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With new expansions, new decks enter thePokemon TCG Pocketmeta and old ones get new tools. Water decks received some new tools in Triumphant Light, allowing Palkia ex to stand on its own and dominate the early-Triumphant Light metagame.
While Palkia ex saw play in the Space-Time Smackdown meta with backup from Vaporeon and Manaphy, with new options available in Triumphant Light the Spatial Pokemon has been able to stand on its own in a solo deck which is surprisingly consistent, due to the low number of Basic Pokemon.
Palkia ex
Palkia ex (A2) x2
Misty x2
Sabrina x2
Cyrus x2
Iridia x2
Giovanni x1
Potion x2
Rocky Helmet x2
Giant Cape x1
Some players have had success with minor variations of this deck. While most deck lists are almost identical to this one,a few swap out Giovanni or one Iridia for Mars, or for an additional Giant Cape.
Since it’s the best source of healing in this deck,we don’t recommend dropping either copy of Iridia.
Palkia ex Deck Strategy
Palkia ex is fairly straightforward to play, andfollows the same basic pattern as theArticuno ex decksfrom early in Genetic Apex. The goal is to hit your opponent’s Active Pokemon for a lot of damage with Palkia ex’s Dimensional Storm early by using Misty for early Energy acceleration.
Since Palkia ex is the only Basic Pokemon in the deck, you’ll always start with one as your Active Pokemon. Regardless of whether or not you’re able to draw Misty and get lucky on your coin flips, you can at leastuse Slash immediately for 30 damage, which is enough to two-hit KO most relevant non-ex Basic Pokemon.
With Palkia ex in play, you want touse Misty as early as possible. If you’re going first, this can allow you to attack before your opponent even has a chance to draw a card.
If you don’t draw Misty, just start attaching Energy and attacking every turn.
Use Sabrina to get around pesky blockers like Druddigon, or to push back the Pokemon your opponent is using to set up or which will have enough Energy to attack the next turn. A Rocky Helmet will make your opponent less likely to attack while they’re still setting up.
Once Palkia ex has enough Energy, don’t waste Dimensional Storm on a Pokemon you could KO with a Slash, or even Dimensional Storm’s splash damage. Use Cyrus to bring back a threat that you started wearing down earlier, andallow Dimensional Storm to take care of the one that moved to the Bench.
Cyrus combos with Dimensional Storm the other way, as well: After using Dimensional Storm,all of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon are valid targets for Cyrus, so you can pick a weak one the next turn to KO with Slash.
The only new card in the deck, and the reason Palkia ex has legs in the Triumphant Light meta is Iridia, which heals 40 HP for each of your Pokemon with Water Energy attached. Use Iridia, along with Potions, toheal your Pokemon and keep them in the fightlong enough to land those killing blows.
Palkia ex Matchups
Rampardos / Lucario
Palkia ex hasan excellent matchup againstRampardos / Lucario decks, which take a few turns to set up and don’t out-damage Palkia ex’s healing potential until they do.
An earlySudowoodo is one of the biggest threats, since it can deal 50 damage to ex Pokemon with one Fighting Energy, which puts Palkia ex on a three-turn timer without Iridia and Potions. But that should be plenty of time to attach enough Energy to Palkia to use Dimensional Storm, or to use Sabrina to pull out a softer, more valuable target.
Arceus ex / Dialga ex
Palkia ex can set up faster than theArceus ex / Dialga excombo, but that pair is more consistent. Dialga ex can attach two Energy to Arceus ex while dealing 30 damage to Palkia ex, then retreat so that Arceus ex can lean in for the KO.
Dimensional Storm deals enough damage to OHKO either of these threats, butthe tricky part is getting set up in time. A first and second-turn Misty with one heads each is enough to shut the deck down before Dialga ex can use Metallic Turbo, and then you can use Sabrina or Cyrus to pull out a soft target for the final point.
Leafeon ex / Celebi ex
Palkie ex has a minor advantage against Leafeon ex / Celebi ex decks because while both need time to set up,Palkia ex can both attack while setting up and can get a boost from a lucky Misty.
Celebi ex decks rely on giving Celebi ex so much Energy that high damage becomes a statistical certainty. With two Leafeon exs and a Shaymin in play, this deck can add three Energy per turn onto Celebi ex. ButKOing Eevee or Leafeon ex slows down this process, and Knocking Out Celebi ex shuts it down completely.
