Pokémon

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Lucario deck dominates competitive cash prize tournaments

Lucario rules in this deck that has allowed several users to win tournaments with cash prizes.

Update: Mar 12th, 2025 03:55 CET

Pokémon TCG Pocket is still riding high and proves it with the support of DeNa in partnership with Creatures. The arrival of Space-time Smackdown, along with its current mini-expansion Triumphant Light, has turned the current meta on its head. The Dialga Ex and Arceus Ex duo is powerful, yes, but there are other alternatives that have allowed some users to win in competitive tournaments with cash prizes.

This is the case of the user yuriisle, who won the Ursiiday weekly tournament 18 with a rather unusual deck. He pocketed 400 dollars thanks to Lucario and his troop. He dispenses with any Ex card to undermine his opponent in a low level, as if he didn’t want to do anything. Ten Fighting-type cards and another ten support cards are what he needed to knock down his opponents (and never better said).

This is the Lucario deck that you should try as soon as possible in Pokémon TCG Pocket

Lucario is the axis on which this deck revolves, which seeks not to give a second’s rest to the opponent. Each card is a kind of soldier that when falling does not penalize so much in the scoreboard. Normal, since without Ex we are delivering a single point per card defeated. The key is to make Riolu appear to evolve it to Lucario and be able to make all our cards bonus their base damage with +20 attack points.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Lucario deck dominates competitive cash prize tournaments

These are all the cards in the deck and the expansion they belong to:

2x Cranidos (#88 from Spacetime Struggle): the bridge to Rampardos. As soon as you have a Skull Fossil you must evolve Cranidos and let it sit on your bench. If there is no other choice, take it out to fight, but ideally you should keep it crouched so that you can turn it into Rampardos, which makes the difference when you face an Ex card.
2x Rampardos (#89 of Space-time Smackdown): the beast of your deck. With only one Fighting Energy you have 130 damage. You must use it wisely. As we said, it is the counter of any Ex you face, but if you defeat a card it will receive 50 points of damage to itself. Use it and throw it away, as they say.
2x Riolu (#91 of Space-time Smackdown): it is not convenient to spend Riolu in the active spot if we can avoid it. We only need it to evolve it to Lucario, which makes the difference.
2x Lucario (#92 of Space-time Smackdown): this Lucario card makes the difference without staying in the active spot. Its Ability, ‘Combat Trainer’, adds +20 points of damage to all your Fighting Type Pokémon (i.e. the 10 in your deck) against the opponent’s Active Pokémon. An important boost.
1x Marshadow (#47 from The Mythical Island): the deck’s finisher. Its attack allows you to add 60 damage to the 40 base damage (100 total) if your Active Pokémon was defeated last turn. It pairs very well with Sudowoodo, which is the soldier of this deck.
1x Sudowoodo (#36 of Triumphant Light): the soldier of the deck. He is the one who will absorb damage for one or two turns at most while you set up your play on the bench. May luck be with you.
2x Professor’s Research - Professor Oak (store, Promo-A): the one of a lifetime. Do not hesitate to draw it to ensure two cards, unless your turn demands another partisan card.
1x Sabrina (#225 Genetic Apex): if you haven’t prepared your move yet, don’t hesitate to draw Sabrina to drag another of your opponent’s Pokémon to the Active spot.
1x Cyrus (#150 of Space-time Smackdown): this card is ideal for not giving your opponent a break. It mitigates the opponent’s defensive move to finish off the Pokémon you want to protect.
2x Skull Fossil (#144 of Space-time Smackdown): Easy and simple. Save it until you have a Cranidos in hand.
2x Pokémon Communication (146 of Space-time Smackdown): if things go wrong you can sacrifice a Pokémon from your deck to test if the random choice gets you the evolution you need. It is useful especially when you want to have Lucario.
2x Poké Ball (Promo-A, store): another classic. Throw it as soon as you have it so you can amass basic Pokémon in your hand.

This would be the desired move:

Use Sudowoodo to absorb damage in the early game phase. It is the shield to set up a move in one or two turns. Try to avoid putting Riolu or Skull Fossil in front. We want to use both as a bridge to evolve them into Pokémon on the next evolutionary ladder. And if you have no choice, put Marshadow in the Active spot if you’re unlucky in the starting hand.
Focus on getting a Lucario as soon as possible. We don’t want it to fight, we want it to be supporting from the bench. His Ability adds +20 damage to all your Pokémon, including himself. Ideally, by turn 7 you should have one that creates a synergy with Cranidos and Rampardos.
Use Rampardos as a counter against the Ex that your opponent throws at you. It is a resistant Pokémon (150 HP), strong (130 damage) and cheap (only one Energy of Fighting Type). This is going to be the key to bring the two points of an Ex to your locker. All the cards in your deck are easy to remove, as they range from one to two Geno Energies.
Put Sabrina and Cyrus into play as a defense and attack measure, respectively. Sabrina protects you while you set up your move, while Helio allows you to finish off an opponent’s wounded Pokémon when they remove it. A Cranidos with Lucario’s buff is a beast: 70 damage per-hit. Ideally, you should use Marshadow as a finisher when your Active Pokémon goes down. Since you’ll have Energy to spare, hit it hard.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Lucario deck dominates competitive cash prize tournaments

This is the Lucario deck that you should try as soon as possible in Pokémon TCG Pocket

Related stories

The studio that created Disco Elysium presents its new project: a spy thriller

He goes to buy Pokémon cards and ends up in a fistfight with a speculator: police had to intervene