Hi there. In this post I cover Pikachu ex decks that are really popular in the first week of Pokemon TCG Pocket. Pokemon TCG Pocket is a mobile game where you play with digital cards, collect cards and battle others online. The gameplay is a simplified version of the regular Trading card game but there are still some complex gameplay mechanics, sequencing and strategies.
Deck images and pictures taken from Limitless TCG.
Pikachu ex decks are pretty popular right now. The Pikachu ex attacker can hit a maximum of 90 damage for 2 Lightning Energy. This 90 damage is conditional on having all 3 Benched Pokemon being Electric types.
Advantages
- Hit for 90 damage for 2 Lightning Energy
- One retreat cost
- Hit for weakness for +20 damage against Water types and popular Articuno ex
- Basic Pokemon setup
Disadvantages
- Dependent on benched Lightning Pokemon
- 120 HP is low for a 2 Points Pokemon ex, watch out for one hit KO attackers like Mewtwo ex, Charizard ex, Ninetales with Blaine
- 90 Damage max damage is low and not knockout range on other Pokemon ex
- Weak to Fighting types like Marowak ex, Sandslash, Machamp ex
I do feature 2 different versions of Pikachu ex decks. These are Pikachu ex with Zapdos ex and one with Raichu. There could be other versions that are not common such as Pikachu ex with Electrode. Electrode is another Electric attacker option in Pikachu ex decks too.
Pikachu ex With Zapdos ex
Pikachu ex with Zapdos ex is pretty popular in the online tournaments as reported from the Limitless TCG website.
Here is a winning deck list from one online tournament.
With Pikachu ex you do need a lot of Basic Pokemon. This deck runs 7 Basic Electric Pokemon. Zapdos ex is an alternate attacker to Pikachu just in case your bench is not full. As Pikachu ex cannot do more than 90 damage, Zapdos ex with its second attack can do 100 damage to 200 damage depending on your coin flip luck.
Zebstrika is a good Electric attacker. It is one of the few cards right now that can do damage to Benched Pokemon. Note that you do not hit for weakness on Benched Pokemon. Zebstrika can finish off any weak Benched Pokemon on the opponent's side if needed.
Pikachu ex With Raichu & Lt Surge.
There is this Pikachu ex with Raichu and the Lt. Surge supporter card. This is not so common but it did win a large tournament.
This one uses 2 Magnemite and 2 Magneton instead of the 2 Blitzle and the 2 Zebstrikas. The Magneton can accelerate energy and be used as an attacker if needed. Combining the Magnetons and Lt. Surge can power up the Raichus. Raichu is good as it is not a Pokemon ex and can deal big damage.
I have not played this deck myself but I think you would try to attack with 2 Raichus and then send out Pikachu ex or Zapdos ex as the third and final Pokemon for the opponent. This is one of those deck lists that seems weird but you would have to play with this one to see the lines of play and the tactics involved.
Closing Notes
There is no set Pikachu ex deck that you can copy or expect. If you face one of the Pikachu ex decks out there you may not know the exact cards the opponent plays in their deck. There could be one to four cards that can vary.
As Pikachu ex is depending on their bench, the deck can fail on its own and not hit high damage outputs. If you play Fighting attackers as a counter to Pikachu ex decks then you have an advantage. Mewtwo ex decks can hit for big damage after setting up which causes major problems for Pikachu ex decks.
Pikachu decks are popular because of Pikachu being one of the main mascot Pokemon and the decks are fairly easy to use. The decks have good speed and okay damage output. These decks are favoured against slower decks that require more setup with their evolutions or energy requirements. The lack of firepower is a main disadvantage against decks that can deal more than 150 damage or more than 120HP.