This Lucky Cat Is Pokemon Pocket’s Best Darkrai ex And Giratina ex Counter

I’ve tried all manner of decks in Pokemon Pocket. I like testing different recipes, coming up against meta decks and working out how to best overcome them. Each new meta is like a little puzzle to crack. When Mewtwo ex was popular, I came up with the perfect counter in Weezing. I then made that perfect deck perfecter.

Since Pokemon Pocket’s ranked mode was released, the meta has never been sweatier. And the sweatiest of the sweats are Darkrai ex and Giratina ex. This deck has risen in the ranks since Shining Revelry broke cover last week, dealing brutal damage from the bench while you struggle to get past Druddigon. There’s nothing worse than desperately trying to set up while Darkrai is slowly killing all of your monsters. So I came up with a counter.

Pokemon Pocket Darkrai ex And Giratina ex Counters

To counter, I looked to Shining Revelry. Pocket had just given me a hundred new toys to play with, so it was only natural. I tried a Wigglytuff deck because I pulled four of those uncomfortable full arts, and it worked okay. It’s a good support ‘mon, but needs an out-and-out attacker to do the punching while it heals you up from the bench.

I tested out Tatsugiri and Dondozo due to their synergy. That didn’t work at all. I even tried the new Pikachu ex, which was great fun, but not particularly good. And then I pulled a full art Meowscarada. Its Fighting Claws attack is an ex killer, dealing 60 damage normally but an impressive 130 to ex Pokemon. Take into account Darkrai ex’s Grass-type weakness, and that’s a one-hit KO for just two energy. The attack also nearly destroys Giratina ex in one hit, provided you set up a Red beforehand.

The only problem is that Meowscarada is a stage two Pokemon. You need to evolve Sprigatito into Floragato, then Floragato into Meowscarada in order to use it, whereas the likes of Darkrai and Giratina are ready to fight right off the bat. Everyone knows that stage twos are tricky to set up, and there’s a reason why they’re not often meta picks. However, Mewoscarada has a little trick up its sleeve to make it viable and reliable. Or, more accurately, Sprigatito does.

Sprigatito’s attack Cry for Help adds a random Grass-type Pokemon from your deck to your hand. Combine that with Pokemon Communication for a pretty reliable manner of thinning your deck and getting the cards you need, when you need them.

To make the deck a little more consistent, I run two Arceus ex cards and two Carnivines. The fact that Meowscarada attacks ex cards with the power of an ex card itself means that you’re rarely at risk of giving up two prizes, while a well-timed Erika can heal even the most grievous wounds to win a bunch of otherwise unfavourable matchups.

Pokemon Pocket Meowscarada Deck

I’ve tried a couple of variations on the Meowscarada deck in Pokemon Pocket, but I’ve settled on this as my favourite:

• 2x Sprigatito
• 2x Floragato
• 2x Meowscarada
• Arceus ex
• 2x Carnivine (A2a)
• 2x Poke Ball
• 2x Pokemon Communication
• 2x Professor’s Research
• Erika
• 2x Red
• Sabrina
• Cyrus

There’s definitely room for improvement and iteration with this one, but if you’re looking to beat Darkrai and Giratina, this is your best chance. It doesn’t have the swingy coin flips of Celebi ex. It doesn’t give up many prizes. It’s got great healing, surprisingly powerful deck draw capabilities, and it hits like a truck.

The most important factor in this deck, however, is its unpredictability. People don’t expect Meowscarada to deal them 150 damage on turn two. People don’t expect this (nearly) non-ex deck to take on their meta darlings. I’ve even had people try to use Red against me because they assume Meowscarada is an ex Pokemon due to the damage it’s dealing.

The element of surprise is criminally underrated in Pokemon Pocket. I recommend trying to figure out a relatively unknown counter to annoying decks you keep coming up against, and keeping that secret to yourself. Don’t post on forums, don’t write an article on TheGamer dot com. Keep it secret, keep it safe. And use your trap card when your opponent least expects it.