Cute but deadly Stellar Crown Pokemon card is “ridiculous” even before evolving

Joltik Pokemon with cloud background.The Pokemon Company

On paper, a new Basic Common Pokemon card being revealed isn’t big news, but one particular Stellar Crown card reveal has the community getting psyched for the September 13 release.

Revealed via the Pokemon TCG X account, a new Joltik card was unveiled to the Pokemon community and many were surprised by how powerful it appears to be. While it’s a low HP critter that doesn’t seem too competitively viable at first, the Attack makes it a card to be reckoned with.

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Jolting Charge allows the user to search for up to 2 Basic Grass Energy and up to 2 Basic Lightning Energy, attach them to their Pokemon in desired manner, and then shuffle their deck.

Being able to access 4 Energy right off the bat is an incredibly fast way to set up, and it’s a cheap move, too, only costing 1 Colorless Energy to use. It’s a perfect early-game pull and holds a lot of potential for creative deck-building.

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Joltik Stellar Crown Pokemon card.The Pokemon Company
Joltik (050/142) Pokemon card.

Combining the Jolting Charge Attack with the fact that Joltik can evolve into the anxiously-awaited Stellar Tera-type Galvantula ex makes this card unbelievably promising – and Pokemon TCG fans online were ecstatic to see it.

Players couldn’t believe how viable the tiny electric critter looked. One exclaimed, “BOW DOWN BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH!” while another dubbed Joltik the “goat of the format.”

One fan noted, “That’s actually a pretty ridiculous attack on such a little guy,” pointing out the clear dissonance between Joltik’s adorable design and the potentially meta-defining Attack.

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Some collectors on X/Twitter were entranced by the card’s artwork rather than its competitive potential. One such user expressed, “It looks like Naoki Saito’s old art style from the Black and White era (I know it’s a different illustrator but I find it interesting how nostalgic this art makes me feel)”

Despite Joltik being a 30HP Basic, it’s clearly going to get a lot of attention when it comes out in the Stellar Miracle set release – especially thanks to the sheer power of the Stellar Tera-type Galvantula ex that it can evolve into. The Joltik line has never looked stronger in the Pokemon TCG.

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To prepare for Stellar Crown’s release, make sure to check out our full expansion set hub for everything we know about it so far. Additionally, take a look at our top 10 Stellar Miracle cards to get a feel for which cards you should be keeping an eye on when ripping packs.