Pokémon TCG Pocket has several hundred cards at this point, across several expansions and themed booster pack sets. Therefore, crafting the best Pokémon TCG Pocket isn’t an easy task. Whether you are looking for Pokémon TCG Pocket decks for regular online play or the best Pokémon TCG Pocket ranked decks, we have put together a list of some of the best 20-card lineups you can put together from across the game’s current expansions.
Whether you have some of the rarest cards in the game or just a few regular Rare and EX cards, we’ll help you craft a deck here that you can use to help you win matches.
Best Pokémon TCG Pocket Online Decks
The best Pokémon TCG Pocket decks for regular online play are:
- Celebi EX Deck
- Leafeon EX + Celebi EX Deck
- Mewtwo EX + Giratina EX Deck
Celebi EX Deck
The Celebi EX deck has remained strong since Mythical Island came out, and it is a great initial starter deck to help you win online matches as it doesn’t require many rare cards, and Mythical Island is the smallest set yet.
- Celebi EX x2 - Mythical Island
- Snivy x2 - Mythical Island
- Servine x2 - Mythical Island
- Serperior x2 - Mythical Island
- Erika x2 - Genetic Apex
- Sabrina x2 - Genetic Apex
- Professor’s Research x2
- Potion x2
- X Speed x2
- Pokéball x2
This is a relatively simple deck, with Celebi EX being the main Pokémon you want to use. The simple premise of this deck is to attach energy to Celebi to use its attack, Powerful Bloom. The more energy attached, the more coins you can flip, dealing 50 damage for every heads. Serperior helps you with this, as the Jungle Totem ability means that each energy attached to Celebi actually counts for two, giving you even more chances to land a heads.
Combine that with Erika, who can provide a lot of healing to Celebi, as well as your potions, and you have a really strong deck to get you through online matches. X Speed can also be used to retreat Celebi if it is getting low on health.
Leafeon EX + Celebi EX Deck
This deck builds upon Celebi’s ability by using Leafeon to pull more energy to your Celebi on your bench. However, Leafeon is useful compared to Serperior because you can pull energy to Celebi for free while using the energy you get by default each round on Leafeon.
- Celebi EX x2 - Mythical Island
- Eevee x2 - Mytical Island
- Leafeon EX x2 - Triumphant Light
- Erika x2 - Genetic Apex
- Dawn x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Cyrus x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Professor’s Research x2
- Giant Cape x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Potion x2
- X Speed x2
- Pokéball x2
As mentioned, this deck functions similarly to the previous Celebi deck. You want to use Celebi to stockpile energy, subsequently using its attack to flip a coin and get as many heads as possible. However, Leafeon is a force to be reckoned with on its own, and Eevee’s variant in Mythical Island allows you to deal a similar attack to Celebi’s for 20 damage with each head you roll until you get a tail, while you evolve them up to Leafeon.
Erika allows you to heal either Leafeon or Celebi, while Dawn provides a bit of flexibility, allowing you to move an energy from your bench to your active Pokémon.
Mewtwo EX + Giratina EX Deck
The addition of Shining Revelry has given us a really strong psychic deck once again with the combination of both Giratina and Mewtwo and Giant Cape.
- Mewtwo EX x2 - Genetic Apex
- Giratina EX x2 - Shining Revelry
- Leaf x2 - Mythical Island
- Red x1 - Shining Revelry
- Dawn x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Cyrus x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Sabrina x1 - Genetic Apex
- Pokemon Center Lady x1 - Shining Revelry
- Professor’s Research x2
- Rocky Helmet x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Giant Cape x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Pokéball x2
Mewtwo and Giratina work because they are both basic Pokémon and exceptionally strong. They can both now reach 170 HP, and Mewtwo can even deal 170 damage thanks to Red. 170 damage, will knock out almost everything in the game, with only a few exceptions. You can then use Giratina’s Broken-Space Bellow ability to transfer an energy to Mewtwo alongside the one you manually attach. This lets you do back-to-back Psydrive attacks for 170 damage, and almost always land two quick KOs.
The various Trainer cards in this set help set you up to focus on the duality between Mewtwo and Giratina, while Giant Cape can improve the survivability of your Pokémon in the active slot.
On top of these decks, which require less high-end cards, you can also use the ranked decks below to outshine your opponents.
Best Pokémon TCG Pocket Ranked Decks
The best Pokémon TCG Pocket Ranked decks are:
- Dialga EX + Arceus EX Deck
- Weaville + Darkrai EX Deck
- Articuno EX Deck
Dialga EX + Arceus EX Deck
This deck has become one of the strongest decks in the game thanks to pairing two incredibly powerful Pokémon. The highlight cards are Arceus EX from Triumphant Light and Dialga EX from Space-Time Smackdown. However, you also want to use this alongside a few other Pokémon and some key Trainer and Pokémon Tool cards.
- Dialga EX x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Arceus EX x2 - Triumphant Light
- Mew EX x1 - Mythical Island
- Shaymin x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Leaf x2 - Mythical Island
- Giovanni x2 - Genetic Apex
- Cyrus x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Professor’s Research x2
- Rocky Helmet x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Giant Cape x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Pokéball x2
- Potion x2
The key with this deck is to fill your bench as quickly as possible with Arceus as your active Pokémon. You can then use Ultimate Force to deal a huge amount of damage. Dialga EX can then be used to deal damage while you build up your bench and Arceus. Or you can use Dialga to pull even more energy to your bench with Metallic Turbo.
Shaymin can provide a small bit of healing alongside your potions, while Professor’s Research and Pokéball cards quickly fill up your bench. Mew can also act as an initial damage dealing card, or can be used as a third EX to swap out to if Dialga or Arceus get low. Leaf can help you retreat one of these key Pokémon, while Cyrus can switch out a particularly powerful card your opponent has chosen for one you have already damaged. Finally, your Pokémon Tools can give Arceus some extra health or deal some damage, making it almost indestructible with potions to back you up alongside your other Pokémon on the bench and Shaymin.
Weaville + Darkrai EX Deck
The Weaville and Darkrai EX deck relies on Space-Time Smackdown packs, as well as the Dark type, which has now been expanded thanks to this booster pack set. It is a more defensive deck, boosting survivability thanks to Trainer cards.
- Sneasel x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Weaville EX x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Darkrai EX x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Leaf x2 - Mythical Island
- Cyrus x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Mars x1 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Sabrina x1 - Genetic Apex
- Professor’s Research x2
- Giant Cape x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Pokéball x2
- Potion x1
- Pokémon Communication x1
Weaville EX is particularly strong, allowing you to do 40 extra damage with its attack if the Pokémon you are facing is already damaged. Additionally, you can boost Weavile’s health with Giant Cape and Potions, while your trainers allow you to have a lot of control over the game by switching out yours or your opponents Pokémon.
You can also change up a lot of these Trainer cards to combat what you are facing in online matches, as the deck is incredibly flexible. So, cards like Mars, Cyrus, and Sabrina can be switched for other Trainers that are better against the current ranked match meta. Darkrai is the other core part of this deck with Nightmare Aura, allowing you to deal free damage every time you put energy onto the card. With both Weavilee and Darkrai being two high-health EXs too, you can switch them out consistently, and cards like Leaf allow you to pull them out of the active spot for no cost.
Articuno EX Deck
Believe it or not, the classic Articuno EX deck from the game’s launch is still incredibly strong. Although it does have a few tweaks based off of new cards.
- Articuno EX x2 - Genetic Apex
- Misty x2 - Genetic Apex
- Team Rocket Grunt x2 - Shining Revelry
- Red x2 - Shining Revelry
- Iridia x2 - Triumphant Light
- Cyrus x2 - Space-Time Smackdown
- Sabrina x1 - Genetic Apex
- Professor’s Research x2
- Rocky Helmet x1
- Giant Cape x2
- Pokéball x2
Being able to pull both Misty and Articuno EX early on in a match and using Blizzard with Articuno is still an almost instant win. It’s such a powerful combination that it can completely devastate your opponent’s plan or strategy almost instantly. The addition of some new cards like Iridia, Red, and Team Rocket Grunt allows you to deal even more damage, remove energy from your opponent’s Pokémon and heal your Articuno EX.
It’s incredibly strong, and being able to play it off the bat with no evolutions needed is something not many decks offer. Even if you struggle to draw great cards, you will always have some way to easily obtain an Articuno, thanks to your Pokéballs and Professor’s Research cards.
These cards and decks should help you win matches and move up in ranked play. What sorts of combos are you putting together back home? Feel free to leave a comment on our social media accounts if you have some other variations in mind.
