Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best Free-To-Play Decks
Pokémon TCG Pocket is very friendly to beginner and free-to-play players in that it has plenty of decks you can easily build and battle with online—to both grind and learn the game.
Pulling cards from packs may not be a reliable way to build your first decks, but Pokémon TCG Pocket gives you early access to plenty of Rental Decks that you can use to bridge the gap until you have enough cards to craft your own. If you are having trouble with certain Rental Decks or don’t have a build you are vibing with yet, here are a few tips for free-to-play players and some decks that might be easy to use.
Best Free To Play Pokémon TCG Pocket Decks
Pokémon TCG Pocket, at least early on, is a very simple game with a meta that will evolve over time as new sets are added. There will be one consistent thing that holds true forever though, and that is the fact that pulling some decent cards early on will always help you build out better decks.
At launch, Genetic Apex is the only set in the game, but each of the three different packs opens doors for multiple strategies. If you can even pull one Charizard ex, Pikachu ex, or Mewtwo ex, you will have a solid base to use those decks—and unlock Rental Decks based on them that you can use to grind online play and collect or craft cards.
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With the simplified nature of Pokémon TCG Pocket compared to the regular TCG, and the unique design of some Pokémon and Trainer cards, some underpowered cards have a chance to shine in certain decks. Here are some decks you can build early on, with a solid mix of options using single Pokémon ex cards or lower rarity pulls.
Best Blaine Rapidash and Ninetails Deck List
Blaine is one of several Trainer Supporters that specify a few Pokémon that it can directly power up. And, because it is built with no cards over an uncommon rarity, you just need to pull Charizard Genetic Apex packs to get your build going.
Card Type | Card List |
|---|---|
Pokémon | Vulpix x2 |
Item Supporter | Potion x2 |
The goal with this deck is to build up a Rapidash as quickly as possible and use its Fire Mane attack, which only costs a single Fire Energy, to deal 40 damage while you use the rest of your time to set up a Ninetales on the bench for late-game sweeping with its 90 damage Flamethrower. And, since Blaine gives your Ninetales, Rapidash, or Magmar an additional 30 damage when attacking your opponent’s Active Pokémon, they can easily outpace some decks that might take longer to set up.
Most early Blaine builds can fit Magmar in if you don’t have enough Rapidash or Ninetales to finish your deck out, and there are variants that use Moltres ex and Charizard ex as heavier hitters. However, focusing down on Ninetales and Rapidash alone, along with strategic usage of X Speed and Sabrina will let you dictate the pace of the game much easier—and with more synergy to Blaine.
If you want to content with some of the meta's heaviest hitters like Pikachu ex and Mewtwo ex early on, Blaine is my number one pick by far.
Arbok Weezing Control Deck List
The name of the Poison-type game is control, and even though Arbok and Weezing are Dark Pokémon in the TCG, this deck aims to annoy your opponent with swaps while whittling away at their health.
Card Type | Card List |
|---|---|
Pokémon | Ekans x2 |
Item/Supporter | Potion x2 |
Using a core of just Arbok and Weezing, you wan to get Arbok set up so it can use Counter to deal 60 damage and prevent your opponent’s Active Pokémon from retreating. You can use Weezing to tank hits and poison your opponent and then use Koga for a free Retreat to get Arbok in and start locking things down.
You will need to learn to time your use of X Speed, Koga, and Sabrina to best capitalize on Weezing’s Gas Leak or Arbok’s Counter, but this easy to craft deck has some high upside.
Just for reference, you should be opening the Genetic Apex Mewtwo pack for this one, since Weezing’s line is exclusive to it while Arbok can be found in all three. The main issue will be getting Sabrina early, since that Supporter is in the Charizard pack and is a key part of this strategy since you can force your opponent to swap their Active Pokémon with one from their Bench.
Best Electric Rush Deck List
Pikachu ex is by far the most explosive deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Genetic Apex format, and having even one will let you run a competent Electric deck centered around blitzing your opponent. But, even without the Pikachu ex, you can still run a competent Electric rushdown build while you try to open more packs and improve your collection.
Card Type | Card List |
|---|---|
Pokémon | Voltorb x2 |
Item/Supporter | Potion x2 |
This is the easiest deck to scale up to high tier contention, but also arguably the most limiting early choice due to the lack of true synergy until you get a boss like Pikachu or Zapdos—or at least a Raichu. Whether you run a hodgepodge of Electic Pokémon you like using or go with a Lt. Surge variant to try and mimic Blaine with Electrode and Electabuzz with quick Energy swaps, you might brick or fail to overwhelm stronger builds.
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As you pull more Pikachu Genetic Apex packs, you can slot in better Electric Pokémon to replace some of the filler here, preferably starting with the stuff surrounding your Electrode and Zebstrika core. Getting even a single Zapdos ex or Pikachu ex will lead to more consistency and powerful payoffs as you go.
Early Marowak ex Deck List
Are you feeling lucky? If so, you might like running a Marowak ex deck early on because it can easily bring the pain to your opponents if you manage to land the right coin flips. And, while this deck does include an ex card, you can easily pull one if you commit to Genetic Apex Mewtwo packs early on.
Card Type | Card List |
|---|---|
Pokémon | Sandshrew x2 |
Item/Supporter | Potion x1 or 2 |
There are two variations of this deck you can run, one with Sandslash and one with Dugtrio, and it all depends on whether you want a steady option with high HP and reasonable damage or another coin flip that is easy to set up and could potentially help you stall for Marowak build up. Either way, your main focus here is getting Marowak ex online and trying to bash out KOs with some coin flip-boosted Bonemerangs, which deals 160 damage if you land two heads—easily enough to take out almost any Pokémon in the game.
The Colorless inclusion for this deck is entirely based on dealing damage with a single Energy cost. Farfetch'd does more guaranteed damage but has lower HP, while Kangaskhan has higher upside, but could flop based on your coin flip results.
I personally prefer the Sandslash and Farfetch'd build, both because I like Sandslash a lot and because it is more reliable, especially when you face off against Pikachu decks.
