Best Giratina ex Snorlax Deck In Pokemon TCG Pocket

When Snorlax was released in Triumphant Light, it was considered one of the worst cards ever printed, along with Giratina from the same set. Just a couple sets later, and it’s a headliner for one of the most popular decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Along with, of all things, Giratina.

Snorlax never made it into any serious decks, but new support cards in Celestial Guardians have turned it into a card that isn’t only viable: it’s vital to one of the most competitive decks in the meta – but it’s far from simple, so let us give you the skinny on Snorlax.

Sample Decklist

This deck includes both Water-type and Psychic-type Pokemon and can make use of both types of Energy. Most versions only use Water Energy, in order to be able to attack with Greninja early, but some players include both. We recommend turning off Psychic Energy.

Make sure you’re using the Snorlax from Triumphant Light or the Chansey-stamped promo, not the version from Genetic Apex.

Some versions replace a Pokemon Center Lady with Ilima, allowing them to scoop their Active Snorlax after it’s taken a lot of damage and denying their opponent a Prize Point. Irida is also a popular substitution, because it can potentially heal all of your Pokemon at once.

Some versions also drop one Giratina ex in order to add one of the previously mentioned cards or a Poison Barb. This makes it less likely that you’ll be forced to start with Giratina ex as your Active Pokemon, and gives you more room for utility items.

Giratina ex Snorlax Strategy

The Giratina ex Snorlax deck is complex by the standards of Pokemon TCG Pocket, but it’s also extremely flexible.

You always want to start with Snorlax in your Active position, using it as a shield while you evolve your Froakie into Greninja and attach Psychic Energy to Giratina ex. A second Greninja will allow you to deal 40 damage however you want, but a second Snorlax protects you from Sabrina.

Snorlax can soak up 140 damage before being KOed, but don’t be stingy about using Pokemon Center Lady to heal Snorlax if it means keeping it up for an extra turn.

Snorlax needs four Energy to attack, but Barry allows you to cut that down to two. Use it to your advantage to launch a surprise attack and take out a key Pokemon or weaken it enough for Giratina ex to snag the KO.

On your Bench, use Rare Candy to evolve Froakie into Greninja as early as possible so you can use its Water Shuriken ability to deal damage to any of your opponent’s Pokemon. You should also give it one Water Energy, so it only needs one more use Mist Slash if you move it to the Active position.

Water Shuriken is good for weakening a high-HP Pokemon like Charizard ex enough for Giratina ex’s Chaotic Impact to get the KO, but it can also be used to snipe low-HP Pokemon for points, or to allow you to target important Pokemon with Cyrus.

Snorlax won’t always attack, and Greninja’s “attack” that you’ll use the most is an ability, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to add Energy to Giratina ex with Broken-Space Bellow. You want at least three Psychic Energy on Giratina ex, so try to get it out on turn one and stall as long as necessary.

The downside of Giratina ex (aside from trading your attack for more Energy) is thatChaotic Impact deals damage to it, putting it in range of many ex Pokemon attacks. Since it’s your only ex Pokemon, you should try to hold Giratina ex back until it can safely sweep.

Giratina ex Snorlax Matchups

Solgaleo ex Skarmory

Giratina ex Snorlax has a slight advantage over the popular Solgaleo ex Skarmory deck, largely because Snorlax can OHKO Skarmory with Giant Cape and still tank a hit from Solgaleo ex. This allows you to set up huge revenge KOs, but not every match.

In this matchup, one of your best plays is to set up one Snorlax on your Bench while the other one soaks Metal Arms for a couple turns. By the time your opponent takes out the first Snorlax, you should have the second one ready for a revenge KO, after which you’ll have room to soften and KO Solgaleo ex.

Giratina ex Darkrai ex

The evergreen Giratina ex Darkrai ex archetype is much more consistent than Giratina ex Snorlax, since it doesn’t need a Stage-2 Pokemon to deal chip damage. However, it’s much less common since the introduction of Oricorio, which completely shuts the deck down.

Like the matchup against Solgaleo ex, focus on your second Snorlax, unless your opening hand also has Barry. With Greninja, you should be able to use the second Snorlax to get a revenge KO on Giratina ex, and still get one hit in on Darkrai ex before bringing in your own Giratina ex.

Magnezone Oricorio

Magnezone Oricorio is one of your best matchups, since it uses Oricorio as a tank to shut down decks reliant on ex Pokemon. Since both Greninja and Snorlax can easily deal with Oricorio, this deck is forced to go on the offensive early.

If possible, aim to take out Magnemite or Magneton before they can evolve. This earns you the same number of Prize Points as taking down Magnezone, but prevents your opponent from being able to do meaningful damage. Oricorio is rarely a threat.