[Top 15] Pokemon TCG Best EX Cards Right Now!

Updated:

09 Aug 2021

Hello all you fans of the Pokemon Trading Card Game and casual readers. Most of the cards that you would find in Pokemon are just base Pokemon cards. They are the baseline for power levels in the game and the main factor that groups them together is: when you knock one out, you take one prize card. Now it is inevitable that people would want more powerful cards but how do you keep them balanced with the base cards? You make it so that they give up more prize cards when knocked out. And maybe give them a fancy label: EX cards.

Today we’re going to be looking at the top 15 EX cards in the Pokemon Trading Card Game. These cards first appeared in the Next Destinies set and had a glorious run until their last printing in the Evolutions set. These cards offered higher damage output and HP but gave up two prize cards when KO’d. They are also almost all Basics except for the notable Mega EXs, a special stage 1 form of EX cards that end your turn to evolve.

For this list we’ll be judging these cards based on their merits alone. We won’t be considering any combo attacks that they could pull off with other cards or beneficial trainers. However, we will allow them to benefit from Double Colorless Energy, a special energy providing two colorless energy. This card has always been available to EX Pokemon during their time in Standard and Expanded formats.

15. Dragonite EX

This Pokemon has 180 HP.
This Pokemon has the Hyper Beam attack. For four energy, it deals 130 damage and discards an energy from your opponent’s Active Pokemon. This attack is all colorless though so you can pull it off with two Double Colorless Energy.
The Pull Up ability lets you put two Basic Pokemon from your discard into your hand when you play Dragonite EX down. This is a great recovery ability on its own. The upside is that you can have a card that’s an attacker and a retrieval. The downside is that this card isn’t just a retrieval. It really depends on your deck.

14. Aegislash EX

This Pokemon has 170 HP.
The Mighty Shield ability prevents this Pokemon from being damaged by opponents with special energy on them. There are so many special energy out there that almost everyone plays them. Some decks even play special energy exclusively and would be in a bad spot against this card.
The downside of this card is that its attack isn’t very good. For three energy, it deals 40 damage plus 20 more for each metal energy on it.

13. Volcanion EX

This Pokemon has 180 HP.
Volcanion EX is unique because it has two types. Being both a water and fire type allows it to hit more Pokemon for weakness.
For three energy, the Volcanic Heat attack deals 130 damage, but Volcanion can’t attack next turn.
Steam Up is an ability that works as a powerful damage booster. With it you can discard a fire energy from your hand to increase the attacks of your Basic fire Pokemon by 30 damage. You can also use multiple Volcanions to do this more than once per turn.

12. Mew EX

This Pokemon has 120 HP.
Yeah. 120 HP isn’t great for an EX Pokemon, but Mew EX is pretty versatile. Literally. That’s the name of its ability that allows you to use the attacks of any Pokemon in play with the right energy.
If you get the chance, you can also use Mew’s Replace attack to move your own energy around your Pokemon to better suit you.

11. Seismitoad EX

This Pokemon has 180 HP.
For three energy, Grenade Hammer deals 130 damage to your opponent but 30 damage to two of your own Benched Pokemon.
The main draw of this card is the Quaking Punch attack. This attack can be used for a single Double Colorless Energy and deals 30 damage. It also prevents your opponent from playing any Item cards. This attack is easy to use on the first turn and can halt your opponent’s progress while you power up other cards.

10. Latias EX

Latias EX’s ability prevents any Pokemon with abilities from damaging it. This ability is called Bright Down. It is incredibly useful since many powerful Pokemon also come equipped with abilities.
For three energy, Barrier Break deals 70 damage and isn’t affected by any effect on your opponent’s Pokemon.

9. Mega Alakazam EX

While not technically printed on the Mega Alakazam EX card, Alakazam EX has an ability that puts two damage on your opponent’s active Pokemon and three on one of their benched. This is an incredible precursor to the power of Mega Alakazam.
The Zen Force attack deals 10 damage plus 30 more for each damage counter already on your opponent’s active Pokemon. It costs two energy.

8. Jolteon EX

This Pokemon has 160 HP.
For one energy, Swift deals 30 damage and isn’t affected by anything on your opponent’s Pokemon.
For three energy, Flash Ray deals 70 damage and next turn Basic Pokemon can’t deal damage to this Pokemon. That’s pretty good considering that all decks play basic Pokemon. It will definitely affect someone.

7. Glaceon EX

This Pokemon has 170 HP.
For three energy, Ice Ray deals 70 damage and next turn Evolution Pokemon can’t deal damage to this Pokemon. It is a little more niche, but definitely still powerful.
For two energy, the second bite attack deals 20 damage plus 10 more for each damage counter already on your opponent. This effectively doubles their damage plus a bit more. Not bad.

6. Mega Gengar EX

This Pokemon has 220 HP.
This Pokemon only has one attack, but it has access to multiple. For three energy, you can use the Phantom Gate attack. This attack allows you to use the attacks of one of your opponent’s Pokemon. This means that if your opponent has a powerful attack, you now have it, too. You don’t even need the energy for the attack, you can just use it.

5. Mewtwo EX (Breakthrough)

This Pokemon has 170 HP.
There are many different versions of this card but this one is the best. It’s Shatter Shot attack deals 30 damage for each psychic energy attached to it.
For three energy, the Damage Change attack allows you to switch all damage counters on both Active Pokemon. This can easily heal Mewtwo with some damage manipulation that your opponent may not expect.

4. Mega Rayquaza EX

This Pokemon has 220 HP.
For three energy, Emerald Break deals 30 damage for each of your benched Pokemon. You can use Double Colorless Energy to speed up this attack. It is a powerful attack if you pair it with the right cards.

3. Mega Sceptile EX

This Pokemon has 220 HP.
For two energy, Jagged Saber deals 100 damage. You can also attach two grass energy from your hand to your Benched Pokemon. This fully heals any Pokemon you attach to. The energy acceleration would have been good enough on its own.

2. Malamar EX

This Pokemon has 170 HP.
The Hyper Hypnosis ability is really good. It says that whenever you attach an energy to this Pokemon, your opponent’s Pokemon falls asleep. Sleep is a powerful special attack that has a 50/50 chance of making your opponent’s Pokemon do nothing next turn. You also need energy for your attack.
For two energy you can use the MAXamar attack, but you're going to want a few more than that. The attack does 60 damage for each heads you flip and you get as many coins as you have energy attached.

1. Mega Mewtwo EX

This Pokemon has 210 HP.
For two energy, Psychic Infinity deals 10 damage plus 30 more for each energy attached to both Active Pokemon. This attack can utilize Double Colorless energy and can be powered up very quickly when both you and your opponent are contributing to it’s damage. As the name suggests, the damage potential is infinite.