The best Pokemon TCG Pocket Dragonite deck and builds
Nov. 8, 2024The best Dragonite decks in Pokemon TCGP require delaying the opponent
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The Pokemon TCG Pocket Dragonite deck build is currently hanging around on the edge of the meta, with players constantly trying to work out how to validate it and make the most out of Dragonite’s incredibly powerful Draco Meteor attack. Dragonite and the prior evolution chain, Dratini and Dragonair, are the only Dragon-type cards in the game right now, using a mixture of Water and Electric energy, and it places them in a unique position when it comes to cards.
However, the Dragonite is also a comparatively common card when compared to the variousPokemon TCG Pocket rare cardsthat are dominating the meta, making this a budget-friendly option, if hardly an S-tier one at time of writing. Let’s call it one of the most “interesting” builds right now, if nothing else.
Still, we’re seeing the Dragonite build moving closer and closer towards meta viability, and it’s occasionally even made its way into thePokemon TCG Pocket best decks. With that in mind, we’ve laid out several options for Dragonite deck builds below, so you can build a proper dragon-type deck and forge a very unique path in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
The best Dragonite decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket
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To make a powerful Dragonite deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket, you need to build it around the understanding that getting out Dragonite itself isn’t easy. You need to evolve Dratini to Dragonair and then once more to its final form, and supply it with four energy (at least one Lightning and one Water) to be able to use Draco Meteor.
That means you need to focus ondelaying, weakening and staying alive long enough to set up that devastating attack.You can do this through status effects like sleep and paralysis, or by having some low-cost support Pokemon to fight immediately to buy you time. Below, we’ve put together several versions of working Dragonite Decks, each focused on different types and strategies.
This Dragonite deck focuses on the Water-type side of Dragonite’s typing, using Frosmoth to quickly put foes to sleep.
If you don’t have (or care for) Snom and Frosmoth, you can always try replacing them with Staryu and Starmie ex, for quick damage on the field, or Psyduck and Golduck, for limiting their ability to cast supporter cards. Or, if you’re playing thePokemon TCG Pocket Lapras ex event, there’s potential to have Lapras ex in there as a tank/self-healer.
Contrarily, this version focuses on the sparkier side of the Dragonite, using Pincurchins' paralysis and Zapdos ex’s raw power to hold the field until you can slam down the final evolution of the dragon line.
It’s the Giovanni that’s probably the least essential card here, so feel free to swap it out either for a Meowth (for the per-turn card draw) or some potions (for survival). This is the best format though; add too many basic Pokemon and your Poke Ball cards won’t help you draw the essential Dratini.
This one is a little trickier - people are having some success adding Dark-type to their Dragonite deck, using the cheap/durable Weezing as a barrier than can poison foes and wear them down. It can potentially work very well, though Dragonite already requiring you draw two different types of energy gets even harder when there’s a third, largely unhelpful energy type clogging things. It’s always possible that you just keep rolling Dark energy, and the big Dragon can’t do much with that.
The play here is to immediately get Koffing and Weezing on the field and have them tanking damage until Dragonite is ready to leave the bench, before then using the Koga card to instantly take Weezing off the field for free (or using Koga to effectively reset Weezing so it can start tanking again). No easy substitutes here; this deck is very specifically built around Weezing’s strengths.
Want to understand how to customise your cards with cool cosmetics? We’ve got thePokemon TCG Pocket flairexplained here; or find out if thePokemon TCG Pocket bent packsreally do give better cards!
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
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