Palkia-ex in Pokémon TCG Pocket is a damn strong card. But which cards should you combine it with?
Palkia-ex is one of the stars of the new expansion “Collision of Space and Time” in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Just like its counterpart Dialga, it is the “cover star” of one of the current boosters.
Accordingly, it is not surprising that Palkia-ex is also one of the best cards in the new set.
It has a strong 150 HP and can take a lot of hits. With just one energy, it can deal 30 damage with “Slasher.” Its ace in the hole is the attack “Dimension Storm,” for three Water and one Colorless energy. With that, you deal 150 damage to the opponent’s Pokémon and also 20 damage to all of the opponent’s benched Pokémon.
However, you have to discard three Water energies from Palkia. Accordingly, you should try to get as much energy on Palkia as quickly as possible. A few cards are suitable for that.
Which cards to combine with Palkia-ex?
Currently, there are several cards that can supply Palkia-ex with energy faster, so you don’t necessarily need 4 rounds to use its devastating attack.
Sure, one of them is Misty: The trainer card attaches as many Water energies to Palkia as you succeed in coin tosses. In the best case, that’s a lot of energies – in the worst case, none at all.
Therefore, it’s good to have other reliable ways to supply Palkia with energy.
The first card for this has also come into play with the new expansion: Manaphy.
What does Manaphy do? Manaphy has 50 HP, so it can’t take too much damage, and its attack “Gift of the Sea” doesn’t deal any damage. However, it has the effect that you can choose two Pokémon from your bench. For each of those Pokémon, you can generate and attach one Water energy.
However, this gives you at most one additional Water energy on Palkia. Therefore, you need another card: Aquana.
What does Aquana do? Aquana is already a popular card when combined with Misty. Aquana has the ability to push Water energies from the bench to the active Pokémon. You can start generating energy with Manaphy and attach it to Palkia & Aquana on the bench. Once Palkia comes into play, you push the needed energies onto the legendary Pokémon and start attacking your opponent. Depending on how long Manaphy survives, that can be a few energies.
However, you should keep in mind: You need a bit of luck at the start of the match to draw the right cards to fully exploit the combo. With the cards Pokéball, Professor’s Research, and Pokémon Communication, you can at least try to get the other needed cards from your deck as quickly as possible if you don’t have them right away.
Another good card: If you’re looking for an additional ex-Pokémon, you should consider Arktos-ex. It is basically a slightly weaker version of Palkia, with less damage but almost the same effects.
Its attack Blizzard requires three Water energies and deals 80 damage, plus 10 for each of your opponent’s benched Pokémon. Advantage: It does not need to discard the energies after attacking. Arktos-ex can also benefit from these cards. And if you’re generally looking for completely different variants: Here you can find the best decks in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
