The Sakura Storm (Espeon EX x Sylveon) – Pokemon Pocket Analysis

Deck List

• Eevee (Wisdom of Sea & Sky) x1
• Eevee (Eevee Grove) x1
• Sylveon
• Sylveon EX
• Espeon
• Espeon EX
• Poké Ball x2
• Professor’s Research x2
• Eevee Bag x2
• Giant Cape
• Sabrina
• Red
• Mars
• Lyra
• Penny (Proud)

Another month, another season of Pokémon Pocket, and another season of Eevee. I have been playing this game since December and written drafts of previous deck profiles weeks ago. With this game, like most “gacha,” new pack content is released almost monthly to line up with the latest ongoing season. Wisdom of Sea and Sky is the latest full expansion set following Celestial Guardians, picking things up right where the previous themed expansion, Eevee Grove left off.

Missing from the many Eeveelutions present were two fan-favorites, Espeon EX and Umbreon EX, and they saved the best for last. While Umbreon EX has its tricks, the star of this deck is its lavender, forked-tailed Psychic friend. The psychic typing remained consistent over several patches, with my personal favorite being Togekiss (Not this current one, but the one released in Space-Time Smackdown).

I’ll break this down into what I consider the “Stars,” or the “bread and butter” of what makes this deck consistent. I haven’t won every game with this build. I’m very much into the Ultra Ball climb, but I made it to UB2 so far with the meta breathing down my neck (Hate you, Solgaleo and Silvally), so this will count for something. Plus, Espeon and the Eeveelutions in general are cool. I’m happy they are viable.

Espeon EX

Its name is one of the two on the post, so here it is in all of its purple glory. Espeon EX is a two-energy Stage 1 (a trait it shares with Umbreon EX, its polar opposite) Pokémon, dealing 80 damage. Its ability, Psychic Healing, recovers 30 damage from any of your Pokémon currently in play once per turn, so long as it’s on the active spot.

Psychic Healing makes Espeon EX a flexible support that’s great for either a Turn 1 or Turn 2 coinflip. Going first, Psychic Healing is enough to undo whatever damage your opponent deals on Turn 2, usually a Bite from an Eevee EX or something more sinister like a Phanpy. In longer duels, Espeon EX acts as a “mother Eevee,” healing the wounded on the bench while doing its best to get out of Cyrus or Umbreon EX range.

Eighty damage is nothing to scoff at either, especially when paired with Trainer cards. An “80” can quickly ramp up to “120” if your hand is looking good. Even if you begin with a bad hand, the other cards in the deck will help circumvent this.

Sylveon EX

You know it, you love it. The terror from Eevee Grove takes on the Gods of the Sea and Sky as one of the best supports this season. Happy Ribbon is an ability that draws two cards on the same turn that the player evolves into this card. This is not a “hard” once-per-turn, either. If you have at least two Eevees on the field from the previous turn and two Sylveon EXes, that’s four cards. Add that with a Professor’s Research, which you’re more than likely going to draw into, and you’re easily at +6 card advantage in one turn! (Be mindful of an enemy Mars. Red is not your favorite color.)

Having two Sylveon EXes in this deck is a bit overkill, and we only have four Eevees to work with. There are many opportunities to draw into the win condition, but if you don’t have an Espeon EX, running two isn’t the worst thing in the world. If there’s a Sylveon EX and an Espeon EX (or another Eeveelution we’ll discuss soon) in your hand, it’s usually the better call to evolve Sylveon EX from your bench. Not only does it discredit Gengar EX and its ability to prevent evolutions from the active spot, but its “Draw 2” ability means there’s a better chance to draw into the Eeveelution that is best to evolve from the Active Spot.

Sylveon EX has been used a lot lately as a “splashable” card, specifically in decks that require their entire deck in their hand to pull their trump card as soon as possible. (Solgaleo EX…) What we have going with this deck that those other lames don’t is that we’re only running Psychic energy. This means our Sylveon EX can fight back and isn’t just used as a glorified meat shield…

Espeon

Now we’re reaching the “normal” variants of the EX ‘mons. The reason why I opt to use one EX and normal variant for Espeon and Sylveon, aside from what they individually bring to the deck, is for one specific coverage. Oricorio. This little canary causes many problems with “EX-oriented” decks as it’s a giant “No!” towards attack damage received against it. In the Umbreon EX deck, I made countermeasures to circumvent this, specifically Darkrai EX‘s ability.

Espeon plays a different role to its EX counterpart in that it capitalizes on the opponent’s greed. Giratina EX, Leafeon EX, the aforementioned Darkrai EX. Any deck that requires setup for “energy hogs” is easy pickings for Espeon, easily dealing anywhere from 40 to 120 damage on minimum, depending on the phase of the game.

Its biggest weakness is that it depends on your opponent’s board to do anything noteworthy. Espeon can take out a target with four energy, yet when that energy is discarded, Espeon’s power level diminishes. Smart players will work around Espeon by outright refusing to attach energy if it’s unneeded to get rid of Espeon. As such, it’s useful as a late-game closer when your opponent desperately needs to cinch that last Eeveelution only to have their dreams, and Energy, Crushed.

Sylveon

I lied. Espeon EX was not the star of this deck. Not even the EX version of Sylveon measures up to the amount of chaos this happy little fella can cause. This is the ultimate “win condition” of this deck, and the reason why it took a while to get here is because it cannot win the game on its own. It requires the help of its other buddies to deal the most damage with Sylvie.

With a full board of Eeveelutions, Evoharmony deals a whopping 130 damage [40 + 30(3)] with damage ranging from 40, 70, and 100. Ideally, getting in the “70 range” is a fantastic start that can easily reach triple digits with Trainer cards. Sylveon can snowball a game into an avalanche if it’s able to one-shot a threat before it becomes a threat. Since it draws power from its Eeveelutions, all of which are self-sustainable in various ways, this “70-130” damage comes with virtually no drawbacks.

Of the Eeveelutions, this is the squishiest, ranging at 90 HP. The same HP as Eeeve EX. As such, sometimes it’s best to evolve into Sylveon from a regular Eevee, for comparison’s sake, as they have 60 HP. If the board is set, it hardly matters. Even if the opponent manages to get rid of Sylveon, by that point, you should have other Eeveelutions on the field ready for clean-up.

Eevees?

Now that we’ve got our starting lineup out of the way, we need to get these babies out on the field. Our only Basics in the deck are Eevees, including our two Eevee EXes, yet this opens up another can of worms. As of Sea and Sky, there are seven Eevees currently in Pokémon Pocket. This doesn’t include card art variations and the four different Eevees that all know Tackle (five if you obtained the Event Eevee, but I digress). Which two of these friends are the best choice for this deck? That’s entirely subjective, but here’s what I’ve decided for now.

Eevee Grove‘s Eevee allows you to go +1 on card advantage at the end of your turn. Eevee is great as a utility when the objective is to have as many Stage 1 ‘mons on the board as quickly as possible. Bad starting hands cripple this deck, as most competitive decks, and this is one of the two Eevees to help cushion the impact.

The latest Eevee from Sea and Sky is one of the better ones, as it has the coveted “Find a Friend” attack. Notoriously made famous by Caterpie (Genetic Apex), this deck searcher is effective for fishing out Eeveelutions that EG’s Eevee, Sylveon EX, and Professor’s Research cannot reel in alone. Sometimes you have a full board of Eevees and you need to Find a Sylveon EX to get the party started. Other times, your opponent will already have their Pokémon on the board, and you’re not given a chance to find anyone, much less a Friend.

This is where Eevee EX comes in, as this is the only Basic in the deck that has a damage-dealing attack. Its 90 HP is above average for an Eevee, sharing the same health value as Sylveon (hence why it’s the squishiest of the Eeeveelutions). With a giant cape, it can hold its own and survive a turn or two without evolving, but anything more than that, and the player should start to think about their next move.

Evolving an Eevee EX to a non-EX Eeveelution is always the ideal scenario, as it covers the player’s bases from giving up two points while also bringing in a larger threat (Preferably Sylveon with an Eeveelution already on the bench, preferably Sylveon EX).

Anything Else?

The other cards in the deck are Trainer cards, with three items, one tool, and the rest Support. Eevee Bags are the “Jack of All Trades” for any Eevee-focused deck. Defensively, they act as Potions in a pinch, healing for up to 70 damage in a single turn if two are used with Espeon EX’s ability. The Bags can also be used offensively, dealing +40 damage in a single turn if both are used in combination with a Red vs an opponent’s EX monster. These should be used liberally but smartly, as the Eevee Bags only work on Eeveeolutions (do NOT use them on your Eevees or Eevee EX’s thinking you’re about to pop a Froakie with a Giant Cape only to deal “30” damage plus a wasted card)

Giant Cape raises the max HP threshold to 160 for the EXes, which is enough to sustain most attacks that deal 150 damage to the face. Anything past 160 and you’re going to need to use some smart shuffling with Sabrina and/or Cyrus if you’ve already dealt damage. Since our two basic Eevees are pacifists, it’s rare to have the chance to take advantage of the old man, so the Psychic gym leader trumps here.

Mars or Guzma (or both!) are solid choices as the latter puts a stop to Poison and some Steel decks that rely on status conditions and hitting a brick wall, respectively. The former ensures your opponent does not get a chance to set their fancy little combo with their greedy 9-card hand. Throw that back in the deck and draw 3. (Or 1 if an EX already fell. Either way, no combo for you.)

Lyra is the newest Supporter from Sea and Sky and is easily a potential staple along with the ‘brinas and Oaks. Having the opportunity to switch your active Pokémon with damage on it into a fresh-faced Espeon EX ready to heal for their troubles is one that should be taken every time you start first. It also prevents discarding energy unnecessarily, as the only source of Energy we get is from the Energy Zone.

Finally, we have Penny. This is absolutely a personal pick and not at all a staple recommendation if you want to get serious with this deck. Pokémon Pocket suffers from the “20-card limit” conundrum, as there are too many cards but not enough space to put them all. The aforementioned Cyrus or Guzma are great substitutes if you don’t want to use the Eevee fangirl, but then it wouldn’t be an Eevee deck, would it!?

Aside from “playing the bit,” Penny has her uses here. If you draw into her turn one, or even turn two, and you don’t have any other Supporter in your hand, or a Professor’s Research, feel free to play her. There’s a good chance you may pluck up their Professor’s Research, which then leads to drawing into your own, or a Sylveon EX. Late game, she can turn entire games around by copying a much-needed Cyrus, forcing an EX with damage that thought they could get away.

This is also why I decided to put Guzma, Cyrus, and several other Supporter cards on ice. Penny does it all. She also does absolutely nothing in the worst-case scenario. I’ve had more success playing her than drawing duds, so I’ll keep her in the main deck for now. It’s a risky game, but there’s no better feeling than using your opponent’s staple cards against them. Thank you for doing my work for me!

Conclusion? Are you Master Ball yet?

Not yet. At the time of writing, I came off a losing streak last night, deranking and ranking back up like it’s a weird Dragon Dance. Speaking of Dragons, hi Dragonite EX! This deck struggles against fast, high-powered decks that cut right to the chase with limited setup.

Silvally has been going strong for a few seasons now, and all that’s required of the player is to run their game normally, as you naturally use Supporter cards. Solgaleo EX / Sylveon EX is the biggest threat I’ve come across thus far, as two Sylveons are enough to eat a Sol Breaker to the face by the next turn. Even if you happen to Sabrina, the opp’s Sylveon is waiting to be used as a meat shield, or worse.

Charizard EX and Crobat EX are two other problem decks for similar reasons. There’s an extra turn for the lizard as it needs to Stoke its toxicity before unleashing its Steam, but the bat is another story. This plague-ridden purple X can outright slaughter you with one energy, dealing 70 damage alone.

The icing on the fungus cake is the poison status effect, bumping that to a guaranteed 80 damage, which can become 90 if you fail to evolve your Eevee EX by that point. Normal Eevees need not apply, for not even a Giant Cape will save these fellas. There are many reasons why I hate fighting Crobat EX, but that would be for a different post at another time. A personal bad hand RNG is one thing, but when your opponent has greater luck than you, your options are to either ride it out or hit the concede button. I never said this was a “high win rate” deck, just a consistent one.

Overall, I plan to adjust this list, and I may make an “end of the Season” follow-up post pertaining to this deck. I also may make similar deck “guides” on others that I have created this year. I hope this deck inspires you to try it out or, if you’re reading and haven’t played Pocket it, encourages you to give Pokémon Pocket a try. You don’t need to battle! Collecting is fine and just as fun! You’re going to have that itch to want to slam cards anyway, eventually.