Pokémon has various types of Pokémon, from the ever-reliable Water-types to the shockingly cool Electric-types. However, most fans who grew up loving Charizard likely still have a special place in their hearts for Fire-type Pokémon. Pokemon TCG Pocket lets players construct decks around their favorite Pokémon, but those who love to deal some fiery damage with a high risk and high reward card will love Magcargo, especially with the right deck around it.
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What is the Magcargo card in Pokémon TCG Pocket?
Magcargo is a high-risk and high-reward card in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Having 120 base health, this Fire-type stage 1 Pokémon is weak to Water-type attacks and requires three energy of any type to retreat. Players must have Slugma on their deck if they want to play this Pokémon, which increases the setup time. Of course, if you don’t have one, LootBar can help you with this tiny predicament.
While Magcargo looks like a rather mundane Pokémon at first glance, especially considering it isn’t even an ex, the card’s attack sets it apart from others. Spurt Fire is an attack that requires a Fire-type energy and another energy of any type. While it doesn’t have any base damage, it chooses one Pokémon at random three times and deals 50 damage every time a Pokémon is chosen.
Now, this may seem like a good thing, since that’s 150 guaranteed damage. The only problem is that the attack can also choose the user’s Pokémon. Except for Magcargo, the attack can target any Pokémon at random, making it a high-risk and high-reward card to utilize.
What are Magcargo’s weaknesses in Pokémon TCG Pocket?
The most obvious weakness of Magcargo in Pokémon TCG Pocket is the RNG nature of its only attack. Spurt Fire basically makes it so that you can’t set up weak cards on the bench, since any Pokémon with less than 150 health could potentially get targeted and taken down. Not to mention, smart opponents can spread out the risk by adding more Pokémon to their bench, ensuring the attack is less likely to take any specific Pokémon out.
Additionally, players also have to watch out for Magcargo’s weakness to Water-type attacks. The Pokémon doesn’t have much health, and its retreat cost is actually higher than its attack cost, which could make it tough for players to swap out for a different Pokémon when things get tough.
What is the best Magcargo deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket?
Finding the best Magcargo deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket is easier said than done, especially considering the card is usually used for meme decks. While Pokémon like Dragonite and Rayquaza ex also have similar RNG-based attacks without the risk of backfiring, they aren’t part of the meta. This isn’t to say Magcargo doesn’t have any benefits, since the Pokémon doesn’t take too long to get online, and could take the enemy by surprise in the early game when used alongside the right deck.
Consider using the following cards when constructing a deck centered around Magcargo in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
1. Slugma x2
2. Magcargo x2
3. Poke Ball x2
4. Professor’s Research x2
5. Team Rocket Grunt x2
6. Pokemon Center Lady x2
7. Rocky Helmet x2
8. Iono x1
9. Cyrus x2
10. Red Card x1
11. Pokemon Communication x1
12. Sabrina x1
Now, this deck has some room for flexibility. Some players may want to add a secondary attacker in case things go south, while others may want to send out a strong Pokémon first, and then follow it up with Magcargo. Having Magcargo as the last Pokémon will mitigate much of the risk, since players won’t have any need to have a Pokémon on the bench. However, the problem with this is that Magcargo is only strong in the early game. After that, its low health ensures that most Pokémon can take the Pokémon down in one shot. It may be a better idea to dedicate all support cards to helping Magcargo shine.
How to use the Magcargo deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket
While the risk for using this deck is high, so is the potential reward. Your first course of action is to get Magcargo online as soon as you can. At the same time, you want to ensure that the enemy isn’t able to properly set up any Pokémon that can take you down. For this, start by attaching the Rocky Helmet to your Slugma. Use the Poke Ball or Professor’s Research to get your hands on a Magcargo quickly. If you get another Slugma, then use Pokémon Communication to swap it out for a guaranteed Magcargo.
With Magcargo in the active spot and with enough energy, you now want to ensure Magcargo survives. You have the Pokémon Center Lady cards for this, but using cards like Cyrus, Sabrina, and even Iono are excellent for disrupting the enemy’s strategy, ensuring they can’t set up a one-shot kill. If required, you can also use Team Rocket Grunt to hopefully buy some more precious time. Dedicating so many support cards to one non-ex Pokémon may seem daunting, but it’s definitely worth it, especially if you utilize LootBar’s services to ensure you have all of the cards mentioned above.
The trick is to start using Spurt Fire as soon as you can, ideally before the enemy starts evolving their Pokémon. With at least 50 guaranteed damage, most base Pokémon will either get extremely damaged or get knocked out. Try to keep your bench empty at all times. The only exception is if your active Magcargo is about to get knocked out, in which case, you can start setting up your second Magcargo. Fortunately, the second one shouldn’t take too long, since you only need to attach to energies.
Conclusion
This is what to know about using the dangerous Magcargo card in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Even with the deck we mentioned, there’s a high risk involved with using Magcargo. The good news is that those who followed our guide perfectly will find themselves catching multiple enemy players by surprise when battling. Of course, if you don’t have most of the cards we mentioned for the deck, then we suggest that you buy a Pokémon TCG Pocket top up to change that.
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