Pokemon Pocket is a fast-paced digital card game, that quickly became one of the most popular games out there. The tournament scene is thriving among the Pokemon Pocket players, with big weekly community tournaments being held where hundreds of players compete! However, the meta can get stale after a while, especially with a couple of meta decks dominating the scene.
So the community came up with a new way to play Pokemon Pocket, a game mode where it’s prohibited to play Ex Pokemon. You can join this mode in the Private Match by adding the password “NOEX” all in capital letters. Tournaments have also been held with EX Pokemon banned, so the meta has been completely different than what we’re used to.
Blaine Aggro
The Blaine aggro deck plays quickly, knocking out the opponent’s Pokemon before they set their strategy. We have three Basic Pokemon in this deck, Vulpix, Ponyta, and Farfetch’d. Farfetch’d can start attacking early, knocking out a Basic Pokemon with two attacks. As for Ponyta and Vulpix, we’re looking to evolve them into Rapidash and Ninetails, respectively.
Rapidash has 100 HP, so it’s not easy to one-shot it, and it can deal 40 damage with Fire Mane. As for Ninetails, it has 90 HP but can deal way more damage than Rapidash, pushing 90 damage with each attack. However, Flamethrower will discard 1 Fire Energy from Ninetails when you activate it, so you’ll be forced to keep attaching Energy on Ninetails to continue attacking with it.
The Supporter card Blaine is a key card in this deck, giving Rapidash or Ninetails a 30 damage boost on their attacks, allowing you to knock out higher health Pokemon.
Greninja Tentacruel
The Greninja Tentacruel deck is a popular bring among players in No Ex tournaments. This list is running 1 Articuno to act as a tank in the early game before you move on to Tentacruel to push 50 damage with Poison Tentacles and Poison the opponent’s Active Pokemon.
As for Greninja, he can sit in the back and damage opponent’s Pokemon with Water Shuriken for 20 damage. Water Shuriken can even target Pokemon on the Bench, so opponent’s won’t be fully safe when they retreat their Pokemon. If you decide to move Greninja to the active spot, then you get to go for Mist Slash to deal 60 damage.
Arbok Weezing
Arbok Weezing is another popular deck in these tournaments and even sees success in normal tournaments with EX Pokemon. This deck has both Weezing and Arbok as win conditions, each having their own abilities that synergize with one another. Weezing deals 30 damage with Tackle, but its real strength is Gas Leak ability, poisoning opponent’s Pokemon and slowly damaging them.
When Weezing is at the threat of getting knocked out, you can put him back in your hand with Koga and move Arbok to the Active spot. Make sure to activate Gas Leak before playing Koga to poison the opponent’s Active Pokemon and Arbok can then lock that Pokemon in the Active spot with its Counter attack. The 60 damage can be a pain for the opposing player, but preventing them from retreating the Pokemon can secure a knockout.
Arbok works well with Sabrina as well. You can force opponent to move a less threatening Pokemon to the Active spot, and with Arbok’s Counter attack, you can lock that Pokemon there and slowly work on knocking it out without fearing of opponent’s offense.
Dragonite Weezing
This Dragonite deck uses Weezing as a tank, stalling out the game until you evolve into your Stage 2 Dragonite. Weezing has a high retreat cost, and we’d rather attach Energy on our Dragonite, so we can use Koga to put Weezing back in our hand and move Dragonite in to carry the game.
Dragonite’s Meteor Shower picks a random Pokemon 4 times and deals 50 damage to it. So even Benched Pokemon are not safe from Dragonite’s Meteor Shower. One attack from Dragonite can be devastating for the opponent, but a second Meteor Shower should win you the game.
Melmetal Wigglytuff
Melemetal Wigglytuff managed to win first place in a No Ex community tournament and now has more eyes on it. This deck has the Promo Jigglypuff, capable of giving Asleep to the opponent’s Active Pokemon and slowing them down until Wigglytuff joins in. Wigglytuff attacks with Hyper Voice, dealing 60 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokemon.
As for Melemetal, it has a high-cost attack, so it will take you a while to get those 4 Energy on it. However, once you’re ready to attack with Heavy Impact, the 120 damage in a No Ex tournament can knock out almost anything in its path. On top of that, Melemetal’s Heavy Coat ability gives you resistance to the opponent’s attacker, dropping their damage by -20, and forcing opponents to go for more attacks to knock out Melemetal.
Poliweath Tentacruel
This deck uses Tentacruel in the early game, dealing 50 damage with Poison Tentackles and poisoning opponent’s Active Pokemon. Tenacruel having 110 HP will buy you time until you get your Stage 2 Poliwrath in play.
Poliwrath is how you win games. A 150 HP Pokemon isn’t easy to knock out, and with Counterattack ability dealing 20 damage to the opponent’s attacking Pokemon, they’ll have to think twice before they go for the attack. Poliwrath’s Mega Punch deals 80 damage, combined with the damage from Counterattack, you should be able to easily knock out your opponent’s Pokemon.
Greninja Weezing
This deck relies on Greninja as a win condition, but since it’s a Stage 2 Pokemon, you need time to get it in play. Weezing is on the list for the early game, going for Tackle attacks and poisoning opponent’s Pokemon with Gas Leak
Koga is great for denying opponent a knockout on Weezing, returning him to your hand for Greninja or another Weezing to take its place. Greninja deals 60 damage with Mist Slash, but combined with Water Shuriken, Greninja becomes a high threat. Water Shuriken can target opponent’s Benched Pokemon, helping you knock out damaged Pokemon and getting you Match Points.
