Celestial Guardians is rich with Trainer cards. With 14 Trainers, there is representation in tools, items, and supporters in this set. The supporters are the most combo-focused batch to be launched in aPokemon Pocketset. Nearly every supporter card must be paired with a specific Pokemon, leading to a devastating combination.
Stage 2 Pokemon are the big winners from this set. There are cards that boost the speed of assembling a fully evolved Pokemon, as well as cards to keep them alive. There hasn’t been a set with this many exciting Trainers since the initial launch of Pokemon Pocket.
10Fishing Net
An interesting tech choice forWater decks, Fishing Net will allow you to bring back strong ex cards like Articuno ex and Palkia ex. This gives you the option of using Misty to bring a discarded Pokemon back into the game. It also solves one of the biggest problems with Gyarados ex decks, where their Magikarp gets picked off early.
Alternatively, you can turn your ex-oriented Water deck into a bit of a one-point deck by consistently resurrecting and playing a Manaphy. As long as you can retreat your active Pokemon to put Manaphy back in play, you can buy time to build up a lot of energy.
9Lana
Similar to Meowscarada, Araquanid is an anti-meta card that will disproportionately be good against many staples such as Darkrai ex, Dialga ex, Giratina ex, and Arceus ex. Normally, being a Stage 2 would be quite a disadvantage, but thanks togame-changing card in Rare Candy, this has been heavily mitigated.
Lana combines the effects of Sabrina and Cyrus to make it one of the best finishing cards. With full control over your opponent’s backrow, you’re able to score an easy 2 points on any deck that is heavy on ex Basics. Of course, Lana is still limited since it can only work with one Pokemon type, and it’s not going to be as effective against an increasing number of Stage 2 decks, thanks to Rare Candy.
8Mallow
A full heal is nothing to sneeze at, and while it’s not healing Shiinotic, it certainly is worth healing Tsareena with Mallow. Tsareena is a Stage 2 Basic, which will be more playable due to Rare Candy. The drawback of losing all energy is hardly relevant since Tsareena only needs one energy to attack.
Tsareena’s damage is quite high; it can go up to 150 if you’re lucky, which one-shots most Basic ex Pokemon. Running two evolutionary lines together is the best way to get value out of Rare Candy, and Tsareena allows you to build a one-point deck of strong Stage 2s, thanks to Mewoscarda. If you can make room for Mallow, you have one of the best anti-meta decks in Pokemon Pocket.
7Ilima
Koga and Budding Expeditioner show the power of returning a card to your hand. With Ilima, all Normal Pokemon can tank hits and effectively heal all HP now. Arceus ex is one of the best ex Pokemon of its set, and with its already high HP of 140, it’ll be a serious problem trying to take it down.
Barry-based decks were a niche hit thanks to the effectiveness of TL Snorlax. TL Snorlax could tank hits well, but with a four retreat cost, you had to commit hard when playing it. Ilima now gives this deck more flexibility, allowing you to damage-soak attacks with Snorlax while your backrow properly builds up to attack.
6Poison Barb
This is an alternate Pokemon Tool to Rocky Helmet, which is a staple Tool. It doesn’t supply the burst damage of Rocky Helmet, but it’s able to set up kills at a comparable rate. Poison usually deals 20 damage by the time it is your turn again unless your opponent retreats, which is a win since you cost them energy or a Trainer card.
Oftentimes, your opponent won’t have the option of retreating their Pokemon, which means the poison from Poison Barb will eclipse the damage done by a Rocky Helmet. Even long after your Pokemon equipped with Poison Barb is defeated, it can still dish out damage.
5Kiawe
One of the better Alolan-specific cards is Alolan Marowak. On average, its attack does over 100 damage, with an added 20 from applying Burn. Kiwawe allows you to attack with only one energy applied, adding a significant amount of burst damage early game.
Turtonator is a more tricky Pokemon to use. It has a four retreat cost and discards energy, so you’re likely stuck with it if you play it. Alolan Marowak is the main card you want to use with Kiwawe. Alolan Marowak has great stats, and it isn’t an ex, so you may combine it with other powerful one-point Fire Pokemon like GA Ninetales and Magmar variants.
4Leaf Cape
Grass Pokemon continue to be the monarchs of healing. Leaf Cape is a complete upgrade over Giant Cape, but it is exclusive only to Grass types. This card, saddled with the Grass-exclusive Erika, means you can generate 80 HP in one turn.
Celebi ex, which had been held back by its low HP, can become significantly more relevant since it can tank attacks from Arceus ex, Giratina ex, and Palkia ex. Exeggutor is now out of kill range of attacks enhanced by Red as well, thanks to Leaf Cape.
3Lillie
No card heals more than Lillie in Pokemon Pocket. Most Basic Pokemon do not even have more than 60 HP total, so it’s a game-changing card. Stage 2’s drawbacks of being slower have been reduced thanks to the addition of Rare Candy, as well as older trainer cards like Pokemon Communication and Iono.
Stage 2 ex Pokemon usually have well over 140 HP, which means it typically takes two attacks to defeat them. Lillie is going to stretch that to three, and that’s not including healing abilities from Potion and Giant Cape, which can be played on the same turn.
2Rare Candy
In the traditional Pokemon TCG, Rare Candy was a meta-defining card. Celestial Guardians have added many quality Stage 2 cards to the pool, which will greatly raise the effectiveness of Rare Candy. Basic ex’s have typically been the strongest Pokemon, and Rare Candy will mitigate much of their effectiveness.
Stage 1 cards are very weak when they’re part of a two-stage evolutionary line. Skipping over them to play a Stage 2 means you can have a Beedrill ex on your second turn, and considering it only needs two energy, that’s going to be hard to overcome.
1Guzma
This is the first card in Pokemon Pocket to offer counterplay to Pokemon tools. Rocky Helmet and Giant Cape have been staples, but now Guzma gives you the power to get rid of them.
What makes Guzma so incredible is that it hits all tools not just one. Players will now have to hold onto their tools until a more opportune moment, instead of filling their benches with Rocky Helmets. Guzma is going to leave a lot of Pokemon within ideal kill range, since Giant Cape and Leaf Capear have hard counters, and Skarmory are going to take a big hit in effectiveness.
