Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors

Pokémon TCG Pocket’s most recent update added over 100 cards to the game in the Shining Revelry expansion, but it also added ranked battles and a new event that offers all players the opportunity to earn a brand-new starter deck featuring a Pokémon ex card. These starter decks are fantastic value, because you get given copies of all 20 cards within them, and they’re quite good to use as they are — or with a few tweaks.

With nine Pokémon ex starter decks to choose from, we put together this handy guide featuring everything you need to know about these new decks, including the best deck that can be used out of the box, the best deck for tinkerers who want to tweak things a little bit, and how to earn a Pokémon ex starter deck in the first place.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: How to Get an Ex Starter Deck

Earning an ex Starter Deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket is very quick and easy. All you have to do is play the game within the next month – the promo runs until April 27 – and open five booster packs using pack stamina or hourglasses. Once you do, you’ll have completed a mission on the ex Starter Deck Missions tab, which will give you an event Deck Ticket. Go to the Shop using the button on the event page, select the ex starter deck that you want, and then redeem it.

You will only be able to obtain one starter deck using this event, so choose carefully.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best Standalone Ex Starter Deck

Two decks stand out to us as the best standalone ex starter decks: Beedrill ex and Paldean Clodsire ex. These decks can be used out of the box without any tweaks — although a few tweaks here and there won’t go unnoticed once you’re more confident with your deck building.

Beedrill ex is the most flexible of the two decks, letting you be limber and relatively quick as you adapt to the situation on the board. The Sprigatito line is fantastic for its ability to first gather your Grass-type Pokémon using Sprigatito’s Cry for Help, and ultimately punishing your opponent’s Pokémon ex cards with a powerful finisher in Meowscarada’s Fighting Claws. On the other side of the deck, Weedle lets you bring more Weedle to the field, giving you a bit of insurance while you set up, while Kakuna lets you paralyze opponents and Beedrill disrupts your opponent’s setup by discarding their energy. Pinsir is a nice staller, and the Buneary line is a low-energy early-game attacker, making for a good deck across all three phases of a match.

Here’s the full card list for the Beedrill ex starter deck:

• Sprigatito x2
• Floragato x2
• Meowscarada
• Weedle x2
• Kakuna x2
• Beedrill ex
• Pinsir
• Buneary x2
• Lopunny
• X Speed
• Poké Ball x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Red

Paldean Clodsire is slightly less flexible, but very straightforward. Most of its early- and mid-game cards – like Paldean Wooper, Arbok, and Grifaiai – poison your opponent’s active Pokemon, with Grifaiai in particular being able to do so from the bench, while Paldean Clodsire ex does double damage if the opponent’s active Pokémon is poisoned. It’s that easy. Spiritomb is a fantastic staller, letting you deal some chip damage while also confusing your opponent’s Pokémon, while Lickitung and Lickilicky are decent as a backup plan — high-energy, sure, but pretty decent HP, too.

Here’s the full card list for the Paldean Clodsire ex starter deck:

• Ekans x2
• Arbok
• Paldean Wooper x2
• Paldean Clodsire ex
• Shroodle x2
• Grifaiai
• Spiritomb x2
• Lickitung x2
• Lickilicky
• X Speed
• Poké Ball x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Team Rocket Grunt

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best Ex Starter Deck to Build Upon

Firstly, if you’re already competent and comfortable with your deck-building skills, you might want to consider picking whichever ex starter deck gives you the most cards you’re currently missing from the Shining Revelry deck. This lets you fill out your collection of the set faster, and you don’t have to worry so much about picking a specific deck.

If you want a deck to use as a basis upon which to build an even better deck, the Water-type Wugtrio ex starter deck is the best way to go. Not only is Wugtrio ex a pretty fantastic Pokémon ex card in its own right, but the deck also includes the fantastic combo of Tatsugiri and Dondozo — two strong basic cards that complement each other very well.

The Water-type archetype also has a huge amount of support, with cards like Misty giving you a way to quickly generate energy, Irida letting you heal any Pokémon with water energy on it, and Vaporeon letting you shift energy from your bench to the active spot as much as you like. Water-type decks aren’t the strongest type in terms of pure damage output, and their Lightning weakness means they’re susceptible to speedy Lightning-type decks, which also have decent support. That said, they are some of the most consistent decks in the game right now, outpacing Grass-type decks that often rely on three-stage combos and Fire-type decks that have high damage but are very slow.

Here’s the full card list for the Wugtrio ex starter deck:

• Tentacool x2
• Tentacruel
• Buizel x2
• Floatzel
• Wiglett x2
• Wugtrio ex
• Tatsugiri
• Dondozo
• Rattata x2
• Raticate
• X Speed
• Poké Ball x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Iono

If you’re looking for fat to trim in this deck, you can easily cut the Rattata, Tentacool, and Buizel lines, which are largely just taking up space. This gives you 9 more cards to play with, letting you fill your deck with a Vaporeon line, Irida, Misty, Sabrina, and maybe a Pokémon Communication for flexibility. You could also consider having two Eevee cards and running both a Vaporeon and a Glaceon ex, giving you a huge amount of flexibility at the cost of Trainer support.