Every TCG, includingPokemon TCG Pocket, has some sort of cards that make it difficult for your opponent to do anything. Some cards act as floodgates that stop a specific action from being used, while others act as walls that prevent your opponent from attacking without some sort of consequence.
Pokemon TCG Pocket makes use of troublesome Abilities, game-breaking rules, and card effects that can potentially keep your opponent stunned. This means no attacks, fewer retreats, and in some cases, forcing your opponent to forfeit the match due to their deck having no way to overcome the cards that you place down.
10Gengar Ex
No More Supporter Cards
Supporters are some of the most important cardsonce you’ve set up your board. These can let you swap out targets for weaker ones, manipulate your opponent’s hand, and give your Pokemon a much-needed boost in power. Unless, of course, Gengar ex is around.
Thanks to its Shadowy Spellbind Ability, this Pokemon ex can prevent your opponent from playing any of those pesky Supporters that can tilt the battle in their favor. This forces them to rely entirely on their Pokemon Moves and Abilities.
9Druddigon
No Attacking Without Consequences
Druddigon is the go-to stall card due to its Rough Skin Ability. This means your opponent will take some damage every time they try to smack into it. While your opponent can choose not to attack it, it becomes difficult to prevent the Pokemon behind Druddigon from getting their fill of Energy or Evolving.
Druddigon will buy you some turns to get the cards you need into your hand. Even if you don’t run the Energy needed to attack with it, the fact that is has no weaknesses means your opponent can’t speed up the knockout process unless they have a Pokemon that can take it out in one hit.
8Rocky Helmet
Turn Any Pokemon Into A Druddigon
Druddigon may be a menace, but it isn’t always a card you can slip into your deck. Especially if you’re already jam-packed with essential Pokemon. Luckily, Rocky Helmet is just as good, as it makes any Pokemon dangerous to the touch.
This is great if you have somePokemon with high HPthat can tank multiple hits. It’s a neat warning to your opponent that also brings you closer to scoring a point the longer it takes them to knock out the Pokemon wearing this helmet.
7Porygon-Z
Hack Into Your Opponent’s Energy Zone
Porygon-Z is one of those sleeper Pokemon. It can alter how your opponent utilizes their most important resource. Buggy Beam is a Colorless Move that changes the next Energy that your opponent receives during their turn.
This means that unless your opponent’s Pokemon have less restrictive Energy requirements, they’ll be working with blanks that can only be used to pay for Retreats. It also forces your opponent to rely on energy-generating Pokemon or find a way to shut down Porygon-Z through alternative means.
6Alolan Muk Ex
Poison Is Just The Beginning
Alolan Muk ex can stack multiple Special Conditions on your opponent’s Pokemon without inflicting the same ones it already has. This means one hit grants you Poison, Confusion, Paralysis, Burn, or Sleep.
With Poison being a fairly easy Special Condition to inflict without attacking, you can narrow down the odds of landing on those that prevent your opponent from attacking or Retreating their Pokemon. Some effects like Confusion cause extra frustration as it adds a coin flip to every Move your opponent tries to use.
5Aerodactyl Ex
Stop Evolution From Happening
Aerodactyl ex’s Primeval Law Ability stops your opponent from Evolving their Active Pokemon. This can prove useful when your opponent bricks on a hand and is forced to bring out a Pokemon they would rather have on the Bench.
With the right opening hand, this can be a pretty useful way to prevent at least one of their Basic Pokemon from ever reaching their most powerful stage. This will force your opponent to rely on the second copy of that Basic that is still in the deck.
4Team Rocket Grunt
Steal Your Opponent’s Energy
Energy is the most important resource in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Being able to remove this from a Pokemon can prevent your opponent from Retreating or using their ultimate Moves. Team Rocket Grunt takes a bit of luck to pull off, but it gets the job done.
Keep flipping coins till you hit tails. Then, for every head, you may get rid of one Energy from your opponent’s Active Pokemon. Using this card can buy you a few turns where your opponent can do nothing but attempt to get their Pokemon set up again.
3Beedrill Ex
Tearing Away Energy One Hit At A Time
Beedrill ex is an incredibly easy Pokemon to use with a disruptive effect that stays focused on the Active Pokemon. Crushing Spear not only does 80 damage, but it also removes one Energy from whatever Pokemon it hits.
That one Energy loss not only slows down the Pokemon your opponent is trying to ready up, but can also apply psychological pressure. Will your opponent give up on the Pokemon that will never have enough Energy to attack, or will they double-down and try to Retreat it? It’s an easy way to force your opponent to make mistakes.
2Banette
No Energy For Active Pokemon
Banette is a sneaky little Pokemon that can turn into your opponent’s worst nightmare. While 30 damage isn’t much, Night Bind only costs one Energy to use and stops your opponent from using the Energy Zone on their Active Pokemon.
This means their Active Pokemon becomes locked to however much Energy it had when it gets hit by Night Bind. This becomes incredibly useful if your opponent has no Energy Acceleration Abilities that can activate from the Bench or no cards in their hand to facilitate a Retreat.
1Oricorio
Forcing Your Opponent To Scoop
One card that can force your opponent to forfeit the game is Oricorio. There are many decks that rely entirely on Pokemon ex with no other Pokemon to fill the gaps. Oricorio’s Safeguard protects it from taking damage against Pokemon ex.
In these scenarios, your opponent can’t strike back. In fact, they will often find themselves with no cards that can effectively deal with Oricorio. This makes scooping the only option they have left, aside from letting the game play out even though there’s no way to win.
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.
