Pokémon TCG Pocket: Gyarados EX Deck Guide

Gyarados is one of the most iconic non-Legendary Pokémon, going from the weak Magikarp to an absolute wrecking ball of a Water and Flying type.

While the Genetic Apex version of Gyarados left much to be desired, we slept on the Gyarados EX released with the Mythical Island mini-expansion. Despite Pikachu EX, it quickly became one of the top meta decks in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.

With the release of Space-Time Smackdown, we won’t make that mistake again. Gyarados EX isn’t going anywhere; in fact, it might’ve gotten a few new tools to keep it going strong.

This guide details all you need to know to make this behemoth of a Pokémon work for you, as well as different ways to build the deck and its weaknesses.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket - Best Gyarados EX Deck (Space-Time Smackdown)

Gyarados EX is the second S Tier Deck introduced in Space-Down Smackdown alongside Dialga EX.

This is because Gyarados EX is incredibly hard to defeat with 180 HP and an attack that does 140 damage. With help from Greninja’s Water Shuriken ability, nothing meta-relevant can stand up to it, despite the fact that Gyarados can discard energy from itself. However, Druddigon as a wall was the key to making this deck work, and with Space-Time Smackdown here, Greninja might not be the best bet.

The list below includes the must-have cards for the core of this deck, along with some flexible options. You’ll mostly want to open Mythical Island packs to make this deck work.

Core Gyarados EX Cards

• 2x Magikarp (Mythical Island)
• 2x Gyarados EX
• 2x Druddigon
• 2x Froakie
• 2x Frogadier
• 2x Greninja
• 2x Poké Ball
• 2x Misty
• 2x Professor’s Research
• 2x Leaf

Flex Gyarados EX Cards

There are several packages to fill up the last six cards in this list. The most consistent is the full Greninja line, which includes Frogadier and Froakie. However, with Space-Time Smackdown, Water decks got some new tools to consider instead:

• 2x Palkia EX
• 2x Manaphy
• 2x Rocky Helmet

Including these cards instead gives you an alternative win condition with Palkia EX. Though its Dimensional Storm attack discards 3 Water energy, it’s a great way to finish off opponents that have worn themselves down by hitting a Druddigon wearing a Rocky Helmet.

Finally, Manaphy can spread Water energy around to get both Gyarados EX and Palkia EX online. It may be worth taking out a Druddigon for a single Palkia EX in the Greninja version, even.

How To Play Gyarados EX

Whether or not you go the Greninja route or with Palkia EX, Gyarados EX plays much the same. Flip Misty on your Magikarp in order to build up Gyarados EX’s steep 4 Water energy requirement quicker while stalling with your two Druddigon. Once online, make sure to position yourself to take down your opponent’s key Pokémon before they can whittle Gyarados’ massive HP pool down.

Greninja helps with this as, for example, Mewtwo EX can survive a hit by Gyarados EX, but not with help from Water Shuriken. On the other hand, Palkia EX hitting for 30 damage with 1 Water energy goes a long way in whittling down opponents as well with the upside of an attack that can one-shot Mewtwo EX and damage benched Pokémon for 20.

Gyarados EX Best and Worst Matchups

The biggest threats to Gyarados EX are Fighting decks with Hitmonlee and Pikachu EX decks. Hitmonlee can one shot your benched Magikarp sitting behind Druddigon and they’ve even more powerful now with Lucario in the mix; similarly, Pikachu EX decks can snipe Magikarp with Zebstrika. With low retreat costs, Pikachu EX can also whittle down Gyarados EX fairly quickly.

Otherwise, Gyarados EX has a great matchup against most things in the meta. Darkrai EX, Weavile EX, and Celebi EX fall to it in one shot, while Dialga EX can survive a hit if you don’t have Greninja or Druddigon chip damage.

Simply put, with Space-Time Smackdown, Gyarados EX isn’t going anywhere.

Gyarados finally gets the deck it deserves, but if you want to experiment with the new expansion, you should check out all possible cards you can get in Space-Time Smackdown. Alternatively, have a look at all the decks in our complete TCG Pocket Tier List.