Palkia ex – Space-Time Smackdown
Date Reviewed: February 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 Space-Time Smackdown is Palkia ex (A2 049, 182, 204, 206)! It’s a Basic, (W) Type, Pokémon ex. Palkia ex has 150 HP, (L) Weakness, (C)(C) Retreat Cost, and two attacks. “Slash” costs (W) to use, and does 30 damage. For (W)(W)(W)(C), Palkia ex can use “Dimensional Storm” to do 150 damage to the opposing Active, and 20 to each of their Benched Pokémon. There are four different iterations of this card, each with its own art and rarity: ♦♦♦♦, ★★, ★★★, and 🜲.
Pokémon ex are worth an extra point when KO’d, and take 120 damage when attacked by Tauros (A1a 060). Which explains why the rest of the card is “decent” to “great!”. Basic is the best Stage: no additional cards or turns for Palkia ex to hit the field, and it’s a legal Poké Ball target. The Retreat Cost of (C)(C) is the “decent” part; Leaf or a double X Speed zero out the Retreat Cost completely, but if you have to pay some or all of it, it’s often possible.
The (W) Typing is great for Palkia ex! There are three different options for (W) Energy acceleration: Misty (A1 220, 267), Vaporeon (A1a 019, 072), and Manaphy (A2 050, 162). You can’t rely on Misty, but fortunately, you don’t have to; two alternate forms of Energy acceleration plus Palkia ex has a single Energy attack. Vaporeon’s Ability is a Type (both Pokémon and Energy) restricted, reusable Dawn. That doesn’t eat up your Supporter for the turn.
Manaphy is just the new preferred opener. While there are times you’ll want to go full aggro instead, mostly you’ll want to attach a (W) Energy to Manaphy, then attack to attach a (W) Energy to two of your Benched Pokémon. They don’t even have to be (W) Types! Plus, these three all compliment each other. You won’t always have to run all three alongside Palkia ex, but you’ll probably want two out of the three (usually Manaphy and Misty).
As for the rest of what being a (W) Type means… Palkia ex still good! All but two (W) Weak Pokémon are OHKO’d before applying Weakness when you slam them with Dimensional Storm: Infernape ex (A2 029, 181, 197) and Charizard ex (A1 036, 253, 280, 284). Thanks to its (W) Weakness, Infernape ex does fall to a single Dimensional Storm. If you can tack on a Giovanni, the same happens to Charizard ex as well! Apart from that, Slash becoming a 50-for-1 against (W) Weak Pokémon enables some relevant 2HKOs and 3HKOs. Just remember that are two Pokémon – who haven’t seen any success yet – with anti (W) Abilities.1
Palkia ex has 150 HP. This is the highest printed on a Basic Pokémon ex. OHKOing Palkia is a challenge for many decks. Exploiting its (L) Weakness allows Raichu (A1 095) to score a OHKO it would have otherwise missed. If we also consider Giovanni (A1 223, 270), or a similar minor combo, Electivire (A2 057), Luxray (A2 060), and Magnezone (A1 053) qualify as well. The 2HKOs (L) Weakness enables or improves are probably more dangerous. For example, Galvantula (A1a 029) can use its “Electroweb” to do 70 (90 after Weakness) for (L)(L) and the attack’s effect will prevent the now 60% KO’d Palkia ex from retreating.
Slash is simple, but useful. 30 damage for (W) is going to be good in general; slapping it on big body (like Palkia ex) guarantees it will prove handy. Whether you need an inexpensive attack to use early game, or an inexpensive attack to finish something off in the mid-to-late game, Slash is there for you. When you’re able to stock up on (W) Energy, Dimensional Storm is amazing. Out of the 426 unique Pokémon in Pocket, only 19 can survive that. A Giovanni drops that to just nine. The Bench damage is important as well, helping to setup for additional KOs.
Articuno ex (A1 084, 258, 275), Greninja (A1; Promo-A 019), Starmie ex (A1 076, 257) and the aforementioned Vaporeon contribute to one (sometimes more than one) Palkia ex deck. Check the link for more details, though they don’t list the Articuno ex/Palkia ex variant. Squeezing Articuno ex into the Vaporeon variant if you want to try it; you’ll have to run fewer copies of some other cards, but it can be done. In all cases, remember that Misty can enable lucky donks, early game leads, and come-from-behind victories.
Rating: 4/5
Palkia ex is a beast. It’s a bit like a cross between Articuno ex and Mewtwo ex (A1 129, 262, 282, 286). Well, how Mewtwo ex used to be. You’ve got an attacker that can open if it must, but that you’ll usually build on the Bench before sending it up front slam (probably) OHKO something. You also have the bonus Bench of Articuno ex, except doubled. Unlike Mewtwo ex decks, though, prepping Palkia ex to repeatedly use its big attack requires more effort.
1Piloswine (A2 032) and Mamoswine (A2 033, 160); their Abilities reduce the damage they take from (R) and (W) Pokémon by 20 and 30, respectively. This protection works whether they Active or on the Bench.
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