Summary
The release ofPokemon Trading Card Game Pocket’sMythical Island has seen a colossal shake-up to the game’s battling meta.
Previously, the game was dominated by decks involving Mewtwo ex and Gardevoir, Starmie ex and Articuno, Pikachu ex, andCharizard ex, Arcanine ex, and Moltres ex. The second major expansion changed things, though.
Although itinvalidated a bunch of cardsand didn’t do muchfor Steel or Dragon-type decks, archetypes featuring the likes ofCelebi ex and Serperiorhave risen to the top.
But, while Celebi and Serperior may be the most common deck in the new meta, research has found that using it is far from the best new strategy.
Celebi ex Decks Fall Foul Of Gyarados And Scolipede
This newresearchcomes from Reddit user-OA-,who recently calculatedthe perfect Mewtwo ex deckand analyzed over 30,000 matches to determinePikachu ex was by far the most dominant deck type.
-OA-’s latest analysis looks at how themeta has shiftedwith the release of Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket’s Mythical Island, and it’s pretty drastic.
They found that decks featuring Gyarados ex are now by far the most dominant. When paired with Greninja, Gyarados ex decks have the best win rates in the game, around 59 percent, but decks featuring Gyarados and Starmie Articuno ex, Vaporeon, and Starmie ex all take spots in the most successful ten.
Decks featuring Gyarados ex are now by far the most dominant.
Arguably, the biggest surprise is that usurping Pikachu ex is Scolipede. -OA-’s research found that decks that combined Scolipede and Weezing are the second most successful in the game, with a win rate of around 56 percent. That’s still roughly three percent lower than Gyarados ex and Greninja, but it’s a force to be reckoned with.
The only other new deck breaching the top ten is a Pidgeot ex/Drudiggon combination, with the latter a card thatthe community thinks is the best new addition.
What’s just as shocking as Scolipede’s second-place entry is just how far down the list Celebi and Serperior have come. The deck has been a mainstay of the game’s new meta, but apparently, it’s not as good as you might think.
According to this research, the Celebi ex and Serperior deck has the 20th-best win rate in the meta—around 48 percent. It falls behind decks like Wigglytuff ex and Arbok, Greninja and Tentacruel, and Ninetales and Rapidash, and is actually less successful than a combination of Celebi ex and Exeggutor ex.
Of the existing decks, Pikachu ex and Electrode remains strong in third place, as do Arcanine ex and Moltres ex in fouth, whileStarmie ex and Articuno exdrop to tenth place, andMewtwo ex and Gardevoirdown to 12th.
The full top ten is as follows:
With the next expansion a little over a month away, it’s safe to say you shouldn’t get too comfortable with yourPokemonof choice.
WHERE TO PLAY
Experience the fun of collecting Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) cards with Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, an upcoming game for iOS and Android devices from Creatures Inc., the original developers of the Pokémon TCG, and DeNA Co., Ltd.
In this game, you will be able to open two booster packs every day at no cost. You can collect digital cards featuring nostalgic artwork from the past as well as brand-new cards that are exclusive to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.Be on the lookout for new “immersive cards,” which will make you feel as though you’ve leapt into the world of the card’s illustration.
