Pokémon TCG Pocket Meta May Have a New Champ as Celebi ex Dominates

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket received its first expansion yesterday in Mythical Island and the collection of new cards has shaken up the meta, seemingly pushing newcomer Celebi ex to the top.

Celebi ex is one of five ex Pokémon added in Mythical Island, a Themed Booster which brought 68 unique new cards to the digital trading card game. It's a basic Grass type with 130 Hit Points and a Weakness to Fire and a one Energy Retreat Cost.

Its single attack is called Power Bloom and costs one Grass Energy and one Colorless Energy, with the following effect: "Flip a coin for each Energy attached to this Pokémon. This attack does 50 damage for each heads."

Image credit: Creatures Inc.

This is okay by itself; it's on par with one meta leader Mewtwo ex's smaller attack, essentially averaging 50 damage for two Energy, but increasing it to, say four Energy, means it averages 100 damage. There is potential there for some devastating attacks, with four coin flips potentially presenting 200 (or zero) damage, but it's another Mythical Island card that boosts Celebi to the top.

Serperior is a Stage 2 Grass type with 110 HP, a weakness to Fire, and two Energy retreat cost. It has a single attack called Solar Beam which deals 70 damage for one Grass Energy and three Colorless Energy, which is well below the standard rate of damage.

But it also comes with an Ability, Jungle Totem: "Each Grass Energy attached to your Grass Pokémon procides two Grass Energy. This effect doesn't stack." This "stack" clause simply means that if two Serperior are on the board at the same time then only one of these effects will activate, but it otherwise doubles the value of every energy attached to other Grass Pokémon, including Celebi ex.

Image credit: Creatures Inc.

Having Serperior on the bench, which will take a while given its a Stage 2 Pokémon and needs to be evolved twice, therefore essentially makes Celebi's Power Bloom card half the cost. One Grass Energy attached to it will result in two coin flips, for between zero and 100 damage, two Grass Energy will mean four coin flips for between zero and 200 damage, and so on.

Exactly what cards are best around these two core pieces will be figured out by players in the coming days and weeks, but Lilligant from original set Genetix Apex may be a valuable inclusion. It's a Stage 1 Pokémon evolving from Petilil that has a two Grass Energy, 50 damage attack that also grants a Bench Pokémon a free Grass Energy.

Putting it in play with a Celebi ex on the Bench, and building up to a Serperior at the same time, would let players pile Energy onto Celebi ex and then switch it in with the threat of doing serious damage, enough to take down the likes of Mewtwo ex and Charizard ex in one turn.

Image credit: Creatures Inc.

This is the first deck from Mythical Island to emerge as a meta leader, capable of stacking up to these other dominant decks, but there are other changes already in place, including some that push down Pikachu ex.

Mythical Island arrived December 17 and as a Themed Booster is a smaller set compared to the debut Genetic Apex, containing a total of 86 cards. Creatures Inc. has still added myriad new missions and solo battles for players to interact with though, which somewhat recreates that opening day feeling of the digital trading card game.

Pokémon TCG Pocket arrived October 30 and is a certified hit for Creatures Inc. and The Pokémon Company, having earned an estimated $200 million in its first month across more than 60 million downloads.

This huge amount of money comes as Pokémon TCG Pocket follows the standard mobile and free to play game model, flooding players with rewards in the first few days before soon drying up, with spending real world money the only real way to re-experience that early thrill outside of the occasional set drop like this.

Completing Genetic Apex, the first set of cards which totals 226 officially but also contains 60 rare alternate art cards, will take players not spending money around two years according to one estimate, while those looking to make it rain can wrap up the collection after dropping around $1,500.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.