Building a strong deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket isn’t the easiest feat, with most meta decks requiring duplicates of rare ex Pokemon that you can’t guarantee you’ll own or open in the next booster pack. With that in mind, we’ve put together a free-to-play Fighting-type Machamp deck that uses Pokemon who are easily attainable.
That doesn’t mean you have to forgo ex Pokemon altogether if you have them, though. This free-to-play Fighting deck has plenty of room for customisation with the likes of Machamp ex or Marowak ex if you’d rather use them. Without further ado, here’s our guide and card list for the best Machamp deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon TCG Pocket best Machamp deck – card list and guide
This free-to-play Fighting-type deck uses Pokemon between one to four diamond rarity in Pokemon TCG Pocket, meaning that for the most part, they’re quite easy to attain. That said, there is plenty of opportunity to recruit powerful Pokemon such as Machamp ex or Marowak ex here if you have them and want to use them.
With the below deck, your goal is to build Machamp on the bench while having Mankey and Primeape dish out attacks on your opponent. This requires some luck when it comes to drawing cards in the first few turns, but using multiple copies of both Pokemon — alongside the Poke Ball and Professor’s Research Trainer Cards — will help us out.
- 2x Machamp
- 2x Machoke
- 2x Machop
- 2x Mankey
- 2x Primeape
- 2x Poke Ball
- 2x Professor’s Research
- 2x Sabrina (can be swapped if running Grapploct)
- 2x X Speed
- 2x Potion
Primeape is capable of dealing 40 damage while using two Energy, but if he already has damage on him, he will instead deal 100 damage. This is a lot of damage for a standard Pokemon, and will often put opponent’s off directly attacking you if they’re playing carefully, so make the most of it while setting up Machamp.
That said, you can always switch out Mankey and Primeape for other Fighting-type Pokemon that you have more fun with. For example, Clobbopus and Grapploct. Grapploct requires three Energy to attack, but will dish out 70 damage while forcing your opponent to switch their Active Pokemon with a benched Pokemon. This can get annoying for the opponent very quickly.
If you do choose to take along Grapploct, you can optionally swap the Sabrina Supporter Card for another Pokemon or Trainer Card (such as Giovanni or Red Card), as they both provide the same function; the ability to switch out your opponent’s Active Pokemon. Sabrina can still be useful if Grapploct isn’t in the Active Spot, however, so bear this in mind.
Similarly, Sandshrew and Sandlash, when evolved, can dish out 70 damage. Though, they don’t have any additional gimmicks like Grapploct does.
Last, but not least, another personal favourite that got me through the very beginning of my time with Pokemon TCG Pocket is Diglett and Dugtrio. Dugtrio requires just one Energy to deal 40 damage, and if you happen to get heads in the following coin flip, your opponent won’t be able to attack you whatsoever. This, of course, relies heavily on RNG, but when it pays off, it is incredibly satisfying.
You can also switch out one or both of your Machamp’s for Machamp ex if you have it. Machamp ex has slightly higher HP and a slightly higher attack making it that bit more powerful than the standard version of it, but this also means you aren’t really missing out on much by not having the ex Pokemon.
Similarly, if you have one or two Marowak ex’s to hand, you can swap Mankey and Primeape for Cubone and Marowak ex. Marowak ex is a coin flip Pokemon capable of dealing 80 damage or 160 damage if you successfully land on heads. With some luck, they’re able to easily, and quickly, knock out opposing ex Pokemon — especially in combination with Machamp!
For more on Pokemon TCG Pocket, take a look at the best decks you can try to build, as well as how to craft cards, and how to add Flair to your cards.