Mega Charizard X ex

What Mega Charizard X ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 81 lists we counted, this deck runs 10 to 22 Pokémon, 20 to 38 Trainers and 8 to 20 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Fire.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-charizard-x-ex ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

Look at the Energy: 8 to 20 out of 60, when half the 125 decks we track run 11 or fewer. This one carries more than most, and you feel it at the table — it wants to load up a big Pokémon and swing hard, even if that means drawing a spare Energy now and then.

It takes a while to set up. Mega Charizard X ex is a Stage 2 Pokémon: you put down the baby, you evolve it, and then you evolve it again. Three cards stacked before anything attacks. That is what the hardest-hitting decks cost you, and it is also where they crack — a fast opponent can bury you before the line is standing.

Look at the Trainers: 20 to 38 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 21 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 8 to 21 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 118 of the 125 decks we track bring that many or more. Only one Stadium sits on the table at a time: the one you play sends the one already there to the discard pile.

What Tools and Stadiums do — the two Trainer families we skipped here — and why the Energy count says so much: how to read a deck list.

How Mega Charizard X ex actually wins

Mega Charizard X ex attacks with Inferno X. It needs 2 Fire Energy attached, and it has 360 HP. Watch the damage box. "90×" does not mean 90 damage: it means 90 per card you discard yourself to fire the attack. The total moves every turn.

The cost of Inferno X decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 2. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 2. Except you are not on your own. Oricorio ex, which the list runs 2 of, has an Ability called Excited Turbo: it attaches Energy from your hand on top of the one you already play. An Ability costs you nothing: not your attack, not your card for the turn. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Energy is not your only clock. Charmander has to climb two steps before it becomes Mega Charizard X ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Dawn, a single copy in the list, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 60 of the 81 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mega Charizard X ex back to the Bench you have to discard 2 Energy attached to it. Retreating does not cost you your turn, you can step back and still swing right after. What it costs you is the 2 Energy you spent 2 turns attaching, and you start that climb again from nothing. Pack a card that moves it for free, or send it up knowing it stays up.

Mega Charizard X ex is a Mega Evolution ex, and that is the most expensive rule in the game: your opponent takes 3 Prize cards instead of one the turn it goes down. They need 6 to win the game, so 2 well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take 6 knockouts anywhere else on your Bench.

The attackers in the deck's core, with their best attack, its cost and their Weakness

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close Mega Charizard X exStage 2	360	Inferno X	90×		Water ×2	2

The core: the 3 cards every list runs

These 3 cards appear in all 81 lists, without a single exception. That is 15 of the 60 slots. The other 45 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 15 slots break down: 3 Trainers, 2 Pokémon, 10 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 15 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 125 decks we track fix 26 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

3 of those 3 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Mega Charizard X ex (2 to 4), Rare Candy (1 to 4) and Fire Energy (5 to 18). Add those spreads up and you get 18 copies the 81 lists do not agree on, inside the core itself.

What "3 to 4" means in the copies column, what the "TWM 130" code under each name is for, and why we count dozens of lists instead of one: how to read a deck list.

The cards present in every list counted, with the number of copies

Copies	Card	Printing	Kind
2–4	Close Mega Charizard X ex	PFL 13	Pokémon
1–4	Close Rare Candy	MEG 125	Trainer
5–18	Fire Energy	MEE 2	Energy

The 159 cards that change from list to list

159 cards fight over the 45 slots that are left: 10 above three lists in four, 132 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Charmander at 98 %, Charmeleon at 98 % and Boss's Orders at 95 %, plus 7 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Meowth ex, at 56 %: 45 of 81 players took it, 36 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Buddy-Buddy Poffin (20 lists out of 81) and Lana's Aid (18 lists out of 81).

Why a card at 45 % is not a bad card, and what order to buy all this in: how to read a deck list.

The cards some lists run and others don't, most common first

Lists running it	Card	Copies	Printing	Kind
98 %79/81	Close Charmander	2–4	PFL 11	Pokémon
98 %79/81	Close Charmeleon	1–3	PFL 12	Pokémon
95 %77/81	Close Boss's Orders	1–4	MEG 114	Trainer
94 %76/81	Close Oricorio ex	1–4	PFL 18	Pokémon
93 %75/81	Close Lillie's Determination	1–4	MEG 119	Trainer
85 %69/81	Close Energy Retrieval	1–4	SVI 171	Trainer
81 %66/81	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
80 %65/81	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
77 %62/81	Close Firebreather	1–4	PFL 89	Trainer
75 %61/81	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
74 %60/81	Close Dawn	1–4	PFL 87	Trainer
73 %59/81	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
70 %57/81	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
69 %56/81	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
60 %49/81	Close Battle Cage	1–3	PFL 85	Trainer
56 %45/81	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
44 %36/81	Close Mega Charizard Y ex	1–2	ASC 22	Pokémon
43 %35/81	Close Nitro Fire Energy	1–4	CRI 86	Energy
42 %34/81	Close Energy Recycler	1–2	DRI 164	Trainer
41 %33/81	Close Switch	1–4	MEG 130	Trainer
38 %31/81	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
32 %26/81	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
30 %24/81	Close Mega Signal	1–3	MEG 121	Trainer
28 %23/81	Close Powerglass	1–2	SFA 63	Trainer
27 %22/81	Close Fennekin	1–4	CRI 11	Pokémon
27 %22/81	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
26 %21/81	Close Delphox	1–3	CRI 13	Pokémon
25 %20/81	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–3	TEF 144	Trainer
22 %18/81	Close Lana's Aid	1–2	TWM 155	Trainer
21 %17/81	Close Braixen	1–2	CRI 12	Pokémon
21 %17/81	Close Brock's Scouting	1–4	JTG 146	Trainer
20 %16/81	Close Heatmor	1–2	WHT 19	Pokémon
20 %16/81	Close Wally's Compassion	1–4	MEG 132	Trainer
19 %15/81	Close Hilda	1–4	WHT 84	Trainer
16 %13/81	Close Moltres	1–2	PFL 14	Pokémon
16 %13/81	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
16 %13/81	Close Max Rod	1	PRE 116	Trainer
15 %12/81	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
14 %11/81	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
14 %11/81	Close Blowtorch	1–3	PFL 86	Trainer
12 %10/81	Close Torchic	2–3	DRI 40	Pokémon
12 %10/81	Close Blaziken ex	2	JTG 24	Pokémon
11 %9/81	Close Combusken	1–2	DRI 41	Pokémon
11 %9/81	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
11 %9/81	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	1–4	DRI 178	Trainer
11 %9/81	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
10 %8/81	Close Ninetales	2	CRI 9	Pokémon
10 %8/81	Close Vulpix	2–3	SSP 16	Pokémon
10 %8/81	Close Blaziken	1	DRI 42	Pokémon
10 %8/81	Close Cyrano	1–3	SSP 170	Trainer
9 %7/81	Close Dudunsparce	2–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
9 %7/81	Close Energy Search	1–3	POR 72	Trainer
7 %6/81	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
7 %6/81	Close Victini	1–2	30C 13	Pokémon
7 %6/81	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
7 %6/81	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
7 %6/81	Close Gwynn	1	PBL 78	Trainer
7 %6/81	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
6 %5/81	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1–3	MEG 104	Pokémon
6 %5/81	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
6 %5/81	Close Reshiram	1	PFL 17	Pokémon
6 %5/81	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
6 %5/81	Close Hand Trimmer	2–3	TEF 150	Trainer
6 %5/81	Close Prism Tower	1–2	CRI 80	Trainer
6 %5/81	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
6 %5/81	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
5 %4/81	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
5 %4/81	Close Chi-Yu	1	TWM 39	Pokémon
5 %4/81	Close Ho-Oh	1–2	CRI 10	Pokémon
5 %4/81	Close Urbain	2	ASC 214	Trainer
5 %4/81	Close AZ's Tranquility	1–2	CRI 76	Trainer
5 %4/81	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
5 %4/81	Close Sacred Ash	1–3	DRI 168	Trainer
4 %3/81	Close Drakloak	2–3	TWM 129	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Dreepy	2–3	TWM 128	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close N's Zoroark ex	2–3	JTG 98	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close N's Zorua	2–3	JTG 97	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Ethan's Ho-Oh ex	2	DRI 39	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Ho-Oh	1–2	30C 12	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Magcargo ex	2	TWM 29	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Magearna	1–2	JTG 107	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Slugma	2	TWM 28	Pokémon
4 %3/81	Close Ignition Energy	1	WHT 86	Energy
2 %2/81	Close Cinderace	1–4	MEG 28	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Charmander	3	ASC 20	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Dunsparce	1–2	TEF 128	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Centiskorch	1	PBL 10	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Cramorant	1	JTG 137	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Emboar	1	WHT 13	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Gouging Fire	1	SSP 38	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Gouging Fire ex	1	TEF 38	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Heatmor	1	TEF 31	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Ho-Oh	1	SSP 19	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Litleo	1	MEG 23	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Mega Zygarde ex	1	POR 47	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Moltres	1	30C 11	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Paldean Tauros	1	SSP 18	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Pignite	1	WHT 12	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Pyroar	1	MEG 24	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Sizzlipede	1	PBL 9	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Tepig	1	WHT 11	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Turtonator	1	POR 17	Pokémon
2 %2/81	Close Boxed Order	2–4	TEF 143	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Salvatore	1–3	TEF 160	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Transformation Tome	2	CRI 83	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Acerola's Mischief	1	MEG 113	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Carmine	1	TWM 145	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
2 %2/81	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
2 %2/81	Water Energy	5–6	MEE 11	Energy
2 %2/81	Fighting Energy	3–4	MEE 14	Energy
2 %2/81	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	2	POR 87	Energy
2 %2/81	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy
1 %1/81	Close Mega Froslass ex	3	ASC 47	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Mega Starmie ex	3	POR 21	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Snorunt	3	ASC 46	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Staryu	3	POR 20	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Ceruledge	2	PFL 20	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Charcadet	2	PFL 19	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Charmeleon	2	ASC 21	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Pikipek	2	PBL 66	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Team Rocket's Spidops	2	DRI 20	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Team Rocket's Tarountula	2	DRI 19	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Chi-Yu	1	MEG 31	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Combusken	1	JTG 23	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Froakie	1	CRI 20	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Frogadier	1	CRI 21	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Mega Greninja ex	1	CRI 22	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Trumbeak	1	PBL 67	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Victini	1	TEF 30	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Volbeat	1	TWM 9	Pokémon
1 %1/81	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Ethan's Adventure	2	DRI 165	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Friends in Paldea	2	PRE 109	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Hassel	2	TWM 151	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	2	JTG 149	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Lisia's Appeal	2	SSP 179	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Lively Stadium	2	SSP 180	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Lumiose City	2	POR 77	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Surfing Beach	2	MEG 129	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Team Rocket's Factory	2	DRI 173	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Cassiopeia	1	SFA 56	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Dangerous Laser	1	SFA 58	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Explorer's Guidance	1	TEF 147	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1	PFL 91	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Miracle Headset	1	SSP 183	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close N's Plan	1	BLK 83	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
1 %1/81	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy

The most common Mega Charizard X ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 15 slots come from the core, the cards all 81 lists run. The remaining 45 come from the table just above, working down it: the cards the most players chose, each at its most common copy count, until the total lands on 60.

This list is nobody's list in particular. It takes, slot by slot, what the most people played, under the guardrails a judge would hold you to: never more than four copies of a card, and one ACE SPEC. Behind the core it took 25 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 13 Pokémon, 36 Trainers and 11 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 81 lists we counted are all from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament. Nobody publishes the lists of the players who lost. So what you have in front of you is what the players finishing near the top bring most often.

The text under the table is the one the game expects: copy it, paste it into the deck manager, and the list builds itself.

Why we only read lists from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament, and what that changes about every percentage on this page: how to read a deck list.

Pokémon: 13
2 Mega Charizard X ex PFL 13
3 Charmander PFL 11
2 Charmeleon PFL 12
2 Oricorio ex PFL 18
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Mega Charizard Y ex ASC 22
1 Fennekin CRI 11

Trainer: 36
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Energy Retrieval SVI 171
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Firebreather PFL 89
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Dawn PFL 87
2 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Battle Cage PFL 85
1 Energy Recycler DRI 164
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Precious Trolley SSP 185
1 Mega Signal MEG 121
1 Powerglass SFA 63

Energy: 11
10 Fire Energy MEE 2
1 Nitro Fire Energy CRI 86

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Mega Charizard X ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 162 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 3 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

76 of these 81 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 26 took Precious Trolley, 13 took Max Rod and 12 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 13. You are allowed ONE ACE SPEC card in your whole deck, so a single copy covers it whatever it costs. New to this deck? Take Precious Trolley and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time, and the answer is a good one: not one of the 3 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Mega Charizard X ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Water, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 20 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex (Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex), Mega Greninja ex and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, plus 17 more decks. The table below takes them one at a time, and those are the lists you practise against first before an event.

This table counts one thing, Weakness, and that comes to 20 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 105 do not attack into yours, and this table says nothing about them. You will still run into them.

Going the other way, your attackers are Fire, and 29 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Slowking, Mega Excadrill ex and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.