A New Era of Pokémon
Scarlet and Violet is here and I’m so excited to be a fan of the Pokémon TCG right now! Our newest Pokémon TCG set takes our adventure to the Paldea Region for the first time! It is filled with new Pokémon, new friends, and so much fun! In our Pokémon TCG equivalent, Scarlet and Violet Base set completely shakes up our game as we know it! All cards will have a silver border to match Japan for the first time ever and Pokémon ex make a triumphant return! I could easily write another article that explains how Nest Ball is the best card in the set or how Revavroom might be a situationally better Bibarel BRS, but I have a different idea! What if I ranked all of the new Pokémon ex coming out in Scarlet and Violet? Typically players flock to these shiny cards and I’m sure I can shed some light one which ones are hot and which ones definitely are not. It will be a blend of helping newer players understand why their new shiny card is gonna sit at the back of their binder and how some seemingly boring cards might be better than most think! There are plenty of Scarlet and Violet products that you can pick up right here at TCGPark.com that will be shipped within Europe! Be sure to grab some stuff to celebrate Scarlet and Violet and to hopefully pull some of the cards mentioned in this article! Let’s get it!
12. Iron Treads ex
Every list has to start somewhere and Iron Treads ex has the unfortunate placing of the worst Pokémon ex in Scarlet and Violet. Sniping your opponents Bench for 3 Colorless Energy doesn’t seem to live up to the power creep of our Standard format and Cybernetic Wheel requiring 4 Energy to do 160 damage isn’t much better. This card would need some outstanding Metal-type support to see success in this format so if you love this card, you really need to hope for that.
11. Great Tusk ex
Any Pokemon that can attack for a single Energy can be quite good and that’s likely where Great Tusk ex will stay. It might be good at discarding Stadium cards, having a type advantage against Pokemon that are weak against Fighting-type Pokemon, and that seems like that’s it. Overall this card is pretty basic, but maybe it will have some support released in future sets to make it more playable.
10. Toxicroak ex
Toxicroak ex seems ok enough, but it has conflicting directions. Toxic Ripper could see some success in a Poison-based deck, but attacking for 3 Energy might be tough to accomplish. Where I could see this card seeing success is in a “control” based archetype because of its Nasty Plot attack. Nasty Plot allows you to search your deck for up to 2 cards and put them into your hand. In previous “control” decks, they would use powerful Support cards to search for whatever they needed, and end their turns without attacking. With limited support for any “control” archetypes at this time, Toxicroak ex might just have to wait to shine.
9. Arcanine ex
Here is where I think the list of Pokémon ex from Scarlet and Violet starts getting good. Like any new mechanic, Pokemon ex are likely going to start off as mainly “mid” cards and get better with each new set release in that era. Arcanine ex is my definition of “mid”. The Terastal mechanic doesn’t seem like it will be too great because I don’t think there are going to be too many Bench sniping attack in our new Scarlet and Violet format. Raging Claws can definitely be interesting because if Arcanine ex takes a hypothetical 200 damage, it can swing back for 230 damage. The same card synergistic strategy is to use Bright Flame to score an OHKO on anything, take some damage, and Raging Claws for another OHKO. I feel like the damage is a little light for both attacks, but maybe this card will surprise me.
8. Oinkologne ex
I’m really conflicted on Oinkologne ex because it seems mid, but I have hope for this new Pokemon! Fragrance Fury does 10+ 30 damage for each of your opponent’s Pokemon for a single Energy and I actually have an idea to make this card work. Zoroark allows you to swap Zoroark for a Stage 1 Pokemon, and it doesn’t say you can’t grab a Pokemon ex. That means we can swap into a 260 HP Pokemon to sweep the remaining Prize Cards you need to win a game. I could also see Heavy Stamp being a strong followup to KO Pokemon with a larger amount of HP the following turn. It might not end up being the most top tier card ever, but it is a solid option.
7. Banette ex
Item lock is always good and that means Banette ex has to be good, right? Eternal Darkness checks off a lot of boxes when it comes to reviewing Item lock attacks. It costs a single Energy, does some amount of chip damage, and it stops your opponent from playing Item Cards. Where it might struggle is the need to Evolve from Shuppet because you can’t do it on turn one. We might be able to pair this with Klefki to slow down our opponent during the early game and start using Banette ex as soon as we can Evolve. Path to the Peak CRE seems like a natural pairing with this deck and Crushing Hammer just got a reprint so there is still hope. I do like the strong damage output from Poltergeist for some mid-to-late game attacks so maybe Banette ex will see some success.
6. Spidops ex
I really like Spidops ex for its Trap Territory Ability that will seemingly find a home in some “control” archetype. Trap Territory increases your opponent’s Active Pokemon Retreat Cost by a Colorless Energy and of course you can increase that Ability for each other Spidops ex you have in play with the Trap Territory Ability. I could easily see a deck with 4 Spidops ex, Crushing Hammer SVI, Boss’s Orders BRS, and other disruption based cards. Wire Hang plays into this strategy by doing more damage for each Energy in your opponent’s Active Pokemon Retreat Cost which means we can OHKO any Pokemon that gets in the way of a lock. This card still needs some support to see success, but it definitely isn’t bad by any means.
5. Gyarados ex
Gyarados ex is an interesting card because many think its not good, but I think this card might be good… well, maybe! The whole Terastal mechanic doesn’t seem to be great, but where this card shines is in its OHKO potential. Tyrannical Tail does 180+ for 5 Water Energy and the + damage ends up being 360 total damage if the Defending Pokemon has and Damage Counters on it. I know 5 Energy is a super tough amount to achieve, but 360 damage can OHKO anything! We can likely get a Damage Counter placed from Hawlucha SVI and I’m sure we’ll likely get Water Energy acceleration sooner than later!
4. Koraidon ex
Looking at one of the two featured Legendaries, Koraidon ex has a lot going for it as a Basic Pokemon! Dino Cry allows you to accelerate 2 Fighting Energy to itself, but it comes at the cost of ending your turn. Wild Impact is also a decent attack that OHKO a few Basic Pokemon ex / Pokemon V with ease. The part that worries me is its Psychic-type Weakness. In a format where Mew VMAX and Gardevoir ex are some of the most dominant decks in Japan, Koraidon ex might have some steep competition. We might have to wait out the format a bit to see true success with this card, but it does seem like it will see success at some point.
3. Magnezone ex
I’ve always been a fan of this Pokemon and I’m so hyped that Magnezone ex is actually good! Upon first glance, this card doesn’t seem that great, but it does have quite a few decent stats that place it highly on this list. 330 HP is a massive tank that won’t easily get KOed, 1 Energy attacks are always great, and doing 220 damage for only 2 Energy isn’t bad either! Out of all of the cards that I’ve seen in Scarlet and Violet and Paldea Evolved (SCVI 2), an ongoing theme seems to be having access to Energy acceleration for a wide variety of different Pokemon. Energy Crush allows you to easily punish those decks for having a board of Energy to score some high profile OHKOs. I’m not sure if this card will end up being its own deck or end up as a 1-0-1 line in a deck that plays Rare Candy SVI, but it seems like a solid attacker either way!
2. Miraidon ex
Miraidon ex is one of my personal favourites in the set because I love all of the new cards available for Lightning-type decks. Tandem Unit allows you to search your deck for 2 Basic Lightning-type Pokemon and you can even search for another Miraidon ex to use Tandem Unit again! Photon Blaster is a decent enough attack that you can quickly power up with Electricity Generator SVI and do extra damage with Regieleki VMAX SIT. This card seems like it will get better with time because each set will have more and more Lightning-type Pokemon to build a deck around. There is no denying that this card is good, but I think we need just a little bit more to really open the true potential of this card.
1. Gardevoir ex
Here we have it, Gardevoir ex is my number one pick for the best Pokemon ex out of Scarlet and Violet. Why? Good question! Gardevoir ex allows for an infinite amount of Psychic-type Energy acceleration from the Discard Pile with its Psychic Embrace Ability. While it likely won’t be the main attacker of your deck, you can easily utilize Zacian V CEL and Gardevoir CRE to score some massive OHKOs. As an added bonus, Kirlia SIT has built-in draw support, which allows this archetype-to-be to have an upper hand against the rest of the competition. Based on some early results from Japan, I expect Gardevoir ex decks to see great success all over the world!
Off on Another Adventure!
I hope this article has you hyped up for the release of the Scarlet and Violet Base set and that you might have some newfound respect for some of the above Pokémon ex. I’m excited to start testing these cards in both existing and previously established archetypes to see what works best! I’m also hyped to play with these cards for the first time at the upcoming 2023 European International Championships held in London, United Kingdom! I’ll be sharing my findings with our Pokémon community wherever possible – stay tuned! As for me, I get to travel around quite a bit in March! I’ll be attending events in Vancouver, Utrecht, Charlotte, and Ft. Wayne to round out our Sword and Shield to Crown Zenith format! That being said, I gotta get back to play testing, so I’ll catch up with all of you later! Thanks for reading!