Pokémon Pocket: Best NOEX decks with Triumphant Light!

Today, let's discuss the best NOEX decks with Triumphant Light!

The NOEX format was created by the free-to-play community as a way for players who don't have many rare cards to compete in tournaments. NOEX decks don't play Pokémon ex, which means it's an entirely different meta from the other tournaments and the game's normal queue.

Now, let's see the best NOEX decks, that is, the most victorious lists from the last grassroot tournaments, and explore the NOEX format.

Lucario is still the best and most popular strategy in the NOEX format. In fact, this Pokémon occupies 30% of all NOEX tournaments.

This deck is strong for many reasons. The first is that Fighting Pokémon, in general, are fast and don't need many energies to attack. Furthermore, you also don't need a lot of energies to retreat them.

Another detail is that Fighting Pokémon are weak against Psychic Pokémon, which currently aren't that popular in the NOEX format.

Finally, because of Lucario's passive ability, Fighting Pokémon will always deal a lot of damage, considering it buffs their attacks by +20. Hitmonchan, for instance, will deal 50 damage instead of 30, which is enough to Knock Out most basic Pokémon in this format.

Rampardos is also one of the best Pokémon in the format. Its attack, which deals 130 damage, can Knock Out all Pokémon in this format, including enemy Rampardos, if you have a Lucario on your bench. This way, your Rampardos will deal 150 damage.

There are many different versions of this list, but the most popular includes Rampardos, as shown above. You can also play Onix and Brock in this list, like so:

This version is different because you can add energies to Onix with Brock, which is crucial against fast decks or in mirror matches. Onix's attack itself is quite powerful and takes just a few turns to set up (if you have Brock), so it is an extremely efficient basic Pokémon in the NOEX format.

Now that we have Irida, Dragonite decks are once again one of the best NOEX strategies in the meta.

This archetype is old. In fact, it went through many changes as time went on, and was never considered one of the best in the game. So far, it was a tier-C list, or, at most, a tier-B list.

With Irida, this deck can heal now and, as such, protect Dragonite more easily. She solved one of this deck's greatest issues, which was keeping Dragonite alive if one of its attacks didn't win the game for you automatically.

Remember I said Rampardos can Knock Out all Pokémon in the game? Well, I lied. Dragonite can survive Rampardos' attack if it is fully healed. This is critical in this NOEX meta because surviving another turn and attacking with Dragonite again can be enough to steal a win.

Now, with all of these upgrades, this archetype is definitely one of the best NOEX lists around. It is certainly a tier-A list now.

This archetype got a small buff when Metal Magnemite came along in this set. This might seem irrelevant, but it actually gives you a reasonable advantage: if you don't have Skarmory on turn 1, but have a Magnemite, you can attack with it and deal 20 damage for just 1 Metal energy. Before, Magnemite only dealt 10 damage, regardless of the type of energy you used.

This 10 extra damage might seem insignificant, but 20HP is precisely what a Giant Cape or a Potion give to a Pokémon. Therefore, this small buff can be important as the match goes on.

Otherwise, this list works exactly the same as before: Skarmory is still the main frontline Pokémon that buys time for you while you set up Magnezone on your bench.

In the last-case scenario, you still have Heatran as an alternative win condition, as it deals just as much damage as Magnezone and can also be your frontline Pokémon if you're up against Fighting Pokémon.

One list that caught everyone by surprise was this Origin Form Palkia / Greninja list, which was nicknamed a "coinflip deck".

As all Water decks, this list relies on coinflips to win. Cards like Misty and Origin Form Palkia only work if you get heads on your coinflips.

If you do, though, this list often beats most opponents. If you don't, it is a lot weaker and can be considered a tier-B list.

Still, the numbers are on your side for this type of list, as flipping coins seems to be an effective strategy in the NOEX format. This Palkia / Greninja list caught everyone by surprise when "Numatinale" got first place at the "FrogEX Monthly NOEX CUP" with it. Specially because there were 256 other players at this event, which is the most popular NOEX tournament right now.

This deck stands out because of Greninja's interaction with Cyrus, which lets you pull enemy Pokémon into the active spot easily. Then, they'll be easy prey for Origin Form Palkia, which is very resilient and deals enough damage to Knock Out any Pokémon you've already attacked with Greninja's ability.

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!