Pokemon TCG Pocket's Triumphant Light Expansion Just Gave Water Decks Another Powerful Card, and Everyone's a Little Over It

When Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket first launched, the metagame was swiftly dominated by a select few decks. Among these, one centered around Misty and water-type Pokémon quickly became notorious for its reliance on luck-based mechanics. With the ability to flip coins to attach water-energy to a chosen Pokémon, this deck could either fall flat or surge ahead depending entirely on the outcome of those flips. While a failed sequence meant wasting a valuable card and turn, a successful one could lead to an overwhelming advantage almost immediately, leaving opponents struggling to recover.

Fast forward three expansions, and you’d expect the balance to shift as new cards emerged to challenge or counteract these dominant strategies. Instead, the latest expansion introduced a card that has amplified Misty decks' dominance to unprecedented levels. This development has left many players frustrated and longing for some much-needed diversity in the meta.

Variety would be nice
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While Misty decks aren’t inherently the strongest in the game, their reliance on luck makes defeats against them particularly frustrating. The Supporter card Misty allows players to flip coins to attach water-energy to a chosen Pokémon. Success can mean rapid acceleration of powerful cards, while failure renders the move inconsequential. When paired with optimal flips, however, Misty can enable a player to seize victory within the first turn, rendering the opponent’s strategy moot before they even begin.

The situation worsened with subsequent expansions. Mythical Island introduced Vaporeon, whose ability lets players redistribute water-energy freely among their water-type Pokémon. Space-Time Smackdown brought Manaphy, which further bolstered water-energy output. These additions, combined with new water-type powerhouses like Palkia ex and Gyarados ex, cemented water decks’ stronghold atop the meta for consecutive expansions.

Now, with Triumphant Light, another card has entered the fray: Irida. Like Misty, Irida is a Supporter card, but its effect heals 40 damage from each Pokémon carrying water-energy. Traditionally, grass-type decks were the go-to healers, but Irida shifts this role to water decks, giving them resilience even when things don’t go perfectly. Between Misty, Manaphy, and Vaporeon, water decks are virtually guaranteed to accumulate sufficient energy to exploit Irida’s ability.

Some seasoned players speculate that DeNA, the developers, included Irida to encourage deck builders to make tough choices about which cards to include. With a deck limit of 20 cards, adding Irida means sacrificing something else—often another strong card. However, this hasn’t stopped skilled deck builders from finding room for both Irida and Misty.

Three days away… what will you all be playing?
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With a major event approaching—a regular competition rewarding players for win streaks in the game’s online mode—the frustration is palpable. Winning five matches consecutively is challenging enough, but doing so becomes nearly impossible against water decks capable of sweeping within the first few turns. Even when coin flips don’t favor them, Irida provides a safety net.

Players can expect to see water decks dominate throughout the event and beyond. For those looking to compete, it might already be worth considering adopting a water deck if you haven’t already.