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Palkia ex has been making waves in Japan’sPokemon TCG Pockettournaments, earning recognition as an SS-tier deck by multiple metagame analysts. A poll among Japanese players even revealed that 12% consider Palkia ex the best deck in the current meta. But its dominance isn’t limited to Japan—Palkia ex has also emerged as a global powerhouse, ranking among the top ten cards in the Space-Time Smackdown set.
So, what makes Palkia ex so strong? And how does it pair with Vaporeon? This breakdown simplifies Palkia ex’s role in the meta, explores its key synergies, and looks at what the future holds for this formidable duo inPokemon TCG Pocket.
How the Palkia ex & Vaporeon Meta Works
Step One: Generating Energy
The optimal opening setup places Manaphy in the Active Spot with Palkia ex and Eevee on the Bench. From there, you attach the first Energy to Manaphy and use its attack togenerate two Water Energy, one for Palkia ex and one for Vaporeon.
Step Two: Transferring Energy
Once you have three Water Energy in play, switch into Palkia ex. Then,activate Vaporeon’s ability to transfer all the Energyto Palkia ex while pulling an additional Energy from the Energy Zone, bringing the total to four.
Step Three: Dealing Damage
With four Energy attached, Palkia ex is ready to strike. If the opponent retreats,use Cyrus to force them back and secure the KO. If Palkia ex loses all its Energy due to discards, play Misty for a chance to recharge or bring back Manaphy for one last round of Energy generation. Keep in mind that this may sacrifice Manaphy because it is an easy target in the late game.
Palkia ex
Manaphy
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The ideal deck shell forPalkia ex & Vaporeon metaconsists of 14 must-have cards (as seen in the table). This means that 70% of the deck is fixed, leaving players with little to no room for creativity.
Here’s why you cannot replace the seven main players of the deck:
As forthe Item Cards, you definitely need Pokemon Ball and Professor’s Research. However, if the deck has room for more Trainer Cards, you could also add X Speed or Pokemon Communication.
Palkia ex’s Synergy with Articuno ex
In the early days ofthe Space-Time Smackdown set release, Palkia ex was frequently paired with another Water-type Bench-damaging Pokemon: Articuno ex. The synergy seemed promising; Articuno ex could act as a backup attacker, dealing 80 base damage and up to 30 Bench damage for three Water Energy. However, the trade-off wasn’t worth it.
Using two deck slots for Articuno ex proved inefficient. Not only did it introduce another ex Pokemon, which gives up two points when knocked out, but it also delivered lower damage output for nearly the same Energy cost.
Players quickly realized that keeping a secondary Palkia ex on the Bench was far more effective than investing in Articuno ex. As a result, they shifted away from this variant, opting instead for the more consistent and streamlined synergy between Palkia ex and Vaporeon.
Removing Articuno ex also improves the odds of drawing key cards with Pokemon Ball, a crucial advantage in Palkia-Vaporeon setups.
✓ Fast build-up
✘ Reliance on ex Pokemon
✘ Energy-draining attacks
✘ Weak to Bench damage
Disadvantages of Palkia-Vaporeon Setups
Palkia ex & Vaporeon Meta Performance Report
Compared to Darkrai ex and Exeggutor ex, the two highest win-rate Pokemon, Palkia ex’s performance remains solid. It has maintained a positive win rate of 51.5% and has proven effective against meta decks from previous expansions. Notably, the Palkia ex & Vaporeon setup holds a 71% win rate against theMewtwo ex & Gardevoirmeta, one of the strongest decks from the A1 and A1a sets.
How Future-Proof the Palkia ex & Vaporeon Meta Is
The Palkia ex & Vaporeon setup (and its future variants) will remain one of the best counters toFire-type decks inPokemon TCG Pocket. However, as a standalone lineup, the duo lacks the raw power needed to dominate the meta.
A quick look at its matchups shows that Palkia ex & Vaporeon struggle against top-tier Space-Time Smackdown decks, particularlyDarkrai ex & Magnezone. These Water-types are also vulnerable to snipe-heavy lineups like Magnezone & Hitmonlee, which can pick off key Bench pieces.
The ideal environment for Palkia ex & Vaporeon is a Fire-type-dominated meta. If Fire Pokemon surge in popularity, we can expect a rise in Palkia-Vaporeon decks in PvP, as they are the perfect counter. Even in the current state of the game, this setup excels against Infernape ex, Arcanine ex, and Moltres ex—some of the strongest Pokemon in the Fire Archetype.
