Tournament Reports - Pokémon TCG Pocket Week 36

After the great impression that Eevee Grove had in the meta last week, could it confirm the initial shot? Let's analyse the second week of Pocket tournaments following the latest set release.

FrogEX Weekly Cup #26

Prize pool: $50 thanks to Pokémon Zone

Following the success of Sylveon ex Greninja Giratina last week, Sylveon ex decks were the most represented in this event, making up nearly a quarter of the total metagame. However, in the top cut, it was Charizard ex that saw the most representation.

Ultimately, a deck took the win, but not with the usual flying lizard. Instead, another Eeveelution from Eevee Grove stole the spotlight, and it didn’t come alone.

After showing early promise in past events, Valden brought the first win to “Eevee Box”, a deck running no fewer than six Eevee:praylution cards. A pure product of Eevee Grove, the list includes Flareon ex, two different Leafeon cards from the A2 era for offense, Sylveon ex for consistency, and a mix of 2 Eevee and 2 Eevee ex to evolve the full lineup. With the item Eevee Bag, the deck gains an effect that either heals or boosts damage for the whole squad, while still allowing a Supporter to be played that turn.

The deck runs only Energy. Leafeon ex feeds for itself with Forest Breath, its Energy-accelerating Ability that works without Energy, and makes up for the early game pressure. It also powers up the one-of Leafeon, teched specifically to counter Oricorio , even equipped with Giant Cape. Flareon ex typically comes in later, taking over after Leafeon ex retreats and attacking immediately with Combust for 130 or more.

This deck is tricky to pilot and much scarier when going second. It dominated the top cut with three players making top 8.

On the other side of the finals table, Gato_333 took second place with a two-month-old deck: Garchomp ex Rampardos

Initially overlooked, Garchomp ex gained relevance with the printing of Rare Candy in Celestial Guardians. Its cheap Linear Attack and bulky stats became much more threatening. The deck also runs Rampardos, another Stage 2 with a strong 1-Energy attack. Since Rampardos evolves from a Fossil, the deck always opens with Gible, its only Basic Pokémon.

Gato_333 used Pokémon Communication to boost evolution consistency and added 2 Lillie for extra resilience, especially useful for Rampardos which weakens after a knockout. The deck strategy is simple: evolve quickly and pressure with Garchomp ex’s snipe or Rampardos’s raw damage.

Notably, Gato_333 didn't lose a single match to Sylveon ex Greninja Giratina, sweeping all four of these encounters. Its fast clock might simply be too much for that deck to handle, making Garchomp ex Rampardos a credible counter to the current meta leader.

In top 4, Numatinale chose a completely different counter approach: a non-ex deck.

Pom Pom Oricorio needs no introduction: its Safeguard effect can shut down entire decks by simply showing up at the right time. Zeraora, with Thunderclap Flash, remains one of the most efficient early-game attackers. The standout here is the Shinx line: not from Extradimensional Crisis, but Space-Time Smackdown. In this version, Luxray’s Volt Bolt hits any Pokémon for 120, enough to knock out Greninja, Eevee ex, or a weakened Sylveon ex. With Volkner for setup, Volt Bolt can be online by turn 4:

• Start with Zeraora active and Shinx benched.
• Attach to Shinx.
• On turn 2, evolve with Rare Candy, retreat Zeraora by discarding the free Energy, use Volkner to fetch the Energy and attach it to Luxray.

The looming threat of 120 to any Pokémon limits the opponent’s benching options. Combined with Pom Pom Oricorio and a lineup of one-point Pokémon, it’s a surprisingly strong anti-meta deck. It especially punishes lists that rely on a single counter to Oricorio: Luxray can take care of it, leaving the opponent helpless against the Safeguarded bird.

Magma $51 USD Weekly Cup

Prize pool: $51

Sylveon ex was the most played deck both overall and in the top cut, but its share remained reasonable at ~20%, leaving plenty of space for other archetypes.

In the finals, however, Sylveon ex was nowhere to be found. Instead, Brendon took the event with Guzzlord ex Naganadel:

Already strong in the Extradimensional Crisis meta, Guzzlord ex still holds up in Eevee Grove. Brendon ran the classic Guzzlord ex Celesteela Nihilego trio, with Poison Barb to ramp up poison damage and punish offense while Guzzlord charges up. He also added a 1-1 Naganadel line, an efficient early-game attacker with solid stats. Paired with Nihilego, it makes Electro House a potential 80-damage attack on curve, and improves prize trading by going Naganadel → Nihilego → Guzzlord ex.

Despite a 0-3 record vs. Eevee Box in Swiss, the deck crushed seven different Silvally Lightning builds and other top meta decks, including the finals versus a Charizard ex deck… with a twist:

Charizard ex has had many partners (Incineroar ex, Turtonator, Silvally) but Sylveon ex might be its best yet. Though it doesn’t attack, its ability Happy Ribbons boosts consistency by adding two extra draw effects. Since the deck aims to evolve into Charizard ex by turn 2 to use Stoke, the added draw increases odds of hitting Rare Candy and Charizard early. Even starting with Eevee isn’t bad: Collect adds to the draw power. Once evolved, Sylveon ex’s low retreat cost makes it easy to pivot into a Charizard.

The spicy tech here is a regular Flareon from Genetic Apex, included to counter Oricorio , Charizard ex’s usual nightmare. Flamethrower is pricey, but worth it late game when draw power becomes less critical and playing Sylveon ex comes with the risk of gust KO.

Soramaru's run mostly stumbled in mirror matches but performed well across a wide range of archetypes. Charizard ex’s bulk and Steam Artillery, which OHKOs Sylveon ex, Giratina ex, Flareon ex, and more, remain a strong case for its spot in the metagame.

Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #33

Prize pool: $400 thanks to XPCollect

While the overall metagame was diverse, the top 64 told a different story: Sylveon ex and Silvally together made up nearly half the cut.

And ultimately, both decks were in finals, with pepin_mx bringing the trophy home with Sylveon ex:

The list is fairly standard, though a second hand disruption Supporter stands out: an increasingly common feature as evolution decks rise in popularity. pepin_mx faced a balanced mix of Stage 2, Stage 1, and Basic decks, so it may simply be a solid all-around strategy.

Runner-up Bestiari only dropped one match: the final. He played Silvally Lightning, a deck with no cards rarer than .

This well-known archetype runs efficient one-point attackers, with Zeraora for early pressure, Silvally as a finisher, and Pom-Pom Oricorio to wall against ex decks. Its main weakness right now is Greninja: as an attacker, it's perfectly capable of one-shotting Oricorio, despite its Weakness.

Where Is the Eevee Grove metagame at?

Unsurprisingly, Sylveon ex dominates the format; or rather, the base Giratina ex Greninja deck, now powered up by the latest Draw 2 card. One of its strongest rivals is the family of Silvally-based decks, built around the best one-prize Stage 1 attacker in the game. A generic effect like Sylveon ex’s Happy Ribbons only strengthens the top decks further by providing the consistency needed to get everything on the board quickly.

Thankfully, there's still plenty of room for other strategies. A notable feature of this metagame is how many successful decks include no cards from the latest expansions. While common in the TCG, it's still reassuring: it shows that investing in a top-tier deck is relatively safe, as it can often stay competitive across multiple formats. It also speaks to the maturity of the game: the larger card pool supports a wide range of strategies, and the power creep remains controlled enough to make this possible. We’re far from the days when pretty much only Darkrai ex Giratina ruled the format; ironically, that deck now stands as a great example of longevity in action.