Pokemon TCG Pocket (PTCGP) Tier List - Best Characters & Builds

Tier List Overview

In Pokemon TCG Pocket (PTCGP), the concept of traditional RPG "builds" or "weapons" does not exist. Instead, your primary arsenal is your Deck, your strategic "weapons" are the Cards within it, and your "characters" are the specific Pokemon you choose to build your win condition around. Because the game features a streamlined, faster-paced format with smaller decks (20 cards) and half the prize card requirement (3 instead of 6), the meta revolves entirely around speed, consistency, and early-game snowballing.

This tier list ranks the best primary attacker Pokemon (Builds/Win Conditions) currently dominating the PTCGP meta. Placement is determined by a combination of raw damage output, energy efficiency, setup speed, availability of essential support cards (like specific Professor or Item cards), and overall consistency in the pocket-sized format. A top-tier Pokemon in this game must be able to establish a board presence by turn two or risk being completely overrun.

S Tier

S Tier picks are the undisputed kings of the current meta. These Pokemon define the competitive landscape, offering unparalleled power spikes, exceptional consistency, and forgiving setup requirements. If you are pushing for maximal win rates in ranked play, your deck should be built around one of these archetypes.

• Mew ex (Dimensional Storm Build)

Mew ex is widely considered the best card in the early PTCGP meta, functioning as an incredibly versatile and elusive win condition. What makes Mew ex an S Tier threat is its "Psydrive" attack, which allows it to copy the attack of any Pokemon ex in your discard pile. This essentially turns your deck into a toolbox; you don't need to dedicate slots to multiple different energy types. Instead, you can run a mono-Psychic energy build, dump various powerful Psychic ex Pokemon into your discard pile using cards like Professor's Research or Poke Ball, and have Mew ex act as the ultimate universal attacker. Because it only requires two energy to attack and benefits from Psychic support cards that accelerate energy from the discard pile, Mew ex can consistently hit for massive damage as early as turn two while retreating safely behind cheaper basic Pokemon to avoid giving up easy knockout points.

• Charizard ex (Solar Blaze Build)

Charizard ex represents the ultimate "apex predator" build in PTCGP. While it is technically a Stage 2 Pokemon, the PTCGP format allows for incredibly fast evolution mechanics, making Charizard much more reliable to set up than in the traditional TCG. Its "Crimson Storm" attack requires a hefty four Fire energy, but it deals a staggering 300 damage—enough to one-shot almost any Pokemon ex in the game, instantly taking two of your three required prize cards. The brilliance of the Charizard build lies in its support cards. By utilizing Pokemon like Moltres ex, which can accelerate basic Fire energy from the deck directly to Charizard ex, the four-energy requirement becomes trivial. If Charizard ex is knocked out, the sheer tempo swing of taking two prize cards often compensates for the setback. It is a high-risk, hyper-reward build that absolutely punishes opponents for failing to establish early aggression.

• Pikachu ex (Zap Thunder Build)

Do not let the mascot status fool you; Pikachu ex is a lethal, meta-defining threat. The Zap Thunder build revolves around extreme early-game aggression and cycling. Pikachu ex’s "Zap Thunder" attack deals 30 damage for a single Lightning energy, but its secondary effect—shuffling Pikachu ex and all attached cards back into the deck—is what makes it broken. By using this attack, Pikachu ex denies the opponent a knockout prize card while preserving your hand and deck size. You can continuously replay Pikachu ex from your hand, using cheap draw cards to cycle through your deck, whittling down the opponent's basic Pokemon before they can evolve. Against decks that rely on setting up Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokemon, Pikachu ex creates an unwinnable clock, forcing the opponent to either find an answer immediately or lose to chip damage.

A Tier

A Tier Pokemon are incredibly strong and fully capable of winning consistently at the highest levels of play. They usually fall just short of S Tier due to a slightly higher reliance on specific card draws, a weakness to a prominent meta archetype, or a marginally slower setup speed.

• Venusaur ex (Jungle Healing Build)

Venusaur ex offers a completely different playstyle compared to the aggressive S Tier picks, functioning as a tanky, control-oriented build. Its "Jungle Healing" attack not only deals a respectable 120 damage for three Grass energy but also heals 30 damage from each of your Grass Pokemon. In a game where resources are incredibly tight, the ability to sustain your board while chipping away at the opponent is invaluable. Venusaur ex thrives in longer games, using support Pokemon like Oddish to soak up damage in the active spot before retreating and passing the heals to Venusaur ex. It struggles against hyper-aggressive builds like Pikachu ex that can bypass healing through sheer prize card racing, but it absolutely dominates slower, mid-range matchups.

• Gyarados ex (Waterfall Surge Build)

Gyarados ex is a terrifying Stage 1 attacker that punishes opponents for playing passively. Evolving from Magikarp, Gyarados ex boasts high HP and an incredibly efficient attack in "Waterfall Surge," which deals 100 damage for just two Water energy. While 100 damage might not sound like much compared to Charizard ex, it is perfectly mathematically tuned to knock out almost all basic Pokemon and most Stage 1 Pokemon in the game. The Water build benefits from excellent draw power and item cards that allow you to search out Magikarp and evolve it on the same turn. Gyarados ex falls to A Tier because it is weak to Lightning (making it vulnerable to Pikachu ex) and lacks the raw one-shot potential against heavily evolved Pokemon ex without additional damage buffs.

• Machamp ex (Seismic Toss Build)

Machamp ex is the definition of a reliable workhorse. As a Stage 1 Fighting Pokemon, it hits the board quickly and requires only two Fighting energy to use "Seismic Toss," dealing a flat 120 damage. The true strength of the Machamp build is its utter disregard for the opponent's defensive mechanics. Seismic Toss ignores resistance, ignores weakness, and ignores any abilities that alter incoming damage—it is pure, unadulterated output. Machamp ex is heavily favored against Pokemon like Mew ex, Pikachu ex, and Eevee evolutions, which typically rely on lower HP pools. Its main drawback is its matchup spread against Fire and Psychic decks, as well as its inability to deal meaningful damage to heavily bulky Stage 2 Pokemon ex in the late game.

B Tier

B Tier consists of solid, functional builds that can perform well but require more favorable conditions to win. These Pokemon often have noticeable flaws—such as bad typing, high energy costs, or reliance on coin flips—that hold them back from being top-tier contenders in a highly optimized meta.

• Blastoise ex (Hydro Pump Build)

On paper, Blastoise ex seems like it should be S Tier. Its "Hydro Pump" attack does 110 damage, plus 10 more for each Water energy attached. However, in the fast-paced PTCGP environment, Blastoise ex is too slow. It is a Stage 2 Pokemon that requires three energy to even begin doing baseline damage. While it has a supportive ability to attach Water energy from the hand, you are often forced to use your turn to attach energy rather than draw cards or search for evolution pieces. By the time Blastoise ex is fully set up to deal 150+ damage, opponents using Charizard ex or Mew ex will have already taken two or three prize cards. It is a fun build for casual play, but too clunky for high-level competition.

• Dragonite ex (Dragon Pulse Build)

Dragonite ex is a massive, hard-hitting dragon that suffers heavily from energy acceleration issues in the current card pool. Its "Dragon Pulse" attack requires three energy and forces you to discard an energy from the top of your deck. While Dragonite has resistance to Fire (making it theoretically good against Charizard ex), the reality is that setting up a three-energy attacker with no reliable in-archetype energy acceleration is a death sentence. You will frequently find yourself relying on basic Pokemon to stall while Dragonite ex sits useless in the active spot for two to three turns. It is outclassed entirely by faster, more efficient attackers.

• Eevee Evolution Builds (Vaporeon/Jolteon/Flareon)

The classic Eeveelutions are iconic, but in PTCGP, the分散 (split) focus of their builds makes them inconsistent. Because you have to pull specific evolution cards for specific situations, your 20-card deck becomes too thin. Flareon requires too much energy; Vaporeon lacks immediate impact; Jolteon is outclassed by Pikachu ex. While they have interesting tactical applications, relying on an Eevee build means you are playing a reactive game in a format that heavily rewards proactive, linear aggression. You are better off dedicating your deck to a single, focused ex attacker.

C Tier

C Tier picks are highly situational or generally outclassed by the rest of the roster. These Pokemon might have niche uses in very specific matchups or function as tech cards, but building a primary win condition around them will result in a steep climb on the ranked ladder.

• Snorlax (Block Build)

Snorlax features an ability that prevents it from being affected by opponent's item cards, and an attack that does minimal damage while healing itself. The idea is to stall out the opponent. However, in a game where you only need three prize cards to win, stalling is a fundamentally flawed strategy. Opponents will simply ignore Snorlax, focus on knocking out your other basic Pokemon to draw prizes, or use powerful Pokemon ex attacks that bypass item-based disruption entirely. Snorlax gives up two prize cards when knocked out, making it a massive liability.

• Gengar ex (Phase Shift Build)

Gengar ex attempts to be a disruptive control build, utilizing attacks that inflict special conditions like sleep or poison while moving damage counters around. Unfortunately, the math simply does not add up. Gengar ex requires three Psychic energy to attack, and its damage output is far too low for the modern HP pools of ex Pokemon. It is entirely outclassed by Mew ex, which uses the exact same energy type but deals significantly more damage with far greater consistency.

• Hitmonchan (Basic Fighting Build)

In the very early days of the game, before players amassed enough packs to build dedicated ex decks, Hitmonchan was a surprisingly viable budget option. However, as the meta has matured, basic non-ex Pokemon simply cannot compete. Hitmonchan's attacks are too expensive for the damage they deal, and because it is a basic Pokemon, it lacks the late-game scaling that Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokemon provide. It serves as a great tutorial card, but has no place in a competitive tier list.

How to Use This Tier List

When utilizing this tier list to guide your PTCGP gameplay, it is crucial to keep a few contextual factors in mind regarding patches, playstyles, and the unique economy of the mobile game.

Understand the Pocket Format Meta: PTCGP is not the standard Pokemon TCG. The 20-card deck size and 3-prize card rule mean that variance is naturally higher, and games are decided much faster. Because of this, consistency is king. An S Tier build like Pikachu ex might seem simple, but its ability to cycle the deck and avoid giving up prizes makes it mathematically superior in a fast format compared to a slow, heavily conditional build like Blastoise ex. Always prioritize speed and consistency over raw theoretical power.

Playstyle Matters: While S and A Tier picks are objectively the strongest, you should still align your deck choice with your personal playstyle. If you prefer aggressive, proactive gameplay, Charizard ex and Pikachu ex will feel natural and yield the best results. If you prefer a more methodical, reactive playstyle where you trade resources and outlast the opponent, Venusaur ex is a perfectly viable choice that can still climb to the top ranks, provided you understand its bad matchups.

Patch Cycles and Card Availability: As a live-service mobile game, PTCGP is subject to balance updates and, more importantly, the introduction of new booster packs. A new pack release can completely invalidate a tier list overnight. For example, if a future patch introduces a powerful Grass-type basic Pokemon ex with built-in energy acceleration, the meta will shift, and Venusaur ex might suddenly find itself dominating the S Tier. Always check the latest patch notes and newly released card sets before fully committing your hourly resources to crafting a specific deck.

Resource Management: You cannot build every deck on this list immediately. PTCGP uses a pack-opening and crafting system. If you do not have the rare cards required to make Mew ex or Charizard ex function optimally, do not force a bad version of the deck. It is often better to build a highly optimized, complete B Tier deck (like a perfectly tuned Gyarados ex build) than a watered-down S Tier build missing crucial Professor or Item support cards. Use this tier list as a roadmap for where to invest your crafting resources over time, rather than a strict requirement for what you must play today.