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Updated June 9, 2026Mega Altaria ex and Espeon Deck Guide in Pokémon TCG Pocket
Fill your bench, swing for up to 130, and out-heal the opponent with Espeon ex.
This is a Psychic deck that turns a full bench into raw damage. Mega Altaria ex scales its attack with every Pokemon you have benched, while Espeon ex sits behind it healing the damage your opponents try to stack up. The win condition is simple: build a wide bench, hit for big numbers with Mega Harmony, and grind your way to three points faster than the opponent can answer two heavy psychic attackers.
The decklist
How it works
Mega Altaria ex is the centerpiece and the reason the deck hits so hard. It is
a Stage 1 with 190 HP that evolves directly from Swablu, so there is no
special item needed to bring it down, you simply place Swablu and evolve. Its
attack, Mega Harmony, costs Psychic and does 40
plus 30 more for each of your Benched Pokemon. With an empty bench that is
only 40, but with a full bench of three it reaches 130, which is enough to
two-shot almost anything and one-shot many lighter attackers. The weakness to
metal is the main thing to watch, so be careful against metal types that can
race your 190 HP.
Espeon ex is the support pillar that makes the deck so durable. It is a Stage
1 with 140 HP that evolves from Eevee, and its Super Psy Bolt attack costs
Psychic for a flat 80 damage. The real value is
the Psychic Healing ability: once during your turn, while Espeon ex is in the
Active Spot, you may heal 30 damage from one of your Pokemon. That heal lets
you reset chip damage on Mega Altaria ex or extend Espeon ex's own life,
effectively giving you a soft extra 30 HP every turn. Its weakness is
darkness, so respect dark attackers that can punch through the 140 HP.
Swablu is the basic that everything depends on, since it is the only line into
Mega Altaria ex. It is a Basic with 50 HP and a Peck attack that costs
Colorless for 20 damage. You almost never attack with it,
its job is to survive one turn so it can evolve. Because the 50 HP is fragile,
you want to get Swablu down early and evolve quickly, and Poke Ball helps you
find the second copy when you need a backup. Keeping a spare Swablu in hand
protects you from losing your main attacker to an early knockout.
Eevee is the entry point for Espeon ex and a useful bench body in its own
right. It is a Basic with 60 HP and a Tackle attack that costs
Colorless for 20 damage. Like Swablu, it is rarely the
card you attack with, but every Eevee you bench also counts toward Mega
Harmony's damage, so getting both copies down early pushes your numbers up and
sets up a fast Espeon ex. Search it out with Poke Ball when you need a second
psychic attacker, and evolve it the moment you have two energy and an Active
slot to spare.
Matchups
| Matchup | Favorability | How to play it |
|---|---|---|
| Fragile single-point aggro | Heavily favored | Race them with Mega Harmony, since even a half-full bench out-damages their attackers. Lean on Espeon ex's Psychic Healing to erase their chip damage and they simply cannot keep up. |
| Stage 2 evolution decks | Favored | They are slower to set up, so flood your bench early and start swinging before their main attacker is online. Use Sabrina to shove their developing Active Pokémon away and cost them a turn of evolving. |
| Other psychic mirror decks | Even | Whoever fills their bench and lands the first full Mega Harmony usually wins, so prioritize Poke Ball and Professor's Research to build width fast. Hold Sabrina for the turn you can knock out their evolved attacker after the forced switch. |
| Bench-spread and snipe decks | Unfavored | They punish your wide bench by damaging multiple Pokemon at once, which shrinks your healing efficiency. Lead with Espeon ex Active so Psychic Healing keeps your most damaged Pokemon alive, and use X Speed to rotate a hurt attacker out of danger. |
| Heavy metal-type attackers | Heavily unfavored | Mega Altaria ex's metal weakness means they two-shot or one-shot your 190 HP wall. Pivot to attacking with Espeon ex's flat 80 Super Psy Bolt, keep healing, and use Sabrina to disrupt their setup whenever you can. |
Tech options and swaps
The flex slots are mostly in the trainer lineup. X Speed reduces a retreat cost and is great for pivoting a damaged attacker to the bench so Espeon ex can heal it, but if you prefer disruption you can shave a copy for more aggressive lines. Giant Cape adds HP to whichever Pokemon holds it, which is excellent on Mega Altaria ex to push it past common one-shot thresholds or on Espeon ex to make it harder to remove. If you find you never have time to set up, the easiest cut is one Giant Cape in favor of more consistency, but two copies of every trainer here is a clean, balanced build.
How to pilot it
- Opening priority is a basic you can evolve. You want either Swablu or Eevee in your opening hand, ideally both, since a turn-one bench is everything.
- On the opening turns, get Swablu and at least one Eevee onto the bench and attach Psychic to your intended attacker. Use Poke Ball to dig for the second basic and Professor's Research to refill your hand.
- Sequence energy onto Mega Altaria ex first if your bench is already wide, since Mega Harmony's value spikes with more benched Pokemon. If your bench is thin, attach to Espeon ex instead and chip for 80 while you keep building.
- Evolve into Mega Altaria ex once you have two or three Pokemon benched, then keep adding bodies so Mega Harmony climbs from 40 toward its ceiling of 130 with a full bench of three.
- Once Espeon ex is online and Active, fire Psychic Healing every single turn to heal 30, even when nothing looks urgent, because that heal compounds over a long game.
- Use Sabrina to push a charged attacker out of the Active Spot at the worst moment for them, and X Speed to retreat a hurt attacker cheaply so it can be healed. The common misplay is over-extending energy onto a single attacker and getting blown out by a knockout, so spread your setup across both psychic threats.
Deck strengths
- Mega Altaria ex scales from 40 up to 130 damage, letting one attacker threaten almost anything once your bench is full.
- Espeon ex's Psychic Healing gives a recurring 30 heal every turn, making your attackers far stickier than their printed HP suggests.
- Both main attackers are Stage 1, so the deck sets up faster than Stage 2 strategies.
- Giant Cape and the healing stack to push Mega Altaria ex's effective bulk well past 190 HP.
Deck weaknesses
- Mega Altaria ex's metal weakness means dedicated metal attackers can race past its 190 HP.
- The damage ceiling depends entirely on a wide bench, so any deck that spreads damage or thins your bench cuts into your output.
- A 50 HP Swablu and 60 HP Eevee are fragile, and losing your basics early stalls the whole plan.
- With only two psychic attackers, an unlucky run of draws that keeps both Swablu copies at the bottom of the deck can leave you short on offense.
Is it worth building?
This is a strong, focused deck that rewards good sequencing and patient bench building. The card cost is moderate: you need two Mega Altaria ex and two Espeon ex, plus their basics, and the trainer suite of Professor's Research, Poke Ball, Potion, Sabrina, Giant Cape, and X Speed is largely staple cards you likely already own. It suits players who enjoy a proactive plan with a built-in safety net rather than pure all-out aggression. If you can handle the metal-weakness matchups with careful Espeon ex play, this deck delivers consistent, high-ceiling pressure that holds up across a wide range of opponents.
