Is Charizard ex About to Get a Lot Stronger in the PTCG?

Charizard ex is a deck that’s been through a lot of highs and lows as a strategy. At one point in time, the deck was seemingly invincible, taking top finishes at every major event around the world. As of late, however, the meta has been quite unfriendly to the previous behemoth. That could all be changing soon. In fact, a deck running a combo of both Dragapult ex and Charizard ex won a massive tournament in Japan. While many of the cards in that deck aren’t available internationally yet, it does serve as a decent indicator where the deck strategy could be heading in the near future.

1st Place Champions League Aichi - Joichiro Hirohama

According to Limitless, the tournament had an insane 5000 players which is pretty standard for these mega tournaments in Japan. The fact that a deck running Charizard could do this well should be cause for a jump for joy for most adherents to Charizard ex somewhat disappointed as of late by its lessened playability. Of course, we should note that half this deck’s main attackers is actually comprised of Dragapult ex.

Noticably absent, however is one card in particular: Dusknoir. The Dusknoir line has had a heavy impact on the Pokemon TCG meta, and not necessarily for the best. There was a time when just about every deck was attempting to run the powerful Pokemon capable of incredible damage spreading feats. Already Dusknoir’s impact has lessened, but to drop it entirely as a strategy and still win at such a high level is a very positive indicator that Dusknoir likely won’t be the go-to strategy to supplement stage 2 decks.

New cards that improve the odds for Charizard ex

Of course, we can’t say all of that without mentioning one Pokemon in particular who helped lead to the decrease in play of Dusknoir, and that’s the yet-to-be released internationally Psyduck.

While this Psyduck is already available in Japan, according to Trust Your Pilot’s X account, we won’t actually be getting this powerful mon in Destined Rivals. And that’s a shame because Psyduck has one job and one job only: to stop Dusknoir. Indeed, his ability reads: Pokémon with an Ability that cause that Pokémon to Knock itself Out don't have that Abilty.

Assuming it’s true that the Psyduck won’t be available in Destined Rivals, we still should be getting the rest of the cards to make this deck when that set comes out, meaning that combining Dragapult ex with Charizard ex will likely still be a solid strategy going forward.

Shaymin protects the bench

The upcoming Psyduck isn’t the only strong new card that helps keep Charizard ex out of reach of attackers looking for an easy hit. Another new and powerful card that should help even the odds out for Charizard is Shaymin and its Flower Curtain ability. Essentially, Flower Curtain protects your benched single prize Pokemon (without a rule box) from taking hits from attacks from opposing Pokemon. This adds a solid protective layer to Charizard ex – a Pokemon that relies on having a plethora of small HP Pokemon to then evolve later on.

Team Rocket’s Watchtower

Last among the new cards coming to the strategy is this handy Watchtower stadium. This stadium is quite popular already amongst players in Japan. Not only does it shut off colorless abilities (something which this deck doesn’t run), it’s essentially a necessity to run stadiums in a format without the likes of Lost Vacuum to help get rid of unwanted stadiums that could present a large problem for you otherwise. Of course, the added benefit of shutting down decks like Tera Box or the popular Squawkabilly etc… is a nice to have.

New Charizard ex/Dragapult ex ditches Pidgeot ex

One of the other things that’s really interesting about this tournament winning Charizard ex deck is the fact that it doesn’t run Pidgeot ex. Pidgeot ex is so commonly run alongside Charizard ex that the two are almost synonymous with one another.

However, this deck is looking to evolve its main attackers the old fashioned way: by evolving them. You’ll notice from the deck list above that there’s only one Rare Candy in the list. For the most part, you’re looking to manually evolve your Pokemon in this build, with the Rare Candy there to accelerate a single evolution early game.

Manually evolving Pokemon does have its advantages. First of all, it makes it easier to quickly put them out of range of getting knocked out by effects that place damage. Additionally, you can take advantage of powerful effects from the likes of Drakloak – one that lets you search the top cards of your deck for more cards.

Backup attackers and damage spreaders

Notably, this version of Charizard ex/Dragapult ex runs the powerful Munkidori. That’s not super unusual in a format where Munkidori still reigns supreme. However, pairing it with Charizard ex is a bit unusual. Even more unusual, however, is running Chi-Yu. Chi-Yu certainly isn’t a primary attacker in this deck, but works as an excellent pinch hitter. Combine it with damage spread from Munkidori and you can take KOs against many two-prize Pokemon.

Why Charizard ex and Dragapult ex?

This is hardly the first time Charizard ex and Dragapult ex have been combined. The strategy has been tried before and made popular by the likes of Tord Reklev. However, it feels more natural now than ever before. Charizard ex has had a tough time competing on its own in the current format. Adding in Dragapult ex and its powerful Phantom Dive attack could be just what Charizard needs to once again soar in the Pokemon TCG.

Luckily, building this deck is actually easier and more approachable for players than ever as both Charizard ex and Dragapult ex have prebuilt League Battle Decks available for them. Pick these up and with a little combining and upgrading, you’re good to go with your own competitive deck!