Gouging Fire ex Deck List and Guide

One of the most exciting cards that’s soon to be released in Pokemon Temporal Forces is the Gouging Fire ex card. Appearing pretty killer as an Entei lookalike, Gouging Fire has an insane attack that will certainly be noticed by the Pokemon TCG community. In this original deck list, we’ve paired him with the formidable Iron Valiant ex to help players make the most out of Gouging Fire’s straightforward but deadly attack.

*Updated March 26, 2024

Gouging Fire ex deck list

Pokémon: 7
1 Squawkabilly ex PAF 75
1 Delphox V LOR 173
3 Gouging Fire ex TEF 38
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
1 Entei V BRS 22
4 Iron Valiant ex PAR 89
1 Moltres PR-SW 185
Trainer: 15
4 Switch SVI 194
4 Switch Cart ASR 154
2 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
1 Lost Vacuum LOR 162
1 Mela PAR 167
1 Future Booster Energy Capsule PAR 164
4 Professor Sada's Vitality PAR 170
2 Iono PAF 80
2 Boss's Orders SHF 58
1 Maximum Belt TEF 154
3 Ultra Ball CRZ 146
1 Forest Seal Stone SIT 156
4 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Bravery Charm PAL 173
4 Magma Basin BRS 144
Energy: 2
10 Basic {R} Energy Energy 10
3 Jet Energy PAL 190
Total Cards: 60

Gouging Fire ex deck guide

Gouging Fire ex is all about leveraging the game’s incredible energy acceleration support for fire type Pokemon and combining that with Gouging Fire ex’s insane Blaze Blitz attack in tandem with Iron Valiant ex’s handy Tachyon Bits ability.

As you can see, Gouging Fire ex dishes out an impressive 260 damage. On its own its pretty impressive, but with some strategic switching and ‘Tachyon Bits’, you can quickly scale that damage output.

For example, you can switch in Iron Valiant ex, place twenty damage on an opposing Giratina VSTAR then take the KO with Blaze Blitz.

Switch cards enhance this deck’s strategy

Both Iron Valiant ex and Gouging Fire ex benefit from having plenty of switch cards in this deck. Iron Valiant ex needs the switch cards in order to use Tachyon Bits while Gouging Fire needs to be switched out in order to be readied to attack again.

Luckily, there’s no real shortage of switch cards in the game right now and this deck runs many of them, including your trusty Switch card, Switch Cart, and Jet Energy.

Additionally, this deck runs two copies of Future Booster Energy Capsule, which can be massively helpful when paired with iron Valiant ex, enabling additional switching options.

Charge up Gouging Fire ex then switch from the bench

Another reason why having plenty of switch cards is important is that typically you will need your Gouging Fire ex on the bench in order to get it powered up. Cards like Sada’s Vitality can accelerate energy anywhere, but the all important Magma Basin can only accelerate energy to Pokemon on the bench.

This deck also does run another option for accelerating necessary fire energy, and that’s in the shape of Mela. Mela’s an underrated card that lets you attach a fire energy from your discard to any Pokemon you have in play. However, there is one small caveat: in order to play this card, you must have had a Pokemon knocked out in the prior turn.

In addition to granting strong energy acceleration, Mela then lets you replenish your hand.

Get energies into your discard with Squawkabilly ex and Radiant Greninja

When choosing which Radiant Pokemon to put into this deck, it was a hard choice between Radiant Greninja and Radiant Charizard. In reality, both are solid options that would likely fair well in this deck. However, I’m leaning in Radiant Greninja’s favor right now as having energies in your discard is incredibly vital to this deck’s success. Radiant Greninja’s well-loved ‘Concealed Cards’ ability enables you to discard one energy card (basic or special) to draw two cards.

Meanwhile, Squawkabilly gives you another fantastic draw option to discard cards while also gaining more cards (assuming you can play it turn one).

Additionally, Earthen Vessel works well in this deck as it does in most, enabling you to kill two birds with one stone by dropping energies into your discard and draw additional energies from your deck.

Feel your opponent out with Entei V

Entei V has long been a powerful option for decks that run fire energies. Although you likely won’t always need it given how strong and reliable Gouging Fire is, there still might be times when a turn one attack or retaliatory attack after a knockout is more possible with Entei V’s Burning Rhondo than with Gouging Fire ex’s Blaze Blits.

Entei V also works well in this deck apart from its attack thanks to its ability, ‘Fleet Footed.’ Thanks to this ability, you get to draw an extra card whenever Entei V is in the active spot.

Use Maximum Belt to Settle the Difference

One of the main issues I had with figuring out how Gouging Fire ex could have a place in the current meta was how it could deal with the Charizard ex matchup. Relying on Tachyon Bits alone didn’t seem super reliable, but then I came across a player using Maximum Belt in their different Gouging Fire ex deck list. Using Maximum Belt seems to be the clear partner for Gouging Fire ex, enabling it to take knockouts even against Charizard ex (when powered up with a Tachyon Bits).