Summary
There are many good decks inPokemon TCG Pocketright now, and some of them are good enough to become meta or challenge its status quo. An example is the newSudowoodo Fighting deck with Lucario, which potentially allows the fake tree to deal up to 110 damage to Arceus Ex if players have two set-3 Lucario on the bench, and Arceus Ex is arguably the best card from Triumphant Light. Despite its small size, Triumphant Light includes several chase cards, but one of them is unfortunately overshadowed by other similar ones that came before it - some as early as Genetic Apex.
One of the main alluring factors of new sets inPokemon TCG Pocketis for them to include strong cards that can be fun to play or simply shape the meta so much that they become a must-have. One could argue that some card types or even some Pokemon types are favored over others with the current selection, such as Water having incredible Supporter cards with Irida and Misty, amazing attackers like Palkia Ex, and even some more Energy acceleration with Manaphy. As much as this is all true, the new Glaceon Ex from Triumphant Light is having a hard time shining.
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Glaceon Ex is Missing a Big Piece of the Puzzle
Glaceon Ex inPokemon TCG Pocketis by no means a bad card. It has solid HP at 140, meaning it can survive an Ultimate Force from Arceus Ex provided the opponent is not using Giovanni and the user doesn’t have a Giant Cape, for starters. Then, it has a decent attack for 90 damage and a cost of three Energy (two of which are required to be Water), and its Snowy Terrain ability might just be its selling point, as it deals 10 damage to the opposing Pokemon at the end of each turn - both the user’s and the opponent’s.
Although this is a decent kit for an Ex card overall, it fails to live up to some otherWater-type cards inPokemon TCG Pocket, and that’s considering cards like Manaphy and Irida that could make Glaceon Ex much better than it currently is. The problem is that these cards can be used with any Pokemon, virtually, so there are inherently better choices if one looks at cards like Articuno Ex, Starmie Ex, and Palkia Ex. Palkia Ex is a powerhouse if it gets to four Energy, as it can most likely one-shot several Pokemon in the game, but it is much slower to build without acceleration.
Why Articuno Ex and Starmie Ex Outshine Glaceon Ex in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Articuno Ex shapedPokemon TCG Pocket’s metafor a long time now, to the point that it created the niche of decks running just two copies of Articuno Ex (and then just two copies of Pachirisu Ex when Space-Time Smackdown came out) with a total of 18 Trainer cards. 18-Trainer Articuno Ex is a very strong and consistent deck that still wins tournaments or places very high, and that’s because the Legendary Pokemon can damage opposing critters on the bench and stop slow-building decks with Cyrus.
As for Starmie Ex decks inPokemon TCG Pocket, they have very much taken a dive in terms of use rate, but this card is still arguably better than Glaceon Ex despite coming all the way back in Genetic Apex. This is because Starmie Ex has a 90-damage attack for two Energy instead of Glaceon Ex’s three, and even if it has 130 HP, it has no retreat cost over Glaceon’s 1-cost retreat. These are small differences, and Glaceon Ex still sees some use in the game with good results here and there, but unless something changes infuturePokemon TCG Pocketsets, it will remain outclassed by cards that came before it.
