Pokémon Pocket: Best Decks with Shining Revelry - First Week!

Today, we'll explore the decks that won the biggest grassroot tournaments only one week after the new set, "Shining Revelry", came along!

Something very unusual happened this time: all the winning decks are different. This means a single archetype isn't dominating the meta yet, at least in this first week of "Shining Revelry".

Over 100 players took part in these events, and they also all had cash prizes!

The Pokémon Pocket meta changed drastically since the new set came along. Now, some new lists and old, yet refined, archetypes, are the best decks in the format.

Let's see these decks!

This list is a direct answer to last season's meta, as it is great against Arceus ex. It is also great against Gyarados ex because you can knock out Benched enemy Magikarps with your Hitmonlee.

This means that the most popular and best archetypes from the last format are also weak against this list. However, because Gallade's main attack deals more damage according to how many energies are attached to your opponent's active Pokémon, it is also great against the current meta. After all, most lists use a lot of energies.

So, you'll nearly always attack and deal a lot of damage to enemy Pokémon, at least enough to Knock Out any Pokémon ex in just a few turns.

If all goes wrong, you'll also have an alternative win condition to play: Marshadow's attack, "Revenge", deals more damage if one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out the turn before.

This list was a big surprise because it plays 1 copy of Mewtwo ex, but it is an 18T list (lists that only play 2 copies of a certain Pokémon and many Trainers to support that Pokémon).

Currently, Giratina ex is the fastest of all 18T strategies. You can set it up with energies in just 3 turns, and, because of its ability, you can attach one energy to it already on the first turn if you play first. We couldn't do that before this set came along.

This means you can essentially attack and deal 130 damage in just a single turn before any other meta deck. That is, if you're not playing a mirror match.

Mewtwo ex is, as we mentioned, a surprise in this list, as it is slow, and, in theory, delays 18T lists considerably. However, against a few Darkness lists, or Sudowoodo lists, you won't have enough time to set up your Giratina ex - remember, you need 3 turns to do this.

So, sacrificing a Giratina ex while you set up a Mewtwo ex and a second Benched Giratina ex at the same time is many times the best strategy against these lists.

It is no surprise that this deck is one of the best decks in the format. This list survived after new cards came along, and only got stronger as the meta changed. It also started playing some new Trainers, like Iono, which is a lot of help whenever you need to draw cards.

It is an extremely solid list with great matchups that basically only loses to itself. The problem is that over half of this list is Pokémon, and that often makes strategies a lot less consistent. In many matches, you might not find Rampardos or Lucario, or you'll find all your stage 2-3 Pokémon, but not your basic Pokémon.

That's why Iono fits this archetype like a glove. Many times, you'll have to shuffle your entire hand back to your deck just to find whatever you need to play your combo.

Gyarados ex came back at full force. It also really fits the theme of this new season: discarding enemy energies.

Its effect is incredibly strong against Giratina ex and other decks that attach multiple energies at once.

Because its attack is so strong, and because it plays a few of the best support cards around, like Irida and Misty, this list has returned to the top of the meta quite easily.

However, it still relies a lot on RNG: you'll have to hit heads to use Misty's effect, and deal more damage with Origin Forme Palkia as well.

However, in general, you won't need a lot of luck to win matches, considering this deck is more consistent than ever, and practically doesn't have any counters in the meta - apart from Hitmonlee lists.

This list took the ranked queue by storm, and is one of the most popular decks right now.

It already existed as an archetype, but, instead of Giratina ex, this list used Magnezone with Magneton, which attaches energies to itself.

This combo is very consistent and one of the most annoying archetypes to play against.

Unfortunately, it struggles a bit in competitive settings because, against better players and well-built decks, it is very vulnerable to meta cards like Team Rocket Grunt, Sabrina, Cyrus, and any sort of heal. That is practically the entire meta.

Despite very powerful, it is only nearly there. It nearly wins matches, and nearly wins tournaments. In any case, it is the best tier-2 deck for tournaments, and might be one of the best lists for the ranked queue in mid to lower ranks.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you had fun, and enjoyed reading this article.

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See you next time!