How to beat the No trainer challenge? (Extradimensional Crisis update)

To get extra Shop Tickets when you face the decks in Solo mode, you can complete challenges called Battle Tasks. Some involve to play with no card above ◊◊◊ rarity, some to play with no Trainer card in your deck! This means no Supporters, no Items (including fossils) and no Pokémon Tools! Essentially, your deck must consist of 20 Pokémon cards.

In this guide, you’ll find some strategies to help you complete these new Solo Battle missions introduced in Triumphant Light (A2a).

This battle task appears for four specific decks at the moment:

1. Glaceon EX & Palkia EX Deck
2. Arceus EX & Weavile EX Deck
3. Lucario EX & Kangashkan Deck
4. Tinkatonk EX & Skarmory Deck
5. Tapu Koko EX & Pikachu EX Deck
6. Lycanrock EX & Passimian EX Deck

Below are sample decks to help you beat this challenge. Remember, there are countless alternatives, and sometimes, you just need a lucky draw.

Cards worth considering for every challenge

While we will mostly bring cards that deal weakness damage to the opponent´s deck, there are some cards that can be useful independent of their type.

• Shaymin (STS): Healing 10 every turn may let you survive one more hit on your active Pokemon, allowing you to better prepare your bench.
• Shaymin (TL): Reducing Retreat Cost can provide both offensive and defensive advantage to the deck. It is also one of the few "trainer" you can have (as a pseudo-X Speed) considering we can only bring Pokemon cards to the deck.

• Kangashkan (GA): If you flip 2 heads, 60 damage for one energy is incredible as it KO most of the Basic Pokémon in game.
• Farfetch´d (GA): While Kangashkan has a higher damage output and HP, if you are looking for damage consistency and low retreat cost, Farfetch´d would be a better choice.

• Giratina (STS): Its Levitate ability and high HP lets it tank up to 100 damage and retreat for free by having 1 energy attached.
• Arceus EX (TL): Considering we will be filling up the bench from turn 1, dealing 130 damage for 3 is the best deal possible. It's also playable in any deck thanks to its generic attack cost.

Glaceon EX & Palkia EX Deck

The Pokémon in this deck are Manaphy, Glaceon (Eevee), and Palkia, meaning its primary weakness is Lightning. Focus on building a deck with Pokémon that can deal significant damage in the early turns to prevent the deck from setting up.

For this deck, the main threat is Palkia EX and its 150-damage Dimensional Storm attack, Glaceon EX ability can be bothersome as well, both of this Pokémon need many energies to attack so we apply pressure early on to not get swept later on.

Strategy:

• Best-case scenario: Deal 30 (+20) damage with Joltik, Tynamo, or Voltorb on the first turn to Manaphy and secure a quick win while preventing the CPU from getting ahead with an early Oceanic Gift. If the opponent attaches a Giant Cape, Rotom can deal 70 damage on the first turn.
• Worst-case scenario: You may have to try multiple times before getting a good starting hand.

This deck include Pokémon that can deal significant damage with minimal energy investment, with a mix of Pokémon capable to attack on curve turn 3 and turn 4 after evolving. Pikachu EX is particularly effective, as this deck easily fills the bench, enabling consistent 90-damage attacks.

Alternative options

• Voltorb (A1)
• Electrode (A2)
• Pikachu (A1a) and Raichu (A2a)
• Helioptile and Heliolisk (A1)
• Magnemite and Magneton (A1), Magnezone (A2)
• Oricorio (A3)

Arceus EX & Weavile EX Deck

The Pokémon in this deck are Weavile (Sneasel), Crobat (Zubat, Golbat), and Arceus, meaning its primary weakness is Fighting. Focus on building a deck with Pokémon that can deal high damage early; luckily, there are a lot of options. A standout card for this matchup is Sudowoodo, which can 2HKO Arceus EX with just 1 energy. Plus, its full-art card is adorable!

For this deck, there are multiple threats: Weavile EX (70 damage for 1 energy), Arceus EX (130 damage with a full bench), and Crobat, which adds 30 damage (or 60 damage if two Crobat are on the board) to your active Pokémon.

Strategy:

• Lead with Sudowoodo. If the opponent starts with Arceus EX (which is likely due to its high HP), you can deal 70 damage on the first turn!
• Lucario is a great addition to the deck, as its Fighting Coach ability boosts all Fighting-type attacks by 20 damage. Keep it safe on the Bench to keep powering up your active Pokémon
• Avoid Stage 2 Pokémon due to the time required to set them up. Fossils are also unusable since they are considered Trainer cards.

Alternative Options

• Check Tapu Koko EX & Pikachu EX Deck recommended deck!

Lucario EX & Kangashkan Deck

The Pokémon in this deck are Lucario (Riolu), Kangashkan, and Hitmonlee, meaning its primary weakness is Psychic. Focus on building a deck with Pokémon that can deal high damage early and with low energy investement, in case your Pokémon get knocked out fast; luckily, there are a lot of options. A standout card for this matchup is Togekiss, as it OHKO Riolu and Hitmonlee on the first turn, and Kangashkan or a chipped Lucario EX on the second turn onwards, also its preevolutions deal good damage with only 1 energy. Giratina can also be used as a tank and pivot easily thanks to its Levitate ability.

The AI will prioritize starting with Kangashkan or Hitmonlee while preparing a Lucario EX on the bench. Hitmonlee will focus on your bench, making the chip damage needed to later KO both your active and benched Pokémon with Lucario EX´s Aura sphere.

Strategy:

• Hit hard from the start, prioritize tanking with Clefairy and Clefable while building up Togekiss.
• Dusknoir can provide support by soaking up the damage received by other Pokémon.
• Clefable and Beheeyem can win you the game by themselves too, don´t underestimate them!

Alternative Options

• Banette (A3)
• Shiinotic (A3a)
• Tapu Lele (A3)
• Oricorio (A3)

Tinkaton EX & Skarmory Deck

The Pokémon in this deck are Tinkaton (and its pre-evolutions), Skarmory, and Shaymin Sky Form, meaning its weaknesses are Fire and Lightning. Focus on building a deck as Skarmory and Shaymin (both weak to Lightning) have low HP already (if you believe its better to build a deck, consider referring to the information listed above when facing Palkia EX and Glaceon EX). Skarmory can be a big bully on the first turns if the AI finds a Poke-Tool early on, while they build towards a Tinkaton EX on the bench.

Focus on including Pokémon that can deal high damage early and with low energy investement, in case your Pokémon get knocked out fast, the first one that came to mind to me was Heatmor. Infernape EX provides a good addition to this deck as it only needs 2 to deal 140 (+20) damage. has a lot of strong Pokémon so add what you have in collection and it will be good enough.

Strategy:

• Try to lead with Heatmor or Slugma as they are tanky and can deal damage with 1 energy.
• Use Heatran or Rapidash for the midgame, while you try to match the evolutions to get to Infernape.
• Get the last point with Infernape EX´s Flare Blitz!

Alternative Options

• Incineroar EX (A3)
• Blacephalon (A3a)
• Talonflame (A3)

Tapu Koko EX & Pikachu EX Deck

The Pokémon in this deck are Oricorio, Zerarora, Pikachu EX and Tapu Koko EX, all weak to . Keep in mind that Oricorio in inmune to all damage done by Pokémon EX thanks to its Safeguard Ability, so do not rely too heavily on them as your source of damage. On the bright side, all the Pokémon on this deck have quite low HP, being Tapu Koko the highest with 130 HP, this means that you do not require high damage dealers as every Pokémon can be 2HKO.
My advice is to bring Pokémon with low energy requirements that deal consistent damage, some examples are Sandslash (GA), Primeape (MI), Lucario (STS), Medicham (EC). Unless you get a really bad draw of cards, you will find yourself easily overpowering the opponents´ deck, weakness extra damage and Lucario´s Fighting Coach Ability are just too strong!

Strategy:

• Attack whichever Pokémon the AI puts in the active spot, they are all quite frail and all the cards we are bringing do enough damage to be a threat by themselves.

Alternative Options

• Check Arceus EX & Weavile EX Deck recommended deck!

Lycanrock EX & Passimian EX Deck

The Pokémon in this deck are Lucario (Riolu), Lycanrock EX (Rockruff), Passimian EX, so there is a mix of and weaknesses which can be a bit tricky to build a deck against. From my experience the AI leads with Passimian EX to set up Lycanrock EX, always leaving Lucario on the bench, the biggest threat is the Lycanrock EX dealing 130 to 170 damage per turn (depending on how many Lucario are in the bench thanks to its Fighting Coach Ability) so I focus on building a deck as Passimian EX and Lucario are less of a threat.

The ideal Pokémon to bring in this challenge is Beedril EX, as its Crushing Spear attack discards an energy, completely crushing the AI setup of Lycanrock EX. Meowscarada is also a good addition as it can 1HKO Lycanrock EX thanks to weakness damage. Even though these Pokémon are Stage 2 cards (making them harder to setup in these fast paced games), both Weedle and Sprigatito have attacks to thin out your deck and find the Pokémon you need, faster! Consider bringing Combee as well as it has a similar attack as the previous mentioned Basic Pokémon. Kartana is also a nice addition as it can 1HKO Rockruff thanks to weakness damage.

Strategy:

• Lead with Sprigatito or Weedle to draw your Pokémon faster and find the missing evolution cards you need, or with Kartana to start dealing damage early on.
• Focus on evolving Weedle to Beedril EX and disrupt the AI strategy. As all the other cards we are bringing are no EX (1 pointer), this gives us more turns to find our desired cards.

Alternative Options

• Celebi (A1a)
• Masquerain (A3)
• Tsareena (A3)
• Buzzwole and Celesteela (A3a)

Conclusion

These sample decks and strategies should help you clear this challenging mission. Don’t get discouraged if you lose a few times, this is a tough challenge! Keep trying, and soon enough, you’ll earn those shop credits and complete all the extra challenges. Good luck!