Cyrus is a cruel and vital addition to your Pokémon TCG Pocket deck

Cyrus is a trainer card that’s taken over battles in Pokémon TCG Pocket. In the video games, he’s the big boss of the devious Team Galactic and a major antagonist in the Sinnoh generation. Ever since the Space-Time Smackdown expansion hit TCG Pocket in January, he’s also become a popular card in several decks that follow the game’s meta.

Cyrus is a super flexible card and has something to offer loads of decks. This Pokémon TCG Pocket guide explains why we think he’s a solid choice for so many looking to shake up their decks.

Why Cyrus is one of the best cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket

Cyrus’s card effect is pretty straightforward. Here is the verbatim description of what it does: “Switch in 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon that has damage on it to the Active Spot.”

You can use Cyrus once per turn before you attack with your active Pokémon. When played, it allows you to pick a Pokémon with damage on it from your opponent’s bench and put it in the active spot. If your opponent has two or more Pokémon with damage on the bench, then you get to select which one to move to the active spot. It’s simple, but super powerful since it creates a game where you can’t save Pokémon from imminent elimination by bringing them back to the bench.

Of course, the bench hasn’t been “perfectly safe” for a while. Several existing cards — like Lumineon, Zebstrika, or Articuno ex — can damage Pokémon on the bench directly. Lumineon’s Aqua Liner attack can do 50 damage directly to a bench Pokémon and Articuno ex’s Blizzard does 80 damage to the active Pokémon plus 10 damage to each benched Pokémon. Abilities like these aren’t to be taken lightly, but they’re a bit easier to counter on the bench since the damage output isn’t as high as a direct attack from another Pokémon. (I’ve saved Pokémon with healing cards like Potions and Erica before.)

In contrast, the Cyrus trainer card makes it impossible for people to tuck cards away onto their bench. You wanted to play a strong glass-canon type who can do damage and then sneak away? Too bad, Cyrus will drag them back out. You wanted to tank some damage and switch out as you prepare another Pokémon with energy? That’s also a no. Even stall decks that make use of Druddigon’s Rough Skin ability and the Rocky Helmet Tool Card also don’t fair well with Cyrus, since that strategy requires those Pokémon to take some hits to deal damage.

In the past, I’ve noted how great the Sabrina trainer card is. She can still be pretty useful in certain situations, but your opponent still gets to pick which Pokémon to switch in after you play it. Cyrus, on the hand, does not give a single shit. Just go grab any damaged Pokémon and finish em’ off. So if you’re looking for a trainer card to stuff your next deck with, I’d highly recommend Cyrus.