Lickilicky ex – Space-Time Smackdown
Date Reviewed: February 25, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Today we’re looking at Lickilicky ex (A2 125, 189, 203)! It’s a (C) Type, Stage 1, Pokémon ex that evolves from Lickitung. Lickilicky ex has 160 HP, (F) Weakness, a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C)(C), and one attack, “Licking Fury”. Priced at (C)(C)(C)(C), Licking Fury does 100 damage to the opponent’s Active, while also having you flip a coin until you get “tails”. For each “heads”, Licking Fury does another 40 damage. The regular version of Lickilicky ex is a ♦♦♦♦ rare, while two ★★ rare versions with different art also exist.
The (C) Type might be the worst Type right now. Nothing is (C) Weak, but all (C) Pokémon are either (F) or (L) Weak. There is no dedicated (C) Type support. The Type might get a better return for the (C) Type Energy requirements, and by virtue of being Colorless, they’re all technically compatible with each other and any non-Type specific Energy acceleration. Which will have to do.
Being a Pokémon ex means Lickilicky ex is worth an extra point when KO’d, and Tauros (A1a 060) can hit Lickilicky hard with its “Fighting Tackle” attack. As a Stage 1, you’ll have to run a Lickitung for each Lickilicky ex you want to field, and wait at least a turn before evolving. Aerodactyl ex (046, 078, 084) can prevent an Active Lickitung from evolving via its “Primeval Law” Ability. We’ll cover the potential benefits of being a Stage 1 Pokémon ex later in the review, along with our options for Lickitung.
Lickilicky ex has 160 HP, which among the highest in the game, and good enough to just barely survive a full-power heavy attack. Weakness and simple combos extend this range. Not a lot of heavy-hitting (F) attackers are currently competitive, but they get that +20 bonus from Weakness, and can tack on generic combos like Giovanni (A1 223, 270), Type-specific support like Lucario (A2 090, 172), or both. Otherwise, it has to fear the odd Gallade ex (A2 095, 185, 200), as it’s “Energized Blade” attack can OHKO a fully-powered Lickilicky ex.
Let’s talk Retreat Costs and attack costs. Why? To begin with, they’re the same: (C)(C)(C)(C), and nothing has a five Energy Retreat Cost or printed attack cost in Pocket. If Lickilicky ex can afford to retreat at full price, it can afford to attack. Leaf (A1a 068, 082) with two copies of X-Speed (P-A 002) let’s you retreat for free, but I’d rather save them for separate uses. Or, better still, just accept that an Active Lickilicky ex is staying Active until it get KO’d or wins you the game.
Licking Fury is is expensive, but even it’s base damage is a solid return for the Energy requirement. 25 damage per (C) doesn’t sound all that good but that’s because of standouts like Farfetch’d (A1 198). While many other heavy hitters hit harder, they also have non-(C) Energy requirements, additional attack costs, and/or attack conditions. Whereas Lickilicky ex? It has a bonus effect. Sure, half the time it adds zero damage, but the other half? Licking Fury is doing 140+ damage. It’ll happen less than a fourth of the time, but this attack can do 180+ damage!
Does Lickitung help? We get to pick between Lickitung (A1 201) and Lickitung (A2 124). Both are (C) Type Basic Pokémon with (F) Weakness and one attack, priced at (C)(C)(C). Lickitung (A1 201) has 90 HP, and both a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C). “Continuous Lick” has you flip until “tails”, and does 60 damage per “heads” to the opposing Active. Lickitung (A2 124) has 80 HP, and Retreat Cost of (C)(C), and can do 50 damage with “Tongue Slap”.
Neither of are particularly helpful, but at least they can take a hit or two early game. They’re on roughly even footing. 90 HP is obviously better than 80, but at the same time, but +10 HP isn’t likely to make much of a difference. As for the attacks, while Continuous Lick does nothing half the time, the other half it does 60+ damage. As a last-ditch effort, at least it is technically always a threat. Well, before protective effects. On the other hand, 50 damage for three is not awful, and Tongue Slap does not require a coin toss. What do the actual Lickilicky ex decks run?
Seems they favor Lickitung (A2 124), though some do run Lickitung (A1 201). Some use one of each, and some even just use one. I would assume this is because a second one is a liability. Let’s look at the other Pokémon in the deck. Dialga ex (A1 119, 188, 205, 207) is the variant with the best performance. You hope to open with it, manually attach (M)(M), then attack as many times as you can to do 30 damage each time, but more importantly, to attach (M)(M) from your Energy Zone to one of your benched Pokémon. Dialga ex can also do 100 damage for four Energy, with it’s second attack.
Mew ex (A1a 032, 077, 083, 086) seems to be an almost constant alternate attacker. Unlike every other Pokémon this deck typically runs, this one can actually afford to retreat. The lists I saw didn’t include Budding Expeditioner (A1a 066, 080) to bounce Mew ex back to your hand, so either it retreats or goes down swinging. It’s a little easier to manually build than Lickilicky ex and with Dialga ex’s attack. Mew ex’s “Genome Hacking” means it will sometimes be a dud, but often it lets you use a big attack as or more effectively than the Pokémon from which you copy it.
Rating: 3/5
I have never run this deck. I mean, I can’t because I don’t have any Lickilicky ex. I have faced it a few times, and it seemed… okay. It’s track record isn’t great, but it was good enough I thought it was worth a review. Lickilicky ex is a slow, solid hitting tank. It’s kind of like you mixed Celebi ex (A1a 003, 075, 085) with Exeggutor ex (A1 023, 252), but you lost the valuable (G) Typing. To really tank well, Lickilicky ex needs its own Energy acceleration, or more worthwhile healing cards.
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