aidyjamespokemon

[aidyjamespokemon]

Balls will roll: Card of the Day #6

First of all, I apologize for not keeping up with the “Card of the DAY” thing. Between tournaments, preparing my new deck, and my illness worsening over the past couple of weeks, I’ve rarely had the time to devote to reviewing cards. I’ll endeavor to at least post updates more often, if not every day. Moving on, I have a rather unique card review for you today. Recently, many players have asked me how to make their decks more consistent with the loss of Professor Sycamore, as they now have to shuffle dead cards back into their deck with most post-rotation draw supporters, only to draw them again. It may not be an obvious interaction, but Professor Sycamore is the best way to draw into an entirely new hand of cards. This is because you have to discard your current hand before you draw. There’s no chance of drawing into those cards again. Well, unless you have more copies of them in your deck, in which case you’ll still have a slimmer chance of drawing them than you would with, say, Cynthia. Never fear, comrades - I have a solution. What if I told you that there was a new supporter that thins your deck AND allows you to discard unwanted cards from your hand? What if I told you that this card thins your deck even more than Brigette? It may even be my favorite supporter in the new Standard format! My friends, meet Apricorn Maker!

Card Text

Search your deck for up to 2 Item cards with “Ball” in their names, show them to your opponent, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn (before your attack). At face value, Apricorn Maker is a fantastic first turn supporter with unique versatility and longevity. While Brigette and Pokémon Fan Club fetch basic Pokémon, Apricon Maker can fetch the means to search for any Pokémon you need. The ability to fetch whatever you like - including evolution cards - makes it useful throughout the game. You won’t need Brigette too often in the mid to late game, whereas Apricorn Maker will be a welcome sight on almost any turn. However, Apricorn Maker is even more flexible than that. It’s often the case in the Pokémon TCG that a card’s true functionality isn’t written on the card. Case in point: Apricorn Maker. This thing is way more versatile than it lets on. First of all, it thins your deck by 4 cards at the very least. This is by fetching 2 Nest Ball, which you then use to fetch 2 basic Pokémon. Brigette is a great deck thinner as it is, only thinning your deck by 3 cards! If you’re feeling brave, you could even try thinning your deck even further by fetching Timer Ball, but this has the potential to backfire. The next way in which it thins your deck isn’t as obvious. You may also fetch 2 Ultra Ball, which you can either use to fetch a Lele (which fetches yet another card), or you can use Ultra Ball to discard cards from your hand before you use Cynthia, Tate & Liza, Copycat, et al, ensuring that you won’t draw back into those cards.  Since when have turn 1 Pokémon fetchers been so handy?!

Synergy

The fun doesn’t stop there, either! With Professor Sycamore rotating, decks like Malamar will be looking for easy ways to get cards into the discard pile. You can only run 4 Ultra Ball, so a supporter that can turn itself into 2 of them is an absolute life saver for these decks. It’s also worthy of note that Apricorn Maker is the only Pokémon fetching supporter that can search for any Pokémon at all. Brigette and Pokémon Fan Club can’t fetch evolution cards. Olivia can only fetch GX Pokémon. Lisia can only fetch Prism Star cards. I may be forgetting a card or two, but you get the point. Apricorn Maker is hella versatile!

In Conclusion

Pokémon TCG players have been searching for the perfect turn 1 supporter for the new Standard format for months now. In Apricorn Maker, I truly believe that we’ve found our answer. Indeed, Lillie will be better in some situations, but I’ve found Apricorn Maker to be the most impactful turn 1 play in my testing. Not only that, but its impact is often sustained throughout the game, more so than Lillie. I would highly recommend running 1 or 2 in virtually any deck, along with 2 Nest Ball. Trust me - you’ll notice the difference. Start every game the right way: by grabbing your balls!

[aidyjamespokemon]

It’s finally here: my first Card of the WEEK video! Of course, it’s for a very special card indeed - everyone’s favorite possessed voodoo doll and... bread?! Enjoy!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Deck Tech - Aidy’s Shady Trade-y Banette/Zoroark deck for post-rotation.

Since it first leaked, I’ve completely fallen in love with Banette-GX. However, its incredible GX attack, Tomb Hunt GX - which allows you to retrieve any 3 cards from the discard pile for a single Psychic Energy - has caught the attention of another suitor: Zoroark-GX. Zoro’s beloved partner, Puzzle of Time is leaving Standard soon... and being sent to prison. Being a sneaky dark type Pokémon, Zoroark-GX has been on the hunt for a new partner since Puzzle of Time’s departure was announced. Banette-GX certainly fills that Puzzle-shaped hole in Zoroark-GX’s heart, so we’ve had to form an awkward love triangle. Kinky! Puzzle of Time is being banned in Expanded for a reason. It allows a deck’s key cards and one-of tricks to be used again and again, which is very helpful when you’re throwing them away with Trade. It turned the discard pile into an extra hand with restrictions. One of the most useful mantras in this game is “if it breaks the rules of the game, it’s strong”. Energy acceleration is strong because if breaks the “one energy per turn” rule, for example. Subverting the concept of the discard pile is one of these game-breaking effects. This was the origin of the term “broken” to describe powerful cards, by the way! Zoroark-GX decks have been built with this in mind since Zoro’s release. Losing it requires a different approach to the deck - one that’s a little more careful with its resources. Banette-GX gives you a little more leeway with Tomb Hunt GX, but it’s best not to rely on it. It’s just a nice little trick that you have at your disposal. Let’s take a closer look at Zoroark-GX’s new friend:

With only 190 HP, Banette-GX is very frail for a stage 1 GX Pokémon, especially as it’s in OHKO range of Necrozma-GX. However, that resistance to fighting is very welcome indeed. That weakness to dark is unfortunate, too, but we have ways and means around that. A single energy retreat cost is rather nice, but it won’t matter quite a great deal of the time, thanks to Altar of the Moone (yes, it works with Rainbow Energy!).

Of course, we’re not using Banette-GX for its bulk - we’re here for its nifty little tricks! Its ability, Shady Move is a brilliant little combat math fixer - not to mention the fact that it turns Rainbow Energy’s downside into an upside! If you have 10 supporters in the discard pile, all it takes is a Rainbow Energy and a Choice Band to OHKO Tapu Lele-GX! It’s also fun to use on your own Pokémon. Don’t want that Lele sitting around on your bench, waiting to be Guzma’d up and knocked out? Simply shadily move a damage counter onto it and Acerola it into your hand! The ability to soften up those ubiquitous 130 HP basics for a Riotous Beating is very welcome, too.

Its attacks are fantastic, too. Trashalanche Garbodor has been a great partner for Zoroark-GX, but it puts your opponent in the driver seat, allowing them to simply hoard items in their hand to mitigate Trashalanche’s damage output. Shadow Chant’s condition is very easy to meet with Zoroark-GX helping it out by throwing supporters in the bin (it’s a pretty funny image, actually) and - of course - you’re in control. 130 is a whole different ball game to 120 when it comes to the HP of beefy basics, so Shadow Chant’s damage cap hits a great number. Who’d have thought that 13 could be such a lucky number when you plop a 0 on the end?!

Tomb Hunt GX is one of the strongest GX attacks in the game. We’ve seen this effect before on Decidueye-GX, but its equal cost to Shadow Chant and the fact that Banette-GX is a stage 1, rather than a stage 2 makes it much more practical and potent in this instance. With Puzzle of Time and Special Charge gone, this effect is even more valuable! We can’t quite dump cards with Trade willy-nilly, but we still have safe assurance that our cards aren’t gone forever.

Anyway - enough blabbing; let’s take a look at the list!

Pokémon: 18

4 Zorua SHL

4 Zoroark-GX SHL

3 Shuppet CLS 63

2 Banette-GX CLS

2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI

1 Oranguru ULP

1 Tapu Koko SMP

1 Buzzwole FLI

Supporters: 16

4 Cynthia

4 Guzma

2 Acerola

2 Judge

1 Apricorn Maker

1 Copycat

1 Mallow

1 Tate & Liza

Items: 16

4 Ultra Ball

2 Choice Band

2 Weakness Policy

2 Nest Ball

1 Timer Ball

1 Enhanced Hammer

1 Field Blower

1 Rescue Stretcher

1 Multi Switch

1 Pal Pad

Stadiums: 2

2 Altar of the Moone

Energy: 8

4 Double Colorless Energy

4 Rainbow Energy

Pokémon

As usual, we’re running a 4-4 Zoroark-GX line. For most of the game, Zoroark-GX will be our main attacker, hitting for 120 (or 150 with Choice Band) with a full bench, as well as providing our main draw engine. If you’ve played Zoroark-GX before, you’ll be very familiar with situations where one Zoroark-GX quickly Trades for another, then that one trades for another, etc. It’s this reliability and sustainability that have elevated Zoroark-GX to the top of the tables.

Our Banette-GX count is shallower by comparison at 3-2. This is because Banette-GX is more of a mid-late game guy that benefits from a Zoroark-driven early game. This “compartmentalization” of the game is the result of the great synergy between the deck’s two evolution lines. So far, my testing has shown this to be the optimal number of Shuppet and Banette-GX.

Besides the prerequisite Tapu Lele-GX (of which there are 2 in this list), we run a suite of utility Pokémon. These slots are mostly flexible, open to whatever you need to run to mitigate threats in your metagame.

Oranguru provides great sustainability in the late game and it excels at recycling resources you expended throughout the early and mid game, especially energy cards and items that you are otherwise unable to retrieve.

Tapu Koko softens targets up for Zoroark-GX and Banette-GX, fixing combat math expertly. That extra 20 or 40 damage often makes a huge difference! Free retreat is fantastic, too, allowing for Guzma blowouts and safe recovery from knockouts.

Buzzwole’s inclusion may be confusing to some, but it can be a great helper in the mirror match. A single prize attacker that can OHKO a Zoroark-GX for a single Rainbow Energy is a great tool to have at your disposal - even if it’s a little situational.

Trainers

The debate is still out over the best post-rotation turn 1 play, but my current personal favorite in Apricorn Maker. Brigette’s utility was twofold: filling the bench and thinning the deck. When all is said and done, Apricorn Maker’s effect has a similar impact, but it’s slightly less focused on filling the bench (it fetches 2 Pokémon instead of 3) and slightly more focused on thinning the deck, as it removes the Balls from the deck, as well as the Pokémon. It’s also more flexible than Brigette, as it can search for Ultra and Timer balls, giving you access to evolution cards and the ability to put your Pokémon into your hand.

Post-rotation, Zoroark doesn’t have the luxury of using Puzzle of Time to retrieve draw supporters, so we run a heavier count of them in this build. 4 Cynthia is the backbone of our supporter-based draw engine, bolstered by 2 Judge for disruption (this is particularly devastating on turn 1, if you can afford such a play), a Copycat to match the massive hands of other Zoroark-GX decks, and a Tate & Liza for the added option of its Switch mode, which can be very useful when such an effect is required. Mallow isn’t quite a draw supporter, but it allows us to Trade for whatever we require.

Acerola is always an explosive play in Zoroark-GX builds, but its utility here is incredible. Rainbow Energy can ensure that its target has a damage counter on it and Banette-GX can transfer a damage counter to anything that may require removal from the bench, whether it’s to deny your opponent a Guzma target, clear a space for something you require, or to re-use an ability. I’ve included 2 copies in this build due to this added versatility.

As Float Stone leaves the Standard format, maneuverability is much more difficult. This warrants a full complement of Guzma. Of course, this gives Banette-GX more opportunities to fix the numbers with Shady Move, which is very on-flavor for Guzma!

4 Ultra Ball, 2 Nest Ball, and 1 Timer Ball are our Pokémon fetching options. Nest Ball is very strong post-rotation and Apricorn Maker turns all of these cards into deck thinning options. A single Rescue Stretcher allows us to recover any Pokémon we need in the late-game, especially if they were discarded by Trade. In combination with Oranguru’s Resource Management, Rescue Stretcher gives you further opportunities to hold deck-outs at bay.

2 Choice Band and 2 Weakness Policy are our tool options. These numbers and slots are flexible, especially if Buzzwole starts running Field Blower. Weakness Policy can also give Banette-GX some sustainability against Zoroark-GX. Choice Band, on the other hand, is a mainstay. The ability to OHKO a Tapu Lele-GX with a maxed-out Shadow Chant and a Rainbow Energy is incredibly strong. I may change these numbers, but they’ve tested well so far.

Our utility item slots are flexible, but I’ve gone for single counts of Field Blower and Enhanced Hammer for disruption, Pal Pad for supporter recovery, and Multi-Switch to make the most of our limited special energy cards. Feel free to change these slots to suit your needs.

As I mentioned earlier, maneuverability is at a premium. Luckily, Rainbow Energy counts as a Psychic (or Dark!) Energy, so Altar of the Moone grants free retreat to any of our Pokémon that carry it.

Energy

4 Double Colorless Energy and 4 Rainbow Energy cater for all of our needs, but watch out for opposing Enhanced Hammers and other effects that make running special energy a liability. If this concerns you, I suggest freeing up some slots for some Psychic Energy.

In Conclusion

Going into a brave new frontier with this rotation, it’s anyone’s guess as to which decks will come out on top. In my opinion, Banette-GX may be the strongest play in this unfamiliar new format. It’s efficient, it has staying power, and it has cute little spoopy ghosts - what more could you ask for?

I hope you enjoyed my first ever deck tech. I look forward to hearing what you think of it!

[aidyjamespokemon]

I’m on spooky. I’m so pretty: Card of the Day #5

Now would be a good time to tell you about something cool I have planned. Why now? You’ll see soon enough! From next week, I’ll be making a weekly video post in which I talk about a very special card indeed - a higher accolade than Card of the Day, if you will. Rather predictably, this will be called Card of the Week! Which card will be our first Card of the Week? I’ll drop a little hint today... Maybe I’m biased towards ghost-type Pokémon. I’ve always loved them throughout the Pokémon franchise and I really like the way their sense of mischief often translates so well into the TCG. Today’s card of the day is one I like for exactly that. It’s not just more of my bias towards my beloved spoopy guys - I promise! Say hello to Banette!

Stats

Banette is small by any measure in the TCG. 90 HP isn’t surviving much, to say the least, and it falls behind many basics in this regard. In a sense, Banette could be described as a glass cannon. It’s not going to stick around for long, but it’s going to make quite the impact while it’s around.

Although, being a stage 1, it does have access to Bodybuilding Dumbbells, an item that gives it an extra 40 HP. 130 is a much more workable number in most cases, as many attacks hit for 120 damage. Unfortunately for Banette, the most common of these attacks is Zoroark-GX’s Riotous Beating, which hits for weakness. If you’re not facing down a Zoroark deck (lucky you!), you may want to slap some Dumbbells on this little guy to give it an extra turn to cause trouble.

Dark is an unfortunate weakness to have in this Zoroark-heavy metagame, but this is balanced out by a resistance to the ubiquitous fighting type. Taking 10 damage from a Jet Punch is rather nifty, by any measure! I guess this is one of those “high risk, high reward” situations and it seems on-flavor for Banette to be prone to risky behaviour!

A single energy retreat cost is very nice indeed, especially in the post-rotation metagame, where Escape Board is the closest thing we have to Float Stone. Not only is Escape Board compatibility incredibly useful (retreating through sleep and paralysis is very strong), but the image of a Banette rolling around on a skateboard is delightful.

Ability

Ability: Red Eyes When you play this card from your hand to evolve a Pokemon during your turn, you may play a Basic Pokemon from your opponent’s discard pile to their Bench.

It’s easy to underestimate this effect on paper, but trust me - it’s likely to be the bane of your opponent! See what I did there? I’m proud of that one! Think of it like a Sudowoodo GRI that you can turn into prizes. For example, you an KO that Tapu Lele-GX all over again and your opponent won’t see any benefit from it!

In its most basic utility, it stops your opponent from placing something more useful on their bench, which is how I imagine many people will read this ability. However, I see it from a more aggressive point of view: a means of knocking the same Pokémon out over and over again. I imagine that Banette will see the most use in Zoroark Banette builds. The ability to OHKO the same Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX or Necrozma-GX over and over again (with Zoroark-GX or Banette-GX, respectively) has the capacity to win games very quickly indeed.

Attack

[P][C] Enemy Show: Count the number of your opponent’s Pokemon in play. Put that many damage counters on your opponent’s Pokemon in any way you like. 

Softening up your opponent’s battlefield is almost as underestimated as the effect of Red Eyes. In a deck like Zoroark Banette that’s hitting for 150 or 160 with Choice Band - just a hair short of a OHKO on most basic GX Pokémon - this sort of attack is incredibly strong. While 20 damage here and 30 damage there may seem inconsequential in the short-term, it can quickly close the gap between a Riotous Beating and a OHKO on a Tapu Lele-GX. Being able to allocate up to 60 damage wherever you please every turn can become ludicrously strong very quickly.

It’s quite flavorful, in a way. It’s very ghostly and mischievous to lay little traps for your opponent that can snare them when they least suspect it!

Synergy

The most obvious home for Banette is as a 1-of in a Zoroark/Banette build. It’s perfect for setting up surprise knockouts, whether it’s by resurrecting a basic GX Pokémon for an easy 2 prizes or by softening targets up for a Riotous Beating or Shadow Chant. Indeed, these knockouts can be even easier to attain with Banette-GX shadily moving damage counters around, too! As a single prize attacker, it makes ideal front-line infantry for this sort of deck; just watch out for opposing Kartana-GX in the late game! There’s also a spread deck that’s coming together slowly, but surely. I imagine that Banette will be quite at home with Flying Flip Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Latios. Of course, I’m eagerly awaiting Mimikyu-GX in November’s Lost Tunder set - as is Banette! The question then will be which Tapu Lele to run!

Counters

They’ll be all over the table! Oh - you didn’t mean DAMAGE counters... Acerola and Max Potion are Banette’s mortal enemies. Imagine meticulously laying the groundwork for a KO by Riotous Beating, only for your target to be back to full health in an instant. It’s not pleasant!  Sky Pillar also thwarts Banette’s attempts to soften up benched Pokémon, besides asking its bigger brother to use Shady Move to transfer damage counters to them one at a time - tedious, to say the least. Be sure to pack a Field Blower or two to deal with this scourge! Funnily enough, there’s a little sibling rivalry in the Banette family. Whilst they’re usually the epitome of synergistic brotherly/sisterly love, things turn sour when Banette and Banette-GX are on opposite ends of the battlefield. Imagine being poor little Banette, meticulously setting its opponent up for a swift knockout, only for its bigger brother to come and move one of those counters to someone else, ruining Banette’s perfect damage math! Fellow siblings - we’ve all felt like that sometimes, right?

In Conclusion

Baby Banette may stand in the shadow of its flashy GX relative, but it can certainly steal the spotlight with its own talents - or even complement those of its sibling in a rather heartwarming display of battlefield family bonding. Sometimes, it can take a while for players to read a card in the context of a game, rather than assessing it in a vacuum. That said, it still amazes me that I’m not seeing more hype surrounding this card. Trust me - give it a try. I’m certain that you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the tricks that this little ghost has up its sleeves. I love flavorful cards and Banette takes the cake in every possible way, from its mischievous play style to that delightfully cheeky artwork. Yes, Banette, you’re very pretty. Now, let’s clean that up before Mommy catches you going through her makeup bag! Do you do voodoo? Perhaps you should!

[aidyjamespokemon]

I’m back on YouTube after a 6 MONTH absence! Of course, I owed the world an explanation for my disappearance... and my disappearance from the VGC scene. Buckle up, buckaroo - this will be quite the ride!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Here’s my band’s latest single, Reaper! While its name sounds like you’re in for some heavy metal action, we’re more of an electronic thing. Don’t worry, though - we still bring the massive walls of guitar! As I mentioned earlier, if you’re reading this on Thursday July 26th 2018, you can catch us at Nambucca in Holloway, North London tonight! Doors open at 7:30. Go to http://www.nambucca.co.uk/event/3848/ for more info! Now I promise I’ll go back to talking about Pokémon cards!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Introducing the band

For quite a while, I’ve been wondering whether I should meld my two passions a little bit more. While I place lures on nearby Pokéstops at our shows, I’ve rarely brought up the fact that I’m a musician in a band when I’m doing Pokémon related activities. Today, I thought I’d show you my music and give you an invitation to experience it in person! This is my band, You The Living. I write, record, and produce everything myself, enlisting the help of others - mostly my wife, Natasha on synth - to perform the music in a live setting. We’re heavily influenced by Pokémon, from our music to little references in the lyrics... and elsewhere (check the pic)!

We’re a dreamy, ethereal electronic band with massive walls of pitch shifted “guitar”. I use guitar in air quotes because it’s not quite guitar - at least sonically. Using a pitch shifter and echo, I perform guitar and bass duties simultaneously, adding crystalline shimmers in an octave above guitar range, too. We make a massive wall of sound, but with catchy hooks and grooves. We’re a band of extremes and opposites: dreamy, yet heavy. Noisy, yet accessible. Extremely loud and extremely quiet. Our influences include Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Lorde, Kanye West, Swans, Alice Glass, Einsturzende Neubauten, Death From Above 1979, Nobuo Uematsu... You get the picture. Here’s a link to our latest single, Reaper. Can you find the hidden Pokémon reference? https://open.spotify.com/track/29fWWs4IIaSNp0nrZeIpsK?si=cNTlWlNrRyK7OAizAN-WHQ If you like what you hear and you’re in the UK, come see us! If you’re reading this on July 26th 2018, we’re performing at Nambucca in Holloway tonight. Doors open at 7:30 and there’ll be lures on all the nearby Pokéstops! As always, I’ll have my deck with me, if you’re up for a challenge! For more information, go here: http://www.nambucca.co.uk/event/3848/ The nearest stations are Archway (Northern Line) and Upper Holloway (Overground, Gospel Oak to Barking branch) and there are many great bus links. So, there you go - I’m in a band! If you like us, that’s great! If not, there’s plenty more Pokémon content to come. Hopefully I’ll see some of you at the show!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Tuning in on you: Card of the Day #4

We’re doing something a little different today. I didn’t think I could find a card more polarizing than yesterday’s Card of the Day, Electrode-GX. How wrong I was! Today, instead of reviewing a Pokémon, we’re taking a look at a Supporter that’s dividing opinion, just like its namesake: TV Reporter.

Card Text

Draw 3 cards, then discard a card from your hand.You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn (before your attack). A card is only as good as its environment enables it to be. This concept gets very interesting indeed when it’s applied to reprints, like TV Reporter. Many players would brush it off, calling it a Hau with a downside, which sounds terrible! However, it’s the value of discard in our current metagame that makes TV Reporter a contender. I can practically hear the cries of “Sophocles!” from here, but the devil’s in the details. Sophocles requires you to discard cards before you draw. If you can’t discard, you can’t draw. However, TV Reporter allows you to draw first and discard later. In my opinion, this elevates TV Reporter above Sophocles in decks with discard synergy for a number of reasons: If your only card in hand is either a TV Reporter or a Sophocles. With Sophocles, you’re stuck. You won’t be able to use it unless you draw 2 more cards. With TV Reporter, you can draw 3 cards, then discard a card. This is particularly useful in Malamar decks that want their energy cards in the discard pile. Also, TV Reporter gives you more options to discard. If your hand contains 2 cards you would rather keep and Sophocles, discarding them would feel very bad indeed. TV Reporter mitigates this problem rather elegantly. In terms of card advantage, the decision is a little muddy. In either situation, you’re 1 card up. Sophocles digs through more of your deck, giving you access to more new cards. However, TV Reporter is more versatile and it requires less of a cost. In terms of what you discard, however, it’s quality vs quantity. By this, I mean that you choose selection with TV Reporter or the ability to discard more cards with Sophocles.  All things considered, I’d choose TV Reporter as my go-to “draw and discard” Supporter post-rotation. Well, at least until Sightseer comes along...

Synergy

All decks value card draw, but a select few value discard. Malamar variants instantly come to mind, as they treat the discard pile like a second hand for energy cards (and basic Pokémon, if Marshadow-GX is being used). A discard value that can dig for energy cards before it discards them is a very attractive prospect for Malamar. As I mentioned earlier, TV Reporter is a great partner for Marshadow-GX. I’d love to try a Marshadow-GX Beast Box sort of deck that makes the most of the prize-specific attacks of the baby beasts. That sounds like a fun deck tech blog post or YouTube video!

In Conclusion

Like Electrode-GX, I think TV Reporter has received a lot of unfair flak. In an environment with plentiful discard-driven draw support, those detractors would be absolutely right. However, TV Reporter just happens to have been reprinted at precisely the right time. This isn’t fake news - TV Reporter’s big scoop has come.

[aidyjamespokemon]

Mr. Self-Destruct: Card of the Day #3

Like many of you, I’m still on a high from this past prerelease weekend. It’s one thing to read new cards in spoilers, but it’s another thing entirely to play with them! I enjoyed playing with many cards in my prerelease kit, but no card surprised me more than this guy. Some cards generate hype straight away. Others are terribly underrated. I still remember how people disparaged Buzzwole-GX on first glance; we know how that went! This card almost certainly fits in the latter camp. When this card was spoiled, it attracted the ire of many. However, those detractors seem to be changing their tune after playing with it, singing its praises loud and proud. Personally, I thought this card would be good from the moment I first saw it. However, I didn’t expect it to be the absolute powerhouse it’s turned out to be. In fact, I’m more than willing to bet that no card from Celestial Storm will surprise people more than today’s Card of the Day: Electrode-GX. (Once again, I had to take a pic of the card myself, so I apologize for the quality of the image!)

Stats

Off the bat, things don’t look so good for Mr. Self-Destruct here - 190 HP is terribly low for a Stage 1 GX. Although, 190 and 180 are worlds apart from one another, as we have already seen in dominant Basic GX Pokémon such as Ultra Necrozma-GX, Buzzwole-GX, and Lapras-GX. Being able to tank a 2 Psychic Energy Photon Geyser is very useful indeed. Of course, a Choice Band could easily ruin its day, but it would be equally bad news for it if it had 210 HP like most benchmark Stage 1 GX Pokémon. It is, however, worth remembering that a baseline Prismatic Burst hits for 190 damage - a OHKO on Electrode-GX. I could recommend Bodybuilding Dumbbells in this situation, but Electrode-GX doesn’t exactly have any long-term plans, as you’ll see later.

While being Lighting type affords Electrode-GX a lot of support (especially in the next set, Lost Thunder), the weakness to Fighting types that usually comes with it (including in the case of Electrode-GX) is problematic. Its resistance to Metal and its single energy retreat cost are certainly no reprieve from a weakness to an extremely common type, but they’re perfectly fine. That resistance in particular prevents a Choice Banded baby Celesteela (yesterday’s Card of the Day!) from scoring a OHKO, which is nice.

Ability

Extra Energy Bomb:  Once during your turn (before your attack), you may attach 5 Energy cards from your discard pile to your Pokémon, except Pokémon-GX or Pokémon-EX, in any way you like. If you do, this Pokémon is Knocked Out.

There’s nothing Electrode loves more than blowing itself up to energize its teammates since the very beginning with its Buzzap ability in Base Set! Of course, the caveat here is that Electrode-GX (just like its forebearer, Electrode ex) gives your opponent two prizes when it knocks itself out. It’s a high risk, high reward ability: you get to attach 5 energy from your discard pile onto any of your non-EX/GX Pokémon in any way you like.

Sometimes, it’s the words that aren’t there that tell you everything: note the lack of a “basic” qualifier in that ability. Indeed, with Special Charge and Puzzle of Time leaving Standard shortly, this will be the most efficient means of retrieving special energy cards from the discard pile. As Zorua isn’t a GX yet and Multi Switch is a thing, there are ways and means of getting these special energy cards onto your GX Pokémon that need them.

The main abuser of this ability that immediately comes to mind is Rayquaza-GX, as it doesn’t care where the energy cards are - it just cares about them being somewhere on your bench. It’s also a good idea to have a Vikavolt ready to attack, if you’re running that particular Rayquaza variant. Tapu Koko-GX can also make rude use of some of these energies, pilfering them with its ability.

Also, I love cards with internal synergy. The way this ability works with Electrode-GX’s Crush & Burn GX attack is as elegant as it is powerful.

Attacks

[L][C] Electro Ball: 50 

It’s better to have 50 damage for 2 energies than nothing, I guess. It won’t be scoring a OHKO on anything but the smallest basics, but it’s there if you need it.

[L][C] Crush and Burn GX: 30+ damage. You may discard as many Energy as you like attached to your Pokemon in play. If you do, this attack does 50 more damage for each Energy card you discarded in this way. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.) 

I love cards that have internal synergy - a one card combo, if you will. Electrode-GX’s game plan is fairly straightforward to work out: you use Crush and Burn to discard energies, then you use Extra Energy Bomb or other means to redistribute them however you wish. 

It’s a great attack in its own right, too. Discarding 3 energies yields 180 damage - a magic number in the current metagame that scores a OHKO on many basic GX Pokémon. 4 energies are all that’s required to OHKO almost anything. On a conventional discard-fueled attack, this sacrifice would be rather steep. Being able to discard energy from any Pokémon on your side of the field feels a lot less hefty.

Unlike Electrode-GX’s Extra Energy Bomber ability, Crush & Burn GX doesn’t discriminate; even GX Pokémon can give their energy to the cause. Even if they can’t benefit from it in the end, it’s nice to see GX Pokémon giving their part to wealth redistribution!

Synergy

As I mentioned earlier, Rayquaza-GX instantly springs to mind as a partner for Electrode-GX, even if it can’t make the most of Extra Energy Bomber itself. Post-rotation, Rayquaza-GX won’t have Max Elixir as a means of energy acceleration, so it will require a little help from Vikavolt, Magnezone FLI, or Latias Prism Star. Vikavolt and Magnezone can make use of the energies from Extra Energy Bomber, but Latias can hold it, if needs be - whatever gets the numbers up for Rayquaza-GX. 

Of course, Extra Energy Bomber doesn’t care how the energy cards got into the discard pile, so any means of discarding them - Ultra Ball, Mysterious Treasure, TV Reporter, Sophocles, Acro Bike, etc - will work. In a “Magical Christmas Land” scenario (let’s be realistic here), you can fire off a 180 damage (or greater) Dragon Break on turn 2. Indeed, if you manage to knock out an opposing GX after this maneuver, you’ll be at prize parity with a great board position.

Another “high risk, high payoff” interaction is a little less obvious. Reducing your opponent’s prize total seems counter-intuitive, but energizing your Ultra Beasts and turning your Beast Rings and your Ultra Beasts’ prize total requirements on can enable some truly degenerate turns. I’m intrigued and excited to try an Electrode-GX Beast Box deck, to say the least.

Counters

Electrode-GX’s frailty and weakness to Fighting type Pokémon is quite a problem for it. Any deck looking to utilize it should have a means of dealing with key fighting types like Lycanroc-GX, Zygarde-GX, and - of course - either Buzzwole variant. For this reason, I would recommend using Electrode-GX as an enabler in a deck where the main attacker is not vulnerable to Fighting types.

Ability lock can also be an issue. While Garbotoxin will be leaving with rotation, Glaceon-GX’s Freezing Gaze can prevent Extra Energy Bomber from being used. Of course, a quick Guzma or Crush & Burn GX to the face can sort that problem out, provided that there isn’t another Glaceon-GX ready to take up the mantle. Even without its ability, Crush & Burn GX makes Electrode-GX a powerful one-off nuke.

In Conclusion

Sometimes, a card can look great on paper, then end up impotent in practice. For Electrode-GX’s, the opposite has been the case. When it was first spoiled, almost every reaction I saw was negative or indifferent. At prerelease, I heard many groans when an Electrode-GX was pulled - and I was one of those people who pulled one. When people used it, they quickly put 2 and 2 together and realized its potential for constructed formats. I’ve never seen such a near unanimous change of heart in such a short period of time. Some players will be put off by the high risk involved with running Electrode-GX. Those who dare to experiment with it will be rewarded handsomely, however they end up utilizing this versatile card. I can’t wait to build some decks with Electrode-GX. Dare I say - it’s going to be a blast! ...I’ll get my coat.

[aidyjamespokemon]

Just like the moon raker knows his dream will come true some day: Card of the Day #2

Hello again, everyone! I’m really enjoying this whole blogging thing. Having the freedom to tell you about whatever cards interest me feels pretty good.  I love the Ultra Beasts. I did since the moment the sprites of all the new Gen VII Pokémon were leaked with these bizarre creatures at the bottom of the page. We’d seen Nihilego already, but all we knew about it was that it was a bizarre creature from another world. We didn’t know whether these beautiful freaks were even Pokémon! Of all of the then-unknown Ultra Beasts, none intrigued me more than Celesteela. With its skeletal, elongated neck and detached arms, it looked like nothing I’d ever seen before - or have seen since, for that matter. Today, I thought I’d show you a new card I’m very excited about: Celesteela from Celestial Storm. Trust me - it’s out of this world! (Apologies for the pic - I had to take one myself!)

Stats

As far as non-GX/EX basics go, Celesteela’s astronomically huge 140 HP is only bettered by its Ultra Beast brethren, Guzzlord. As many key Pokémon - such as Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX, Lycanroc-GX, and Zoroark-GX - are hitting for 110 or 120 damage a turn, being a non-GX basic that can take two hits is great. Being a non-GX basic that can take two hits AND OHKO many GX Pokémon, provided it has a Choice Band, Professor Kukui, and/or Dhelmise helping it out? That’s pretty incredible.

Being a Metal type Ultra Beast gives Celesteela unique access to a plethora of support options. These include (but are not limited to) Beast Ring, Ultra Space, Metal Frying Pan, Magnezone ULP, and Stakataka-GX. Of course, having a big butt opens a few doors, too - namely Heavy Ball and Heavy Boots - at least until rotation rolls around.

Its weakness to Lightning instead of Fire can be a boon to some Metal decks, as it diversifies the deck’s weaknesses, but this could become a problem once Zeraora-GX rolls around. This could also be problematic if Vikavolt decks regain some popularity. Even if Vikavolt is mostly partnered with Tapu Bulu-GX and now Rayquaza-GX, those decks tend to carry a Tapu Koko-GX or two. That, and Tapu Koko SMP’s oft-forgotten second attack, Electro Ball can OHKO Celesteela when it hits for weakness. On the other side of the equation, Celesteela’s resistance to Fighting is extremely useful with all these Buzzwole and Lycanroc-GX running around! With a Fighting Fury Belt, Metal Frying Pan, or Heavy Boots, Celesteela can even survive a Knuckle Impact from a Buzzwole-GX. With FFB and MFP, it can even survive a Diancie Prism Star boosted Knuckle Impact!

Even before we know what Celesteela can do, its synergistic opportunities are potent and plentiful. It’s amazing what a card’s stats can tell you!

Attacks

[M][C][C][C][C]: Moon Raker: 160

If the total of both players’ remaining Prize cards is exactly 6, this attack can be used for [M].

160 damage? From a non-GX basic? At this time of year, at this time of day, on this kind of Pokémon, localized entirely within a card’s single attack?! Yes! Can you use it? Maybe... That’s a hefty energy requirement! Luckily, Celesteela has a number of acceleration options, including Magnezone ULP, Malamar (in Ultra Necrozma builds that run Metal Energy anyway), Electrode-GX (more on that later), Counter Energy, and even good old Double Colorless Energy.

While it’s entirely possible to use Moon Raker for its asking price, Celesteela is willing to give you a one-off deal - and it’s a great deal, at that: if both players have exactly 6 remaining prize cards between them, you can use this massive attack for ONE Metal Energy. That’s right, folks - 160 damage for a single Metal Energy! With a Choice Band, Professor Kukui, and/or Dhelmise, that’s enough to OHKO many GX and EX Pokémon! Let’s take a look at the situations in which this condition is met:

- One player has 4 prizes remaining. The other has 2.

- One player has 5 prizes remaining. The other has 1.

- Both players have 3 prizes remaining. More on this shortly...

Of course, these situations can be circumvented by your opponent cleverly picking and choosing which Pokémon to knock out, but these situations will arise often, and one can even be manufactured fairly easily...

Synergy

Of course, I’m talking about Naganadel-GX and its Stinger GX attack. If you can keep Naganadel-GX alive for your opponent’s turn that takes place after you set each player’s prize total to 3, you’ve turned Moon Raker’s single energy condition on, allowing you to take a knockout on your opponent’s Pokémon next turn, hopefully tipping the prize race in your favor. It’s one of those “high risk, high reward” situations, but that reward is very high indeed.

Celesteela’s synergy with Electrode-GX is twofold: it can knock your prize total down by 2 and/or instantly set Celesteela up with the 5 energy required to use Moon Raker at any time. Crush & Burn GX can be used beforehand to put as many energy cards as you require in your discard pile, ready to be attached to Celesteela via Extra Energy Bomb. Of course, if you’re discarding 5 energy cards with Crush & Burn GX, you’ll be dealing a devastating 280 damage. Nothing’s surviving that, let alone the Moon Raker you’ll have access to next turn! I’m a big fan of Electrode-GX in general, let alone in this instance.

Counters

If you’re relying on satisfying Moon Raker’s 6 prize condition, all it takes to scupper your plans is for your opponent to be cautious and clever about what they knock out. Guzma, Counter Catcher, and Lycanroc-GX can facilitate these cautious plays and render Celesteela almost useless until you can satisfy Moon Raker’s sticker price.

As Celesteela is an Ultra Beast, Sceptile CLS can stop it in its tracks with its Nature’s Power ability. I’m unsure as to how much play Sceptile will see, but you’ll want to make sure that you have a non-Ultra Beast Pokémon to deal with Sceptile. Magnezone ULP, Mewtwo SMP, and Solgaleo-GX are going to be common partners for Celesteela that can deal with Sceptile, provided that it’s not dealing too much damage with Powerful Storm. If it is, Mimikyu GRI/SMP - a common partner for Celesteela in Ultra Necrozma-GX decks - can deal with Sceptile.

With its huge retreat cost, Celesteela is at huge risk of being forced into the active position before it’s ready, often leaving it unable to retreat. Make sure you have a good contingency plan in place for these situations. Guzma, Switch, Tate & Liza, and Escape Rope can pull Celesteela out of these sticky situations!

In Conclusion

On the whole, Celesteela’s incredible stats and Moon Raker make it a fantastic one-of for any deck that uses Metal Energy. With the help of a Choice Band or Professor Kukui, it can knock out a GX, tipping a prize trade in your favour. This is where my favourite phrase comes up again: Pokémon is just applied math with cute pictures. Celesteela is a great example of this. If you can meet its full energy requirement easily and efficiently, Celesteela goes from a fiendishly effective one-off bomb to a devastatingly powerful single prize attacker.

I pestered everyone at my prerelease to trade a promo Celesteela to me. I love this card so much - especially its art. It looks so happy to have discovered the joy of... burning an entire forest down?!

Celestial Storm’s release can’t come fast enough. I’m ultra-excited about Celesteela!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Mimikyu knows what Mimikme wants, and it’s granted: Card of the Day #1

No-one got the reference? That’s okay. I guess the fanbases of Pokémon and German industrial bands don’t have much crossover! Regardless, welcome to my first ever card review! Of course, I have to start with my favourite: Mimikyu GRI/SMP.

Stats

Compared to the gargantuan GX Pokémon - and even many non-GX basics - in Standard and Expanded, Mimikyu looks rather innocuous at first glance. With its meagre 70 HP, it stands toe to toe with many unevolved basics. It may seem tiny, but 70 is a world apart from 60 in terms of its resilience to common threats.

While a 60 HP Pokémon can be felled by two Jet Punches/Break Throughs or three Flying Flips/Hyperspace Punches, it takes an extra hit from any of the aforementioned attacks to knock Mimikyu out. This makes 70 HP basics much more desirable than their frailer counterparts. Of course, it’s not going to be sponging a Dark Flash, Claw Slash, or Knuckle Impact any time soon, but 70 HP is more useful than you’d initially expect. It’s all about context! As a Psychic type Pokémon, Mimikyu is hitting many significant Pokémon for weakness, including Buzzwole, Garbodor, Mew, Mewtwo, Lucario, Latios... the list goes on and on. There are few types better positioned in the current metagame than Psychic. Of course, compatibility with Malamar is the icing on the cake, giving Mimikyu an edge over the Fighting type Sudowoodo BKP.

On the other end of the card, Mimikyu’s lack of weakness and Escape Board compatible single energy retreat cost are welcome. A resistance (to Fighting, perhaps?) would have been nice, but that would be nitpicking on a card without a weakness. It’s this ability to avoid being blindsided by a Pokémon hitting for weakness and its easily fulfilled retreat cost that allows Mimikyu to do what it does so well: sit in the active position drawing cards in the early game, then surprise opponents with a taste of their own medicine in the mid-late game.

Attacks

[C] Filch: Draw 2 cards.

Despite not being the main attraction here and having the most horrible sounding name in all of Pokémon (Filch? Ugh... Couldn’t you just call it Collect?), Mimikyu’s first attack is a perfectly fine utility attack for the early game. If your opponent is spending their first few turns setting up or hitting for small amounts of damage, Mimikyu can draw you some cards with relative impunity. Of course, if it gets knocked out, it’s a single prize Pokémon - it’s not that big a deal (unless your opponent is running Kartana-GX, in which case, it’s a big deal). These card draw attacks are easy to underestimate on paper until you witness how useful starting a turn with 3 new cards (rather than 1) can be. I will probably say this many, MANY times on this blog, but Pokémon is just applied math with cute pictures. You are far more likely to draw into what you need with 3 cards than 1. Filch is great - just... fire whoever thought of that name.

[P][C] Copycat: If your opponent’s Pokémon used an attack that isn’t a GX attack during their last turn, use it as this attack.

Here it is - the main event! While it’s not as versatile as Sudowoodo BKP’s Watch & Learn, which can copy GX attacks, it’s enough to create some serious mayhem. If your opponent can score a knockout with Buzzwole-GX’s Knuckle Impact, you can trade up with a single prize attacker. It can OHKO a Lapras-GX with a Choice Banded Blizzard Burn. It can even OHKO a Necrozma-GX with a Prismatic Burst that only costs 2 energy! The possibilities are endless.

The most desirable play here is to OHKO an opposing GX and skew the prize race in your favour - or even further in your favour. If your opponent gets too scared to attack, you can just Filch in their face for a turn while you set up! Okay - Filch is a little bit fun... However, Mimikyu gets truly terrifying for the current meta when you use it from beyond the grave. How appropriate for a ghost Pokémon! Your Marshadow-GX can sponge a Riotous Beating from an opposing Zoroark-GX, then OHKO it back with a Copycat for weakness! It’s so fun to do the whole “stop hitting yourself” routine, especially if you get to trade up while doing so.

Synergy

Mimikyu is best used as part of a Malamar deck as a versatile tech option and/or revenge killer. Its ability to hit opposing Necrozma-GX and Ultra Necrozma-GX for devastating amounts of damage with incredible ease makes mirror matches a breeze. It’s also great fun to pile a ton of Psychic Energy onto it with Malamar to OHKO a Gardevoir-GX!

Adding a Choice Band to the equation makes Mimikyu truly terrifying for a number of different decks that include GX Pokémon that attack for 150 or 160 damage - almost to the point where I’d call Mimikyu Choice Band’s best partner.

Mimikyu can often scare opponents into firing off their GX attack at sub-optimal times - or just not attacking entirely. This gives Malamar decks a great chance to set up with much greater resilience while Mimikyu gets a few Filches in, allowing you to dig for anything you require.

As mentioned before, Marshadow-GX is a potent partner for Mimikyu (or is Mimikyu a potent partner for Marshadow-GX?). Think of Marshadow-GX as a means for Mimikyu to hit more targets for weakness, or a means for it to circumvent a resistance to Psychic types.

Counters

Zygarde-GX is Mimikyu’s arch nemesis. As it can use its GX attack as many times as your opponent can hit Bonnie, Mimikyu will be unable to copy anything. I would suggest running a good non-EX/GX Pokémon to handle Zygarde-GX and its constant barrage of Verdict-GX.

Stall decks that don’t need to attack can also be a problem for Mimikyu. Of course, it can just Filch you into whatever you need to set up while it sits in the active not being attacked, so it’s not all doom and gloom in this scenario.

Of course, any card that puts your opponent in the driver’s seat is only as good as your opponent allows it to be.

In conclusion

Mimikyu is an interesting little card with tons of potential. Whilst I’m not usually keen on cards that - to re-use that rather useful phrase - put your opponent in the driver’s seat, it’s hard to win without attacking. In this OHKO-focused metagame, Mimikyu is particularly potent.

Anything that can influence the game in as many ways as Mimikyu can is a great card, whether it’s flipping the prize race in your favour by dishing out a OHKO on your opponent’s GX or forcing your opponent into sub-optimal plays.

Give Mimikyu a try - it’s got many great tricks under that disguise!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Prerelease Primer: Celestial Storm

A prerelease can be an exciting or daunting experience, depending on how you feel about the following sentence: you’re playing with brand new cards before they’re even released! Whether you’re psyched or psyched out, I hope this advice will allow you to make the most of this unique tournament. Good luck - and have fun!

An introduction to prereleases

A prerelease tournament is a unique opportunity to play with new cards from the forthcoming set - in this case, Celestial Storm. It’s part of what’s known as the “limited” format, which means that you’ll be using a randomized (well, partly semi-randomized) pool of cards, as opposed to a constructed format, in which you’ll be competing with a deck you constructed - hence the name! This format is slightly condensed; you will construct a 40 card deck and play games with 4 prizes, rather than the usual 60 card decks and 6 prizes. This may sound daunting. “How will I have any chance of pulling any cohesive evolution lines or have any guarantee of having enough Pokémon of any given type?!”, you may ask. Luckily, these days, your limited “pool” consists of 4 booster packs of the forthcoming set and what’s called an Evolution Pack. The Evolution Pack comprises two of four pre-set groups of cards: two complete evolution lines in a decent quantity from the new set (usually 2-2 or 3-2-2 from basic to top stage), a number of Trainer cards from the new set and other Standard-legal sets, and sometimes a decent basic Pokémon that works well with the core evolution lines. You will also get one of four promo cards: a powerful Pokémon from the new set that corresponds with one of the two types in your Evolution Pack. Your Evolution Pack will form the foundation of your 40 card deck, with the contents of your 4 booster packs providing you with some options for customization. If you don’t have any Energy cards, your tournament organizer will provide some for you to borrow for the duration of the event. You don’t need to bring any cards with you, so a Prerelease is a great way to start playing if you have no cards at all! However, I would advise bringing, buying, or borrowing some sleeves, dice (for coin flips and damage counters), and Poison, Burn, and GX markers. Now that we know what we’re doing, let’s take a look at how to construct a deck with your shiny new cards!

Prerelease deck construction

Even if you’re a seasoned Constructed player, the Limited format requires a totally unique approach to deck building. As Trainer cards and other consistency pieces are few and far between, you will need to construct your deck in a way that ensures a good mixture of Pokémon and Energy cards, with your small pool of Trainers providing support when you draw them. In general, a Prerelease deck should follow this structure: 12 - 16 Energy -This sounds like a lot, but you will need consistent access to it. I recommend running a high count if you’re running 2 or more types.

10 or so Trainers - Run as many as you can. Even Supporters like Hau and TV Reporter are extremely useful in Limited. Generally, Supporters are card draw and consistency pieces. You’ll want as many of them as possible! 14 - 16 Pokémon - Run as many as required if you don’t have enough trainers. Try to maintain a good balance between basic and evolution Pokémon. Nothing feels worse than bricking from a lack of basics! Big, beefy basics with good attacks are at a premium here. If you get a good “bomb” card - such as a GX - don’t be afraid to “splash” it, running a couple of energies of its type (including cards like Rainbow Energy, which is a great fixer in Celestial Storm) to facilitate it! Once you’ve constructed your deck, “solitaire” it by playing out a few turns by yourself. Does it run smoothly? Is anything not pulling its weight - and can you replace it with anything? If not, don’t be afraid to tweak it to your desires! Now that we’ve got the general Prerelease preparation out of the way, let’s look at the Celestial Storm Prerelease in particular!

Evolution Pack contents

Here are the contents of each Evolution Pack “half”, headed by its corresponding promo. Remember: you will get TWO evolution packs, but ONE promo! By memorizing the contents of each “half” - including the Trainers - you can give yourself an edge in battle. Knowledge is power! Kyogre: The Masked Royal TV Reporter Copycat Timer Ball Mudkip (60 HP) Mudkip (70 HP) x2 Marshtomp x2 Swampert x2 Celesteela: Tate & Liza Bill’s Maintenance Switch Timer Ball Beldum x3 Metang x2 Metagross x2 Manectric: Hau TV Reporter Great Ball Nest Ball Chinchou x2 Lanturn x2 Electrike x2 Manectric Delcatty: Apricorn Maker Underground Expedition Great Ball Nest Ball Skitty x2 Delcatty Gulpin x2 Swalot x2

Evolution Pack tips

Metagross and Swampert can deal massive damage and take huge hits, but as stage 2 Pokémon, they take longer to set up than their stage 1 counterparts. Kyogre is a huge basic with incredible attacks. If it can’t knock something out in one hit with Grand Wave, it can weaken it while it’s on the bench with Dual Splash. Watch out for it! Manectric can set up a devastating turn 2 attack with Lanturn if you start with it in the active position and draw into enough energy. You can choose to discard all energy attached to Lanturn to deal a whopping 140 damage with Lightning Strike! Delcatty is a colorless Pokémon. This makes it easy to slot into decks to generate card advantage by recycling Supporters. Since Supporters are scarce in Limited, any extra use you can get out of them will help! Swalot is included in Delcatty’s evolution pack. Use Amnesia to win a game of attrition while you generate card advantage with Delcatty! Many Pokémon in these Evolution Packs - particularly Swampert, Metagross, Manectric, and Celesteela - only have one attack. If your opponent can’t switch them out, all they can do is watch as their Pokémon slowly faints, unable to defend itself! Celesteela’s Moon Raker takes less time and effort to set up in Limited. All it takes to reach a shared total of 6 prizes is for each player to take 1 knockout or for a single player to take 2. If exactly 6 prizes remain between both players, Celesteela can deal an unbelievable 160 damage for 1 Metal energy! Also, Metagross only requires a single energy to attack. This allows you to allocate your other energy attachments to powering up Celesteela, ready to fire off endless Moon Rakers! Chinchou may look unassuming, but it can deal 10 damage to 3 Pokémon at once with Spark! Whittle your opponent’s Pokémon into manageable chunks with Chinchou!

Good pulls

Look out for these cards in your booster packs: Colorless Pokémon and Pokémon with colorless attack costs that can be paid with any energy are always useful at Prereleases! Here are a few to look out for: Dunsparce can search your deck for 3 basics, then run back to the bench, away from harm. Of course, this means that you can use it again and again to replenish your bench! Pelipper’s Water Pulse does 80 damage and puts your opponent’s active Pokémon to sleep for 3 of any energy. Status effects are particularly devastating in Limited! Kecleon can deal 80 damage for 3 of any energy. If you’re low on good attackers, it can fill a gap nicely. However, don’t expect to find its corresponding Unit Energy - it’s not in Celestial Storm! Whismur. Yes, Whismur! Wail deals 40 damage and forces your opponent to switch their active Pokémon for one from the bench at the cost of 3 of any energy. Not many Pokémon can cause decent damage while they disrupt your opponent. Who would have thought that Whismur would be the one to accomplish it so efficiently?! Sableye doesn’t just have a great ability that lets you take a sneak peek at the top card of your deck. Disable can prevent your opponent from attacking, allowing you to stall the game while you establish your board presence! Plusle and Minun are Supporters on a stick! Their first attacks both generate repeatable card advantage with effects that mimic draw supporters! Luvdisc is fairly similar to Dunsparce with its Pokémon fetching attack. If you don’t pull a Dunsparce, Luvdisc can bring the love instead. Besides, it’s much cuter! Cacturne can snipe out weaker Pokémon on your opponent’s bench. There’s no escape from its Feint Attack, which deals 50 damage to any of your opponent’s Pokémon! Also, any hit to it results in its attacker being poisoned! Scyther can prevent your opponent from hitting it, if you’re lucky. If you’re even more lucky and pull more than one, it can clone itself! Deck thinning is a very useful effect in its own right, stacking the odds further in your favor! Grumpig’s Mirror Steps deals 80 damage for one of any energy if your opponent has one of the same Pokémon as you. As this is a prerelease and everyone gets 2 of 4 pre-set Evolution Packs, the chances of this situation occurring are pretty high! Deoxys A and S are big basic Pokémon that have great attacks with colorless energy costs. They’re a holo and rare respectively, but keep an eye out for them! Solrock can deal 1 of 2 very annoying status effects for one of any energy. Try to stack up burn AND paralysis! Trainer cards are the backbone of any good deck! Friend Ball can find Pokémon that share a type with one of your opponent’s Pokémon. As everyone is almost certainly running 1 or 2 of 4 possible types, the chances of Friend Ball having a target are high! Energy Switch can allow you to salvage energy that isn’t in the right place at the right time. You won’t be caught short with this! Rainbow Brush can facilitate splashes with very small energy counts. If a splashed Pokémon has an energy of your deck’s primary type attached to it, Rainbow Brush can search for one of your scarce copies of the splashed Pokémon’s type and swap them over! Pokénav can be the consistency piece you need to find a Pokémon or energy card without using your Supporter for the turn. How useful! Hustle Belt is an easy card to overlook. However, many of your opponent’s attacks won’t knock your Pokémon out in one shot, leaving it in range of this fiendish Pokémon Tool that allows your Pokémon to deal 60 more damage with its attacks if it has damage counters on it and 30 HP or less! Tate & Liza is a 2-for-1, acting as a draw supporter or emergency switching method, depending on what you require at the time. In a format where Supporters are scarce, one that can play double duty is very welcome! Of course, there’s still one hero in this set that can make all of your GX splashing dreams come true: Rainbow Energy can allow you to use that one bomb rare or GX you pulled! Also, it can pull of a funny combo with Hustle Belt and the 40 HP Seedot... If you pull off this spicy meme play, PLEASE take a photo and send it to me!I may have missed quite a few useful cards from this list. If you found something particularly brilliant that isn’t on this list, please let me know so I can tell the masses about it in time for next week’s prerelease!If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message. Good luck, have fun, and - as always - happy gaming!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Here are those insane pulls!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Celestial Storm Prerelease

Over the past few months since I made the switch from Pokémon VGC and Magic: the Gathering to Pokémon TCG, I’ve played three prereleases. From these events alone, I’ve made a name for myself as an insufferable lucksack. Today, I think I cemented that reputation for years to come - no matter what I pull at subsequent prereleases. Oops... Sorry! When my wife and I were staying with my family for a few months at the start of the year, I attended my first prerelease with two of my younger brothers, Josh and Luke. It was much more fun for all involved and our next prerelease after I returned to London was slightly marred by each other’s absence, so my brothers decided to join me at my favourite London game store, Sneak Attack for the past few events. It’s been a blast! I really, REALLY wanted the Celesteela promo. I adore the Ultra Beasts and that beautifully weird bamboo spaceship princess is one of my favourite Pokémon of all time. Of course, Luke got Celesteela. However, I wasn’t too unhappy with the promo I DID get: Kyogre. The Swampert evolution pack is incredibly strong and Swampert seems like an interesting option for constructed formats that I’m excited to test. However, I also pulled the Metagross evolution pack. Metagross is another fantastic new card that I’d love to put through its paces in Standard. Before my packs were opened, I had a hard time deciding on the best path to take. Of course, my insane luck dictated that I’d be off to a flying start. My first pack yielded a secret rare Rainbow Energy AND a reverse holo Rainbow Energy! This made splashes a real possibility, should I need to shoehorn a GX into my deck. Lo and behold, I pulled an Electrode-GX in my second pack, complete with Voltorb! I instantly realised the synergy Crush & Burn GX has with Swampert’s energy guzzling attack. Along with the extra Mudkip and Marshtomp I pulled, my deck building direction was clear. Here’s what I put together: 2 Swampert 3 Marshtomp 3 Mudkip #33 1 Mudkip #32 1 Kyogre 1 Lotad 1 Lombre 1 Voltorb 1 Electrode-GX 1 Plusle 1 Bill’s Maintenance 1 Copycat 1 Tate & Liza 1 The Masked Royal 1 TV Reporter 1 Underground Expedition 2 Timer Ball 1 Pokénav 1 Super Scoop-Up 1 Switch 11 Water Energy 1 Lightning Energy 2 Rainbow Energy I went 2-2 in the rounds, completely bricking in two and falling victim to the inherent inconsistency of an evolution-heavy limited deck and the “best of one” format of the tournament. However, as it was casual prize support, I couldn’t be too disappointed. For me, my second victory against Adam Hawkins is sweet enough! In that game, I found myself making a game winning play that I would never have thought of even weeks ago. Surrounding myself with top-tier players has really forced me to up my game. In fact, quite a few of the store regulars said that they’ve noticed this - it made my day! Maybe it’s my new anxiety medication, but I’ve noticed a shift in my psychological approach to games: no matter who I’m against, I just treat them like any other opponent. Not that long ago, I would have been shaking with nerves at the prospect of playing against a player of Adam’s calibre. Now, I’m calm, collected, and capable. If I carry on approaching the game like this, who knows what I can achieve? Upon reflection, perhaps I should have substituted Lotad and Lombre for Kecleon and Hustle Belt. I ran into far more situations in which Hustle Belt would have been useful than I predicted. If your prerelease is still coming up, give it a try! On the other hand, Electrode-GX and Tate & Liza truly stood out. I feel as though the community has judged these cards far too harshly. They don’t seem attractive on paper, but in practice, they’re potent and versatile, winning me games. The idea with Electrode-GX is to fire off a huge Crash & Burn GX by discarding your energies, then use Extra Energy Bomb them back wherever you need them. Hitting huge numbers with Crash & Burn GX is incredibly easy. It was the star of my deck today - hands down! After the tournament, I went to collect my prize packs with everyone else. As I was handed my packs, other players joked, saying “don’t pull the entire box this time!” and “watch Aidy get everything again!”. I promised my wife that we’d open my prize packs together when I got home, but I wish I’d relented and opened them there. The reaction would have been priceless! My wife truly has the Midas touch with boosters. She consistently gets the most insane pulls - today’s pulls were exceptionally so. First of all, we pulled a Latios Prism Star and I thought myself lucky enough. What came next floored us... Rainbow. Rare. Rayquaza-GX. RAINBOW. RARE. RAYQUAZA-GX. I screamed with joy. I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t stop staring at it, trying to convince myself it was real. I just checked again - it’s here. It happened. I really pulled a rainbow rare Ray - a Raynbow, if you will. Of course, this is in addition to my secret rare Rainbow Energy! Truly, my reputation as an awful lucksack is set in stone now! Having opened a secret rare at every prerelease so far was crazy enough. This was just ludicrous! How was my brothers’ luck? Well, they got home to find the entire village on fire. Fun! Thank you, Sneak Attack. You’re truly the best game store in London - a great store with a great community, run by great friends of mine! To top it all off, I did get my hands on my coveted promo Celesteela. Thank you, Tony!

[aidyjamespokemon]

Who took aidyjames.tumblr.com?!

I will find you - and I will tell you I’m not particularly happy about it and I would really like to have it.