The Best Cards from Pokémon Pocket: Wisdom of Sea and Sky

By Charles

Generation 2 is my favourite generation, and I'm so happy that Baby Pokémon are holographic again, just like in the Neo series. The card effects in this set appear to be very strong, but unfortunately, most are too awkward to be used. I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for this list.

August 11, 2025

Raikou 71/161H

10.

Raikou is a decent single-point basic that is useful for Lightning decks that don't have another way of dealing with Oricorio in one hit. Thanks to recent Lightning support cards Zeraora, Pichu and Elemental Switch, Raikou doesn't take up important Energy attachments. With 90 HP, 70 damage for two Energy and only one Retreat, it's clear that Pokémon TCG Pocket has had quite a bit of power creep. Poor Farfetch'd doesn't stand a chance anymore.

9.

Cleffa 77/161L

The first Baby Pokémon on the list, Cleffa is a good starter for Dragonite ex decks that need to find their Stage 2 quickly. The liability Cleffa creates isn't a big deal since once Dragonite is set up, you have a very high chance of winning. Sylveon ex might still be better for most decks, but I'm sure that Cleffa will continue to find a place from time to time. It may even be used in tandem with Sylveon ex to clear through an entire deck in just a few turns.

Ho-Oh ex is the most exciting card from this set, but so far, it falls flat. The Energy acceleration is amazing, entirely fueling a Benched Pokémon while doing lots of damage. However, you have to attach three Energies to Ho-Oh itself, so this card has to be thought of as a 2-for-1 attacker, not a support card. Although it is clearly designed to work with Lugia ex, I have seen it more with Snorlax ex. You can keep Snorlax in the Active Spot until Ho-Oh is ready, then swap in Ho-Oh while healing all the damage with Ilima. This deck still isn't great, being emblematic of how awkward Ho-oh ex is.

8.

Ho-Oh ex 34/161H

7.

Crobat ex 109/161H

Crobat ex has one of the scariest attacks in the game, especially when paired with one or two Nihilego. Up to 100 damage for one Energy card is very efficient, so if you get this card out early, you will often find yourself with an auto-win. Unfortunately, Crobat is too awkward to be one of the best decks. Your opponent can easily Sabrina or Cyrus to push Crobat out of the way. If your opponent manages to set up before you can attack with Crobat, they can usually deal with you in two hits and steamroll the Bench. I think Crobat will need a better partner if it wants to take over the metagame.

6.

Donphan ex 100/161H

Donphan ex can do a lot of damage very quickly and completely overwhelm your opponent. 50 damage turn 2 followed up by 110 turn 3 outclasses Darkrai, but if your opponent can match your tempo, Donphan falls apart. You have to build up 3 Energy all over again on another Donphan, but it might be too late. Your opponent will still have their attacker ready to destroy your backup. Donphan needs good Fighting energy acceleration if it wants to be a top card.

Magby is simple, but effective. In a game that revolves around Energy attachments, getting one turn ahead is a huge win. In addition, if you have Magby (or Pichu) in your deck, going first is objectively better. You get to draw cards and attack first with the drawback of not getting an Energy attachment, but Magby's free attack allows you to have the best of both worlds. Unfortunately for Magby, the strong Fire-Type cards don't work well with it. Shining Revelry's Charizard ex has its own attack that is three times as fast, and being a one-point liability means that Ho-Oh wouldn't have the freedom to safely set up another attacker.

5.

Magby 31/161H

4.

Pichu 66/161L

Pichu gives your opponent an easy target and uses your first attack to get one extra Energy - it seems like a bad deal at first. However, just like in the case of Dark Pendant, one extra resource makes a big difference in this game. If you only keep Pichu in the Active for one turn, it probably won't be Knocked Out, since it has no Weakness or Retreat Cost. Even if Pichu does get Knocked Out, pairing it with strong single-point cards like Oricorio and Silvally offsets this. Magby isn't as good since it doesn't fit as well with any popular Fire-Types.

3.

Elemental Switch 151/161L

Elemental Switch is an example of a relatively weak TCG card being very powerful in Pocket. Fire, Water and Electric decks can now be much more flexible with their attackers as Energy can move around the field. Electric decks benefit from this card the most thanks to Zeraora. Now, you can attach for turn, use Pichu's Crackly toss, activate Zeraora's Ability, retreat Pichu, and Elemental Switch all the Energy to your attacker. In this way, you could have up to 5 Energies on an attacker by Turn 2. Since the set's release, we have seen multiple "Electric Box" decks experimenting with this card.

2.

Silver 158/161H

Espeon ex 83/161L

1.

When I first saw this card, I didn't think it would be great, but it's actually very useful in pretty much every deck. Just like Dark Pendant, Silver lets you eliminate your opponent's resources early on, but it allows you to choose what card to get rid of. While you can only choose Supporter cards, these are typically the most important cards to start off with anyway. It can be useful in the late game as well to get rid of game-ending Supporters like Cyrus or Lusamine. This card will see similar use to Mars, appearing as a one-of in most decks.

Espeon ex is the perfect partner for the already popular Sylveon ex. Of course, they both evolve from Eevee, meaning you only need two Eevee and two Eevee ex for Basics. Espeon does slightly more damage than Sylveon, allows you to only run Psychic Energy, and makes it easier for the single-point Sylveon to do big damage. On top of all that, Espeon ex also provides built-in healing on top of the Eevee Bag item card that was released in Eevee Grove. This is a great example of a card that isn't inherently good but does very well with the right teammates.

There aren't very many all-new deck archetypes from this set, but there are small upgrades to the strategies we're used to. On the bright side, you won't have to worry so much about finding all of the cards - main "a" sets can feel impossible to complete. I'm looking forward to see what other Baby Pokémon get released and whether or not they continue past A4.