The Fighting-type Pokémon, Gallade ex, has been appearing more frequently in tournaments as players explore various builds to make this Stage 2 Pokémon viable. While Gallade ex evolves similarly to Gardevoir ex, it relies more on physical attacks than psychic power, fitting its Fighting type.
Although we still need the Psychic Pokémon, Ralts and Kirlia, to evolve into Gallade ex, this deck focuses exclusively on Fighting Energy, without utilizing any Psychic Energy.
Gallade ex Hitmonlee Decklist
How to Play
Early Attackers
Since we’re relying on Stage 2 Gallade ex to carry the late-game, and it can take us a couple of turns to evolve into it, we’ll need early attackers that don’t have high-cost attacks to put in some early work for us.
Hitmonlee is great for his Stretch Kick, requiring only 1 Fighting Energy to start dealing 30 damage to the opponent’s backline, potentially knocking it a low HP Pokemon.
As for Farfetch’d, its Leek Slap deals 40 damage to the opponent’s Active Pokemon, great at knocking out 80 HP Pokemon with two early attacks, or at least putting them low enough for your other attackers to finish off.
Gallade ex Carry
We need to have Ralts in play as quickly as possible to start evolving into Gallade ex. It’s best to have Ralts and Kirlia on the Bench to avoid having them knocked out by your opponent’s attack. Having a second Pokemon alongside them on the Bench is usually the best call so that the opposing player can’t Sabrina your Ralts and Kirlia to the Active spot.
Gallade ex has 170 HP, so it’s pretty tough to knock out, sticking in play for a while, and giving you more opportunities to go for the Energized Blade attack. Energized Blade only needs 2 Fighting Energy to deal 70 damage, but will deal an extra 20 damage for each Energy your opponent’s Active Pokemon has attached to it.
So you’re reliant on the matchup and how many Energy cards your opponent has attached to it, but you could easily be dealing 90 or 110 to most Pokemon.
Draw Cards
Poke Ball will draw you a basic Pokemon, helping you find Ralts or Hitmonlee when they’re needed.
Pokemon Communication increases the odds of finding the Pokemon we need to evolve into Gallade ex. We can choose a Pokemon in our hand and switch it with a random Pokemon from the deck, often we’ll use it to find Kirlia or Gallade ex.
Professor’s Research is a Supporter card to draw 2 cards. You want to play it early in the game since you’ll prefer playing other Supporter cards.
Battle Cards
Potion heals one of your Pokemon for 20 damage, putting them out of range from your opponent’s upcoming attack and giving you an extra turn to either attack or retreat them.
Rocky Helmet adds another method for us to deal damage to the opponent’s Active Pokemon, doing 20 damage whenever they attack our Pokemon with Rocky Helmet attached to it. It’s usually best to attach it to Gallade ex since it has the most HP, getting the most out of Rocky Helmet.
All of our Pokemon have a low retreat cost, so X-Speed works wonders here if you don’t want to commit an Energy to retreat an Active Pokemon. This allows you to bring another Pokemon to the Active spot and attach an Energy to it to go for a more aggressive attack.
Since we’re dealing a lot of damage to the opponent’s Pokemon, Cyrus is great in this list, giving us the ability to pull a damaged Pokemon on the Bench to the Active spot and attack it directly. Hitmonlee‘s Stretch Kick is the best combo for Cyrus, dealing 30 damage to the Pokemon of our choosing and later pulling it into the Active spot.
Other Cards to Include
Lucario synergizes with your Fighting-type Pokemon, giving their attacks a +20 damage boost through its Fighting Coach ability. This adds more punch to your attacks, making it easier to get a knockout on your opponent’s Pokemon a turn earlier.
Pros & Cons
- Isn’t Energy hungry and can go for aggressive early attacks.
- Gallade ex can be tough to knock out thanks to its high HP, giving you more turns to attack.
- Gallade ex’s attack is reliant on the number of Energy attached to your opponent’s Pokemon.
- In most cases, you won’t be able to deal a high-damage attack to one-shot an opponent’s Pokemon.
