r/PokemonPocket

Today I used Mega Sceptile ex and gained roughly 300 points, pushing up to Top 75. I opted for the slower version of the deck that utilizes Quick Grow Extract instead of the turbo Rare Candy variant.

The biggest advantage of this build is the unmatched late game it provides. Mega Sceptile ex has incredible flexibility, being able to either deal 130 damage upfront effectively becoming 140 after poison ticks or switch gears and snipe the bench for 50 through Celebi's ability, which allows Pokémon to use attacks from previous evolutions. This gives the deck multiple angles of attack and makes prize mapping against it very awkward. On top of that, your opponent often has to go through a regular Sceptile before even reaching Mega Sceptile, adding another layer of pressure and making the deck even more difficult to navigate against.

While the non-ex Sceptile's attack may initially seem underwhelming, with Leaf Blade dealing 70 damage plus an additional 50 on a coin flip for two energies, it lines up surprisingly well into the current meta. Most notably, it cleanly one-shots Oricorio. It is also much bulkier than people give it credit for, sitting at 140 HP and reaching up to 170 HP with Leaf Cape. Combined with Celebi's ability allowing it to also snipe for 50 damage, it becomes a far more threatening secondary attacker than many expect.

The biggest drawback of the deck is definitely its speed. It naturally operates much slower than many of the aggressive decks currently seeing play, which is why leading with a disruptive Pokémon becomes so important. Goomy and Chingling are the two main options here, and both have their own strengths.

Goomy is the more universally consistent choice regardless of whether you go first or second and performs much better into Sleepscam matchups. However, it can become awkward to move out of the active position, which often pushes you toward playing X Speed. That in itself comes with a cost, since deck space is extremely tight.

Speaking of deck space, this version realistically only has two tech slots available, and there are really only three cards competing for those spaces: Leaf Cape, Lillie, and Field Blower.

I personally opted for Leaf Cape and Lillie to maximize survivability and further strengthen the deck's late game. Field Blower can absolutely be a game-winning inclusion though, especially with the increase in Protective Poncho usage among Top 100 players.

Overall, I genuinely believe this is currently one of the strongest decks in the game if piloted correctly. It has incredible inevitability, strong late-game pressure, and rewards good sequencing and matchup knowledge more than most decks in the format.

I honestly cannot believe it, it's a shame how garbage the cards are but what are the odds of that?! Had to post it because wtf xD plus it's two different cards which is awesome!

I’m so sick of it man

Is 'picks remaining' new? Has it always been here? Or is it a remnant of that glorious time when we could redo our pick?

This deck got me to Masterball pretty easily.

Notes:

• Your opponent has to knock out 3 Pokémon since you’re not running any EX cards.
• The deck has a solid matchup against almost everything. Dark decks are weak to Grass, and Darkrai is in nearly every deck right now. Fire matchups are tougher, but still very winnable if played correctly.
• Oricorio doesn’t really matter against this deck.
• Cyrus isn’t necessary.
• Erika is fine, but I personally think Ice Pop performs better.
• 1 Poké Ball is enough.

Mega Manectric's updated B3 version carried me to exactly Top 100, pushing past 2000 points. While the deck received some adjustments, the overall core remains the same: fast-paced gameplay built around early pressure from Zeraora and using Mega Manectric as an incredible closer.

That said, one of the biggest changes is that Oricorio has moved beyond being a simple tech choice and has become a core Pokémon in the deck itself. This shift makes the Mega Lucario matchup significantly more playable while also keeping several Altaria variants under control. Being able to solo Charizard is also a nice bonus, although you still need to respect and play around double Sabrina lines.

I also decided against running any energy generation or manipulation packages in favor of additional tech cards that directly swing matchups in your favor. Lucky Ice Pop and PCL have been incredible alongside Oricorio, while also dramatically improving the Sleepscam matchup. Protective Poncho has overperformed as well. Not only does it force Suibax players to have Field Blower in what is already a difficult matchup for them, but it also makes Pure Mega Lucario with Hitmontop much more manageable.

Double Rocky Helmet feels mandatory due to the nature of the deck. Mega Manectric wants knockouts as quickly as possible and often follows a 1–1–3 prize map, making the extra chip damage extremely valuable.

I couldn't find room for Training Arena Stadium. I tested it over Lucky Ice Pop, but the opportunity cost felt too high. Every other card simply provides more immediate impact or matchup value.

A small side note: I am currently using the Elektrike that deals 10 damage plus an additional 30 on a coin flip. However, I actually think the promo Elektrike with 30 damage and 10 self-damage is the best version for the deck. The ability to cleanly KO baby Pokémon and Swablu can matter a lot in certain games and gives the deck extra tempo in early turns. Unfortunately, I took a break while that promo was available, so I wasn't able to pick it up.

Overall, despite the current Fighting-heavy meta, Mega Manectric remains an incredibly strong deck. It still outpaces a large portion of the field and has favorable matchups into Sleepscam, Altninja, Chingling variants, both Sceptile versions, and most Greninja-based lists due to its speed and access to powerful tech cards.

And I really can't stress this enough: Protective Poncho does an absurd amount of work for this deck.

So I'm curious to know what you all feel about these two cards compared to one another.

On the surface, they are very similar with identical stats outside of their attacks. They both benefit from the new fighting support, heavy helmet, and pair well with lucario non-ex. Identical retreat cost, stage, weakness, and HP.

One attack provides an immediately beneficial 50 damage with one energy, then ramps to 110 energy only after three energy are attached.

The other is a much simpler fixed 90 damage attack for 2 energy.

The 90 damage is decent, but I don't feel it gets over many thresholds. However, I could also say the same for Donphan at 50 damage until you get three energy on it.

By the time donphan has 3 energy, it will likely have done 210 damage before any other variables are considered. At that same point, crustle will have done 180, having potentially missed a turn one attack, and does not require the additional energy investment for its max damage.

In practice, they feel about on par with one another with benefits to both given niche situations; IE Phanpy can knock out babies with no set-up, or crustle snagging a KO with 2 energy. But it's a toss up for me personally.

What do you all think?

Every douche and their brother is running it ( I did try it and felt like a DB while using it)

Hello friends! I just wanted to share my achievement of my very first masterball rank as well as the deck I used in climbing with relative ease.

I ended with a 61% win rate climb (37 wins to master) but that also included all my games prior to sticking with this deck. Excluding those early games of deck floundering I am sure I was 65% + win rate. I went on a few win streaks to master including two 9 streaks.

This deck comes out fast and has the tools to disrupt your opponent pretty easily. You definitely need to plan out your trainers and rocky helmets. It rewards you for being one step ahead.

Secret MVP of the deck being elemental switch + zeraora. It sets up surprise plays and also enables a quick mega manetric when needed. Shout out to the EX destroyer yellow chicken as well. I found a one of is plenty.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Let me know your thoughts with this Alolan themed deck. Very fun with the new Victini card.

This deck fucking destroys mega Lucario (specially sleep version). It does really well against Mega Sceptille and Suicune/Bax too.

Hitting Lucario for 300 with Stadium + Red hits different ngl.