Exeggutor ex – Genetic Apex
Date Reviewed: January 14, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
The third best Pokémon of Genetic Apex is Exeggutor ex (Genetic Apex 023/226, 252/226). It is a Stage 1 (G) Type Pokémon ex that evolves from Exeggcute. It has 160 HP, (R) Weakness, (C)(C)(C) Retreat Cost, no Ability, and one attack, “Tropical Swing”. For (G), does 40 damage while having you flip a coin; “tails” means you just do the base 40, while “heads” means you do an additional 40 (80 in total) damage. It is available in the ♦♦♦♦ and ★★ rarities.
Being a (G) Type is “okay” when it comes to Weakness: 58% of (F) Pokémon are (G) Weak, as well as two (D) Pokémon. Among these, there are some low tier competitive deck foci among the (F) Types. (G) Types also have several pieces of Type-based support:
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Caterpie (Genetic Apex 005/226) has an attack for (C) that snags a random (G) Pokémon from your deck.
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Erika (Genetic Apex 219/226, 266/226) is a Trainer-Supporter that heals 50 damage from one of your (G) Pokémon.
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Lilligant (Genetic Apex 030/226) has an attack for (G)(G) that does 50 damage plus attaches a (G) Energy from the Energy Zone to one of your benched (G) Pokémon.
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Serperior (Mythical Island 006/068, 070/068) has an Ability that causes (G) Energy attached to your (G) Pokémon to provide two units of (G) Energy, instead of the usual one.
Together, I’d say that’s a good deal.
Being a Pokémon ex agrees with Exeggutor ex, but I’ll explain how when we look at related Pokémon, later in this review. For now, remember that you’re giving up two points instead of one, and that we’ve already gotten our first taste of anti-ex effects thanks to Tauros (Mythical Island 060/068). As a Stage 1, Exeggutor ex will need at least one extra slot (and up to two) to fit into a deck when compared to a Basic Pokémon, though up to two less than a Stage 2. Nor is there any dedicated Stage 1, or more general Evolution support; but Pocket began with Basic support (Poké Ball)
Exeggutor ex’s 160 HP is great! The heaviest of heavy hitters still score a OHKO, but something like Mewtwo ex (Genetic Apex 129/226, 262/226, 282/226, 286/226) needs Giovanni to seal the deal. 160 HP ties or exceeds all single point Pokémon HP scores, and only Gyarados ex (Mythical Island 018/068, 076/068) and the various Stage 2 Pokémon ex exceed Exeggutor ex’s HP. And by only 10 to 30 HP. (R) Weakness is surprisingly tame. Only Charizard (Genetic Apex 035/226) goes from a 2HKO to a OHKO, and a few others go from 3HKO to 2HKO.
As for the card’s Retreat Cost, (C)(C)(C) bad, though not the worst. Unless you’ve got Energy to spare, or some Energy to spare alongside X Speed or Leaf, or an X Speed with a Leaf, Exeggutor ex is staying put once Active. Which isn’t quite as bad as it sounds, because of Tropical Swing, and Serperior. As Tropical Swing only needs (G), there’s a better chance you’ll have an Energy attachment or two you can spare for Retreating Exeggutor ex. There’s also Serperior’s Ability to make (G) Energy provide (G)(G): it won’t help Exeggutor ex attack any faster, but the double still applies to Energy paid for manually retreating.
Tropical Swing is a good, fast attack thanks to that (G) Energy cost, as well as being splashable even though it is technically mono-Type. The attack guarantees at least 40 damage, with a 50/50 chance it remains 40 or adds another 40 to do 80. It might seem silly to then complain that Exeggutor ex maxes out at 80 damage, unless you’re hitting for Weakness, tack on a Giovanni, or use some other combo. If you’re using this time to build something else, that’s great! Otherwise, even with Exeggutor ex’s 160 HP and good coin flips, you may fall behind in trading damage (and points).
Now we come to Exeggutor ex’s “card family”. You’ll need either Exeggcute (Genetic Apex 021/226) and/or Exeggcute (Mythical Island 001/068), so Exeggutor ex has a Basic from which it can evolve. We should also consider the other Pokémon you can play on an Exeggcute to Evolve, Exeggutor (Genetic Apex 022/068) and Exeggutor (Mythical Island 002/068, 069/068). After all, there may be times when you want to run Exeggutor and Exeggutor ex together, even though there’s only so many Exeggcute to go around.
Both versions of Exeggcute are Basic (G) Pokémon with 50 HP, (R) Weakness, Retreat Cost (C), and one attack. The Genetic Apex version can do 20 for (G), while the Mythical Island version attaches a (G) Energy from your Energy Zone to itself for (C). The Retreat Cost is good, but not the HP. The short version is that, while still not massive, expect an Active Exeggcute to be OHKO’d more often than you like on (overall) Turns 2 or 3. As for which one is better…
…we need a quick glance at the Exeggutor cards before I can explain. Both Exeggutor are Stage 1 (G) Pokémon with 130 HP, (R) Weakness, a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C), and one attack. For (G), Exeggutor (Genetic Apex 022/068) can do 30 damage, with a coin flip to do another 30 (so 60 in total). Exeggutor (Mythical Island 002/068, 069/068) needs (G)(C)(C)(C) to do 80 damage plus per Energy attached to your opponent’s Active. The HP is good, the attacks are good, and the rest of the stats are the same as Exeggutor ex’s. Though the (R) Weakness will matter a little more often.
If you’re running (or also running) Exeggutor (Mythical Island 002/068, 069/068), go with Exeggcute (Mythical Island 001/068). Yes, even if you’re also running Serperior. If you’re running Exeggutor ex and/or Exeggutor (Genetic Apex 022/068), go with your personal preference. I’ve had matches where I just needed to do a quick 20 for (G), but also ones where it would have been nice to have some extra Energy so I could more easily retreat after evolving or because I was facing one of the few attackers that discard your attached Energy. I suppose Exeggcute (Mythical Island 001/068) would also be better if you’re running off Type…
What about the non-ex Exeggutors? Both have proven useful. The Genetic Apex version is a miniature Exeggutor ex, at least by comparison. While a little less durable and doing a little less damage, its also worth one less point when KO’d. It also shows you that the main benefit of Exeggutor ex being a Pokémon ex is +30 HP, +10 to the attack’s base damage, and another +10 to the bonus you get for flipping “heads”. As for Exeggutor (Mythical Island 002/068, 069/068), it’s actually quite useful as well. More so in a deck that also runs Serperior, but even for a non-Serperior Exeggutor ex deck, there’s a chance you’ll have Energy to spare but need something that hits hard… and as long as the opponent’s Active has at least one Energy, this Exeggutor can do at least 100 damage.
Rating: 3.5/5
Better than the last few days, but still a little ways from a four-out-of-five, let alone a five-out-of-five. Exeggutor-ex has proven itself in competitive play, with multiple distinct partners, though not all equally effective. It’s a bulky, early game attacker for some Serperior builds. Without the Serperior, we’ve seen Exeggutor ex still partnered with Celebi ex (Mythical Island 003/068, 075/068, 085/068), but also Mew ex (Mythical Island 032/068, 077/068, 083/068, 086/068). There are builds with Victreebel (Genetic Apex) backing up Exeggutor ex. There’s even one with Greninja (Genetic Apex 089/226, Promo Series A 019/P-A), to supplement your offense!
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