2 Pokemon + 18 Trainer Decks is a deck archetype that maximize its consistency and flexibility with their Trainer cards, while sacrificing Pokemon options. Read on to learn how to build these decks and how to play them!

What are 18 Trainer Decks?

Decks That Have Only 2 Pokemon and 18 Trainer Cards

These are decks that fully utilize all the available Trainer cards in the format. They mostly operate under the same concept and strategy but with varying levels of power level.

18 Trainer decks also make use of powerful ex Pokemon, as well as Fossils to control the points that they want to give up and protect their Benched ex Pokemon.

Best 18 Trainer Decks

Articuno ex

Articuno ex Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Articuno ex ×2
Trainer Cards
Old Amber ×2				Misty ×2				Giovanni ×2				Sabrina ×2
Potion ×2				X Speed ×2				Poke Ball ×2				Red Card ×2
Professor's Research ×2

Articuno ex is the best Pokemon for the 18 Trainer deck build mainly because of the inclusion of Misty which can quickly power up an Articuno ex on lucky coin flips.

In addition to this, it also has a usable first Attack in Ice Wing which it can use for only 2 Energy, giving it an edge over its other Water 18 Trainer counterpart, Lapras ex, which can only use Bubble Drain once it has all three Energy attached.

Articuno ex Deck Strategy Guide and Card List

Lapras ex

Lapras ex Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Lapras ex ×2
Trainer Cards
Old Amber ×2				Misty ×2				Giovanni ×2				Sabrina ×2
Potion ×2				X Speed ×2				Poke Ball ×2				Red Card ×2
Professor's Research ×2

Lapras ex has the potential to be more tanky than Articuno ex because of Bubble Drain's HP recovery, but is limited by its lack of a cheaper first Attack, making it reliant on multiple Misty heads flips. This makes it so it can only use Bubble Drain, as it has no other option besides this.

Lapras ex Deck Strategy Guide and Card List

Zapdos ex

Zapdos ex Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Zapdos ex ×2
Trainer Cards
Old Amber ×2				Giovanni ×2				Sabrina ×2				Potion ×2
X Speed ×2				Hand Scope ×2				Poke Ball ×2				Red Card ×2
Professor's Research ×2

Zapdos ex is another powerful ex that can make use of the 18 Trainer deck setup, however it lacks access to ramp like Misty. This makes it reliant on manual Energy attachments.

What it has over Articuno ex and Lapras ex, however, is its option to deal a huge burst of damage with Thundering Hurricane. This attack can high roll for 200 damage, or do 50 to 100 damage on average. This Pokemon ex can also start attacking as early as T1 with access to a 1 Energy Attack in Peck, which can OHKO Staryu with the help of Giovanni.

It can also run Hand Scope, which would otherwise be a mediocre Trainer Card, because of the lack of other usable options. Hand Scope with Red Card make for a powerful one-two combo, as Hand Scope can help you decide whether it would be beneficial to play Red Card against your opponent.

Zapdos ex Deck Strategy Guide and Card List

Pokemon TCG Pocket Related Guides

Deck Building Guide

All Deck Tier Lists

Deck Articles

Meta Decks

Best Meta Decks
Mewtwo ex	Celebi ex and Serperior	Pikachu ex
Gyarados ex and Greninja	Vaporeon and Articuno ex	Volcarona and Arcanine ex
Scolipede and Weezing	Starmie ex and Articuno ex	Arcanine ex
Blaine	Pikachu ex and Raichu	Gyarados ex and Vaporeon
Pidgeot ex	Charizard ex	Aerodactyl ex and Primeape
Exeggutor ex	Lt. Surge	Dragonite
Alakazam and Jynx	Mew ex and Weezing	Golem

Off Meta Decks

Articuno ex	Venusaur ex	Dragonite and Weezing
Lapras ex	Greninja	Mewtwo ex and Weezing
Marowak ex	Primeape	Venusaur and Weezing
Arbok Lock	Zapdos ex	Blastoise ex
Gengar ex	Machamp ex	Wigglytuff ex
Melmetal	Koga	Omastar and Articuno ex
Kingler and Articuno ex	Frosmoth	Lapras ex and Butterfree
Poliwrath	Tentacruel and Greninja	Victreebel and Exeggutor ex
Gengar ex and Golbat	Persian and Mawile	Lickitung and Primeape
Exeggutor ex and Alakazam	Frosmoth and Articuno ex	Gyarados
Centiskorch and Moltres ex	Grapploct	Cinccino and Weezing
Brock	Kabutops	Aerodactyl and Dragonite
Eeveelutions and Ditto	Lickitung	Articuno
Zapdos	Moltres	Venusaur
Charizard	Blastoise

Rental Decks

All Rental Decks
Venusaur ex Rental Deck	Charizard ex Rental Deck	Blastoise ex Rental Deck
Pikachu ex Rental Deck	Mewtwo ex Rental Deck	Machamp ex Rental Deck
Nidoking and Nidoqueen Rental Deck	Kanto Fossils Rental Deck	Koga Rental Deck
Brock Rental Deck	Blaine Rental Deck	Lt. Surge Rental Deck

Starter Decks

All Starter Decks
Pinsir Starter Deck	Rapidash Starter Deck	Sandslash Starter Deck