One of the rare non-Ex decks to be tiered, Dragonite is a challenging card to make work. It’s currently the only Dragon in the game and doesn’t benefit from any support cards. Its single attack is costly and has an unpredictable outcome. Despite these challenges, Dragonite stands out by being the only Pokémon capable of dealing 200 damage in one hit alongside Charizard ex, and it’s one of the few Pokémon that can hit the opponent’s Benched Pokémon. ‘Dnite’ also comes with 160 HP, making it likely to survive more than one turn on the field. Notably, it cannot be one-shot by a fully charged Mewtwo ex unless supported by Giovanni.
Without dedicated Energy acceleration, Dragonite decks rely on stalling tactics with bulky Pokémon like Weezing and status effects from Hypno and Frosmoth until Dragonite is fully evolved and charged up to use its Draco Meteor attack. None of these builds require a card above ◊◊◊, making Dragonite one of the top budget decks in the format.
Dragonite - Weezing variant
Rarity requirements
◊◊◊ – Dragonite, Weezing
◊◊ – Koga, Sabrina
Booster pack requirements
Dratini line
Koffing line
Koga
Sabrina
You only use WL in your Energy Zone. The strategy is to stall with Weezing in the active spot while you keep charging up Dragonite on the bench. Before your opponent can knock Weezing out, use Koga to bring it back to your hand and promote a fully charged Dragonite. Bench a second Weezing if you can so an opponent’s Sabrina keeps your Dratini safe.
X Speed isn’t very useful due to the high retreat costs, but it’s specifically there to retreat Dratini for free if you start with it in your Active spot or got it pulled too early by Sabina.
Dragonite - Frosmoth variant
Rarity requirements
◊◊◊ – Dragonite
◊◊ – Frosmoth, Misty, Sabrina
Booster pack requirements
Dratini line
Koffing line
Koga
Misty
Sabrina
This version is more proactive, utilizing W Energies for more than just powering up Dratini. Frosmoth is a respectable threat with virtually no weakness drawback. Most importantly, its Powder Snow attack immediately puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep, giving your opponent only a 50% chance to attack on their next turn in most cases. Misty is included to power Frosmoth up without using the turn’s Energy attachment on Dratini, but unfortunately, it can only be used on W types.
Frosmoth can be opened in every Genetic Apex pack. However, you will have to side track a little bit to get the two Misty. It remains a very budget deck as the only card above ◊◊ is the namesake Dragonite.
Weaknesses
- All the challenges of a Stage 2 deck: gathering the pieces as quickly as possible, the risk of an opposing Red Card, etc.
- Being forced to run two different types of Energy without the support benefits from either (like Misty provides for W and Lt. Surge does for L and none can be used on N types)
- The randomness of the attack, which can target the same Pokémon multiple times when you only needed to hit it once and miss those you wanted to hit.
