A3 Meta Report Best Decks Week 1 – Pokemon TCG Pocket

Heya everyone! I haven’t done a Pokémon Pocket meta report in a while, but excited to get into the A3 Celestial Guardians meta and see how the game changed with the introduction of new cards!

The addition of Solgaleo ex and Incineroar ex have brought new top-tier decks, but the number 1 card that shook the meta is none other than Rare Candy. Rare Candy gave a boost to Stage 2 Pokémon, giving them better consistency and faster gameplay, and we’ve seen decks like Charizard ex, Greninja decks, and Solgaleo ex performing well in the meta thanks to Rare Candy.

Today, we’re taking a look at Ursiiday’s Pocket Weekly #27, which had a showing of 1047 players! Since we didn’t have another major A3 tournament this weekend, I’ll only cover one tournament. Let’s get started!

The Data

Ursiiday #27 (1047 players)

Deck	No of Decks	Win Rate
Solgaleo Skarmory	131	47.50%
Charizard ex Incineroar ex	91	50%
Giratina ex Darkrai ex	75	57.24%
Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex	67	54.29%
Lucario Rampardos	44	47.60%
Charizard ex	41	41.67%
Decidueye ex Meowscarada	36	42.41%
Arceus ex Crobat	26	52.14%
Magnezone Oricorio	22	54.84%
Lycanroc Rampardos	22	48.36%
Incineroar ex	18	37.08%
Aerodactyl ex Rampardos	15	54.55%
Other	459

Top of the Meta

Solgaelo ex Skarmory is the community’s favorite deck in the first week of the A3 expansion. It has the most showing in tournaments, but so far, it doesn’t seem to be overpowered. We can definitely expect things to change up in the upcoming weeks.

Coming in second place is the Charizard ex Incineroar ex. The Fire-type deck has a good showing and is rivaling Solgaelo ex Skarmory in the first place. However, if we factor in the mono Charizard ex version, then Charizard ex is the most-played deck in these tournaments. Comparing the win rates in the Ursiiday tournament, Charizard ex Incineroar ex has an edge over the mono Charizard ex version.

Some players opted to play the A1 Charizard ex with Moltres ex, but they were less popular than the A2b version and didn’t perform as well.

Giratina ex Darkrai ex is still standing strong! It came in 3rd place in playrate and also had one of the highest overall win rates in the tournament! As players continue to experiment with the new Pokémon, Giratina ex Darkrai ex will likely climb back in popularity to potentially take second or even first place again.

Interestingly, Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex was a popular choice this weekend, even though it wasn’t brought much a couple of days ago. It also had a solid overall win rate, a deck to keep an eye on in the upcoming days!

Underdogs

Although they’re less popular, Arceus ex Crobat, Magnezone Oricorio, and Aerodactyl ex Rampardos had win rates higher than 50%

Underperfomers

Mono Charizard ex, Decidueye Mewoscarada, Mono Incineroar ex, and Mewoscarada Tsareen had low overall win rates, barely touching 40%.

Fall Off

Gyarados Manaphy and Gallade ex Hitmonlee saw a massive drop in popularity.

Top 64

• Although Giratina ex is the 3rd most-played deck, it performed better than Solgaleo ex Skarmory and Charizard ex Incineroar ex, taking 14 spots from the top 64! It seems the deck isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and we’ll likely see more of it next week with its amazing consistency.
• Solgaleo Skarmory, Charizard ex Incineroar ex, and Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex took the rest of the top 4 spots.
• A lot of underdog decks showed up in the top 64! We saw the likes of Garchomp ex Rampardos, Aerodactyl Rampardos, Greninja Wigglytuff Oricorio, Mewtwo ex Gardevoir, and Greninja Palkia ex go on impressive win streaks in this tournament.
• The Arceus Crobat is keeping up with the top performers this weekend, with 4 players pushing into the top 64. However, lists are not looking the same! With three favoring Darkrai ex in the list, whereas the top performing list in the top 64 cuts out Darkrai ex in favor of Carnivine. The Carnivine addition is to use the Power Link ability, dealing 50 damage with Vine Whip, which can catch opponents off guard. Darkrai ex is also weak to Carnivine, so you can knock it out with two 70 damage Vine Whip attacks. A great call if you’re expecting a lot of Darkrai ex decks.
• We have multiple Oricorio decks in the top 64. This Pokémon is a menace to Ex type Pokémon, preventing them from damaging it with Safeguard and going for the Zzzap attacks to eventually get the knock-out. The Magnezone version is currently the most popular, but we saw other lists like Greninja Wigglytuff Oricorio and Oricorio Greninja Darkrai ex performing in this tournament.

Top 8

• Giratina ex Darkrai ex and Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex are tied with 2 decks each. However, another version of Greninja Giratina ex also made top 8, but it cuts out Snorlax for the Oricorio stall strategy.
• Although Solgaleo ex Skarmory is the most brought deck, none of them managed to make it into the top 8. This proves that there’s still room for the meta to shape up, and we’ll be seeing different stats next week!
• I did not expect to see Garchomp ex Rampardos to make it into the top 8, but here we are! The Fighting-type deck had a phenomenal performance, going up against all the Giratina ex, Greninja, and Charizard ex decks.

Top 4

• We had a variety of decks in the top 4! Oricorio is present in two of the top 4 decks, showcasing how strong the stall Pokémon is and its ability to fit into different archetypes.
• The finals ended up with Magnezone Oricorio taking on the Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex deck. However, Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex was too much to chew for the Magnezone Oricorio player, losing 0-2 in the finals.
• Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex looked scary in this tournament, and we’ll definitely be seeing more of this deck. The biggest struggle for players right now is to decide whether they want to stick to Water Energy only or add Psychic Energy to speed up the Giratina ex. The second place list uses both Water and Psychic Energy, but we saw games where they got punished, having two Psychic Energy on a Greninja and unable to attack with Mist Slash.
• On the other hand, Oricorio had a huge impact on the meta, forcing opposing players to play the game differently and losing valuable time to just remove an Oricorio from play.

Top Decks

1st Place Snorlax Greninja Giratina ex

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

2 Froakie A1 87 2 Greninja A1 89 2 Snorlax A2a 63 2 Giratina ex A2b 35 2 Professor’s Research P-A 7 2 Pokémon Center Lady A2b 70 2 Barry A2a 74 1 Cyrus A2 150 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 2 Rare Candy A3 144 1 Rocky Helmet A2 148 Energy: Water Psychic

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Energy: Water Psychic

The Greninja Snorlax Giratina deck is performing well in the A3 meta, mainly thanks to the addition of Rare Candy. You’re able to skip the Stage 1 evolution and go from Froakie to Greninja in one turn and start making use of Water Shuriken to deal 20 damage to one of the opponent’s Pokémon. Usually, we use Greninja for its Water Shuriken ability only, however, this list runs Water Energy to also use Greninja as an attacker, dealing 60 damage with its Mist Slash.

Snorlax is a massive tank with its 140 HP, but we have Barry to reduce its attack cost by 2 Energy, meaning we’ll only need to attach 2 Energy to use Collapse and deal 100 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon.

Although most lists I’ve seen are running Water Energy only and relying solely on Giratina ex’s Broken-Space Bellow to ramp Psychic Energy. This list uses both Water and Psychic Energies, making sure it gets to attack with Giratina ex as early as possible. However, you might be punished if you need to attack with Greninja and you don’t have a Water Energy to activate Mist Slash.

Giratina’s Chaotic Impact deals 130 damage, so with Gerninja’s Water Shuriken, you’re one-shotting a 150 HP Pokémon.

Some lists were running Ilima as an option to remove Snorlax from play and prevent the opposing player from KOing it.

2nd Place Oricorio Magnezone

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

2 Magnemite A1 97 2 Magneton A1 98 2 Magnezone A2 53 2 Oricorio A3 66 2 Professor’s Research P-A 7 2 Guzma A3 151 1 Cyrus A2 150 1 Sabrina A1 225 2 Potion P-A 1 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 1 Pokémon Communication A2 146 1 Giant Cape A2 147

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The Oricorio Magnezone deck uses Oricorio as a staller, but potentially a win condition with its Zzzap attack. You’re not too worried about slowing down your Magnezone turn by attaching Lightning Energy to Oricorio since Magneton can self-ramp with Volt Charge, speeding up the Energy attachment so Magnezone can join in and go for the heavy Thunder Blast attack.

This is one deck that opts not to include the Rare Candy play since Magneton’s Volt Charge is too important to pass! This list is also running 2 Guzma to punish Tool users, especially if they have two Tools played at once. However, it’s mainly used to protect your Oricorio from a Rocky Helmet or Poison Barb.

Top 4 Oricorio Greninja Giratina ex

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

2 Froakie A1 87 1 Frogadier A1 88 2 Greninja A1 89 2 Oricorio A3 66 1 Shaymin A2 22 1 Giratina ex A2b 35 2 Professor’s Research P-A 7 2 Irida A2a 72 1 Cyrus A2 150 1 Guzma A3 151 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 2 Rare Candy A3 144 1 Giant Cape A2 147

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This deck cuts out Snorlax ex for the Oricorio win condition, using it to stall the game while pushing 50 damage with its Zzzap attack. It has Greninja to deal back-up damage with Water Shuriken, pushing 20 damage to one of the opponent’s Pokémon, which can snipe damaged Pokémon on the Bench.

This deck is running Water Energy alongside Lightning Energy, so you can attack with Greninja’s Mist Slash if you need the 60 damage. As for Giratina ex, it can self-ramp, so we’re not too worried about the Psychic Energy attachment.

This list has Shaymin for its Fragran Flower Garden to heal all your Pokémon for 10 damage. This is a great ability to keep Oricorio in play for longer, since in most cases, your opponent won’t have a high damage output attack to one-shot.

Top 4 Incineroar ex Charizard ex

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

1 Charmander A2b 8 1 Charmander A1 33 1 Charmeleon A2b 9 2 Charizard ex A2b 10 1 Litten A3 30 1 Incineroar ex A3 33 2 Professor’s Research P-A 7 2 Lillie A3 155 1 Iono A2b 69 1 Red A2b 71 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 2 Rare Candy A3 144 1 Pokémon Communication A2 146 1 Red Card P-A 6 1 Giant Cape A2 147

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Incineroar ex Charizard ex is currently the strongest Fire-type deck out there. It uses Rare Candy to speed up the evolution of Incineroar ex and Charizard ex, and have a win condition online as early as possible. Incineroar ex deals 30 damage with its Fire Fang attack, but you can later go for a heavier swing with Scar-Charged Smash, dealing 80 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon. If Incineroar ex is damaged, Scar-Charged Smash will deal 140 damage instead.

Charizard ex is the power-house in this deck, using its Stoke to ramp Fire Energy and set up for Steam Artillery to deal 150 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokemon.

Charmeleon and Litten have been the saviours for this deck against Oricorio decks.

Underdog Decks

Top 8 Garchomp ex Rampardos

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

2 Gible A2 121 1 Gabite A2a 46 2 Garchomp ex A2a 47 1 Cranidos A2 88 2 Rampardos A2 89 2 Professor&#8217;s Research P-A 7 2 Lillie A3 155 1 Cyrus A2 150 1 Iono A2b 69 2 Rare Candy A3 144 2 Skull Fossil A2 144 1 Poké Ball P-A 5 1 Giant Cape A2 147[pocket_deck] This deck runs two Stage 2 Pokémon, so Rare Candy is a must for the strategy to work. Rampardos is your strongest attacker, dealing 130 damage to the opponent&#8217;s Active Pokémon with its Head Smash attack. However, the drawback is massive, as Rampardos will deal 50 damage to itself, falling to 100 HP, vulnerable to most attacks in the meta. Giant Cape will be crucial here to keep Rampardos from easily getting knocked out, and using Lillie to heal it for 60 damage and go for another attack. Garchomp ex is another damage dealer, it&#8217;s a tankier Pokémon with an early Linear Attack to deal 50 damage to one of your opponent&#8217;s Pokémon. This means you can target the opponent&#8217;s Bench and snipe a low HP Pokémon. Dragon Claw has more of a punch, dealing 100 damage to secure a knockout on a higher HP Pokémon in the Active spot. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">10th Place Oricorio Greninja Darkrai ex</h3> [pocket_deck]2 Froakie A1 87 2 Greninja A1 89 2 Darkrai ex A2 110 2 Oricorio A3 66 1 Kangaskhan A1 203 2 Cyrus A2 150 2 Professor&#8217;s Research P-A 7 1 Iono A2b 69 1 Guzma A3 151 1 Leaf A1a 68 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 2 Rare Candy A3 144

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This deck runs two Stage 2 Pokémon, so Rare Candy is a must for the strategy to work. Rampardos is your strongest attacker, dealing 130 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon with its Head Smash attack. However, the drawback is massive, as Rampardos will deal 50 damage to itself, falling to 100 HP, vulnerable to most attacks in the meta. Giant Cape will be crucial here to keep Rampardos from easily getting knocked out, and using Lillie to heal it for 60 damage and go for another attack.

This deck crushed it in the tournament, having Oricorio as an answer for ex Pokemon to shut them down from dealing damage and using Darkrai ex and Greninja for the abilities to deal passive damage. You’re dealing 50 damage through the ability of your Pokémon, slowly chipping away at the opponent’s Pokémon until you can knock them out.

This deck is heavily relying on Oricorio’s Safeguard to stall out the game, giving you enough time to get your ability damage through until you start getting your match points. This deck is locked into the Darkness Energy to get the most from Darkrai ex’s Nightmare Aura, which means you won’t be attacking with Oricorio.

17th Place Arceus Crobat Carnivine

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

2 Zubat A1 172 2 Crobat A2a 50 2 Arceus ex A2a 71 2 Carnivine A2a 9 2 Professor&#8217;s Research P-A 7 1 Cyrus A2 150 1 Leaf A1a 68 1 Mars A2 155 1 Iono A2b 69 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 2 Rare Candy A3 144 1 Pokémon Communication A2 146 1 Giant Cape A2 147

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The Arceus ex Crobat Carnivine version was the best performer in the Ursii tournament! Arceus ex enables Crobat and Carnivine’s ability Links to get the most out of them.

Carnivine is an early attacker, dealing 20 damage with its Vine Whip, but becomes a 50 damage attack if Arceus ex is in play, thanks to the Power Link. You’ll also have Crobat’s Cunning Link to deal 30 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon, perfect to back up your attacker and knock out a higher HP Pokémon.

Arceus ex can’t be affected by special condition effects, which can be useful in the current meta. Ultimate Force is your strongest attack, dealing 70 damage and an additional 20 damage for each of your benched Pokémon, so at max, you can deal 130 damage.

With the popularity of Darkrai ex decks, Carnivine was a solid choice to two-shot with Vine Whip.

Additional Decks

27th Place Solgaleo ex Skarmory

Copy Code Download Cards: 20

2 Cosmog A3 85 1 Cosmoem A3 86 2 Solgaleo ex A3 122 2 Skarmory A2 111 2 Professor&#8217;s Research P-A 7 1 Lillie A3 155 1 Red A2b 71 1 Sabrina A1 225 2 Rare Candy A3 144 2 Poké Ball P-A 5 2 Rocky Helmet A2 148 1 Giant Cape A2 147 1 Poison Barb A3 146

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This deck relies on Skarmory as an early attacker, dealing 50 damage with Metal Arms if you have a Took attached to Skarmory. In the meantime, you’ll be working on evolving into your Stage 2 Solgaleo ex to carry the game, and with Rare Candy in the list, you can skip the Stage 1 evolution to have Solgaleo ex in play a turn earlier.

Solgaleo ex needs two Metal Energy to activate its Sol Breaker attack, dealing 120 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon and 10 damage to itself. Being a 180 HP Pokémon means we’re not too worried about taking the 10 damage, but against the Charizard ex deck, things can be awkward since falling to 170 HP puts us in range of Charizard ex’s Steam Artillery (Solgaleo’s weakness is Fire decks).

Solgaleo ex’s Rising Road ability lets you move it from the Bench to the Active spot without having to discard any Energy from your Active Pokémon. It’s not too useful when swapping with a Skarmory, but in other versions like Solgaleo ex Snorlax, it can be more useful to avoid the 4 retreat cost on Snorlax.

Closing Words

We’re still early in the Pokémon Pocket A3 meta, but we’re seeing multiple new decks performing well and will likely remain relevant in the upcoming weeks. Solgaleo ex underperforming compared to other decks like Oricorio Magnezone, Darkrai ex Giratian ex, and Greninja Snorlax means many players are going back to the drawing board to find their best deck for next week.

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