Summary
- The Celestial Guardians expansion in Pokemon TCG Pocket adds strong cards like Lunala Ex, impacting the meta.
- The introduction of Oricorio in the expansion has made 18-Trainer decks like Articuno Ex unplayable.
- Oricorio in Pokemon TCG Pocket counters top decks and combos, changing the meta significantly.
Every set in Pokemon TCG Pocket typically adds anything between a few dozen cards to over 150, and the recent Celestial Guardians expansion is no exception to this rule. This Alola-themed expansion will seemingly be completed next month with set A3a, as Pokemon TCG Pocket leaks tease an Ultra Beast-based booster pack coming to the game. Celestial Guardians is nothing to scoff at on its own, though, as it features plenty of very good cards that either enabled new playstyles or made existing ones stronger, such as Lunala Ex with Giratina Ex. Yet, one card is currently sitting at the top of the meta for being a punitive counter to most decks, and it even killed a whole deck archetype in the process.
Several cards from Pokemon TCG Pocket's Celestial Guardians ended up finding their spot in meta decks, including anything from the titular Solgaleo Ex and Lunala Ex to less renowned critters like Lurantis and Passimian Ex. Many good decks are flooding tournaments, and the new Rare Candy card helped further diversify the meta, thanks to Stage 2 Pokemon being more viable across the board. Between all these changes and the introduction of an incredibly powerful 3-Diamond card in the form of Oricorio, one deck archetype essentially went extinct.
One of The Rarest Pokemon TCG Pocket Cards is Reigniting an Age-Old Debate
Pokemon TCG Pocket added more shiny cards with Celestial Guardians, and one of them is controversial due to the critter's color palette.
Pokemon TCG Pocket's Oricorio Decks Explained
Why Pokemon TCG Pocket's 18-Trainer Decks Are Suddenly Unplayable
Despite never being the single best deck to play, Articuno Ex decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket took over the meta because they were reliable, effective, and relatively easy to use and even build. The whole strategy was based on the fact that every starting hand in the game will always feature a Basic Pokemon to make sure the match is not automatically lost, so a deck with two copies of Articuno Ex and 18 Trainer cards will always start with one Articuno Ex in hand and four other cards.
The same strategy was then employed with other variations of this idea, such as Pachirisu Ex in Space-Time Smackdown, and Articuno Ex even had the ability to potentially end games on turn one with Pokemon TCG Pocket's Misty card, provided players were lucky enough to get a few heads in a row. However, Oricorio from Celestial Guardians single-handedly makes this strategy outdated, as a deck with two Ex cards simply cannot do anything against this bird critter. Oricorio has the Safeguard ability, which makes all damage dealt to Oricorio from attacks of Ex Pokemon be 0, making it mostly immune to some of the best cards in the game.
What follows is that the usage rate for Articuno Ex and similar decks plummeted after the release of Celestial Guardians, and rightfully so; any two-Ex card plus 18-Trainer card deck has no tools to deal with Oricorio, no matter what. The only option would be to use cards like Sabrina to force Oricorio out, but one can play two Oricorio in Pokemon TCG Pocket and have another ready on the bench. On top of that, it's easier to fish for Oricorio than it is for Sabrina, as the former can be found with a Poke Ball. Simply put, the risk of finding opponents with Oricorio in their decks is enough to stop playing Articuno Ex decks entirely, hence why Pokemon TCG Pocket's meta changed even more.
How Oricorio Counters Pokemon TCG Pocket's Meta Decks
If that was not enough, Oricorio can also shut down several good combos in the game as well as some of the biggest attackers around, such as Charizard Ex, Arceus Ex, Giratina Ex, and so forth. This forces players to have decks with decent counters to Oricorio unless they skip Ex cards entirely. For example, some meta Solgaleo Ex decks run one or two copies of Magearna to one-shot Oricorio and then switch to Solgaleo. Overall, Oricorio has dramatically changed Pokemon TCG Pocket's meta, and it may never be fully the same moving forward.
- Released
- October 30, 2024
- Developer(s)
- DeNA, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- The Pokemon Company
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes
WHERE TO PLAY
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket lets you easily collect Pokémon cards. Creatures Inc. Has created exciting new visual effects for cards that are only possible digitally.
Pokémon cards, played with by people in 89 countries, are now closer to you than ever!
Enjoy Pokémon cards anytime, anywhere, on your mobile device!
■ You can open packs every day to get cards!
Collect cards every day! You can open two booster packs every day at no cost to collect Pokémon cards featuring heartwarming illustrations from the past as well as all-new cards exclusive to this game.
■ New Pokémon cards!
Immersive cards, a brand-new kind of card, make their debut here! With new illustrations that have a 3D feel, immersive cards will make you feel like you’ve leapt into the world of the card’s illustration!
■ Trade cards with friends!
You can trade certain cards with friends. Use the trade feature to collect even more cards!
■ Show off your collection!
You can use binders or display boards to showcase your cards and share them with the world!
■ Casual battles—alone or with friends!
You can enjoy casual battles during quick breaks in your day! Ranked matches are now available for players who'd like to battle even more.
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game
