Pokemon TCG Pocket’s new Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion just dropped, and while it’s strangely marred in a plagiarism controversy due to inadvertently using fan art for the new immersive Ho-Oh Ex and Lugia Ex cards, set A4 includes many new great cards to collect and build some decks with. A newS-tier deck inPokemon TCG Pocketuses Umbreon Exas one of its main attackers, and then makes use of its Dark Chase ability in conjunction with Genetic Apex’s Greninja, which damages opposing Pokemon anywhere, also on the bench. This is just one of the many new decks that started appearing in competitive matches after set A4’s release, and it shows a clear winner between its booster packs.
Aside from mini-expansions, like the recent Extradimensional Crisis or Eevee Grove, main sets typically have two or three booster packs to choose from when using Pack Hourglasses or the free daily boosters, with Genetic Apex being the only set ever to feature three packs rather than two. Wisdom of Sea and Sky also has two booster packs available, one dedicated to Ho-Oh and the other to Lugia. While boosters are normally fairly equal,Pokemon TCG Pocket’s latest release does have one booster pack that is much better than the other, and that’s Ho-Oh.
Why Pokemon TCG Pocket’s A4 Lugia Pack is a Mixed Bag
There is a reason for splitting a given set into multiple booster packs, and that’s the addition of exclusive cards, much like the mainline video games have version-exclusive critters that can only be found in one of the two games. InPokemon TCG Pocket’s Wisdom of Sea and Sky set, most of the best Ex cards for competitive play are found in the Ho-Oh booster pack, with Lugia’s dedicated booster mainly including Lugia Ex itself and Espeon Ex, with the others being borderline unusable or mediocre at best.
The Lugia booster pack does include Pichu, which is a powerful newBaby Pokemon card inPokemon TCG Pocket, and it pairs perfectly with Lugia Ex as well as Eevee Grove’s Dragonite Ex, which is currently one of the meta decks in the season. This pack also includes Elemental Switch, a card that is already seeing a lot of play, as well as Lyra, a new Supporter that opens up many deckbuilding options.
The Lugia pack even includesPokemon TCG Pocket’s new OP combo of Will and Xatu, for example, as both cards are exclusive to this booster. Yet, in terms of Ex cards, it’s very lacking and it currently features the following:
Of these,Lugia Ex is not great inPokemon TCG Pocketdue to its requirement of three different Energy types, and Espeon Ex can see play in an Eeveelution-themed deck with Sylveon and Sylveon Ex. The other three, though, are mediocre cards at best.
Why Pokemon TCG Pocket Players Should Open Ho-Oh Packs in Wisdom of Sea and Sky
On the other hand,Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Crobat Ex, Umbreon Ex, Donphan Ex, Ho-Oh Ex, and Skarmory Ex are all found in the Ho-Oh pack. These are all better Ex cards than those found in the Lugia pack, and by a huge margin, too.
On top of that, the Ho-Oh pack features powerful cards like the new Magby, Hitmontop, Zubat, Silver, Steel Apron, and Dark Pendant. These cards are all meta, with Magby seeing play in the Ho-Oh Ex and Lugia Ex deck, Hitmontop being basically a Fighting-type Pheromosa with more HP, Zubat offering a Poison effect on its attack, Silver manipulating the opponent’s cards in hand, Steel Apron being fantastic inSolgaleo Ex decks, and Dark Pendant being a passive form of discard in Darkness decks.
Overall, the competitive potential for the Ho-Oh pack is much higher than that of the Lugia pack, and all of its Ex cards are playable. Skarmory Ex is probably the least powerful of the bunch, but there are new meta decks dedicated to all four remaining ones, which can’t be said about the Lugia pack cards.
