Pokemon TCG Pocket Analysis Finds Gyarados ex Is The New Meta

The release of Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket’s Mythical Island has seen a colossal shake-up to the game’s battling meta.

Previously, the game was dominated by decks involving Mewtwo ex and Gardevoir, Starmie ex and Articuno, Pikachu ex, and Charizard ex, Arcanine ex, and Moltres ex. The second major expansion changed things, though.

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Although it invalidated a bunch of cards and didn’t do much for Steel or Dragon-type decks, archetypes featuring the likes of Celebi ex and Serperior have risen to the top.

But, while Celebi and Serperior may be the most common deck in the new meta, research has found that using it is far from the best new strategy.

Celebi ex Decks Fall Foul Of Gyarados And Scolipede

This new research comes from Reddit user -OA-, who recently calculated the perfect Mewtwo ex deck and analyzed over 30,000 matches to determine Pikachu ex was by far the most dominant deck type.

-OA-‘s latest analysis looks at how the meta has shifted with the release of Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket’s Mythical Island, and it’s pretty drastic.

They found that decks featuring Gyarados ex are now by far the most dominant. When paired with Greninja, Gyarados ex decks have the best win rates in the game, around 59 percent, but decks featuring Gyarados and Starmie Articuno ex, Vaporeon, and Starmie ex all take spots in the most successful ten.

Arguably, the biggest surprise is that usurping Pikachu ex is Scolipede. -OA-‘s research found that decks that combined Scolipede and Weezing are the second most successful in the game, with a win rate of around 56 percent. That’s still roughly three percent lower than Gyarados ex and Greninja, but it’s a force to be reckoned with.

The only other new deck breaching the top ten is a Pidgeot ex/Drudiggon combination, with the latter a card that the community thinks is the best new addition.

What’s just as shocking as Scolipede’s second-place entry is just how far down the list Celebi and Serperior have come. The deck has been a mainstay of the game’s new meta, but apparently, it’s not as good as you might think.

According to this research, the Celebi ex and Serperior deck has the 20th-best win rate in the meta—around 48 percent. It falls behind decks like Wigglytuff ex and Arbok, Greninja and Tentacruel, and Ninetales and Rapidash, and is actually less successful than a combination of Celebi ex and Exeggutor ex.

Of the existing decks, Pikachu ex and Electrode remains strong in third place, as do Arcanine ex and Moltres ex in fouth, while Starmie ex and Articuno ex drop to tenth place, and Mewtwo ex and Gardevoir down to 12th.

The full top ten is as follows:

1. Gyarados ex and Greninja
2. Scolipede and Weezing
3. Pikachu ex and Electrode
4. Arcanine ex and Moltres ex
5. Gyarados ex and Articuno ex
6. Gyarados ex and Vaporeon
7. Starmie ex and Gyarados ex
8. Pikachu ex and Zapdos ex
9. Pidgeot ex and Drudiggon
10. Starmie ex and Articuno ex

With the next expansion a little over a month away, it’s safe to say you shouldn’t get too comfortable with your Pokemon of choice.

Experience the fun of collecting Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) cards with Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, an upcoming game for iOS and Android devices from Creatures Inc., the original developers of the Pokémon TCG, and DeNA Co., Ltd.

In this game, you will be able to open two booster packs every day at no cost. You can collect digital cards featuring nostalgic artwork from the past as well as brand-new cards that are exclusive to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.

Be on the lookout for new “immersive cards,” which will make you feel as though you’ve leapt into the world of the card’s illustration.