Paldean Clodsire ex – Shining Revelry
Date Reviewed: April 02, 2025
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
The fourth best card of Shining Revelry is Paldean Clodsire ex (A2b 048, 085, 093)! It’s a Darkness-Type Stage 1 Pokémon ex that evolves from Paldean Wooper. Paldean Clodsire ex has 160 HP, (F) Weakness, Retreat Cost (C)(C)(C), and the attack “Venoshock”. For (D)(D), Paldean Clodsire ex can use Venoshock to do 60 damage to the opponent’s Active. However, if the opponent’s Active is Poisoned, then Venoshock does +60 damage (120 damage total). Paldean Clodsire ex has one printing that is a ♦♦♦♦ rare, with two that are ★★ rares.
What’s in a name? In this case, a region! The “Paldean” part of Paldean Clodsire ex is as much a part of it’s name as “Clodsire” or “ex”. Currently, no cards have effects that make reference to this, and in the video games, there are no “Clodsire” I know of native to areas outside of Paldea. This is our first instance of a regional variant in our Pocket CotD reviews, and Shining Revelry is the first set to contain any regional variants, so I thought it worth addressing.
As a Pokémon ex, Paldean Clodsire ex is worth an extra point when KO’d. Meowscarada (A2b 007, 073), Sudowoodo (A2 036, 079), and Tauros (A1a 060) each have a different attack with an effect that states the attack does more when used against Pokémon ex. There’s also Red (A2b 071, 090), a Supporter that causes attacks – that must already do damage – to do +20 damage when used against a Pokémon ex, until the end of the current turn.
There’s no (D) Type counters or support. Some fellow (D) Pokémon worth noting are Darkrai ex (A2 110, 187, 202; P-A 042), Grafaiai (A2b), and Weavile ex (A2b 099, 186, 201). Exploiting (D) Weakness will sometimes benefit Paldean Clodsire ex. Even once we disregard the Pokémon that see little to no competitive success, or that would be OHKO’d without Weakness. Rotom (A2 035), which can be OHKO’d without being Poisoned, due to it’s (D) Weakness; others become easier or more reliable 2HKOs.
As a Stage 1, Paldean Clodsire ex must evolve from Paldean Wooper to hit the field. We’ll discuss the specifics of Paldean Wooper a little bit later. For now, just be aware you’re using up more deck space, will require some smaller (and thus more vulnerable) survive a turn, and only then will you be able to evolve into Paldean Clodsire ex itself. At least Aerodactyl ex (A1a 046, 078, 084) decks seem to be extinct. I don’t know if that’s a lasting change for the metagame.
Paldean Clodsire ex has 160 HP. This is very sturdy; OHKOs are still possible, but unlikely. Paldean Clodsire ex’s (F) Weakness is extra dangerous, because the Ability on Lucario (A2 092, 170), as well as various other damage bonuses, can all be stacked. The aforementioned Sudowoodo, for example, can do 120 damage to Paldean Clodsire ex for (F)1! As for the Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C), it’s bad. Even with Leaf (A1a 068, 082), you’ll have to discard an Energy.
Venoshock either does a subpar 60 for two, or a great 120 for two; it all depends on if the opposing Active is Poisoned. The (D)(D) means you should only include Paldean Clodsire ex in decks that only spawn (D) Energy from the Energy Zone. Thanks to the Poison damage, you can effectively OHKO up to 130 HP opposing Pokémon, or 150 if it is (D) Weak. Now, how do we inflict that Poison, and what about anti-Poison (or Special Condition) effects?
For the former, we’ll start with Paldean Wooper (A2b 047). It’s a (D) Type Basic Pokémon with 50 HP, (F) Weakness, (C) Retreat Cost, and the attack “Poison Jab”. For (D), the attack let’s Paldean Wooper do 10 damage and Poisons the opposing Active. The HP is not the worst, but it’s low enough to be on the more donkable side. Still, you can attach to Paldean Wooper, attack to Poison, enjoy 10 damage as well, and hopefully evolve into Paldean Clodsire ex the next turn, attach your second (D) Energy, and swing with Venoshock for big damage!
It’s nice to have that as an option, but that gives your opponent a turn to shake being Poisoned. We do have two different Pokémon that Poison via Abilities, though: Grafaiai (A2b 051, 076) and Weezing (A1 177, 243). Grafaiai’s Ability can be used from the Bench, but requires “heads” on a coin flip; Weezing’s Ability does not require a coin flip, but does require Weezing is your Active. Both Abilities can be used once, per instance, during your turn. Having two Grafaiai improve your odds; you shouldn’t need a second Weezing.
The rest of the cards are relevant as well. They’re both (D) Type Stage 1 Pokémon. Grafaiai has 90 HP, (C) Retreat Cost, and for (D)(D) can attack and do 40 damage. Weezing has 110 HP, a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C), and for (D) can attack and do 30 damage. There’s one other advantage Weezing enjoys; if you can make room for it in the deck, you can use Koga to bounce it from hand. Koffing goes with Weezing, everything else his the discard, but you get Weezing out of the way, without it being KO’d.
We’re running long, but I’d be remiss to skip the alternatives to Paldean Clodsire ex. Muk (A1 175), Sandalit (A1a 015, 071), and Scolipede (A1a 055) each have their own version of Venoshock. There’s also Arbok (A1 165), Galvantula (A1a 029), Houndoom (A2a 012, 076), and Staraptor (A2 134, 176), who all have attacks that prevent the Defending Pokémon from Retreating… so they’ll be hit by Poison twice before your next turn, unless they can get rid of the Poison another way.
Muk and Arbok are (D) Type Stage 1 Pokémon with (F) Weakness. Muk is a Stage 1 (D) Pokémon with 130 HP, (F) Weakness, (C)(C)(C) Retreat Cost, and it’s Venoshock costs (D)(D)(C) while doing 70 damage (+50 against Poisoned Pokémon). It’s also a legal target for Koga. Sandalit is a Basic (R) Pokémon with 60 HP, (C) Retreat Cost, (W) Weakness, and it’s Venoshock costs (C) and does 10 damage (+40 damage against Poisoned Pokémon). Scolipede is a Stage 2 (D) Pokémon with 140 HP, (F) Weakness, Retreat Cost (C)(C), and it’s Venoshock costs (D)(C) and does 70 damage (+50 against Poisoned Pokémon).
Again, the following all have one attack, and that attack does damage plus prevents the Defending Pokémon from retreating. Arbok, Galvantula and Houndoom are Stage 1 Pokémon. Arbok is a (D) Type with 100 HP, (F) Weakness, Retreat Cost (C)(C), and for (D)(C) it can use “Corner” to do 60 damage. Galvantula is a (L) Type with 80 HP, (F) Weakness, (C) Retreat Cost, and it’s “Electroweb” attack costs (L)(L) and does 70 damage. Houndoom is a (R) Type with (W) Weakness, (C)(C) Retreat Cost, and can use Corner for (R)(C) to do 60 damage.
Staraptor is a Stage 2, Colorless Pokémon with 140 HP, (L) Weakness, (C) Retreat Cost, and can use “Clutch” for (C)(C)(C) to do 80 damage, plus prevent the Defending Pokémon from retreating. You can use Barry (A2a 074, 089) to reduce Staraptor’s attack by (C)(C). This is a lot of competition for Paldean Clodsire ex, though most of it is likely inferior. Muk and Scolipede are too slow, owing to the Energy cost of the former and the Stage of the latter. The others don’t really hit hard enough to be main attackers.
Next, if you want to run a Darkness Type deck, Weavile ex with Darkrai ex has been a thing, and has a better track record than Paldean Clodsire ex: 124 instances with a 53.02% Win Rate, versus 18 instances with a 47.25% Win Rate. Give or take various permutations that are handled separately. Some that are obviously different (Clodsire ex/Weezing), while others seem like they belong under an earlier entry (Darkrai ex/Weavile ex).
Then there’s Arceus ex (A2a 071, 086, 095, 096). This is the only Pokémon completely immune to Special Conditions, and thus a hard counter to Paldean Clodsire ex. What about Lum Berry (A2 149) or Pokémon Center Lady (A2b 070, 089)? Lum Berry triggers at the end of the turn the Pokémon holding it is afflicted with a Special Condition. It stops the “attack to Poison, next turn attack with Venoshock” combo, but not the combos that use an Ability to Poison the same turn you hit with Venoshock.
Pokémon Center Lady, like retreating or evolving, can only be done during your own turn. Which means that, again it won’t prevent Venoshock getting it’s damage when you use the Ability-to-Poison/Venoshock combo in the same turn. Arceus ex, though, will never take the extra damage from Venoshock. Arceus ex also has 140 HP, and with a full Bench can do 130 damage for (C)(C)(C). Arceus ex/Dialga ex (A2 119, 188, 205, 207) is still 9.24% of the metagame, with a 46.83% Win Rate2.
Lastly, there’s power creep. Remember how I said most of the others didn’t do enough damage? Muk, Paldean Clodsire ex, and Scolipede don’t do enough damage. In the case of the other two, tack on an “anymore”. Maybe it’s a me thing, but I don’t like needing to tack on a Giovanni (A1 223, 270) or Red onto my combo that already involves two Stage 1 (or a Stage 1 and Stage 2) Pokémon. Even if I did, the decks don’t really have the room for it. Weezing variants need their Supporter for Koga or Leaf, anyway. We went from 120 (plus 10 for Poison) being “good enough”, to really needing to do 140 or 150 total.
Rate: 3/5
I have been trying my hand at a Paldean Clodsire ex/Grafaiai deck. It’s been doing “okay”. To be fair, I also run Darkrai ex in the deck; perhaps it is carrying things? I just realized I’m breaking my own self-imposed rule; using Darkrai ex to tack on +20 damage. Sometimes even with Dawn (A2 154, 194) so I can attach to Darkrai ex, get that 20 damage to the Active, then move the Energy to a waiting Paldean Clodsire ex…
…when I could just include a copy or two of Red in the same slots, also for +20 damage. Maybe if I just add in Sandalit as an alternate attacker, and up my Cyrus and/or Sabrina count as well, I can make it work better. Yes, there’s a point to this. While I do regret having Paldean Clodsire ex this far into the countdown, it really does have potential. Just not as much as I thought it had. Which ties into me overrating Grafaiai, and (before reviewing it), Pokémon Center Lady.
Yes, a third paragraph for this conclusion. There’s still a small chance that the metagame can end up helping Clodsire ex decks more than they hurt it. Namely, if Arceus ex use were to decrease and/or (D) Weakness were to increase. Giratina ex match-ups are indeed why I’m so hopeful. Paldean Clodsire ex scores an effective OHKO against it!3 I’m pretty sure this is all copium on my part. At least Clodsires are adorable!
120 (base damage) + 20 (attack effect) + 20 (Weakness) + 20 (Red) + 20 (Lucario) +20 (2nd Lucario)
2At the time of writing this article, via LimitlessTCG.
360 (base damage) + 60 (attack effect) + 20 (Weakness) = 140. Poison then kicks in to do 10 more damage: Giratina ex has 150 HP.
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