Pokemon TCG Pocket isn’t just about collecting cards. Players can engage in battles both on their own and against other players. However, bringing the right deck to the match is crucial to winning.
In this guide, we will be ranking the best Pokemon TCG Pocket decks by power, playability, and accessibility. Because cards are currently only obtainable via opening packs with random pulls, not all of these decks will be easy to build. However, players who can put an S-Tier deck together will drastically increase their win rate.
Currently, we have been hard at work testing each of these decks and have found success with these meta options.
Pokemon TCG Pocket deck tier list
Our tiers explained
Though there are standouts, most of our decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket are strong enough to be viable in high-level play, so bear in mind that even the worst ones can still win matches. Here’s a brief explanation of what our tier list placements mean:
- S-Tier (Winrate above 52%): The best decks in the meta, extremely powerful and consistent. With a good output, these decks leave no chance to less powerful decks.
- A-Tier (Winrate between 49% and 51%): Top meta decks, capable of holding their own against Tier S, although they are less explosive and/or less consistent.
- B- Tier (Winrate between 46% and 48%): Meta decks, which have a chance against all higher decks, provided they have a decent release and are well played. Less popular, they sometimes have the advantage of the element of surprise.
- C-Tier (Winrate below 45%): Underdogs, who have certain qualities but lack a little something to fully enter the meta. Some are too slow, while others are severely countered by popular meta decks.
S-Tier decks
Giratina ex & Darkrai ex deck
The Pokemon CompanyThe release of Shining Revelry on March 27, 2025, made one of TCG Pocket’s strongest decks even better, and while there’s a variation that includes Mythical Island‘s Druddigon, our recommended deck relies on more Trainer cards instead.
The game plan is simple. Stick Darkrai in your active slot, preferably with a Rocky Helmet equipped to deal passive damage whenever the opponent attacks, and charge it with Darkness energy. It will automatically deal 20 damage to the opponent thanks to its “Nightmare Aura” Ability.
While Darkrai works its magic, use the end of your turns to juice up Giratina via its “Broken-Space Bellow” Ability, which allows it to gain one free Energy per turn. Once it has all four Energies, hit your opponent hard. Don’t forget to attach a Giant Cape to help Giratina last longer on the battlefield.
Recommended build
- x2 Darkrai ex
- x2 Giratina ex
- x1 Sabrina
- x1 Leaf
- x2 Rocky Helmet
- x2 Giant Cape
- x1 Cyrus
- x1 Mars
- x1 Red
- x1 Silver
- x2 Pokemon Center Lady
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
Espeon ex & Sylveon ex deck
DEXERTOThis particular mix of Wisdom of Sea and Sky and Eevee Grove expansions thrives on consistency, healing, and sustainable tempo control. Sylveon ex accelerates your setup by drawing you 2 cards when you evolve an Eevee into it, while Espeon ex brings serious staying power with its healing Ability and raw power with just 2 Psychic Energy.
For this to work, you must first set Eevee and evolve it into Sylveon ex. After getting the two extra cards, switch Sylveon ex with Espeon ex as soon as you can. Use Espeon to heal your bench while you charge up an extra Espeon ex and your first Sylveon ex, and maybe a regular one.
Keep your Eevee Bags close to deal more damage while also healing your party.
Recommended build
- x2 Eevee
- x2 Eevee ex
- x1 Sylveon
- x2 Sylveon ex
- x2 Espeon ex
- x1 Giant Cape
- x1 Cyrus
- x2 Eevee Bag
- x1 Silver
- x1 Sabrina
- x1 Mars
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
Buzzwole ex & Pheromosa deck
DEXERTOExtradimensional Crisis marked the introduction of Ultra Beasts to TCG Pocket, many of which have massive synergy with each other and supporting Trainer cards.
For the early game offensive, you can set up Pheromosa on your Active Spot to start dealing damage to all of your opponent’s creatures. That way, you’ll have the possibility to use Cyrus at any time.
You can keep Kartana nearby in case your other Ultra Beasts are lost in your deck. Set it up with Beastite, so it deals a bit more damage. For the late game, pair Buzzwole with Lusamine to get two Energy and use its Big Beat attack to deal 120 damage.
Use the Leaf Cape to get +30 HP and Erika to heal your beats. As for Celesteela, you can use the “Ultra Thrusters” ability to trigger a free Active Pokemon switch for Ultra Beasts only.
Recommended build
- x2 Buzzswole ex
- x2 Pheromosa
- x2 Celesteela
- x1 Kartana
- x2 Erika
- x1 Cyrus
- x2 Leaf Cape
- x1 Guzma
- x2 Lusamine
- x1 Beastite
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
A-Tier decks
Sylveon ex & Greninja deck
DEXERTOWhen the Eevee Grove set released, the meta was changed once more, as Sylveon ex’s “Happy Ribbon” ability allowed players to draw two cards when evolving it from Eevee. This way, they can get to the Rare Candy card faster to turn Froakie into Greninja.
Greninja and Sylveon can also be used as attackers – if needed –, so while Giratina ex gathers its four Energy with its “Broken-Space Bellow” ability, they can take the lead. Keep Lillie nearby in case you need to heal Greninja.
With Greninja hitting opponents with its ability “Water Shuriken” and a fully loaded Giratina ex on the Active Spot, you’re guaranteed 150 damage per turn.
Recommended build
- x2 Froakie
- x2 Greninja
- x2 Eevee
- x2 Sylveon ex
- x1 Giratina ex
- x1 Pokemon Communication
- x2 Rare Candy
- x1 Silver
- x1 Giant Cape
- x2 Cyrus
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
Flareon ex & Leafeon ex deck
DEXERTODespite focusing on Flareon ex and Leafeon ex, this deck – known as the Eevee box – runs 3 Eeveelutions plus their base form.
The key to this deck is to start by using Sylveon ex’s ability to get extra cards. That way, you can set Flareon ex as your main attacker, while Leafeon ex’s ability “Forest Breath” feeds it an extra Grass Energy per turn.
Because Flareon ex has to discard two Energy every time it uses Fire Spin, get it a ton of Grass Energy from Leafeon. That way, all of those can be discarded, and you don’t stop hitting your opponent.
Keep a regular Leafeon close in case you come across Pom-Pom Oricorio, and your ex Pokemon gets neutralized.
Recommended build
- x2 Eevee
- x2 Eevee ex
- x2 Leafeon
- x2 Leafeon ex
- x2 Flareon ex
- x1 Sylveon ex
- x1 Giant Cape
- x1 Red
- x2 Eevee Bag
- x1 X Speed
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
Guzzlord ex & Nihilego deck
DEXERTOGuzzlord and Nihilego are all about disrupting your opponent while mass applying the Poison status effect to slowly chip away at the health of your opponent’s Pokemon. While Guzzlord isn’t able to inflict Poison by default, attaching a Poison Barb to it while active will do the trick.
Your opponent will then be forced to decide between being poisoned by Poison Barb’s reflect damage or letting Guzzlord trigger its Grindcore attack, potentially resulting in them being forced to discard multiple Energy from their own Pokemon. Adding to that, with a Nihilego in play, Poison damage from any source you inflict will be amplified by 10.
For support, you can use Lusamine and Celesteela to swap your active Ultra Beast in and out, making it incredibly difficult for your opponent to reliably knock out Guzzlord or Nihilego.
Recommended build
- x2 Nihilego
- x2 Guzzlord ex
- x2 Celesteela
- x1 Sabrina
- x1 Cyrus
- x1 Mars
- x2 Pokemon Center Lady
- x1 Red
- x2 Poison Barb
- x2 Lusamine
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
Silvally & Pom-Pom Oricorio deck
DEXERTOEx Pokemon are the main stars of almost every deck, so a good way to approach competitive play is to target them with Pom-Pom Oricorio’s Ability, Safeguard, which gives it immunity against ex attacks.
Get your Oricorio to the bench to protect yourself from ex creatures while you use Support cards to find Pichu and Silvally. Pichu will get one extra Lightning Energy per turn, which you can then move with Elemental Switch to Silvally.
When Silvally is charged up, move it to the Active Spot. Keep in mind that if you use a Supporter card on that turn, its Brave Buddies attack will deal +50 damage, giving it a total of 100 in just one hit and for just two random Energy.
This deck is ideal to take down slower decks built around high-power ex Pokemon.
Recommended build
- x2 Type: Null
- x2 Silvally
- x2 Pichu
- x2 Oricorio
- x1 Sabrina
- x2 Pokemon Center Lady
- x1 Cyrus
- x2 Gladion
- x2 Elemental Switch
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
B-Tier decks
Silvally & Rampardos deck
DEXERTOThis build is set so Type: Null will always be your first Pokemon, as it is the only one that is Basic. The idea is to evolve it early on using the Gladion and Professor’s Research cards.
The trick to Silvally is to use a Supporter card each turn; that way, its attack gets a +50 damage boost, dealing an outstanding 100 for only two Energy.
Meanwhile, you can set up the Skull Fossil and use the Rare Candy to turn it into a Rampardos. This sturdy fella can deal a massive 130 damage for only one Energy, so it’s ideal to set it up as soon as Silvally is out.
Recommended build
- x2 Skull Fossil
- x1 Cranidos
- x2 Rampardos
- x2 Type: Null
- x2 Silvally
- x2 Rare Candy
- x2 Gladion
- x1 Cyrus
- x1 Giovanni
- x1 Sabrina
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
C-Tier decks
Charizard ex & Sylveon ex deck
DEXERTONote: This deck only works with the Charizard ex from the Shining Revelry set.
The Sylveon ex’s ability to draw extra cards, along with Poke Ball and Professor’s Research can help you set up Charizard ex sooner.
With only one Fire Energy, you’ll be able to use Stoke to take 3 extra ones and attach them to your flaming dragon. This means that in just two turns, you’ll have the required amount to use Steam Artillery and deal a massive 150 damage.
Use Lillie to keep Charizard ex alive, and don’t forget to give it the Giant Cape for extra HP. In case you come across an Oricorio, you can use a regular Flareon to take the annoying bird down.
Recommended build
- x2 Charmander
- x2 Charizard ex
- x2 Eevee
- x1 Flareon ex
- x2 Sylveon ex
- x1 Sabrina
- x1 Giant Cape
- x2 Rare Candy
- x1 Red
- x2 Lillie
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
Ho-Oh ex & Snorlax ex deck
DEXERTOThe Ho-Oh ex & Snorlax ex deck brings as much acceleration as tanking power to the table, as the Legendary can get plenty of Energy with its Phoenix Turbo attack, while Snorlax benefits from massive HP and damage
To exploit this deck combination, you must set up Snorlax ex first. This card can take all the damage thanks to its Full-Mouth Manner Ability. Meanwhile, use the time to power up Ho-Oh.
Once Ho-Oh is ready, move it to the Active Spot. Its attack will deal good damage and charge another Pokemon (Darkrai ex or another Snorlax ex) simultaneously.
Use Leaf, Lyra, and Ilima to switch between your Pokemon without losing any attached Energy.
Recommended build
- x2 Ho-Oh ex
- x2 Snorlax ex
- x1 Darkrai ex
- x1 Red Card
- x1 Giant Cape
- x2 Ilima
- x1 Leaf
- x1 Lyra
- x2 Pokemon Center Lady
- x2 Rocky Helmet
- x1 Sabrina
- x2 Poke Ball
- x2 Professor’s Research
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