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After tearing open dozens of packs, it’s natural that Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket fans will be eager to put their hard-earned cards to good use. Following the success of the previous PVP event, which saw players battling their way through a gauntlet of 45 battles to earn the coveted Golden Emblem, The Pokemon Company has issued a new and perhaps more difficult challenge to test players’ mettle.
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This event, running fromDecember 9th through December 16th, is all about consistent wins, withthe main Golden Emblem requiring five straight wins to achieve.Though five wins may not sound like too great a feat on paper, in practice, this is a test of deck building, patience, and luck.
This guide will cover everything TCG Pocket players require to build a successful deck and grab that shinyGolden Emblembefore Mythical Island arrives.
Requirements and Rewards
Due to this event having a far shorter length compared to the one prior, the rewards involved need to be snapped up quickly.Consecutive wins from 2-5will award you various emblems, from a Participation Emblem to the most important Golden emblem, which can be displayed on your player profile.
Of course, the purely cosmetic Emblem rewards aren’t the only things available to participating players.Pack Hourglasses and Shinedustcan also be obtained by simply battling in the event.
While Shinedust doesn’t have much of a use at this point, only being used to add flashy visual effects to your cards, Pack Hourglasses are a vital resource. They’re needed for speeding up that Pack timer,allowing players to rip into more packs.
From my experience, simply opening all the packs that you obtain in the first ten levels or sowill often get you around 3-4 EX cards, the key to the most powerful decks.If you are truly unlucky, or pull EX cards that you don’t like, thenconsider restarting your accountand re-doing your packs.
I did this after obtaining 2 Marowak EX I didn’t care about. On my second account, I received a full-art Mewtwo EX, a Gengar EX, A Moltres EX and a Wigglytuff EX, right at the start.It only takes an hour or so and is certainly worth your while in the long run.
Simply by participating inten battles overall, you can earn 24 Hourglasses. Players with a full deck can hoard these hourglasses for when the upcoming Mini-Set arrives.
The Best Decks For Consecutive Wins
Pikachu Ex
One of the most popular decks in the Pokemon TCG Pocket Meta right now is the Pikachu EX deck, and it’s easy to see why.
This is a fast and aggressive deck that revolves around getting Pikachu EX out and fully charged with two Lightning energy by turn two. With three Lightning types on the bench, atwo-energy Circle Circuit can output a whopping 90 damageonto an enemy who may still be trying to set up.
This powerhouse can be combined withZapdos EX, which can be used as a wallwhile you set up your Pikachu. This results in a highly effective,but more importantly, highly consistent deckthat can take you to that glorious five-win streak!
Don’t expect Zapdos to be your main damage dealer. That’s Pikachu’s job. Thundering Hurricane, while looking great on paper, can be far too inconsistent to be truly valuable. Also, hitting 200 damage on a card that only has 20 hp left is a rather soul-crushing experience.
This deck is weak to Fighting types, but it’s likely that few people will run a deck like Marowak EX in this event, due to its huge inconsistency and over-reliance on coin flips.Pikachu has very few weaknesses, save for running into large bulky Pokemon, which, thankfully, also aren’t too common in this event.
In reality, theone thing that scares this deck is the mirror match. At that point, all you can really do is keep your fingers crossed while trying to execute your gameplan.
Depending on your playstyle, consider swapping the Zebstrika package for 2 Voltorb and 2 Electrode. Electrode has a powerful two-energy attack and 0 retreat cost.
Pikachu EX
Professor Oak
Articuno & Starmie EX
Another extremely powerful choice while climbing this slippery ladder is the Articuno & Starmie combo deck. It relies on an earlyMisty, friend of other cards such as Blastoise EX,to fully charge your team and obliterate the opponent before they can even get started.
Due to Misty’s ability to be played on the very first turn, this powerful supporter card can decide a game right from the get-go. Even getting just1–2 energy with Misty can almost guarantee a win.
Of course, missing that important coin flip can often slow this deck down a lot, meaning a card is wasted and no more supporter cards, such as Professor Oak, can be played. Luckily, this Water-type deck has a few more tricks up its sleeve.
Starmie, similarly to Pikachu, can dish out90 damage at just two energy.There are no drawbacks either, save for you needing to play Staryu beforehand. In addition, it has0 retreat cost,meaning it can safely be swapped out for an Articuno EX that is hiding in the wings.
Articuno can be used as a wall to set up your Starmie.By using Blizzard, you can also chip away at your opponent’s bench, ensuring an easier knock-out later on in the match.
Unfortunately, this deck can be menaced by Lightning-type threats, which define the deck previously mentioned. Due to the large number of Pikachu EX players, anunlucky Misty could spell the end of this match-up.I know from my own games that failing two Misty coin flips in a row is an infuriating experience.
I would advise you not to rely solely on Misty every time. Focus on this deck’s other strengths, and if Misty’s coin flip does work, then all the better.
Articuno EX
Starmie EX
Farfetch’d
If you’re looking for consistency, a deck that doesn’t rely on coin flips, thenMewtwo EX and Gardevoir may just be the deck for you.
Mewtwo can unleash a gargantuan Psydrive every turn, wiping out everything in its path.No cards in the previous decks can withstand a 150-damage attackfrom Mewtwo EX, making this a fantastic competitive choice.
This is a comparatively cheap deck thatonly requires one EX card to be fully functional. Of course, having two Mewtwo and two Gardevoir is a huge boost to this deck’s consistency.
I would advise beginners to focus on one particular deck, and collect all the necessary cards to make it work by checking which booster packs contain which. If you’re missing a card,don’t be afraid to use a few pack points to get that second Gardevoir. It can truly make all the difference in thishit mobile title.
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In terms of weaknesses, the Dark type isn’t very common in competitive events, soPsychic types have little to worry about when faced with a Starmie or a Pikachu.
The only other thing this deck has to worry about is the set-up time. Gardevoir, being a Stage Two Pokemon, can be a little tricky to get out, especially if both copies are sitting on the bottom of your deck. If this is the case,Meowth can be used to thin out the draw pile, allowing for quicker and more consistent results.
Most of the time, you’ll have all the puzzle pieces except one. Gardevoir needing two other Pokemon to evolve from often leads to it being a dead card, so your hand may not always be friendly to you.
Remember, when you have Poke Ball and Professor Oak in your hand, use Poke Ball first, and then Professor Oak after. This will guarantee a basic Pokemon that you may have drawn through Professor Oak. Getting the right cards in the right order is crucial for this deck.
Koga - Anti Meta
Of course,not everyone has EX cards in excess. New players wanting to grab that illustrious Emblem may want to try an anti-meta deck, to help swing the results in their favor.
In that case, theDark-type focused Koga decks can be very powerfulwhen used correctly. While this deck takes a little more skill and time to get used to, with a bit of luck on your side it can go toe-to-toe with the best of them.
Focusing on inflicting status effects and then following up with a powerful attack from Muk,this deck is great for tackling the ladder if you find yourself going up against a lot of psychic decks. In addition, you can prevent your opponent from gaining points by swapping out your Pokemon with Koga, nullifying damage and often infuriating your opponent.
Of course, don’t expect this deck to take you to five wins right off the bat. It will take a fair bit of grinding before you get lucky enough to pull off this strategy. It feels great when it does happen, though.
Those without the proper cards can also experiment with an Arbok and Weezing Lock deck, which focuses on poisoning the opponent and preventing escape. While these decks may not be the simplest or most powerful, they are far easier to make compared to their counterparts, and can certainly pack a punch.
With these decks and enough perseverance, getting to that five-win streak is within your grasp. It’s important to stay calm and keep going with events like these. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do when, on game number five, your opponent rolls triple heads on theirMoltres EX on their first turn, then proceeds to steamroll you with Centiskorch (I know this from painful experience).
Once you obtain that Golden Emblem, make sure to go to your player profile and equip it. The emblems are cosmetics with no in-game effects, but they were probably hard-earned and you’ll want to show them off. The Pokemon TCG sure has come a long way on mobile devices sincethe excellent Game Boy Color game.
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