For the entirety of Pokémon Pocket’s history, the game has been defined by its Pokémon ex cards. Sure, there have been some non-ex decks that perform pretty well, like the Lucario fighting type list from a few seasons back, but usually they’re a tier below the decks led by the top ex cards, and people like me only play them to be different (or because we haven’t found the right exs yet).
There’s a good reason for that. The best of these powerful, rare Pokémon cards, which award two points when they’re knocked out, are usually a cut above the rest and are designed to be the chase cards of each set. But now, in Extradimensional Crisis, a non-ex deck has risen to the surface and is not only performing well in tournaments, it’s actually become the most popular deck in the whole Pokémon Pocket meta.
That deck is Silvally/Rampardos. By now we all know Rampardos. This beastly fossil Pokémon can dish out a ridiculous amount of damage for just one energy, and more than makes up for the downsides that come with being prehistoric, like not being fetchable with Pokéball. Rare Candy has only helped it, the same way it’s strengthened all Stage 2s.
But the new card Silvally makes for a brilliant companion to the Pokémon Pachycephalosaurus, and together the pair form a lightning fast deck that can handle anything that needs time to set up.
That’s because Type Null is able to deliver strong pressure right away, and Silvally can usually knock weak exs out on the following turn. Gladion improves your consistency and provides a supporter card to beef up Silvally’s attack.
And even if your opponent is able to recover in time to handle your first Silvally, then you hit them with 130 damage from the Rampardos you’ve been building on the bench. Just brutal!
According to the website Limitless TCG, Silvally/Rampardos is the most popular deck in the meta, with 497 players across 38 recent tournaments. That’s more than the very strong Buzzwole ex which, even if we combine the Pherosma and Celesteela decks that Limitless lists as separate archetypes for some reason, only has 470. The win rate is fantastic too: 55.66%.
It’s pretty incredible given that leaving ex Pokémon out of decks usually weakens them. There are even tournaments that try to foster a lower powered meta by banning exs altogether. Now they’ll probably need to ban Rampardos too.
We were pretty confident when this set was shown off that Silvally was going to be really good. But I didn’t know it would be part of the best non-ex deck in the game – even better than the Magnezone lists that have come in the top 5 of tournaments in the past.
Have you tried this deck out yet? Tell us how it fared for you over on our Discord – I feel it does seem a little weak to hand disruption. And if powerful Pokémon are your jam, you might want to learn about the best Pokémon cards in the main TCG.
Source: Wargamer
