Iron Hands ex Amp You Up attack is powerful, taking an extra prize card – we share our Pokemon TCG Deck Guide and List while explaining how to play it.
This Pokemon Deck guide was made for standard edition during the Twilight Masquerade expansion.
Iron Hands ex Deck Guide for Pokemon TCG
What makes Iron Hands ex Pokemon unique is the ability to gain an extra prize card for a knockout. This makes knocking out basic non-V or Ex Pokemon valuable, and three cards are awarded for V and Ex knockouts. The downside to Iron Hands ex is the Amp You Very Much attack cost four energy! Therefore, your overall strategy is centered around building its energy up by turn two with Electric Generator and Miraidon.
This deck wants to go second on turn one, to use Supporter cards and attack with Miraidon. Going second is perfect in the current meta, where many cards use Stage 2 Pokemon and require Rare Candy to advance to this stage. Moreover, you can easily get a lead with an early knockout while the opposing team has a 60 to 70 HP Pokemon in their active slot. The biggest trick to playing the current meta Iron Hands ex is managing your drawing cards potential with supports and Mew ex. If you get this down, the deck is powerful against all decks, especially those vulnerable to lightning damage!
We will go through the Iron Hands ex decklist, a guide on how to play it, and the crucial cards. Let’s first show you the deck list so you understand the premise behind the Pokemon TCG Iron Hands ex Deck Guide.
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Iron Hands ex Deck List
This decklist guide contains all necessary cards for an Iron Hands ex Deck for Standard edition Pokemon TCG gameplay. You must have 60 cards, no more or less, and all are listed below with an explanation of the most essential cards and how to use them.
Pokemon Cards
Below is a list of all the recommended Pokémon cards for Iron Hands ex Deck Guide:
| Amount | Pokémon | Card ID |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Iron Hands ex | PAR 70 |
| 3 | Miraidon | TEF 121 |
| 1 | Iron Bundle | PAR 56 |
| 1 | Mew ex | MEW 151 |
| 4 | Iron Crown ex | TEF 81 |
Trainer Cards
Below is a list of all the recommended Trainer, Supporters, and Item cards for Iron Hands ex Deck Guide:
| Amount | Trainer | Card ID |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Future Booster Energy Capsule | PAR 164 |
| 1 | Unfair Stamp | TWM 165 |
| 2 | Boss’s Orders | SHF 58 |
| 2 | Nest Ball | SUM 123 |
| 4 | Electric Generator | SVI 170 |
| 2 | Heavy Baton | TEF 151 |
| 4 | Pokégear 3.0 | SVI186 PH |
| 4 | Professor’s Research | SVI 189 |
| 4 | Arven | OBF 186 |
| 2 | Iono | PAL 185 |
| 4 | Techno Radar | PAR 180 |
| 1 | Lost Vacuum | LOR 162 |
Energy Cards
Below is a list of all the recommended Energy cards for Iron Hands ex Deck Guide:
| Amount | Energy Cards | Card ID |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Basic Psychic Energy | Energy 13 |
| 12 | Basic Lighting Energy | Energy 12 |
Key Cards in Iron Hands ex Pokemon TCG Deck
While Iron Hands ex is the deck’s centerpiece, Miraidon, Iron Crown ex, Electric Generator, and Arven are your key and most important cards. Below are the most essential key cards in the Iron Hands ex Deck:
- Iron Hands ex – used to get knockouts and extra prize cards.
- Miraidon – this Pokemon only costs one colorless energy to attack and feeds two energy to a bench Pokemon. Miraidon is how you power up Iron Hands ex by turn two.
- Iron Crown ex – placed on bench to passively increase damage for Iron Hands ex and Miraidon.
- Electric Generator – item card that can accelerate energy for Iron Hands ex in combination with Miraidon.
- Arven – your primary support for item cards and future tool cards.
Iron Hands ex
Iron Hands ex Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Pokémon: ex
- Type: Lighting
- HP: 230
- Arm Press: 2x lighting energy, 1x colorless energy. 160 damage
- Amp You Very Much: 1x lighting energy, 3x colorless energy. 120 damage If your opponent’s Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, take 1 more Prize card.
- Pokémon ex rule: When your Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
- Weakness: x2 Fighting
- Resistance: None
- Retreat Cost: 4x Colorless Energy
- Set: Paradox Rift 70/182 Double Rare
The best way to use Iron Hands Ex is to feed it energy on your bench with Miraidon and an electric generator. You want to go second to use a support card, ideally Arven. With a four-energy requirement, getting an additional knockout via Amp You Very Much takes massive energy. Moreover, you do not want Iron Hands ex to get knocked out and throw all that energy into the discard pile. Therefore, grab the Heavy Baton tool card and attach it to your powered-up Iron Hands ex. You must know that nearly all meta decks have one or more Lost Vacuum’s to counter Heavy Baton.
The ideal start is for Miraidon to be in an active position with one energy and an iron hand ex on the bench with a heavy baton. Go second on turn one to power the iron hands and then up with the electric generator. You can put Iron Hands ex in the active position on turn two if you have three energy attached. The Arm Press is still a decent attack, and with two or more Iron Crown ex-cards on the bench, it’ll hit hard and knock out many V or Ex Pokemon.
Miraidon
Miraidon Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Pokémon: basic
- Type: Dragon
- HP: 110
- Peak Acceleration: 1x colorless energy, 40 damage. Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards and attach them to your Future Pokémon in any way you like. Then, shuffle your deck.
- Sparking Strike: 2x lighting and 1x psychic energy 160 damage
- Weakness: None
- Resistance: None
- Retreat Cost: 2x Colorless Energy
- Set: Temporal Forces 121/162 Rare
The primary use for Miraidon Pokemon is to power up Iron Hands ex on turn one, going second. The Peak Acceleration ability is critical to understand and utilize properly. We selected two psychic energies on the deck because Miraidon can hit very hard with a sparking strike. So, when powering up Iron Hands ex, as long as it has two lighting energies, attach a third psychic. If Iron Hands ex gets knocked out, the Heavy Baton tool card will allow you to transfer three energy to another Pokemon. You can then attach one lighting and one psychic and follow up with a powerful basic Pokemon attack.
Moreover, don’t be afraid to experiment with cards in the active position. If you think it will take two or more turns fo the enemy to knock out your Pokemon, or you don’t have Iron Hands ex on your bench, power itself up with Peak Acceleration. Ultimately, you will lose that energy once its knocked out, but 160 damage plus Iron Crown ex on the bench means you can easily get 220 damage attack by turn two.
Iron Crown ex
Iron Crown ex Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Pokémon: ex
- Type: Psychic
- HP: 220
- Cobalt Command (Ability): Attacks used by your Future Pokémon, except any Iron Crown ex, do 20 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
- Twin Shotels: 1 Psychic Energy, 2x Colorless Energy – This attack does 50 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Weakness or Resistance or by any effects on those Pokémon.
- Pokémon ex rule: When your Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
- Weakness: Darkness x2
- Resistance: Fighting -30
- Retreat Cost: 2x Colorless
- Set: Temporal Forces 81/162 Double Rare
The main premise behind Iron Crown ex is to power up your other future Pokemon, Iron Hands ex, and Miraidon in the deck. These Pokemon attacks are weak, but if you throw three or more Iron Crown ex on your bench, they will hit most enemies for the knockout. Moreover, you want to attach Future Booster Energy Capsule to Iron Crown ex so they don’t get stuck in the active slot with zero energy attached.
Rarely do you want to attack with Iron Crown ex because the damage is weak. However, you can use 1 psychic energy and two more lights if an Iron Hands ex dies with a Heavy Baton Attached. This is only fruitful if a Pokemon is near death and narrowly avoids knockout by retreating to the bench. Typically, you want to feed another Iron Hands ex or Miradion for a followup strike.
Electric Generator
Electric Generator Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Trainer: Item
- Look at the top 5 cards of your deck and attach up to 2 Basic Lightning Energy cards you find there to your Benched Lightning Pokémon in any way you like. Shuffle the other cards back into your deck.
- Set: Scarlet & Violet 170/198 Uncommon
The Electric Generator accelerates energy to Iron Hands ex. However, it’s random, and the more lighting energy in your deck, the higher the likelihood you will succeed by grabbing one or two energy. Moreover, the longer the match goes, the less likely to get energy this becomes. Therefore, you must understand the sweet spot of when to use this card. Ideally, you want to fill your bench of first to lower the chances for Pokemon being in the top 5 cards, then use Electric Generator. Even if you get one extra energy, that’s enough to power Iron Hands ex by turn two.
The Heavy Baton combination ensures you will feed 3 energy from Iron Hands ex to a bench Pokemon. Typically, you want a backup Iron Hands ex once this combination is active. Be aware of Lost Vaccum, which is the counter to this strategy. Moreover, using Arven to grab both cards to power Iron Hands up quickly is only advised if you have a bench full of Iron Crownd ex.
Arven
Arven Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Trainer – Supporter
- Search your deck for an Item card and a Pokémon Tool card, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
- Set: Scarlet & Violet 166/198 Uncommon
The Arven supporter card is your way for grabbing Techno Radar and Heavy Baton. Techno Radar allows you to discard a card and grab two future cards. Typically, you want to discard an extra Pokegear or energy if you have many in your hand. Then, grab the Heavy Baton or Future Booster Energy Capsule. I only go for an Electric Generator if my bench is full and I don’t need a Techno Radar.
How to Play Iron Hands ex
The best way to play Iron Hands ex is by going second on turn one and powering up Miraidon with one energy. Use Miraidon’s attack to attach two lighting energy on Iron Hands ex on the bench. Then, use the Arven supporter card to grab Heavy Baton, securing the energy if the Pokemon gets knocked out. By turn two, look to retreat Miraidon or move Iron Hands ex in the active position for either of its attacks. You’ll want to fill your bench up with Iron Crown ex to increase the overall damage of Iron Hands and place a secondary Iron Hands ex on the bench in case it gets knocked out.
To counter enemies with many cards, use Iono or Unfair Stamp when you get Iron Hands ex knocked out. Mew ex is there in case your hand is empty as well as Professor’s Research and Pokegear. The main issue you will have is running out of cards, so manage your items carefully and use Nest Ball with Arven to grab Mew ex.
Sample Hand with Iron Hands ex
Below is a sample hand and explanation of Iron Hands ex gameplay mechanics in Pokemon TCG:
- 1x Miraidon
- 1x Arven
- 1x Electric Generator
- 2x Techno Radar
- 2x Future Booster Energy Capsule
Overall, this is a good hand, but the main issue we will face is the lack of lighting energy in our hands, which is rare considering there are 12. The goal will be to grab Mew’s ex, and get rid of everything in our hand to draw more cards. We are going second, so you can use Support, which will be useful.
I grabbed Iron Hand Ex on the draw but had no energy. I used Tech Radar to grab two Iron Crown ex on the bench and discard the Future Booster Energy Capsule. Next, use the opponent’s Stadium card to get Mew Ex. My next priority is to use every card in my hand. Therefore, use Arven for Pokegear 3.0 and sacrifice it for Techno Radar. Purposefully only grab one card, not so we can end with zero cards.
Next, electric generators are missing completely, which is extremely rare. However, with a dead hand, we use Mew’s ability to draw three cards, the boss’s orders, Pokemon 3.0, and one lighting energy. Attach and attack, giving Iron Hands ex 2 energy. On the second turn, you want to use back-to-back Pokegear to find Professor’s Research or Iono if the enemy hand is massive. Then, you can swap in Iron Hands ex and attach one more energy or hopefully draw an electric generator to power to four on turn two.
Iron Hands ex Deck List Input Code for Pokemon TCG
Thanks for reading our Pokemon TCG Iron Hands ex Deck Guide and Deck List. If you wish to input this deck, copy and paste the deck list below and input it into the import section of the Pokemon TCG online card game. Any cards you are missing, you can exchange for credits. Earn credit by playing or redeeming online codes from physical packs. You can buy these codes online for cheap as well.
Pokémon: 5
- 3 Miraidon TEF 121
- 1 Iron Bundle PAR 56
- 3 Iron Hands ex PAR 70
- 1 Mew ex MEW 151
- 4 Iron Crown ex TEF 81
Trainer: 12
- 4 Future Booster Energy Capsule PAR 164
- 1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165
- 2 Boss’s Orders SHF 58
- 2 Nest Ball SUM 123
- 4 Electric Generator SVI 170
- 2 Heavy Baton TEF 151
- 4 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186 PH
- 4 Professor’s Research SVI 189
- 4 Arven OBF 186
- 2 Iono PAL 185
- 4 Techno Radar PAR 180
- 1 Lost Vacuum LOR 162
Energy: 2
- 2 Basic {P} Energy Energy 13
- 12 Basic {L} Energy Energy 12
Total Cards: 60
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