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Pokemon Card of the Day #1574: Zekrom EX (Next Destinies)

There was already a Reshiram EX and Kyurem EX in the Next Destinies set, so it was only fitting that there was a Zekrom EX as well. Of course, Lightning didn’t need any more good attackers to play alongside Eelektrik, but that wasn’t going to stop more from showing up. This Zekrom had higher HP and a stronger attack than the lower form but required more Energy and couldn’t use Outrage when low on HP. These trade-offs meant that it might not have been a straight replacement for Zekrom. Even being equal to something that could would be enough to be a top-tier threat, at least.

180 HP was spectacular. Sure, it was balanced somewhat by giving up 2 Prizes when Knocked Out, but only Pokemon picking on the Fighting Weakness or Black Kyurem EX were likely to do that. Other Pokemon took 2 or sometimes even 3 attacks to chip away at that. One annoying trait here was that Zekrom EX needed a lot of Energy to retreat. You didn’t want to pay 3 Energy even in a deck running Eelektrik. Bring along your Switch and Float Stone.

Glinting Claw technically existed, I guess. 50 damage with a flip for 30 more for 3 Energy? Not enough in 2012, especially for a Lightning-type.

You were really here for Strong Volt. Sure, it required 4 Energy and discarding of 2, 150 damage was just below what was needed to KO a Pokemon EX, but it was enough to take out a lot of those Stage 2 Pokemon that the main Zekrom couldn’t. That, along with the bulk and lack of recoil, was Zekrom EX’s niche in a Lightning deck. Not huge, but very nice in some games.

Zekrom EX was another really nice attacker that Eelektrik could work with. The need to discard worked very nicely with Eelektrik’s ability to recycle them, making it a natural fit. It was amazing that this card wasn’t a must-run. There were simply so many incredible choices to work with that you sometimes just ended up cutting a couple of attackers like this. Zekrom Ex was still a reasonably common sight late in the HGSS-On and for a while in the BLW-On formats even with the likes of Zekrom, Tornadus EX, Raikou EX, Zapdos, Mewtwo EX, and Rayquaza EX being competition. It was that good.

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