Summary
Much like what happened over time in the physical version of the game,Pokemon TCG Pockethas slowly but surely been shifting its meta toward speed; be it decks that reward getting all the key pieces on the field in little time, decks that generate a lot of Energy, or a combination of both. Cards added all the way back when the game first launched, like Poke Ball and Professor’s Research, are fundamentally part of any competitive deck inPokemon TCG Pocketfor this exact reason. Poke Ball retrieves a basic Pokemon from the deck, Professor’s Research draws two cards, and these are just the tip of the iceberg. One Extradimensional Crisis card does the same thing, and it has already skyrocketed to the top of the meta.
It can be argued that the only twoS-tier decks inPokemon TCG Pocket’s Extradimensional Crisis meta are Buzzwole Ex plus Pheromosa and Silvally plus Rampardos, though other big threats remain, like Darktina. While relatively oppressive early game in the Celestial Guardians meta, Solgaleo Ex and Skarmory decks eventually fell off despite being quite fast overall. With Extradimensional Crisis, however, Solgaleo Ex is now one of the best decks in the format, and it’s thanks to the new Shiinotic.
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Solgaleo Ex and Shiinotic Meta Explained
The core idea of the Solgaleo Ex/Shiinotic deck is that the former is a very fast and aggressive attacker while also being relatively bulky, whereas the latter can fetch cards from the deck to getSolgaleo Exonline faster. This is because Shiinotic has the Illuminate ability, which can be used once per turn for each copy of Shiinotic one has on the field, and it takes a Pokemon card from the deck and adds it to the owner’s hand. The ability is essentially an improved version of Poke Ball, and the meta list includes several similar cards.
Solgaleo Ex combined with Shiinotic is incredibly fast, to the point that it can make Solgaleo Ex attack on the second or third turn in most cases. The list currently uses cards like:
These are 16 cards out of 20, and they are all there to help get Solgaleo Ex ready to attack as soon as possible, which is not hard at all considering the list and the low Energy requirement for it to attack. While cards like Pokemon Communication may seem overkill, they help the deck be extremely consistent inPokemon TCG Pocket’s current meta.
In most cases, Solgaleo Ex/Shiinotic decks lose againstOricorio decks in Pokemon TCG Pocketbecause it’s nearly impossible to answer its Safeguard ability.
Why Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Shiinotic is Likely to Remain in The Meta
Given how powerful card acceleration is as a core strategy of the game, it seems only natural thatExtradimensional Crisis' Shiinoticimmediately found its way into the meta, and it’s most likely going to remain in it. Having yet another tool to get all the main pieces of a deck on the field as soon as possible is incredible in its own right, but Shiinotic is even better because it can also attack for two colorless Energy, meaning it can fit any deck.
Cards like Yanmega Ex and Mew Ex have been part of the meta for quite some time precisely because they had attacks that required no specific Energy type, so Shiinotic has yet another edge with its Illuminate ability. MoreStage 2 decks inPokemon TCG Pocketwill come with future sets, and being able to rely on Shiinotic to be fast and aggressive can sometimes make the difference between a deck being meta or not. It remains to be seen how the meta will evolve, but it may have a hard time evolving past Shiinotic and similar cards.
