Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best Free-to-Play Decks

Pokémon TCG pocket is very friendly to novice and free-to-play players, as it has plenty of decks that you can easily build and battle with online – to both grind and learn the game.

Drawing cards from packs may not be a reliable way to build your first decks, but Pokémon TCG Pocket gives you early access to a variety of rental decks that you can use to bridge the gap until you have enough cards to create your own decks . If you’re having trouble with certain rental decks or don’t have a build you fancy yet, here are a few tips for free-to-play players and some decks that might be easy to use.

Image via The Pokemon Company

Pokémon TCG Pocket is, at least at first, a very simple game with a meta that will evolve over time as new sets are added. However, there will be one consistent thing that will hold true forever, and that is the fact that drawing some decent cards early on will always help you build better decks.

At launch, Genetic Apex will be the only set in the game, but each of the three different packs opens doors for multiple strategies. If you can pull even one Charizard ex, Pikachu ex, or Mewtwo ex, you’ll have a solid foundation for using those decks – and based on that, unlocking Rental Decks that you can use to play and play online. collect or make cards.

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Thanks to the simplified nature of Pokémon TCG Pocket compared to the regular TCG, and the unique design of some Pokémon and Trainer cards, some underpowered cards have a chance to shine in certain decks. Here are some decks you can build early on, with a solid mix of options using some Pokémon ex cards or lower rarity pulls.

Blaine is one of many Trainer Supporters who specify a number of Pokémon that he can instantly power up. And because it’s built in an uncommon rarity without cards, all you need to do is collect Charizard Genetic Apex packs to get your build going.

Screenshot from Esports Illustrated

Card type	Card list
Pokemon	Vulpixx2 Nine languages ​​x2 Ponyta x2 Rapidashx2
Article supporter	Drink x2 X Speed ​​x2 Pokeball x2 Professor research x2 Blaine x2 Sabrina x2

The goal of this deck is to build up a Rapidash as quickly as possible and use the Fire Mane attack, which only costs one Fire Energy, to deal 40 damage, while using the rest of your time to build a Setting up Ninetales on the couch. for late-game sweeps with his 90-damage flamethrower. And because Blaine gives your Ninetales, Rapidash, or Magmar 30 extra damage when you attack your opponent’s active Pokémon, they can easily outpace some decks that might take longer to set up.

Most early Blaine builds include Magmar if you don’t have enough Rapidash or Ninetales to complete your deck, and there are variants that use Moltres ex and Charizard ex as heavier hitters. However, if you focus solely on Ninetales and Rapidash, along with the strategic use of X Speed ​​and Sabrina, you can dictate the pace of the game much more easily – and with more synergy with Blaine.

If you want to settle early on with some of the meta’s heaviest hitters like Pikachu ex and Mewtwo ex, Blaine is by far my number one pick.

The name of the game for the Poison-type is control, and even though Arbok and Weezing are Dark Pokémon in the TCG, this deck is designed to annoy your opponent with swaps while simultaneously reducing their health.

Screenshot from Esports Illustrated

Card type	Card list
Pokemon	Ekans x2 Arbok x2 Coffee x2 Beep x2
Article/Supporter	Drink x2 X Speed ​​x2 Pokeball x2 Professor research x2 Koga x2 Sabrina x2

Using a core of just Arbok and Weezing, you’ll want to set up Arbok so that it can use Counter to deal 60 damage and prevent your opponent’s active Pokémon from retreating. You can use Weezing to tank hits and poison your opponent, then use Koga for a free Retreat to get Arbok in and lock things down.

You’ll need to learn to time your use of

For reference, you would need to open the Genetic Apex Mewtwo pack for this, as Weezing’s line is exclusive to it, while Arbok can be found in all three. The main issue is getting Sabrina early, as that Supporter is included in the Charizard pack and is an important part of this strategy as you can force your opponent to swap their active Pokémon with a Pokémon from their bank.

Pikachu ex is by far the most explosive deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Genetic Apex format, and if you even have one, you can use a skilled electric deck that focuses on blitzing your opponent. But even without the Pikachu ex, you can still perform a competent Electric rushdown build while trying to open more packs and improve your collection.

Card type	Card list
Pokemon	Voltorb x2 Electrode x2 Lightning x2 Zebstrika x2 Pincurchinx2
Article/Supporter	Drink x2 X Speed ​​x2 Pokeball x2 Professor research x2

This is the easiest deck to scale to higher levels, but perhaps also the most limiting early choice due to the lack of real synergy until you get a boss like Pikachu or Zapdos – or at least a Raichu. Whether you use a mix of Electic Pokémon that you like to use or a Lt. Surge variant chooses to emulate Blaine with Electrode and Electabuzz with quick Energy swaps, you could brick or not overwhelm stronger builds.

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As you draw more Pikachu Genetic Apex packs, you can place better Electric Pokémon to replace some of the filler here, preferably starting with the stuff around your Electrode and Zebstrika core. Getting even one Zapdos-ex or Pikachu-ex will lead to more consistency and powerful payouts.

Do you feel happy? If so, you may want to use a Marowak ex deck early on, as it can easily hurt your opponents if you manage to land the right coin flips. And although this deck contains an ex card, you can easily draw one if you wish commit early to Genetic Apex Mewtwo packs on.

Card type	Card list
Pokemon	Sand spit x2 Sand stripe x2 Cubone x2 Marowak ex x1 or 2 Farfetch’d/Kangaskhan x2
Article/Supporter	Drink x1 or 2 X Speed ​​x2 Pokeball x2 Professor research x2 Sabrina x2

There are two variants of this deck that you can use, one with Sandslash and one with Dugtrio, and it all depends on whether you want a stable option with high HP and reasonable damage, or another coin swap that is easy to set up and may be able to help. you are waiting for the construction of Marowak. Anyway, your main focus here is to get Marowak ex online and try to KO them with some coin-boosted Bonemerangs, which do 160 damage if you land two heads – easy enough to kill almost every Pokémon in the game to switch off.

The colorless capture for this deck is based entirely on dealing damage with a single energy cost. Farfetch’d does more guaranteed damage but has lower HP, while Kangaskhan has higher advantage but may flop based on your CoinFlip results.

Personally, I prefer the Sandslash and Farfetch’d builds, both because I really like Sandslash and because it’s more reliable, especially when facing Pikachu decks.