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Triumphant Light (A2a)
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GA Charizard Pack
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Best Cards Tier List
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List of Draw and Search Cards
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Pokemon TCG Pocket (PTCGP)
List of Staple Cards for Every Deck
★ Mega Rising (B1) introduces the Mega Evolutions!
☆ New Decks: Mega Blaziken ex | Mega Gyarados ex
Mega Altaria ex | Mega Absol ex | Greninja ex
★ Events: Wonder Pick | Anniversary Celebration
☆ Trading Board: A4b and B1 Available for Trading!
Staple Cards are cards that are good in any deck, and can complement any deck with any strategy. Read on to learn all about staple cards and what they do
List of Contents
List of Staple Trainers
Draw and Search Cards
Poke Ball
Poke Ball is a must-have used in most decks that can reliably pull out Basic Pokemon from your deck.
Poke Ball is an option for thinning your deck, making it so you don't draw into Basic Pokemon with Professor's Research. The decision on whether or not to use Poke Ball or Professor's Research first depends on the board state and what you need in that situation.
Professor's Research
Decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket only consist of 20 cards, so being able to dig 2 cards deep with Professor's Research is a very powerful option. This is a great option for gathering usable resources such as other Trainer Cards like Poke Ball or X Speed.
Pokemon Communication
Pokemon Communication is useful for Stage 2 decks, letting you find important Stage 1s and Stage 2s on turns that you need them. It is random, however, so there is a chance that you still won't get the card you need.
Iono
Iono is especially useful in evolution decks, helping you find important pieces to set up your board. It also potentially disrupts your opponent's hand, limiting their options.
May
May is a welcome addition to evolution decks. This card is made even more powerful after multiple Pokemon have been drawn to your hand, allowing you to more consistently search for valuable evolution cards for your setup.
Copycat
Copycat lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw a fresh new hand for each card in your opponent's hand. This card becomes even more effective against decks that can draw aggressively such as Sylveon ex decks or Suicune ex decks,
Lisia
Lisia can take 2 random Basic Pokemon from out of your deck if they meet its requirements. Baby Pokemon, and low HP Pokemon like Swablu and Magikarp and decks that run their evolutions can benefit greatly from Lisia.
Utility Supporter Cards
Giovanni
Giovanni can be splashed into any deck and allow you to score key KOs when they would matter. A 10 HP difference would often matter when calculating damage for OHKOs and 2HKOs.
Sabrina
Sabrina can force an opponent to switch their Pokemon, putting them into disadvantageous positions. This card is especially effective against Stage 2 decks which would often have multiple unevolved Basic Pokemon in their Benches. Use this to pull out weak Benched Pokemon for easy KOs!
Leaf
Leaf is especially useful in decks that have Pokemon with two or more Retreat Costs. Pokemon like Arceus ex and Druddigon benefit from this greatly, as they can easily switch out of the Active Spot when necessary. This makes it so you aren't forced to sit in a disadvantageous situation for long because you have a resource that you can use to switch your Pokemon out.
Cyrus
Cyrus can often win you the game if you're able to gust out a damaged benched Pokemon from your opponent's side of the field. Use Cyrus for impactful final turns!
Mars
Mars is a great and consistent way of denying your opponents of win conditions. It is best to use Mars after one of your ex Pokemon has been knocked out, as it downsizes your opponent's hand
Irida
Irida is a great inclusion for any deck with Water Energy. This heals 40 damage from all damaged Pokemon that have Water Energy on them.
Pokemon Center Lady
Pokemon Center Lady is a great addition to decks that want their Pokemon to stick around for a long time. Pokemon Center Lady can achieve exactly that, keeping your Pokemon out of KO range, and denying your opponents points.
Red
Red increases damage done to the Defending ex Pokemon by 20, which could be relevant for scoring decisive knock outs.
Guzma
Guzma is a reliable way to remove Tool cards from your opponent's side of the field all at once. This is great for avoiding damage from Rocky Helmet or Poison Barb, or reducing 20 HP from Pokemon holding Giant Cape.
Lillie
Lillie can heal up to 60 damage to Stage 2 Pokemon, making them even tougher to KO, and even more worth it to set up. Having Lillie in-hand can give you more turns to attack, by staying on the field for longer.
Deck Type Specific Staple Cards
Memory Light for Cards with Useful Pre-Evolution Attacks
Memory Light is very useful for Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokemon with utility moves on their previous Evolutions.
To state some of its possible combos, this card allows Donphan ex can further increase the damage cap of Phanpy's Flail or further increase Alcremie's Sweets Overload by making it use Slurpuff's Sweets Relay!
Rare Candy and Lillie are Essential in Stage 2 Decks
Rare Candy buffs Stage 2 decks by skipping Stage 1 evolutions, instantly evolving a Basic Pokemon into a Stage 2 Pokemon. Stage 2 decks must run Rare Candy because its ability to enable Stage 2s quickly is too valuable. This makes Rare Candy an essential inclusion in most decks.
Lillie can help your Stage 2s stay in battle for longer. This works great for Stage 2 Pokemon with high HPs, giving them even more staying power.
Erika and Leaf Cape for Grass Decks
Erika is an auto-include in all Grass decks because of its ability to heal a sizeable 50 damage from any of your damaged Grass Pokemon. This is sure to get them out of KO range, turning 2HKOs into 3HKOs, which makes a huge difference in games.
Grass Pokemon also benefit from Leaf Cape's additional 30 HP.
Misty for Water Decks
Misty allows Water Pokemon to be unpredictable and explosive, immediately giving you a momentum advantage after lucky flips.
Staple Tool Cards
Giant Cape
Giant Cape can keep your Pokemon out of KO range, increasing the turns that they're on the field and denying your opponent of points.
Rocky Helmet
Rocky Helmet punishes opponents for eagerly damaging your Pokemon. This could put them in KO range for you in succeeding turns.
Poison Barb
Poison Barb is an alternative to Rocky Helmet as a way to deal incremental damage and punish your opponent for attacking your Pokemon.
While it does not deal an immediate 20 damage the same way Rocky Helmet does, Poison's accumulative damage in between multiple turns is more significant than Rocky Helmet's 20 damage.
Heavy Helmet
Heavy Helmet makes tanky Pokemon even tankier, by reducing damage dealt to them by 20. This can make them even tougher to successfully KO!
List of Staple Pokemon
Staple Pokemon for Every Deck
Greninja
Greninja is a consistent way to deal damage without attacking due to Water Shuriken being an Ability that's usable within your turn. Its ability to deal 20 damage with Water Shuriken makes Greninja a valuable Pokemon in decks that need an extra boost in damage.
Giratina ex
Giratina ex can power itself up with Psychic Energy usingBroken-Space Bellow, even if your deck does not have Psychic Energy assigned to your Energy Zone. This can let Giratina ex be an effective late-game attacker after it has set itself up turns earlier.
Pom-Pom Oricorio
Pom-Pom Oricorio is a great counter to ex Pokemon, being completely immune to damage from them. This does not include indirect damage from Status however, or damage from Pokemon Tools.
Baby Pokemon
Baby Pokemon Magby, Pichu, and Mantyke can accelerate the Energy generation for your Benched Pokemon using their zero-cost Attacks! These cards are especially useful for high-cost decks as they reduce the turns that you'd need to complete your setup.
Cleffa boosts the consistency of evolution decks thanks to Twinkly Call's ability to search for your deck's Pokemon.
Legendary Beasts
Suicune ex, Raikou ex, and Entei ex all have the Legendary Pulse Ability, which adds consistency to any deck they're in. Legendary Pulse allows the player to draw more cards if it is in the Active Spot, giving you valuable card advantage.
Indeedee ex
Indeedee ex can heal 20 damage from the Pokemon in your Active Spot. If you have two of them in the Bench, you can heal 40 damage. Use this to your advantage to avoid getting KO'd.
Its Attack, Psychic, works very effectively against attackers that need a lot of Energy to be viable.
If you are facing ex Pokemon cards that need at least four Energy for their big attacks, you will likely easily defeat them as you will be able to deal 150 damage.
Mega Rising Eevee
Mega Rising's Eevee allows you to immediately evolve it if it is in the Active Spot. This allows for very aggressive plays, giving you a quick advantage if you can evolve Eevee early enough.
Pokemon TCG Pocket Related Guides
TCG Pocket Card Lists
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List of Staple Cards for Every Deck
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