Hi there. In this Pokemon trading card game post I provide an overview of Iron Leaves ex from the upcoming Temporal Forces Pokemon trading card game set.
I write this post in early March 2024 where Temporal Forces is not released yet. Japan already has Iron Leaves ex from the Cyber Judge expansion set.
Picture from here.
The Card Itself
The Pokemon Iron Leaves itself is a Future version of the Grass/Fighting Pokemon Virizion.
Iron Leaves ex is a Basic ex Pokemon that has 220 HP and is a Grass type. It being a grass type is important is the Tera dark type Charizard ex is very popular.
It's attack of Prism Edge does not do a whole ton of damage at 180. The ability on Iron Leaves ex is quite though. When it is played from the hand to the Bench during your turn you can switch Iron Leaves ex from the Bench to the active spot. In addition you may move any amount of Energy from the other Pokemon to Iron Leaves ex itself. It is a bit of a surprise entry ability with energy switching from other Pokemon to Iron Leaves ex itself.
This Pokemon is a Future Pokemon so it is searchable from Techno Radar. It has one retreat cost with a Fire weakness.
Iron Leaves ex can be used in combination with Iron Crown ex where Iron Leaves ex adds 20 more damage to other Future Pokemon except Iron Crown ex.
Advantages
The ability from Iron Leaves ex is quite nice as you can surprise opponents and put this in the active from Hand to Bench right away. In addition you can start attacking right away provided you have energy to transfer from other Pokemon to Iron Leaves ex.
With the abundance of Charizard ex (Dark) decks and Roaring Moon ex, having a grass attacker in form of Iron Leaves ex is something worth considering.
Iron Leaves ex does not have to be a Future based deck. Quite a few Japanese decklists are running one copy of Iron Leaves ex in Arceus & Girtaina VSTAR decks as a surprise attacker for the Charizard ex matchup.
Disadvantages
The attack from Iron Leaves ex is not very high at 180 damage plus you cannot attack with it the next turn (unless it goes to Bench and back to the Active spot). Its HP at 220 is okay but is vulnerable if Iron Leaves ex is not used to win the game. The opponent can use Boss's Orders to knock it out the next turn provided they have a powerful attacker themselves.
Nest Ball is a popular basic Pokemon search card where you can select one Basic Pokemon from the deck to your Bench. This card would not synergize well with Iron Leaves ex as its ability applies from Hand to Bench not deck to Bench. You would have to use Ultra Ball, Techno Radar, a gamble card like Great Ball or Capturing Aroma.
Iron Leaves ex has a Fire weakness to be mindful of even if Fire types are not popular. They may be a few Charizard ex decks that use Entei V or maybe even Delphox V to deal with Grass attackers.
A Niche Charizard ex Counter
Before the announcement of Iron Leaves ex there are not many great Grass attackers that can take down Charizard ex. Notable Grass attackers are Meowscarada ex, Shaymin V and Serperior VSTAR. On their own those are great grass attackers but their respective decks are not popular.
The existence of Iron Leaves ex does offer an additional Charizard ex counter. This extra grass attacker option is good in Arceus & Giratina decks, Future decks, Lost Zone based decks and maybe in a few rogue decks.
