Triumphant Light introduced many new cards into Pokémon TCG Pocket, including a striking Arceus ex that’s worth experimenting with as a competitive player. It’s a unique card that can completely resist Special Conditions and has plenty of synergy with other key cards.
Here, you’ll find the best Arceus ex Pocket deck to pick up and play today, including every card you’ll need to build it, common variants and twists on the format, and its main strengths and weaknesses in the current meta.
Best Arceus ex deck list in Pokémon TCG Pocket
Unsurprisingly, Arceus ex is the star of the show in this Pocket list. The card may seem unassuming at first—despite being a god—with just one attack and 140 HP, but with the right build, it’s an absolute beast that can be hard to stop in its tracks.
The Fabled Luster Ability gives Arceus ex a complete wall for all Special Conditions, making decks like Scolipede Weezing less effective. Conditions like Poison can be game-ending in Pocket, so this Ability can be a game-changer depending on which deck you match up against.
This list features the Zubat line alongside Arceus ex due to their Colorless damage potential and Crobat’s free 30 damage-snipe Ability. Being able to chuck out an extra 30 damage during a match is a dream in some cases, especially if you get close to a Knock Out.
There are plenty of Energy Token types to manage in this list if left unchecked, so ensure that you select just Water-type Tokens when building the deck. Not doing this will cause you issues with Token generation in your first match.
The Water Tokens will help you use Irida and the duo of Manaphy and Articuno ex, allowing for heals, further Energy, and backline damage output. It’s a strange combination of types on paper, but think of it as a mostly Colorless deck with the Water Energy there for extra utility.
Alongside the main critters in this list, there are plenty of Supporters to tangle with. Irida helps to heal, while Leaf helps with movement and Dawn boosts Energy movement. We’ve included a copy of both Giant Cape and Pokémon Communication to add extra survivability and draw power.
If you’ve not quite got all of the cards in the table above, plenty of strong variants follow roughly the same format.
The best variants to experiment with when building an Arceus ex deck in Pocket are:
- Darkrai ex for additional damage output via its Ability—although note that you’d need to have a dual Energy deck with Dark-type Tokens for this to be relevant
- Eevee as a source of additional early-game, Colorless damage
- Arceus to compliment the Arceus ex card and provide additional damage output
- Sabrina or Cyrus for additional control and disruption
- Druddigon for an easier setup process, particularly with the addition of Rocky Helmet
Mew ex is another viable option here, opening up the field with its Genome Hacking attack and offering up potential counters for tricky type pairings.
How the Arceus ex deck works
The aim of the game with this deck is to get both copies of Arceus ex onto the field to allow Crobat to use its Ability and chip away at the opponent with this. Arceus ex is the primary damage dealer with Ultimate Force, with Crobat and Articuno ex helping to top up the damage output.
Arceus ex can ignore Special Conditions with its Fabled Luster Ability, making it a strong critter in the Active Position. Its main attack, Ultimate Force, deals 70 base with 20 extra added for each of your Benched creatures.
The deity isn’t as tanky as you might expect, with 140 HP putting it in range of a One Hit Knock Out, which is where the Giant Cape comes in. This adds an extra 20 HP, meaning it’s much more likely to survive against heavy hitters like Gyarados ex.
Zubat and Golbat have Colorless attacks—unlike Crobat—meaning you can use them to deal small slivers of damage while setting up your other cards. Zubat is nothing to write home about, but Golbat can deal 40 damage a pop for just one Energy Token, which is significant in the early-to-mid-game.
Articuno ex acts as a solid source of damage, with Blizzard allowing you to deal 80 damage up front and 10 to the opponent’s Bench. It’s somewhat expensive, with three Energy Tokens required, but this is where Dawn and Manaphy come in.
Manaphy only has one attack, dealing no damage and instead allowing the user to take two Water-type Energy Tokens from the Energy Zone and attach them to two Benched ‘mons. This pairs perfectly with Dawn, who can move an Energy Token from the Bench to the Active critter.
The use of Water-type Tokens benefits of the new Triumphant Light Trainer Irida, who heals for 40 damage if the chosen card has a Water-type Energy Token attached.
Strengths and weaknesses
One of the biggest strengths of an Arceus ex deck is its method of bypassing Special Conditions. As Pocket grows and gains more cards for players to work with, Special Conditions are becoming more relevant than ever before. Having the Fabled Luster Ability helps to mitigate tricky Poison or Sleep-centric decks.
Another positive aspect of this deck is its variety of damage output options. Arceus ex can deal with a number of foes itself with Ultimate Force stacking up damage nicely, but Articuno ex and Crobat help chip away with Benched and backline damage, respectively.
The variety of Supporter cards on offer in this deck is stellar too, with Dawn offering perfect synergy with Manaphy, and Irida helping to keep key cards topped up in the mid to late stages of the game. There’s plenty of draw power with Poké Ball, Professor’s Research, and Pokémon Communication too.
There are some issues to mitigate with this deck, though. It does require some setting up, meaning it doesn’t match well into speedy decks like Celebi ex or Infernape ex. If your opponent can out-speed you with their setup, it can feel like an uphill battle.
Additionally, the presence of multiple card types (Colorless, Dark, and Water) can increase your chances of coming across a bad type match-up and dealing with increased damage from the opponent.
In terms of damage, Arceus ex isn’t the heaviest-hitter in the game. Ultimate Force isn’t a weak move by any means, but it can’t compete with some of the stronger attacks in the game like Palkia ex’s Dimensional Storm or, coin flips permitting, Lickilicky ex’s Licking Fury.
This deck is still a lot of fun to play, and it can deal with most opposing decks in the current Pocket meta. It does require a fair number of Pack Hourglasses as the cards required are spread out across several sets and packs, but it’s worth the effort.
Just remember to set your Energy Token type correctly when building it so you don’t end up with any unneeded Dark-type Energy Tokens spawning in your next match.
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