Right, it’s been two weeks. I think we can officially call it. Giratina ex is still the best Pokémon in Pokémon Pocket, and nothing in Celestial Guardians can hope to dethrone it.
Not even Oricorio, a widely played new Celestial Guardians card that can’t even be damaged by Giratina ex, can stop the dominance of Pokémon Lucifer.
To be clear, I’m not just griping after losing to Giratina decks on the Ranked ladder (although that has been happening). I’m looking at last week’s big tournament results, which once again show Giratina ex performing incredibly well.
We’d already observed that the scary Solgaleo/Skarmory decks that everyone has been worrying about are nowhere near the top of tournament leaderboards, but now it’s clear exactly where things lie, with Giratina decks colonizing the top of tournament tables for a complete fortnight. It’s not a pretty picture.
On May 10, there were two big Pokémon Pocket tournaments: Ursiiday’s with 941 competitors, and Godzly’s with 810. In the Godzly tournament, eight out of the top ten decks ran Giratina ex, while in Ursiiday’s, the Distortion Pokémon is in six of the top seven lists.
While Rare Candy is quickly making a name for itself as the best Trainer card in Pokémon Pocket, Giratina ex is now clearly the best Pokémon card in the game, hands down.
To me, the meta still feels more fresh and interesting than it has been in weeks, as at least these Giratina ex decks have a little variety to them – they’re not just two Darkrai, two Giratina. But overall it’s a sign that The Pokémon Company needs to come up with a card that can curtail its supremacy – perhaps something that shuts off abilities?
Examining the decklists, we see the most successful players are pairing Giratina with its old pal Darkai, as well as Greninja, Snorlax, Tapu Lele, or Oricorio. That last one makes me laugh. So often in trading card games the intended ‘answer’ to the best deck just gets folded into it.
The two tournaments disagree on what the second best deck might be at the moment. In the Godzly tournament, a grass deck featuring Meowscarada, Decidueye ex, and lots of healing took 5th and 9th place. But that strategy fared less well in the Ursiiday contest. Here, Arceus and Crobat were the clear runners-up, winning second place, and rounding out the worst of the best, with places 8-10.
So if you’re sick of gazing into the disturbing face of Giratina ex (at least on your side of the board) these are probably the archetypes to look at.
What Pokémon Pocket decks are you playing at the moment? And how’s your pack opening luck been? Come commiserate with me over at the Wargamer Discord. And don’t miss our lovely guide to the most expensive rare Pokémon cards.
Source: Wargamer
