#aidyjames

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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!