Pokemon TCG Pocket is aiming to be a more casual and beginner-friendly version of the regular Trading Card Game, but you can bet there’s going to be a meta and cards that are just better than others. Here’s our Pokemon TCG Pocket tier list to help you determine the best cards to get.
| Tier | Cards |
|---|---|
| S | Grimer, Aerodactyl, Pidgeot, Venusaur Ex, Charizard Ex, Pikachu Ex, Mewtwo Ex, Sabrina |
| A | Tynamo, Machop, Abra, Meowth, Meltan, Lapras, Onix, Hitmonlee, Farfetch’d, Primeape, Vaporeon, Raichu, Charizard, Arcanine Ex, Gardevoir, Kangaskhan, Articuno Ex, Greninja, Zapdox Ex, Moltres Ex |
| B | Rattata, Diglett, Sizzlipede, Dratini, Bulbasaur, Vulpix, Psyduck, Electabuzz, Hitmonchan, Magmar, Chansey, Haunter, Nidorino, Caterpie, Metapod, Kirlia, Charmeleon, Wartortle, Ivysaur, Rapidash, Whimsicott, Clefable, Slowbro, Eevee, Jolteon, Flareon, Blastoise Ex |
| C | Paras, Wooloo, Slowpoke, Magikarp, Snorlax, Lickitung, Wigglytuff |
Keep in mind that this tier list is subject to change, especially as the game develops and the meta starts shifting towards specific cards or deck archetypes. For now, however, based on my time with the early access and pre-release versions of the game, the cards in the S and A tiers are extremely versatile and easy to slot into a lot of decks. Some of these cards offer a lot of utility as well, and are being evaluated based on both early and late-game value.
The S Tier cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket are largely based on the value and utility they bring to the table. Let’s go over each one in this tier.
The A Tier cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket are great as well, and they’re just a little bit below the S Tier cards in terms of performance. For instance, Moltres Ex is key in helping Fire decks ramp up, but it’s not necessarily an overly powerful card on its own.
Other utility cards in this tier include Meowth, who lets you draw a card with its basic attacks, and Gardevoir, who will be key in Psychic decks and Pokemon that just need a constant source of Energy. I’ve also included Machop and Tynamo, who are easily the best Basic Pokemon that can give you a lot of early game value, as well as Abra, who can help you switch out Pokemon quickly without losing any Energy.
The B Tier cards are generally filler cards that you may need to fill out the rest of your deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket. They’re not bad per se, but you’ll likely be using them to ramp up towards getting out your more powerful cards or deck definers.
The C Tier cards, however, are just plain awful or have no place in the current meta. No, not even Snorlax can get itself out of C Tier.
Knowing which cards are good is one thing, but deck-building is another matter entirely. For now, these are the best decks to build in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Koga Poison
The main idea is simple. Poison your enemies, then deal a devastating amount of damage to those poisoned enemies with Muk’s Venoshock. Your main play here is going to be to get Weezing online as quickly as possible, then use its ability to poison your foes. You can then use Koga to immediately switch out into Muk, who can use Venoshock to KO most poisoned enemies.
This deck works very well against Mewtwo Ex, which is easily the most popular deck list in the game right now.
Your main play here is going to be Mewtwo Ex getting backed up by Gardevoir. Your goal is to evolve Ralts and Kirlia as quickly as possible to get Gardevoir on the bench, then feed Mewtwo Ex all the Energy it needs to get Psydrive online. Alternatively, the Haunter to Gengar playline is great as well as a backup, just in case you don’t get the draws you need.
While this deck comprises of very basic Pokemon, they all give you a ton of value. Rattatas may be laughed at in the video games, but in Pokemon TCG Pocket, they offer good early game damage, and they become even more of a menace when evolved into Raticate.
The core of this deck is, of course, Pidgeot, who comes with a strong ability that forces your opponent to switch out their active Pokemon, which can cause some serious disruption.
With Pikachu Ex being one of the strongest cards in the game, it only makes sense that a deck built around it would be insanely powerful as well. The core of the deck are Pikachu Ex and Raichu, both of which serve rather different functions. With Pikachu Ex, your goal is to bench your Electric Pokemon as quickly as possible, and that’ll give you a 90 damage attack for just two Energy, which is insane value.
Raichu is mostly there as your backup play, just in case you don’t draw Pikachu Ex, or it gets defeated, which is unlikely. While Raichu does have to get rid of all its Energy after using Thunderbolt, the good news is that this move is usually used as a game-ender. However, you can also quickly recover if you have Lt Surge to put it back into play again.
And that does it for our Pokemon TCG Pocket tier list for now.