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The current season of Pokémon TCG Pocket remains relatively calm after the record-breaking New Year's week, with no major events in-game and 15 days left until the release of the next set, A2. Players were still plenty to turn out in impressive numbers for the week’s biggest tournaments. And for the first time in these reports, all three of the largest tournaments featuring open decklists were won by the same decklist:
Preluxe in Pocket Legends League #15, Painpeko in BEC Exeggutive Series 1 and Randomways in Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #11 all secured first place using this Pikachu ex Zebstrika deck. How did this happen? Let’s analyze the metagame.
Pocket League Legends #15
The 15th edition of Pocket Legends League drew 501 players, all competing for a $50 prize pool.
Metagame Breakdown
| Deck | Number in top 30 | Number in top 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Pikachu ex | 9 | 3 |
| Mewtwo ex | 5 | 2 |
| Gyarados ex | 5 | 1 |
| Celebi ex | 4 | 1 |
| Greninja | 3 | |
| Aerodactyl ex | 2 | |
| Arcanine ex | 1 | 1 |
| Fighting Toolbox | 1 |
BEC Exeggutive Series! 1
The inaugural event of the BEC Exeggutive Series—a new series of eight tournaments leading to a high-stakes finale—attracted 555 players, also vying for a $50 prize pool and qualification points.
Metagame breakdown
| Deck | Number in top 25 | Number in top 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Pikachu ex | 7 | 2 |
| Mewtwo ex | 5 | 1 |
| Celebi ex | 4 | 1 |
| Aerodactyl ex | 3 | 2 |
| Gyarados ex | 3 | 1 |
| Charizard ex | 1 | 1 |
| Greninja | 1 | |
| Fighting Toolbox | 1 |
Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #11
This week’s largest event, Ursiiday’s Pocket Weekly #11, hosted 1782 players, with a $400 prize pool on the line thanks to XPcollect’s sponsorship.
Metagame breakdown
| Deck | Number in top 32 | Number in top 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Pikachu ex | 10 | 3 |
| Mewtwo ex | 5 | 2 |
| Charizard ex | 5 | 1 |
| Aerodactyl ex | 4 | 1 |
| Celebi ex | 4 | |
| Gyarados ex | 2 | 1 |
| Articuno ex | 1 | |
| Greninja | 1 |
A Pikachu ex success story
In all three tournaments, Mewtwo ex and Gyarados ex were the most popular decks, with Pikachu ex ranking third at 13–15% of the field. Yet Pikachu ex achieved the best conversion rate into top cuts and top 8 placements. Why?
The rise of Water decks
For the first time, Gyarados ex was the most-played decks in two major events. The deck has always been consistent, and Lead's victory last week in the biggest TCG Pocket tournament with the bona fide Gyarados ex Greninja Druddigon list inspired players to play the same deck this week. Gyarados ex has consistently placed players in top cuts, but it has a glaring weakness: decks, aka Pikachu ex.
Zebstrika is the absolute match-up definer, as its Thunder Spear attack can one shot Magikarp on the Bench. They cannot hide behind Druddigon and that puts them in a tough spot where they have to bring one Pokémon to the Active spot to get rid of Zebstrika... but only Gyarados ex can one-shot it. Except for a lucky Misty, it doesn't happen before at least turn 4, when Zebstrika can be online starting on turn 2.
But Gyarados isn't the only deck gaining popularity. Creative brews around Greninja and even Starmie ex (with Lumineon) has gained popularity: another blessing for Pikachu ex. In BEC Exeggutive 1, rivetace placed top 8 with a unique approach, mixing Greninja, Aerodactyl ex and the Fighting Toolbox.
He won all 3 games against decks in Swiss and finished second at the end of swiss rounds with this creative brew, focused on quick and energy-efficient damage.
The inclusion of Aerodactyl ex is rather uncommon and it certainly paid off. Being able to tank one fully charged Circle Circuit attack, attacking for the weakness and disrupting Blitzle's evolution is a big help in this matchup. Marshadow constantly threatening to one-shot Pikachu ex is also a big player.
It’s worth noting that among Pokémon, only fully charged Blastoise ex and Gyarados ex can one-shot Pikachu ex. Water decks lacking these options are even more vulnerable due to their weakness.
Fighting: enough of a solution?
Although the Mythical Island expansion introduced powerful tools for decks:
- they still lack a reliable Basic or Stage 1 Pokémon capable of consistently one-shotting Pikachu ex (aside from the conditional Marshadow).
- Aerodactyl ex is weak to and so is Farfetch'd, which is getting more popular in these decks
- Most Pokémon are within the one-shot range of Pikachu ex's Circle Circuit
Luckytiger brought this deck successfully to top 4 of the BEC Exeggutive 1, defeating 3 Pikachu ex list... but ultimately falling in semifinals to Painpeko's Zebstrika list. Fighting is certainly a good pick, but not enough to stop the electric mouse from rocking tournaments.
404 Grass: not found?
decks match up well against Pikachu ex, thanks to Exeggutor ex. It’s a strong tank, especially when paired with Erika, and its damage output effectively cripples the low-HP Pokémon typical of Lightning decks.
Celebi ex decks had a good representation this week, making up at least 10% of the field. mishzra, who came top 4 in PLL#15 with this Celebi ex list, beat 5 Pikachu ex and 2 Greninja Fighting lists.
However, the winning Pikachu ex lists were decently lucky at dodging decks, facing only 1 each, and left them to fight much less favorable matchups like Gyarados and Mewtwo ex
What is the Mythical Island metagame looking like?
As we're getting closer to A2, the Mythical Island metagame seems to have matured enough. The metagame feels similar to the early days of Genetic Apex, where this time Gyarados ex acts as a gatekeeper for most decks, and Pikachu ex thrives thanks to its overwhelmingly positive matchup against it. Mewtwo ex remains a safe choice with its balanced matchup spread and consistency, closing out the privileged top tiers trifecta.
And that might be enough to limit the performance of other decks. Greninja brews had a good showing but might struggle against the growing presence of Pikachu ex. Charizard decks are weak against both Gyarados ex and Pikachu ex, while Celebi ex struggles against Gyarados ex and even Mewtwo ex.