151 Kanto Sub Set: Top 10 Strongest Pokémon from the Set

With the upcoming release of the ”151” (Pokémon Card 151 or 151 Kanto Sub Set) special set, I analyzed each card and brought you this list with the top 10 best Pokémon for the competitive scene, besides offering you a few honorable mentions.

It's worth noting that these cards have numbers and codes based on the Eastern version, that is, sv2a, which can't be used in tournaments! They'll only be available to play when they come to the west with the American translation, and the sv3a code.

10 - Clefable

What interests us here is its last attack, Additional Moon, which deals 50 damage, and draws you one extra Prize Card if the enemy Pokémon is knocked out because of this attack.

That is interesting, as the format has the Clefairy LOR 62 deck, which stacks Psychic energies. We can also mention its archetype itself, in which we have Gardevoir ex sv1 86 and Cresselia LOR 74 with their synergy of energization per damage taken.

Besides that, with the counter manipulation Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 can do, the sky is the limit...

9 - Dodrio

Ability Wild Dash Draw: during your turn, you can place a damage counter on this Pokémon, and if you do, you draw a card.

Attack Raging Beaks (C): deal 10 damage + 30 for each damage counter placed on Dodrio.

It is a Pokémon alternative with a recursive role which is also an excellent attacker, unlike Bibarel PR-SW SWSH188 which needs to toss a coin and there is a chance it misses its attack, even if it is a high-damage attack, dealing 120. Though it doesn't compare with the fixed card draw Bibarel can do, Dodrio sv2a 85) can steadily draw you cards, besides being able to deal absurd amounts of damage, for instance, 280 damage for only one colorless energy. That can guarantee knockouts even against Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR CRZ GG67, Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69 and Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70!

8 - Dragonite

Ability Jet Cruise: all your Pokémon in play have zero retreat cost.

Attack Dragon Pulse (W)(L): deal 180 damage and draw two cards from the top of your deck.

It is practically a Pokémon with 4 pros:

- As a Dragon type, it has no weakness.

- As a "Single Prize" Pokémon, your downsides with the loss of Prize Cards are minimal.

- As it has an excellent attack of 180 damage for just two energies, it is practical to have this Pokémon as an attacker.

- And the best of all: zero retreat cost for all your Pokémon.

7 - Gengar

Attack Poltergeist (P): your opponent reveals their hand. This attack deals 50 damage per each Trainer type card you find in their hand.

Attack Spooky Dive (P)(C): deal 110 damage and place 3 damage counters on an enemy Pokémon in any way you like.

For those who were here for Sun/Moon: Team Up, does this ring a bell? The old Gengar & Mimikyu-GX TEU 53, which was a menace in Standard with its attack (named just like this one too), had the same effect. The best of all is that, in this redesign, it is a “Single Prize” Pokémon, which, if it's knocked out, won't lose you "three Prizes", as its predecessor did.

Besides that, we have the second attack, which really matches Radiant Alakazam SIT 59. With its ability, it can move damage counters, helping you complete knockout damage, as the format uses an absurd number of Trainers (from 28 to 33 Trainers, when they aren't using 42 Trainers).

6 - Venusaur ex

Ability Soothing Bloom: if this Pokémon is in the active position, you can choose one of your Pokémon in play and heal it by 60.

Attack Potent Whip (G)(G)(C): deal 150 damage and the opponent's active Pokémon becomes Poisoned and Confused.

With the gradual prevalence of Charizard ex sv3 125, many players started paying attention to the Grass archetype again, as it is the Dark type's weakness and this Charizard's weakness in particular.

With healing combinations, it can combine forces with Serperior VSTAR SIT 8 and Radiant Tsareena SIT 16 with the support of cards such as Saguaro sv2 187 and Cheryl BST 123, guaranteeing you energy mobilization, besides constant healing. Not to mention Venusaur ex itself works with the use of bad statuses, such as Poison and Confusion, and Radiant Hisuian Sneasler LOR 123 can reinforce Poison counters' effects.

Here at Cards Realm I published an article with a possible Venusaur ex deck. Check it out.

5 - Zapdos ex

Ability - Voltaic Float: if this Pokémon has any Electric energies attached to it, its retreat cost will be zeroed.

Attack - Multishot Lightning (L)(L)(L): this Pokémon deals 120 damage to the active Pokémon, and deals 90 damage to one of the opponent's benched Pokémon as long as they have any damage counters.

Zapdos ex will be quite strong for the Electric archetype, precisely because of the strength Miraidon ex sv1 81 and Miraidon ex sv3 79 have because of their many uses, including with Regieleki VMAX SIT 58, Raichu V BRS 45 and Raikou V BRS 48.

Even if we have Manaphy BRS 41 in the format, which avoids "sniper" attacks, you can use Canceling Cologne ASR 136 to sabotage its ability and complement the strategy intended by Zapdos ex.

We also have an article with a build suggestion for it and its archetype, which you can check out by clicking here.

4 - Jynx ex

Attack Ba-Dum Kiss (W)(C)(C): if the opponent's active Pokémon is Asleep, it is automatically knocked out.

Attack Icy Wind (W)(W)(W): deal 120 damage and the opponent's active Pokémon is Asleep.

As Baxcalibur sv2 60 has its ability, Super Cold, it can move basic Water energies from your hand to your Pokémon, also being able to fulfill Jynx ex sv2a 124's attack tribute, and we have an extra icing on the cake: its first attack with the "Instant K.O." status effect is something very strong in the format, competing with Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69's VStar attack.

The difference is, with Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69, you need to have 10 cards in the Lost Zone, and it is still a VStar attack, which means, it will only be available once per game; unlike Jynx ex sv2a 124, which only needs one condition: the opponent needs to have the Asleep status for the effect to happen.

Check out a deck suggestion with Jynx ex by clicking here.

3 - Mew ex

Ability Restart: during your turn, you draw until you have 3 cards in hand.

Attack Genome Hack (C)(C)(C): choose an attack from an opponent's active Pokémon and copy it.

Mew ex has a support role, usually as a one-off in the deck, mostly in Lugia VSTAR SIT 139 decks. In these decks, with its VStar ability, to summon Archeops PR-SW SWSH272, they'll energize Pokémon, including Mew ex sv2a 151, to act in a very specific situation. This situation consists of applying weaknesses or dealing with stronger enemies, such as Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69, which is very dominant in the format due to its high damage; it can even copy Charizard ex sv3 125 to get its explosive damage.

2 - Alakazam ex

Attack Mind Jack (C)(C): deal 90 damage + 30 for each Pokémon on the opponent's bench.

Attack Dimensional Manipulation (P)(P): deal 120 damage and that Pokémon can attack even when it's on the bench.

Alakazam ex almost gets the first spot in our list, but, in my heart, it will get first place due to its second attack's "stall" strategy, with which it can use recursive Pokémon in its favor, such as Spiritomb sv2 89 and Klefki sv1 96, to lock the opponent down. There's also the option of placing Mimikyu sv2 97 as an active Pokémon and leaving Alakazam ex sv2a 65 benched, as it is the first Pokémon in the history of this TCG which can attack from the bench!

With this, it sabotages all ultra rare Pokémon in the game with the resources listed above, and still has the protection guarantee of being on the bench!

The only problem with that deck would be its setup, because, as it is a stage 2, it can be a bit slow. Check out a list idea by clicking here.

1 - Blastoise ex

Ability Solid Shell: This Pokémon takes 30 less damage when enemy Pokémon attack it.

Attack Twin Cannon (W)(W): deal 140 damage for each basic Water card discarded from your hand, with a limit of up to 2 cards discarded this way.

Even though it is a stage 2 Pokémon, the Water archetype is very strong currently, and we have as an example Jynx ex decks with Baxcalibur sv2 60 and its ability, Super Cold.

Besides this Pokémon as an attacker, we have, in the format, Chien-Pao ex sv2 61 and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR CRZ GG67 as fast options to start attacking early on, and to prepare Blastoise ex sv2a 9 later, forming a very fast and explosive deck.

It is only because of Baxcalibur sv2 60 that Blastoise is in this list's first spot as the best Pokémon out of all Kanto starters to use in a deck.

Golem ex

Attack Dynamic Rollout (F): deal 50 damage, but, during the next turn, this Pokémon will be able to deal 120 extra damage against the opponent's active Pokémon.

Attack Boulder Blaster (F)(C)(C): deal 180 damage, and this attack isn't affected by resistance.

Here we have a good example of a "tanker" deck, which is faithful to this Pokémon's Golem nature, always displayed in the games. We have the advantage of an attack boost with the next consecutive attack, and also with its second attack, which isn't affected by resistance, which is excellent!

Charizard ex

Attack Resolute Wings (F): deal 60 + 100 damage if this Pokémon has any damage counters placed on it.

Attack Detonating Vortex (F)(F)(F)(F): deal 330 damage and discard three energies from this Pokémon.

Even though I have loved this Pokémon because of its raw power since the dawn of times, unfortunately, it is weak in this format, not because of its destruction power (330 damage knocks out 98% of the format with ease), but because of the matter of its second attack's tribute, because if we look closely, we have 2 downsides:

- High cost of 4 energies, even more four pure Fire energies.

- It needs to discard three energies to set up its effect.

Though we have Charizard PGO 10 with its ability of doubling basic Fire energies, it is a setup which is very heavy to build.

This isn't as it was in Sun/Moon when we had many cards to help the Fire archetype, such as Heat Factory ◇ LOT 178 for card draw, Fire Crystal UNB 231 to recover basic Fire energies, Fiery Flint DRM 76 to filter the Fire energies in hand, and the majestic Welder UNB 214, which accelerated the process of moving Fire energies from your hand to your Pokémon and drew cards! Unfortunately, that "era of Standard" is now the past, and we no longer have this privilege. For that reason, the way to go around the situation is to use Charizard PGO 10 alongside Charizard ex sv3 125 to pay for these energy costs.

Of course, we have other ways to energize our Pokémon, such as Chi-Yu ex sv2 40 and the Stadium Magma Basin BRS 144, but that still isn't enough.

Beedrill

What interests us here is its first attack, Adverse Stinger, which deals 30 damage plus 120 more if you don't have any cards in hand, and it makes the opponent's active Pokémon Poisoned and Paralyzed.

Paralyzing, in this TCG, is one of the strongest "bad status" we have.

This Pokémon is basically a recycle of the old "No Hands" mechanic used by the classic Granbull LOT 138 in Sun/Moon and by Hisuian Arcanine LOR 84 in Standard.

Chansey

This card's highlight is due to its ability, Lucky Bonus: if this Pokémon is drawn as a Prize Card in the match (obviously face down), and your bench isn't full, you can place it on your bench and then toss a coin: if it's heads, you'll draw an extra Prize Card.

Mr. Mime

Mr. Mime is a suitable option to lock down the opponent with its ability, Copycat Barrier: if this Pokémon and the opponent's Pokémon have the same number of energies attached, Mr. Mime can prevent direct damage dealt by the opponent.

It is something useful which can be considered in the future, depending on if the archetype that might boost attaching energies to Mr. Mime is capable of forming a sort of "wall" against the opponent.

What did you think of the list? How would you create your top strongest "151" Pokémon? Comment down below!

See you next time!