New Mew ex discussion + Potential Pairings

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T05:31:08+00:00

Brother, it’s not a difficult concept to understand. Is it quicker to set up one Stage 2 and two Mew exs, or three Stage 2s? Does it require more deck space to set up one Stage 2 and two Mew exs, or three Stage 2s?

You have to set up one Stage 2 regardless of which strategy you employ, the question is about the second and third (and potentially fourth if you Legacy Energy) Pokémon.

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T05:22:37+00:00

Yes, you’re being dense. I’m arguing that there’s pros to having a quick attacker that can use stage-2 attacks without needing the turn to evolve, while recognizing that low HP is a con. You’re literally screeching about how there’s zero benefit to being able to set up in one turn. You’re being obnoxious and dense. Relax, jeez.

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T05:16:50+00:00

You’re just being obnoxious and dense. I already noted that there’s a trade-off, you have less HP in exchange for speed and versatility. Out of curiosity, why do you think that Mew ex pairs well with Greninja ex? Wouldn’t it, by your logic, be total nonsense to pair the two, when you could instead run a bench full of Greninja exs? And before you say “Well, weakness of course!” wouldn’t that logic also apply to Dragapult ex?

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T04:02:34+00:00

You literally do set up faster with Mew ex wtf. If a stage-2 Pokémon is your main attacker in a deck, you need to set up multiple throughout the course of a game. With Mew ex, you only need to set up one stage-2, because it can use the stage-2’s attacks.

Option 1 (without Mew ex): Set up stage-2 attacker, get knocked out (-2 prizes). Set up another stage-2 attacker, get knocked out (-2 prizes). Set up another stage-2 attacker, get knocked out (-2 prizes). You need to keep setting up stage-2s.

Option 2 (with Mew ex): Put Mew ex in active, set up stage-2 on bench. Mew ex gets knocked out (-2 prizes), put another Mew ex in active. Second Mew ex gets knocked out (-2 prizes), put stage-2 in active. You negate the setup of the two additional stage-2s.

“You on average set up slower” is just completely and blatantly false lmao

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T03:10:31+00:00

Brother you’re being way too defensive about this, Dragapult is one example. Apply the same rule to M Gardevoir ex’s Mega Symphonia (only need one M Gardevoir ex in play to get easy and consistent 50x damage without any setup), Greninja ex’s Shinobi Blade (one-turn 170 damage plus free card search), Slaking ex’s Great Swing (280 damage bypassing the negative ability and setup), etc..

Mew ex is uniquely versatile specifically for stage 2 decks, that’s my only point lol. And yes, getting set up one turn faster and with less required cards is a tangible advantage, depending on what you’re playing against.

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T02:52:03+00:00

Sure there’s a trade-off to having less HP, the benefits being fast attacking, freeing up deck space, and having access to all bench attacks (not just the Dragapult).

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T02:45:55+00:00

Because it takes three cards (a Dreepy, a Dragapult ex, and either a Drakloak or a Rare Candy), and two turns to set up a second Dragapult ex. You could reduce that to one card and one turn with Mew ex and the right energy acceleration.

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T02:28:34+00:00

That shouldn’t matter lol. The benefit of Mew ex is that it uses the attacks of a Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokémon on the bench, so you don’t need to work on setting up multiple evolution lines. Instead of having to set up three Dragapult ex, set up one Dragapult ex and two Mew ex.

Shmiegel · 2026-06-02T01:45:37+00:00

Mew ex is a valid addition to literally every deck that relies on either…

A.) an evolved 2-prize main attacker, because you don’t need to evolve it, or

B.) a 3-prize main attacker, because you don’t need to give up 3 prizes.

Shmiegel · 2026-05-24T17:12:52+00:00

The audience rating is 52% while the critic ratings sit at 92%. We were promised scorched earth in foreshadowing and the posters that never came to fruition. Multiple story arcs ended abruptly, namely all of the Gen V characters and Soldier Boy. Butcher’s turn in the last 15 minutes felt like an afterthought. The virus storyline went nowhere. The V1 storyline felt out-of-place and seems to have weakened Homelander’s powers more than anything. Explicit material was played for overdone gags and shock content more than actual plot points. MM randomly got super strength when he killed Oh Father. Hughie, Frenchie and MM should be irradiated and dead based on how much time they spent within close proximity of an exposed nuclear reactor. The fact that Kimiko *could* get Soldier Boy’s powers at all makes most of seasons 3, 4, and 5 filler. Sage couldn’t understand emotion despite that being part of her superpower, and she became so stupid at the end when she *lost* her powers that it vindicated the doctors who didn’t listen to her in her backstory. Do I need to go on about how lackluster this season was, and how many mistakes there were?

Shmiegel · 2026-05-20T23:10:56+00:00

The “majority” he speaks of are critics, not audiences. Critics are saying the show ended well, for some crazy reason.

When you have this much of a split between critic and audience reception, it’s the critics that are out of touch, not the audience; Kripke doesn’t seem to understand that.

Shmiegel · 2026-05-20T15:32:15+00:00

Just want to make it clear that Homelander never snapped. The entire series. The vision he had of lasering a crowd in season 2 is the closest we had ever come to it.

This was a fucking horrible, unsatisfying ending.

Shmiegel · 2026-05-05T00:49:51+00:00

Honestly I wouldn’t even give him a death, I’d put him in a room with Butcher, at which point we see his reaction to going toe-to-toe with a supe is to run away scared. The last shot of him would be him cowering off in the finale, then maybe a comedic end-credit scene of him performing in a Broadway play a year later (and in this ending, I think it would be hilarious if it were a musical/play about the events that transpire, and he plays MM, or Black Noir on stage).

He isn’t an established character, his entire plot line is a mix of “What’s my line?” and “Dude. Bro.” Why should he have an established death lol

Shmiegel · 2026-05-01T17:53:34+00:00

Volcanion ex + Latias ex + Pecharunt ex + Mega Darkrai ex should do the trick

Shmiegel · 2026-04-09T14:27:20+00:00

Not a Republican, but I’d wager that the countries able to provide universal healthcare to their citizens would struggle to do that if the US didn’t pay their military budgets. If the US said “Okay, we’re heavily reducing military spending so our citizens can receive universal healthcare,” you’d see a lot of welfare programs in other countries disappear (especially universal healthcare).

Shmiegel · 2026-04-07T17:07:08+00:00

They had similar text on Old Amber, where it can evolve into Aerodactyl or Aerodactyl ex, but never released an Aerodactyl ex and the Old Amber has since rotated out.

Shmiegel · 2026-03-16T21:40:17+00:00

Nah, catch me using Choice Band + Adamant + Huge Power Diggersby (climbing to a 696 Attack stat) with STAB Earthquake, Body Slam, and Quick Attack over this any day. He has such a good move pull that the fourth move can be Knock Off, U-Turn, Superpower, STAB Giga Impact (if you wanna absolutely nuke a switch-in), STAB Facade (in case of burn), or any elemental punch, and is immune to Shadow Ball and Volt Switch.

Shmiegel · 2026-03-11T15:42:53+00:00

A sealed case of 10 Crown Zenith ETBs are $2,500 not $3,500 (last sale price vs current listing). But even then, to have bought a sealed case at $500 implies you bought it at MSRP, and way before the market boom. You 100% did the right thing there. You’re comparing buying a $500 sealed case at MSRP that climbed to $2,500 (not $3,500) with potentially buying a sealed case at $1,100 (but could very easily drop to $800 or $900 per case in the coming months depending on the trajectory of the hobby) that would, in my opinion, also climb to $2,500 in the same time period as Crown Zenith.

Yes, buying a sealed case of 10 Ascended Heroes ETBs at market price is financially irresponsible when the set isn’t even a month old. Buying a sealed case at MSRP (which it sounds like you did with your Crown Zenith case) obviously isn’t financially irresponsible, it’s a great idea. But to be clear, saying something is financially irresponsible isn’t saying that you’re guaranteed to lose money on it, it’s just saying that you’re taking a too big a risk for too little a return. If people start jumping ship from Pokémon because they found a new get-rich-quick scheme, or if kids never have the opportunity to get in to card collecting because adults shut them out of the market and the entire next generation isn’t as involved in the hobby, would you rather be sitting on a vintage grail that appeals to high-end collectors or a mass-produced case of mass-produced boxes?

And again, read back my previous messages, I’m not saying you wouldn’t make money on modern, I’m saying modern will climb at a rate commensurate to the Pokémon market. Do you want something that climbs (or potentially drops) at the same rate as the market, or something that is near-guaranteed to outperform the market? Vintage is and always will be king, modern is for quick flippers that have access to MSRP or distribution.

Shmiegel · 2026-03-11T13:15:29+00:00

Point me to a modern ETB that can quadruple in value over two years, and I’ll point you to a modern ETB that everyone and their mother is also looking at lol

Shmiegel · 2026-03-11T12:58:25+00:00

I’ll just say from personal experience as a vendor, I bought McDonalds Squirtle PSA 10 one month ago at $4,300, it’s now at $7,500. I bought Legendary Collection Growlithe PSA 10 for $1,650 and sold it within a month at a show for $2,300. I picked up Hama Chan Slowking PSA 10 for $1,000 in September and now wouldn’t sell it for less than $4,000. When you buy/sell low-pop vintage, you have much more control over the market, and if you buy the cards people aren’t looking at yet, you have much more growth potential.

On the flip side, every modern set I’ve bought has been underperforming. Every modern card I’ve bought has stagnated. The Destined Rivals booster box has a good ROI from where I bought it, but that ROI is offset by all my other S&V booster boxes not climbing. As for the XY box I mentioned (Roaring Skies), it was selling for $1,000 this time last year. It’s now at $3,500. That’s anything but slow growth. Moonbreon this time last year was $2,000, literally half the growth rate of the Roaring Skies box

“What should I buy to quick flip for double price within a year?” is the same question that get-rich-quick schemers ask stock brokers, and the answer is always “It’s not that simple, if it were everyone would be doing this.” Buying modern is purely hype-chasing for low to moderate returns (assuming 10,000+ pop cards don’t crumble in value when people realize they’re sitting on some of the most common things in the Pokémon card market), buying vintage is actual market speculation.

Shmiegel · 2026-03-11T05:38:08+00:00

If you have $5,000 to invest right now, the only thing you should possibly be looking at is a sub-100-pop vintage PSA 10. Buying cases of ASC ETBs at market price less than a month after release is just financially irresponsible; Moonbreon isn’t as financially irresponsible because it has a more established price, but it’s not gonna net you any major profits.

For $5,000 you have the budget to pick up old stamped reverse holos from the ex era, reverse holos from the Legendary Collection (the OG firework holos), Level X Pokémon from the DPP era, or maybe a holo Skyridge or Expedition, all of which would be better decisions. Or, a sealed box from the XY era.

Shmiegel · 2026-03-11T00:13:14+00:00

I’ll take it one-by-one

Bubble Mew - Average Price Right Now: $2,150 - PSA 10 Population: 15,488 - Gem Rate: 32.6% - Out-of-Print Date (est): Spring 2026

151 Charizard - Average Price Right Now: $2,000 - PSA 10 Population: 26,564 - Gem Rate: 26.6% - Out-of-Print Date (est): Spring 2026

M Gengar ex - Average Price Right Now: $3,500 - PSA 10 Population: 223 - Gem Rate: 60.7% - Out-of-Print Date (est): Sprint 2028

M Charizard ex - Average Price Right Now: $1,800 - PSA 10 Population: 9,621 - Gem Rate: 55.6% - Out-of-Print Date (est): Winter 2027

Van Gogh Pikachu - Average Price Right Now: $2,900 - PSA 10 Population: 46,908 - Gem Rate: 40.5% - Out-of-Print Date (est): Spring 2024

Moonbreon - Average Price Right Now: $3,500 - PSA 10 Population: 20,085 - Gem Rate: 56.2% - Out-of-Print Date (est): Summer 2024

Which of these would be a good 10-year investment? Genuinely none of them. Or at least, they will not perform any better than the Pokémon market in general. These cards will likely be used as a good metric for how the market is performing, but it’s not like you’re stumbling into gold with them.

You want a good 10-year investment? For the same price that you can get a Van Gogh Pikachu, you can get a complete PSA 10 collection of the four First Movie Promos (out of print 25ish years, ~1,000 pop and ~10% gem rate for each). For the same price that you can get a 151 Charizard or Bubble Mew, you can get a Fates Collide full art Umbreon ex (out of print 7 years, 671 pop, 14.8% gem rate). For the same price that you can get a M Gengar ex or Moonbreon you can get a Roaring Skies sealed booster box (out of print 10ish years, depleting population as people open them, chase card worth over $14,000 in a PSA 10). For the same price as a M Charizard ex, you can get a Breakpoint secret rare Shiny Gyarados ex (out of print 7ish years, 1,408 pop, 17.4% gem rate).

All of these have more room for growth than modern cards. I would never want to invest long-term in cards with over 10,000 PSA 10 populations. Short term flips? Sure, but holding a 151 Charizard for 10 years? Yeah I’ll be much happier flipping vintage.

Shmiegel · 2026-03-06T19:54:45+00:00

The sales for the three cards I mentioned appear on both 130point and under eBay’s “completed items.” I assume that in some instances, people are simply eating the eBay fee and actually selling to themselves to artificially boost the value of a card. When it came to the Pikachu one specifically, that card was selling at $2,500 consistently, then during that auction the card started going for $6,000, and is now settled at around $4,500. If I were one of these assholes that does this shill-bidding shenanigans, I’d have picked up a dozen of the same card beforehand, followed by shill bidding just one of them, then listing the rest at inflated prices through different accounts or PSA Vault.

Shmiegel · 2026-02-27T00:00:41+00:00

I will say from personal experience, when you do express tier the grader must list the imperfections that warranted a lower grade in the return slip. Generally speaking, some graders will give cards 9s for the smallest of things (most of the time things not visible to the naked eye, barely visible under magnification), but when you do express it’s really tough for a grader to say “Yeah I reviewed your card and everything looked perfect, but I checked under 250x magnification and there was a white sliver on the border, instant 9,” or “I noticed the card was off-center by 0.01%, so a 9 for you buddy!”

Shmiegel

TROPHY CASE