Pokemon TCG Pocket Adds Water Deck Boost in Triumphant Light

When Pokémon TCG Pocket first launched, the metagame quickly became dominated by a select few overpowered decks. Among them, Misty-focused water-type decks earned immediate notoriety for their ability to snowball games through sheer luck-based mechanics.

The Problem With Misty Decks

At their core, Misty decks create frustrating gameplay experiences due to their volatile nature. The Misty Supporter card allows players to perform consecutive coin flips—attaching energy for every successful "heads" result before landing on tails. This means outcomes range from complete whiffs to explosive turn-one victories, leaving opponents helpless against favorable RNG.

The core frustration isn't necessarily about raw power—it's about the polarizing unpredictability. Imagine facing opponents who either:

• Waste their Supporter play accomplishing nothing
• Instantly power up attackers capable of winning before you even draw

Compounding The Problem

Rather than addressing balance concerns, subsequent expansions doubled down on water-type synergy:

These additions didn't dilute Misty's dominance—they created an unstoppable toolkit where water decks:

1. Generate absurd energy quantities via Misty/Manaphy
2. Flexibly redistribute with Vaporeon
3. Sustain threats indefinitely using Irida

The Competitive Fallout

With the upcoming win-streak event offering premium rewards (including golden badges for 5 consecutive wins), the meta couldn't be worse positioned. Players face:

• Limited counterplay: Few decks reliably withstand turn-one energy spikes
• Diminishing returns: Tech choices sacrifice consistency against non-water matchups
• Mirror fatigue: Water mirrors often decided by opening coin flips

The community frustration stems not from losing—but from feeling outcomes lie outside player agency. As one Redditor perfectly summarized:

"Some variety would be appreciated"

Ultimately, until DeNA addresses core design issues, competitive players face a simple calculus—join the water meta or accept disadvantaged matchups.