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Greninja has been a fan favorite ever since it was first introduced, so it’s no wonder that people want to use it in thePokemon TCG. Radiant Greninja is one of the most common draw engines, outcompeting other Radiant Pokemon for that single slot, but decks built around Greninja as the ace have been scarce. Greninja ex is here to change that.
Twilight Masquerade’s version of Greninja ex brings not one but two powerful, versatile attacks to the table, allowing you to finally use your favorite amphibious ninja to attack rather than support. Time to get froggy!
Froakie, TWM 056 (4)
Frogadier, TWM 057 (1)
Greninja ex, TWM 106 (3)
Pidgey, MEW 016 (2)
Pidgeot ex, OBF 164 (2)
Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex, TWM 141 (1)
Manaphy, BRS 041 (1)
Double Turbo Energy (2)
Neo Upper Energy (1)
There are several ways to modify this deck based on your needs: Popular variations include a single copy of Munkidori (TWM 095) or Collapsed Stadium, or include Frosslas (TWM 053) in order to punish Pokemon with abilities.
Greninja Ex Pidgeot Ex Best Card
There are a lot of variations on the Greninja/Pidgeot deck, but there are several cards that serve as the backbone of the archetype.
Greninja ex is your ace Pokemon. It’s your primary attacker, with two powerful, versatile attacks. For one Water Energy, you’re able to use Shinobi Blade todeal 170 damage to your opponent’s Active Pokemon plus search your deck for any card, letting you set up your next play.
For one Water Energy and two colorless Energy,Mirage Barrage deals 120 damage to two Pokemon of your choice, allowing you to take multiple Knock Outs per turn or whittle down your opponent’s biggest threats.
While assembling the deck, do not mistake the Fighting-type Greninja ex from Twilight Masquerade for the Water-type Black Star Promo Greninja ex or Japanese-exclusive Pokemon Card Game Battle Academy Greninja ex. Check the set before checkout!
Mirage Barrage does require you to discard two Energy to use it, but120 damage to your opponent’s Benched Pokemon can interfere with their strategyenough to be a worthwhile investment. To facilitate this, the deck runs a little more Energy than many other popular decks.
Pidgeot ex has become a staple. It allows you tosearch your deck for any card once per turnusing its Quick Search ability, allowing you to consistently find any Item, Pokemon, or Energy card you need every turn. This, in turn, means that you can run single copies of cards that you might need, and have the ability to find them on demand.
Pidgeot ex’s ability allows you to control the battle, but it also has the Blustery Wind attack. Blustery Wind does a cool 120 damage and discards a Stadium card in play,further interfering with your opponent’s strategy if they rely on a Stadium. Pidgeot ex also has no retreat cost, allowing you to use it as a pivot Pokemon in a pinch.
Bloodmoon Ursaring ex is your final attacker, serving a similar role as Radiant Charizard in Fire decks, but with almost double the HP.Each time an opponent takes a Prize card, Bloodmoon Ursaring ex’s Blood Moon attack gets one colorless Energy cheaper, taking it down to one Energy if your opponent has already Knocked Out both of your Greninja exes.
Late in the game, Bloodmoon Ursaring ex can sweep through your opponent’s Pokemon, particularly those already softened up by Greninja ex’s Mirage Barrage.
While Pidgeot ex and Greninja ex can both search your deck for any card that you need, Arven cansearch for both an Item and a Tool, setting you up for more big plays. The tools you’ll be most interested in are Technical Machine: Devolution and Forest Seal Stone.
If your opponent relies on Stage Two Pokemon such as Charizard ex, Technical Machine: Devolution can interfere with their strategy. Most Stage Two decks rely on Rare Candy to speed up evolution, and sincereturning a Stage Two Pokemon to their hand doesn’t replace the Rare Candy, they may be stuck, unable to evolve again. If that Pokemon already has damage counters, this might even earn you a Knock Out.
Forest Seal Stone can be attached to Rotom V to allow it to search for any card in your deck one time, effectivelyturning Arven into a tutor for an item and any other cardas long as you control Rotom V.
Greninja Ex Pidgeot Ex Deck Strategy
Greninja ex decks combine the control aspect of Pidgeot with Greninja’s strong, versatile attacks to put together a playstyle that your opponents will quickly learn to hate.
Since this deck relies on playing a Stage Two Pokemon, it’s important that yougo first whenever possible. If you have a Pidgey and the means to evolve it on your first turn, setPidgey as your Active Pokemon: you may evolve to Pidgeot with Rare Candy on your second turn, retreat for free, and then use Quick Search to find whatever you need to evolve your Froakie.
On your first turn, you should alsouse Buddy-Buddy Poffin to find at least one Froakie, and a Manaphy if you need bench protection. Nest Ball can work as a backup, or be used to find Rotom V. Rotom V’s Instant Charge can draw you three cards, but immediately ends your turn. This is a good move on the first turn, but after that you’ll want to keep attacking, so take advantage of it now.
On your second turn, you can use Rare Candies toevolve both Pidgey and Froakie to Pidgeot ex and Greninja ex, respectively. You should then be ready to attach a second Energy onto Greninja ex, either Neo Upper Energy or Double Turbo Energy, and attack with Mirage Barrage to deal 120 damage to two of their Pokemon.
Manaphy is included in most decks in order to prevent damage to Benched Pokemon, which interferes with Greninja ex’s Mirage Barrage. Use Boss’s Research to get rid of it ASAP. Combo Boss’s Research with Canceling Cologne to Knock Out Manaphy and still damage a Pokemon on the Bench.
As the game progresses,look for opportunities to Knock Out your opponent’s important Pokemon and interfere with their strategy: Use your Enhanced Hammer to discard important Special Energy, Lost Vacuum to eliminate important tools, and Roxanne and Eri to attack with your opponent’s hand.
Collapsed Stadium is a good Stadium option which reduces your opponent’s ability to set up backup and support Pokemon. Even if your opponent removes it at the next turn, they’ll still be forced to discard two Pokemon.
If your luck holds, you may keep your opponent on the defensive and be ready with backups in case your own Greninja exes are Knocked Out. If not, bring out Ursaluna.
Once your opponent has taken a few Prize cards,Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex can use its powerful Blood Moon attack for 240 damage, Knocking Out most Pokemon, especially if you’ve been distributing damage using Greninja ex’s Mirage Barrage attack. This should be enough to secure you the win.
Greninja Ex Pidgeot Ex Deck Common Threats
Banette ex can be a particularly difficult matchup for Greninja ex: Banette ex’s Everlasting Darkness attack canprevent you from using any of your control item cards, allowing your opponent to build up a deadly Poltergeist attack quickly. It doesn’t help that Banette ex also has Resistance to Greninja ex’s Fighting type, and Greninja ex has Weakness to Banette’s Psychic typing.
Weakness and Resistance are not applied to Benched Pokemon. When possible, use Mirage Barrage to attack Banette ex on the Bench for 30 extra damage.
Banette is also a Stage One Pokemon, which makes Technical Machine: Devolution all but useless. Meanwhile,your opponent can use Technical Machine: Devolution to devolve your Greninja ex to a Froakieand then use Everlasting Darkness to prevent you from evolving again.
Just as part of your goal is to manage your opponent’s setup and hand,other control decks, such as Pidgeot ex, can grind your own progress to a haltusing a similar strategy to your own. Watch out for these decks attacking your hand, bench, and energy, and attempting to devolve your Rare Candied Stage Two Pokemon.
