Tournament Reports - Pokémon TCG Pocket Week 44

With the 3 Legendary dogs in ex version plus many new Pokémon from Hoenn, the expectations around Secluded Springs were high around the fan-favorite Pokémon. But are they good enough for the Pocket competitive scene? Throughout the release week, many tournaments took place to challenge the new cards: we're going through the 3 biggest events, spread throughout the week, to see how the metagame has changed.

FrogEX Weekly Cup • 50 USD Prize [S3-5/12]

Prize pool: $50

Right on release day, the FrogEX Weekly Cup was the first large tournament of the week, and in fact the biggest of the week with open decklists. Players were eager to try the most anticipated card of the new set: Suicune ex. It ended up as the most played deck, while Espeon ex was the most represented in top cut. Suicune ex still held its ground, being the second most represented overall and the most represented in top 8.

MVM achieved the best performance with Suicune ex, winning 10 matches before conceding in top 8.

This is the baseline Suicune ex Greninja deck we can expect to see throughout the format. Suicune ex’s Legendary Pulse ability speeds up access to the Froakie evolution line and Rare Candy, as long as it stays in the Active Spot. To improve the odds of starting with Suicune ex—or to attack with the cheap, powerful Crystal Waltz a turn earlier—the deck runs 2 Mantyke. Mantyke can either start Active and retreat for Suicune ex after a turn 1 Poké Ball, or remain Active to use Splashy Toss and set up a turn 3 Crystal Waltz. The rest of the deck is streamlined, with a pair of Cyrus to force targets into the Active Spot for Water Shuriken, Irida for consistent healing, and a classic disruption suite of Mars and Guzma.

The winner of the event, M4kia_t, didn’t rely on new cards. He won with a Giratina ex deck featuring Greninja and Oricorio, an “old” classic.

The strategy here hasn’t changed much. Pom Pom Oricorio acts as a near-impervious wall against ex Pokémon, while Giratina ex powers up in the background and Froakie evolves into Greninja. Before Giratina ex reaches full power with Broken-Space Bellow and Chaotic Impact, Greninja is the main attacker in this all- build. The list runs 2 Irida to maximize staying power, especially for Pom Pom Oricorio. M4kia_t faced a significant number of Darktina and Suicune ex decks, where the Oricorio + Irida strategy proved very good against this kind of opponents.

The cheerful bird was a winning choice overall, as finalist Arca from the FrogEX team piloted a Silvally Lightning Baby deck to second place.

Off to a rough start in the bracket, Arca went undefeated from round 4 to the finals, knocking down a various suite of decks, although his 4-0 record against Suicune ex is the most impressive. The now classic alliance of Silvally + Pichu, which can attack for 100 starting from turn 3 while only trading for a point, with Pom Pom Oricorio to completely wall the strongest Pokémon, is still a proven recipe against any sort of metagame. Pom Pom Oricorio, thanks to its type advantage, two-shots Suicune ex, turning a rather mediocre Zzzap attack into an actual threat.

Arca had a rough start in the bracket but went undefeated from round 4 through the finals, knocking down a wide range of decks. His 4-0 record against Suicune ex was especially impressive. The classic Silvally + Pichu core remains strong: Silvally can attack for 100 damage as early as turn 3 while only trading for a single point, while Pom Pom Oricorio walls out the strongest threats. Against Suicune ex specifically, Oricorio’s type advantage turns its otherwise modest Zzzap into a real problem, two-shotting Suicune ex with ease.

CHRONICLES $50 USD | Terremoto x Trainers TCG

Prize pool: $50 thanks to Nightmare IT

The following day, the Terremoto Latin America tournament took place, with Suicune ex once again as the most played deck and the most represented in the top cut. Espeon ex, Silvally, and Darkrai ex decks also remained popular.

The finals confirmed the new deck’s relevance, featuring a mirror match between two very similar Suicune ex lists.

Masapii, Winner of the Chronicles tournament

CrazyFriz, runner-up of the Chronicles tournament

Both finalists played the Suicune ex Greninja Giratina variant: the classic Giratina ex + Greninja core, now with Suicune ex as the pivot. Previously, this shell tried partners like Sylveon ex, but Suicune ex combines draw power, bulk, and offensive threat in a single card: something those other variants often lacked. Running exclusively on , the deck also benefits from Irida for consistency and staying power.

The difference between the finalists's lists was in their flex slots. Masapii, the undefeated champion, ran 2 Giratina ex to maximize the odds of opening one and charging it as early as turn 1 with Broken-Space Bellow. He also included a 1-of Leaf, useful for retreating any of these into Suicune ex early, or pivoting later into Giratina ex or Greninja. CrazyFriz, on the other hand, cut down to a single Giratina ex to include Pom Pom Oricorio as a stalling option while setting up. Against the mirror, however, Oricorio quickly crumbles once Greninja becomes Active. Instead of Leaf, CrazyFriz played Guzma as extra disruption, especially strong for discarding Giant Capes that would otherwise block knockouts, or removing other troublesome tools.

The surprise of the top 8 was PryerLorD with a creative Silvally variant featuring Altaria.

Altaria functions somewhat like Silvally, able to hit for 100 damage by turn 4 (or even turn 3 with an early Baby). Its condition is harder, though: it needs at least 2 Energy of different types. Fortunately, both Altaria and Silvally use attacks, making any Energy type viable. With Magby and Mantyke as Energy accelerators, it’s very likely PryerLorD also included three different basic Energy types in the Energy zone to maximize the chance of a fully powered Altaria by turn 3–4. With two potential 100-damage attackers ready as early as turn 3, the deck offers a 100% one-point, strong and straightforward plan that could be worth further exploration.

BEC 200$ Back to school BASH

Prize pool: $200

The big tournament of the weekend was hosted by the Blazing Exeggutor Crew, gathering 278 players for a $200 prize pool. Suicune ex continued its strong showing after early success, with solid results in the top cut.

Despite Suicune ex’s strong presence, the top 8 turned out to be quite diverse. The finals featured a classic Darktina vs Espeon ex matchup, where the favored type ultimately prevailed.

Darktina has been analyzed extensively, and yoji14’s list fit neatly into the established framework with a very standard item, tool, and supporter lineup.

Perhaps the most interesting metagame development from this event was the slight evolution of Suicune ex Greninja Giratina.

Brandon J went undefeated through Swiss, only falling just before top 8, with a list that may foreshadow the deck’s main direction. He played just one Giratina ex to avoid awkward openings and skipped Leaf entirely, offsetting that risk with a new tool from Secluded Springs: Inflatable Boat. The card provides cheap retreat options for Froakie openers (into a Poké Ball–searched Suicune ex, for example) or makes Suicune ex easier to get back to the bench. Acting like a reusable X Speed without consuming the Supporter for turn, Inflatable Boat looked like an emerging staple in Suicune ex lists this tournament.

Where is the Secluded Springs metagame at?

By giving the Greninja–Giratina ex tandem its best pivot Pokémon to date, Secluded Springs has allowed Suicune ex to quickly take over the metagame. It adds both draw power and firepower to the duo: two things it lacked in its previous, though still successful, iterations. Giratina ex itself remains the same polarizing card, showing up in every winning list covered in this report, whether paired with Suicune ex, Pom Pom Oricorio or Darkrai ex.

A surprising takeaway this week is the small success from decks. Pom Pom Oricorio has proven to be a strong counter, not only stalling against big ex decks but also two-shotting Suicune ex. Exploiting this weakness could give Lightning decks a way back into the metagame, hopefully bringing more diversity in the week to come.