Pokemon TCG Pocket Beginners Guide Pt 2 - Staples
Something that often gets tossed around in trading card games are Staple Cards. These are usually defined as a card that every deck can and probably should be running. Some of these will last for a long time, but others can fall out of usefulness as the inevitable Power Creep in card games produces a card that does similar, or does the same thing but better. Right now as the card pool in Pocket TCG is pretty small, numbering about 250-ish cards most of the current Staples will probably be useful for quite some time.
Pokemon’s design also offers two types of Staples due to the card types and energy types as well. This post will cover what I’m dubbing Generic Staples, which can be played in just about any deck and offer something to the strategy available to players. The next time I’ll cover Type Staples, or cards that very specifically work with certain energy types. At the end I’ll also cover the couple cards that I think are bait, cards that on paper sound useful but in reality don’t offer much on a competitive level. I’ll try to do these in order of how useful they are, though the eventual change in cards available can potentially make this post outdated.
Once more, this is also all opinion and not something you absolutely have to do, but offers a solid basis.
Auto Includes @ 2
These should be in every deck currently, and offer powerful but simple effects for any player.
Sabrina - Supporter
The serious psychic type gym leader offers a simple effect that also might be the most powerful card in the game at the current time. It’s effect forces the opposing player to switch their active pokemon with one of their benched pokemon which sounds pretty simple on paper but can have a huge impact on the game. This can force the opponent to put up a pokemon you might be able to knock out for a valuable point, or give you an opportunity to deal damage to a key pokemon before they’ve set up fully. This also can keep you in the game for another turn by pushing them off a dangerous pokemon to something they have to burn resources to attack with or retreat, giving you time to recover or fight back. This has to be pulled from Charizard packs or bought with pack points.
Poke Ball - Item
This adds a random basic pokemon to your hand, which is useful in multiple ways. It helps you set up your bench, offering more on field options as well as thins out your deck meaning you’re more likely to draw into those powerful evolved forms and supporters to keep the pressure up on your opponents. Even if your bench is full its worth using this card just to thin the deck even more. You can buy this in the shop for 2 tickets, and get one from the advanced tutorials
Professor’s Research - Supporter
Draw 2 Cards. One of the most powerful effects in any game is drawing more cards, and this is no exception. Drawing cards gives you more options, finds your key evolutions and helps you to stabilize your board state. anything that helps you dig deeper into the deck is always worth playing. You can buy this in the shop for 2 tickets, and get one from the advanced tutorials.
Should Include At least 1
These are also strong cards, but maybe don’t always need to run two of, as they can occasionally be dead cards that just sit in your hand and offer no value at that point.
X Speed - Item
I personally don’t always run this, but its undeniably powerful as it allows players to switch out pokemon without having to use all of their energy. this can be used to save a pokemon from being knocked out, but also can help to set up a strong comeback play. If an opposing pokemon is close to being knocked out, you can retreat your strong pokemon to knock them out with something less valuable, so that when they call in their next pokemon they don’t do threaten your key pokemon. An example would be something like this. The opponent has a Ponyta at 20 damage, and a benched Charizard with 4 energy. If you knock out Ponyta with your Pikachu EX, then Charizard can come in and hit you for 150 and knock out your Pikachu, so you instead swap to Zapdos to keep from losing that valuable pokemon and two points. this will force them to attack Zapdos, and discard energies when doing so, leaving them open for your counter attack. Its downside however is that not every pokemon has a high retreat cost, which is when its most useful, so having one when you dont need it just means you could have had something else more useful in its place. You can buy this in the shop for 2 tickets, and get one from the advanced tutorials.
Giovanni - Supporter
This is about as close to a generic blowout card as the game has for now, offering an extra ten damage to your pokemon’s attack for a turn. This sounds very minimal, but if timed right it can sneak in a knockout when the opponent doesn’t expect it. It forces players to add that extra ten damage into their calculations when trying to decide if they should keep a pokemon out or retreat, and in cases when you are winning type matchups can offer fast knockouts on basic pokemon, since you’ll be pushing an extra 30 damage instead of just 10. The thing is however that there are times where this isn’t relevant at all, hence why I usually run just one unless playing a very agressive deck. Just as often the 10 damage has no effect on the outcome of a battle, but when it does come up, it can offer a lot of pressure on an opponent. This has to be pulled from Mewtwo packs or bought with pack points.
Potion - Item
Heals 20 Damage from one Pokemon. Much like Giovanni this is a pretty situational card, but can sometimes buy you a turn or two to recover. It can put you out of range of a knockout, and its never really bad to see, but often the 20 HP just doesn’t affect the outcome, especially late in the game. Early on when pokemon are doing 10-40 damage, it can be pretty worthwhile. You can buy this in the shop for 2 tickets, and get one from the advanced tutorials.
Tech Cards
These are cards that are very situational, depending on your playstyle and goals. Including them won’t hurt you, but also isn’t always going to help either.
Pidgey, Pidgeotto, & Pidgeot - Pokemon
The classic trio of feathered friends are a strong choice, but require a lot of deck space to get optimal use out of them. Our main focus here is Pidgeot which offers a Sabrina on a stick every turn if you can get to it. Even better you can use it from the bench, meaning you don’t have to put it in harms way to cause issues for your opponents best laid plans. And you can do this every single turn. Its energy investment is pretty minimal as well and 70 damage is respectable if you have to send it into battle. If it didn’t require 3 to 6 cards to maximize its usefulness I’d almost auto include it in everything. These can be found in Mewtwo packs and crafted with pack points.
Farfetch’d - Pokemon
One energy, 40 damage. Thats it, thats the headline. Slap him down, go to work. Good early game pressure, knocking out every basic, and a majority of stage 1’s in 2 turns.
Old Amber & Aerodactyl - item / Pokemon
This is technically two cards, and counts as a Pokemon. This is something I haven’t had an opportunity to play with, but Its ability immediately provides a powerful option if played correctly. Its hard to judge as you need to find two cards instead of a single one to take advantage of it, but Aerodactyl’s ability to shuffle an active pokemon back into the deck is very powerful. It does require a coinflip, which can be a gamble but shuffling off a fully powered up Mewtwo EX or something probably would feel pretty sweet, and definitely sets back an opposing player who has probably invested a couple turns into set up. But Aerodactyl is a bit of a glass cannon with only 100 hp, which means a fair number of cards could take him out in one shot, with plenty more dropping it in two. Both of these can be pulled from Mewtwo packs and bought with pack points.
Meowth - Pokemon
I’ve been running Meowth in a couple decks lately, usually as a one of. Its a fantastic starter, but usually not something you want to see late game. Its even better going second, meaning you get the first attack. For one energy you’ll do a small 10 damage, but the important part is it also lets you draw a card. it also sits at 60 hp, and very few cards can one shot this early game, with the exception being maybe some fighting types. But on a turn when you get out a pokeball, and a Meowth you’re immediately gaining a small advantage, pulling two cards instead of one. With Professors Research you bump that to 3 extra cards, and if you get all of them in one you’ll be well up on an opponent early on. It does attract Red Card plays pretty often though, but this even isn’t terrible as early game its less devastating to have your hand shuffled off when you’ll probably grab another card off Meowth next turn. Meowth can be pulled in Charizard packs, through the current Wonderpick event, and with pack points.
Red Card - Item
A lot of players seem to claim this is a must include, but I tend to feel differently about it. It forces the opposing player to shuffle their hand away and then draw 3. At its core this would be considered disruption and card advantage, but I don’t feel like Pokemon Pocket relies on this as much as other games. Card Advantage is usually defined by the number of cards in hand, and who has more, but in Pokemon its more of a combination of what’s on the field and in hand, meaning if your opponent already has a solid board set up, this wont really do anything to disrupt them. If theyre sitting on a large hand it might seem good to shuffle off cards as well, but they might be sitting their because theyre not finding the cards they need, and you might just be getting them the pieces theyre looking for which can put you in a bad spot. on the other hand you may end up with this when they only have one or two cards, meaning youre just giving them more to work with. I have had times where its been relevant, but its been pretty rare in the long run. It is however a solid card in games where you’re leaning into a control strategy. With enough disruption you can keep the opponents on the back foot and unable to build a solid board state. You can buy this in the shop for 2 tickets, and get one from the advanced tutorials.
Jigglypuff & Wigglytuff EX
This one is somewhat like Aerodactyl and works as a stall wall to help you set up, but takes more energy to attack. It has to also be Wigglytuff EX specifically, because it offers the ability to put the opponent’s Pokemon to sleep. This means they have to flip a coin heads to be able to attack or retreat, which can put a real block for them to overcome. It also does a respectable 80 damage and comes with 140 hp which is enough to withstand almost everything outside of A handful of the more powerful EX cards, and the regular versions of Charizard, Blastoise, and Golem. In the future as we gain more items and supporters this might not be as strong but for now is a viable option. Both of these cards can be pulled in Pikachu Packs or crafted with pack points.
Kangaskhan - Pokemon
A simple wall for the early game, It’s a solid starter. For one energy you get a possible 60 damage which can knock out most basics in one go, but it requires coin flips to deal damage. It usually will last a couple turns with 100 hp and thats really all you’re asking for it to do. If youve got a single open spot, you can do worse than this pretty easily. This can be pulled in Charizard packs or crafted with Pack Points.
Spearow & Fearow
A solid budget option, the foul tempered birds offer some early offense and Fearow’s ability can really hamper the opponents ability to set up their board, forcing them to discard an energy with a heads coin flip. pretty fragile though, and better options exist for those with more cards to pick from. Both of these come in Charizard Packs and can be crafted with pack points.
Bait and Switch
Don’t use these. They sound good on paper, but in reality don’t do much for you due to the way the game is played.
Hand Scope & Pokedex - Items
Remeber all that talk about card advantage during Red Card? This ties into that. On paper these sound great, because at the absolute basic level, knowledge is the best thing to have in card games, but with the amount of times the deck gets shuffled, knowing your top 3 cards is useless. Knowing your opponents hand is just barely slightly better as you can somewhat plan against what they have, but again most of the time youll find out they were going to evolve something or draw some cards…which you would already know next turn anyway. there isnt enough interaction yet to make this worthwhile. the one single exception is Hand Scope into Red Card if they have key cards in hand. it can also show you a giovanni or sabrina that might come down to blow out your board, but everyone is running those so its better to just expect that theyll be played at some point. both of these can be bought in the store for 2 tickets each and one of each are earned in advanced tutorials.
That’s all I got for this one. Next time I’ll begin going over specific energy types, or at least some of them, and talk about strategy for notable cards both high rarity and budget. Thanks for reading!!
