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Some people say you shouldn’t play with strong Pokemon, you should play with your favorites. But one of my favorites is the legendary dragon, Rayquaza, and Pokemon TCG Pocket’s newest Drop Event finally brings it to digital cardboard form.
Like previous drop events, the Rayquaza ex Drop Event introduces some mechanically unique cards, plus fresh reprints of important cards from older sets. This is a great way to catch up on your collection if you started late! You’ll need to overcome some challenges to earn your prizes, of course, and we’ve got everything you need to succeed!
What Is the Rayquaza ex Drop Event?
Drop events are Solo Battle events where you battle against a series of progressively more difficult AI-controlled decks in order to earn Promo Packs. Each Promo Pack contains one of the five new promo cards introduced in that event. The Rayquaza ex Drop Eventintroduces both Rayquaza and Rayquaza exas promo cards.
Rayquaza ex is a powerful new card that could be the basis of a decksimilar to the popular Wugtrio ex deck. But it’s also the first ex Pokemon released in a Drop event that’s available elsewhere. Another version in the Super Rare style is available through the Special Missions 2025 event.
The Rayquaza ex Drop Event runsfrom July 17, 2025, until June 05, 2025, giving you two weeks to earn as many Promo Packs as possible.
Rayquaza ex Drop Event New Cards
The Rayquaza ex Drop Event introduces five new cards:two brand-new ones, and three reprintsof cards that are already available. The three reprints have already had a home in decks in previous metas, so if you started late they can help you catch up to the early players.
The first new card is the one the event is named for: Rayquaza ex. Rayquaza ex is a Colorless Basic ex Pokemon with 140 HP and the Draco Meteor attack.It works the same as Dragonite’s Draco Meteor, but with a little lower damage. That’s a fair trade for not requiring two Energy types, though!
This is the first mechanically unique card introduced in a Drop event thatcan be earned in another way. A single copy of the full-art version is available through the 2025 Special Missions event.
The second functionally new card isthe non-ex version of Rayquaza. This one is another Colorless Basic Pokemon, but instead of doing 40 damage four times to random Pokemon, it does 70 to the Active Pokemon, and may get a damage boost if you get lucky on coin flips. While neat, it isn’t cost-effective, andprobably won’t find a home in any decks.
The remaining three promos are all reprints of older cards.Froakie is a key piece for Greninja decks, which may be more viable with the introduction of Rare Candy, whileFarfetch’d still occasionally shows up as a setup Pokemon, dealing solid damage while you set up your ace Pokemon.
Exeggcute isn’t as useful, since the most popular Exeggutor card, Exeggutor ex, only needs one Energy, making Growth Spurt less useful than Seed Bomb, from the Genetic Apex print. But if the Alolan Exeggutor or the Mythical Island version (reprinted in Celestial Guardians) becomes popular, it might see some play.
Rayquaza ex Drop Event Battles
There are four different decks to play against, butto unlock each one you need to defeat the previous one. As you unlock more battles, they increase in difficulty, but the drop rate for Promo Packs increases, too! The most difficult Expert matches always award a Promo Pack.
You need Event Stamina to play these matches, butyou only spend that Event Stamina when you win a match. So you should always attempt the most difficult match you’re able to, in order to earn the maximum number of Promo Packs!
Event Hourglasses don’t disappear at the end of Drop events, so once you have all the promo cards you want,you can save Event Hourglasses for the next one. This can offset bad luck if you don’t pick up the rare cards you want and the event is drawing to a close.
Beginner - Rayquaza Deck
The Beginner deck features 18 Pokemon, 14 of which are Basic, andall of which are weak to Lightning-type attacks. There’s a single Rayquaza in the deck, but with so many Basic Pokemon it’s possible that you won’t even see it.
While it’s pretty easy to beat this deck with anything you have lying around,we recommendan old-school Pikachu ex deck. Since the Genetic Apex Pikachu ex needs other Pokemon in play, this deck is ideal for finishing all the Battle Tasks at once, allowing you to claim your prizes and move on to more profitable battles.
Reward
First-Time Rewards.
Shop Ticket, Pack Hourglass x15, Promo Pack A Series Vol. 7
Put three Basic Pokemon into play.
Pack Hourglass x15
Knock Out your opponent’s Active Pokemon one time with an attack from a Lightning-type Pokemon.
Event Hourglass x5
Intermediate - Rayquaza Deck
The Intermediate Rayquaza deck features a few key upgrades: it adds a second Rayquaza, drops two Pokemon for Professor’s Research, and picks up a single Skitty/Delcatty line that can accelerate Rayquaza’s Energy requirement. This makes the deck a little more consistent,but not much more of a threat.
The same Pikachu ex deck works just fine here, butyou may find yourself short on Stage 1 Pokemonto finish the Battle Tasks. Don’t worry, though: You don’t need to win the Battle (and spend an Event Energy) to complete that one. If you miss it,just start again, evolve any Pokemon, and concede, and you’ll get your reward.
Knock Out your opponent’s Active Pokémon two times with an attack from a Lightning-type Pokemon.
Advanced - Rayquaza ex Deck
The Advanced deck swaps one Rayquaza for a Rayquaza ex, andpicks up some better Energy support in two copies of Manaphy. Manaphy’s Oceanic Gift allows your opponent to set up Rayquaza ex in just a couple of turns, while the Greninja they added can deal chip damage for free to any Pokemon.
While that Pikachu ex deck works just fine, and will finish a couple of missions easily,we recommend the Meowscarada / Magnezone deckfor the one that requires you to win without any four-diamond or rarer cards. Both Meowscarada and Magnezone can make light work of the entire deck.
The promo Sprigatito from April 2025’s Premium Pass and the Illustration Rare Meowscaradawill prevent you from completing the rarity-based Battle Task. Make sure all Pokemon cards are at their lowest rarity.
Wonder Hourglass x5
Win this battle using a deck where all the Pokemon cards are of one, two, or three diamond rarity.
Expert - Rayquaza ex Deck
The Expert deck cuts a lot of the fat, leaving only nine Pokemon, including two sets of Manaphy, Rayquaza ex, and Greninja lines.Giant Capes and Irida make everything a little harder to take down, and Leaf allows Manaphy to switch out easily. This deck can actually pose a threat.
Your opponent always wants Manaphy in front until Rayquaza ex is ready to go, soif you’re able to take Manaphy out early, you can get some free hits on the ace Pokemon. Watch for opportunities to force a switch, because even taking out a Froakie before it can evolve is a big advantage.
Everything in this deck is still weak to Lightning, soPikachu ex and Magnezone both remain good choices. Just be ready to take a second shot at Rayquaza ex, which has enough HP to survive an attack from either Pokemon, even with type advantage.
Win 10 or more battles.
Win 20 or more battles.
