Turtonator – Celestial Guardians
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Note: Extradimensional Crisis (Set A3a) has already released and I’ve been going through, evaluating cards, and determining how I will proceed. What I can tell you is, I won’t be reviewing any cards from it this week. If something from the set seems especially relevant to the card being reviewed, I’ll at least touch on it.
Turtonator (A3 037, 161) is a Fire-Type, Basic Pokémon. It has 120 HP, (W) Weakness, (C)(C)(C)(C) Retreat Cost, and the attack “Fire Spin”. For (R)(R)(C), Fire Spin lets Turtonator do 90 damage to the opposing Active, as well as discard an Energy from itself. Turtonator is available at the ♦♦♦ and ★ rarities.
The (R) Type looked useful for exploiting Weakness, but Fire Spin’s 90 damage becoming 110 against most (G) and (M) Types doesn’t look like it’ll make a big difference. At least, based on the pre-A3a metagame. The (R) Type only has Moltres ex (A1 047, 255, 274; P-A 025), which provides attack-based Energy acceleration. From what I’ve seen, this isn’t usually used with Turtonator. Fortunately for (R) Types, the cards with anti-(R) effects still aren’t seeing any competitive success.
As a Basic, Turtonator requires no lower Stages, nor waiting to evolve. There are no additions to Basic Pokémon support2 in Extradimensional Crisis. Of those cards, Poké Ball is probably the only one that will really matter to Turtonator. However, the existing anti-Basic cards3 are now joined by Repel (A3a 064). It’s an Item version of Sabrina (A1 225, 272) except it can only be used when your opponent’s Active is a Basic. Repel is likely to see at least some success, and maybe quite a bit.
120 HP is good, especially for a non-evolving Basic. Turtonator has a chance of surviving a hit from some main attackers. (W) Weakness isn’t as dangerous as it once was. During the reign of Celestial Guardians, the only (W) Type to regularly see competitive success was Greninja (A1 089; P-A 019; A3a 093), who usually can’t attack. From what I’ve seen of Extradimensional Crisis, I don’t expect this to change much, if at all. Good for Turtonator, I suppose.
Turtonator has a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C)(C). This is as bad as it gets. To zero it out would require comboing Leaf (A1a 068, 82) with two copies of X Speed (P-A 002) or two copies of Shaymin (A2a 069, 081) or one of each. It’s also one more than it costs to attack with Turtonator, so odds are good that an Active Turtonator stays an Active Turtonator.
Fire Spin is a relatively good attack. 90 damage is enough to 2HKO all Pokémon. At least, after factoring in Weakness, but before various other card effects. It isn’t usually worth three Energy and having to discard an attached Energy to inflict. However, Turtonator is a non-Pokémon ex Basic, capable of OHKOing Oricorio (A2b 066, 165). Most other successful Fire-Types4 are Pokémon ex, and stopped by Oricorio’s “Safeguard” Ability.
There’s also Kiawe (A2b). This Trainer-Supporter lets you attach two (R) Energy, from your Energy Zone, to one of your Pokémon named “Alolan Marowak” or “Turtonator” of your choice. Then, the last part of Kiawe’s effect says it ends your turn! The Energy attaching works regardless of the Energy Types you’ve selected to spawn in your Energy Zone, whether or not there’s an Energy currently available in your Energy Zone, or the Type(s) of Energy currently displayed in your Energy Zone.
For now, the only other legal target for Kiawe is Alolan Marowak (A3 027, 160). It is a Fire-Type, Stage 1 Pokémon that evolves from Cubone. It has 110 HP, (W) Weakness, (C)(C) Retreat Cost, and the attack “Burning Bonemerang”. For (R)(R)(C), this attack lets you flip two coins, and Alolan Marowak does 70 damage per “heads” to the opponent’s Active, plus the attack Burns the opponent’s Active if you get any “heads”.
Alolan Marowak might be a good example of “bait”; a card that looks good, but isn’t worth the effort. Honestly, I thought Kiawe was the same. Turn 1, Kiawe is amazing if you’ve got a Turtonator in play. You cannot have an Alolan Marowak, because it’s a Stage 1 and Kiawe cannot be used on Cubone. Turn 2, or any other turn you couldn’t attack, or couldn’t attack very well, Kiawe is still pretty nice… but using Kiawe with Alolan Marowak means it won’t be ready until Turn 5 or 6!
So why does it work with Turtonator? Let’s look at the best performing decks that feature Turtonator in their name, as well as their records over on LimitlessTCG: Charizard ex (A2b 010 080, 108)/Turtonator decks have a 265 Count, 1.85% Share, and 50.11% Win Rate. Incineroar ex/Turtonator decks have a 70 Count, 0.49 Share, and 48.71% Win Rate. Infernape/Turtonator decks have a 62 Count, 0.43% Share, and 51.67% Win Rate.
I looked at the top five lists (by the default view) of each deck and all had two copies of Kiawe. It could be I’m just not getting that giving up a turn’s attack is worth attaching two (R) Energy to your Turtonator. What I suspect is that these decks generally focus on their Stage 2 line and only use Turtonator as an opening meatshield, and attack with it only when they must.
If you open with Turtonator, you’re probably stuck with it. If your opponent is hiding behind their own meatshield, and/or using a strategy that lets them attack your Bench, you’ll need to attack with Turtonator whether you want to or not. Turtonator can’t afford to easily Retreat, though Kiawe could help with that as well. Since you’re unable to attack, sacrificing it to use Kiawe doesn’t hurt. If you must, of course, you can also manually power up Turtonator.
The main reason to run Turtonator though, was already mentioned, and overlaps a little with the previous reason: Oricorio (A2b 066, 165). I know from experience, you cannot just use the Basic or Stage 1 members of your Stage 2’s Evolution line to deal with that bird. Once again, if you can’t do damage with your Pokémon ex, then there’s no real harm sacrificing a turn’s attack to instead prep Turtonator… and one Fire Spin from it will OHKO Oricorio.
Could you just skip Kiawe? Well, I thought you might be able to, but it doesn’t seem like it. Yeah, Kiawe could wind up a dead card because you either won’t need to even field Turtonator, or Kiawe will show up so late you just don’t need it for your Turtonator. Oricorio is that hard a counter for the Stage 2 Pokémon ex I’ve mentioned… and the other decent, non-ex attackers are also Evolutions. Plus, Turtonator itself is alright against many other Pokémon, as opposed to strictly being anti-Safeguard.
Rating: 3/5
I don’t know how long Turtonator will occupy this niche, but for now, it does an adequate job. It’s possible Oricorio usage could decrease, or we get another counter to Safeguard, be it a Pokémon or Trainer. So enjoy Turtonator while you can. I don’t think Fire decks will be extinguished by the Ultra Beasts, or other Extradimensional Crisis cards… but Blacephalon (A3a 009, 072; P-A 076) might be a replacement or rival for the same niche.
1Piloswine (A2 032) and Mamoswine (A2 033, 160).
2Celestic Town Elder (A2a 073, 088), Combee (A2 017, 157), Fishing Net (A3 143) Poké Ball (P-A 005; A2b 111) and Shaymin (A2a 069, 081).
3Araquanid (A3 053), Pokémon Flute (A1a 064), and Victreebel (A1 020).
4Charizard ex (A1 036, 253, 280, 284), Charizard ex (A2b 010 080, 108), Incineroar ex (A3 033, 182, 200), Infernape (A2 029, 181, 197) and Moltres ex.
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