Rampardos Silvally

Rampardos is one of those regular Pokémon whose power level is on par with Pokémon ex. For just 1 Energy, Head Smash deals 130 damage, an unmatched rate in Pokémon TCG Pocket (not even rivaled by any Pokémon ex so far). The attack comes with a drawback: if it knocks out the Defending Pokémon, Rampardos takes 50 recoil damage. Still, the upside of trading a Pokémon ex for a single point makes it well worth the cost. Rampardos can withstand both the self-damage and attacks from opposing Pokémon thanks to its solid 150 HP.

Rampardos evolves from Skull Fossil, meaning you can’t open the game with it or search for it using Poké Ball. That said, this restriction opens the door to running a lineup of efficient Pokémon for the early game, setting up support Pokémon and/or dish out strong damage early on. Rampardos then enters later as a finisher, sweeping even the tankiest threats.

Since its release, Rampardos has been the pillar of the strongest NOEX decks, standing up to ex-heavy strategies by trading evenly or even favorably against 2 point Pokémon. It’s supported by a deep pool of powerful -type partners. Celestial Guardians only made it stronger: thanks to Rare Candy, the Skull Fossil can evolve into Rampardos on turn 3 and deliver a 130 blow from every turn onward.

Celestial Guardians introduced Silvally, its pre-evolution Type: Null, and Gladion to help search for both.

Type: Null makes for a solid opener, with a very respectable 80 HP and a decent Quick Blow attack that averages 30 damage. Once evolved into Silvally, it gains access to Brave Buddies, which deals 50 damage, or 100 if you’ve played a Supporter that turn. This can easily be the Gladion you used to find and evolve Silvally in the first place.

This variant runs slightly more Supporters than usual to maximize the chance of hitting Brave Buddies' bonus damage consistently. While it lacks the potential to hit for weakness like Lycanroc, its more reliable damage output, slightly better HP and different weakness from Rampardos' makes it a strong consideration to pair it with the fossil Pokémon.