The Mythical Island booster pack popped up in Pokémon TCG Pocket on Dec. 17, 2024, giving players a slew of new cards to experiment with and build new decks. One of the highlights is Aerodactyl ex, which is currently one of the most impressive decks in the game.
Here, we’ve gathered all the cards you need to build the best Aerodactyl ex deck in Pocket, including a full card list, common variants, how it all works, and general strengths and weaknesses to watch out for when taking it into matches.
Best Aerodactyl ex deck list in Pokémon TCG Pocket
While other variants of the Aerodactyl ex Pocket deck list do exist, usually including Marshadow or Marowak ex, we’ve opted to include another new Mythical Island gem—Mew ex. This card immediately split the community in two when it was revealed and it’s essential to use with Aerodactyl ex.
It’s not an overly Pokémon-heavy decklist, with the bulk of the 20 card slots being taken up by Supporters to help get Aerodactyl ex out quickly. Other than the new ex cards, the rest of the cards in the list below should be relatively easy to obtain.
Assuming you’ve managed to pick up the new Aerodactyl ex and Mew ex cards in Pocket, the rest of this deck is fairly easy to come by if you’ve got Pack Hourglasses and Pack Points to burn.
The Mankey and Primeape cards come from Charizard Genetic Apex booster packs specifically, while the Old Amber Trainer card can be found in the Mewtwo Genetic Apex booster pack. They’re relatively common cards so pulling them should be a breeze, and if not, you can always buy them with Pack Points.
This is a predominantly Fighting-type deck, with Mew ex acting as the only exception. The main aim here is to use the opponent’s cards against them, with Aerodactyl ex preventing an opponent from evolving their Active easily and Mew ex having access to Genome Hacking for cheap, heavy-hitting attacks.
We opted for Mew ex as the secondary source of damage in this deck, although other popular variants of Aerodactyl ex do exist. Frequently seen inclusions are:
- Marshadow from Mythical Island, dealing up to 100 damage a pop with Revenge
- Cubone and Marowak from Genetic Apex, for a slightly RNG-heavy alternative source of damage that still sticks to the Fighting-type theme
- Aerodactyl from Genetic Apex as an extra piece of tech to manage tricky Active Pokémon
- The Pidgeot ex line from Genetic Apex to help with set-up and card management
If you take our Aerodactyl ex deck for a spin and you don’t like how Genome Hacking feels in the line-up, it’s worth experimenting with some of these additional variations to find a decklist that works for your personal playstyle.
How the Aerodactyl deck works
Aerodactyl ex is the clear star of the show, featuring both a cheap attack that deals 80 damage and the Primeval Law ability. This ability stops an opponent from playing Pokémon from their hand to evolve their Active Pokémon, offering unparalleled levels of control.
Alongside this, Mew ex acts as a secondary source of damage, with Genome Hacking allowing it to use an opponent’s Active Pokémon’s move against it for three Colorless Energy Tokens. It also has 130 HP, which means that it’s a great Basic to start the game with.
Energy Token management is always a difficulty in multi-type decks in Pocket thanks to Tokens generating randomly each turn, but this deck manages to skim over a lot of the commonly seen issues thanks to the attacks it has on offer.
Aerodactyl ex can use one of Mew ex’s Psychic-type Tokens if needed for Land Crush, meaning it can start dealing chunks of 80 damage early on, and Mew ex has no particular Energy requirements for its Genome Hacking ability. So whether you pull Fighting-type or Psychic-type Energy Tokens more frequently, both ‘mons will thrive.
Following up Mew ex and Aerodactyl ex, Mankey and Primeape act as additional, single-prize damage dealers. Mankey doesn’t have much to offer in the way of damage, but Primeape can deal a mighty 100 damage with Fight Back if it has any damage on it for just two Energy Tokens.
The rest of the deck list is dedicated to Supporters to help get the critters into position as quickly as possible. Professor’s Research and the Poké Ball cards help with draw power, while Red Card and Sabrina help to damage the opponent’s strategy and manage the playing field.
Strengths and weaknesses
One of the main strengths of this deck is the level of control that it offers over an opponent. Some popular decks in the Pocket meta rely on quick evolutions to get their heavy hitters out onto the field, so being able to stop or delay this and forcing Bench evolutions can be a game-changer.
Additionally, Aerodactyl ex, Mew ex, and Primeape have relatively Energy-efficient attacks. Being able to use an opponent’s attack against itself for just three Colorless Energy or bite back with 100 damage for 2 Energy Tokens with Primeape can quickly stop the other player from setting up and making progress.
A downside of the Aerodactyl ex deck is that Aerodactyl ex itself is weak to Electric-type Pokemon, which feature heavily in some of the most popular decks in the game like Pikachu ex.
Having other Pokémon like Mew ex on hand can help, but this is a notable struggle that you’ll need to consider when playing.
Additionally, Aerodactyl ex does require searching and set-up. Decks that don’t need any evolutions to start rolling out damage can work their way into position quickly, forcing Aerodactyl ex to play defensively—which is not something it shines in. An example of this is the Celebi ex and Serperior deck.
Pocket is a quick game, especially when compared to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, so having to take the time to set up and evolve Old Amber into Aerodactyl ex and Mankey into Primeape can give your opponent time to gain momentum.
Despite this, Aerodactyl ex offers unparalleled control over the opponent and can quickly deal high amounts of damage. If you’re willing to play a deck that requires setting up—or in the case of the Marowak variant, requires a little luck—then this is one worth trying out today.
To learn more about Mythical Island and the other fantastic cards that this themed booster pack contains, make sure to check out our full card list here. It’s one of the most exciting additions to Pocket and it’s had an undeniable impact on the competitive meta.
