Paradox Drive: Best Cards from the New Pokémon Pocket Set

The new mini-set Paradox Drive has finally been released for Pokémon TCG Pocket, and I took some time to analyze the best cards. To be completely direct: the set brings fun new mechanics and tools, but I have my doubts about whether it will manage to break the current meta or if it will just run as support for existing decks.

Below, I separated the cards that caught my attention the most and how I think they will behave competitively.

Area Zero

A potential staple that can be played in any deck with a good amount of Basic Pokémon. Having more draw power and filters in the deck is always welcome, after all.

Juliana

A great support card to find consistency in decks that rely on Stage 2 Pokémon. Plus, her full art is very beautiful.

A potential new staple for decks that synergize with her.

Professor Turo

The new Professor Turo card can be useful in a Miraidon deck, saving the game in a horrible scenario where you brick and open the match with Miraidon ex as your only Basic Pokémon in hand.

Or in the late game, if one of your Future Pokémon is about to be knocked out… especially if it is possible to play them again afterward, perhaps even with Miraidon accelerating energy again, for example.

Professor Sada

You can take 3 different types of energy from the discard pile and attach them to your Ancient Pokémon anyway you like.

It seems to be a very slow Supporter, but some of the Ancient Pokémon (which we will see later) have very specific and colorful costs, in addition to showcasing interesting durability. Perhaps Professor Sada is the engine that slower decks with an ancient mechanic need to work.

Ancient Booster Energy Capsule

It is not an absurd card, especially because no Ancient card is currently very absurd, but since it is possible to build slow decks that generate value or need to survive until Koraidon ex hits the field, or until you find Professor Sada to recover energy, the Ancient Capsule can be very useful in any deck using Ancient Pokémon.

Having more durability is always good, after all!

Future Booster Energy Capsule

Great with Miraidon ex and for boosting any damage you deal with it or any other Future Pokémon by +20. I will expand on this idea further down in the text, keep reading!

Miraidon ex and Koraidon ex

These two Legendaries share an interesting mechanic, coming onto the field and being able to switch with the Active Pokémon (clearing conditions like sleep and paralysis) and pulling all your energy in play to themselves.

To me, Miraidon ex seems to be the best late-game match finisher in the new set (although other cards in the future package are also quite interesting). The Hadron Ray attack requires 3 Colorless energy and scales damage infinitely (+20 for each Lightning energy attached to it). If you run it with the Magneton line, for example, the potential is very high. And we still have the Future Capsule to increase the damage!

Koraidon ex works the same way as Miraidon ex, but for the Fighting type. The attack deals 110 damage for 3 energy and discarts the top card of your deck. The energy cost seems a bit heavy by current standards, but with the right acceleration, it might work. Even so, I see no reason to use Koraidon instead of Mega Lucario, for example.

Walking Wake

Here we have a hybrid Dragon type (Fire and Water) that hits the active for 60 and deals 20 damage to all of the opponent's bench.

The strong point is that, because it is an Ancient Pokémon, it can use the new tool that grants +40 HP (rising to 150 HP) and has the advantage of having no weakness.

The downside is that discarding energy is required and the damage is not enough to kill Megas, so we would need another Pokémon to be the beatdown of the deck. Perhaps going for the Fire archetype works, since it has plenty of support cards to pull energy from the discards or accelerate energy.

It could also be interesting to make a 2 or 3-color deck, embracing the idea of using Professor Sada and including a Pokémon that attacks with few Fire/Water energies or even with basic energies, like Mega Kangaskhan ex.

Gouging Fire

Another option for a three-color deck with Walking Wake and Professor Sada. However, 100 damage is still low, and setting up the energy is a bit slow, even if we use Mantyke, Magby, and/or the Pichu that accelerate energy for free. It seems like a lot of effort for very little reward… a card is missing to "connect" all of this in a way that makes sense.

Flutter Mane

Flutter Mane is one of the control cards in the collection. When it attacks for the first time after entering the field, the effect simply blocks the use of any Trainer card from the opponent's hand during the next turn. This includes Items, Stadiums, and even Supporters like Misty or Sabrina.

It might have the potential to buy a few setup turns for Mega Gardevoir ex decks.

Raging Bolt

This one is a bit of a meme. 5 energy is quite heavy, especially with 2 different colors. Perhaps a build with Professor Sada + the small energy acceleration Pokémon Pichu and Mantyke + the Dragonite line could work, especially because Dragonair can accelerate energy to itself with 1 Water energy and 1 Lightning energy, so you can set up Dragonite quickly (if you are lucky enough to draw everything perfectly, of course) and, when it dies, use Sada to power up Raging Bolt.

It could be an idea. Let's see how it goes!

Roaring Moon

Honorable mention. The energy cost is very heavy, but in a deck with few Pokémon and many Supporter cards, it can be useful to force a switch on the opponent's Active Pokémon.

Iron Valiant

The Future System ability reduces the attack cost of all your Future Pokémon by 1 Colorless energy. This opens up space for very fast Basic attackers and is the heart of the strategy with future Pokémon.

Iron Crown

This one would benefit greatly from having Iron Valiant on the bench. Its attack scales with the opponent's bench, dealing up to 70 damage, and with the reduction from Valiant, it can hit for just 1 energy, making it very efficient. And if it is equipped with the Future Capsule, it can reach 90 damage for just one energy!

Iron Bundle ex

When it attacks for the first time, it deals +20 damage (totaling 80) and applies paralysis, one of the most annoying effects to deal with in Pocket.

Unfortunately, the 3 energy cost is a bit heavy (and even dealing 100 damage if you use the Future Capsule, it is still low damage), but we can include it in a build with Baxcalibur and Suicune ex, so Suicune ex buys time by drawing cards, and toward the end of the game, it can finish off an opponent's Pokémon by dealing more damage (20 for each Pokémon on the bench, counting yours and the opponent's, which can reach 120 damage for just 2 energy).

Remembering that it could attack for 2 energy if Iron Valiant is in play.

Now, regarding the following future cards, I was very optimistic when talking about them. Let's go!

Iron Moth

Let's imagine that Valiant is on the field and we equip the Future Capsule on Moth.

Then, for just one Fire energy(!), it could deal a lot of damage. Of course, it is random and it is very difficult to hit multiple coin flips. I know it is dreaming big. But it is a potential possibility of 40, 70, or even 140 damage for just one energy, while still being a Basic and baby Pokémon that only gives up one prize card!

I don't know, in my head, it sounds like an idea with some potential.

Iron Boulder

I also picture this one utilizing the “future package”. It seems to have been made for this.

Unfortunately, 4 energy (or 3, with Valiant on the field) is still a bit slow. But it is a potential damage output of 80 + 40 + 20 equipped with the Capsule, totaling 140 damage from a single-prize card. Maybe it is worth the effort.

Pawmot

Honorable mention. Finally a Pawmot attack for just 1 energy! Its base damage is already enough to knock out Basic Pokémon. But the real potential lies in combining it with Nemona, so it can deal up to 140 damage for just one energy.

Okay, it is not the most revolutionary thing in the universe, but you can brew something with another Lightning Pokémon that is also fast, like Jolteon.

Espeon

The new Espeon fits like a glove in sleep-themed decks, with Igglybuff and Darkrai able to complement the strategy. Generally, Mega Altaria ex is also part of this type of deck, so we can put the Active Pokémon to sleep while setting up Altaria and filling the bench (with Darkrai dealing damage to the sleeping Pokémon!).

Terapagos ex

I saved one of the most fun ones for last. You can build a deck with multiple colors and Terapagos + Ancient Pokémon and Professor Sada, or even with Dragonite, which already has 2 colors…

Or you can even make a slower build with Pokémon that put the opponent to sleep while we set up Terapagos with multiple colors.

Anyway, the potential of Terapagos ex is there, since it deals 80 damage + 20 for each energy type attached to it, meaning it can scale a lot during the match.

As a player who loves testing casual builds, I found the set interesting due to the future mechanic;

But looking at the competitive and tournament side, I have my doubts about whether these mechanics can go head-to-head with the tier decks of the current metagame. Many cards seem more like situational additions for decks that already work.

Regardless, the new set brings interesting innovations and we need to test it to see what happens. I liked it! By the way, I really like Terapagos, it is one of my favorite recent Pokémon! I talked a lot about it in my article about the most beautiful arts of the new set. Check it out there!