The Mythical Island expansion introduces the new Aerodactly Ex, a Fighting-type Pokemon that shines thanks to its ability Primeval Law. This is an off-meta deck, so don’t expect it to crush tournaments, but it can be pesky for opponents, disrupting their game plan and slowing them down until you get your final attacks through and win the game.
This list has Primeape, Marshadow, and Hitmonlee as single-point Pokemon that can deal damage and back up Aerodactly Ex.
Aerodactyl Ex Decklist
Pokémon: 8
2 Mankey P-A 17
2 Primeape A1 142
2 Aerodactyl ex A1a 46
1 Marshadow A1a 47
1 Hitmonlee A1 154
Trainer: 12
2 Professor's Research P-A 7
1 Sabrina A1 225
1 Giovanni A1 223
2 Old Amber A1a 63
2 X Speed P-A 2
2 Potion P-A 1
2 Poké Ball P-A 5How to Play
Aerodactly Ex is how we win games and we want him in play as early as possible. To do that, we need to play Old Amber first, and here’s the main problem. Old Amber is not a Pokemon, it’s not part of the rule “You’ll always have a Basic Pokemon at the start of your hand”, also Poke Ball will not draw it.
So if we don’t have it in the starting hand, we have to use Professor’s Research to find it. Make sure to play Poke Ball first so you don’t draw a Basic Pokemon with Professor’s Research if it’s at the top of the deck.
Once you have Aerodactly Ex in play, your Primeval Law goes into effect, preventing opponents from evolving their Active Pokemon. This can slow them down, especially if you move one of their Benched Pokemon to the Active spot with Sabrina. They’ll be forced to retreat that Pokemon, which could burn their Energy and shut them off from activating an attack.
Aerodactly Ex‘s Land Crush only needs 2 Energy to activate, dealing 80 damage with each attack. In most cases, you’ll two attacks to knock out an opponent’s Active Pokemon.
Early Damage
Primeape is a Stage 1 Pokemon that evolves from Mankey. Its Fight Back attack deals 40 damage, but if it already has damage on it, then Fight Back is dealing an extra 60 damage, going for 100 damage for just 2 Fighting Energy.
With Reckless Charge, Mankey deals 30 damage to the opponent’s Pokemon and 10 damage to itself, which means Primeape will join in with 80 HP, ready to deal 100 damage with Fight Back attack.
Its retreat cost being at 1 Energy means we can retreat to safety whenever we need to and prevent opponents from knocking it out.
Alternate Damage
Marshadow‘s Revenge attack goes from 40 to 100 damage when one of your Pokemon gets Knocked Out by damage from an attack during your opponent’s last turn. So we usually rely on Marshadow after Primeape or Hitmonlee are knocked out. Marshadow is a low HP Pokemon, but if opponent has only 1 Match Point, we don’t mind Marshadow getting knocked out as long as it deals the 100 damage from Revenge.
Hitmonlee only needs 1 Energy to go for the Stretch kick, attacking the opponent’s Bench, potentially knocking out a damaged Pokemon or low HP Pokemon.
Battle Cards
Giovanni gives an extra 10 damage to your attack, perfect if you’re missing 10 damage to knock out a Pokemon.
Sabrina forces the opponent to switch one of their Benched Pokemon to the Active spot. This can be annoying when played at the right time, especially if the opponent can’t easily switch back the Pokemon they want to the Active spot or have a valuable Pokemon on the Bench.
Both Giovanni and Sabrina are Supporter cards so you can play only one of them a turn.
Potion is great to keep one of your Pokemon out of range from getting knocked out on the opponent’s upcoming turn. This buys you an extra turn to attack, which can change the whole game in your favor.
X-Speed is the perfect card to retreat one of your Pokemon and get another in the Active spot. It lowers the Retreat Cost of your Active Pokemon by 1, saving you from attaching an Energy on it and using that Energy strictly to activate your attacks.
Draw Value
Play Professor’s Research, a Supporter card that allows you to draw two cards, early in the game when you don’t need to play other Supporter cards like Sabrina or Giovanni.
Poke Ball draws you a Basic Pokemon, helping you find your Basic Pokemon and thin out your deck to find the cards you need.
