Tournament Reports - Pokémon TCG Pocket Week 18

Despite its short lifespan, the Space-Time Smackdown format format quickly wore players out with its lack of deck diversity, dominated by the two top-tier decks: Exeggutor ex and Darkrai ex. After Pokémon Day and the trailer for Triumphant Light, the community was intrigued by the set’s emphasis on Arceus in many cards and the overall power level of the revealed cards. When the set dropped the following day, it provided a much-needed shake-up to the stale meta.

In this report, we'll look at the three biggest tournaments from the past week and examine how the meta has evolved.

Pocket Legends League #20

The first major tournament of the new format saw 352 players bring a diverse range of archetypes.

While Darkrai ex and Exeggutor ex still maintained a strong presence in the meta, new decks featuring Arceus ex, Leafeon ex, and a strengthened Dialga ex emerged as players were testing these fresh strategies in a competitive event with a $50 prizepool.

The top cut painted a promising picture of archetype diversity, with five different decks making it into the top 8. While all of these archetypes existed prior to Triumphant Light, some saw significant improvements thanks to the new set—most notably KDusty's winning Dialga ex list.

Despite only running two cards from Triumphant Light, it was all what was needed for the deck to perform—because those two cards are game-changers, as described by MKCrimson in his complete guide for Dialga ex + Arceus ex. Previously, Dialga ex struggled to find the right partner to fully capitalize on its Metallic Turbo Energy acceleration. Now, Arceus ex has stepped in as the perfect companion. Unlike Dialga ex’s previous partners, Arceus ex requires no evolution and delivers top-tier firepower, with Ultimate Force dealing 130 damage when the Bench is full. To ensure this happens consistently, the deck includes seven Basic Pokémon—a count similar to what most Pikachu ex decks played. Among them are Mew ex, a classic Dialga ex partner, and another Mythical Pokémon : Shaymin.

Though Shaymin requires a Energy, it's not there to attack. Instead, its Fragrant Flower Garden ability supports the whole team by healing 10 HP every turn, to keep these powerhouse Basic Pokémon ex in play longer. This added survivability, combined with Giant Cape and two copies of Potion, raises the damage threshold opponents need to reach to take down these legendary Pokémon.

Keep in mind that these tournaments are played with open decklists, meaning opponents know each other’s exact card choices before the match begins. To "counteract" this, KDusty cleverly included a variety of one-of Trainer cards, so opponents cannot prepare for every possible scenario. One such card that has surged back into popularity is Giovanni, which had fallen out of favor in the previous format. Its renewed relevance? It allows Arceus ex to one-hit KO an opposing Arceus ex.

The top 8 featured a staggering three 18-Trainers decks—two Articuno ex and one Pachirisu ex. These decks follow a unique strategy: they run only two Pokémon ex to guarantee starting with one, while the rest of the deck consists entirely of Trainer cards to support them. Tachi from the FrogEX team, who secured third place, showcased another powerful addition from Triumphant Light.

As if Water-types hadn’t already received enough support (Misty, Manaphy…), Triumphant Light introduced yet another boost in Irida. This new card heals 40 damage from all Pokémon with a Energy attached. While technically usable in any deck—thanks to Manaphy's Oceanic Gift or just playing Energy in your Energy Zone—it naturally shines in a deck that runs exclusively Water Pokémon. More importantly, it expands the already strong pool of Supporter options available for 18-Trainers decks.

This pseudo-Erika forces opponents to deal higher damage in a single attack. Otherwise, Articuno ex survives an extra turn, which is often the difference between winning and losing. Combined with Misty’s ever-present donk potential, 18-Trainers decks came out even stronger from Triumphant Light.

Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #18

A massive 1,487 players competed for a share of the $400 prize pool in the biggest Pokémon TCG Pocket tournament series, organized by Ursiiday and sponsored by XP Collect.

Following its promising performances in Legends League and smaller tournaments earlier in the week, Dialga ex with Arceus gained traction, with more players looking to confirm its strength on the biggest stage. Meanwhile, Arceus ex-focused decks continued to see experimentation, and Leafeon ex overtook Exeggutor ex as the most-played archetype.

The results at the second day of competition would soon reveal the new top contenders shaping this format.

This is all but confirmed: Dialga ex is strong and here to stay. Despite making up only 15% of the overall meta, it took over almost half the top cut, with five decks securing a spot in top 8: an incredible conversion rate.

The strategy of Big Basic Pokémon ex with high damage output, a proven formula since the Genetic Apex format, has returned in full force with Triumphant Light. With the added boost of Energy acceleration and powerful utility cards, this playstyle has once again risen to the top. Unsurprisingly, the set’s cover Pokémon, Arceus ex, played a key role in this meta shift.

And yet, despite Dialga ex's oppressive dominance, the finals featured none of them. Instead, it was a mirror match between two near-identical Lucario Rampardos decks, with yuriisle emerging victorious.

While Lucario Rampardos had seen occasional success in the previous metagame, it was largely held back by two major threats:

• Exeggutor ex dominance. This deck naturally preys on strategies involving a lot of regular Basic Pokémon, as Tropical Swing posed a constant one-shot threat. Not only that, but the Fossil line suffers from a Weakness.
• The deck had no good way to deal with Druddigon. The best it could do was to use Himtonlee and snipes the Bench while Druddigon remained in the Active spot. Rampardos wasn't good enough: using Head Smash would leave it at 110 HP, well within KO range of Magnezone’s Thunder Blast.

But with the Triumphant Light metagame shift, Lucario Rampardos emerged as the perfect counter to Dialga ex:

• Rampardos naturally one-shots Arceus ex due to its Weakness (as well as the commonly played Mew ex).
• Rampardos + Lucario guarantees a one-shot on Dialga ex.
• Sudowoodo is a beast against Pokémon ex, threatening a three-turn KO on Dialga ex and even a two-turn KO on Arceus ex.

In a metagame defined by Big Basic Pokémon ex with a copious amount of healing, the ability to consistently one-shot became a necessity. No deck did it more efficiently than Rampardos, requiring just a single Energy to deliver massive damage.

Lucario ex further complemented this strategy by pushing damage to the crucial 140–150 HP range, taking down key threats like Dialga ex, Palkia ex, and Articuno ex. Despite making up just 2% of the tournament, both Lucario decks that reached Top 64 ended up in the finals—a remarkable statement on the deck’s efficiency.

The success of Lucario Rampardos was further helped by the underwhelming performance of Exeggutor ex against Dialga ex. With the meta shifting heavily toward Big Basic Pokémon ex, Exeggutor ex’s unreliable and weak damage output was not nearly enough to remain a serious threat. The format now includes numerous cards that:

• Heal these tanky Pokémon ex (Potion, Shaymin)
• Boost their HP (Giant Cape)
• Increase their Resistance (Adaman for Pokémon)

Additionally, the fall in popularity of Darkrai ex, another Pokémon weak to , has only made things worse for Exeggutor ex. Celebi ex, once a strong late-game tool for taking down massive Pokémon after Exeggutor ex had fallen, is far less effective when limited to just one Energy per turn from the Energy Zone.

The new Pokémon ex, Leafeon ex, offers a more reliable trade-off compared to Exeggutor ex. While its steady damage output is unimpressive, it is more consistent on average than Exeggutor ex’s. More importantly, Leafeon ex significantly boosts Celebi ex’s Powerful Blossom, attaching an extra Energy per turn as long as it remains in the Active Spot. This forces opponents to deal with it quickly, or risk a super-pumped Celebi ex sweeping the board once Leafeon ex has done its job. The archetype proved its strength, securing 10 spots in the top cut, while Exeggutor ex completely failed to reach Day 2.

Ironically, as seen in Faramiglio’s best-placing list, Leafeon ex/Celebi ex plays very similarly to the old Exeggutor ex/Celebi ex archetype. The primary change? Swapping the Exeggutor ex line for Leafeon ex, while also trimming Rocky Helmet in favor of two Giant Cape to enhance Leafeon ex’s staying power.

A major improvement with this deck is that all Pokémon now have a retreat cost of just . This makes it much easier to rotate the Active Pokémon, whether:

• You started with Celebi ex instead of Eevee (remember that Leafeon ex's Forest Breath only works while it's in the Active spot)
• You need to deny a knockout by retreating a Pokémon in danger

Despite Leafeon ex decks converting well in the top cut, none managed to break through the Dialga ex-heavy top 8.

BEC Exeggutive Series 7/8

The penultimate edition of the BEC Exeggutive Series fully reflected the week’s metagame shifts, and as a result, Dialga ex stood firmly at the top, outclassing all other decks in terms of meta share.

Dialga ex continued its dominant streak, with an impressive 30 decks making the top cut, ultimately winning the tournament thanks to Lbn’s performance.

While similar to previous Dialga ex lists, Lbn’s build introduced some clever tech choices:

• Shaymin (Triumphant Light) reduces the retreat cost of all Basic Pokémon by , making retreating smoother without using the Supporter-for-turn slot like Leaf does. Since the deck runs only Basic Pokémon, this built-in X Speed effect becomes a major asset, freeing up space for additional Supporter cards
• Adaman reduces damage taken from attacks by Dialga ex by 20 for the next turn. Combined with two Giant Cape, two Potion, and Shaymin (STS), the strategy is clear: keep Dialga ex on the field as long as possible—not just to fuel Metallic Turbo for Benched Pokémon, but also to naturally ramp up to Heavy Impact.
• Mars is the most fancy inclusion, but actually puts an immense pressure on the opponent: after they take down a lead Dialga ex, they could be left with only one card in hand. Unlike the rather random Red Card back then, Mars in a deck with bulky Basic Pokémon ex turns hand disruption into a much more dangerous and calculated threat.

The core strategy of Dialga ex was pretty set in stone, but players still had room for personal tech choices, making the deck difficult to counter completely. Among the three Dialga ex decks in the top cut, each list was unique.

Dialga ex’s dominance also elevated its natural counters—notably, two Gallade ex decks reached Top 16.

Playing the Fighting Toolbox alongside Gallade ex, arclight_bowmasters tore through all the Dialga ex and Arceus ex decks he faced with a highly efficient counter-strategy. Not only is Gallade ex incredibly resilient—it cannot be one-shot by any Pokémon in these decks—but it also threatens an immediate KO with Energized Blade, capable of taking down a fully powered Arceus ex or Dialga ex in one hit.

Unlike Rampardos, which requires evolving from a Fossil, Gallade ex benefits from being the final evolution of a Pokémon that can be searched with Poké Ball. This makes it more consistent to gets into play on curve, where it can attack even when going first.

Where Is the Triumphant Light metagame at?

Unlike the Mythical Island release, Triumphant Light has shaken up the metagame in a major way. While Darkrai ex is still holding its ground, Exeggutor ex has taken a significant hit, whereas Dialga ex paired with Arceus ex has completely overwhelmed the playfield. In response, decks have emerged as the dominant counter-strategy, capitalizing on Arceus ex’s Weakness and their ability to one-shot tanky Pokémon. This shift could ironically pave the way for an Exeggutor ex resurgence, as the format evolves further.

Arceux ex: the new benchmark

Arceus ex has set new standards for damage and survivability in the game:

• 140 HP is now the damage benchmark
• 130 HP is the new resistance threshold from a single attack

Ironically, while Arceus ex performed exceptionally well when paired with Dialga ex, it failed to shine as the centerpiece of its own archetype. Instead, players opted to use it as a tankier, more powerful Pikachu ex, slotting it into any other deck rather than building around it.

A more flexible tech environment

As the card pool grows, so does the depth of viable tech options. While the Fighting Toolbox has long exemplified these possibilities, the rise of utility Pokémon like the Shaymins further expands deck-building possibilities in not just decks. With a broader selection of Supporters, players can now fine-tune their tech choices more effectively to match the expected tournament meta. Another big winner this week is 18-Trainers decks, boosted significantly by Irida. With their amount of tech plays, consistency, and difficulty to counter, these decks remain a long-term force in the format.

What comes next?

The return to a Big Basic Pokémon ex metagame could fuel the rise of two kind archetypes:

1. Fast decks that can immediately pressure these tanky Pokémon (think Pikachu ex and similar high-speed attackers).
2. One-shot strategies built around raw firepower—such as Charizard ex, which can reliably KO even the bulkiest threats.