Celestial Guardians: Full Review of Pocket's newest expansion!

Pocket's new expansion is here! "Celestial Guardians" Solgaleo and Lunala come with a set inspired by the game's 7th generation (Alola).

In this article, we'll be analyzing the new EX cards, trainer cards, items, and Pokémon tools from the expansion. Ratings will range from ★☆☆☆☆ (one star) to ★★★★★ (five stars):

Ratings

★☆☆☆☆: Bad card / won't see play.

★★☆☆☆: Good card for low-tier decks.

★★★☆☆: Good card for high-tier decks.

★★★★☆: Very good card, will see play in lots of different decks.

★★★★★: Excellent card, either meta-defining or a Staple in the meta.

I'll also show you some interesting lists with new cards that could be strong in the early days of the season 2 ranked queue.

First and foremost, let's address the elephant in the room and talk about Rare Candy. This is, without a doubt, the best card of the expansion and will be a new staple in the game.

It's somewhat common for developers to release one or two new staples in each expansion to spice up the season's metagame.

Rare Candy is certainly that card. This item allows you to skip a stage 1, evolving a basic Pokémon directly to stage 2 – for example, Charmander directly to Charizard without needing Charmeleon.

This changes the meta drastically and makes Stage 2 strategies relevant again.

Charizard ex A1-035 (the first Charizard ex) could return to the meta, along with Moltres ex, for example. Thus, a multitude of other strategies could become relevant again now with Rare Candy available.

Unlike staples from previous expansions, this one may not be played in all the meta decks, as 18T strategies and other archetypes that don't run Stage 2 Pokémon will probably still be relevant.

Decidueye ex - ★★★★★

Grass-type Pokémon have been receiving support cards in every expansion, and are increasingly well-positioned in the meta. Now, with Rare Candy, stage 2 strategies like Decidueye ex are much better. That's why this is likely to be one of the best EX cards in this expansion.

The new Lurantis deals 20 damage to all opposing Pokémon for just 1 Grass energy. And for 2 energy, Decidueye ex deals 100 damage to damaged Pokémon on the bench.

This is the best Snipe strategy of all when it comes to taking out the opponent's bench — a nice fit for the Decidueye theme.

All this combined with new support cards and new items makes one of the best decks in the early days of the format.

Dhelmise ex - ★★☆☆☆

Despite being a high-HP basic, Dhelmise ex is overshadowed by other better grass-type cards in the meta. It may take a while for it to find a home and settle within an archetype.

Incineroar ex - ★★★★☆

With Rare Candy, Incineroar ex is a great card, serving as a good frontline Pokémon (the one that you want to play first in the active spot).

Its first attack causes 30 damage and also burns, something that can break strategies that play low-health Pokémon in the active spot.

It also has a lot of health, reaching up to 200 HP if equipped with Giant Cape. Currently, only Venusaur ex can surpass that.

The second attack deals 140 points of damage, which is quite a lot in the current meta - but perhaps not so much for the new meta, since we will see stage 2 Pokémon more frequently.

Despite being a strong Pokémon with a straightforwad gameplan, water-type decks are very popular and very strong. This could leave Incineroar ex always in tier 1, nearly in tier S range.

Crabominable ex - ★★★★★

Water-type Pokémon are privileged because they have the best support cards. However, many strategies like this depend on Misty, and if you miss her Coinflips, your tier S deck suddenly drops to tier 2 or 1.

Now, with Crabominable ex, you are no longer dependent on Misty, and can now be more flexible with your water-type support cards, such as Irida.

Not to mention that, for just 1 water energy, you deal 80 damage - which is the same as an Articuno ex with 3 energies.

Whishiwashi ex - ★★☆☆☆

Wishiwashi ex exchanges deck quality for more damage to its main attack. It deals 150 damage if the entire board is made up of Wishiwashis or Wishiwashi ex.

Unfortunately, this Pokémon's setup is a bit slow and it is very vulnerable to some meta support cards, such as Cyrus and Sabrina.

Since the player already has a smaller amount of support cards in order to slot several Wishiwashi in the deck, the list will not be very consistent, and may not be the best one for climbing the ladder.

Alolan Raichu ex - ★★★☆☆

Similar to Gallade ex, but with a much faster setup, Alolan Raichu ex could be a hidden gem in this new meta.

With Stage 2 Pokémon becoming increasingly popular due to Rare Candy, a great answer to these high-energy strategies could be Alolan Raichu ex, which increases its more damage according to how much energy the opposing Pokémon has.

It may not be a very popular or strong strategy at the beginning of the season, but it is possible that this card could surprise the meta once strategies like Blastoise ex return to the spotlight.

Lunala ex - ★★☆☆☆

Despite having an interesting effect that fits well within the playstyle of Psychic-type decks, Lunala ex may be a Pokémon that is a bit too slow or unnecessary.

Unfortunately, Giratina ex is still the main focus of Psychic decks and is currently the best card in the game. Using Rare Candy in this list to evolve your Lunala ex requires a lot of resources, which could be used on support cards that heal or help Giratina ex win the match.

Any Lunala ex list seems like a worse version of Giratina ex decks.

Passimian ex - ★★★★★

Passimian ex solves a recurring problem in Fighting-type decks: energy.

Fighting-type strategies suffer greatly from not having effects that equip energy, but now they have Passimian ex, which, when knocked out, transfer its energy to a benched Pokémon.

This helps a lot in setting up slower cards that need a lot of energy to attack - which is the case with some great Fighting-type cards that were previously not meta.

Alolan Muk ex - ★★★☆☆

Alolan Muk ex is a fun card that wants to stack negative effects on the opponent's Pokémon.

Unfortunately, this strategy will never be high-tier, since we already use cards that heal negative effects in meta decks, such as Pokémon Center Lady — almost a staple for 18T decks and Giratina ex lists.

In any case, Alolan Muk ex can be a great rogue strategy, focused on stopping a specific meta deck that does not use any type of healing.

Solgaleo ex - ★★★★★

Solgaleo ex is definitely the best out of the Celestial Guardians pack.

With Rare Candy, it is one of the fastest 180 HP Pokémon in the entire meta, being a true tank that hits very hard.

The support cards are very strong when against Pokémon that deal a lot of damage at once, instead of dealing small instances of damage every turn.

The main idea of ​​Steel-type Pokémon is to absorb or reduce opposing damage. When you put this alongside 180 HP, and the ability to switch to and from the active spot with ease, it feels scaringly powerful.

Rayquaza ex - ★★★☆☆

Rayquaza ex is similar to Dragonite, albeit a little weaker.

The big difference between them is that Rayquaza ex hits with any energy, which makes its setup infinitely easier and faster than Dragonite's.

The problem is that 40 damage caused randomly to the opponent's Pokémon ends up being a very treacherous effect, which will often let you down, even after 4-time repeat. Often you'll be 10 damage short of 50 and can't knock out your opponents' Pokémon.

Rayquaza ex decks do the same thing as Decidueye ex, but slower and worse, since it is a luck-driven deck (RNG).

All of the trainers above are rated ★☆☆☆☆ (one star) for the same reason: they have very specific effects that match equally specific Pokémon that aren't currently in the meta.

Guzma - ★★★☆☆

Guzma is a great 18T card, or even against 18T strategies, which usually have a lot of equipments.

One copy should be more than enough; two copies of Guzma in the deck can compromise the list's consistency.

Lillie - ★★★★★

Lillie, like Rare Candy, is another meta-defining card from this expansion, which will focus on Stage 2 Pokémon.

Strategies within this archetype can now heal your Stage 2 Pokémon by 60 HP.

Grass-type decks, such as Decidueye ex lists, now have even more healing options, making their pokémon nearly immortal depending on the matchup.

Big Malasada - ★★★★☆

This is another healing option that also removes negative effects. This card enhances Grass-type strategies and other decks that need healing, and emphasizes the slower, stage 2-focused playstyle of this meta.

Fishing Net - ★★☆☆☆

An interesting card, allowing us to cycle Pokémons, but a little too much specific, and currently it doesn't fit the playstile of water-type decks.

Rotom Dex - ★☆☆☆☆

Normally, this kind of effect—looking at cards on top of the deck—is kind of pointless and only takes up a deck slot. A list of 20 cards needs every card to be strategically important, and this doesn’t help at all these days.

Poison Barb - ★★★★★

This is perhaps one of the best tools in the game. This card enables some overlooked strategies that synergize with the poison debuff.

Unfortunately, there are many cards that cure debuffs, but since Poison Barb is a tool, not an ability or attack, it is the fastest and most consistent way to poison enemies.

This card may be the main reason why we should include debuff-healing effects in our decks.

Leaf Cape - ★★★★★

Lastly, "Leaf Cape" - replacement for Giant Cape in grass-type decks.

With Giant Cape being one of the current best and most played cards, Leaf Cape is well-positioned to have the same success.

Thank you for reading this article! Hope you had fun and enjoyed the content.

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See you next time!