Pokémon TCG Pocket is very beginner-friendly and free-to-play in that it offers many decks with which you can easily build and battle online, both to perfect 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 many rental decks you can use to bridge the gap until you have enough cards to create your own. If you’re having trouble with some rental decks or don’t yet have a build you’re rocking with, here are some tips for free-to-play players and some decks that might be easy to use.

Pokémon TCG Pocket, at least initially, is a very simple game with a meta that will evolve over time as new sets are added. There will be one constant thing that will remain true forever though, and that is the fact that drawing decent cards early on will always help you build better decks.

At launch, Genetic Apex is the only set in the game, but each of the three different packs opens the doors to multiple strategies. If you can even pull an ex Charizard, an ex Pikachu, or an ex Mewtwo, you will have a solid foundation for using these decks and will unlock rental decks based on them that you can use to play online and collect or make cards.

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With the simplified nature of Pokémon TCG Pocket compared to the classic TCG and the unique design of certain Pokémon and Trainer cards, some underpowered cards have a chance to shine in certain decks. Here are some decks you can build from the start, with a solid mix of options using unique Pokémon ex cards or lower rarity draws.

Blaine is one of several Trainer Supporters who specify a few Pokémon he can directly power up. And, since it’s built without rare rarity cards, all you need to do is pull Charizard Genetic Apex packs to get your build started.

The goal of this deck is to build up a Rapidash as quickly as possible and use its Fire Mane attack, which only costs 1 Fire Energy, to deal 40 damage while you use the rest of your time to set up a Ninetales on the bench. for the late game sweep with his 90 damage flamethrower. And since Blaine gives your Ninetales, Rapidash, or Magmar 30 extra damage when attacking your opponent’s Active Pokémon, they can easily outpace some decks that may take longer to set up.

Most early builds of Blaine can fit in Magmar if you don’t have enough Rapidash or Ninetales to finish your deck, and there are variants that use Moltres ex and Charizard ex as heavier hitters. However, focusing solely on Ninetales and Rapidash, as well as strategically using X Speed ​​and Sabrina, will allow you to dictate the pace of the game much easier and with more synergy with Blaine.

If you want to settle for some of the heaviest hitters in the meta like Pikachu ex and Mewtwo ex early on, Blaine is by far my number one choice.

The name of the Poison-type deck is control, and even though Arbok and Weezing are Dark Pokémon in the TCG, this deck aims to annoy your opponent with trades while reducing their health.

Using only a core of Arbok and Weezing, you want to set up Arbok so that 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, then use Koga for a free retreat to bring Arbok in and start locking things down.

You’ll need to learn to time your use of

Just for reference, you should open the Genetic Apex Mewtwo pack for this one, since the Weezing line is exclusive to it while Arbok can be found in all three. The main problem will be getting Sabrina early, since this Supporter is part of 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.

Pikachu ex is by far the most explosive deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Genetic Apex format, and having just one will allow you to run a competent Electric deck focused on blitzing your opponent. But, even without the ex Pikachu, you can still perform a competent version of Electric Rushdown while you try to open more packs and improve your collection.

This is the easiest deck to adapt to high-level conflicts, but also arguably the most limiting first choice due to the lack of true synergy until you get a boss like Pikachu or Zapdos – or at least one Raichu. Whether you run a hodgepodge of Electric Pokémon that you like to use or opt for a Lt. Surge variation to try to imitate Blaine with Electrode and Electabuzz with quick energy swaps, you might break or fail to overwhelm some stronger builds.

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As you mine more Pikachu Genetic Apex packs, you can insert better Electric Pokémon to replace some of the filler here, preferably starting with the items surrounding your Electrode and Zebstrika core. Getting even one Zapdos ex or Pikachu ex will lead to more consistency and powerful gains down the road.

Do you feel lucky? If so, you might like to use an ex Marowak deck from the start, as it can easily make your opponents suffer if you manage to make the right coin flips. And, although this game includes an ex-card, you can easily draw one if you commit early to Genetic Apex Mewtwo packs on.

There are two variations of this deck that you can run, one with Sandslash and one with Dugtrio, and it all depends on whether you want a stable option with high HP and reasonable damage or another draw that is easy to set up and could potentially help. you are stalling for the construction of Marowak. Either way, your main goal here is to get Marowak ex online and try to KO with draw-boosted Bonemerangs, which deal 160 damage if you land two heads, easily enough to take out almost every 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 potential, but could fail depending on the results of your draw.

Personally, I prefer the Sandslash and Farfetch’d version, both because I really like Sandslash and because it is more reliable, especially when facing Pikachu decks.