All I want for Christmas is two copies of Gyarados ex
Two months in to the release of Pokemon TCG Pocket, we have been given our first expansion set, Mythical Island, themed around Celebi and Mew, the respective mythical pokemon from the first two generations. To celebrate our first new expansion, I thought why not start a feature where I look at the new cards and determine which of them are “Winners”, cards that will define the meta, in hopes of dethroning Pikachu ex or Mewtwo ex, and which cards are “Losers”, cards with all the glitter and glamour but none of the substance to make them a threat.
Winner – Gyarados ex
Our first ever “Winner” is going to be Gyarados ex, I mean, how could Gyarados not be a successful card? Having a huge health pool of 180 HP, dealing a whopping 140 damage and being able to potentially discard an energy from one of your opponent’s pokemon, this card is set to destroy the competition, especially Charizard ex from the debut set, Genetic Apex. Gyarados ex is also supported by Misty, allowing it to instantly accelerate energy and be able to land its Rampaging Whirlpool attack super early and be able to sweep opposing teams before they’re able to fully set up.
Loser – Aerodactyl ex
It looks like fighting type is off to a rough start in Pokemon TCG Pocket, despite the very bulky Machamp ex making an appearance in Genetic Apex, it never really found its feet in the meta. Aerodactyl seems to fall victim to the same trap, and while its Primeval Law ability looks strong on the surface, it doesn’t counter the most popular deck in the game, Pikachu ex, in fact, it has a weakness to electric type attacks. Sure, against Stage 2 decks, this card can find some niche usage, but speed in King right now in PTCGP, basic pokemon are running Circle Circuits around their evolved counterparts, so sadly, Aerodactyl find itself becoming the first “Loser” of Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Winner – Celebi ex
I probably should have put this as the first winner, but… Gyarados is cool so he goes first! Celebi ex looks set to take over the whole game, 130 HP and a weakness to fire doesn’t immediately fill you with hope, but potentially dealing 50 damage for each energy attached to it definitely raises eyebrows. Another card released in this set is Serperior, which makes every grass energy count as 2 energy. You put 2 energy on Celebi ex, and have Serperior benched? That’s a maximum of 200 damage for only 2 energy, enough to OHKO any pokemon in the game. Every turn you add an energy to Celebi ex, you increase its potential damage by 100 when used in tandem with Serperior. I firmly believe that this combo will be the deck that dominates for the forseeable future, if you can get Serperior online early, there’s no stopping the Powerful Bloom.
Loser – Pidgeot ex
The numbers look very nice, 170 HP, up to 140 damage from Scattering Cyclone, but that question has to be asked, is this not just Pikachu ex but worse? Having to evolve up to Stage 2 is already a huge barrier for success in the current meta, with many basics able to take out these pokemon before they’re fully evolved, but this also relies on your opponent’s bench being full, something they can avoid once they see that you’re playing Pidgeot. At least when playing Pikachu ex, you can control the size of your own bench to maximise the damage output. Don’t get me wrong, if you manage to put the pieces together to fully evolve Pidgey, this deck can succeed, you can have Druddigon stall for it while you’re getting set up, but it feels like too much reliance on RNG and the stars aligning to be able to make this one work, so sadly I can’t see Pidgeot ex becoming a mainstay of the meta.
That wraps it up! Two winners and two losers of Pokemon TCG Pocket’s first ever expansion. Obviously we’re still early into the release of the set, things might change, people may find winning formulas for the Losers, and the Winners may fall flat, but these are my early assessments and I’ll stand by them, maybe next expansion we can take a look back at this list and see if I managed to predict these well!
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