There are some cards that can make your life difficult in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Therefore, you should avoid including these cards in your deck. MeinMMO shows you which ones they are.
What kind of cards are these? To build an optimal deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket, you should definitely keep an eye on the tier list. Additionally, it is advisable to have the appropriate counters for the strongest decks ready. However, there are also cards that you should definitely leave out.
This includes cards that require a lot of energy but only deal minimal damage. Also, effects that hardly help have no place in your deck. Instead, you can use alternative cards that offer you more value in any situation.
The best decks from Pokémon TCG Pocket can be found here:
6 cards that don’t belong in your deck
1. Porygon
What can it do? Porygon is a basic normal Pokémon with 50 HP. It even has an ability called Data Scan, which allows you to look at the top card of your deck. At the same time, it has an attack called Sharper, which costs only one energy and deals 20 damage.
However, Porygon’s ability is almost useless. Since you can only look at the next card, it is nearly impossible to plan strategically. The low HP and weak attack also make it a Pokémon that you should ideally replace.
What alternatives are there? If you want to use another basic normal Pokémon that costs only one energy, there are many alternatives. Picochilla, Habitak, and Dodu all have 10 more HP than Porygon and have the potential to evolve.
2. Gyarados
What can it do? The water Pokémon has an incredible 150 HP and uses Hyper Beam, dealing 100 damage to the opponent. Additionally, Gyarados can remove a random energy from the opponent’s active Pokémon.
Gyarados is the only water Pokémon that requires 4 energy markers for its attack. Other first-stage Pokémon like Starmie-ex deal only 10 less damage but require only half the energy costs. Additionally, the pre-evolution of Gyarados, Magikarp, with its Splash and 30 HP is one of the weakest Pokémon.
What alternatives are there? Besides Starmie-ex, many basic water-type Pokémon are a better alternative. These include Articuno-ex and Lapras-ex. Among two-stage water Pokémon, Amoroso and Mottineva are a good choice as they can prevent the opponent’s attack.
However, be careful not to choose the basic version of Lapras, as its stats are even worse than Gyarados when it has 4 energy markers. With 100 HP, Lapras deals 90 damage with 4 energy markers.
3. Tangela
What can it do? Tangela looks acceptable at first glance. It has 80 HP and has an attack called Absorb. Through this attack, it can deal 40 damage and heal itself for 10 HP. So far, so good.
However, the attack costs 2 energy. Among the grass-type Pokémon, there are others that deal significantly more damage for 2 energy markers, some even with just 1 energy marker. The 10 HP healed is simply too little to justify such high energy costs.
What alternatives are there? Instead, include basic Pokémon like Scyther or Pinsir in your deck. They either have higher damage or lower energy costs. Even with a potion or Erika, you will be better off healing your Pokémon than with Tangela.
4. Nidoqueen
What can it do? Nidoqueen is a Pokémon with 140 HP that deals a good 80 damage for 3 energy costs. For every Nidoking on the bench, it also receives an additional 50 damage points, which would make it an incredibly good attacker – theoretically.
Because: Both Nidoking and Nidoqueen are 2nd-stage Pokémon. It takes numerous rounds for Nidoqueen to be on the field and several Nidokings to be on the bench. By the time Nidoqueen becomes the ultimate fighting machine, it is often already defeated.
What alternatives are there? With a Nidoqueen/Nidoking deck, you are very limited. Therefore, we recommend checking the tier list of the best decks and relying on a different combination.
5. Geodude
What can it do? At first glance, Geodude seems incredibly strong: It has 160 HP and can execute a Risk Tackle attack that deals 150 damage. Given such high damage, it is appropriate that it requires 4 energy markers. However, this high damage comes with one of the largest negative effects.
With each Risk Tackle you use, Geodude loses 50 damage points. So if you attack once, you are left with only 110 HP. That is enough for ex-Pokémon like Machamp-ex or Arcanine-ex to take you out.
What alternatives are there? If you are looking for high damage, try Knogga-ex. This Pokémon can deal 80 damage with each heads in a coin toss, resulting in 160 damage if all goes well. If you are more focused on high HP, Machamp-ex and regular Machamp could be an alternative for you.
6. Mew
What can it do? Mew is a secret card, which you get for completing a special secret mission. Mew is a psychic Pokémon that has no evolutionary stage. It has 60 HP and uses an attack called Psychic Disclosure that deals 20 damage.
In addition to the 20 damage, Mew can also reveal your opponent’s hand cards. However, since the attack of a Pokémon always happens at the end of a turn, the opponent immediately takes their turn and can adjust their strategy. They draw a new card and can play cards you have already seen, such as evolutions. This way, you can hardly react to your opponent’s hand cards.
What alternatives are there? If you are looking for a Pokémon with similar stats that has a better effect, we can recommend Flunkifer. It has 70 HP and deals 20 damage with its Bite. The good thing is: If the subsequent coin toss ends up heads, you can remove an energy from the active Pokémon. This way, you can annoy your opponent more than just peeking at their hand.
If you are more focused on the effect, you might prefer a combination of Handperiscope and Red Card. This way, you can at least shuffle the cards your opponent has back into their deck if they are too good.
It is also advisable to always take the ex version of a Pokémon rather than its standard version. The prerequisite is, of course, that you already have it. But there are also trainers who do not want the overpowering cards and exclude them: Players of Pokémon TCG Pocket want to avoid the best cards in battles, find creative solutions
