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If the first pack you opened inPokemon TCG Pocketwas the Pikachu pack, you were immediately rewarded with the Legendary Pokemon, Arcanine ex. Unfortunately for Arcanine fans, the fiery canine hasn’t been a meta pick to build a deck around, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful.
Arcanine ex decks made a splash when players realized that they were uniquely suited for taking down the incredibly powerful Pikachu ex decks that dominated the early Pokemon TCG Pocket meta, making them a dark horse contender in online tournaments. Learn how to build and play them here!
Arcanine ex
Growlithe x2
Arcanine ex x2
Moltres ex x2
Giovanni x2
X-Speed x2
Potion x2
Red Card
Aerodactyl with Old Amber provides two benefits. First, if your opponent is running a deck with few Pokemon, like a strict Articuno ex/Misty deck, it can win by “donk,“shuffling away your opponent’s only Pokemon for an easy win. Second, it cangust away dangerous Pokemon like Blastoise exafter your opponent has spent several turns attaching energy, which is a major setback.
If you’re missing Aerodactyl or Old Amber, you canswap them out for an extra Sabrina and Red Card. You won’t miss them in most games, and Sabrina can offer a similar effect, pushing away a dangerous Pokemon so you can attack a weaker one.
Alternatively, swapping out Old Amber and Aerodactyl for Drowzee and Hypno will allow you toput your opponent’s Active Pokemon to sleepwithout risking giving up a Prize Point. The downside is that you may end up with Drowzee as your only Basic Pokemon.
If you’re Hypno because of its ability and not planning to attack, remember toturn off Psychic Energy in the deck-building menu.
Arcanine ex Deck Strategy
Arcanine ex followsthe same basic strategy as Charizard ex:use Moltres ex to place Energyon your Growlithe and Arcanine ex, then retreat Moltres ex andstart attacking.
Charizard ex has higher HP and does significantly more damage, butArcanine ex is much faster to set up. Inferno Onrush only needs three Energy compared to the five Charizard ex needs to use Crimson Storm two turns in a row, and Arcanine ex is a Stage 1 Pokemon, so you only need to evolve once.
Whenever possible,Moltres ex should be your first Active Pokemon, with a Growlithe on the bench. Don’t panic if you only have a Growlithe in your hand or don’t have one to put on the Bench, since Poke Ball is reasonably reliable for finding the Basic Pokemon you’re missing.
Moltres ex serves as both your Energy acceleration and as a shield for Growlithe while you try to evolve it.Use Inferno Dance to attach Energy to your Growlithewhile you dig for Arcanine ex to evolve it. Potions should be used cautiously on Moltres ex, since you may also need them for Arcanine ex, whose Inferno Onrush damages itself.
Once Arcanine has three Energy,retreat Moltres ex(using an X-Speed or two) so that Arcanine ex can use Inferno Onrush for 120 damage. Additional Energy can be played onto Moltres ex so that it can use Heat Blast, onto a second Growlithe on your Bench to replace the first one if it’s Knocked Out, or onto Aerodactyl.
One extra Energy on Arcanine ex will allow it to retreat, and then be ready to attack the next turn after attaching another Energy.
If your opponent brings out a big threat like Blastoise ex or Charizard ex, both of which can OHKO Arcanine ex,switch in Aerodactyl and use Primal Wingbeat to try and shuffle it back into your opponent’s deck. For Stage 2 Pokemon, they’ll need several more turns (and lucky draws) to rebuild, giving you time to pick off their weaker Pokemon.
Arcanine ex Deck Matchups
The biggest reason to play Arcanine ex (aside from being a fan of the goodest boy in the Pokemon franchise) is because of thestellar matchup against Pikachu ex, the dominant deck in the game. Arcanine ex deckswin almost 70 percent of matches against Pikachu exthanks to the ace Pokemon’s bulk and perfect damage to Knock Out everyone’s favorite electric mouse.
Moltres ex does have a weakness against Lightning-type Pokemon, butArcanine ex powers up fast enough that you should be safe from anything short of a lucky Thundering Hurricane, which takes longer to set up than Arcanine ex.
Venusaur ex can heal an absurd amount of HP (up to 160 per turn, with the right build and hand!), but itsweakness to fire means that you should have no problem taking it down, as long as you’re able to get the first hit in.
Venusaur ex takes a long time to set up, so you’ll have time to score a Knock-Out on Exeggutor ex before Venusaur can get all the Energy it needs.Judicious use of Sabrina can bypass whatever Pokemon your opponent tries to block withto score the last point you need.
Blastoise ex isn’t a common deck, but it’s uniquely threatening to Arcanine ex. With Misty’s Energy acceleration, Blastoise ex can build up enough Energy toOHKO every Pokemon in the Arcanine ex deck, or pull off revenge KOs after a single Inferno Onrush with the help of Giovanni.
Arcanine ex is still faster to set up, so you should be able tosnag a Knock-Out while your opponent’s Blastoise is still a Wartortle. Sabrina and Aerodactyl will be useful for forcing vulnerable Pokemon to the Active position, but the biggest advantage is how uncommon Blastoise ex decks are.
