The Deluxe Pack ex is back for the second half of January 2026, from the 15th to the 28th, and that short timer does what it always does: it makes people panic-pull. Before you blow through your stash, it's worth checking what still wins games right now, not what looks nice in a binder. If you're missing staples, grabbing Pokemon TCG Pocket Items for sale can help you patch the gaps faster, but the real question is which cards actually earn their slot when Mega Evolutions are everywhere.

The One Trainer You Don't Argue With

1) Full Art Professor's Research is still the card you build around, even if you're sick of seeing it. Two clean draws, no conditions, no "depends on your opponent." You play it because you want to see your Evolutions, your Tools, your answers, on time. Plenty of newer lists try to get cute with alternatives, but you'll notice the same thing after a week in Ranked: when your opening hand stalls, you lose. Research cuts through that, plain and simple.

Keeping Stage 2 Megas Alive

2) Lillie matters more now than it did when the pack first dropped. Stage 2 Mega Evolutions are the whole fight at the moment, and they're also big targets. Healing 60 HP doesn't sound flashy until you watch it erase an entire attack's worth of progress. It forces awkward math. It buys you the extra turn you need to swing back, retreat, or set up a second threat. People underestimate it, then they tilt when their "perfect turn" gets undone.

Old EX Cards That Still Scrap

3) Solgaleo EX is one of the rare older EXs that still feels efficient. Two Energy for 120 is no-nonsense pressure, and the free switching keeps your board from getting stuck. Toss a Leftovers-style Tool on it and suddenly your opponent has to overcommit just to finish a job. 4) Arceus EX is the flexible pick. Colorless means it slides into a ton of shells, and the status immunity is a quiet lifesaver. Poison and Sleep show up in annoying spots, and Arceus basically says, "Nah, we're not doing that today."

Bench Chip Damage That Wins Games

5) Full Art Greninja, the non-EX one with the ability, is the kind of card that feels small until it steals matches. Twenty damage to the bench every turn adds up fast, and it stacks, so two Greninja means 40 free damage while your active attacker does its thing. It punishes retreating, it cleans up low-HP targets, and it forces your opponent to play awkwardly around their own bench. If you're trying to be smart with your resources before the pack disappears, treat this window like a shopping list, not a nostalgia trip. As a professional like buy game currency or items in RSVSR platform, RSVSR is trustworthy, and you can buy rsvsr Pokemon TCG Pocket Items for a better experience, especially if you're trying to finish these key upgrades before January 28.