Melmetal – Genetic Apex
Date Reviewed: April 28, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Note: This article was written a few days before Celestial Guardians (A3) releases. I will avoid mentioning any cards from the set.
Melmetal (A1 182) is a Metal-Type, Stage 1 Pokémon that evolves from Meltan. It has 130 HP, (R) Weakness, (C)(C)(C) Retreat Cost, the Ability “Hard Coat”, and the attack “Heavy Impact”. Hard Coat is always “on”, and reduces the damage Melmetal takes from attacks by 20. Heavy Impact costs (M)(M)(M)(C), and let’s Melmetal attack the opposing Active for 120 damage. Melmetal is only available as a ♦♦♦ rare.
The Metal Type isn’t good at exploiting Weakness, and it’s arguably worse for Melmetal. The only (M) Weak Pokémon with more than 120 HP are Abomasnow (A2 045), Glaceon ex (A2a 022, 083, 092), Mamoswine (A2 033, 160), and Togekiss (A2 065), and… they aren’t competitive. As for (M) support, the damage reducing Adaman (A2a 075, 090) has seen a little success.
There’s also one Pokémon with an anti-Metal effect: Mawile (A2a 056) has an attack for (M) that does 50 to (M) Types, but 20 to anything else. There are also some notable (M) attackers. Dialga ex (A2 119, 188, 205, 207) isn’t as good as it was pre-Shining Revelry, but it still has great stats and that Energy accelerating attack. The other (M) Type worth mentioning is Skarmory (A2 111; P-A 039); though it requires having a Tool attached, for (M) it can attack for 50 damage.
As a Stage 1, Melmetal isn’t as fast or space efficient as a Basic, but it’s less demanding than a Stage 2. There’s only Meltan (A1 181) for Melmetal to evolve from, and it’s a (M) Type, Basic Pokémon with 60 HP, (R) Weakness, (C) Retreat Cost, and the attack “Amass”. For (M), Amass lets Meltan attach a (M) Energy from the Energy Zone to itself. This is a useful attack, but be careful when using it as that 60 HP doesn’t go far.
Melmetal’s 130 HP is pretty good; ignoring Pokémon ex, there are only four Stage 1 Pokémon with more than 130 HP, and even then, and they max out at 150. (R) Weakness is a mild concern, helping some of the weaker attackers (or weaker attacks on strong attackers) to score a 2HKO they’d have otherwise missed. The real concern is the Retreat Cost of (C)(C). Even with Leaf (A1a 068, 082), you’d have to discard two Energy to retreat. Don’t plan on retreating your Melmetal!
Hard Coat is a very good Ability with Melmetal’s HP. It’s why I didn’t describe Melmetal’s HP in terms of damage taken, because Hard Coat lets Melmetal function as if it has 20 extra HP against single attacks, 40 against two attacks (if neither KOs it), 60 against three (if none KO it), etc. If Melmetal’s HP was much lower, it wouldn’t be as good of a deal, but on top of 130, Melmetal is a little more durable than Basic Pokémon ex that have 150 HP. Since there are no anti-Ability effects, but there are anti-Pokémon ex effects that allow attackers to hit them harder.
Heavy Impact is good. You’re not likely to run Melmetal in a multi-Energy Type deck, so the (C) Energy cost is likely to go to waste, but 120 for four without a condition, cost, or similar drawback is uncommon. Sadly, this does mean Heavy Impact, even with Red (A2b 071, 090) falls short of OHKOing several prominent Basic Pokémon ex, who have 150 HP. What really troubles me is that, as a Stage 1, Melmetal really needed to attack for just two or three Energy. Why?
Whether you open with Meltan or Dialga ex, attacking once with either does not prep for Melmetal. Which is relevant because, if you need a minimum of two turns of attacking to setup, better options become apparent. Not for Meltan, of course, but with Dialga ex. Even if Heavy Impact only did 80 or 90 damage but at a cost of (M)(M)(C) or (M)(M)(M), I believe Melmetal would have been better off. That’s still enough damage – before other effects – to 2HKO most of the cardpool.
Rating: 2/5
You may have noticed I have not brought up Melmetal decks. While people have tried them, it hasn’t ever seen significant competitive success. If you want to go mainstream for a Metal deck, you’re better of pairing Dialga ex with Arceus ex (A2a 071, 086, 095, 096) and company, or the Skarmory backed by Magnezone (A2 053), even if neither deck runs much (if anything) in the way of other Metal-Types.
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