Images courtesy of The Pokémon Company
The Space-Time Smackdown meta is settling and players are preparing for the next big shake-up on February 28th. However, in the time we have left before that next mini-set, let’s go over one of the game’s Tier 1 decks. This deck was a focal point for many players even before Space-Time Smackdown launched. It features a one-two punch between Manaphy and Palkia ex, respectively, backed up by Mythical Island‘s iteration of Vaporeon. This is Spatial Splash, a deck that will surely make a splash with your opponents!
Pokémon TCG Pocket Deck: Spatial Splash
Pokémon: 8
Items: 4
- Poké Ball x2
- Pokémon Communication x1
- X Speed x1
Supporters: 7
- Professor’s Research x2
- Misty x2
- Leaf x1
- Cyrus x1
- Sabrina x1
Pokémon Tools: 1
- Giant Cape x1
Spatial Rend
As we mentioned above, this deck runs on the synergy between Manaphy, Palkia ex, and Vaporeon’s ability from its Mythical Island iteration, Wash Out. Manaphy’s Oceanic Gift attack loads your Benched Palkia ex with Water Energy, then Manaphy (ideally) Retreats to Palkia ex, where it can then sweep your opponent. Vaporeon’s Wash Out, when combined with Oceanic Gift, ensures a glut of Water Energy for a second Dimensional Storm attack from Palkia ex.
Making Space for Trainers
You won’t often have the resources for three Dimensional Storm attacks, however. This is a situation where Palkia ex can falter; but it doesn’t have to. For the sake of getting in our best hits, we run one-ofs of both Cyrus and Sabrina. Only having one copy of each is generally better than going for two copies of one of them. Situations arise often where your opponent’s Active Pokémon is damaged and your opponent has it Retreat. Cyrus is fantastic for allowing you to finish that Pokémon off. When the situation differs from that one and no opposing Benched Pokémon has damage on it, Sabrina is more potent.
Room for… Debate?
This deck also features one-ofs of another two cards that are hotly contested. Leaf and X Speed are both very strong in their own right, but they’ve been the subject of many debates about superiority. Leaf is typically more potent of a Trainer card than X Speed. However, because it’s a Supporter, you can only play one per turn, denying your use of other Supporters. X Speed only lowers the Retreat Cost of your Pokémon by one Energy, but as an Item it allows you to do more later on in the turn. The main draw of using one copy of each is that both Eevee and Manaphy have a Retreat Cost of one Energy, while Vaporeon and Palkia ex both cost two Energy to Retreat. You won’t always need the full reduction that Leaf provides, so X Speed is more than sufficient quite often.
Finally, between the two other Promo-A Trainer cards, Pokémon Communication, and two copies of Misty (a staple in Water-type decks), you have a very strong deck. Some advice: never rely on Misty for any Water Energy. Instead, consider its heads-flips icing on a cake. They help you do better, but can’t be trusted reliably.
The Cost of Space (Spatial Splash In-Game Deck Costs)
Here is the full breakdown of costs in in-game currency for the Spatial Splash deck listed above.
- Shop Tickets: 10
- Pack Points: 2,000
- Genetic Apex: 210
- Charizard: 70
- Pikachu: 140
- Mythical Island: 440
- Space-Time Smackdown: 1,350
- Dialga: 140
- Palkia: 1,210
- Genetic Apex: 210
The cost in Pack Points for this deck sits at a smooth 2,000. As always, the choke point for the deck is in the Pokémon ex we’re using for the deck. Thankfully, the two copies of Palkia ex are the only Pokémon ex we’re utilizing here. As such, your main focus will be to get cards from the Palkia subset of Space-Time Smackdown. After you’ve acquired those cards, by then you’ll likely have the two copies of Manaphy and singleton Cyrus, so pivot over to Mythical Island for your Vaporeon and Eevee copies.
A note about why we use Eevee from Mythical Island over any other copy: its Continuous Steps attack has the potential to Knock Out any opposing Pokémon if you flip enough heads. No matter what, that Eevee is a veritable threat, if about as reliable as Misty. No other Eevee can boast that.
Anyway, after Mythical Island is squared away, you have a choice of either going into Genetic Apex‘s Pikachu subset for Misty, or returning to Space-Time Smackdown‘s Dialga packs for two other Trainer cards. After you’ve finished both, pivot to Genetic Apex‘s Charizard for your final lone copy of Sabrina.
The cards in Promo-A are easy to obtain as well. Poké Ball, Professor’s Research, and X Speed are all found there. Please refer to our other Pokémon TCG Pocket deck techs for reasons as to why we use these.
Plenty of Space for Expansion
All in all, this is a Tier 1 deck on many databases for a variety of reasons, namely top tournament finishes. However, with A2a coming out on February 28th, there’s plenty of space for this deck to get even stronger! (Side note: Please excuse the absolute mess of spatial puns used in this article.)
If you like this deck tech and the ideas behind it, consider checking out any of our other guides on Pokémon TCG Pocket decks. For example, our previous deck tech on Cresselia ex and Mismagius ex. Or, check out the one before it, a meta topper based around Darkrai ex and Magnezone!
