Best Gyarados ex Pokémon TCG Pocket deck build list

Rising to prominence with the release of the Mythical Island themed booster pack, Gyarados ex is a powerhouse in Pokémon TCG Pocket—but only if you pair it with the right combination of support Pokémon and Trainer cards.

Below, you’ll find the best Gyarados ex Pocket deck build list, including a breakdown of how it works, a full card list so you can play with it, and the deck’s strengths and weaknesses in the current meta. We’ve also included card swaps and substitutions so you can customize it to your liking.

Best Gyarados ex Pocket deck list

While pairing Gyarados ex with Vaporeon or Starmie ex is a popular move in the Pocket competitive scene, we found the best combination to be Gyarados ex with the Greninja line for support and secondary damage where needed.

Additionally, Druddigon is an invaluable addition—not necessarily for its standard attack, but for its ability that deals damage whenever it takes damage from an attacking Pokémon. Gyarados ex requires a fair amount of setting up, so this becomes a crucial part of most win conditions with the deck.

As with any solid Pocket deck, this list also features a decent chunk of Supporters and Items to help Gyarados ex get into position quickly.

Card	Card Name	Card Number	Quantity	Set	Source
	Gyarados ex	18/68	Two	Mythical Island	Mythical Island booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Magikarp	17/68	Two	Mythical Island	Mythical Island booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Froakie	87/226	Two	Genetic Apex	Genetic Apex booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Frogadier	88/226	Two	Genetic Apex	Genetic Apex booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Greninja	89/226	Two	Genetic Apex	Genetic Apex booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Druddigon	56/68	Two	Mythical Island	Mythical Island booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Sabrina	225/226	One	Genetic Apex	Genetic Apex booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Misty	220/226	Two	Genetic Apex	Genetic Apex booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points
	Poké Ball	7/P-A	Two	Promo-A	In-game store, exchanged for Shop Tickets
	Professor’s Research	8/P-A	One	Promo-A	In-game store, exchanged for Shop Tickets
	Leaf	68/68	Two	Mythical Island	Mythical Island booster packs or exchanged for Pack Points

Gyarados ex takes center stage here, acting as the primary source of damage in the deck list. It’s one of the highest HP cards in the game currently, sitting at a mighty 180 HP, and it has a powerful attack in the form of Rampaging Whirlpool. Despite having an Energy Token tax, it’s a heavy-hitter.

Alongside Gyarados ex, we’ve included the Greninja line from Genetic Apex, along with Mythical Island‘s Druddigon. Greninja assists with Bench sniping and additional damage output, while Druddigon is a great early-game draw that can damage an attacker with ease.

To support the deck and get Gyarados ex Energized as quickly as possible, we’ve included two copies of Misty, along with a Sabrina for extra support.

Other than Gyarados ex itself, the cards in this deck list are relatively easy to get your hands on with patience. If you’re having no luck pulling the cards from Genetic Apex and Mythical Island packs, you can spend Pack Points to pick them up instead.

There are other Gyarados ex deck variants kicking around the competitive Pocket community which are worth exploring. Other deck variations also include the following cards:

• Articuno ex as a solid Basic damage dealer with Bench sniping
• Lapras ex as an alternate damage dealer to Gyarados with self-healing
• Starmie ex for obscenely cheap damage with Hydro Splash
• Eevee and Vaporeon from Mythical Island for secondary damage and Energy control
• X Speed for additional movement and easy Retreat Cost management
• An additional Sabrina to add extra control over the opponent

If you’ve pulled a few copies of Gyarados ex while opening packs, it’s worth experimenting with card quantities and additional secondary attackers to see what works best for your personal playstyle.

At the time of writing, Gyarados ex is storming through online tournaments in the competitive Pocket scene. But this could change as the meta evolves, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the best pairings for this Water-type behemoth.

How the Gyarados ex deck works

The majority of damage comes from Gyarados ex with Rampaging Whirpool, dealing 140 damage a pop. This unique attack costs four Energy Tokens and it discards a random Energy Token from one player upon use. Despite the quirky Energy tax, it’s a game-ending attack once it’s set up.

With Gyarados ex having 180 HP total, getting this powerhouse out of position as an opponent can be a nightmare—so the aim of the game is to get it into the Active Position and Energized as quickly as possible.

The addition of Druddigon makes setting up Gyarados ex a lot easier. Its main attack is nothing remarkable, requiring a Fire, Water, and Colorless Energy Token to get going, but its ability Rough Skin helps it shine.

Whenever Druddigon is damaged in the Active Position by an opponent’s attack, the attacker takes 20 damage. In the standard Pokémon TCG, 20 damage might not seem like much. But in the early stages of a Pocket match, it can be devastating.

The Greninja line is in this list predominantly for the Water Shuriken ability, which lets the user deal 20 damage to one of the opponent’s Pokémon once per turn. With two Greninjas in play, it becomes possible to deal 40 damage a pop to a Benched enemy, making for a high level of disruption.

Leaf is in the lineup to help swap out Druddigon when Gyarados ex is ready to go, while Poké Ball and Professor’s Research help with draw power.

Sabrina provides a small level of disruption, letting you swap an opponent’s Active Pokémon out, and finally, Misty acts as a potential one-turn Energy Token source for Gyarados ex, provided the coins land in your favor.

Strengths and weaknesses

One of the best things about this deck is it has the potential to O.H.K.O most Pokémon once Gyarados ex is set up or at least two-turn them. Excluding tankier ‘mons like Mewtwo ex, a well-timed Rampaging Whirlpool can be a lose condition for your opponent.

The support Pokémon in the card list offer meaningful damage output for the early game, too. Greninja’s sniping abilities can prevent an opponent from ever setting up or evolving, and Druddigon’s 20-damage defensive ability can make quick work of a Basic Pokémon in the beginning stages of a match.

Additionally, the strong Water-type theme of this deck makes it the perfect tool for dealing with decks like Arcanine ex, Blaine, and Charizard ex. While decks like Celebi ex might be S-tier in the competitive world right now, this trio is arguably A-tier or B-tier, making this matchup relevant.

Despite the list’s tankiness and Gyarados ex having plenty of survivability by itself, the deck does face issues. One of the biggest decks in the competitive Pocket scene right now is Pikachu ex, which is naturally favored when playing against Gyarados ex thanks to the type matchup.

Gyarados ex can also be a pain to set up, with a reliance on RNG-elements with Misty and a potential self-imposed Energy Token tax with Rampaging Whirlpool’s random discard. Getting unlucky with coin flips or discarding your own Energy Token while attacking can help a quicker deck secure the win.

Pokémon like Zebstrika, commonly seen in decks like Pikachu ex, can easily snipe Magikarp or Froakie during the set-up stages of a game, adding an extra downside to the almost monotype deck list.

Regardless of the fiddly set up process or potential type matching issues, this deck still feels incredible to play and holds a lot of value for players who want to progress in the competitive scene.

If you’ve found a few copies of Gyarados ex while ripping packs, build our deck list for yourself and take it for a spin. Alongside decks like Articuno ex and Starmie ex, Gyarados ex is one of the most impressive Water-type decks in the game right now.