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Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best cards in the game
Pokémon TCG Pocket The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG Pocket launched with over 200 cards to collect, battle, and build decks with, and pretty much every card in the game has a use in a deck. Some cards might not seem great at first glance, but they all have a place, and with certain synergies with other cards available, some cards really start to shine. 

But which Pokémon TCG Pocket cards are the best? That’s what we’re here to answer. We’ve gone through and picked out eight of the best cards available in the game right now, all of which have a worthy place in whatever deck you want to build. 

Mewtwo ex 

The Pokémon Company

Mewtwo ex is one of the most powerful cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket, and there’s no surprise that it’s dominating the early meta. With a high damage output and plenty of synergy with another card on this list, Mewtwo ex can hit hard turn after turn, making it a force to be reckoned with. 

Gardevoir 

The Pokémon Company

Gardevoir is the other half of the Mewtwo ex equation, with a frankly absurd ability in Psy Shadow. This ability, which can be activated on the bench, lets you add a Psychic energy to your Pokémon in the active spot. This can be Gardevoir itself, but it also could be Mewtwo ex. With two Gardevoir on the bench and a Mewtwo ex in the active spot, you can dish out 150 damage every single turn. 

Lilligant

The Pokémon Company

Lilligant is a must for any Grass-type Deck, essentially acting as a reverse of Gardevoir in a way. When Lilligant is in the active spot, it can attack using Leaf Supply, which deals 50 damage to the opponent and lets you add a Grass energy to a card on the bench. With a strong Grass attacker like Venusaur ex on the bench, you can set up for some powerful attacks without risking losing two points on an ex knockout. 

Starmie ex 

The Pokémon Company

Starmie ex doesn’t look all that great at first glance, but it has a secret ace up its sleeve: no retreat cost. Usually, having an ex card out on the field, especially one with low HP, is a huge risk, but Starmie ex can jump in and out as needed without ever losing any energy. Honestly, just about any card with no retreat cost could fill this spot – Dodrio and Electrode come to mind, too – but Starmie ex fits in well with a water deck, which is currently one of the stronger deck archetypes in the game. That’s because of… 

Misty 

The Pokémon Company

We have a love-hate relationship with Misty. This Supporter card is absolutely bonkers… if luck is on your side. You’ll flip a coin until you get a tails, and the amount of heads that you flipped along the way get turned into energy on a Water-type card. This lets you set up something like Blastoise ex, Articuno ex, or Lapras ex in a single turn, but only if you get lucky. You’re just as likely to flip a tails on the first coin, leaving you with nothing but a wasted card in your deck. Still, you can’t run a Water deck without it, and when everything goes right you can get in an easy sweep. 

X Speed

The Pokémon Company

X Speed is a staple of any deck, along with the next two cards on this list. It lets you reduce the retreat cost of any Pokémon card by one energy, letting you pull a powerful Pokémon out and still keep some or all of its energy. It’s a simple card with a simple effect, but it’s crucial in keeping the flow of your deck going throughout a match. 

Sabrina 

The Pokémon Company

Sabrina isn’t one of the starting cards in your deck, but you should add it as soon as you get the chance. It forces your opponent to switch their active Pokémon to the bench, letting you stop your opponent in their tracks as they sweep through your team with a powered-up Mewtwo ex. In the right circumstances, Sabrina can force your opponent to swap in a low-HP Pokémon, letting you get a knockout and potentially win a battle right away. 

Professor’s Research 

The Pokémon Company

Professor’s Research is in every single starter deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket, so you’ll always have at least two copies on hand. Those two copies should be in every deck you build, as there’s very little else in the way of Supporter cards that can come close to the utility of this card. Being able to draw 2 additional cards in a turn might seem pretty basic, but with a deck so small, having as many cards as you can at your disposal in any given turn is how you win matches. Don’t ever think about building a single deck without two Professor’s Research cards. 


This article first appeared on Video Games on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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