TCG Jump: Featured Card- Celesteela GX

Get ready to get punished in the name of the moon!

It is an exciting time to be playing Metal type Pokemon. We got some great and solid Metal type Pokemon in the form of Metagross GX and Solgaleo GX. There is Registeel to be a non-GX Metal type Pokemon. Though, today we are going to be looking one that can launch Metal type decks even further! This Pokemon card can hit hard and can blast away any threat! I would say that it can hit like a tank. Instead I am going to say that it hits more like a rocket! This Pokemon can wait for a countdown but once it hits zero then you can get ready hit hard! Today we will be featuring Celesteela GX!

Celesteela GX is a Basic GX Pokemon that was release as Black Star Promo. This Pokemon is a Metal type Pokemon with 200 HP. Celesteela GX is classified as an Ultra Beast Pokemon and has three attacks. The first attack is called Rocket Fall which cost a Metal and two other energy. It does 30 damage plus 30 more for each energy in the opponent’s Pokemon retreat cost. Celesteela GX can also do 130 damage with Moon Press for a Metal and three other energy. Lastly, Celesteela GX can use Blaster GX for a Metal and three other energy. This attack does 180 damage and will then allow you to flip your prize cards up. Celesteela GX resist Fighting and has a weakness to Lighting. It costs four energy to retreat Celesteela GX.

The Pros
Celesteela GX has plenty of great things going for it. One of the best things about Celesteela is that it has plenty of HP for a Basic Pokemon. Celesteela GX stands tall with 200 HP which is bulky for most Basic Pokemon. It can surely take a hit or two without even worrying about being knocked out. Your opponent will need to do some heavy prep work if they want to take down this rocket.

Though, you do not want a Pokemon that can wall for days. You want something that can also hit hard. Then you are in luck. Celesteel GX has two attacks that can do some damage depending how fast you want to attack. You can go with Rocket Fall that can get ready to attack with just a single Metal Energy and Double Colorless Energy. If you want to hit for a little bit harder then attach another energy to use Moon Press for 130 damage. Though the big attack is Blaster GX. This attack does 180 damage which will knockout most Basic GX Pokemon. Attach a Choice Band and now you are hitting 210 damage. That is enough to knockout most Stage 1 GX Pokemon. You also get the bonus effect of seeing what prizes you have!

Lastly, you have some different weaknesses for a Metal type Pokemon. Celesteela GX is different from other Metal type Pokemon. Instead of being weak to Fire, Celesteela GX is weak to Lighting! That means you can send out Celesteel GX to crash into Fire type Pokemon without worrying for the instant knockout. So now Metal type deck have an alternative attacking option when facing Fire.

The Cons
Celesteela GX also has a flaws with one of them being the damage output. The damage that Rocket Fall does depends on your opponent’s retreat cost. If your opponent’s Pokemon has a single energy retreat then Rocket Fall only does 60 damage. This may be enough to knockout the Gardevoir GX line with weakness but not enough for others. Maybe you can take a chunk out of other Pokemon HP with it. The problem is that a Float Stone can make a Pokemon’s retreat cost down to zero. That means you are only doing 30 damage to a Pokemon.

Moon Press also doesn’t do enough damage. If you hit 130 damage then maybe you can knockout some non-Evolved Pokemon. The problem is that you are not hitting big threats hard enough and that is even with a Focus Band. Even worst, it cost four energy to use this attack. By the time you get four energy on to Celesteela GX there will be no Basic non-Evolved Pokemon to hit.

How to Play It
Celesteela GX will not be headlining any decks on it’s own. Instead you will be seeing Celesteela GX as part of an army of possible attackers. Especially if that army has ways to accelerate energy on to it.

One of the most popular ways that Celesteela GX is being used is with Silvally GX. That is because it is a Metal Pokemon that isn’t afraid of attacking Gardevoir GX and can hit hard. Silvally GX can hit anything in it’s way for 120 damage while powering up Celesteela GX on the bench. Once you have gotten enough energy on Celesteela GX then you can go ahead and use Blaster GX to take a knockout and flip over your prizes. Celesteela GX acts as another attacker once Silvally GX goes down or you just need to hit harder with a solid GX attack. After all, Silvally GX can hit hard with Rebellion GX but only if your opponent has full bench. That is why Celesteela GX with Blaster GX. You can hit for a solid 180 damage plush you get an extra bonus.

As mention before, Celesteela GX makes a nice wall. You can start with it in the active and allow Celesteela GX to take a hit or two. That will give you some time to set up Silvally GX on your bench. Once Silvally GX is set up then you can move Celesteela GX to your bench for free thanks to Silvally GX’s ability. You can even use Acerola to pick up your damaged Celesteela GX to prevent your opponent from taking a knockout.

An additional plus to starting Celesteela GX in your Silvally GX-Metal deck is that if you need to attack with it then you can. Simply attach a Metal and DCE and you can start doing chip damage.

If you want to play Celesteela GX a little differently then try it with Metagross GX. We mention earlier how Celesteela GX has a Lighting weakness which is different from other Metal Pokemon. That means you can use it as another kind of attacker in Metal decks. Especially if you find yourself against something hot like Fire. You can use Metagross GX’s Geotech System to accelerate energy to Celesteela GX and start attacking for solid damage. It has plenty of HP to take a hit and you do not need to worry about recharging like you do with Metagross GX. It may not be the best card for the deck but it is worth considering if you want to play a pure Metal deck with Metagross GX.

Lastly, if you want to have some fun with Celesteela GX then play it with Alolan Dugtrio. If you can get some Alolan Dugtrio out with the Tangled Hair ability then that will raise the retreat cost of your opponent’s active Pokemon. That way you can hit much harder with Celesteela GX’s Rocket Fall attack. It is an idea that worth trying out for fun.

Celesteela GX is rocketing to big places. It has found a nice spot in a popular deck and ready to launch. This card loves some heavy metal and can rock pretty hard. If you are planning to play Metal any time soon then go ahead and give Celesteela GX a shot.