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With Charizard on a pack and Venusaur celebrating its own event, Blastoise always seems to be in third place among the original starters. But Blastoise can be a force to reckon with inPokemon TCG Pocket, where Water-type Pokemon get some of the best support in the game.
Thanks to Mythical Island, Water-type decks got a major upgrade, and Blastoise is here to make a splash (literally). In this guide, we’ll show you a sample decklist, the best strategies to make Blastoise shine, and highlight some matchups that’ll have your opponents begging for mercy. Stick with us, and soon you’ll be ruling the battlefield as a Blastoise pro.
Squirtle x2
Wartortle x2
Blastoise x2
Articuno ex x1
Eevee x2
Vaporeon x2
Misty x2
Leaf x2
Poke Ball x2
X-Speed x1
Which Eevee you use doesn’t make much difference, since you’ll have it on your Bench most of the time.The EeveefromMythical Island,withContinuous Steps,is thebest optionbecause it has a chance ofdoing a lot of damagein the rare situation that you need it, but the promo with Growlis aconsistent damage reducerand theGenetic Apexversion’sTackledoes morereliable damage.
Thebase Articunois afair substituteforArticuno ex, either to make every Pokemon worth a single Prize Point or because you haven’t opened the ex version yet. Articuno’sIce Beamcan’t be used as early as Ice Wing, but itParalyzesyour opponent’s Pokemon so that they can’t attack or retreat the next turn.
Swapping out Articuno ex for Articuno also lowers the rarity of all Pokemon cards to three diamonds or less, which is necessary for some missions.
Blastoise Deck Strategy
Like other Stage 2 Pokemon, Blastoise needs a couple of turns to set up before it can be used effectively.Articuno excanabsorb several hitswhileattacking with Ice Wing and Blizzard, then retreat to safety once you have Blastoise ready.
With Articuno ex soaking damage as your Active Pokemon,evolve Squirtle as quickly as possibleandtry to get an Eevee evolved into Vaporeon. A second Squirtle or Vaporeon can be added to the Bench in order to dodge Sabrina with your key Pokemon.
The Mythical Island version of Vaporeon allows you tomove any amount of Energy from your benched Water-type Pokemon to your Active Water-Type Pokemon. This allows you to invest Water Energy in Articuno ex without losing pace on Blastoise, since you can transfer all of your Energy onto whatever Pokemon you move into the Active position after retreating.
Use Misty to add extra Energy to Articuno ex for early Blizzards or to your Blastoise line if Articuno ex isn’t available, butprioritize Professor’s Researchas yourSupporterif youdon’t have the next Stage in that linein hand. Ideally, you should evolve every turn, and can’t afford to delay an evolution in favor of more Energy for later.
A big exception is if you have the opportunity to win by donking your opponent. A first turn Misty on Articuno ex has a one-in-eight chance of scoring a KO on many Pokemon with Blizzard (one in four against Magikarp with Ice Wing), so if their Bench is empty, go for it!
If Articuno ex is in danger, or when Blastoise has evolved and has a couple of Energy already,retreat Articuno exanduse Vaporeon’s Wash Out abilitytomove Energyonto Blastoise.Three Energyallows it to useHydro Pumpfor80 damage, butfive Energybumps thatup to 140 damage.
Asecond Blastoise lineon yourBenchcan be set up while your first one is attacking, and you cantake advantage of Wash Outto move Energy to it when it’s time to retreat your first one.
Blastoise Matchups
Celebi ex/Serperior
Pokemon video game fans may need to be reminded that cards can only have one weakness,andnone of the Water-type Pokemonin this deck areweak to Grass. While this means that you won’t need to worry about extra damage from this deck, you’llstill be at a disadvantage:Celebi ex/Serperioris faster, more consistent, and has a much higher damage cap than Blastoise.
Despite these disadvantages, Blastoise is capable of OHKOing anything in the Celebi ex/Serperior deck, and with a lucky Misty can start Knocking Out support Pokemon like Dhelmise and the Serperior line on turn one.
Pikachu ex
Pikachu exmay not be the top deck anymore, but it’s still a powerhouse, andevery Water-type Pokemonin the Blastoise decklist isweak to Lightning. Additionally, Pikachu ex variants tend to be both fast and consistent, oftenattacking for 90 damage(110 with type advantage) by the third turn, which is the earliest you can hope to have Blastoise evolved.
Pikachu ex cannot OHKOBlastoise, and Zapdos ex can only do it with lucky flips, whileBlastoise can take out anything in Pikachu’splaybook. You may be able to eke out a victory bysacrificing two single-prize Pokemonwhile setting up Blastoise, but only with a lot of luck.
Charizard ex/Moltres ex
Fire-type decks likeCharizard exand Arcanine ex went on the decline in the Mythical Island metagame, owing to new tools for Water-type decks that can exploit their weaknesses. While Blastoise has adecent shotagainst the popularArcanine ex archetype, Charizard ex may be another story.
Charizard ex relies on stockpiling Energy from Moltres ex to use Crimson Storm a couple of times in a row, hopefully KOing two double-Prize Pokemon in the process.It hasmore than enough HPtotank a Hydro Blastfrom Blastoise, andCrimson Stormwill score animmediate KOin return.
The weakness in Charizard ex decks is that they tend to put all of their eggs in one basket:If you cantrade a single-Prize PokemonforCharizard ex,youropponent may not be able to set up a second onebefore you collect the final Prize Point.
