Battling in Pokemon TCG Pocket can be a lengthy process, especially when you’re in need of multiple wins to earn emblems from your PvP endeavors. There is a meta deck, however, that is quick to set up, aggressive, and difficult to counter; the Starmie ex deck.
The best Starmie ex deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket revolves around getting your benched Pokemon set up quickly using Misty, and then going in for the attack. With some luck, you’ll be able to knock out opposing Pokemon before your opponent has even had time to set up their main ‘mons… that’s just how good – and annoying – this deck is! Here’s our card list and guide for a Starmie ex deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon TCG Pocket best Starmie ex deck – card list and guide
With a Starmie ex deck, you can pretty much run the Pokemon alongside any Water-type you like and own, be it Blastoise ex, Articuno ex, Lapras ex, and so forth. You could even run them alongside Basic and Stage 1 Pokemon for a more free-to-play friendly deck, as we have suggested below.
The below deck list revolves around a meta deck with Starmie ex and Articuno ex. Your goal here is to get Staryu and Articuno ex on the bench early, and then use your Misty Supporter Card to stack Articuno ex with Energy (or Starmie ex, if you have them in your hand). If this goes well, you can end the battle pretty early, but more often than not, you will need a couple more turns to set up.
Starmie ex and Articuno ex are quickly set up regardless of the literal card situation in hand, but their downfalls are that they can only dish out 80 and 90 damage respectively, with Articuno ex able to do 10 damage to all benched Pokemon simultaneously.
This means that if they’re set up quickly, the Pokemon are unstoppable, but if your opponent manages to quickly set up their Mewtwo ex or Pikachu ex at the same time, you could be in trouble. This is where Greninja’s Water Shuriken Ability and the Giovanni Supporter Card come in, as every bit of additional damage we can deal will really count in these situations.
- 2x Staryu
- 2x Starmie ex
- 2x Articuno ex (or 2x Lapras ex)
- 1x Froakie
- 1x Frogadier
- 1x Greninja
- 1x Fossil Card
- 2x Poke Ball
- 2x Professor’s Research
- 2x Misty
- 2x Sabrina
- 1x Giovanni
- 1x X Speed
In this deck, you can always swap the Greninja evolution line for something like Tentacool/Tentacruel, Psyduck/Golduck, or Snom/Fromsoth, and add an additional X Speed Item Card or Giovanni Supporter Card to the mix. Alternatively, you can also swap out the Fossil Card for another Giovanni, X Speed, or Red Card depending on how this deck plays out for you.
In my experience, having just the one Greninja evolution line in this deck makes it hard to pull off most of the time, but when it works, Greninja’s Water Shuriken ability (which can put 20 damage on any Pokemon from the bench every turn) really makes up for the fact that our main ‘mons — Starmie ex and Articuno ex — cannot deal more than 100 damage on their own. You can always swap the Fossil Card, an Articuno ex, and one of your Trainer Cards for another Greninja evolution line, however. That said, I wouldn’t recommend doing that if you do have multiple Starmie ex and Articuno ex to hand.
Given that Starmie ex has no retreat cost, I personally forgo one of the X Speed’s for a Red Card, which I use when my opponent has five or more cards in their hand. This has proved helpful against Mewtwo ex decks that use the Gardevoir evolution line, as well as Charizard ex decks that require a lot of setting up, but be aware that this card can backfire.
The Fossil Card is also vital here, in my opinion, given Staryu’s low HP. You can easily put the Fossil Card in the Active Spot when you want to keep the likes of Staryu or Froakie safe, and discard it once Starmie ex or Articuno ex appears. Similarly, the Fossil Card is a great Sabrina counter; it keeps your benched ‘mons safe, and because it can be discarded at any time, you can quickly swap in your original Pokemon once the opponent’s turn ends.
As mentioned above, your Articuno ex can easily be swapped for Lapras ex, given that the latter Pokemon is more easily attainable during the Lapras ex event at the time of writing. You could even throw Starmie ex into a hybrid-type deck with Dragonite, if you fancied.
For more on Pokemon TCG Pocket, take a look at our free-to-play Ninetales and Rapidash deck, how to craft cards, and how to add Flair to your cards.