GamesAdventurePokemonPokemon Trading Card Game PocketIf a month of Pokemon TCG Pocket has taught me anything, it’s that Mewtwo is still the world’s strongest PokemonWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAdventurePokemonPokemon Trading Card Game PocketIf a month of Pokemon TCG Pocket has taught me anything, it’s that Mewtwo is still the world’s strongest PokemonWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
Pokemon: Sword and Shieldmay have introduced the frankly grotesque Eternamax Eternatus, but back in my day the strongest Pokemon was always Mewtwo. Whether you were playing the games, trading the cards, or – as I did – quite literally pretending to be Pokemon with your friends, Mewtwo’s place was well-established as the greatest of all time.
Such is the case in Pokemon TCG Pocket, where all of sudden, every opponent you face in 1v1 seems to have the same identical deck: two Mewtwo EXes, two Gardevoirs, andmaybea Chansey that they barely touch. This combination is proving almost impossible to beat, with twin Gardevoirs piling two free psychic energies per turn into Mewtwo EX, whose Psydrive attack for 150 HP (which ordinarily discards two energies per use, so takes some time to build back up) can then be usedevery single turn.
Responses online have ranged from the pragmatic – calls for a nerf, attempts (largely in vain) to come up with counter decks – to the downright furious, with one particular Reddit thread simply titled: “WE GET IT YOU LIKE THE MEWTWO EX DECK!!!” Overall, the consensus seems to be that once you see a Ralts popping up in the bench behind a Mewtwo, you might as well concede.
Psydrive-ing me up the wall
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
Rare find(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)I wasn’t going to play Pokemon TCG Pocket for long, but then I got the rarest card in my first few hours – and now I can’t put it down
Rare find
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)I wasn’t going to play Pokemon TCG Pocket for long, but then I got the rarest card in my first few hours – and now I can’t put it down
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
I wasn’t going to play Pokemon TCG Pocket for long, but then I got the rarest card in my first few hours – and now I can’t put it down
Blastoise EX is much the same, but with a slight twist. Blastoise takes longer to evolve, and would need to be benched briefly while you get your ducks in a row, beefing up its energy with some Misty flips or pure patience, using another card upfront as an aggro starter or damage sponge. Hydro Bazooka does up to 160 damage with five energy attached, but can be deployed for 100 damage at just three energy, so there’s potential to turn this around if the opponent’s hand doesn’t quite play how they had hoped.
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(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
Some secret part of me is glad to see Mewtwo back up to his old tricks
Some secret part of me is glad to see Mewtwo back up to his old tricks
Even then, you’ll need to play everything else off flawlessly to even stand a chance at a win. It’s a lot to ask, and I can’t help feeling the deck being so overpowered takes some of the joy out of VS battles. Not so much if all you want to do is rack up wins, but the real spirit of the game seems to be lost somewhere. At the heart of the Pokemon TCG is creativity – showcasing flexibility and fast-thinking, coming back with an impossible counter and surprising your opponent… It’s all part of the joy.
I don’t begrudge people looking to collect winners emblems – after all, collecting is the name of the game. But eventually people are just going to concede the moment they see psychic energy, which seems like something to be addressed in a future update. Rather than a straight-up nerfing of this set, which admittedly took some brains to put together and demonstrably does work, I’d like to see more competition, especially across dark energy decks. As a counter to psychic, dark energy is one of the hardest to farm, with no dedicated energy-boosting card, so perhaps this could shift things in the future.
Some secret part of me is glad to see Mewtwo back up to his old tricks, however. Maybe it’s time we let the world’s most powerful Pokemon have his moment before the game’s next booster packs arrive.
Here’s a breakdown of all therarest cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
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3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”