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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!
Staple Trainer Cards | |||
---|---|---|---|
Professor's Research
|
Potion
|
X Speed
|
Poke Ball
|
Red Card
|
Giovanni
|
Sabrina
|
Card | Effect |
---|---|
Professor's Research |
・Draw 2 cards. |
Decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket only consist of 20 cards, so being able to dig 2 cards deep 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.
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.
Card | Effect |
---|---|
Potion |
・Heal 20 damage from 1 of your Pokemon. |
Potion is a useful HP recovery card that can get your Pokemon out of KO range. This disrupts 2HKO damage calculations and can often turn a 2HKO into a 3HKO, allowing your Pokemon to survive for a turn longer.
Card | Effect |
---|---|
X Speed |
・During this turn, the Retreat Cost of your Active Pokemon is 1 less. |
X Speed allows you to conserve valuable Energy for when you need to retreat a damaged Pokemon. This lessens the Retreat Cost by 1, letting you be efficient with your attachments and save at least 1 Energy.
Card | Explanation |
---|---|
Poke Ball |
・Put 1 random Basic Pokemon from your deck into your hand. |
Poke Ball is a must-have used in most decks that can reliably pull out Basic Pokemon from your deck.
ex Pokemon such as Pikachu ex and Articuno ex are also basic Pokemon, so being able to search for them with a Poke Ball is extremely powerful.
In decks that involve multiple lines of evolutions, it is a good way to thin out Basic Pokemon from it. This can increase your chances of drawing into the evolution cards in the deck with cards like Professor's Research.
Card | Effect |
---|---|
Red Card |
・Your opponent shuffles their hand into their deck and draws 3 cards. |
It is recommended to use Red Card when the opponent has 4 or more cards in their hand, reducing their hand size to 3. This severely limits their options, making Red Card a valuable option for disruption.
Red Card returns an opponent's hand back into their deck, making it useful against Stage 2 decks like Charizard ex or Mewtwo ex decks that run Gardevoir. Red Card becomes an effective tool against Stage 2 decks because can't improve their board states without drawing into their evolution cards.
Card | Effect |
---|---|
Giovanni |
・During this turn, attacks used by your Pokemon do +10 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon. |
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.
Important examples of this would be Articuno ex's Ice Wing being able to OHKO a Staryu with Giovanni, or Mewtwo ex's Psychic Sphere being able to KO a Ralts with the extra 10 damage.
Card | Effect |
---|---|
Sabrina |
・Switch out your opponent’s Active Pokemon to the Bench. (Your opponent chooses the new Active Pokemon.) |
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!
Staple Pokemon Cards | |||
---|---|---|---|
Farfetch'd
|
Kangaskhan
|
Meowth
|
Weezing
|
Card | Explanation |
---|---|
Farfetch'd
|
・Can deal 40 damage for only 1 Energy attachment. |
Farfetch'd can quickly and efficiently deal 40 damage with just one Energy attachment. Leek Slap with Giovanni can score key KOs on 50 HP Pokemon, notably Staryu and Exeggcute.
Farfetch'd can quickly get out of the Active Spot at the cost of only 1, or 0 if you use X Speed.
Card | Explanation |
---|---|
Kangaskhan
|
・Can deal up to 60 damage for only 1 Energy attachment. ・Sufficiently tanky and can take multiple attacks before going down. |
Kangaskhan can deal up to 60 damage on two heads flips with Dizzy Punch which is enough to knock out the likes of Ralts and Pikachu.
100 HP is not easy to take out, and is 2HKOd by Pokemon like Starmie ex or Articuno ex. Mewtwo ex would need to commit to Psydrive, or Psychic Sphere twice.
Card | Explanation |
---|---|
Meowth
|
・Can draw you a card, which is very important especially with only 20 cards in a deck. |
Card draw is valuable especially in a 20 card format, allowing you to dig one card deep for resources. This is useful for decks with multiple lines of evolutions, letting you dig for evolution cards for later turns.
Card | Explanation |
---|---|
Weezing
|
・Can deal damage at no cost thanks to its Gas Leak Ability. ・Sufficiently tanky and can take multiple attacks before going down. ・Can be scooped up with Koga, protecting it from getting KOd and allowing you a free switch. |
Gas Leak allows you to poison the opponent's Active Pokemon at no cost, dealing incremental damage over time.
Weezing has a solid 110 HP, making it decently tough to KO.
Koga lets you scoop Weezing out of the Active Spot, and allow it to come back on a later turn. Scooping up a Pokemon can remove all damage from it, allow a fresh Pokemon to replace it in the Active Spot, as well as allowing you to replay Koffing and Weezing again later on.
Koga Deck Strategy Guide and Card List
All Tier Lists | |
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Best Cards Tier List | Best Meta Deck Tier List |
Best Rental Deck Tier List | Best F2P Beginner Decks |
Deck Articles | |
---|---|
How Rental Decks Work | Staple Cards for Decks |
Aggro Decks Explained | Deck Matchup Statistics |
All Starter Decks | ||
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Pinsir Starter Deck | Rapidash Starter Deck | Sandslash Starter Deck |
List of Staple Cards for Every Deck
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