deck very much relies on quickly setting up Yanmega and overwhelming the opponent before they have time to hit back.

To compensate against Pokemon with higher-damage attacks, you’ll need to make use of Giant Cape to keep Yanmega alive and Cyrus to swap back in low-health Pokemon to finish off.

Matchups And Counters

Darkrai ex Pokemon TCG Pocket Space Time Smackdown Card Art.

This deck has a relatively quick set up speed at the cost of Yanma being very fragile. Luckily, Dialga ex is a strong tank that can soak up a few hits while you set up Yanma and Yanmega, but you’ll need to be careful of Cyrus, especially if you start with Yanma in the Active Spot.

Air Slash is somewhat weak when compared to heavy-hitting attacks like Mewtwo ex‘s Psydrive and Charizard ex‘s Crimson Storm, which can both one-shot Yanmega. This is where Mew ex is invaluable, allowing you to steal their attacks and use them against them.

Putting Giant Cape on Yanmega will let it survive Mewtwo ex’s Psydrive.

Yanmega ex is also weak to Electric-type, so you’ll need to be wary of Pikachu ex and Pachirisu ex decks. Luckily, both of these Pokemon will be knocked out with one use of Air Slash, so these matchups are by no means unwinnable.

Some favorable matchups include Darkrai ex and Weavile ex, who are both one-shot by Yanmega’s Air Slash due to their weakness to Grass-type. If the Darkrai ex and Weavile ex deck is ever appearing a lot in your matches, Yanmega ex is the perfect counter to it.