EX Deoxys Strategy - Part 2

New Trainers
Balloon Berry (84/107) isn't exactly a new card, but a re-release. This version's text has been revised. Balloon Berry explicitly reduces the Retreat Cost to zero of the Pokémon that it is attached to. One big benefit of this is that cards like Dark Ariados (EX Team Rocket Returns, 30/109), Girafarig (EX Dragon, 16/97), Dark Muk (EX Team Rocket Returns, 16/109 ), and Muk ex (EX Dragon, 96/97), whose attacks are based on Retreat Cost, are weakened. It also cancels out any Trainer effects, attacks, Poké-Bodies, or Poké-Powers that increase Retreat Cost, such as Team Aqua's Hideout (EX Team Magma & Aqua, 78/95) or Dark Muk's Sticky Goo.

Crystal Shard (85/107) is another re-release that will be very useful for countering strong Pokémon that are weak to Colorless-type Pokémon, such as Rayquaza ex or Salamence ex (103/107). Crystal Shard changes a Pokémon's type to Colorless when Crystal Shard is attached to it. Crystal Shard is also useful if the opposing Pokémon has a Resistance to your Pokémon's usual type. For example, Breloom (3/107) could attack Crobat ex for full damage if Crystal Shard was attached, because Crobat ex's Resistance to Fighting-type Pokémon would not be triggered: Breloom would be a Colorless-type Pokémon when it attacks.

Meteor Falls (89/107) is a new Stadium card that allows both players' Evolved Pokémon (except Pokémon-ex) to use attacks from their previous forms of evolution. This ability opens up many new tactics for the game. For example, Butterfree can continue to use Caterpie's (EX FireRed & LeafGreen, 56/112) Signs of Evolution to take Metapod (EX FireRed & LeafGreen, 39/112) and Butterfree cards from your deck so you can evolve a Benched Caterpie. Slaking (15/107, EX Ruby & Sapphire, 12/109) can use Slakoth's (73/107) Flail or Vigoroth's (EX Ruby & Sapphire, 47/109) Rage to cause a lot of damage if Slaking has damage counters on it. With Meteor Falls, there are countless strategies you can use to surprise your opponent.

Space Center (91/107) is another new Stadium card that turns off the Poké-Bodies for all Basic Pokémon (except Pokémon-ex and Pokémon with an owner in its name). When Space Center is in play, you can bypass the defenses of many Pokémon. For example, you can ignore Rayquaza's Dragon Aura and give it a Special Condition, while Wobbuffet (EX Sandstorm, 26/100) will lose its Safeguard Poké-Body and become vulnerable to attacks from Pokémon-ex (unless it evolved from Wynaut (EX Sandstorm, 54/100), in which case, Wobbuffet would be an Evolved Pokémon).

Other Notable Pokémon
Altaria (1/107) is the latest Pokémon to be immune to attacks from Pokémon-ex. Altaria has two advantages compared to the other Pokémon with the immunity: First, its Colorless type means that almost nothing has Resistance to its attacks, and it can exploit the Weaknesses of Pokémon like Rayquaza, Rayquaza ex, Rayquaza, Latios, Latias, and Salamence ex. Second, its Double Wing Attack does 20 damage for only one Lightning Energy, and in a 2-on-2 Battle, it does 20 damage to both Defending Pokémon!

Gyarados (8/107) has three attacks, making it versatile and extremely dangerous. Its Dragon Spark attack does 10 damage to each of your opponent's Pokémon, and the Pulverize attack does 100 damage if the Defending Pokémon has two or more damage counters on it! Isn't that a great combo? Dragon Spark only requires one Water Energy, so a good strategy is to use one Gyarados' Dragon Spark while you attach Energy cards to another Gyarados. When each of the opponent's Pokémon has at least two damage counters on them, your powered-up Gyarados can start doing 100 damage repeatedly! Gyarados' third attack, Full Retaliation, does 20 damage times the number of damage counters on each Magikarp (any version) you have in play, so you could team Gyarados with a Pokémon that injures your Pokémon in some way, such as Whiscash (EX Dragon, 48/97) or Blastoise ex (EX FireRed & LeafGreen, 104/112), and do a lot of damage for only two Energy! And, with Meteor Falls in play, Gyarados can even use Magikarp (64/107)'s Rage attack to cause a lot of damage when Gyarados is badly hurt.

Shedinja (14/107) is a unique Pokémon in that your opponent can't claim a Prize card when Shedinja is Knocked Out. This means that, with some clever use of Pokémon Retriever (EX Team Rocket Returns, 84/109) and/or Ninjask (EX Dragon, 18/97), you can send swarms of Shedinja at your opponent and they won't gain any Prizes!

Speaking of Shedinja, the new Ninjask (13/107) can se the older Shedinja (EX Dragon, 11/97) to become nearly invulnerable to attacks! Ninjask's Fast Protection Poké-Body prevents all effects of attacks, including damage, by your opponent's Basic Pokémon. Shedinja's Wonder Guard Poké-Body prevents all effects of attacks, including damage, by your opponent's Evolved Pokémon and Pokémon-ex. If your opponent evolves his or her Basic Pokémon and you have a Ninjask in play, you can use Surprise! Time Machine (EX Team Rocket Returns, 91/109) to change your Ninjask into the EX Dragon Shedinja. Your Shedinja will be immune to attack from those new Evolved Pokémon! Ninjask also has the ability to cause 80 damage for just one Energy when using its Swords Dance and Slash attacks in consecutive turns, so it has a lot of offensive power, too.

Salamence ex (102/107) is the most powerful dragon ever released, and it's sure to be a fearsome sight in any card battle! For two Energy, Flame Jet can do 40 damage to your choice of the opponent's Pokémon. For four Energy, Bright Flame can do 120 damage to a Defending Pokémon! When you use Bright Flame, you have to discard two Energy, so Boost Energy cards will be indispensable for any deck with Salamence ex. If those two attacks didn't make Salamence worrisome enough, it has 160 HP and Resistance to both Fire-type and Fighting-type attacks, and its Dragon Lift Poké-Body reduces the Retreat Cost to all of your Pokémon (except Pokémon-ex and Baby Pokémon) to zero! With all of these powers, one might think that Salamence ex was too unbalanced. However, Salamence ex has a Weakness to Colorless-type Pokémon. The Crystal Shard Pokémon Tool allows many Pokémon to Knock Out Salamence ex with one hit. Also, Salamence ex's own Retr eat Cost is not changed to zero by its Poké-Body, so once it's Active, it's vulnerable to Special Conditions.