Pokemon TCG Pocket is deep into the meta of its eighth set overall, Eevee Grove, with another expansion on the way at the end of the month. There are many good decks in the game, with a lot of them rotating in and out of the meta almost on a weekly basis, thanks to the many online tournaments players can partake in. Currently, the general consensus is that the best deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket is Sylveon Ex with Greninja and Giratina Ex, which is consistent, relatively fast, and draws a lot of cards. However, another deck is virtually unbeatable, regardless of its win rate.
Many decks live and die by their performance, with an example being the Charizard Ex and Sylveon Ex deck, which was at the top of the meta for a short time, and shortly thereafter fell off once Oricorio returned to many decks in the format. However, some decks are harder to remove from the meta entirely, with the likes of Solgaleo Ex and Incineroar Ex being there since Celestial Guardians. Yet, the oldest deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket is the so-called Darktina, a combination of Darkrai Ex and Giratina Ex, and it's very powerful and relevant to this day.
A Top 5 Pokemon of All Time Rises to Pokemon TCG Pocket's Top of the Meta Again
One of the most loved Pokemon of all time is rising yet again to the top of the meta in Pokemon TCG Pocket, thanks to a new card.
Pokemon TCG Pocket's Oldest Meta Deck Remains Undefeated
Darkrai Ex was already popular before Giratina Ex came out, but Pokemon TCG Pocket's Shining Revelry set cemented this duo as one of the best combos in the entire game, and it has remained as such all the way through Eevee Grove. Although the usage rate for Darktina decks fell off a bit with Eevee Grove, the deck is very much still alive and kicking, and recently won a tournament too. Ever since its inception, Darktina has been a "problematic" deck because of its passive playstyle and the fact that it's both consistent and reliable for competitive matches, with it being the best deck in the game for multiple sets in a row.
The current rankings may place Sylveon Ex/Greninja as the only S-tier deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket, but Darktina is still an A-tier deck, and very solid while at it.
Why Darkrai Ex and Giratina Ex Remains The 'Best' Deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Still, several sets added a lot of potential counters to Darktina decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket, be it a specific choice by the devs or just a coincidence. Either way, regardless of the various counters, Darktina remains a very powerful deck with very few changes between each expansion. For example, some lists started using Nihilego and Poison Barb in Extradimensional Crisis, but the bulk of the deck remains the same even after four sets since it first popped into the meta.
Darktina survived the Buzzwole Ex and Pheromosa meta in Pokemon TCG Pocket, which was arguably the worst for it due to Darkrai Ex's weakness to Grass and the fact that this deck relies on safely building its cards on the bench, which Pheromosa countered. Now, Buzzwole Ex and Pheromosa are still in the meta, but have lost a lot of prominence thanks to many new good Fire cards and faster or more reliable decks becoming meta. July 27 will mark four months since the release of Giratina Ex in Shining Revelry, but the card shows no signs of stopping its time in the meta, either alone or with Darkrai Ex.
Many decks have come and gone in Pokemon TCG Pocket over time, but very few have had some staying power in the meta. Solgaleo Ex is one of the longest-lived decks so far, but it still doesn't beat Darktina for how consistently strong it has been in these four months. It remains to be seen if Pokemon TCG Pocket's July 2025 expansion will add cards capable of taking Darktina out of the meta, but so far, all the best counters for this deck have failed to truly kill it. So, even if it is currently not the best deck in the game, Darktina is still pretty much unbeatable.
- Released
- October 30, 2024
- Developer(s)
- DeNA, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- The Pokemon Company
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game
