In recent Pokemon TCG Pocket tournament circuits across Japan, the Palkia ex card has been generating considerable buzz and is being hailed by analysts as an elite S-tier deck. A survey of Japanese players revealed that a notable 12% believe it’s the best deck in the current metagame. Furthermore, its influence extends beyond Japan, as Palkia ex has also demonstrated exceptional performance on the global stage, consistently ranking among the top ten cards within the Space-Time Smackdown set.
In our analysis of Palkia EX’s strength in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, we delve into the factors that make it powerful, uncover its strategic partnership with Vaporeon, and speculate about their potential impact in the game ahead.
How the Palkia ex & Vaporeon Meta Works
Step One: Generating Energy
In a favorable starting position, position Manaphy in the play area (Active Pokémon), keep Palkia ex and Eevee on standby (Bench). Attach an Energy card to Manaphy first, then utilize its attack to produce two Water Energy cards – one for Palkia ex and one for Vaporeon.
Step Two: Transferring Energy
After setting up three Water Energy cards on the field, transform into Palkia ex. Next, use Vaporeon’s skill to move all its attached Energy to Palkia ex, drawing one extra Energy card from your Energy Zone, resulting in a total of four Energy cards on Palkia ex.
Step Three: Dealing Damage
As a gamer, I’ve got Palkia EX all revved up with four Energy cards attached, ready to unleash some serious damage. If my opponent decides to retreat, I’ll counter with Cyrus to push them back and seal the win. But, if Palkia EX loses all its Energy due to discards, I’ll play Misty in a last-ditch effort to recharge or even bring back Manaphy for another round of Energy generation. However, be aware that using Manaphy like this could potentially cost me the game as it becomes an easy target in the late stages.
The Best Deck Shell for Palkia ex & Vaporeon
| Must-Have Pokemon | Must-Have Trainers |
|---|---|
| Eevee | Misty |
| Vaporeon | Cyrus |
| Palkia ex | Leaf |
| Manaphy | – |
In simpler terms, a perfect Pokémon deck for Palkia EX and Vaporeon gameplay should include 14 essential cards. That’s about 70% of the total deck already set. This leaves very few opportunities for players to showcase their creative flair in deck building.
Here’s why you cannot replace the seven main players of the deck:
- You need Manaphy to generate Energy for Palkia ex.
- You need Eevee for Vaporeon’s evolution.
- You need Vaporeon to transfer Manaphy’s generated Energy to Palkia ex.
- You need Misty to compensate for Palkia ex’s discarded Energy.
- You need Leaf to retreat damaged Palkia ex and switch into the secondary attacker—Vaporeon or your other Palkia ex.
- You need Cyrus to finish off retreated enemies.
Regarding the Item Cards, it’s essential that you include both a Pokémon Ball and Professor’s Research. If there’s space left in your Trainer Cards section, consider adding an X Speed or Pokémon Communication as well.
Palkia ex’s Synergy with Articuno ex
Initially after the launch of Space-Time Smackdown sets, Palkia ex was often teamed with another Pokemon causing damage on the bench from the Water type family: Articuno ex. The combination seemed advantageous as Articuno ex could serve as a secondary attacker, dealing 80 base damage and up to 30 damage to the opponent’s bench using three Water Energy. However, the benefits didn’t outweigh the drawbacks.
Employing two slots for Articuno EX was found ineffective. This setup not only added an extra EX Pokémon, losing two points upon being defeated, but also produced less damaging attacks at almost the same energy expense.
Swiftly understanding that holding a backup Palkia ex on the sidelines proved more advantageous than focusing on Articuno ex, players started to adjust their strategy. They gravitated towards the Palkia ex and Vaporeon combination instead, favoring its reliable and seamless teamwork over the less consistent variant.
Eliminating Articuno from play increases your chances of pulling essential cards using a Pokémon Ball, which is particularly beneficial for strategies involving Palkia-Vaporeon.
Or:
With Articuno out of the game, it becomes easier to obtain crucial cards by using a Pokémon Ball in decks that rely on Palkia-Vaporeon.
Or:
In the absence of Articuno, the likelihood of grabbing vital cards with a Pokémon Ball increases significantly when employing Palkia-Vaporeon strategies.
Pros and Cons of the Palkia ex & Vaporeon Decks
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✓ Fast build-up | ✘ Reliance on ex Pokemon |
| ✓ High DMG | ✘ Energy-draining attacks |
| ✓ Minimal Evolution-dependency | ✘ Weak to Bench damage |
Advantages of Palkia-Vaporeon Setups
- You can unleash full power as early as turn four. Palkia’s synergy with Manaphy and Vaporeon accelerates Energy ramp-up, allowing for early attacks.
- Palkia ex’s ultimate attack can deal up to 230 damage. Its Dimensional Storm does 150 base damage (170 against Water-weak opponents) and an additional 20 Bench damage per enemy Pokemon (up to 60 with a full Bench).
- Palkia ex is a Basic Pokemon, and the only evolution required is Vaporeon from Eevee. This minimizes evolution-based RNG and improves deck consistency.
Disadvantages of Palkia-Vaporeon Setups
- Losing Palkia ex early can be disastrous. Since you must place it in the Active Spot quickly, its relatively low HP makes it vulnerable to tech counters like Mew ex. If the opponent targets it early, you could lose two points, and setting up a second Palkia ex will be challenging.
- Palkia ex is not a sustainable attacker. It discards three Water Energy after each ultimate attack, making it difficult to maintain offensive pressure. Without Energy recovery cards like Misty, Palkia ex may only manage one or two attacks per match.
- Palkia ex is Bench-dependent. If your opponent eliminates Vaporeon early, your Energy management will collapse, potentially derailing your entire game plan.
Palkia ex & Vaporeon Meta Performance Report
- Tournament Appearance: +6,000
- Meta Share: ~ 5.5%
- Win Rate: ~ 51.5%
In comparison to Darkrai ex and Exeggutor ex, which have the highest winning rates among Pokemon, Palkia ex continues to perform well. It has managed a win rate of 51.5% and has shown effectiveness against decks from previous expansions. Interestingly, the combination of Palkia ex and Vaporeon has a win rate of 71%, making it particularly strong when facing off against the Mewtwo ex and Gardevoir meta, one of the strongest decks from the A1 and A1a sets.
How Future-Proof the Palkia ex & Vaporeon Meta Is
In Pokemon TCG Pocket, the combination of Palkia and Vaporeon, along with their future variations, will continue to be highly effective against Fire-type decks. Nonetheless, this pairing on its own doesn’t possess the sheer strength required to rule over the game’s overall strategy (meta).
A brief examination of its face-offs reveals that Palkia ex and Vaporeon have difficulty competing with top-tier Space-Time Smackdown decks, especially Darkrai ex and Magnezone. These water creatures are also susceptible to aggressive lineups centered around Magnezone and Hitmonlee, as they can easily target crucial Bench figures in these setups.
In a meta where Fire-type Pokémon predominate (meaning they are very popular), you’ll often see Palkia-Vaporeon decks performing well in PvP battles. This is because Palkia-Vaporeon pairs make excellent counters to Fire-type Pokémon such as Infernape ex, Arcanine ex, and Moltres ex—some of the strongest Fire-type Pokémon in the game right now.
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2025-02-18 15:36