Pokémon Pocket: Deck Guide - Snorlax and the Birds... Slow, but Powerful!

Today, we'll explore an extremely fun list with 3 Pokémon we rarely see in the ranked queue or in tournaments: Snorlax ex, Ho-Oh ex, and Lugia ex. Most players know this list as "Snorlax and the Birds".

The idea behind it is extremely simple: play very resilient Pokémon on the board, and, with a little bit of luck, explode the enemy Pokémon with a single strike to win.

For starters, you must play Fire, Water, and Electric energies in this list.

Ho-Oh ex will be your main way to set up. You'll use its attack to attach energies to Lugia ex so you can attack with it and also partially set up Snorlax ex as an attacker.

Nonetheless, Ho-Oh ex is also an attacker. It deals an average amount of damage, and the longer it is in your active spot, attacking, the more resources your Lugia ex will have to spend.

So, this list's main game plan is keeping Ho-Oh ex in the active spot for as long as you can.

After you set up your cards, Snorlax ex will be a very resilient Pokémon but also deal a lot of damage. Its ability will buy some time for you, and if you get lucky with your coin flips, you can wake it up and attack multiple times. This will guarantee a win.

Ilima is probably the most important card in this list. She returns a damaged Normal Pokémon to your hand for free. As such, you can use her to save your Snorlax ex or Lugia ex from being Knocked Out or swap them quickly for no cost at all and catch your opponent off-guard.

All of this, combined with Rocky Helmet, will make your Pokémon true giants that take time to die but also deal a lot of damage.

This list has many weaknesses. The main one is that you'll have to set up the Pokémon you'll use to set up your main Pokémon, as it needs 3 energies to set up the rest of the deck. This is incredibly slow. Currently, many decks attach energies for free with Pichu or Magby on turn 1. This list needs 3 turns to do that.

Another weakness is that its two main attacks have drawbacks. Snorlax ex falls Asleep after attacking, and Lugia ex discards one energy of each type attached to it.

You have cards to play around these drawbacks, like Ilima, Leaf, and some heals. But if you don't have these cards in hand at the right time, you'll hardly win.

Use Guzma early on to destroy any disruptive Giant Capes or Electrical Cords in your way. This deck deals a decent amount of damage, but it doesn't consistently deal that much damage every turn. So, removing Giant Cape as soon as possible is critical.

Team Rocket Grunt is also a great way to disrupt your opponent early on. But please remember you should only use it on Pokémon that need 2 or more energies to attack.

If you're not a fan of coin flips and RNG, you can replace Team Rocket Grunt with Repel. Your main strategy will remain the same: use Repel early on to disrupt your opponent.

We can say the same about Sabrina: she is the most versatile card in the entire game. You can use her early on to disrupt your opponent or at the end of the match to guarantee you'll Knock Out a Pokémon.

Because of how much HP Snorlax ex has, it will usually withstand 2 to 3 strikes. This means its ability will usually heal it by around 60 HP throughout the game. With the other 60 HP your Pokémon Center Lady heals, it will have around 120 extra HP. In all, it will virtually have 280 HP. So, it is a very resilient Pokémon.

Try to move your Normal Pokémon around with Ilima and return them to your hand whenever your opponent tries to Knock them Out. You can also use her to set up fast swaps and catch your opponent off guard.

If you have a Lugia ex early on, you should attach Ho-Oh ex's energies to it at least twice. This way, you'll be able to attack twice with it and possibly Knock Out 2 enemy Pokémon.

While you attach energies to Lugia ex with Ho-Oh ex, attach your regular energy that turn to Snorlax ex. Like so, you'll always have multiple win conditions ready to use throughout the game.

If your opponent plays Sabrina, try to swap your Ho-Oh ex for Snorlax ex. The same goes if you can't find Ho-Oh ex early on. Try to keep Snorlax ex in the active spot instead of Lugia ex.

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!