The Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck is a Offensive Fire Deck featuring Volcarona from the Mythical Island Set in Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket (PTCG Pocket). Read on for the complete list of cards in this deck, basic information on the deck, how to play the deck, and optimal matchups for it!

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Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck Guide

Deck Evaluation

Ace Pokemon						Tier Ranking
Volcarona Mythical Island (A1a)			Arcanine ex Genetic Apex (A1)
						Energy Type(s)
						F2P Friendly?
						❌
						Deck Difficulty
						★★
Deck Strengths
Can deal high damage with only 1 evolution line, even against other ex Pokemon. Volcarona can reliably snipe your opponent's Benched Pokemon, making it so benching becomes a liability.
Deck Weaknesses
Weak to Water-type decks Low durability

Best Meta Decks Tier List

List of Cards

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Growlithe ×2				Arcanine ex ×2				Moltres ex ×2				Larvesta ×2
Volcarona ×2
Trainer Cards
Giovanni ×2				Pokemon Flute ×2				Leaf ×1				X Speed ×1
Poke Ball ×2				Professor's Research ×2

Deck Building Guide

Packs Required for Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck

Packs Needed for Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck

How to Play Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck

How to Play Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck
Core Combos and Interactions Starting Hand Deck Strategies Game Phases

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck Core Combos and Interactions

Primary Attacker	Bench Sniper	Description
Arcanine ex	Volcarona	・Arcanine ex can reliably deal 120 damage at the cost of doing 20 damage to itself. ・Volcarona's Volcanic Ash lets it do 80 damage anywhere on the board. This synergizes with Pokemon Flute, allowing you to repeatedly KO a low-HP Pokemon.

Best Starting Hand

Best Starting Hand

Evolution cards are good to have inhand, as the deck has multiple ways to search for Basics such as Poke Ball and Professor's Research.

Other Good Starting Cards

Recommended Starting Hand

Moltres ex is the deck's best starter, as it can ramp our Benched Pokemon for only one Energy. Leaf lets us be more efficient with our Energy, making it so we don't discard any whenever we retreat.

Best Cards Tier List

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck Strategies

Charizard ex Deck Strategies
Moltres ex Ramp Arcanine ex Offense Volcarona's Volcanic Ash

Strategy 1: Moltres ex Ramp

Moltres ex Ramp

Moltres ex is your ideal start. Use Inferno Dance to ramp Energy onto your Benched Growlithe and Larvesta and evolve them whenever possible. Use Professor's Research to dig for more Charmander, Poke Ball or Volcarona!

Strategy 2: Arcanine ex Offense

Once Arcanine ex is set up, retreat Moltres ex and attempt to take multiple points with Arcanine ex's Inferno Onrush.

Strategy 3: Volcarona's Volcanic Ash

It is ideal to load Volcarona up with multiple Energy so that it's able to use Volcanic Ash consecutively. This strategy synergizes with Pokemon Flute, making it so you can KO the same Pokemon again the following turn.

Game Phases

Early Game

Key Card(s) Required
Step	Description
1	Start with Moltres ex if you can, and ramp your Benched Pokemon with Inferno Dance.

Mid-Game

Key Card(s) Required
Step	Description
1	Evolve your Benched Pokemon and continue ramping with Moltres ex.

Late Game

Key Card(s) Required
1	Use Leaf to retreat Moltres ex and send out either Arcanine ex or Volcarona.
2	Use Arcanine ex to damage your opponent's Active Pokemon, and Volcarona to snipe Benched Pokemon.
3	Use Pokemon Flute to bring back a Basic Pokemon you knocked out last turn to knock it out again with Volcarona's Volcanic Ash.

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck Best and Worst Matchups

Best Matchups

Deck	Commentary
Celebi ex Decks	Type: ・Can trade damage favorably because of its type advantage over Grass.

Worst Matchups

Deck	Commentary
Starmie ex Decks	Type: ・Can quickly outspeed Moltres ex's setup and eventually get to your Benched Pokemon.
Pikachu ex Decks	Type: ・Can quickly outspeed Moltres ex's setup by hitting it for super-effective damage, and eventually get to your Benched Pokemon.

Overall Consistency

This deck's consistency relies heavily on Moltres ex's Inferno Dance flipping favorably as both Arcanine ex and Volcarona make use of lots of Energy. It is best to always start with Moltres ex, otherwise try to attach Energy and always attack with your evolutions on turn 3.

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck F2P & Substitutes

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck Card Substitutes

Card	Explanation
Giovanni	・ Giovanni helps you reach 130 damage with Arcanine ex, which is an important HP benchmark. This lets it OHKO Starmie ex and Mew ex.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Meta Guide

Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck Other Viable Options

Card	Possible Cuts
Arcanine	・Swapping out Pokemon Flute for a non-ex Arcanine gives the deck a non-ex option.

F2P Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck List

F2P Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Growlithe x2	Arcanine x2	Larvesta x2	Volcarona x2
Moltres ex x1
Trainer Cards
Leaf x2	Professor's Research x2	Potion x2	Poke Ball x2
X Speed x1	Sabrina x2

Moltres ex is an important part of any Fire deck's success because the ramp it provides is too valuable. Try to fit at least one if you have it. Non-ex Arcanine can take the place of Arcanine ex if you don't have access to Arcanine ex, while Volcarona and Leaf should still be slotted in when available.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Beginner's Guide

Pokemon TCG Pocket Related Guides

Best Meta Decks Tier List

Meta Decks

S Tier Decks
Arceus ex
A+ Tier Decks
Carnivine	Rampardos	Crobat
Magnezone and Skarmory	Exeggutor ex	Heatran
Charizard ex	Palkia ex	Darkrai ex
Weavile ex	Yanmega ex	Origin Forme Palkia
A Tier Decks
Leafeon ex	Garchomp ex	Probopass ex
Infernape ex	Pachirisu ex	Gyarados ex and Greninja
Pikachu ex	Dialga ex	Articuno ex
Gallade ex	Abomasnow	Celebi ex
B Tier Decks
Glaceon ex	Bronzong	Tyranitar
Staraptor	Donphan	Starmie ex and Articuno ex
Mewtwo ex and Gardevoir	Golem	Pidgeot ex
Scolipede and Weezing	Garchomp	Porygon-Z
Arcanine ex	Dialga ex and Bastiodon	-
C Tier Decks
・Houndoom Deck ・Snorlax Deck ・Lucario Deck ・Pikachu ex and Raichu Deck ・Venusaur ex Deck ・Volkner Deck ・Togekiss Deck ・Aerodactyl ex Deck ・Alakazam and Jynx Deck ・Dragonite Deck ・Machamp ex Deck ・Blastoise ex Deck ・Marowak ex Deck ・Torterra Deck ・Empoleon Deck ・Mismagius ex Deck ・Volcarona and Arcanine ex Deck ・Wigglytuff ex Deck ・Gengar ex Deck

Off Meta Decks

(A2)
・Dialga ex and Lickilicky ex Deck ・Lake Trio Deck ・Rhyperior Deck ・Togekiss Deck
(A1)	(A1a)
・Arbok Lock Deck ・Brock Deck ・Cinccino Deck ・Frosmoth Deck ・Kingler and Articuno ex Deck ・Lt. Surge Deck ・Melmetal Deck ・Mewtwo ex and Weezing Deck ・Primeape Deck ・Venusaur ex and Weezing Deck ・Victreebel and Exeggutor ex Deck	・Gyarados ex and Vaporeon Deck ・Mew ex and Weezing Deck ・Vaporeon and Articuno ex Deck

Deck-Building Guides and Articles