0.4% of the meta · Updated July 25, 2026
Signature card
Charizard ex
Crown Rare
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Discard 2 {R} Energy from this Pokémon.
Charizard ex punishes opponents with Crimson Storm's 200 damage at the cost of discarding 2 Fire Energy, or uses Stoke to turbo-charge its own energy and fire Steam Artillery for 150. The win condition is landing one or two Crimson Storm swings to KO the opponent's most important Pokemon and score 2 points each time.
Open by playing Charmander with Poké Ball, then chain Professor's Research and Copycat draws to find Charmeleon and then Charizard ex — Rare Candy can skip the Charmeleon step in some builds. Flame Patch accelerates Fire Energy onto benched Charizard ex while Entei ex holds the Active spot, buying the turns needed for the Stage 2 evolution. Once Charizard ex is powered, Crimson Storm hits for 200 — a one-shot KO on everything except the bulkiest Mega ex — and the energy discard is offset by Stoke and Flame Patch refueling. Sabrina and Cyrus manage the Active spot to guarantee Crimson Storm fires at the right target each turn.
Any non-Mega attacker
Crimson Storm 200 base (discard 2 Fire Energy) = 200
One-shot KO on effectively all non-Mega Pokemon in the format
Steam Artillery line
Steam Artillery 150 base (after Stoke charges 3 Fire Energy)
Slower setup but no energy discard penalty
Entei ex is a Basic ex that attacks immediately, holding the Active spot while Charizard ex evolves on the bench. Its presence demands the opponent react — ignoring it costs them points, but attacking into it still only scores 2 points and leaves Charizard ex to follow up. Rocky Helmet punishes opponents who attack Entei ex, adding extra chip damage.
At 200 damage Crimson Storm one-shots every non-Mega Pokemon. Use Sabrina or Cyrus to move the opponent's most critical Pokemon to the Active spot before attacking. Two Crimson Storm hits at 2 points each reach the 3-point win total in two turns. Pokémon Center Lady heals between Stoke-powered charging turns to keep Charizard ex healthy.
Charizard ex cannot appear without Charmeleon in play first, and Poké Ball only finds Charmander. Forcing redraws with Copycat or Cyrus before Charmeleon arrives delays the Stage 2 by one or more turns. Decks that can KO Charmeleon on the bench before it evolves collapse the entire Charizard ex strategy.
Charizard ex needs at least 4 energy and several setup turns. Aggressive low-curve decks can score 3 points on non-ex or cheap-to-KO targets before Crimson Storm ever lands. If you reach 3 points before Charizard ex attacks even once, Flame Patch and Stoke become irrelevant.
Crimson Storm's 200 damage falls short of one-shotting Mega ex Pokemon with high HP. Mega ex targets absorb the hit, counter-attack for 3-point lethal, and punish the energy discard by forcing a re-power turn. The ex-rule symmetry means one KO on Charizard ex ends the game.
Evolution acceleration
Threats — Weak Against
Based on type weakness analysis of core cards. View full matchup matrix →
