Pokémon Pocket: Top 16 Best Cards from Space-Time Smackdown!

Today, we, from CardsRealm, will go over the 16 best cards from the new set, "Time-Space Smackdown". These are the most relevant, as well as most powerful, cards in the meta right now.

They'll most likely see play in most new competitive decks from now on, and will surely show up both in tournaments and the ranked queue.

16 - Mismagius ex

Mismagius ex is our 16th best card from this set. It is a great cheap Psychic Pokémon, and can disrupt your opponent for the entire game if you're lucky.

Unfortunately, it has to compete with other Psychic Pokémon, like Mewtwo ex, for the title of "best Psychic Pokémon" in the format. It is relatively faster than Mewtwo ex, but it doesn't knock out high-HP enemy Pokémon like Mewtwo ex does. Instead, it disrupts enemy actions by making their active Pokémon Confused.

This can be great, but, at the same time, it makes Psychic decks a bit less consistent overall, as it forces them to flip coins to activate effects, which they didn't have to do before.

The reason it occupies our 16th position is that this new set brought new Darkness Pokémon as well, and they, besides powerful, are most likely the best cards in the format, and have an advantage over Psychic Pokémon. This will make lists with Mismagius ex a bit vulnerable.

15 - Yanmega ex

Yanmega ex is one of the most solid carries in Pokémon Pocket. It is also extremely simple, and doesn't need many energies or to evolve several times. It is really similar to Machamp ex in that sense.

Its attack is quite strong and consistent. In fact, nowadays, there is a lot of support for Grass Pokémon in the game, so Yanmega ex should have no trouble seeing play, as well as other Grass Pokémon. It might become a relatively popular card soon.

The only problem is Fire decks, which have an advantage over Grass Pokémon and are a few of the most popular lists in the game. This might make Yanmega ex a bit worse than we'd like to.

14 - Infernape ex

Infernape ex is a bit complicated, but it can be extremely powerful if you play it well.

It discards all energies attached to it when it attacks, which is not that great. However, on the other side, its retreat cost is 0, and you can deal 140 damage with it with only 2 energies. It also has a lot of HP, so you can use it as a flexible Pokémon that goes in and out of the active position, absorbing a lot of damage while you set up its attack.

Nonetheless, Rapidash and Ninetales should still be better than Infernape ex, and, as such, it only occupies our 14th position.

13 - Gallade ex

Gallade ex is one of the best competitive Fighting Pokémon in the game right now. Its setup is relatively simple, and its attack, besides powerful, can knock out most Pokémon in the format.

Gallade ex evolves twice, which can be a bit too slow, but, as Psychic Pokémon are a bit unpopular right now because of Darkness Pokémon, Fighting Pokémon will most likely become popular again.

And, as a result, as much as Gallade ex might not seem as powerful as the cards above, it is often stronger because of the Pokémon types that are strong right now.

12 - Mars

Let's see our first trainer: Mars.

This card is really similar to Red Card, an item that was very popular in competitive decks. The idea behind these cards is to force your opponent to shuffle their hand to prevent them from playing, and also delay their game plan.

The problem with this strategy is that it is not consistent at all, and often benefits your opponent. Mars, however, forces your opponent to draw up to 1 or 2 cards, depending on how many points they need to win. This is great.

In any case, as it is a trainer, you'll most likely still prefer other, more powerful trainers, particularly in the late game. Mars might just be a bit too contradictory, too unbalanced to actually be great.

Overall, its effect is incredibly strong 50% of the time, and will certainly be popular in competitive settings, so it deserved a spot in this article.

11 - Spiritomb

Spiritomb will be one of the best ways to set up the new Darkness archetype in Pokémon Pocket.

Despite not dealing a lot of damage, it deals damage to all enemy Pokémon in play. This fits the new Darkness archetype really well, as it wants to damage benched enemy Pokémon.

Spiritomb will probably be one of the most popular cards in the format. It only occupies our 11th position because the Darkness archetype can also perform really well without it. Spiritomb is just a "premium" addition to this strategy.

10 - Dialga ex

Dialga ex will be a frontline Pokémon that helps you set up other Pokémon by attaching energies to your bench, much like Moltres ex. The big difference, however, is that there aren't many Metal Pokémon in the game for Dialga ex to support. The ones we have so far are decent, and can even become strong in this format, but, for now, they're still a bit too slow compared to the strongest decks in the meta.

Dialga ex's greatest strength is its synergy with Pokémon that need colorless energies to attack. Normal Pokémon, like Tauros or Pidgeot ex, can benefit from Dialga ex, just like Yanmega ex, which doesn't necessarily need Grass energies.

9 - Palkia ex

Palkia ex is a bit better than Dialga ex because there is a lot of support for Water Pokémon in the game right now, like Misty and the new Manaphy, which we'll discuss next.

Water decks needed a faster frontline Pokémon that can attack with only 1 energy. Before, the best option was Articuno ex, which needs two energies.

Palkia ex has more HP than Articuno ex and deals more damage in comparison, so it is much more consistent for Water decks.

It can also deal 150 damage, which, so far, no other Water Pokémon could!

8 - Weavile ex

Weavile ex is one of the fastest, most powerful Pokémon in this set. With just one energy, it deals 70 damage to the active enemy Pokémon if it is damaged.

Its archetype, the Darkness archetype, often deals damage with abilities or effects, so they can easily enable Weavile ex's attack. This Pokémon will be incredibly difficult to deal with. Not to mention, it has 140 HP, which is enough to take on any frontline Pokémon or early game threat.

It is already one of the most powerful cards in the entire game. It only occupies our 8th spot because this set gave us cards that are even more powerful.

However, keep in mind that, in terms of raw power, it is on par with the best cards in the last set. If it was released then, it might have been one of the 3 best cards in the game.

7 - Rocky Helmet

Rocky Helmet will be popular in most decks.

Currently, Druddigon is the main frontline Pokémon for slower decks, as its ability deals damage to enemy Pokémon whenever it takes damage. Rocky Helmet does the same: you can equip this helmet to any Pokémon and give them the same effect Druddigon has.

This makes decks more versatile and lets each archetype work with their own frontline Pokémon instead of having to rely on Druddigon, which is clearly not part of any archetype because it is a Dragon Pokémon.

You can also equip this helmet to Druddigon to deal even more damage to enemy Pokémon. The possibilities are endless!

6 - Bastiodon

Bastiodon might be the best tank Pokémon in the entire game. Its ability makes him take -100 damage by attacks if you hit heads in a coin flip.

It might be the best tank Pokémon around. The only reason we are saying "might" is because, if you don't get heads, it is a slow Pokémon with somewhat a lot of HP that also doesn't deal that much damage.

Another issue is that Bastiodon's retreat cost is very high. You need 4 energies to retreat it, so, you'll need a lot to take it out of the active spot, which can be extremely annoying.

Other than that, if you hit heads in your coin flips, this Pokémon will be virtually immortal in some matchups, or take a long time to die to stronger Pokémon.

5 - Manaphy

Manaphy is already one of the best cards in the game to set up other Pokémon.

Like other cards in Water decks, it creates extra energies and attaches them to your Pokémon. Manaphy makes Water decks even faster and stronger, which they need to be, as strong Water Pokémon need many energies to attack.

This Pokémon will see play in all Water decks, particularly with Gyarados ex, which needs 4 energies to attack.

The only problem is that it only has 50 HP. For a setup Pokémon, that isn't much, considering your opponent can easily knock it out. This means, if you use it, you'll have to give up 1 point early on, which many times can cost you the game.

4 - Darkrai ex

Darkrai ex is already the most popular Pokémon in Pokémon Pocket tournaments in the first few days after the new set came out.

Its effect makes it one of the most powerful cards in the game, as it is very difficult to deal with the damage it deals consistently every turn. Currently, this Pokémon is the most consistent way to deal damage constantly throughout the entire game.

Darkrai ex can also deal damage to the enemy bench, similar to Greninja, but it doesn't need to evolve twice. This means that, from the first turn onward, you can already deal damage to your opponent constantly.

No list can keep up with this new Darkness archetype, so this strategy is, automatically, one of the most powerful in the entire game.

3 - Pokémon Communication

This item is also a must in all decks in the game right now.

All strategies benefit from its effect, which swaps one Pokémon in your hand with one in your deck. The reason behind this is that you'll often have useless, dead cards in your hand in a few matchups, and this card lets you recycle them.

So, any card that "draws" or lets you get a card from your deck and add it to your hand is strong in Pokémon Pocket.

2 - Giant Cape

Giant Cape was, surprisingly, one of the most popular cards in the entire game in the first few days after the new set came out, and also fits every strategy in the game.

It works similarly to Potion, but the difference is that you can use Giant Cape proactively, without necessarily waiting until your Pokémon is damaged. This way, you'll only give an extra 20 HP to it.

All strategies benefit from Potion, and Giant Cape is nothing more, nothing less, than an upgraded Potion. This means all decks will play this card, and it is now a new Pokémon Pocket "staple".

1 - Cyrus

Currently, Cyrus is the most powerful card in the entire game.

It is very similar to Sabrina, but your opponent can't pick which Pokémon on their bench will go to their active spot. You'll get to pull one of their benched Pokémon, as long as it is damaged.

Strategies that damage benched Pokémon are very common right now, and most strong meta decks play some sort of effect that deals damage to the enemy bench or similar.

Not to mention, we all often retreat damaged Pokémon to protect them before they're knocked out. With Cyrus, you can simply pull a damaged Pokémon back into the active spot and knock it out.

This means that, in this meta, retreating your Pokémon won't necessarily save it because Cyrus exists. It is the most popular card in all recent tournaments. In fact, 95% of all decks registered to the 5 most recent tournaments brought two copies of it.

This card, by itself, changed the meta entirely, as well as the way we play the game. For this reason, it is the best card in the new set nowadays, and, consequently, it is also the best card in the entire game!

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you had fun, and enjoyed reading this article.

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See you next time!