Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best Psychic Deck Build

The meta in Pokémon TCG Pocket is all about creating formidable decks and going all guns blazing with them. This involves crafting cards and hitting the sweet spot with 20 cards that, along with strategy and RNG, would help you earn bragging rights in exciting TCG battles! One of the most popular ones is the Psychic deck.

Themed around the infamous Mewtwo EX, Gardevoir, and… well, that’s it! You technically need these two Pokémon in a pretty simple and one-dimensional strategy and yet, so freaking effective. 🙂 

It’s an effortless deck to master and hardly any trouble pulling off, and, not to mention, extremely feared even among the most seasoned TCG players. 

So without further ado, let’s delve into the famed Psychic deck featuring Mewtwo EX and Gardevoir.

Main cards of the Grass Deck Explained

• This deck is led by the Legendary Mewtwo, whose EX card is absolutely necessary to destroy your opponent. Mewtwo EX sports a respectable 150 HP which is good enough to tank Basic Pokémon attacks at the beginning of the battle. Yes indeed, Mewtwo EX being a Basic card can be put in the Active Spot right at the beginning and it’s also meant to do so in this deck. So, even if you get Ralts at the Active Spot, focus on retreating it to Mewtwo ASAP.
• With just 2 Energy, Mewtwo EX can start firing off the 50 DMG Psychic Sphere, which is quite overwhelming for non-EX cards.
• Any residual damage from weak cards is meant to be healed by Potions, if feasible.
• The task is to collect at least 4 Energy and unleash the 150 DMG Psydrive. Ideally, you need to start hitting with Psychic Sphere and collect as much Energy as possible for late-game as Psydrive discards 2 Energy on usage.
• You’d think it’s a monumental task to build towards 4 Energy while Mewtwo EX faces the opposition’s onslaught but this is where the graceful Gardevoir fits into the picture!
• Gardevoir is regarded not for its stats or moves but rather, its phenomenal Ability, Psy Shadow.
• Psy Shadow basically gives the Active Spot Psychic Pokémon a free Energy every turn! So, for each turn, the Active Spot gains 2 Energy… one from the turn and one from Gardevoir. To put it in perspective, Mewtwo EX can flat-out be ready to use Psydrive in just 2 turns!
• Since Mewtwo EX drops 2 Energy by using Psydrive, it can instantly replenish the pending 2 Energy the very next turn. Better yet, you can keep collecting Energy if you’re able to evolve Ralts to Gardevoir quickly and supply them to hoard an excess of Energy. The result? Spam Psydrive!
• A second Mewtwo EX is the best-case scenario as an early Mewtwo weakened by something like Kangaskhan or Exeggutor EX can be exchanged for a completely healthy Mewtwo EX on the Bench, and hence the two X Speed cards as well.
• Two Sabrinas can switch an EX out and a weaker card in for KO by Psychic Sphere, saving Energy for Psydrive against the EX card. This is especially handy if the opponent also manages to build their EX quickly.
• Giovanni is always great to add the extra 10 DMG oomph. Psydrive + Giovanni is 160 DMG, enough to OHKO the challenging Exeggutor EX or wear down 180+ HP Pokémon a bit more.
• If your early draws don’t look, a Pokédex gives you a peek into the top three cards of your deck and you can use a Poké Ball to shuffle.

Pros of the Psychic Deck

• With the deck focusing on just two primary Pokémon, it’s pretty easy to run the strategy.
• Mewtwo EX being a Basic card that can straight away take the Active Spot is a major perk. This is similar to the Pikachu EX deck as in both cases you don’t have to go through evolution nonsense to get your strongest card kicking.
• Even if you go first (and start drawing energy after your opponent), it simply doesn’t matter once Gardevoir arrives.
• Mewtwo EX’s 150 DMG Psydrive can OHKO several EX cards such as Pikachu, Arcanine, Lapras, Marowak, and Moltres… giving you +2 points instantly.
• The fearsome Machamp EX has a whopping 180 HP. Now, Psydrive (150) + Giovanni (10) + Psychic’s advantage against Fighting (20) is how much? That’s right, 180! And oh, Giovanni helps OHKO the frustrating Exeggutor EX as well. Mewtwo EX is the biggest threat to the Grass deck overall. 
• There are no coin-flipping shenanigans involved. THAT is definitely a bonus!
• Facing the underrated and uncommon Steel deck featuring Melmetal? Ah, that card takes 20 less damage each time. But hang on… Melmetal has 130 HP and Psydrive (150) minus 20 is… 130!
• Mewtwo EX is mostly readymade before the EX cards of Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. 1) Against Venusaur, it hits Psydrive, takes one Giant Bloom, and KOs for the win, 2) Against Charizard, it should ideally force Moltres out or OHKO it, and then take out any of the Char family before Crimson Storm is all set, and 3) Blastoise needs at least 2 Extra Energy to KO Mewtwo EX with Hydro Bazooka, but that’s too reliant on Misty.
• The thing is, the Psychic deck can run into trouble against Charizard and Blastoise EX but those two starters ride along a lot on coin flips to reach the peak. Mewtwo EX doesn’t! 😉 
• The ideal scenario of having two Gardevoir on the Bench… three Energy per turn, letting you spam Psydrive, retreat to one Gardevoir, back to Mewtwo again to use Psydrive again. It’s all easy peasy with two Gardevoir, and you’re virtually impossible to beat in this situation.

Cons of the Psychic Deck

• More often than not, your deck can win even if the opposition is using Pokémon you’re weak to… as long as you play your cards right (no pun intended). The Psychic deck is weak to Darkness, a deck which mostly consists of Pokémon that can poison yours. So, not only are you taking 20 extra damage due to the weakness, but you’re also losing 10 more HP every turn due to being poisoned. This can completely hinder Mewtwo EX.
• A Fire deck or Water deck getting lucky with Moltres EX or Misty respectively can annihilate Mewtwo, no questions asked. 
• In sticky situations, you’re forced to retreat Mewtwo for the Gardevoir line since it’s too risky to lose an EX card and give your opponent +2 points.
• The opponent starting with Farfetch’d (Leek Slap does 40 DMG for just one Energy) or Kangaskhan (60 DMG if two heads from two coin flips) can jeopardize your strategy.

Alternative cards

The Mewtwo EX | Gardevoir build is deadly and to be honest, perfect in every way. But, in case you’re missing one Mewtwo EX or want to skip extras of the Item or Supporter cards for some Pokémon, feel free to use these:

Hypno

Hypno is an incredible card that is also widely used on non-Psychic decks. Why? Because its best use doesn’t even require Energy! Its Ability, Sleep Pendulum, puts your opponent’s Active Pokémon to sleep if you get heads on a coin flip. 

If it stays asleep, it can’t retreat or attack for a turn at least, giving you a free pass to add energy scot-free or make an important switch to your Active Spot.

Jynx

Picture this… your opponent has Energy stacked up thanks to lucky draws from Moltres EX or Misty, and your Mewtwo EX is KO’d. It’s your turn and you bring Jynx (with just two Energy loaded) from your Bench to the Active Spot. Psychic does 30 damage + an additional 20 DMG for each Energy attached to your opponent. So, the opponent has three to four Energy attached? Jynx does 90 to 110 DMG.

More the Energy the opponent has (imagine an EX card), the more damage Jynx does. You never know when this can come in clutch and help you nab victory from the jaws of defeat! 

How often would you go wrong with a Pokémon like Mewtwo.

The Psychic deck is extremely powerful and can steamroll through some of the biggest threats out there. It’s never a dull moment with all that free Energy gifted by Gardevoir to Mewtwo EX. A match made in heaven truly!

All the best!