Prismatic Evolutions may be a little while off yet, but we have a good idea of what cards are coming out in that expansion, and among them is the majestic and powerful Leafeon ex.

Leafeon and I go way back – Leafeon VMAX is the deck I played for the most part since the time Evolving Skies came out all the way through the Team Challenge that happened in the following year (a tournament which my team took one of the top two hundred spots in the world).

After VMAX Pokemon stopped being so viable with the rise of VSTAR, I pivoted to an innovative Leafeon V powered Giratina VSTAR deck. I did well at many online tournaments playing this deck and had a ton of fun.

So, of course, I was excited to see that another Leafeon attacker is entering the game. Is this Leafeon ex strong? It can be. Especially if you pair it with the many cards that currently supercharge Tera type Pokemon.

Pokémon: 22
4 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 25
3 Eevee SSP 143
3 Leafeon ex SV8a 3
2 Hoothoot SCR 114
2 Noctowl SCR 115
1 Terapagos ex SCR 128
1 Origin Forme Palkia V ASR 39
1 Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
1 Mew ex MEW 151
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
Trainer: 27
2 Boss's Orders PR-SW 251
2 Iono PAF 80
2 Professor's Research PAF 87
1 Lacey SCR 139
1 Briar SCR 132
1 Crispin SCR 133
4 Nest Ball PAF 84
3 Energy Switch SVI 173
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Tera Orb SSP 189
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
2 Earthen Vessel
1 Counter Catcher PAR 160
1 Sparkling Crystal SCR 142
1 Rigid Band MEW 165
2 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
Energy: 11
6 Grass Energy SVE 1
3 Water Energy Energy 47
2 Jet Energy PAL 190

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Leafeon ex and Eevee

To start, we’ll talk about the main backbone of this deck – Leafeon ex. For starters, one thing that’s going to give any deck that opts to run Eeveelutions a head’s up in the meta is the fact that they can be paired very, very well with this Eevee from Surging Sparks. Thanks to this Eevee, you can sort of treat your Leafeon ex as a Basic, using it’s attack ASAP. That means even attacking as early as turn one.

However, given Leafeon’s attack needs your opponent to have energy in play to actually do damage, attacking turn one isn’t a huge priority. Instead, you’ll be wanting to go first when possible to set yourself up better for the attack.

Leafeon ex has two attacks you can leverage

The main attack you are going to be using is Leafeon’s Verdant Storm. For just two energy, you will be doing 60 damage for each energy attached to your opponent’s Pokemon. Of course how strong this attack is going to be will depend largely on what deck you are playing against and how well they are set up. For this reason, this attack is likely going to be a later game attack.

That being said, the meta is currently rife with decks that like to field a lot of energies. This includes the likes of Raging Bolt ex, Raging Bolt ex, Miraidon ex and beyond. There’s certainly an interesting play here, especially if you can buff up your Leafeon ex’s defence (more on that in a bit).

Moss Agate

While you can get away without even using Moss Agate, I like this attack and feel like it’s worth teching in a few cards for. As Leafeon ex is a Tera type, it pairs perfectly with Sparkling Crystal. You’ll still need one more energy on your Leafeon besides the grass energy, but this is easy enough. There are many ways to get the required energy onto Leafeon to get the attack off but two easy ones are to pair Sparkling Crystal with Crispin.

Moss Agate is a pretty solid attack, dishing out 230 damage while also healing 100 damage from each of your Pokemon. Talk about a multifaceted attack!

Getting Moss Agate off

Getting Moss Agate off doesn’t really have to be the hardest thing in the world. It’s likely going to be a once-per-game attack, but you can get it all ready to go via Cripsin and Sparkling Crystal. Crispin works particularly well in this deck as you can fairly easily search out the energy you need and attach it to your Leafeon. Once that part is done, attach your Sparkling Crystal to remove the need for a fire energy and you can use Moss Agate.

To help you get these cards into your hand more reliably, you’ll be wanting to take advantage of Noctowl’s Jewel Seeker ability, letting you bring any two trainer cards into your hand.

The Palkia Play

Because you are going to need to run water energy in this deck to use Moss Agate anyways, why not throw a Palkia in? Palkia VSTAR is a very strong attacker as well as energy accelerator, making it easier for your Pokemon to get the energy they need to dish out damage. Meanwhile, pair Star Portal with Radiant Greninja and you can take multiple KOs in a turn!

Secondary attackers really help your strategy

Leafeon ex can be deadly but it’s going to be more deadly after your opponent has done some work in getting their board set up. To help you scale some damage in the interim – as well as to help close the game out – you have a few secondary attackers that will help you.

Terapagos ex

Unless you live under a rock (and that’s all good if you do), you’ve probably heard a thing or two about how strong Terapagos ex is in the Pokemon TCG meta. In this deck, it can be a very effective early game attacker. Assuming you got Area Zero Underdepths successfully out of your deck, you can use Terapagos ex to do some serious damage on your board. At the same time, having Area Zero in play grants you additional bench space which can be very helpful in any deck.

Thanks to the inclusion of Sparkling Cyrstal, you can also take advantage of Crown Opal if you need to: a particularly powerful attack against decks that run only basic attackers.

Teal Mask Ogerpon ex

I don’t find Teal Mask Ogerpon ex to be the greatest attacker, but in a pinch it can be quite helpful. Like Leafeon ex, how strong this attack will be is dependent on the amount of energy on your opponent’s Pokemon. In this case, however, it’s the amount of energy on your opponent’s active and Teal Mask itself. While that limits your potential damage output somewhat, there are plenty of ocasions when Teal Mask can take KOs.

Of course, the real reason you include Teal Mask Ogerpon ex is not because of its Myriad Leaf Shower: it’s because of its Teal Dance. Teal Dance is one of the most broken abilities in the game right now which is why Ogerpon ex is included in multiple top tier decks. Using Teal Dance, you can accelerate energies onto this Pokemon and draw a card.

Because Leafeon doesn’t have a way to accelerate energies onto itself, you can use Teal Dance combined with Energy Switch to get energies onto it.

Ursaluna ex and Mew ex – Situational Attackers

Ursaluna is an excellent late game finisher. I love keeping this Pokemon safely tucked away until the last moment – especially if I’ve managed to thin my deck out enough to make drawing it reasonable. Meanwhile, you can technically attack with Mew ex’s Genome hacking. While I find it very infrequent that I do so, in a pinch it can be helpful. Some scenarios that come to mind is when facing down a stall deck that runs Mimikyu. Use Genome hacking to get around its ability and you’re good to go!

Buffing up your Leafeon ex

If you know anything about the current Pokemon video games, Leafeon in general is a Pokemon well known for its defensive capabilities. However, with a little help from Rigid Band, you can make Leafeon ex even tougher..

When equipped to a stage 1 Pokemon, that Pokemon will take 30 less damage from your opponent’s attacks. Suddenly, your Leafeon is looking very, very tough, requiring your opponent to hit it with a massive 300 damage hit to KO it in one shot.

Searching for the Pokemon you need is a breeze thanks to these cards

In regards to consistency, you have a lot of cards in this deck that help with that. Let’s take a look at what they are and how they help.

Bug Catching Set: while this deck doesn’t only run grass type Pokemon, Bug Catching Set could still be a strong added way to get energies and Pokemon into your hand. Because you’re running some special energy and colorless Pokemon, you may only want to run a couple of these (two in my example list).
Nest Ball: Nest Ball is probably going to be your strongest card to consistentny add Pokemon that you need to your Bench.
Tera Orb: Tera Orb lets you bring any Tera Pokemon to your hand. It’s a pretty broken card especially in decks like this one that run a bunch of Tera Types.
Buddy-Buddy Poffin: I could see a world in which you don’t run Buddy-Buddy in this deck. However, it seems like a very strong consistency card here as it will enable you to quickly load up your deck with the tiny HP Pokemon this deck relies on.

Powerful supporters lend a hand to your Leafeon ex strategy

Lacey

Lacey is a strong, late game draw supporter, letting you replenish your hand with not five, not seven, but eight cards. The nice thing about her is that early game if you find you are a bit stuck she can be also used – although you’ll draw less card from playing her.

Briar

Last but not least, Briar may just be your single strongest supporter. She enables you to sneak up from behind and take a game winning KO with one of your many Tera Pokemon. She’s a stable in Tera decks and superpowers Leafeon ex.

Leafeon ex matchup guide

Lastly, let’s take a look at how Leafeon ex matches up against other popular meta decks right now.

Charizard ex

Because of my deep respect for Charizard ex, I’m always happy when I happen across a deck that enables me to go toe-to-toe with it. This is one of those decks. Here you’re going to really want to lean heavily into your Ogerpon ex or Lea who is capable of taking out Charizard ex in a single shot thanks to type advantage. Additionally, use your once per game Moss Agate attack for when you’re staring down Charizard ex with Leafeon ex.

Raging Bolt ex

Theoretically, you should have a decent matchup against Raging Bolt ex. Raging Bolt loves to field a large amount of energies to prep for Bellowing Thunder. The flip side is that it can also relatively easily scale to KO your Leafeon even with a fair amount of defensive buffs in place. I would put this at a pretty even matchup.

Regidrago VSTAR

I feel like you have a pretty good chance against Regidrago VSTAR with this deck as long as you go first. You want to go first before your opponent cant cut down your benched Pokemon with Phantom Dive. Otherwise, look to move around Regidrago VSTAR itself to take easier knockouts against supporting, benched Pokemon. Any Pokemon that are still alive after surviving a Phantom Dive can and should be healed with Moss Agate.

Miraidon ex

Miraidon ex loves to field a ton of energies. Use this against them by gaining power for each of those energy via Verdant Storm which can be powered up much more easily than what it takes Miraidon ex to do with all of its energy acceleration bells and whistles. Really focus on your defense as well here and make it hard for Miraidon or its other attackers to OHKO you.

I have a long history in the Pokemon TCG with Leafeon so I’m really stoked to start testing this deck once these cards come out. Until then, this is my best idea for how Leafeon ex will work. I’ll update this guide once I have some hands-on experience with this new archetype. It’s quite likely that the ratios and numbers of these cards will change as I test. However, the core concept should stay very much intact!

Leafeon ex Deck List and Guide from Prismatic Evolutions