How To Play Charizard ex (ft. Tord Reklev)

In this video I talk to Tord Reklev, whom many consider the best player in the world, about how to play every matchup with Charizard, as well as how to build the perfect Charizard decklist!
0:00 Intro
0:32 Decklist
16:24 First or Second?
19:46 Charizard ex
25:36 Chien Pao
28:48 Giratina Lost Zone
32:13 Future Iron Hands
34:44 Arceus
37:48 Lugia VSTAR
41:16 Gardevoir ex
44:57 Roaring Moon
49:39 Control
54:24 Lost Zone Box
Follow Tord: TordReklev
Tord's coaching: metafy.gg/@tordtcg
Follow me on twitch: www.twitch.tv/jamesctcg
Follow me on my socials!
Twitter: PTCGjamesc

[@applejuice1000000]

Amazing that you got the GOAT in an interview to talk about the BDIF. You're definitely one of the best content creators for competitive Pokemon TCG!

[@jnunez06]

We need the unedited cut of the full interview! This is a mini masterclass, thanks for creating the video

[@SoulStrong37]

I just picked up Charizard to learn and that's exactly the kind of content I was looking for. Thank you so much James and Tord, great video!! 💯

[@bigbadrobbo]

Great interview! So helpful to hear the thinking behind the deck.

[@dpacula63]

@48:15 you are right on the mark about Capsule and Vacuum. Sometimes when playing the match up the vacuum just gets me 1 off from game.

[@masterjedi1980]

Wow this is a heck of an interview. Great video.

[@nicroseamelia4880]

Hey man I would love an updated Tina vstar matchup guide. Amazing video!!!

[@Buhlumpi]

Would be awesome to have Alloutblitze or Alessandro Cremascoli to talk about the Pidgeot Control deck!

[@Puffzilla777]

Blitzle 😍

[@richardyannow650]

Alessandro did a good interview with Lake of Rage earlier, and Blitzle just put out his own guide (since your comment), so I'd definitely check those out.

[@boxcarairwaves182]

I remember your peony iron hands video on one of your channels reallt helped improve my competitive play. I have been trying to find your content since lol 😆 nice vid subbed

[@Agentmortar]

Awesome interview, someone who knows how to let the guest talk without taking up all the air time

[@kidcxspr-xw6kg]

got Philippine National Championships coming up on the 25th, this is super useful for me since I just built zard without much experience, I was playtesting lost tina so much for the last 6 months but I was having a hard time finding the cards locally and didnt have the budget to source the cards abroard, so I had to go with zard (sadly) but this is an awesome video! thank you!

[@cleliaeuniceduartepastora5143]

I will definitely sign up for a Metafy session :D!

[@SnorlaxTCG]

This video came in clutch. Got a league challenge tomorow and was gonna play Zard to it. This helped so much for testing the matchups. Thanks alot :)

[@MellowMagikarp]

Yoooo gotta watch this one later

[@wallyssonlima2705]

this is one of the best contents in pokemon tcg

[@MundoE]

Lost Tina next would be wild!

[@liltone9614]

I like the bibarel in charizard because what most people do is counter catcher iono ko your Pidgeot

[@italomelo2466]

Incredible video! What do you think of bringing Joshua top4 orlando to explain a little of his gardevoir deck, i know you used to play pre rotation so i think it would be nice

[@TresTerrible]

is this a new camera? Video quality is so much better i feel.

[@ZeroFate643]

Please include Tord's name in the title/thumbnail. This is great stuff and I almost missed it due to the generic title.

[@liltone9614]

I just like hitting ko on Pidgeot ex on 3 prizes and iono with max belt

[@normantan8523]

Hey tord, in Stockholm, you played Luxray v and regileki in your deck. What are those cards for? Also why not play manaphy or jirachi

[@ksauls]

It was a blend of control and Zard. Control is insanely strong and has only a few bad matchups. Those bad matchups are usually good for Zard. Think of the Charizard as the tech card for his control deck.

[@rayandermore9394]

Ancient box next!!!

[@thebruisedreed9766]

Wait, how are you suggesting to energize 5 energies on the RadZard in the control matchup? Just waiting until you come across 5 of your 6 energies in deck before they deck you out? If you use the EX to accelerate you're just asking for that to be stuck in the active, right? Must be missing something.

[@laxprincelang0152]

Turo exists. Its not hard to figure this out lmao

[@thebruisedreed9766]

@@laxprincelang0152thanks champ. Big help.

[@rodvazmir]

Why Spathra Ex / Banette match up wasn’t talked about?? I’m really struggling against that deck 🤔🥲 need to know how to play against it

[@laxprincelang0152]

Attach 3 to Zard. It’s not hard lmao. Rad Zard hits for weakness too

[@isolu9386]

How well does zard do against meiwscarada?

[@Unimoo1]

It donks on it

[@lilcowboydoggo5798]

Zard wins

[@laxprincelang0152]

Zard only wins if meowsacrada can’t get set up correctly lol

[@ksauls]

​@@laxprincelang0152a good Zard player will never evolve into ex until the end game. Weakness goes hard.

[@taylormaxwell1384]

Does tord have a mullet 💀💀

[@christianluechin2922]

moon moon dun next !

[@luv-lost]

He talks about double Charmeleon but the list shown does not include it. What does he cut for 2 Charmeleons? I personally run Cape, 2 Charmeleon, 1 Pidgeotto, Eri, Sisters, Cylene, 2 Mists and PalPads. No Luminion, Manaphy, Cleffa, Jirachi, or Yell. It's a Glass cannon Type build but it hangs in Arceus/Mew. It really gets people when I bring my cape back while taking away cards from them, loop sisters on them and since I full evolved a zard and bird most of the time devo does nothing to my plan. I want to try his list though but every time I see the list shown but he seems to always talk about something different. Edit: Cylene/Pads seem better than the Regi for me. Every time I try it, he gets killed before I even get a chance to use it. Awesome Interview btw. I'm excited to see who you have next!

[@Linc1991]

How to play charizard: just draw perfectly like all charizard players....

[@laxprincelang0152]

If u needed a pro to teach u how to play the easiest most self explanatory deck in the format, then you really just aren’t good😂

[@KINGFOOSA_YT]

How many regiona/euic/worldsl wins do you have again?

[@holeindanssock156]

Im going back to aegislash anti ex. All charizards will now lose to a 150hp stage 2 pokémon.

[@ChillPokePulls]

This deck is going to make me quit playing 4 weeks in. Im so sick of playing against any variation of it. I play slow and build -> doesnt matter. boss's order and starts pickin away. play it fast? they come online no matter what and OTK you. Fk this deck. Im sick of it. sick of ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

[@ksy6177]

If it makes you happy im constantly losing with zard. No idea why, different build from his obviously but im winning only like 3 matches out of 10. Not that good for a supposedly OP deck huh. And no most of my opponents are not mirror deck. Idk why the fuck is it so hard to win

[@laxprincelang0152]

Zard isn’t super hard to beat. If ur not playing something that hits for weakness then make them bait prizes lol pidegot and iono.

[@AdamTCG]

You wanna know how you play charizard? You fkn don't bcuz it sucks that it's nothing but zard on the ladder and every trny. This is the worse meta we've been in for quite some time.

[@ChillPokePulls]

facts. as a new player. 50% of my games on live are vs zard. its so braindead

[@jamesvaldez5071]

I hate this deck with a passion. Does too much too quick. Only way to win is to specific counter, and even then, it can be difficult if they turn 2 Charizard. I would usually not hate on any deck, meta or not. However, i have been playing game, after game, after game, running into Charizard. I just want to play casually, maybe play out some new decks for fun, but these Charizard copycats dont play for fun. They play to win even if it feels bad for everyone else. Sucks the fun right out of it and sadly really makes me not want to play anymore (which is the saddest thing about this)

[@didnthurt4077]

I feel the same about charizard. Just want to casually play and try new things and those sweaty try hards play you like its a championship. Come on, play ranked if you really want to kick ass and be proud of it. Dont feel like playing online anymore too, just test deck mode, but thats kinda boring and no rewards.

[@SamuelSimku]

James never won a single event ☝🏼 Never 😬

[@dragoxbmoranger2922]

and? Still a very good player, helps the community and the video isn't about him

[@sxperhero_]

Have you? Okay then

[@MrBlue-vk8kp]

He literally got top 4 at worlds in 2022, and has multiple regional top 16’s. Your comment is irrelevant. I would like to see your limitless profile and compare them.

[@lilcowboydoggo5798]

Your point was??

[@thecozytrader00]

Most brailess deck ever, only behind Chien pao as the most brailess shit I ever saw in Pokémon. Charizard is just unecessary, deck net kills the variety in the format

[@ChillPokePulls]

amen. no other deck besides chien has the ability for this much damage so soon. Then zard has 300hp. its so ridiculous.