


Mega Steelix ex Deck Guide in Pokémon TCG Pocket
Turn a single Onix into a 220 HP iron wall that shrugs off attacks while grinding out knockouts
The Mega Steelix ex deck is a defensive Metal
โลหะ archetype that evolves Onix into a 220 HP attacker whose Adamantine Rolling both deals 120 damage and hardens it against the counterattack. A thick package of Tools and healing forces opponents to spend three or four turns breaking through a single Pokémon. This slow, deliberate deck wins by making each of your knockouts cheaper than each of theirs.
The decklist
How it works
Mega Steelix ex is a Stage 1 that evolves directly from Onix, and it is the
entire game plan. For ![]()
![]()
![]()
โลหะ, ไร้สี,
Adamantine Rolling deals 120 damage, and during your opponent's next turn Mega
Steelix ex takes 20 less damage from attacks and has no Weakness. That rider
is huge: a Fire
ไฟ attacker that would normally hit its
Weakness for an extra 20 instead deals 20 less than printed, a swing of 40
damage. Remember the risk: a Mega Pokémon ex gives up 3 points when Knocked
Out, which hands over the game on the spot.
Onix is the lone Basic and the foundation every game is built on. It is a
Fighting
ต่อสู้ type with 110 HP, and its Land Crush
attack costs ![]()
![]()
ต่อสู้, which a Metal
โลหะ Energy Zone will never pay, so treat Onix as a body
that soaks hits rather than an attacker. Each Onix evolves into either Steelix
or Mega Steelix ex, so one Onix only ever becomes one of the two branches.
With just two copies in the deck, keeping both alive long enough to evolve is
your first priority.
Steelix is the second branch of the evolution split, a Stage 1 Metal
โลหะ Pokémon with 150 HP that also evolves directly from
Onix. Heavy Impact deals a flat 110 damage for
![]()
![]()
![]()
โลหะ, ไร้สี, only one of which
must be Metal
โลหะ Energy. Because it is not a Pokémon
ex, it only gives up 1 point when Knocked Out, making it the safer attacker
when you are ahead on points or when losing a Mega would end the game.
The Tool suite is what turns big HP totals into genuine walls. Giant Cape
grants +20 HP, pushing Mega Steelix ex to 240, while Heavy Helmet is a
defensive Tool and Metal Core Barrier reduces damage for your Metal
โลหะ Pokémon. Only one Tool can be attached per Pokémon,
so spread them across your line. Potion heals 20 damage a copy, and combined
with Adamantine Rolling's damage reduction it forces opponents to find an
extra attack they did not budget for.
Matchups
| Matchup | Favorability | How to play it |
|---|---|---|
| Psychic | Favored | Nothing in your line is weak to Psychic |
| Water | Even | Their attackers tend to need two hits to break 220 HP, which is exactly the race you want. Use Guzma to strip any defensive Tools they attach and keep Adamantine Rolling active every turn so their math never lines up. |
| Lightning | Even | They pressure Onix before you can evolve, so use Poké Ball early to bench the second Onix as insurance. Once Mega Steelix ex is online with a Tool attached, their small attackers struggle to finish the job. |
| Darkness | Unfavored | Fast chip damage punishes your slow setup and four-energy attack costs. Lean on Steelix as the first attacker since it only concedes 1 point, and save Potion to undo their early chip on Onix. |
| Fire | Heavily unfavored | Both Steelix and Mega Steelix ex are weak to Fire |
Tech options and swaps
The flex slots are the disruption singles. Guzma discards every Tool attached to each of your opponent's Pokémon, and Field Blower also removes opposing Tools and Stadiums, so against Tool-light decks this coverage is redundant and a second Hiker would add more. Lucky Egg is a card-advantage Tool that competes with your defensive Tools for the one-per-Pokémon slot, making it the first cut in a leaner build. Jasmine is the Metal
โลหะ support Supporter worth keeping in any version, while Pokémon Communication trades a spare evolution for a random Pokémon from the deck and smooths awkward draws.
How to pilot it
- Set your Energy Zone to Metal
โลหะ only. Adding Fighting
ต่อสู้ for Land Crush sounds tempting, but random attachments will strand Mega Steelix ex without its two required Metal
โลหะ Energy. - Open with Poké Ball, which pulls a random Basic from the deck; since Onix is your only Basic, it always finds the second copy. Get both Onix down early.
- Going first means no Energy attachment on turn 1 and no evolving, so just bench, attach a Tool if it protects Onix, and pass. Going second, start attaching immediately so the evolution comes online with Energy already banked.
- From turn 2 onward, evolve the Active Onix. Choose the branch deliberately: Mega Steelix ex when you need the 120 damage and the defensive rider, Steelix when conceding 3 points would lose you the game. No Pokémon can evolve the turn it entered play.
- Bank one Energy per turn toward the four-attachment cost of Adamantine Rolling, using Professor's Research and Hiker to dig for Tools and the second attacker while you wait.
- Once attacking, keep the rhythm: Adamantine Rolling every single turn so the damage reduction and Weakness removal never lapse, with Potion patching 20 damage whenever the opponent falls short of a knockout.
The classic misplays: evolving your only Onix into plain Steelix and then drawing the Mega with no Basic left for it, and committing Mega Steelix ex into a losing trade when its Knock Out gives away 3 points. With a retreat cost of ![]()
![]()
![]()
ไร้สี across the whole line, also assume that whatever is Active is staying Active.
Deck strengths
- Mega Steelix ex reaches 240 HP with Giant Cape, among the toughest single targets in the game
- Adamantine Rolling's no-Weakness rider erases the Fire
ไฟ penalty during the opponent's next turn - Steelix offers a 1-point attacker so you never have to risk 3 points
- Guzma and Field Blower strip opposing Tools, protecting your two-hit knockout math
- Poké Ball always finds Onix, since it is the deck's only Basic
Deck weaknesses
- Only two Onix in the deck; losing both before evolving ends the game plan entirely
- Four Energy attachments before Adamantine Rolling fires means several passive early turns
- Every Knock Out on Mega Steelix ex hands the opponent 3 points and usually the game
- A retreat cost of four across the line leaves no flexibility once a Pokémon is Active
- 120 damage per turn cannot keep up with decks that set up faster and hit harder
Is it worth building?
Build this if you enjoy attrition chess rather than races. The deck asks for patience, precise Tool placement, and honest math about when the Mega is safe to commit, and it rewards all three with games where opponents run out of damage. It sits below the format's pace setters because Fire
ไฟ matchups are brutal and the early turns are slow, but with only six Pokémon slots to collect, it is one of the cheaper walls you can put between yourself and a loss.
















