Garchomp ex Deck Guide – Celestial Guardians Strategy

Garchomp ex (A2a-047) and Rampardos (A2-089) form one of the most explosive double Stage 2 shells in Celestial Guardians, enabled by the Rare Candy-like card A3-144. This deck lets you pivot between two powerful strategies: sniping the Bench with Garchomp ex’s Linear Attack or delivering flat 130 damage with Rampardos for just one Energy. Low retreat costs on both attackers give you flexibility to shift win conditions as the game evolves, making it a strong choice for aggressive play in ranked.

Setup and Evolution Choices

You always start with Gible (A2-121), your only Basic. Your first priority is to find A3-144, which lets you skip Stage 1 evolution entirely. This turns a double Stage 2 deck into a lean, explosive engine. Ideally, you evolve Gible into Garchomp ex as early as possible—its Linear Attack chips the Bench and builds pressure, eventually ramping to 100 damage. However, if you draw Rampardos and A3-144 early, don’t hesitate to go for the 130-damage swing. The choice depends on the matchup: against high-HP threats like A2-110, Rampardos is stronger, while the mirror match calls for sniping the opponent’s Cranidos (A2-144) with Garchomp ex.

Always attach Energy to Gible or Gabite (A2a-046) first. This preserves the option to power up Garchomp ex’s three-Energy attack later. If you don’t have A3-144 yet, use Professor’s Research (PROMO-007) to dig deep, and consider baiting out hand disruption from your opponent. Evolve Gible to Gabite before searching with a draw supporter—that way you only dig for Garchomp ex. The same goes for evolving Cranidos into Rampardos Stage 1 (A2-088) before searching for Rampardos.

Midgame and Closing Strategy

Your ideal board has Garchomp ex pressuring the active spot while Rampardos builds on the
Poké Gold

#game