Dialga ex Arceus ex is dominating Pokémon Pocket tournaments and has now become the most-played deck in the A2a format. This build combines Metal and Colorless-type Pokémon, using Dialga ex to ramp in the early game before transitioning into an Arceus ex carry.
Unlike other Arceus ex decks, this one doesn’t rely on Link abilities as part of its game plan. Instead, it focuses on raw power, using Metal Energy and straightforward attacks to secure knockouts and close out games.
Dialga Ex Arceus Ex
How to Play
Dialga Ex Ramp
Dialga ex is a 150 HP Pokémon that we want in the Active spot as early as possible. The goal is to attach two Metal Energy to it and use Metallic Turbo, which deals 30 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon. But more importantly, it lets us attach two Metal Energy to one of our Benched Pokémon. We’re not expecting the 30 damage to knock out anything, but it can help reduce the HP of a specific Pokemon for our other attackers to finish off.
Most of the time, we’ll be attaching that Energy to Arceus ex or Mew ex, setting them up to take over as our main attackers and secure knockouts later.
Dialga ex’s Heavy Impact costs four Energy to deal 100 damage. Since it’s weaker compared to our other Pokémon’s attacks, we usually avoid committing Energy to use it unless absolutely necessary.
Arceus Ex Carry
Arceus Ex is a 140 HP Colorless Pokemon with a defensive ability, Fabled Luster, that reads “this Pokemon can’t be affected by any Special Condition”. This is a situation ability, but can protect Arceus Ex from Special Conditions like Asleep, Poisoned, and Burned. Read more on Special Conditions.
Arceus Ex attacks for 70 damage with Ultimate Force. For 3 Colorless Energy, 70 damage isn’t cutting it, luckily, for each Benched Pokemon on our side, our Ultimate Force gains 20 damage, so it can deal 130 damage with a full bench. Since Arceus Ex‘s Ultimate Force requires Colorless Energy, attaching Metal Energy through Dialga ex‘s Metallic Turbo works perfectly to get our attack online.
Alternative Damage
Mew ex serves as our secondary damage dealer. Like Arceus ex, it requires three Colorless Energy to activate Genome Hacking, meaning Metal Energy works just fine for it.
The strength of Genome Hacking depends on the opponent’s Active Pokémon, as it lets Mew ex copy that Pokémon’s attack and turn it against them. We’ll only use it if the opponent has an attack worth copying. If not, we can use cards like Sabrina or Cyrus to force a different Pokémon into the Active spot—one that’s actually worth using Genome Hacking on.
Support Pokemon
Shaymin’s job is to heal our Pokemon, removing 10 damage from them with Fragrant Flower Garden ability every turn. This can keep your Pokemon in play for longer, giving you an extra turn to win the game.
Draw Cards
Poke Ball can draw a Dialga ex or Arceus ex, making sure you have your key cards for the early turns. We must have Dialga ex in the Active spot by turn 2 to start going for the Metallic Turbo ramp.
Professor’s Research is a Supporter card to draw 2 cards. Since it’s a Supporter card, you want to play it early into the game since you’ll want to play your other Supporters in the late game.
Tools
Giant Cape gives +20 HP to your Pokemon, which can be attached to Dialga ex or Arceus ex, making it harder for the opponent to knock them out.
Rocky Helmet isn’t half bad if attached on Dialga ex, dealing 20 damage to the opponent’s attack, combined with Dialga ex‘s Metallic Turbo, you’re pushing 50 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokemon.
Battle Cards
Potion heals one of your Pokemon for 20 damage, helping you keep it out of range from the opponent’s upcoming attack.
Since Dialga ex and Arceus ex have a retreat cost of 2 Energy, Leaf fits in this list perfectly, making it easier for us to remove a Pokemon from the Active spot and have an attacker take its place.
Sabrina forces opponents to switch out their Active Pokemon with one of their Benched Pokemon. This can allow you to knock out a more valuable Pokemon or slow opponent’s strategy and force them to retreat and discard Energy to get their plan back on track.
Since we’re dealing a lot of damage to the opponent’s Pokemon, Cyrus is great in this list, giving us the ability to pull a damaged Pokemon on the Bench to the Active spot and attack it directly.
Giovanni increases our attack by 10 damage, so with Arceus ex, you can deal 140 damage. This can help one-shot a Pokemon, ensuring your opponent doesn’t get another turn to attack with it.
Dawn is a situation card, if you need 1 Energy to attack with a Pokemon, you can move an Energy from your Benched Pokemon to the Active one, making it easier to go for attacks without waiting a full turn.
Pros & Cons
- With Arceus Ex and Mew Ex, you can choose which attack works best against different matchups. Arceus Ex is dealing 130 damage, which against most decks, it should be fine. But if you need to one-shot a higher health Pokemon, then Mew ex is there to offer that with Genome Hacking.
- Dialga ex benefits from going second. If it goes first, the opponent gets two turns to attack before Dialga ex can start building momentum, putting it at a major disadvantage.
