What Does ex Mean on Pokémon Cards? ex, EX, ex★ and MA Explained

ex in Lower Case: Raikou ex and the Starter Lines

The most direct current example is ライコウex from ストームエメラルダ (M6), whose official product page gives the release date as Friday, July 31, 2026. The official card database lists three Raikou ex prints in the set: 024/076 and 092/076, both illustrated by aky CG Works, and 108/076, illustrated by Oku. All three show HP 200, a Basic Pokémon (たね), and the same card text. Numbers above the set count, 092 and 108 here, mark the secret-numbered prints.

The card text, in English (rendering): the attack いかずちをまとう (“Clad in Lightning”) can be used even on the first player’s first turn, and searches the deck for 1 Energy, attaches it to this Pokémon and shuffles the deck. The attack パワーラッシュ200 (“Power Rush”) deals 200 damage, and if a coin flip comes up tails, this Pokémon cannot attack during your next turn. The last line is the one this article is about: 「ポケモンexがきぜつしたとき、相手はサイドを2枚とる。」 — when a Pokémon ex is knocked out, the opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

That sentence is the card-level meaning of the marker on this print. The wider prize-card rules, including the basic count of six, are on the official how-to-play page; our deck size and rules guide quotes them with their addresses.

The lower-case ex is also the marker on the Japanese starter line. スターターセットex went on sale on Friday, January 20, 2023 at an official price of ¥1,800 each. Its decks include ルカリオex and デンリュウex (HP 330) according to the official product page, pokemon-card.com/ex/sva. The marker is not new to 2023, however: our legendary beasts guide lists lower-case ex cards in the 2003–2005 EX-era sets, such as Rocket’s Entei ex and Rocket’s Suicune ex, so the spelling alone does not date a card. The set code and number do.

ex, EX, V, GX and LEGEND Side by Side

Because the beast cards span many eras, the official database gives a tidy comparison. The table below lists one card per marker, all with the Prize line quoted from the card’s own text. The Mega ex row is included because its text differs.

Each row describes one card and is not extended to the rest of its family. The point of the table is the pattern a reader can check: the suffix in the name is paired with a matching sentence in the rule box, and the count printed there is the count that applies to that card.

The V and GX cards in the table also carry their own extras. エンテイV has an ability しゅんそく (rendering: “Swift”) that draws a card once per turn while it is the Active Pokémon, and エンテイGX has a GX attack, ブレイブバーンGX (rendering: “Brave Burn GX”), with the printed limit that a player can use only one GX attack per game. Neither of these belongs to the lower-case ex card text above. For the full Entei lineup see our Entei cards guide, and for the V prints, the Entei V PSA 10 guide.

If you would like to see the ex print in a sealed product, the M6 set contains the Raikou ex prints from the first section.

Shop this setM6 Storm Emeralda Booster Box Japanese Pokemon Card

¥8,900In stock

Ships from Tokyo with tracking

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MA Is a Rarity, Not a Card Type

MA stands for メガアタックレア (Mega Attack Rare). The official MEGA Dream ex page, pokemon-card.com/ex/m2a, introduced it with the line 「新たなレアリティMA(メガアタックレア)が登場！」 — a new rarity, MA, appears. The MEGA Dream ex High Class Pack was released on Friday, November 28, 2025, and an official notice from Friday, December 5, 2025, pokemon-card.com/info/005318, lists cards in the form 「メガリザードンXex　MA（メガアタックレア）」.

That notice shows the relationship clearly. In メガリザードンXex　MA, the “ex” is the marker in the Pokémon’s name, and MA is the rarity of the print. A rarity describes how the print is classified; a marker describes the Pokémon card. The two sit on different axes, and both can be present on the same card.

Our PSA 10 listing names follow the same logic: the Pokémon name (with ex), then a rarity letter, then the set code and number. The table below compares how the letters sit on listings for the same Pokémon from MEGA Dream ex. The letters are the labels of our listing names; the official database carries no rarity field, and the table makes no statement about why one print is priced differently from another.

Two details are visible in the table without any interpretation. The MA prints in the table carry the numbers 227, 230 and 232 over the 193 set count, all above the base count. And the same Pokémon, MEGA Dragonite ex or MEGA Gengar ex, has both an MA print and an SAR print in the set, each with its own number. For the set-level picture, our High Class Pack history and the M2a card list keep the record.

Rarity names are not unique to this era. Our Amazing Rare guide covers an earlier one, with nine Amazing Rare cards across the S3a and S4a sets.

Known and Unknown at a Glance

Where to Buy ex Prints and Graded Examples

For the lower-case ex Raikou, the M6 Storm Emeralda Booster Box is currently listed as Sealed ¥8,926 (~$58) or No Shrink ¥8,853 (~$57), and the M6 card list shows the set. For the MA and SAR prints, the PSA 10 listings in the table above link to their product pages, and the M2a card list covers MEGA Dream ex.

On the older side, the Suicune ex [CLK 010/032] is offered as a PSA 10 back order at ¥8,999 (~$58) and the Raikou EX 1st Edition [BW4 071/069] at ¥148,720 (~$966); each is sourced to order, and the product page shows the current terms. The Entei V SAR 213/172 from VSTAR Universe is offered as a PSA 10 back order at ¥15,525 (~$101), on the same terms. The card list hub links every set page we keep, and for a card or set that is not listed, sourcing requests go through Quick Order.

For the starter products that carry ex cards, our companion article on deck size, the 4-copy rule and Prize cards lists them.