The Extradimensional Crisis mini expansion has debuted the infamous Ultra Beasts in Pokémon TCG Pocket. The word among the player community about this set being underwhelming aged poorly as the UBs have invaded the meta.
And that’s the premise of this write-up where we will dig into what makes these extradimensional extraterrestrial monsters… well, extra.
Before we get into the Ultra Beast cards, let’s take a look at one of the main reasons they are so good in battle: the Lusamine Trainer card.
The President of the Aether Foundation, Lusamine, is cracked. If your opponent has got at least 1 point, use this card to give 2 free Energy to an Ultra Beast of your choice, whether it’s in the Active Spot or the Bench. With this UBs with high Energy requirements like Buzzwole EX and Guzzlord EX can start attacking sooner than later, with minimal Energy investment.
Remember that Lusamine can only attach 2 Energy if you’ve discarded at least 2 Energy in your Discard Pile. For lower discarded Energy, she attaches 1 Energy for 1 discarded or even 0 if no Energy has been dumped into the Discard Pile. Lusamine is compulsory for decks built around the Ultra Beasts and is the Supporter to chase in the Extradimensional Crisis set. With that put in the shelf, let the Ultra Beasts prevail.
Quick overview
| Card | Type | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Lusamine | Trainer | Energy acceleration |
| Buzzwole EX | Grass | Main attacker |
| Nihilego | Darkness | Status + chip synergy |
| Celesteela | Metal | Free swap ability |
| Guzzlord EX | Darkness | Tank + disruption |
| Pheromosa | Grass | Early pressure |
| Naganadel | Darkness | Poison chain with Nihilego |
| Kartana | Grass | Scaler finisher |
We begin with THE Ultra Beast. Buzzwole might be the headliner of this set and may be popular enough to be the first and currently only UB in Pokémon Unite but in the Gen 7 games, creepy jellyfish Nihilego is the driving force behind the plot of the game.
So despite not getting an EX variant, Nihilego gets a Crown Rare in Extradimensional Crisis. Not only does game lore justify the golden Crown Rare treatment card received but it’s also extremely meta relevant and solidly future proof at the moment!
It may just have 70 HP, but at just 2 Energy Nihilego does 30 DMG and poisons the target. It doesn’t end there as Nihilego’s ability, More Poison (lol) does +10 DMG to the poisoned Pokémon as long as Nihilego is in play, either in the Active Spot or on the Bench.
So effectively, a single Nihilego around does 20 chip damage to a poisoned target. And, this effect stacks. So, two Nihilego is a jaw-dropping 30 chip damage to cards affected by Poison.
This has led to a surge in usage of the Poison Barb Pokémon Tool wherein Nihilego occupies the Bench while the Active Pokémon is armed with this toxic tool.
Darkness is one of the most feared types in Pokémon TCG Pocket, mainly due to Darkrai EX. Now imagine adding Nihilego to the mix! The extra damage to Poison status and +20 DMG from Darkrai EX’s ability can beat Pokémon via chip damage alone.
Nihilego doesn’t even need to be used in a Darkness deck! Just stick Poison Barb to your Active Pokémon and let Nihilego chill on the Bench, letting More Poison take effect!
Moving ahead, Nihilego is definitely going to remain a mainstay in multiple decks. Let Nihilego possess your deck(s). Highly recommended by Lusamine from the games and the anime!
The only UB that can evolve, Poipole is a handy card for Darkness decks with its evolution Naganadel adding to the Poison schtick.
For starters, Poipole does 20 DMG for each heads from two coin flips. As such, it does 0 DMG, 20 DMG, or 40 DMG. Once Poipole evolves into Naganadel, it gets really interesting! For the same 1 Energy, Naganadel deals 40 DMG and also poisons the target. With Nihilego in the background, the Poison effect adds up, doing 20 DMG (30 DMG if there are 2 Nihilego).
The Naganadel line can join forces with Nihilego and Darkrai EX to form a solid team for Ranked battles. The amount of damage outflow is very attractive!
Another super impactful Ultra Beast! Celesteela is your automatic swapper as its ability Ultra Thrusters is out of this world!
Ultra Thrusters lets you freely switch your Active Ultra Beast with any one of your Benched Ultra Beasts, once per turn. This is regardless of whether Celesteela is at the Active Spot or on the Bench. This ability is invaluable in battles, letting you retreat damaged UBs for a healthy UB for free. Or, you can gather Energy for your main attacker UB on the Bench while you stall with another UB, then once you have enough Energy to attack, bring it in without Leaf, X Speed or Energy.
Celesteela is a mandatory card for decks revolving around UBs and is going to be fun and super relevant.
The poster Pokémon and the Immersive card of the Extradimensional Crisis pack, Buzzwole EX is a powerful UB that makes the buffed Grass meta from Celestial Guardians even stronger.
This 140 HP card (170 HP with Leaf Cape) deals 30 DMG at 2 Energy but with 3 Energy, Big Beat inflicts 120 DMG.
You can’t use Big Beat in the next turn but there are a couple of fixes to this tech:
- You can use Leaf to retreat Buzzwole EX with an alternate Ultra Beast and then bring Buzzwole EX back to the Active Spot.
- Using Celesteela, swap Buzzwole EX with a UB that has 1 Energy retreat cost (Kartana/Pheromosa), give the turn’s Energy to Kartana/Pheromosa, retreat, and bring back Buzzwole EX with a rejuvenated Big Beat.
- Retreat with one Celesteela and bring Buzzwole EX back to the Active with another Celesteela on the Bench.
Backed with recovery from Erika and Leaf Cape’s +30 HP, it’s quite a challenge to take out Buzzwole EX. Not to mention, if one of your other Pokémon is KO’d, you can use Lusamine to go straight from 1 Energy to 3 Energy on Buzzwole EX.
Buzzwole’s fellow Bug/Fighting-type Ultra Beast, Pheromosa, is one among its two Grass type partners.
It’s 70 HP but at just 1 Energy, it hits the opponent with 20 DMG but also does 20 DMG to one of their Benched cards.
This is honestly an ideal start to the battle and also invites Cyrus to its decks (perhaps even 2 copies). A simple card that brings a lot of value, Pheromosa can find extended usage in future metas as well, being a core part of the notorious Grass decks.
Kartana is another superb Grass card that serves as a great friend to Buzzwole EX in Grass decks. It’s also possible to see future usage as for only 1 Energy, it hits 40 DMG. This is grand for a beginning card but even late game, you can employ the new Beastite Pokémon Tool to do +10 DMG for every point you’ve earned. This means Beastite Kartana does 50 DMG if you’ve got 1 point and 60 DMG for 2 points.
With Celesteela around, these late-game shenanigans can spell disaster for the opponent, all at only 1 Energy. Do keep in mind that Kartana only has 60 HP so use it wisely. Maybe equip it with Leaf Cape or use the Beast Wall Item card to take 20 less damage from the opponent’s attacks at the beginning of the game.
One of the most popular Ultra Beasts is a card that many are eager to pull in Pokémon TCG Pocket: Guzzlord EX!
This glutton monster is extremely bulky at 170 HP and is another Darkness type in the mix. Its first attack, Grindcore, does 30 DMG for 2 Energy. Additionally, you flip and coin until you get tails and for each heads, it discards an Energy from the target. So, this move essentially has the Team Rocket Grunt Trainer card tech added to it!
Its other attack, Tyrannical Hole, dishes out 120 DMG but for a whopping 4 Energy! However, with Lusamine in tow, getting the Energy count isn’t too difficult! Also, this UB has an ugly retreat cost of 4 Energy. Hence, including Celesteela to Guzzlord EX decks is a must.
Guzzlord EX can be combined with Celesteela and Nihilego to form a solid deck. However, you can add the Naganadel line to improve your damage output and deliver early attacks.
Guzzlord EX • Celesteela • Nihilego • Naganadel • Popplio is one of the two major Ultra Beast decks in the Extradimensional Crisis meta, the other being Buzzwole EX • Celesteela • Pheromosa • Kartana. Needless to say, Lusamine is vital to the success of these decks, and adding Beastite Pokémon Tool and Beast Wall Item cards is recommended.
The Pennywise of the Pokémon world that also blows its head off! Now wonder Blacephalon is such a risky card to use in battle but one that also promises high reward. Here’s why:
A 100 HP card, Blacephalon’s Beat Punk deals 130 DMG for 3 Energy but the catch is that it also does 70 DMG to itself! This makes it a one-time use card unless you arm it with Giant Cape and use healing cards for another run of glory. In that case, one use of Beat Punk reduces 120 HP to 50 HP. A Potion recovers it to 70 HP and then Pokémon Center Lady brings up to 100 HP. Another Potion completely heals it.
In other words, 1x Pokémon Center Lady and 2x Potion recover the lost 70 HP. It can pair with strong Fire-type EX cards like Charizard, Infernape, or Incineroar. Otherwise, pair it with Celesteela and Turtonator (w/Kiawe), and watch the opposition burn! Dawn is helpful as well.
Stakataka is an underrated UB card from the Extradimensional Crisis set.
At 110 HP, it is among the bulkier UBs in the set and for 2 Energy, it does 40 DMG while also taking 20 less damage from the opponent’s attack in the next turn. With the Andaman Supporter card and Beast Wall Item card, you take 40 less damage. So, this entire setup makes Stakataka take 60 less damage, making it almost invincible early game and a tank later on.
The best Metal type deck, comprising Solgaleo EX, is currently at widespread usage with Shiinotic so Stakataka isn’t seeing too much usage. However, this Ultra Beast may experience higher usage in future Metal decks.
Undoubtedly the worst UB card in this set, Xurkitree does 60 DMG and confuses the target for a tedious 3 Energy. Tapu Koko EX and Zeraora are extremely Energy-efficient cards due to their tech, and they pair well with the devilish Pom Pom Style Oricorio and Shining Revelry Pikachu EX. Moreover, the Electrical Cord Pokémon Tool is a boost to Lightning-type decks.
With such positives associated with other Lightning-type Pokémon, using Xurkitree is unnecessary.
Ultra Necrozma EX is not exactly an Ultra Beast but is thematically considered as one in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Anyway, this card is… awkward. Being a Dragon type, it has multiple Energies and in this case, it’s Psychic and Metal. Yes, theoretically you can run Giratina EX with Lunala EX, adding Dawn, Celesteela, and Lusamine to the mix. Even Gardeboir works. But overall, there are a lot of moving parts to make Ultra Necrozma EX click.
Shoegaze deals 120 DMG and discards the top 5 cards from each player’s deck. While that sounds great, there’s no way Ultra Necrozma EX is getting set up early. In fact, sometimes you will hardly have 5 cards left in your deck by the time this card is ready to roll. At times it can pick up steam and when it does, it is indeed deadly but it’s rather underwhelming when you you see most of the OG UBs in this set.
Dusk Mane Necrozma can fulfill a role similar to Origin Forme Palkia: stall in the Active pot while your main attacker gathers Energy and/or evolves on the Bench. At the moment, Shiinotic and Skarmory sync gel with Solgaleo EX better but Dusk Mane Necrozma can definitely find a spot in Metal decks in the future. If you’re trying this with Solgaleo EX, take full advantage of its Rising Road ability and be sure to add Leaf and Dawn to the deck for seamless Energy management.
Dawn Wings Necrozma has the same HP, damage output, and Energy requirements as its Dusk Mane counterpart but this one’s not as good. Besides losing 30 HP on using its move, the Psychic meta is full of functional cards like Giratina EX, Mewtwo EX, Lunala EX, and Gardevoir among others, that this doesn’t really find a niche. Basically, the Psychic typing is stacked in Pokémon TCG Pocket whereas the Metal type only has a few stalwarts.
Dawn Wings is not entirely useless, but its loss of HP on attacking and inability to find a niche among plenty of options pull it back.
Note: Ultra Necrozma, Dusk Mane Necrozma, and Dawn Wings Necrozma are available from solo battle rewards during the Ultra Beast Drop event running from June 4, 2025, until June 14, 2025.
Reminder: all of these cards are available during the Ultra Beast Drop event! Happy collecting and battling, Pokémon TCG Pocket-ers!
