Best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks

For those who remember, the Pokemon TCG on the Gameboy was a game released in the late 90’s. The game has made a triumphant return on the Switch. For those of us who have played it, it’s been a long time, and for those who haven’t, this is a whole new experience. Since it’s been a while, we thought it’d be a good idea refresh our memories and look at the best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks.

If you’re into more modern Pokemon TCG, then consider checking out Pokemon TCG Live and our best decks guide for Standard. Also give a look at our best starter decks for TCG Live and our guide on how to redeem Pokemon TCG Codes to give you a solid start in the game.

Best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks – What sets are in the game?

Given that this game came out about 25 years ago (in Japan), the number of cards and sets that were out were very limited. This game includes cards from the following sets:

• Base Set
• Jungle
• Fossil

At this point, we still had the original 151 Pokemon, but there’s also a few promotional and unique cards that were around back then, such as the Surfing or Flying Pikachu cards.

Best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks – Rain Dance

The first of the best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks that we have is a deck called Rain Dance. This is a deck that focuses on powering out a Blastoise very quickly. With its ability, you can get Blastoise to deal 60 damage every turn. Combine this with multiple PlusPower, and you can knock out a lot of what you’re put up against.

The deck boasts a large selection of trainers and item cards to help you find what pieces you’re missing, as well as extra energy to suit up your Blastoise. We’re using Pokemon Breeder to skip the middle evolution to get Blastoise out as quickly as possible. Here is a sample deck list for Rain Dance.

4× Blastoise
4× Squirtle

4× Professor Oak
4× Bill
4× Computer Search
4× Item Finder
4× Poké Ball
3× Energy Search
4× Pokémon Breeder
4× Gust of Wind
4× PlusPower
1× Full Heal

16× Water Energy

Best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks – Zapdos FTK

Next, we have a combo deck, Zapdos FTK (First Turn Kill). This deck revolves around the promotional Zapdos card that was exclusive to this game. Zapdos’s ability says that whenever you put it into play, it deals 30 damage to a random Pokemon other than Zapdos. The deck then loops picking up Zapdos and replaying it to knock out all you opponent’s Pokemon and win on the first turn of the game.

Now you’re going to need multiple Zapdos to make this loop work, but you have many ways of finding multiple copies. Then you simply loop cards like Scoop Up, Revive and Recycle to get your Zapdos in and out of play enough times to win. There’s plenty of trainers that draw you cards and help you find the combo pieces necessary to win. Here’s a sample deck list for Zapdos FTK.

4 Zapdos Lv68 (GB)

4 Bill
4 Energy Search
4 Professor Oak
4 Itemfinder
4 Computer Search
4 Mr. Fuji
4 Scoop Up
4 Pokeball
4 Recycle
4 Maintenance
4 Pokedex
4 Revive

8 Lightning Energy

Best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks – Haymaker

The final deck that’s widely considered one of the best out there is a deck called Haymaker. This deck is one of the more aggressive, hard hitting decks in the game. This deck utilizes three main Pokemon, Hitmonchan, Electabuzz, and Scyther. Each have 70 base HP, which makes them able to start soaking up damage rather effectively. They also have very good damaging moves for the amount of energy that you need to use them.

While the Pokemon in the deck are aggressive, the rest of the deck is actually about keeping your opponent’s active Pokemon in a more vulnerable state. This can be done by denying them energy with cards like regular and Super Energy Removal, or switching them into a weaker bench Pokemon with Gust of Wind. The rest of the deck wants to help you draw cards and power up your Pokemon. Here’s a sample list for Haymaker.

4x Electabuzz
4x Hitmonchan
3x Scyther

3x Computer Search
3x Bill
4x Energy Removal
3x Energy Retrieval
3x Gust of Wind
3x Item Finder
4x PlusPower
3x Professor Oak
3x Scoop Up
3x Super Energy Removal

4x Double Colorless Energy
7x Fighting Energy
6x Lightning Energy

And those are the best Pokemon TCG Gameboy decks that you can play! These decks are fantastic for getting through the base game. But that being said, these are decks that you can take into online matches as well! If you’re interested in a new product that’s coming out that celebrates the base set, then check out our Pokemon TCG Classic guide to see what’s coming up. Also be sure to check out our most expensive cards in the up coming Pokemon 151 set.