The cards from the special Detective Pikachu expansion have a striking CGI look, making them super fun to collect, and all of them are legal for use in your regular Pokémon TCG decks. If you want to try out cards from this set—or if you saw Jit Min Lim at the Europe International Championships showing off a fun deck centered around a popular amphibious Pokémon, and you want to try something similar—here’s a deck we know you’ll enjoy. (We can feel it in our jellies.)
This deck centers around Greninja,
a slippery Pokémon with powerful tricks on both offense and defense. Its
Furious Shurikens attack does 50 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Pokémon, letting
you work toward multiple Knock Outs simultaneously and pursue Pokémon that have
retreated to the Bench. It’ll be tough for foes to return fire against the
sneaky Pokémon because its Evasion Jutsu Ability means it’s always just a coin flip
away from dodging their attacks.
Greninja’s Furious Shurikens attack pairs nicely with other Pokémon that can do damage to multiple opponents at once, so many players combine it with the Tapu Koko promo card. The other main contributor to the “spread damage” assault is the Pokémon that evolves into Greninja, Frogadier, because of its Gale Shuriken Ability. The other cards in this deck are selected to help these Pokémon do just enough to pick up Knock Outs.
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Greninja
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4Double Colorless Energy
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4Counter Energy
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4Cynthia
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4Lillie
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3Guzma
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3Shrine of Punishment
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4Nest Ball
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3Ultra Ball
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2Choice Band
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2Escape Board
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2Pokémon Communication
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2Rescue Stretcher
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1Energy Loto
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1Pal Pad
Deck Strategy: Aim to build a task force of Greninja as quickly as possible by getting Froakie on your Bench with cards like Nest Ball and Pokémon Communication early in the game. You’ll ideally want to get Tapu Koko into play as your first attacker—it needs only a single Double Colorless Energy to attack, and it provides great flexibility because it has no Retreat Cost. Start getting damage on the board with its Flying Flip attack, and further weaken foes with Frogadier’s Gale Shuriken to set up Knock Outs for Greninja later in the game.
Key
Cards: This deck uses only Special Energy—four copies each of Double
Colorless Energy and Counter Energy. Tapu Koko and the cheeky
single Larvitar can attack using only a Double Colorless Energy,
and every Pokémon can attack with the help of Counter Energy—as long as you
have more Prize cards remaining than your opponent. This deck normally falls
behind early because of its “Knock Out by a thousand cuts” strategy, but you
may want to try to win by Knocking Out two Pokémon with your final attack to
avoid having your Counter Energy go offline for good.
Parting Shots: Choice Band and Shrine of Punishment won’t enable many nifty one-hit Knock Outs the way they do for some other decks, but they’re crucial tools to make sure you’re doing just enough damage to finish off weakened Pokémon. Shrine of Punishment also provides a necessary means of removing your opponent’s Prism Star Stadium cards (since they’re otherwise resistant to removal), and getting extra damage on the board creates more opportunities for mischief with Tapu Lele’s Magical Swap attack. Finally, take note that unlike most other decks that include Stage 2 Pokémon, this deck does not include Rare Candy—you don’t want to skip Frogadier and miss out on the free damage from Gale Shuriken. Check back to Pokemon.com/Strategy soon for decks from the most recent expansion, Sun & Moon—Unbroken Bonds, and for other Pokémon TCG and video game tips and strategy.
