Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket: Articuno EX Deck Guide

Articuno EX is arguably the most potent of the Legendary birds in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, which is a departure from the mainline games as the Ice type is generally worse than the Electric and Fire types of the other birds.

While Articuno EX does feature prominently in other decks, it’s also part of a deck entirely on its own with the 18 other cards being Trainers and Items.

If you're looking to try out this unique deck, we've put together this guide to help you build the Best Articuno EX deck. You can also check out tips on how to build a budget version, as well as any potential bad match-ups you might face.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket - Best Articuno EX Deck

Articuno EX joins the A Tier ranks because of its unique set up. Two EX cards alongside a suit of items and trainers — specifically Misty — make up a deck that, believe it or not, is a rather potent option if you want to rack up wins fast.

As Articuno is your only real attacker, this deck only uses Water energy:

• 2x Articuno EX

• 2x Giovanni

• 2x Misty

• 2x Professor’s Research

• 2x Sabrina

• 2x Hand Scope

• 2x Poké Ball

• 2x Potion

• 2x Red Card

• 2x X Speed

To win with this unusual Articuno EX list you’ll want to have Misty in your opening hand. Misty, you see, allows you to flip a coin and add Water energy to Articuno EX until you land on tails. If you get a tails right away, you get no bonus energy. However, this can have you win the game on the first turn if you hit heads three times and can set off a Blizzard, an attack that does 80 damage and 10 damage to all your opponent’s benched Pokémon.

Getting that lucky is rare but even getting 1 Water energy off Misty will enable you to Blizzard sooner rather than later, overwhelming opponents as you’ll likely soften up their benched Pokémon to die in one hit to Articuno EX as well.

Because you only have Articuno EX in your deck, you will always draw one on the first turn, and can use Poké Balls and X Speeds to swap between them to keep both alive for longer if need be. Furthermore, this deck dodges the drawback of playing EX cards as they award two points on defeat, but as you don’t have any non-EX cards, your opponent will have to take out both Articuno EX.

If you do not get Misty, you’re likely going to lose and it’s probably right to concede if your opponent has built up a Pikachu EX or something similar. In this way, this deck is a lot like a Marowak EX deck – powerful with the potential to win in all matchups but inconsistent.

Articuno EX Best and Worst Matchups

The best matchups for this deck are slow decks that take a while to wind up, like Charizard EX and Venusaur EX, as you can almost always guarantee getting a few Blizzard attacks off.

Fortunately, Articuno EX doesn't have any terrible matchups; even against Pikachu EX which it has a weakness to, because you can get lucky with Misty and manage to flip heads once or twice because Pikachu EX cannot one hit Articuno EX.

Budget Articuno EX Options

Unfortunately, if you do not have two Articuno EX or two Misty we cannot recommend budget options for this list. One Articuno EX just doesn’t cut it against decks that use Mewtwo EX and Pikachu EX as you want that extra firepower if one Articuno EX is knocked out.

That said, regular Articuno may work as a replacement as its Ice Beam can paralyze opposing Pokémon as you search for your single Articuno EX and Misty Trainer cards.

That’s all you need to know to freeze your opponents out in Pokémon TCG Pocket – if you manage to flip heads with Misty, that is. For more of the best Pokémon TCG decks, head to our Tier List.