Journey into the Inferno — My Charizard ex Deck from Louisville

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here and I am happy to be writing another article for you!

Last time, I discussed [card name=”Galvantula ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], a deck that I expected to be good, but unfortunately I completely missed the mark. The deck feels so close to being a top-level meta threat, but it falls just short in so many situations and does not really have a meaningful way of making up for its shortcomings. It has been a while since I last gave my thoughts on the format as a whole, so I think it is best for me to start by doing that.

Catching Up on Stellar Crown

There have been quite a few majors around the world in this format already, and this has caused the format to develop in a pretty interesting way that I did not really expect. One of the highlights of the format has, of course, been [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card]. As the main new archetype from Stellar Crown, I think that a lot of people had really high expectations for the deck, but I am not sure it met the expectations that most people had for it.

I pretty distinctly remember a lot of content online saying that the deck was going to be unfathomably broken and game ruining, but it has really failed to come anywhere close to that. The deck pretty reliably does well at tournaments, but it has only won one, and the event that it won was by far the smallest event of the year so far, and, while I do not want to dismiss that win, it is a point worth making that the deck has not really won any large events.

Personally, I do not think highly of Terapagos ex at all. It definitely has a few good matchups, but as I have started playing the deck more, the less and less I like it. While the deck has the potential for some absurd ceilings with [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], these are often unrealistic at stages of the game that are early enough to matter. If you fail to put together a massive turn like this, or more appropriately, if the opponent is able to deny you that opportunity, which is something most Standard decks can do, it is basically impossible for Terapagos ex to win the game. For lack of a better way of putting it, I think Terapagos ex, at least in its current form, is a terrible deck.

[cardimg name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Beyond the introduction of Terapagos ex, there are effectively no new archetypes in the expansion, so the rest of the format is just updates to decks that were relevant for the World Championships and Baltimore Regional Championships. Of these decks, the most improved deck is by far [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]. I am not a huge fan of this deck for a multitude of reasons that are not particularly relevant, but I do think that the deck is fairly decent. The deck is consistent and powerful, which is about all that a deck could want in the current format. Access to Dusknoir is always extremely valuable, and Dragapult ex is a deck that is particularly good at doing so. However, Dragapult ex’s inherent flaw is that it is a Stage 2 deck, which are by definition a bit slower. While this does not stop a deck like [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], which I will discuss later, the existence of a better Stage 2 deck while there also being another deck that does Dragapult ex’s job better, I do not think Dragapult ex is that strong of a deck.

That deck that does Dragapult ex’s job better is, of course, [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card]. As one of the most powerful decks in recent memory, Regidrago VSTAR is, for reasons that I do not fully understand, a bit weaker right now than it was in the World Championships format. However, being able to abuse Phantom Dive to destroy the opponent’s board even faster than Dragapult ex is normally capable of, especially when paired with [card name=”Kyurem” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] as well, Regidrago VSTAR is one of the most formidable and powerful decks in the game currently. This deck would, of course, be nothing if it was not for the help of [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], a card that I consider to be one of the most powerful cards in the game currently.

Regidrago VSTAR is not the only deck that uses this card, though. The other is, of course, [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. Personally, I have the opinion that Raging Bolt ex is the best deck in the Standard format, which is an opinion that many of my friends do not share. I have this opinion for one simple reason, which is that there is no deck that I value beating at any tournament more than I value beating Raging Bolt ex.

The deck is the most played deck in the format, constantly exceeding a 15% playrate in the first day of every single tournament. Not just this, but Raging Bolt is also one of the only decks in the game that is truly capable of beating anything. It is consistent and has an unreal amount of raw power. With easy access to [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card], it is easy for the deck to Knock Out exactly what it wants to on every single turn of the game, and with a pretty low risk too thanks to the format defining power of [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card].

One particularly powerful deck that does do fairly well against Raging Bolt ex, though, is [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]. Somehow, this deck has ascended to a status similar to its debut power way back in November 2022, consistently appearing in top cuts of every single event, often in the hands of Rahul Reddy, Yerco Valencia, and fellow writer Ciaran Farah. I do think that this deck has achieved a power level similar to the infamous “Silver Tempest Lugia VSTAR” that people talk so highly of (for a good reason) and that the only thing stopping it from being perceived the same way as one of the greatest decks of all time is the lesser consistency.

I truly believe that if current format Lugia VSTAR was as consistent as original Lugia VSTAR, the deck would be just as good if not better than the original deck. This strength is largely thanks to [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card], one of the most individually powerful Pokemon cards ever printed. Lugia VSTAR is formidable, reasonably consistent, incredibly powerful, and really only loses when the deck is unable to setup. If I were going to anymore tournaments in the current format, I think that Lugia VSTAR would be one of my front runners, that is, assuming that one other deck did not exist: [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card].

Ever since it came out in Obsidian Flames, I have loved Charizard ex. I grew up loving Stage 2 decks like [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] and that has transitioned into my adult life, so when Charizard ex came around as a powerful force that used Stage 2 Pokemon, I naturally had to give it a try. As of now, I have played Charizard ex to three Regional Championships, and I have put up a decent result at every single one. My first was a Top 16 at the Knoxville Regional Championships in February and then I finished in the Top 128 at the Indianapolis Regional Championships.

With two solid finishes under my belt, I was itching for another good finish with Charizard ex, and in this current format I think it is one of the best decks in the format, so I decided to lock it in for the Louisville Regional Championships. With a bit of an atypical deck list and not a lot of practice before the event, I did not have particularly high expectations for the event, especially after an 0-1 start, but I won my next three, lost to another Lost Zone, and then I proceeded to win seven matches in a row. This brought me to a 10-2 record and another Top 16 finish.

While I was extremely annoyed that 10-2 was not enough for a Top Cut finish, especially when it has been at every other event this season, I was still happy to come out of the weekend with a Top 16 finish, especially with how low my expectations were for the weekend. It did sting a bit though because I felt that Charizard ex was in a position where it could win the event, and I really wanted to be the one to make it happen with a deck that it seemed like nobody else believed in anymore. Before we get into the deck list, I need to explain why I thought so highly of Charizard ex.

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Why Do I Think Charizard ex is So Good?

[cardimg name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”234″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I think that any sensible person would agree that Charizard ex is at least reasonably good right now, but I am a strong believer that it is one of the best decks in the game currently. When it goes first, it has the ability to produce unfair turn 2 plays if it draws particularly well, and even if it draws below average, it is often capable of establishing a turn 2 [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] and a turn 2 Charizard ex. Once the game gets rolling, though, the deck is able to make some of the most unfair plays in the game.

Charizard ex is probably the single strongest Pokemon in the Standard format with an unreal 330 HP, an absurd Ability, and an extremely powerful attack. Nothing really comes close. When backed up with cards like Dusknoir, the deck is able to absolutely dismantle any board that you put in front of it, or even win the game from basically nothing in some situations. It is extremely common for the deck to assemble a four Prize card turn against decks like Raging Bolt ex if they ever put Radiant Greninja in play thanks to [card name=”Briar” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], and the craziest part about this is that there is nothing that your opponent can do about it!

Together with the help of Fezandipiti ex, Pidgeot ex, and other support cards like [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] it is possible for these “high roll” plays to be assembled pretty much every game, turning them into consistent game plans. For example, I had four games at the Louisville Regional Championships where a Briar play was my only real route to win, and I hit it every single time with ease! It’s not just an “I hope you hit it” moment, you can just plan for these absurd lines from turn 1 and pull them off with alarming consistency. The deck is just so absurd that it feels like you are cheating at times.

With so few other results for Charizard ex in this format, I am sure that you are wondering how I could have developed such a favorable opinion of the deck. So it is only natural that we take a look at my deck list next.

My Charizard ex Deck From Louisville

Overall, my deck is a fairly normal Charizard ex deck for the current format, just with a few techs. The most important piece of generic advice that I have about it is to go first blind. The deck is extremely consistent with its going first openings, so ensuring that you get the jump on most other decks in the format, especially the other Dusknoir decks, is very important. If you happen to lose to a turbo deck like Raging Bolt ex, though, it is more valuable to choose second in these matchups, and do not be afraid to bench [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card]! It will probably get Knocked Out, true, but you will probably win the game anyway, so who cares! Draw your cards!

[decklist name=”louisville” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″][pokemon amt=”19″]2x [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Charmeleon” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”8″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Charmander” set=”151″ no=”4″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pidgey” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dusclops” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Duskull” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”36″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders (Ghetsis)” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Briar” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Maximum Belt ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”5″]5x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Card Inclusions

Charizard ex Line

Following this year’s World Championships, a lot of people have shifted to a more thin [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”234″ c=”name”][/card] line thanks to Tord Reklev’s shift to a 2-1-2 line. While I think that going to a 2-1-2 line is genuinely absurd and comes with a lot of unnecessary risks, a 3-1-2 line is fine and is ultimately what I decided to go with. You really only need two Charizard ex in any given game, and if you do need an extra copy, you always have [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”276″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card]. If you do manage to Prize both copies of Charizard ex, just concede the game if you think you are still favored to win the set. You could still take Prize cards with Dusknoir, though, so if you think there is a decent chance that you win if you are able to draw a Charizard ex with a Knock Out from Cursed Blast, I would make sure you try that before you concede.

Three [card name=”Charmander” set=”151″ no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] is absolutely critical, though. Making sure you have two copies in the overwhelming majority of your games (roughly 97%, to be exact) is really valuable, and having access to a third when you need it is critical too. Against the super aggressive [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] decks, such as [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], it is really valuable to get three Charmander in play because if even one makes it to being a Charizard ex, you probably win that game outright. Even if your opponent Knocks Out all three of your Chamander, you have decent odds of pulling together a [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”195″ c=”name”][/card] play to re-establish the Charmander and by extension Charizard ex, which likely leads to you winning the game.

Two Rotom V

[cardimg name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This card is unbelievable. Like, I could rant for hours and hours about how I love this card so, so, so much. What originally started as a joke has turned into one of the best decisions that I have ever made, and I honestly believe this was the single biggest contributing factor to my result. Of course, the initial rebuttal to this is going to be “why not play a [card name=”Cleffa” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card]?” and that is simply because Cleffa is kind of bad right now. You have to go blind first, so if you draw decently, there is a good chance you wouldn’t even use Grasping Draw on turn 2, especially since it is really important for you to start doing something as soon as possible thanks to the help of Dusknoir. Not just that, but Cleffa is also very vulnerable to [card name=”Dusclops” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card], so in a surprising amount of your matchups, the card is a game-losing liability, so I just do not think the card should ever be considered (for reference, I was playing a fourth Charmander before I cut it for a Rotom V in testing).

As for why Rotom V, or specifically the second copy of Rotom V, is so good, it is best summarized with a simple question: “Why do I not want more [card name=”Tropical Beach” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW28″ c=”name”][/card]?” I asked myself that question after finding Rotom V in my Prizes a few games in a row, and once I made the switch to another Rotom V, I immediately noticed a significant difference. When you play one copy of a card, the probability of every copy of that card being stuck among your Prizes is 1/10, or 10%. When you add a second copy, the probability goes down to 1/118, or roughly 0.85%. The difference is astronomical when you apply it to a Pokemon tournament. Assuming you are winning the entire tournament (after all, why are you going if you are not trying to win), you will play an average of 38 games, so you will find the card in your Prizes around four times per tournament, as opposed to one time per three tournaments — that is a massive difference. Not just that, the probability of opening with a [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”255″ c=”name”][/card] or Rotom V increases from around 44% to approximately 52%, pushing it to the point that you should be opening with Rotom V a majority of your games.

Of course, the next logical question is to ask why we care about opening Rotom V so much, and that is simply because if you open with Rotom V and a [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card]in your opening hand going first and the Instant Charge sticks, you probably win the game outright, so maximizing the likelihood of this happening is ideal. It makes the average strength of your turn 2s so much higher to the point that games become nearly impossible to lose before the opponent even gets to play the game. The power of Rotom V is absolutely unreal, and I am not sure how it took me so long to realize it.

Roxanne

When I was testing, I kept drawing into [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] in the midgame and getting mad because the card kind of sucks, so I decided to mess around with replacements. Ultimately, I decided on trying a copy of [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] because it was both midgame draw and midgame disruption that I wanted to see in my deck. Roxanne was one of the weekend’s MVPs for both me and my friend Michael Bio, who played a fairly similar deck list (I attribute his lesser result to the lack of second Rotom V, though!)

Being able to play Roxanne, draw three more cards with [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flip the Script, and use [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”225″ c=”name”][/card]’s Quick Search all in the same turn lends itself to absurd combos, but it also makes it so that you are able to effectively checkmate the opponent by putting them on so few cards in hand that they cannot possibly respond to your on board threats while also answering your hand size at the same time.

Maximum Belt

This card was one of the main reasons that I decided to play Charizard ex for the Louisville Regional Championships. I figured that most people would not be prepared for it and being able to play extra aggressive into smaller Pokemon ex like [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] while also having the ability to take one-hit Knock Outs on the large Pokemon ex sooner was extremely valuable. In particular, I valued being able to do 320 damage to Dragapult ex when they had taken only three Prize cards, which often offered me a situation where I could take four or even six Prize cards with a single Charizard ex if my opponent’s hand was not good enough.

While I did not end up doing this specifically during the tournament, I think that the theory was sound and the card was extremely valuable throughout the weekend. I would play it again if given the opportunity.

Conclusion

As the Stellar Crown format nears its conclusion with Surging Sparks on the horizon, I think that Charizard ex continues to be one of the best positioned decks in the game. It has an unreal amount of power and a pretty good matchup spread overall against the majority of the metagame. Going forward, I would continue to stand by the exact same 60 cards that I played for the Louisville Regional Championships, and I strongly encourage you to give them a try.

With that, this article comes to a close. As always, I hope you enjoyed giving this article a read, as I always love to talk about decks that I am passionate about. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out in the comments or on social media!

Until next time!

– Isaiah

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