Pokémon TCG Pocket Deck Building: How to Master the Meta
Building an effective deck in Pokémon Pocket requires balance, strategy, and a focus on key elements that will help you win matches. Here’s a step-by-step guide to building a solid deck. Below are some key steps to follow to achieve that balance.
1. Core Cards: 2 Pot of Greed 2 Professor's Research + 2 Poké Balls (Total: 4 Cards)
These four cards are essential in every deck.
- Professor's Research is the most efficient way of helping you efficetively reduce your total card count in your deck. Using one card to draw two more let's you cycle through your deck rapidly giving you better access to the cards that lead to your win condition. The fact that you can run two of these is ridiculous, and I cannot imagine anyone choosing not to play them.
- Poké Ball is basically a watered down version of Professor's Research, but it does guarantee that you will get a copy specifically of a basic card which can be very useful. When limiting your deck to run double copies of two to three basic Pokémon, you can almost guarantee the ones you need. Grab two, and no need to even think about it.
Reserving four card slots for these is basically mandatory. There's a reason Pot of Greed was banned from Yu-Gi-Oh.
2. Pokémon Lines: 2-3 Main Pokémon (Total: 8-10 Cards)
You’ll want to limit your deck to focus on 2-3 Pokémon lines (evolution chains), and run 2 copies of each .
- Why only 2-3 lines? Having too many Pokémon can clutter your hand and deck, reducing the chance of drawing the ones you need. Matches are often fast-paced, and you’ll likely only have enough time and energy to power up two main Pokémon throughout a game. The rest will just remain as dead cards on your bench or hand most of the time.
- Run 2 copies of important cards to increase the odds of drawing at least one copy when needed. - Stick to a combined total of no more than 8-10 cards for this section of your deck. This will allow you to somewhat consistently draw the right Pokémon while keeping your strategy focused.
3. Energy Generation: (Total: 2 Cards)
Energy is a vital resource in every match. Since energy is limited, you’ll want to include cards that help generate more of it.
- Pokémon with energy-generating abilities (e.g., Moltres EX) are great for ramping up a heavy hitter on your bench.
- Trainer cards like Misty also provide valuable energy support that can sometimes just win you the game on turn 1 depending on your coin flipping luck. Including 2 cards dedicated to energy generation can make a world of difference especially when you are running cards with high energy costs.
4. Support/Item Cards: (Total: 6 Cards)
After the core Pokémon, and energy cards, you’ll have around 6 slots left depending on how you balance things out. These last slots should be filled with a combination of Supporter and Item cards that complement your strategy and protect your Pokémon.- Consider including cards like X Speed, Potions, or Erika to heal or protect your Pokémon.
- Giovanni and Sabrina offer strategic advantages, and adjusting these cards based on the meta and your playstyle can help give you an edge over your opponents.
These cards are flexible, so feel free to experiment and adjust them based on how your deck plays and to adjust to the meta.
Sample Decks
When starting out, it is important to be flexible with your cards. Early on, you will probably end up with a few strong EX cards, and it would be a good idea to form your decks around them if possible. Below are 5 possible decks that you can aim for, but in no way am I suggesting that these are the best versions of each. Plug in whatever cards that you have, and play around until you find what works best for you.
Pikachu & Raichu Deck
Cards: Magnemite (2x), Magneton (2x), Pikachu (2x), Pikachu EX (2x), Raichu (2x), Lt. Surge (2x), Sabrina (2x), X Speed (2x), Poké Ball (2x), Professor's Research (2x)
Starting out with Pikachu, the face of the franchise, this deck focuses on trying to rush down your opponents quickly. The strategy revolves around using Pikachu EX for early and mid game pressure while having Magneton generate energy for Raichu on your bench to allow Raichu to close out games. If one attack from Raichu is not enough to end things, using Magneton and Lt. Surge to recharge your Raichu for a second attack should be enough.
Charizard & Moltres Deck
Cards: Ponyta (1x), Rapidash (1x), Charmander (2x), Charmeleon (2x), Charizard EX (2x), Moltres EX (2x), Sabrina (2x), Potions (2x), X Speed (2x), Poké Balls (2x), Professor's Research (2x)
This Charizard deck is designed to work around getting Moltres EX out as early as possible, and using Inferno Dance to build energy on Charmander while trying to fully evolve it into Charizard. Charizard has 180 HP, making it tough to take down, and Charizard's Crimson Storm can one-shot any card in the game. While there is a 2-energy discard cost on Crimson Storm, using this attack once or twice should be enough to win most games.
The weakness of this deck is that Charmander and Charmeleon are terrible choices as active attackers, so you’ll usually be forced to bench them until Charizard is online. That’s why we included Ponyta and Rapidash—Rapidash can stall with 100 HP and a 1-energy attack. Ideally, Moltres is your active Pokémon on turn 1, but Ponyta is a solid backup. If you're missing Charizards, Centiskorch is a viable substitute.
Blastoise & Starmie Deck
Cards: Staryu (2x), Starmie EX (2x), Squirtle (2x), Wartortle (2x), Blastoise EX (2x), Misty (2x), Potion (2x), X Speed (2x), Poké Ball (2x), Professor's Research (2x)
The goal of this Blastoise and Starmie deck is to get Starmie EX out as early as possible. Starmie EX is one of the strongest cards in Genetic Apex with high HP, high damage for just two energy, and no retreat cost. The low energy requirement means you can quickly set up two Starmie EX and swap between them freely. If Starmie isn’t enough to secure victory, just send out Blastoise. With Misty, charging up Blastoise while Starmie is on the front lines is easy. Although Blastoise might not hit as hard as Charizard, with Hydro Bazooka dealing 160 damage at 5 energy, it can close out most games.
You can consider replacing X Speeds with Giovanni since Starmie doesn’t need them due to its 0-cost retreat. Giovanni can help you deal that little bit of extra damage that you might sometimes be missing.
Venusaur Deck
Cards: Petilil (2x), Lilligant (2x), Bulbasaur (2x), Ivysaur (2x), Venusaur EX (2x), Caterpie (1x), Butterfree (1x), Erika (2x), X Speed (2x), Poké Ball (2x), Professor's Research (2x)
This Venusaur deck focuses more on soaking up damage than dealing it. With the Petilil/Lilligant and Caterpie/Butterfree lines, you have the option to generate energy or boost healing. Once Venusaur is fully powered up through Lilligant, it becomes very hard to take down. Giant Bloom heals itself for 30 HP every turn, and you can heal for another 20 HP per turn with Butterfree on your bench. Combine that with Erika, and Venusaur becomes a tank that only Charizard can easily overcome.
The key to this deck is balancing energy generation from Lilligant with healing from Potions (optional), Erika, and Butterfree. I opted to drop Potions, as 2 Erika and 1 Butterfree seemed sufficient.
Caterpie is also a flexible option to consider if you feel like this deck is lacking card draw. Its "Find a Friend" ability allows you to get a random Pokémon from your deck, which can be useful to get Venusaur out as early as possible. Overall, this is a quite flexible and fun deck in my opinion.
Mewtwo & Gardevoir Deck
Cards: Giovanni (2x), Ralts (2x), Kirlia (2x), Gardevoir (2x), Mewtwo EX (2x), Sabrina (2x), Potion (2x), X Speed (2x), Poké ball (2x), Professor's Research (2x)
The Mewtwo EX and Gardevoir deck is currently probably one of the most popular in the current meta. The playstyle is simple, get Mewtwo out as early as possible, and evolve out your Gardevoir to generate energy to keep Mewtwo pumping out 150 damage every turn. The fact that Mewtwo has 150 hp as a basic Pokemon makes it hard to deal with early game. At two energy, Psychic Sphere can help take care of most early game Pokemon. Psychic Sphere combined with Giovanni is enough to take down a lot of stage 1 basic Pokemon in a single hit, and the potions will help your sustain until you hit that Gardevoir/4 energy spike.
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