Pokemon TCG Pocket's Triumphant Light Expansion Just Gave Water Decks Another Powerful Card, and Everyone's a Little Over It

The early meta of Pokémon TCG Pocket was dominated by a few powerful decks, notably those centered around Misty and water-type Pokémon. Misty's coin-flip-based energy attachment mechanism made these decks frustrating to play against, as a lucky streak could lead to overwhelming early game dominance, while bad luck rendered the deck ineffective. Even with three subsequent expansions, Misty decks remain a prevalent force.

While not necessarily the *most* powerful decks, Misty decks' reliance on chance creates a particularly unpleasant losing experience. Misty, a Supporter card, allows players to flip coins repeatedly, attaching a Water-type Energy to a chosen Water-type Pokémon for each heads. This can result in anything from zero energy (a wasted turn) to a massive energy surplus, enabling incredibly powerful plays early in the game. This inherent randomness makes consistent counter-play difficult.

Subsequent expansions exacerbated the problem. Mythical Island introduced Vaporeon, enabling energy manipulation, and Space-Time Smackdown added Manaphy, further boosting energy generation. Powerful new Water-type Pokémon like Palkia ex and Gyarados ex further solidified the Water deck's meta dominance.

Triumphant Light introduced Irida, another Supporter card that heals 40 damage from each Pokémon with attached Water-type Energy. This allows Water decks, already capable of generating massive energy, significant recovery capabilities, previously the domain of Grass-type decks. The combination of Misty, Manaphy, Vaporeon, and now Irida makes Water decks exceptionally resilient.

Some TCG experts suggest that Irida was added to counter Misty's dominance, forcing players to make difficult deckbuilding choices. With a 20-card deck limit, including Irida necessitates removing other cards. However, many players find ways to incorporate both cards, maintaining the power of Water decks.

Pokémon TCG Pocket's upcoming event, rewarding win streaks in online competitive play, will likely be heavily influenced by the prevalence of Water decks. The difficulty of achieving a five-game win streak is amplified by the potential for early game sweeps from lucky Misty plays, even with Irida providing a safety net. The high likelihood of encountering Water decks makes playing one yourself a viable strategy for this event and the foreseeable future.