Pokémon ex, V, VMAX and VSTAR Cards Explained

Over the last few eras the card game has had several kinds of extra strong Pokémon, each marked by letters after its name. They have more HP and bigger attacks than a regular Pokémon. The catch is that your opponent takes more Prize cards when one is Knocked Out. These same cards are also the ones that get the most striking full art versions, which is why so many chase cards carry one of these labels.

At a glance

Card	Era	Prize cards when Knocked Out	What to know
Pokémon V	Sword & Shield	2	A Basic Pokémon with big HP and strong attacks
Pokémon VMAX	Sword & Shield	3	Evolves from a Pokémon V, most have 300 HP or more
Pokémon VSTAR	Sword & Shield	2	Evolves from a Pokémon V, with one VSTAR Power per game
Pokémon ex	Scarlet & Violet and Mega	2	Written with a lowercase ex
Mega Pokémon ex	Mega Evolution	3	The headline Pokémon of each Mega era set

Pokémon V, VMAX and VSTAR

Time Gazer Japanese Pokémon booster box — Time Gazer is led by Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR.

Pokémon V were the big cards of the Sword & Shield era. A Pokémon V is a Basic Pokémon, so it can go straight onto the bench. Your opponent takes 2 Prize cards when one is Knocked Out. A Pokémon VMAX evolves from a Pokémon V into a giant form with huge HP, at the cost of 3 Prize cards.

Pokémon VSTAR arrived later in the era. A VSTAR also evolves from a Pokémon V but gives up only 2 Prize cards. It also has a VSTAR Power. You can only use one VSTAR Power in a whole game, no matter how many Pokémon VSTAR are in your deck. Time Gazer and Space Juggler are built around Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR, while VSTAR Universe gathers VSTAR cards from across the era. The Charizard VMAX Shiny Super Rare is the top card in Shiny Star V.

Pokémon ex

Scarlet & Violet brought back ex, now written in lowercase. A Pokémon ex can be a Basic or an evolved Pokémon and gives up 2 Prize cards when it is Knocked Out. Collectors report about four Double Rare Pokémon ex in a typical Scarlet & Violet or Mega era box, as our pull rates guide explains.

Mega Pokémon ex

The Mega Evolution era added Mega Pokémon ex, which give up 3 Prize cards. Each Mega era set is built around one or two of them, with their gold Mega Ultra Rares at the top of almost every set. Our guide to every Mega ex chase card lists them all.

What about EX and GX?

Before Sword & Shield the game had Pokémon EX written in capitals, followed by Pokémon GX. You will find them in much older sets but not in any of the boxes we stock.

For collectors

These cards matter to collectors because they get the full art treatment. The Super Rare, Special Art Rare and gold versions of a Pokémon ex, V or VSTAR are often the most valuable cards in a set. Our rarity guide explains those codes, while the top hits guide shows which ones top each set.