Melmetal is the current “boss” of the very small pool of M type Pokémon thanks to its good bulk (130HP) and powerful attack. Its standout feature is the Hard Coat ability, which reduces attack damage by 20, effectively raising its endurance to around 150 HP—similar to a Pokémon ex, yet only trading for one point.
Heavy Impact deals 120 damage, on par with attacks from Pokémon ex, and can one-shot one of the most threatening of them all: Pikachu ex. Don’t be deterred by its hefty MMMC cost; thanks to Meltan’s Amass attack, you can gather enough Energy in a short time to bring Melmetal online quickly, dealing heaps of damage every turn. In a metagame dominated by Pikachu ex, Melmetal decks are certainly an interesting pick.
Melmetal - Weezing variant
Rarity requirements
◊◊◊ – Melmetal, Weezing
◊◊ – Koga, Giovanni, Sabrina
Booster pack requirements
Meltan line
Sabrina
Koffing line
Koga
Giovanni
Weezing-Koga, the reliable engine for any 1-point deck, fits well into a Melmetal shell. While D Energy is left out to preserve Melmetal’s Heavy Impact Energy requirements, Weezing’s Gas Leak poison effect provides steady chip damage, a necessary tool against high-HP threats like Mewtwo ex. Meanwhile, Weezing’s bulk is sufficient to buy one or two turns of Energy attachments to the Meltan line.
Weaknesses
- Meltan is frail and typically only survives to pull off, at best, one successful Amass attack. Its low HP leaves it vulnerable to nearly any stage 1 or ex attacker, making the promises for a setup rather vain.
The deck has a huge built-in handicap in tempo. Meltan deals no damage, while Melmetal’s only attack requires four Energy—outpacing what Meltan can support. Even if you successfully use Amass on turn 1 (on the draw), by turn 2 you’ll have a maximum of three Energy available, still one short of attacking.
- Melmetal’s requirement of three M for Heavy Impact effectively locks it into pure Steel decks, yet the current pool of M Pokémon is very limited (only five Pokémon so far), offering few options for synergy or support.
- Despite Melmetal’s tankiness, it struggles against top tier threats like Mewtwo ex and Charizard ex, which can one-shot it at full power. Being slow, the deck is also poorly prepared against aggro decks like Blaine.
