Mega Rising: Complete Guide for Pokemon TCG Pocket Players

What is Mega Rising?

Mega Rising (B1) is the twelfth expansion for Pokemon TCG Pocket and marks the debut of the B Series of cards, launching on October 30, 2025. This expansion introduces Mega Evolution Pokemon ex to the game for the first time, commemorating Pokemon TCG Pocket's first anniversary milestone of over 150 million downloads.

Understanding Mega Evolution Mechanics

The High-Risk, High-Reward System

Mega Evolution Pokemon ex represent the most powerful cards in the game but come with a critical drawback: when a Mega Evolution ex is knocked out, your opponent receives 3 points instead of the usual 2 points. Since Pokemon TCG Pocket matches are won by earning 3 points total, losing a Mega Evolution results in an instant loss.

How Mega Evolution Works

Unlike the physical TCG where Mega Pokemon evolved from their ex counterparts, in Pokemon TCG Pocket, Mega Evolution follows standard evolution rules:

• Mega Evolution Pokemon skip their non-Mega forms
• A Stage 2 Mega (like Mega Blaziken ex) evolves directly from its Stage 1 form (Combusken), not from Blaziken ex
• Stage 1 Megas evolve from their Basic forms
• Basic Mega Pokemon (like Mega Pinsir ex or Mega Absol ex) can be played directly without evolution
• No turn-ending penalty when you Mega Evolve—you can attack immediately[8]

Three Booster Packs to Choose From in Mega Rising

Mega Rising splits into three distinct booster packs, similar to Genetic Apex:

1. Mega Rising: Mega Gyarados - Water-focused
2. Mega Rising: Mega Blaziken - Fire-focused
3. Mega Rising: Mega Altaria - Psychic/Dragon-focused

Each pack contains different cards, so choose wisely based on which Mega Evolution you want to build around.

Featured Mega Evolution Pokemon ex

The Big Three Headliners

Mega Gyarados ex (Water)

• HP: 210
• Type: Water
• Attack: 4 Energy, 140 damage
• Effect: Discard the top 3 cards of your opponent's deck
• Strategy: Can potentially discard crucial cards from your opponent's deck, winning games through disruption. Water energy acceleration through Misty makes this viable.

Mega Blaziken ex (Fire)

• HP: 210
• Type: Fire
• Stage: Stage 2 (evolves from Combusken)
• Attack: Mega Burning - 2 Energy, 120 damage
• Effect: Discards a Fire Energy from this Pokemon; opponent's Active Pokemon is now Burned
• Strategy: Extremely efficient at 2 energy cost with high damage and Burn. Pairs perfectly with Flame Patch, the new Item card that attaches Fire Energy from your discard pile to your Active Fire Pokemon.

Mega Altaria ex (Psychic)

• HP: 190
• Type: Psychic (Dragon-type in regular form)
• Stage: Stage 2 (evolves from Swablu)
• Strategy: Lower HP than other Megas but benefits from Psychic-type support cards.

Additional Mega Evolution Pokemon ex

Mega Pinsir ex (Grass)

• HP: 170
• Type: Grass
• Basic Pokemon (no evolution required)
• Attack: 3 Energy, 80 damage + 70 damage on heads (150 total)
• Strategy: Coin flip makes it inconsistent, but can deliver devastating 150 damage.

Mega Absol ex (Darkness)

• HP: 170
• Type: Darkness
• Basic Pokemon (no evolution required)
• Attack: 2 Energy, 80 damage
• Effect: Reveals opponent's hand and lets you choose a Supporter card to discard
• Strategy: Incredible disruption tool that strips key Supporter cards from your opponent's hand. Low cost makes it extremely efficient.

Mega Ampharos ex (Lightning)

• HP: 210
• Type: Lightning
• Stage: Stage 2 (evolves from Flaaffy)
• Attack: 3 Energy, 100 damage
• Effect: Deals 20 damage to a random opponent's Benched Pokemon 3 times (60 total bench damage)
• Strategy: Splits damage between active and bench, excellent for spreading pressure.

Key Support Pokemon with Powerful Abilities in Mega Rising

Jellicent (Water)

• HP: Unknown
• Stage: Stage 1
• Ability: Bouncy Body - If this Pokemon is in the Active Spot and is damaged by an attack from your opponent's Pokemon, take a Water Energy from your Energy Zone and attach it to 1 of your Benched Pokemon
• Attack: 60 damage
• Strategy: Sacrificial energy accelerator that powers up your bench while tanking hits. Pairs excellently with Mega Gyarados ex.

Hydreigon (Darkness)

• HP: 150
• Stage: Stage 2
• Ability: Roar in Unison - Once during your turn, you may take 2 Darkness Energy from your Energy Zone and attach it to this Pokemon. If you do, deal 30 damage to this Pokemon
• Attack: 130 damage, discard all Energy from this Pokemon
• Strategy: Self-accelerates for a massive 130 damage nuke. The 30 self-damage is worth the immediate threat.

Lilligant (Grass)

• HP: 80
• Ability: Toughness Aroma - Each of your Grass Pokemon gets +20 HP
• Strategy: Boosts all Grass Pokemon survivability. Can create situations where Pokemon lose HP when they evolve if they lose this buff.

Aegislash (Metal)

• HP: 140
• Ability: Cursed Metal - Attacks used by your Psychic Pokemon and Metal Pokemon do +30 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon
• Strategy: Damage booster for Psychic and Metal decks, making cards like Mega Altaria ex even more threatening.

Goomy (Dragon)

• HP: 40
• Ability: Sticky Membrane - As long as this Pokemon is in the Active Spot, attacks used by your opponent's Active Pokemon cost 1 Colorless Energy more
• Strategy: Energy disruption wall that slows down your opponent's setup. Vulnerable due to low HP but can buy crucial turns.

New Trainer Cards in Mega Rising

Supporter Cards

May

• Effect: Put 2 random Pokemon from your deck into your hand. For each Pokemon you put into your hand this way, choose a Pokemon to shuffle from your hand into your deck
• Strategy: Deck searching with a trade-off. Helps find evolution lines.[25][16]

Marlon

• Effect: Heal 70 damage from 1 of your Jellicent or Carracosta
• Strategy: Specialized healing for Water Pokemon. Keeps Jellicent alive longer to trigger its ability multiple times.[25][16]

Lisia

• Effect: Put 2 random Basic Pokemon with 50 HP or less from your deck into your hand
• Strategy: Fetches low-HP basics like Magikarp, Torchic, or baby Pokemon. Excellent for early-game setup.

Item and Tool Cards

Flame Patch (Item)

• Effect: Attach a Fire Energy from your discard pile to your Active Fire Pokemon
• Strategy: Game-changing for Fire decks, especially Mega Blaziken ex. Allows you to recover discarded energy immediately, creating sustainable pressure.

Sitrus Berry (Pokemon Tool)

• Effect: At the end of each turn, if the Pokemon this card is attached to has half of its maximum HP or less remaining, heal 30 damage from it. If you do, discard this card
• Strategy: Automatic healing trigger when Pokemon drop below 50% HP. Single-use but doesn't require manual activation.

Key Evolution Cards in Mega Rising

Magikarp (New Version)

• HP: 30
• Attack: 3 Energy - Put a random card from your deck that evolves from this Pokemon onto this Pokemon to evolve it
• Strategy: Instant evolution into Gyarados or Mega Gyarados ex when you have 3 energy. Accelerates the evolution process dramatically.

Combusken

• HP: 80
• Attack: 2 Energy, 50 damage
• Strategy: Solid Stage 1 that can apply pressure while setting up for Mega Blaziken ex.

Swablu

• Learns Sing
• Strategy: Can put opponent's Active Pokemon to sleep, buying time for evolution.

Deck Building Strategies in Mega Rising

Playing Around the 3-Point Rule

The most important strategic consideration in Mega Rising is understanding when to deploy your Mega Evolution ex:

Timing is Everything

• Don't lead with Mega Pokemon early in the game when your opponent has 3 points available
• Save your Mega Evolution as a closer when your opponent only needs 1 more point to win
• Force your opponent to go through your Mega to win the game, making it harder for them to secure victory

Build Multi-Attacker Decks

• Include regular ex Pokemon (2-point knockout) or non-ex Pokemon (1-point knockout) as primary attackers
• Use Mega Evolution as your late-game finisher
• This strategy prevents you from giving up an instant loss if your Mega gets knocked out early

Example: Mega Blaziken ex Deck Strategy

Pokemon (suggested)

• 2x Torchic
• 2x Combusken
• 2x Mega Blaziken ex
• 2x Supporting Fire attackers (can be regular Pokemon or ex)
• 2x Draw/utility Pokemon

Trainers

• 2x Flame Patch (energy recovery)
• 2x Professor's Research
• 2x Poke Ball
• 1-2x Sabrina
• 1-2x Giovanni
• Other consistency cards

Strategy:

1. Start with non-Mega attackers to take early knockouts
2. Use Flame Patch to maintain energy momentum
3. Build up Combusken on bench
4. Deploy Mega Blaziken ex when opponent needs 1 point, forcing them to face your 210 HP wall
5. Use Mega Burning's Burn effect to apply additional pressure

Example: Mega Gyarados ex Deck Strategy

Pokemon (suggested)

• 2x Magikarp (new version with evolution attack)
• 2x Mega Gyarados ex
• 2x Manaphy (energy acceleration with Oceanic Gift)
• 1-2x Origin Forme Palkia (secondary attacker)
• Other Water support

Trainers

• 2x Misty (energy acceleration)
• 2x Giant Cape (+50 HP, making Mega Gyarados ex reach 260 HP)
• 2x Irida
• Other Water support cards

Strategy:

1. Start with Manaphy to generate energy on bench
2. Use new Magikarp's 3-energy evolution attack to skip evolution wait
3. Misty for energy acceleration
4. Deploy Mega Gyarados ex as finisher with 140 damage + deck disruption

Example: Mega Altaria ex Deck Strategy

Pokemon (suggested)

• 2x Swablu
• 2x Mega Altaria ex
• 2x Baby Pokemon (Pichu, Magby, Mantyke) for energy generation
• 2x Darkrai ex (damage boost ability)

Trainers

• 2x Pokemon Communication
• 2x Giant Cape
• Support cards

Strategy:

1. Use Baby Pokemon abilities to generate different energy types on Turn 1
2. Get Altaria dealing 100 damage as early as Turn 2
3. Darkrai ex ability adds +20 damage
4. Mega Altaria ex as late-game evolved form

How to Obtain Mega Rising Cards

Free Anniversary Gifts

To celebrate the first anniversary, every player receives one free booster pack of each type:

• 1x Mega Rising: Mega Gyarados pack
• 1x Mega Rising: Mega Blaziken pack
• 1x Mega Rising: Mega Altaria pack

These free packs can be claimed in the Gifts section upon first login starting October 30, 2025.

Opening Packs

• Purchase packs using hourglasses or premium currency
• Focus on one specific booster pack to complete your target deck
• Remember: each of the three packs contains different card pools

Wonder Pick Improvements

Starting with Mega Rising:

• Unobtained cards from the latest expansion appear more often in Wonder Pick
• Number of cards you own is now displayed on each card in Wonder Pick
• Makes it easier to target cards you still need

Trading Expansion

Mega Rising introduces expanded trading options:

• Previously: Only ♦-♦♦♦♦ and ★ rarity cards tradeable
• New: ★★ (2-star) and Shiny 1-2 rarity cards now tradeable
• Can trade cards from the latest expansions immediately

Share Feature

Brand new feature launching October 30:

• Give cards (♦-♦♦♦♦ rarity) to friends for free
• Share up to one card per friend per day
• Receive up to one card per day through this feature
• Acts like a daily gift system

Anniversary Events and Rewards in Mega Rising

First Anniversary Celebration Campaign (Oct 29 - Dec 16)

• 3 free Mega Rising booster packs (one of each type)
• Special login rewards throughout the campaign

First Anniversary Special Missions (Oct 29 - Dec 16)

• Complete tasks to earn a commemorative first-anniversary emblem
• Additional cosmetic rewards and items

PROMO Reissue Drop Event 2025 (Oct 29 - Nov 8)

• Obtain previously released A Series promo packs (vols. 1-6, 8-13)
• Complete special solo battles to earn these packs

PROMO Reissue Wonder Pick Event (Oct 29 - Nov 13)

• A Series promo cards reappear in Wonder Pick
• Complete missions to earn event shop tickets
• Exchange tickets for promo cards in the shop

Advanced Strategies and Tips in Mega Rising

Counter Strategies Against Mega Pokemon

Exploit the 3-Point Rule

• Build decks focused on quick 1-2 point knockouts
• Force your opponent to deploy their Mega early
• Once they commit their Mega, focus all resources on knocking it out for an instant win

Use High-Damage One-Prize Attackers

• Pokemon that deal 150+ damage without being ex (like certain Stage 2 Pokemon)
• Trade favorably: knock out their Mega (giving you 3 points) while only giving up 1 point

Disruption Tactics

• Use Goomy's Sticky Membrane ability to increase attack costs
• Employ hand disruption with cards like Mega Absol ex
• Deck disruption with Mega Gyarados ex to discard key cards[1]

Energy Denial

• Mega Pokemon require significant energy investment
• Disrupting energy attachment slows down their setup dramatically

Meta Predictions and Deck Considerations

Expected Top Tier Decks:

• Mega Blaziken ex + Flame Patch - Most consistent Mega strategy due to energy recovery
• Mega Absol ex Disruption - Basic Pokemon requirement makes it fast; hand disruption is powerful
• Water acceleration decks featuring Mega Gyarados ex - Misty and Jellicent create energy advantage

Potential Sleeper Strategies:

• Hydreigon self-acceleration combos
• Aegislash + Psychic/Metal attackers for damage boost
• Lilligant + Grass Mega Pokemon (if future Grass Megas release)

Rarity and Collection Tips

Card Rarities in Mega Rising:

• 4-Diamond (♦♦♦♦): Mega Evolution ex cards
• 3-Diamond (♦♦♦): Rare Pokemon with abilities
• 2-Diamond (♦♦): Trainer cards, tools, and uncommon Pokemon
• 1-Diamond (♦): Common Pokemon
• 1-Star (★): Full art Pokemon
• Higher rarities: ★★, Crown (for chase cards)

Chase Cards Priority:

1. Mega Evolution ex you want to build around - Essential for your deck
2. Flame Patch - Game-changing Item card for Fire decks
3. Support Pokemon with abilities (Jellicent, Hydreigon, Aegislash, Lilligant)
4. Lisia and May - Consistency Supporters
5. Full art and special variants - For collection completion

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Mega Rising

Don't Lead With Your Mega

• Starting with a Mega Evolution ex in the active spot is asking to lose
• Always have a backup attacker to start the game

Don't Over-Commit to Mega-Only Strategies

• Decks with only Mega Pokemon as attackers are too risky
• Build diverse attacker options

Remember the Evolution Rules

• Mega Stage 2 Pokemon still need Stage 1 forms
• You can't skip evolution stages (except with special cards like the new Magikarp)

Energy Management

• Mega Pokemon require significant energy investment
• Don't neglect energy acceleration and recovery options

Don't Ignore Mega Absol ex's Basic Status

• Being a Basic Pokemon makes Mega Absol ex incredibly fast
• It can disrupt on Turn 2-3, much faster than evolved Megas

Conclusion of Mega Rising

Mega Rising represents the most significant gameplay shift in Pokemon TCG Pocket since launch. The introduction of 3-point knockout Mega Evolution Pokemon creates a new risk-reward dynamic that will define the meta for months to come. Success requires careful timing, deck construction that doesn't rely solely on Megas, and strategic use of the new support cards introduced in this expansion.

Focus your pack openings on one of the three booster types based on your preferred playstyle, take advantage of the anniversary free packs to sample all three, and remember: Mega Pokemon are closers, not openers. With proper strategy, Mega Evolution Pokemon ex can deliver game-winning power—but only if you survive long enough to deploy them effectively.

The expansion launches October 30, 2025 alongside Pokemon TCG Pocket's first anniversary celebration, making it the perfect time for both new and returning players to experience this evolution of the game.