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ThePokemon TCGis flooded with great attackers; many cards in the meta can deal damage enough to sweep any other card in the meta. But one of the best attackers of the bunch is Chien-Pao Ex. This card is great as it’s easy to set up, has a variable damage output, and combines powerfully with several cards.
Nonetheless, Chien-Pao needs his friends to work correctly. Chien Pao’s partners in crime, Baxcalibur and Iron Hands, will help you charge Chien Pao and finish matches quicker, respectively. This is a fun and powerful deck to play, and it won’t disappoint you during your matches.
Updated June 23, 2025, by Jesús Cruz:Chien-Pao is not a stranger in the Pokemon TCG meta. It’s now a staple; you can constantly see it in tournaments and PTCGO. The Paradox Rift update has settled in, and the pro-players have found excellent cards to combine with Chien Pao. The result is a powerful deck that requires skill, but the rewards are impressive. It’s not invincible, but it’s hard to stop once it has built some momentum. To work correctly, Chien Pao needs specific cards to play, like Iron Hands, Baxcalibur and PokeStop; if you can’t find them, Chien Pao will be problematic to play.
Chien-Pao Ex Decklist
This is the complete list of cards you’ll use in this deck:
Chien-Pao ex PAL (x3)
Pokegear 3.0 SVI (x3)
Let’s look at the most important cards for this deck:
Chien-Pao ex
The main protagonist of this deck isChien-Pao.It has an ability namedShivery Chill, which works like a Capacious Bucket; if Chien-Pao is on the Active Spot, you canlook for up to two Water Energy cards on your deckand put them in your hand.
Shivery Chill works perfectly alongsideHail Blade, whichdeals 60 damage for each Water Energy Card you discardfrom Chien-Pao. With about five Water Energy Cards, Chien-Paocan One Hit-KO anything in the meta.
Baxcalibur & Rare Candy
Chien-Pao will bring the Energy Cards from the deck to your hand, andBaxcaliburwill attach them to Chien-Pao.Baxcalibur can do this via its ability,Super Cold, whichlets you attach as many Water Energy Cards as you wantfrom your hand to one of your Pokemon.
As you might notice, this deckdoes not use Arctibax, the middle stage of Baxcalibur’s evolution line. This is becauseyou’ll replace those with Rare Candy cards, which let you skip the evolution process entirely, going from Frigibax directly to Baxcalibur.
Iron Hands Ex & Earthen Vessel
Iron Handsis on this deck asa complementary attackerwho will help youwhen you are behind in the match.This is because of its second attack,Amp You Very Much, whichdeals 120 damage, and if you use it to Knock Out a Pokemon,you’ll get an extra Prize Card.
Ideally, you must pull an Electric Energy Card viaEarthen Vessel, then fill the rest of the Colorless Energy Cards with Water Energy Cards thatBaxcalibur will attach without problems.
This card is ideal for regaining some advantage during matches and a great response to decks likeLost Box or Snorlax, which uses One Prize Card-attackers to last longer in the battle.
Talking about theEarthen Vessel, this card is excellent as itlets you search for two Energy Cardsfrom your deck to put them in your hand, with the sole drawback ofdiscarding a cardin the process.
Bibarel
This deck needs to have something thatkeeps the card flow going, as it doesn’t have a good card-drawing potential aside from the usage of supporters. That’s whyBibarelis a good option. Bibarel has an ability namedIndustrious Incisors, whichlets you draw cardsfrom your deckuntil you have fivein your hand.
Radiant Greninja & Manaphy
Radiant Greninjahas an ability namedConcealed Cards, which lets youdiscard an EnergyCard from your hand only todraw two cards from your deck.Don’t worry about the discarded Energy card; you’ll have several resources available to rescue it from the Discard Pile.
On the other hand,Manaphyis a great way to avoid getting your bench damaged by Lost Box’s Sableye. Manaphy has an ability namedWave Veil, whichprevents all damage done to your benched Pokemon.
Irida
Iridais a great card that lets you search for a Water-type Pokemon card and an Item card in your deck to put in your hand. Ideally, you want todraw a Baxcalibur and a Rare Candyto start setting up Chien-Pao.
Iono
It’s a good thing to adapt yourself toIono, as you’ll most likely see it a lot after its introduction in the Scarlet and Violet era, as it’s a great card tostall your opponentswhen they are winning.
Iono makes both playersput their cards on the bottom of the deckand then forces both todraw a card for each remaining Prize Card.So, if your opponent only has two Prize Cards left, they can only draw two cards, and if you have six, you’re able to draw six cards from your deck. It’s like a Roxanne, but more effective towards the late game.
Super Rod & Superior Energy Retrieval
TheSuper Rodis heavily necessary for this deck as it lets yourecover up to three Energy Cards from the Discard Pile to your deck.
On the other hand, you’ll have someSuperior Energy Retrievalcards in this deck. With this card, you can discard two cards from your hand only tocollect four Energy cards from your discard pile to your hand.It’s pretty useful, as you’ll be discarding Water Energy cards whenever you attack with Chien-Pao.
Chien-Pao Ex Deck Strategy
It’s ideal to start firstas you need to evolve Frigibax into Baxcalibur as well asdraw some important Pokemon.You’ll need cards such as the Battle VIP Pass, the Ultra Balls, and the Nest Balls to do it.
Remember to use the Ultra Balls to draw Baxcalibur or Iron Hands and the Nest Balls to draw Frigibax, Chien-Pao, and Radiant Greninja.
Ideally, you’ll want to haveChien-Pao, Frigibax, and Bidoofon the benchto evolve them quickly. Try to find a Baxcalibur and a Rare Candy to evolve Frigibax.That’s your main priority.As you have it, you may freely find andevolve Bidoof into Bibarel.
Getting Energy Cards is really simple, as Chien-Pao will draw them withShivery Chill.If you want to attack with Iron Hands, you might want to find anEarthen Vesselto draw an Electric-type Energy Card. The Energy Cards are great to haveearly in the match; if you don’t find Bidoof or Bibarel yet, you candiscard them with Radiant Greninjato draw some cards from the deck.
If you manage to pull a PokeStop on your first turns, don’t hesitate to put it into play. You’ll really need to draw items to keep the deck working.
As you have found Chien-Pao, Baxcalibur, and the Energy Cards, the rest is all aboutdetermining how much damage you need to deal to Knock Out a cardin a single turn, then try toattach that amount to Chien-Pao.The same goes for when you want to attack with Iron Hands, but without forgetting the first step of drawing an Electric-type Energy Card first.
Chien-Pao Deck Common Threats
As this deckdepends on Chien-Pao and Baxcalibur’s abilities, cards likePath to the Peak or Klefkiare really problematic. You haveIron Hands and Radiant Greninjaas attacking options, and you’re able to always try toreserve some PokeStops in your handto prevent getting your cards' abilities blocked.
