New Pokemon TCG Pocket Card Could Drastically Shake Up Online Matches

If you’ve played multiple online matches in Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket, you’ve probably encountered some familiar strategies from players. Certain card combinations quickly take root, and suddenly it seems like every player is now following the same specific deck trends. As a result, combinations like Serperior/Celebi ex and Darkrai ex/Weavile ex end up becoming a common sight. If you’re sick of seeing some of these ex cards dominating, Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s new Celestial Guardians set has a helpful card that should drastically shake up the way players approach PvP matches.

Celestial Guardians focuses on characters introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon, including favorites like Solgaleo, Drampa, and Incineroar. That Pokemon generation also introduced Oriocorio, a Flying-type Pokemon with four different variations. Each of these variations are represented in Celestial Guardians, but the one that already seems to be getting a lot of positive buzz from players is the Pom-Pom Style, which is a Lightning-type card. With an HP of 70 and an attack that does 50 damage with two Energy, Oricorio might seem innocuous, but it has an Ability that’s sure to frustrate opposing players.

In terms of Pokemon Abilities, Oricorio’s Safeguard is something of a doozy. It prevents any damage from being inflicted on Oricorio from the opponent’s Pokemon ex. For players getting overwhelmed by Celebi ex coin flips, or by Darkrai ex’s Nightmare Aura, Safeguard could end up being a huge relief. If the player is able to successfully get Oricorio into play, their opponent will have to pivot away from their established strategy and swap in a different Pokemon. This doesn’t guarantee a win by any means, but it does give the player a chance to turn the tide of battle in a significant way.

It remains to be seen whether Oricorio will end up getting just as abused in Pokemon TCG Pocket as we’ve seen with so many other cards, but it’s nice to see just how much one card could shake things up. In the months since the game was released, we’ve seen so many deck strategies that rely completely on getting a specific ex card into play. Players are now going to have to consider that as they’re building their decks, as they’ll have to look into non-ex cards that can dish out damage.

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Playing PvP matches in Pokemon TCG Pocket can be a frustrating experience. It can be hard to compete with players that have more money to spend farming the best ex cards in each set. Hopefully Oriocorio will help to restore the balance a little bit, and we’ll see the developers look for other ways to keep things fair and interesting. For that reason, Celestial Guardians already feels like a game changer after just getting released.

Have you found a Pom-Pom Oricorio card in Pokemon TCG Pocket yet? Do you get frustrated seeing the same strategies in online play? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!