• Ice Wing – 40 damage
• Blizzard – 80 damage
  • This attack also deals ten damage to each of your opponent’s benched Pokémon.

• During this turn, attacks used by Ninetails, Rapidash or Magmar deal +30 damage to your opponent’s active Pokémon.

Every deck needs good support and trainer cards, and Blaine fulfills his role spectacularly. He may look a bit like Doctor Eggman, but he’s not a bad guy: he adds 30 damage to any attack made by Ninetails, Rapidash, or Magmar during your turn. Just make sure to use this card when you have enough energy attached, otherwise it will be wasted that turn.

• Slash – 60 damage
• Crimson Storm – 200 damage
  • Discard two Charizard Energy

Of course, Charizard is there. The fiery pseudo-dragon is a constant favorite and continues to shine in TCG Pocket. The only downside is that you have to discard two energy after using the big move, so it will take two turns to refill it. But the 200 damage can take out most other Pokémon cards in one hit.

• Psychological shooting – 60 damage
• Psychic Shadow (ability) – During your turn, you can take an energy and attach it to your active Pokémon

Using Gardevoir as part of a Mewtwo deck is a popular choice, and it’s not hard to see why. This card allows you to attach extra energy, which is always a handy bonus since it can take a while to charge four energy onto your Mewtwo to perform its big attack.

• Scary shot – 100 damage
• Dark spell (ability) – While Gengar is in your active slot, your opponent cannot use any supporter cards in their hand.

Another constant favorite is Gengar. The Spooky Shot attack can take three energy to charge, but it deals 100 damage. Pair it with Giovanni and you can take down many different Pokémon cards. Using Gengar as an active Pokémon also prevents your opponent from using followers – that means no boost, no healing, and no extra cards in their hand. A truly annoying ability.

• During this turn, your Pokémon’s attacks inflict +10 damage on your opponent’s active Pokémon.

Good old Giovanni deals extra damage. That’s it, really, but having two of these cards in your deck can bail you out and ensure you send that Venusaur packing in a big attack.

• Slice of Mist – 60 damage
• Water Shuriken (ability) – Once during your turn, you can deal 20 damage to one of your opponent’s Pokémon

• Pin the missile – 40+ damage
  • Flip four coins – each face deals +40 damage

My favorite is Jolteon. This gets me through Lapras battles and all other matches against water decks with ease. It depends on luck and RNG, but if you manage to get even one head in all four draws, you’re a winner. Landing all four coin flips correctly will deal a huge amount of damage, easily eliminating any opponent.

• Psychic sphere – 50 damage
• Psychic Reader – 150 damage
  • Discard two Mewtwo Energy

Of course, Mewtwo is on this list – the star of the show has potential in many decks, even if its big move requires four energy. Similar to Charizard, you have to discard two energy after using Psydrive, but if you have a Gardevoir you can quickly recharge it and start again.

• Replace your opponent’s active Pokémon on the bench. They choose the Pokémon to replace it

Last but not least, Sabrina is another great support card for any deck. What is this? Your opponent drops a fully healthy Lapras that can heal itself? I don’t think so – let’s trade him with Sabrina and have them pick a half-healthy Pidgey off their bench.

Five real-life Pokémon cards we want to see in TCG Pocket

This list could go on forever, so we’ve condensed it into five cards we’d like to see come to TCG Pocket. Obviously, any evolved Pokémon would also come with its pre-evolutions, but we think these cards could really shake things up.

Clodsire EX

• Toxic wetland (ability) – During your turn, if a Stadium is in play, you can poison your opponent’s active Pokémon.
• Needle bone – 200 damage
  • Flip a coin – if it comes up tails, Clodsire can’t attack on your next turn.

Maybe this is my Clodsire-obsessed bias speaking, but Clodsire EX is a great card. There aren’t many Pokémon that can actively poison, and as the card pool expands, it may be that Stadiums become a common fan choice. Therefore, all Clodsire holders would laugh. Additionally, he performs a powerful attack dealing 200 damage.

Dragapult EX

• Jet Headbutt – 70 damage
• Ghost diving – 200 damage
  • Put six damage counters on your opponent’s benched Pokémon

Not only does Dragapult’s basic attack deal a hefty chunk of damage, but the Phantom Dive move lets you add extra damage to benched Pokémon. It’s not yet clear how damage counters would translate into Pocket, but Dragapult is good enough to warrant a deck dedicated to it anyway.

Mimiqui

• Backup (ability) – prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by your opponent’s Pokémon EX and V
• Ghost Eye – Put seven damage counters on your opponent’s active Pokémon