Pokemon TCG: EX Sandstorm

EX Sandstorm (砂漠のきせき) Trading Card Game Set E17 / J19
General information
Cards	English: 100  Japanese: 53
Series	EX Series
Previous Expansion	EX Ruby & Sapphire
Following Expansion	EX Dragon
Associated Decks	Caravan   Oasis
Released	September 18, 2003 (English)  April 18, 2003 (Japanese)

Quick menu: Overview / Prerelease Promos / Print Versions / Set List / Other Cards / For Collectors / Most Powerful / Trivia / Images & Videos

EX Sandstorm is the second expansion of the EX Series, released on September 18th, 2003 and known in Japan as the wonderfully evocative Miracle of the Desert. Where EX Ruby & Sapphire introduced Nintendo’s new era, Sandstorm dug deeper into Hoenn with a 100-card set wrapped in a sun-baked, desert-and-fossil theme.

The headline pulls are the seven Pokémon-ex that close out the checklist from 94 to 100: Aerodactyl, Aggron, Gardevoir, Kabutops, Raichu, Typhlosion and the enormous Wailord. Raichu ex (98) is the collector favourite — a gorgeous full-bleed electric holo — while Wailord ex (100) turned heads as one of the highest-HP cards of its day. The set also leans hard into fossils, reviving Aerodactyl and Kabutops alongside Hoenn’s own Cradily and Armaldo.

On the play side, Sandstorm pushed the young Double Battle format with link attacks — attacks that combine the Poké-Powers of two of your Pokémon — encouraging the 2-on-2 board states the EX era was built around. Add a run of eye-catching Eeveelution holos (Flareon, Jolteon) and a famously gem-like Sableye, and there is plenty here for the shelf as well as the table.

Two desert-flavoured theme decks carried it into stores: Caravan (Grass/Fire) and Oasis (Water/Fighting). Well-liked at the time and fondly remembered now, Sandstorm is one of the more approachable early-EX sets to collect — and, as it turns out, the birthplace of a tradition that every modern set still keeps.

Where the Prerelease Promo Tradition Began

Ask a long-time player for their favourite thing about a new Pokémon set and a lot of them will say the same word: Prerelease. Those are the small, friendly events held a week or two before a set hits shelves, where you crack sealed packs, build a deck on the spot, and — crucially — walk away with an exclusive promo card stamped with the set’s name. EX Sandstorm is where that ritual, in its modern form, really begins.

It was the first expansion of the Nintendo / Pokémon USA era to hand out an affiliated Prerelease promo: a special Armaldo card carrying a silver “Prerelease” stamp — the very same Armaldo that leads the set at 1/100. From this point on, a stamped Prerelease promo became a fixture of almost every set that followed, an unbroken chain of collectible event-exclusives that still runs through the game today.

That makes Sandstorm quietly important beyond its cards. The desert set didn’t just continue the EX era — it helped lock in the rhythm of how Pokémon sets are launched, celebrated and collected. Next time you pick up a shiny stamped promo at a launch event, you can trace the tradition all the way back here, to a Hoenn fossil in the sand.

Print Versions & Collectors Info

EX Sandstorm boosters came in four artwork variants — Dusclops, Zangoose, Seviper and Shiftry — each holding nine cards. Two theme decks, Caravan and Oasis, rounded out the release.

English booster packs

Set List with Pictures

Card Image	No.	Card name	Rarity	Card type
	1/100	Armaldo
	Card text As long as Armaldo is your Active Pokémon, each player can’t play any Supporter cards.
	2/100	Cacturne
	Card text If Cacturne is your Active Pokémon and is damaged by an opponent’s attack (even if Cacturne is Knocked Out), the Attacking Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	3/100	Cradily
	Card text As long as Cradily is your Active Pokémon, your opponent’s Pokémon can’t retreat.
	4/100	Dusclops
	Card text Flip 2 coins. If both of them are heads, the Defending Pokémon is Knocked Out.
	5/100	Flareon
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Burned.
	6/100	Jolteon
	Card text Flip 2 coins. This attack does 20 damage times the number of heads.
	7/100	Ludicolo
	Card text  At any time between turns, remove 1 damage counter from Ludicolo.
	8/100	Lunatone
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), if Solrock is in play, you may use this power. Until the end of your turn, Lunatone’s type is Darkness. This power can’t be used if Lunatone is affected by a Special Condition.
	9/100	Mawile
	Card text Look at your opponent’s hand. You may have your opponent shuffle a Supporter card you find there into his or her deck. If you do, your opponent draws a card.
	10/100	Sableye
	Card text Look at your opponent’s hand. You may use the effect of a Supporter card you find there as the effect of this attack. (The Supporter card remains in your opponent’s hand.)
	11/100	Seviper
	Card text You may discard a Grass Energy card attached to Seviper. If you do, the Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	12/100	Shiftry
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may flip a coin. If heads, return 1 Energy card attached to the Defending Pokémon to your opponent’s hand. This power can’t be used if Shiftry is affected by a Special Condition.
	13/100	Solrock
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), if Lunatone is in play, you may use this power. Until the end of your turn, Solrock’s type is Fire. This power can’t be used if Solrock is affected by a Special Condition.
	14/100	Zangoose
	Card text If the Defending Pokémon is Seviper, this attack does 10 damage plus 30 more damage.
	15/100	Arcanine
	Card text If Arcanine is your Active Pokémon and is damaged by an opponent’s attack (even if Arcanine is Knocked Out), the Attacking Pokémon is now Burned.
	16/100	Espeon
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused.
	17/100	Golduck
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), if Golduck is your Active Pokémon, you may flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon (choose 1 if there are 2) is now Confused. This power can’t be used if Golduck is affected by a Special Condition.
	18/100	Kecleon
	Card text Kecleon’s type is the same as every type of basic Energy card attached to Kecleon.
	19/100	Omastar
	Card text If your opponent has any Evolved Pokémon in play, remove the highest Stage Evolution card from each of them and put those cards back into his or her hand.
	20/100	Pichu
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put Pikachu from your hand onto Pichu (this counts as evolving Pichu) and remove all damage counters from Pichu.
	21/100	Sandslash
	Card text Does 20 damage to each Defending Pokémon. The Defending Pokémon can’t retreat until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
	22/100	Shiftry
	Card text Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack does 40 damage to that Pokémon. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Weakness, Resistance, Poké-Powers, Poké-Bodies, or any other effects on that Pokémon.
	23/100	Steelix
	Card text Does 10 damage plus 10 more damage for each damage counter on Steelix.
	24/100	Umbreon
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused.
	25/100	Vaporeon
	Card text This attack’s damage is not affected by Resistance.
	26/100	Wobbuffet
	Card text Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Wobbuffet by your opponent’s Pokémon-ex.
	27/100	Anorith
	Card text Search your deck for an Evolution card, show it to your opponent, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	28/100	Anorith
	Card text    Flip 2 coins. This attack does 40 damage times the number of heads.
	29/100	Arbok
	Card text As long as Arbok is your Active Pokémon, any damage done to your Pokémon by an opponent’s attack is reduced by 10 (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
	30/100	Azumarill
	Card text If you have Water Energy cards in your hand, attach as many Water Energy cards as you like to any of your Active Pokémon.
	31/100	Azurill
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put Marill from your hand onto Azurill (this counts as evolving Azurill), and remove all damage counters from Azurill.
	32/100	Baltoy
	Card text Your opponent switches the Defending Pokémon with 1 of his or her Benched Pokémon, if any. You switch Baltoy with 1 of your Benched Pokémon, if any.
	33/100	Breloom
	Card text Each Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	34/100	Delcatty
	Card text Does 10 damage times the number of basic Energy cards attached to all of the Active Pokémon (both yours and your opponent’s).
	35/100	Electabuzz
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, search your discard pile for a Lightning Energy card and attach it to Electabuzz.
	36/100	Elekid
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put Electabuzz from your hand onto Elekid (this counts as evolving Elekid) and remove all damage counters from Elekid.
	37/100	Fearow
	Card text Does 20 damage to each Defending Pokémon.
	38/100	Illumise
	Card text As long as Volbeat is in play, any damage done to Illumise by attacks from Fighting Pokémon and Darkness Pokémon is reduced by 30. You can’t reduce more than 30 damage even if there is more than 1 Volbeat in play.
	39/100	Kabuto
	Card text Any damage done to Kabuto by attacks is reduced by 20 (after applying Weakness and Resistance).
	40/100	Kirlia
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
	41/100	Lairon
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all effects of an attack, including damage, done to Lairon during your opponent’s next turn.
	42/100	Lileep
	Card text Search your deck for Omanyte, Kabuto, Aerodactyl, Lileep, or Anorith and put 2 of them onto your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward. Treat the new Benched Pokémon as Basic Pokémon.
	43/100	Lileep
	Card text Choose 1 of the Defending Pokémon’s attacks. That Pokémon can’t use that attack during your opponent’s next turn.
	44/100	Linoone
	Card text Put any 1 card from your discard pile into your hand.
	45/100	Lombre
	Card text At any time between turns, remove 1 damage counter from Lombre.
	46/100	Lombre
	Card text Choose 1 card from your opponent’s hand without looking. Look at the card you chose, then have your opponent shuffle that card into his or her deck.
	47/100	Murkrow
	Card text Choose 1 card from your opponent’s hand without looking. Look at the card you chose, then have your opponent shuffle that card into his or her deck.
	48/100	Nuzleaf
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 damage plus 10 more damage.
	49/100	Nuzleaf
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
	50/100	Pelipper
	Card text This attack does 30 damage plus 10 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Pelipper but not used to pay for this attack’s Energy cost. You can’t add more than 20 damage in this way.
	51/100	Quilava
	Card text You may discard a Fire Energy card attached to Quilava. If you do, the Defending Pokémon is now Burned.
	52/100	Vigoroth
	Card text During your next turn, base damage of Vigoroth’s Slash is attack is 90 instead of 40.
	53/100	Volbeat
	Card text As long as Illumise is in play, Volbeat’s Retreat Cost is 0.
	54/100	Wynaut
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put Wobbuffet from your hand onto Wynaut (this counts as evolving Wynaut), and remove all damage counters from Wynaut.
	55/100	Xatu
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may remove 1 damage counter from each of your Active Pokémon. This power can’t be used if Xatu is affected by a Special Condition.
	56/100	Aron
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 damage plus 20 more damage.
	57/100	Cacnea
	Card text If Cacnea is your Active Pokémon and is damaged by an opponent’s attack (even if Cacnea is Knocked Out), the Attacking Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	58/100	Cacnea
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	59/100	Cyndaquil
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Burned.
	60/100	Dunsparce
	Card text Search your deck for up to 3 Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward. You may switch Dunsparce with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.
	61/100	Duskull
	Card text Choose 1 card from your opponent’s hand without looking. Look at the card you chose, then have your opponent shuffle that card into his or her deck.
	62/100	Duskull
	Card text Put 1 damage counter on the Defending Pokémon.
	63/100	Eevee
	Card text Search your deck for up to 3 cards that evolve from Eevee, show them to your opponent, and put them into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	64/100	Ekans
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
	65/100	Growlithe
	Card text If Growlithe is your Active Pokémon and is damaged by an opponent’s attack (even if Growlithe is Knocked Out), the Attacking Pokémon is now Burned.
	66/100	Lotad
	Card text At any time between turns, remove 1 damage counter from Lotad.
	67/100	Lotad
	Card text Remove 1 damage counter from Lotad.
	68/100	Marill
	Card text Flip 2 coins. This attack does 10 damage times the number of heads. If either of the coins is heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
	69/100	Natu
	Card text Each Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
	70/100	Omanyte
	Card text Search your deck for Omanyte, Kabuto, or any Basic Pokémon and put as many of them as you like onto your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward. Treat the new Benched Pokémon as Basic Pokémon.
	71/100	Onix
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
	72/100	Pikachu
	Card text Scratch
	73/100	Psyduck
	Card text Both Psyduck and the Defending Pokémon are now Confused.
	74/100	Ralts
	Card text The Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
	75/100	Sandshrew
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	76/100	Seedot
	Card text Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing.
	77/100	Seedot
	Card text Tackle.
	78/100	Shroomish
	Card text Attach a Grass Energy card from your hand to Shroomish.
	79/100	Skitty
	Card text  Search your discard pile for a basic Energy card, show it to your opponent, and put it into your hand.
	80/100	Slakoth
	Card text Slakoth can’t attack during your next turn.
	81/100	Spearow
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all effects of an attack, including damage, done to Spearow during your opponent’s next turn.
	82/100	Trapinch
	Card text The Defending Pokémon can’t retreat until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
	83/100	Wailmer
	Card text The Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
	84/100	Wingull
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused.
	85/100	Zigzagoon
	Card text Draw a card.
	86/100	Double Full Heal		T
	Card text Remove all Special Conditions from each of your Active Pokémon.
	87/100	Lanette’s Net Search		T[Su]
	Card text Search your deck for up to 3 different types of Basic Pokémon cards (excluding Baby Pokémon), show them to your opponent, and put them into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	88/100	Rare Candy		T
	Card text Choose 1 of your Basic Pokémon in play. If you have a Stage 1 or Stage 2 card that evolves from that Pokémon in your hand, put that card on the Basic Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.)
	89/100	Wally’s Training		T[Su]
	Card text Search your deck for a card that evolves from your Active Pokémon (choose 1 if there are 2) and put it on your Active Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.) Shuffle your deck afterward.
	90/100	Claw Fossil		T
	Card text Play Claw Fossil as if it were a Basic Pokémon. While in play, Claw Fossil counts as a Colorless Pokémon (instead of a Trainer card). Claw Fossil has no attacks of its own, can’t retreat, and can’t be affected by any Special Conditions. If Claw Fossil is Knocked Out, it doesn’t count as a Knocked Out Pokémon. (Discard it anyway.) At any time during your turn before your attack, you may discard Claw Fossil from play.
	91/100	Mysterious Fossil		T
	Card text Play Mysterious Fossil as if it were a Basic Pokémon. While in play, Mysterious Fossil counts as a Pokémon (instead of a Trainer card). Mysterious Fossil has no attacks, can’t retreat, and can’t be Asleep, Confused, Paralyzed, or Poisoned. If Mysterious Fossil is Knocked Out, it doesn’t count as a Knocked Out Pokémon. (Discard it anyway.) At any time during your turn before your attack, you may discard Mysterious Fossil from play.
	92/100	Root Fossil		T
	Card text Play Root Fossil as if it were a Basic Pokémon. While in play, Root Fossil counts as a Colorless Pokémon (instead of a Trainer card). Root Fossil has no attacks of its own, can’t retreat, and can’t be affected by any Special Conditions. If Root Fossil is Knocked Out, it doesn’t count as a Knocked Out Pokémon. (Discard it anyway.) At any time during your turn before your attack, you may discard Root Fossil from play.
	93/100	Multi Energy		E
	Card text Attach Multi Energy to 1 of your Pokémon. While in play, Multi Energy provides every type of Energy but provides only 1 Energy at a time. (Has no effect other than providing Energy.) Multi Energy provides Energy when attached to a Pokémon that already has Special Energy cards attached to it.
	94/100	Aerodactyl ex
	Card text As long as Aerodactyl ex is in play, your opponent can’t play Pokémon Tool cards. Remove any Pokémon Tool cards attached to your opponent’s Pokémon and put them into his or her discard pile.
	95/100	Aggron ex
	Card text If the Defending Pokémon has any damage counters on it, this attack does 30 damage plus 30 more damage.
	96/100	Gardevoir ex
	Card text Count the number of cards in your opponent’s hand. Put that many damage counters on the Defending Pokémon.
	97/100	Kabutops ex
	Card text Flip a number of coins equal to the amount of Energy attached to Kabutops ex. This attack does 40 damage times the number of heads. You can’t flip more than 3 coins in this way.
	98/100	Raichu ex
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused.
	99/100	Typhlosion ex
	Card text The Defending Pokémon is now Burned, and can’t retreat until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
	100/100	Wailord ex
	Card text If you don’t have any Benched Pokémon, this attack does nothing. Remove 3 damage counters from Wailord ex. Switch Wailord ex with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.

Other Cards

Sandstorm’s Trainer line-up punches well above its weight — because one of the most important cards in the entire game starts here. Rare Candy makes its debut in this set, and it would go on to become a permanent fixture of competitive Pokémon. The desert theme also brings back the classic Fossil Trainers (Claw, Root and Mysterious Fossil) to fuel the set’s Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Cradily and Armaldo lines.

Rare Candy (88/100)

The debut of a legend. Rare Candy lets you reach up your Evolution chain early — a shortcut that became so central to deck-building that it has barely left the format in the twenty years since. Every Rare Candy in every modern deck traces back to this printing.

Wally’s Training (89/100)

A Supporter named for the Hoenn rival, letting you evolve your Active Pokémon straight from your deck — early, flavourful evolution acceleration to pair with the set’s big ex attackers.

For Collectors: Most Valuable Cards

Sandstorm’s prizes are its seven Pokémon-ex, sitting 94 through 100 in full-art holo glory, joined by a handful of gorgeous holo rares. These are the cards that make the desert worth digging through.

Raichu ex (98/100)

The set’s darling. A stunning electric holo whose foiling crackles across the whole card — comfortably the most chased pull in Sandstorm.

Wailord ex (100/100)

A genuine giant. With one of the highest HP totals of its era, the whale closes the set as a showpiece card and a fan favourite.

Gardevoir ex (96/100)

Elegant artwork and a clever, hand-reading attack make Gardevoir ex a perennial target for collectors chasing every Gardevoir variant.

Aerodactyl ex (94/100)

The fossil flyer, complete with a disruptive tool-locking Poké-Body and a moody prehistoric backdrop.

Typhlosion ex (99/100)

A magma-red holo carried over from the Johto favourite — one of the warmer, more striking cards in the set.

Kabutops ex (97/100)

The scything fossil returns as an ex, its coin-flip attack scaling with Energy — a collector staple of the fossil sub-theme.

Aggron ex (95/100)

Steel-plated and bordered with holo bubbles, Aggron ex rounds out the desert’s heavy hitters.

Sableye (10/100)

Not an ex, but a cult-favourite holo — its gem-like cavern art gives it a jewel-box shimmer that collectors adore.

Most Powerful Cards (Competitive Play)

Sandstorm handed the early EX format some real tools — a couple of tricky ex attackers and, quietly, the engine card that would shape deck-building for years.

Rare Candy (88/100)

Not flashy, but arguably the most influential card in the set. Skipping to your big Stage 2 attackers a turn early reshaped how decks were built — and still does today.

Gardevoir ex (96/100)

Its Psychic attack piles on damage counters equal to your opponent’s hand size — a punishing, hand-clogging threat that rewarded careful play.

Aerodactyl ex (94/100)

A pure tech card: while it sits in play, your opponent simply can’t use Pokémon Tools, and any already attached get discarded. A hard counter to whole strategies.

Wailord ex (100/100)

A wall on legs — enormous HP, self-healing and a free switch made it a frustrating stall piece for aggressive decks to punch through.

Trivia

• The set’s Japanese name, Miracle of the Desert, gives away the sun-baked theme far more poetically than the English “Sandstorm.”
• Rare Candy debuts here — one of the most important and enduring Trainer cards ever printed, and still a deck-building staple two decades on.
• Sandstorm was the first Nintendo / Pokémon USA set with an affiliated Prerelease promo (a stamped Armaldo), kicking off the launch-event tradition every modern set still follows.
• It introduced link attacks, which combine the Poké-Powers of two of your Pokémon — a nod to the era’s 2-on-2 Double Battles.
• Wailord ex shipped with one of the highest HP totals seen on a card up to that point — a literal whale of a card.
• Cards from the early 2003 print run still carry e-Reader dot codes along the edge; later reprints dropped them, a detail sharp-eyed collectors still look for.
• The set revives four fossil lines at once — Aerodactyl, Kabutops, and Hoenn’s own Cradily and Armaldo — backed by the Claw, Root and Mysterious Fossil Trainers.

Images & Videos

A full EX Sandstorm booster box break — a good look at the desert set’s cards and ex pulls.

Opening EX Sandstorm packs, complete with a Pokémon-ex pull.