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Celestial Guardians might be the biggest shakeup in the Pokémon TCG Pocket metagame so far. With a surge of newly empowered decks adding a ton of variety, it’s not easy to pin down which ones truly are the best. Tournament organizers Samuele from Pocket Winds and Arca from Frog EX, along with top player and content creator NothingButBangers, share their insights on what the tier list looks like at the start of the Celestial Guardians format.
Panelists
Click on their name to go to their media!
Top tiers
Many people thought that the Darkrai ex Giratina deck would fall off, but it continues to be a presence in tourney and ranked gameplay. It is still very flexible with cards that can answer Oricorio with Darkrai EX or even cards like Komala. With the new set, it can be a bit slow, which leads to issues against decks that combo with Rare Candy and pressure.
-NothingButBangers
The numbers speak for themselves: 60% winrate for Darkrai ex Giratina is insane. Darkrai deals nicely with Oricorio, and Giratina EX is arguably the strongest EX card ever printed. Some variants now include Snorlax or Komala to handle Oricorio more reliably. People thought this archetype was done, but it's stronger than ever.
-Just_Samuele
Garchomp EX finally has proven to be a very big threat with Rare Candy by being able to snipe around the board. Rampardos can sweep by itself if you are able to evolve it right away, but also can miracle you back into games that looked lost. This deck is a great example of utilizing Rare Candy to its maximum capacity.
-NothingButBangers
Rampardos is the breakout star of the set. There’s no other T3 EX that can hit for 130 so consistently. Combined with Garchomp ex’s 1-energy pressure and bench-sniping, you’ll always want to go first in mirrors to KO opposing fossils early. It’s also the first 1 Poké Ball deck that has this level of consistency—extremely meta-appropriate.
-Just_Samuele
High tiers
Coupled with Greninja, Giratina ex is a super solid deck in both EX and non-EX builds, thanks especially to Oricorio. What the meta needed was a deck that could handle all matchups effectively, and this is the pinnacle of well-structured deckbuilding.
-Just_Samuele
Giratina ex paired with Greninja & Snorlax provides another way to contend against Electric Oricorio but also force the opponents to go for 1-1-2 point mapping. Some players have cut Greninja or Snorlax to minimize bricks and some players have even began playing dual energy types. When this deck is clicking, it is very tough to beat.
-NothingButBangers
Charizard ex from Shining Revelry is one of the deck that abuses the most of Rare Candy, bringing Charizard ex quickly to 5 Energy from turn 3 thanks to a curved Candy + Stoke, one-shotting pretty much all cast especially that early in the game. The best version is likely the one mixed with Incineroar ex, so to have an extra stage 2 to bring early and capable of attacking on curve.
The deck dies as it lives: it's very dependent on Rare Candy. Players are experimenting with Turtonator and Kiawe for a more aggressive early game and to improve the otherwise abysmal Oricorio matchup.
-Arca
In Charizard ex, Turtonator provides a great potential turn 1 play. Incineroar ex provides a nice secondary attacker that can also pressure Electric Oricorio. We all know what a on curve Rare Candy & Charizard ex is capable of doing against any deck.
-NothingButBangers
As soon as you hit the deity, the Arceus ex Crobat deck is very powerful. Players generally play this baseline with an aggressive Pokémon like Carnivine or Kangaskhan and set up Arceus ex while pinging with their attacker + Crobat's Cunning Link. The legendary Pokémon will show up in the late game to bring it to its conclusion. Two main versions seem to be played: one with Carnivine, a blessing against the weak Garchomp ex deck; one with Kangaskhan and Ilima to dish out damage without leaving a point to your opponent.
-Arca
Although Solgaleo ex looks powerful on paper, it has underperformed a little in recent tournaments. Solgaleo EX individually is a very good card, but the partners Skarmory, Escavalier, and Excadrill all have their issues. The weakness to types also can be crucial when running into Incineroar EX or Charizard EX. We may have not found Solgaleo EX’s best partner yet.
-NothingButBangers
Expectations were high around Solgaleo ex, but the Skarmory version has too many issues, especially low HP and Guzma being so relevant in the meta. The Karrablast version allows bench hits to set up Solgaleo KOs, but over the course of a long tournament, the deck’s flaws start showing.
-Just_Samuele
Oricorio is a game-defining card: after all, Pokémon ex have always led the party in the metagame of Pokémon TCG Pocket. Splashed in a lot of decks as a tanker and potential auto-win condition, Oricorio can also be aggressive when played with Magnezone thanks to Magneton's ability. The favorable mapping of just one-point Pokémon makes it all the more difficult to fell
-Arca
Oricorio can pretty much lock some decks out of the game but also can be very explosive with multiple Magnezones. Oricorio's best deck is probably yet to be found: i consider the deck to be a meta call currently.
-NothingButBangers
Middle tiers
With Garchomp’s rise, Grass decks are getting stronger. The mixed EX and non-EX formats have nerfed Meowscarada slightly, but pairing it with Tsareena might give it a viable slot in the meta.
-Just_Samuele
Decidueye EX has significantly more bulk than a lot of other grass type Pokemon in the meta, but the issue is finding the best partner for it. Beedrill EX and the Beedrill from Genetic Apex can provide good aggression and in some scenarios lock your opponent from attacking with expensive attacks. Meowscarada seems to have fallen out of favor, but this could also be temporary.
-NothingButBangers
Psychic Toolbox with Banette entirely shuts down the opponent by denying them to attach Energy to their Active Pokémon. In combination with a lucky Team Rocket Grunt, it can entirely lock the opponent out of attacking and retreating, all the while you prepare a benched Mewtwo ex to sweep the game later on. Tapu Lele punishes the counterplay by dealing more damage to the Benched Pokémon depending on the number of Energy they have. Unfortunately, Darkrai ex hitting for weakness holds the deck down.
-Arca
If Psychic Toolbox opens well, it shuts you down completely. Charging on the bench becomes nearly impossible, and Tapu Lele adds more pressure. Running 2 Team Rocket Grunt means you might reach turn 10 with zero energy in play, forcing scoops in many games.
-Just_Samuele
Promising decks
The very first meta deck of Pokémon TCG Pocket, Mewtwo ex, could come back in full power with Rare Candy that brings Gardevoir a turn earlier on the field thus setting up Mewtwo ex even faster than before. The deck still has to manage the ever-so-present Darkrai ex to hope to succeed
-Arca
Yes, that Celebi. With the +30 HP Cape, and supported by Tsareena for energy recovery, it could make waves again. Just flip 3-4 heads and it can KO anything in the format. If it comes back... it’ll be a bad day for many.
-Just_Samuele
Special thanks
To all of the panelists for their time and analysis! Don't miss their content:
- Just_samuele, tournament organizer and head of the Pocket Wind community: https://linktr.ee/pocketwinds
- Arca, from the FrogEX team, organizing some of the biggest tournament series of Pokémon TCG Pocket: https://discord.gg/p27SCDjdCe
- NothingButBangers, competitive TCG Pocket content creator. Watch out his latest video on the top 15 cards of the latest expansion Celestial Guardians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amPVbF4mWUI