Pokemon TCG Pocket players are turning against Pikachu

Pikachu is under attack and it’s not from Team Rocket this time. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket players are criticizing the adorable mascot. Why? Well, it just so happens that Pikachu has become the star of one of the most popular — and strongest — decks in the game’s burgeoning competitive play mode.

Pikachu is front and center of the new game, a recently launched mobile app where players can collect and battle with digital cards. The electric-type Pokémon has its own themed booster pack, while the game itself offered six kinds of Pikachu cards at launch. There are the common cards, like the classic base set Pikachu from 1999 by Mitsuhiro Arita or the promo Pikachu. The Pokémon also gets plenty of rare pulls as well; there’s a bordered Pikachu ex card, a fancy shmancy “immersive art” Pikachu ex card that shows it in a forest, and even a super-rare golden background Pikachu.

The Pika-boss is sure sitting pretty on top, but its dominance extends further than that. As it turns out, the Pikachu ex card is one heck of a heavy hitter. Its only attack, Circle Circuit, requires two electric energy to use. The attack does 30 damage for each Benched Pokémon for a maximum output of 90 damage.

It might not sound devastating at first, but this sneaky little mouse is just so easy to use in battle. With Trainer cards like Poké Ball and Professor Oak, it’s pretty easy to set up a full bench in a turn or two; Do that, and you can blast through opponents with an attack that can be set up in a matter of two turns. Then, if your beloved electric mouse is threatened, a one energy retreat cost is no problem. Just swap it out for something else and buy some time to send out… a new Pikachu ex card.

Mewtwo ex has also caused its fair share of strife in the community, but Pikachu might be worse. At the second Ursiiday’s Pocket Weekly, an online TCG Pocket tournament with over 1,100 participants, 33 percent of the players entered the event with a Pikachu ex deck. In the end, 11 out of the top 18 players ran a deck using Pikachu ex, with a Pikachu deck taking first place.

Since the general pickup in competitive play, fans of the game have started criticizing Pikachu for its overwhelming power. “Never thought i’d develop a hatred for pikachu but pokemon pocket did that to me.” X user Ninaisnoob said, “just look at his smug little face about to deal 90 damage to me.”

In another online discussion, one person posted on the TCG Pocket subreddit in all caps, “I HATE PIKACHU EX!!!,” along with an image of the golden Pikachu with devil horns scrawled on top of it. The original poster, Uncomical117, described Pikachu ex as the, “CHEAPEST CARD IN THE GAME.” According to the user, Pikachu was the, “devil which came crawling straight from the pits of hell after rising from the lakes of fire being held up on thread spun by the Pokemon corporation themselves, it’s sword is greed and it’s shield is gluttony.”

The frustration makes perfect sense. As for me, I still adore Pikachu; I simply can’t imagine a world where I’d have to abandon my fav Pokémon. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t be a bit self-satisfied when a good counter to the Pikachu ex deck comes along.