Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
"This Pokemon takes 30 less damage from the attacks of your opponent's non-Fire Pokemon"
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Pokemon TCG
- Thread starter Cresselia~~
- Start date
Ah, okay, probably should have found a bigger version of the card... also still should also receive 30 more damage from Fire-type attacks but whatever...
My brain has been on a massive internal nostalgia trip through my internal Pokemon card database, so I'm going to braindump some history for you:
SableDonk: When spurious design meets major rule changes
Well, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed this trip down memory lane! Anyone here who has some leftover trauma from our resident gem maniac's path of destruction, feel free to share!
SableDonk: When spurious design meets major rule changes
I can't remember the exact set it came out in and I can't be bothered to look it up, so I'll take an educated guess and say DP Stormfront. Anyway, Sableye was released to no fanfare whatsoever as an Uncommon (I think). Here's what it does:
Sableye Dark type, 60HP
Basic Pokemon
Pokebody: Overeager
If Sableye is played as your Active Pokemon during setup, you go first. Ignore this if both Active Pokemon have the Overeager Pokebody.
Free: ??
Search your deck for a Supporter and discard it. The effect of that Supporter becomes this attack's effect.
1 Dark: Overconfident 10 Damage
If Sableye has more HP remaining than the opponent's Active Pokemon, this attack has 40 base damage.
Weakness none Resistance Psychic-20 Retreat Cost 1?
(I don't remember everything perfectly, but this is what it does)
At the time of release, the go-first rules were: You can attack, but you cannot play Trainer cards. So Sableye's first attack was clearly intended as a way to mitigate this by letting you play a Supporter going first. Overconfident on the other hand, was intended as a fast way to pick up a KO. With Special Darkness Energy, Overconfident gets 10 more base damage, OHKOing any Pokemon with 50 HP or less. Of course, it is totally useless if your opponent has an Active Pokemon with 60 HP or more, but for the time 60 HP on a Pokemon that could evolve was a large amount, even for Pokemon that only evolved once. So as long as your opponent didn't play a Big Basic as their Active in setup, leading Sableye would ensure a quick early prize lead.
However, the format really wasn't kind to Sableye. The dominant mechanic were the mighty LV.X Pokemon, who were similar to the more modern BREAK evolutions. In short, they Levelled Up from a Fully Evolved Pokemon following normal Evolution rules and kept the attacks and PokePowers/Bodies (early name for Abilities) of their previous Level. There was one extra twist: to Level Up, your Pokemon had to be Active. We can immediately then see a problem with Sableye: If you play it as an Active lead, you have to hope your opponent KOs it on their first turn in order to Level Up on your second turn or spend a precious Energy drop/Trainer card retreating it so it can waste space on the Bench for the rest of the game. Ok so DP energy accel was crazy enough this didn't really matter but those crazy Energy suppliers were mostly Evolved Pokemon, powered by pre-errata Rare Candy, which could evolve a Pokemon that was just played! So Togepi Rare Candy Togekiss look at the top 10 of your deck and attach any basic energy you find there to your Pokemon, just save one for Sableye right? Well, the question here is, why don't you want to go second? That way you can pull off this crazy interaction on your first turn instead of your second. So Sableye's supposed main draw of always going first for that first energy drop and attack became a downside.
It got even worse for Sableye with the release of Platinum. Not only did Pokemon SP, Big Basic Pokemon all owned by major characters, start taking over the game, Platinum also released Broken Time-Space, an infamous Stadium that allowed both players just casually ignore the rule that says you can't evolve a Pokemon you just played or evolved! Naturally then, if you wanted to play Evolutions you would go second to play Rare Candy and Time-Space before crushing immediately with your busted Stage 2s. If you didn't want to utilise that, Sableye being helpless against all the mighty SP Pokemon made it even more of a liability, with only its Supporter-searching attacking being indisputably useful, and you may as well have gone second for all the good it ends up doing. So it was quickly forgotten. But there was a silver lining. For some reason, Pokemon made the decision that no sets would rotate out of the format in 2009. This pushed back Sableye's exit from 2010 to 2011. And no-one could have possibly foretold the consequences...
Sableye Dark type, 60HP
Basic Pokemon
Pokebody: Overeager
If Sableye is played as your Active Pokemon during setup, you go first. Ignore this if both Active Pokemon have the Overeager Pokebody.
Free: ??
Search your deck for a Supporter and discard it. The effect of that Supporter becomes this attack's effect.
1 Dark: Overconfident 10 Damage
If Sableye has more HP remaining than the opponent's Active Pokemon, this attack has 40 base damage.
Weakness none Resistance Psychic-20 Retreat Cost 1?
(I don't remember everything perfectly, but this is what it does)
At the time of release, the go-first rules were: You can attack, but you cannot play Trainer cards. So Sableye's first attack was clearly intended as a way to mitigate this by letting you play a Supporter going first. Overconfident on the other hand, was intended as a fast way to pick up a KO. With Special Darkness Energy, Overconfident gets 10 more base damage, OHKOing any Pokemon with 50 HP or less. Of course, it is totally useless if your opponent has an Active Pokemon with 60 HP or more, but for the time 60 HP on a Pokemon that could evolve was a large amount, even for Pokemon that only evolved once. So as long as your opponent didn't play a Big Basic as their Active in setup, leading Sableye would ensure a quick early prize lead.
However, the format really wasn't kind to Sableye. The dominant mechanic were the mighty LV.X Pokemon, who were similar to the more modern BREAK evolutions. In short, they Levelled Up from a Fully Evolved Pokemon following normal Evolution rules and kept the attacks and PokePowers/Bodies (early name for Abilities) of their previous Level. There was one extra twist: to Level Up, your Pokemon had to be Active. We can immediately then see a problem with Sableye: If you play it as an Active lead, you have to hope your opponent KOs it on their first turn in order to Level Up on your second turn or spend a precious Energy drop/Trainer card retreating it so it can waste space on the Bench for the rest of the game. Ok so DP energy accel was crazy enough this didn't really matter but those crazy Energy suppliers were mostly Evolved Pokemon, powered by pre-errata Rare Candy, which could evolve a Pokemon that was just played! So Togepi Rare Candy Togekiss look at the top 10 of your deck and attach any basic energy you find there to your Pokemon, just save one for Sableye right? Well, the question here is, why don't you want to go second? That way you can pull off this crazy interaction on your first turn instead of your second. So Sableye's supposed main draw of always going first for that first energy drop and attack became a downside.
It got even worse for Sableye with the release of Platinum. Not only did Pokemon SP, Big Basic Pokemon all owned by major characters, start taking over the game, Platinum also released Broken Time-Space, an infamous Stadium that allowed both players just casually ignore the rule that says you can't evolve a Pokemon you just played or evolved! Naturally then, if you wanted to play Evolutions you would go second to play Rare Candy and Time-Space before crushing immediately with your busted Stage 2s. If you didn't want to utilise that, Sableye being helpless against all the mighty SP Pokemon made it even more of a liability, with only its Supporter-searching attacking being indisputably useful, and you may as well have gone second for all the good it ends up doing. So it was quickly forgotten. But there was a silver lining. For some reason, Pokemon made the decision that no sets would rotate out of the format in 2009. This pushed back Sableye's exit from 2010 to 2011. And no-one could have possibly foretold the consequences...
Fast forward to early 2011. LuxChomp is the best deck of a reasonably diverse format. Everything all the way from DP Legends Awakened to the end of the 4th gen was legal thanks to that no-rotation in 2009, a huge pool of cards. Black/White is on the horizon. And Sableye was in secret preparing its revenge.
You see, B/W was bringing with it some major rule changes and erratas to existing cards. Potion now healed 30 HP instead of removing 2 damage counters. Rare Candy got nerfed to the form we know today. Abilities were introduced that would supplant PokePowers/Bodies going forward. Most importantly of all, it was decided that going first had become so unviable, that there would be no extra restrictions at all if you went first. And just like that, Sableye pounced.
Every single Trainer Sableye had ever dreamed of pairing with was now in its grasp. For starters, Expert Belt, a build-your-own-EX Tool that gave the equipped Pokemon +20 damage and HP, at the downside of conceding an extra Prize when KOed. This pushed Sableye's Overconfident OHKO range with Special Darkness Energy up to 70 HP! Then there is Crobat G, a Pokemon SP that, when played, allowed you to place a damage counter on any of your opponent's Pokemon. An extra 40 damage previously wasn't really notable, but now you could play the Item Poke Turn G on the first turn to return any Pokemon SP to hand. Crobat was hence piling on 80 damage, enough to KO a weak Benched Pokemon without attacking, then soften up an Active SP for Sableye to KO. And if that wasn't enough to clear out the Bench, in comes Seeker, a Supporter that forces both players to return a Benched Pokemon, if any, to hand! That 130 HP Zekrom scaring you? Warp Point it to the Bench, KO its Benched friend with Crobats, then Seeker it away! And re-use a Crobat/Uxie for good measure on your end. Then just KO your opponent's only Pokemon in play with Overconfident.
Naturally, this broke the game in half. Overeager meant the best way to not instantly lose to Sableye was to play your own Sableye! Or play the aforementioned Zekrom that had just come out along with its buddy Reshiram, both packing 130 HP that SableDonk decks would at least have pause for thought over. No wonder Outrage-based decks took off very quickly. Unfortunately however, the main way to beat SableDonk was still just luck. Hope your opponent doesn't open Sableye Active, hope you open 4+ Basics, hope you open your own Sableye and win the coin toss. Against a properly built SableDonk, once Sableye was revealed as Active the game was usually over, and even getting going first wasn't always a surefire win, you still had to play VERY aggressively in order to build a Bench that could survive the incoming assault. Opening Uxie as a lone Active, for instance, left you with a mammoth task to get multiple turns in.
The result was that many (but not all) major events chose to effectively ignore B/W's release, playing with the older cardpool and rules until the rotation hit. And it was a huge one, making up for the no-rotation two years prior by removing all remaining DP sets AND the Platinum sets. The crazy Trainers like Broken Time-Space, draw enablers like Uxie and all the mighty LV.Xs were removed from the format in a single Thanos snap. The big red reset button had been pressed, and Pokemon TCG would never quite be the same. And throughout the next couple of years, every time a card designer debated releasing a Pokemon that could potentially pick up an easy T1 OHKO, or a card that could damage the Bench without attacking early on, or a card which messed with the fundamentals of setup, a little purple gem monster would be grinning over their shoulder to remind them exactly what could go wrong.
You see, B/W was bringing with it some major rule changes and erratas to existing cards. Potion now healed 30 HP instead of removing 2 damage counters. Rare Candy got nerfed to the form we know today. Abilities were introduced that would supplant PokePowers/Bodies going forward. Most importantly of all, it was decided that going first had become so unviable, that there would be no extra restrictions at all if you went first. And just like that, Sableye pounced.
Every single Trainer Sableye had ever dreamed of pairing with was now in its grasp. For starters, Expert Belt, a build-your-own-EX Tool that gave the equipped Pokemon +20 damage and HP, at the downside of conceding an extra Prize when KOed. This pushed Sableye's Overconfident OHKO range with Special Darkness Energy up to 70 HP! Then there is Crobat G, a Pokemon SP that, when played, allowed you to place a damage counter on any of your opponent's Pokemon. An extra 40 damage previously wasn't really notable, but now you could play the Item Poke Turn G on the first turn to return any Pokemon SP to hand. Crobat was hence piling on 80 damage, enough to KO a weak Benched Pokemon without attacking, then soften up an Active SP for Sableye to KO. And if that wasn't enough to clear out the Bench, in comes Seeker, a Supporter that forces both players to return a Benched Pokemon, if any, to hand! That 130 HP Zekrom scaring you? Warp Point it to the Bench, KO its Benched friend with Crobats, then Seeker it away! And re-use a Crobat/Uxie for good measure on your end. Then just KO your opponent's only Pokemon in play with Overconfident.
Naturally, this broke the game in half. Overeager meant the best way to not instantly lose to Sableye was to play your own Sableye! Or play the aforementioned Zekrom that had just come out along with its buddy Reshiram, both packing 130 HP that SableDonk decks would at least have pause for thought over. No wonder Outrage-based decks took off very quickly. Unfortunately however, the main way to beat SableDonk was still just luck. Hope your opponent doesn't open Sableye Active, hope you open 4+ Basics, hope you open your own Sableye and win the coin toss. Against a properly built SableDonk, once Sableye was revealed as Active the game was usually over, and even getting going first wasn't always a surefire win, you still had to play VERY aggressively in order to build a Bench that could survive the incoming assault. Opening Uxie as a lone Active, for instance, left you with a mammoth task to get multiple turns in.
The result was that many (but not all) major events chose to effectively ignore B/W's release, playing with the older cardpool and rules until the rotation hit. And it was a huge one, making up for the no-rotation two years prior by removing all remaining DP sets AND the Platinum sets. The crazy Trainers like Broken Time-Space, draw enablers like Uxie and all the mighty LV.Xs were removed from the format in a single Thanos snap. The big red reset button had been pressed, and Pokemon TCG would never quite be the same. And throughout the next couple of years, every time a card designer debated releasing a Pokemon that could potentially pick up an easy T1 OHKO, or a card that could damage the Bench without attacking early on, or a card which messed with the fundamentals of setup, a little purple gem monster would be grinning over their shoulder to remind them exactly what could go wrong.
l was going to put a decklist but I somehow selected the whole thing when I was almost done and had spent 30 minutes writing it and lost everything
EDIT: I'm writing it again but I'm half assing everything this time because I don't want to put images in again and I'm just going to call Pokemon but what moves/abilities they have because I don't want to look up the set they were in
This is a psychic deck with Lunala and seems to have a decent matchup with my Plasma Lugia deck so i'm hyped
EDIT: I'm writing it again but I'm half assing everything this time because I don't want to put images in again and I'm just going to call Pokemon but what moves/abilities they have because I don't want to look up the set they were in
This is a psychic deck with Lunala and seems to have a decent matchup with my Plasma Lugia deck so i'm hyped
Mewtwo EX (Energy Absorption/Recover/Psyburn) (1): A decent, self reliable stopgap to use until you crack out Lunala. Recover is pretty decent self sustain. Damage is aight but it's not as good as Lunala in that respect.
Lunala (Shatter Shot/Wings of the Moone) (3): The main damage dealer and wincon. Can kill basically any EX or GX with 5 energy. Not sure about VMAX, heard those things are beast, but still does half their HP.
Cosmog (Gather Dust) (3): Necessary but lets me draw a card which can be ok
Cosmoem (Teleport) (3): The reason I can't have 4 Lunala. I think I lost a copy of this, or I received more Lunala and Cosmog from somewhere else but
no Cosmoem. Would explain one of my Lunala not being holo but the other 3 are, I didn't get them from that structure deck...
Hoopa (Hyperspace Hole/Psy Bolt) (2): Lets me search items and paralyze for a little support. Might replace these tbh
Espurr (Energy Teaser) (1): God this move is amazing. I wish I had more of this print.
Espurr (Perplexing Eyes) (3): I just ran this just because I needed more Espurr. I also have a print with Scratch but thats ass. Might be good as a silver bullet.
Meowstic (Energy Present/Psyshot) (1): Lets me set up energy faster.
Meowstic (Allure/Hand Kinesis) (3): Draw 3 cards is nice occasionally, and Hand Kinesis is theoretically ok, but it's weak to N.
Lunala (Shatter Shot/Wings of the Moone) (3): The main damage dealer and wincon. Can kill basically any EX or GX with 5 energy. Not sure about VMAX, heard those things are beast, but still does half their HP.
Cosmog (Gather Dust) (3): Necessary but lets me draw a card which can be ok
Cosmoem (Teleport) (3): The reason I can't have 4 Lunala. I think I lost a copy of this, or I received more Lunala and Cosmog from somewhere else but
no Cosmoem. Would explain one of my Lunala not being holo but the other 3 are, I didn't get them from that structure deck...
Hoopa (Hyperspace Hole/Psy Bolt) (2): Lets me search items and paralyze for a little support. Might replace these tbh
Espurr (Energy Teaser) (1): God this move is amazing. I wish I had more of this print.
Espurr (Perplexing Eyes) (3): I just ran this just because I needed more Espurr. I also have a print with Scratch but thats ass. Might be good as a silver bullet.
Meowstic (Energy Present/Psyshot) (1): Lets me set up energy faster.
Meowstic (Allure/Hand Kinesis) (3): Draw 3 cards is nice occasionally, and Hand Kinesis is theoretically ok, but it's weak to N.
I might not remember all the specific details of this section
Altar of the Moone (1): A huge card that lets me use all my support and attacks easily. Sadly doesn't work on Cosmoem but eh
Acro Bike (4): Just a generally useful draw card
Birch's Observations (2): My favorite scoop and draw 7 because it doesn't discard and getting 4 is good for recycling for deckstall
Prof. Juniper (2): The above but garbage I hate it
Level and Nest Balls (Both 4): Searches everything bar Lunala itself
Skyla (1): Becomes any item from the deck, p good
Professor Letter (4): The deck is fairly energy heavy, so this is nice to have.
Energy Recycler (1): Ditto.
VS Seeker (1): Recycles Colress and Birch.
Colress (2): Honestly, why do I even run Juniper?
Altar of the Moone (1): A huge card that lets me use all my support and attacks easily. Sadly doesn't work on Cosmoem but eh
Acro Bike (4): Just a generally useful draw card
Birch's Observations (2): My favorite scoop and draw 7 because it doesn't discard and getting 4 is good for recycling for deckstall
Prof. Juniper (2): The above but garbage I hate it
Level and Nest Balls (Both 4): Searches everything bar Lunala itself
Skyla (1): Becomes any item from the deck, p good
Professor Letter (4): The deck is fairly energy heavy, so this is nice to have.
Energy Recycler (1): Ditto.
VS Seeker (1): Recycles Colress and Birch.
Colress (2): Honestly, why do I even run Juniper?
Psychic (13): I dare you to ask why I have psychic energy in my deck lol
Mystery (1): Nice if I don't have Altar down, pretty solid, hard to recycle except with Mewtwo tho
Mystery (1): Nice if I don't have Altar down, pretty solid, hard to recycle except with Mewtwo tho
Nidoking (Rumble/Tail Swing): This card seems to have some nice effects and looks cool as fuck too, high retreat though
Hypno (Goodnight Babies/Zen Headbutt): Can be used as a last ditch effort to protect something from damage, also some wicked art
Slowbro (Amnesia/Facade): Some annoying disruption, and decent damage too (though currently no cards to abuse it), but high retreat
Ariados (Poison Nest/Impound): Helps Slowbro! Also since switching is easy, the poison doesn't actually harm much for you
Toxicroak (Poison Jab/Poison Boost): Another potential Ariados abuser, but trades utility for a ton of power, might be a deck on its own tbh
Hypno (Goodnight Babies/Zen Headbutt): Can be used as a last ditch effort to protect something from damage, also some wicked art
Slowbro (Amnesia/Facade): Some annoying disruption, and decent damage too (though currently no cards to abuse it), but high retreat
Ariados (Poison Nest/Impound): Helps Slowbro! Also since switching is easy, the poison doesn't actually harm much for you
Toxicroak (Poison Jab/Poison Boost): Another potential Ariados abuser, but trades utility for a ton of power, might be a deck on its own tbh
-Somewhat reliant on Altar, which means it's super bad if it gets removed
-While everything being searched by Level is nice, deck might be somewhat frail
might be more?
-While everything being searched by Level is nice, deck might be somewhat frail
might be more?
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The top 300 of the art contest has been revealed
https://www.ptcgic-cr.com/2022/en/result/primary-selection/
some pretty good entries in here, you might even recognize some of the names
https://www.ptcgic-cr.com/2022/en/result/primary-selection/
some pretty good entries in here, you might even recognize some of the names
Looking for advice. I pulled a breakdancing genesect v from a fusion strike pack, and I'm using the packs I got for it to make a budget semi viable deck. I already have 2 Victini Vs and 1 vmax, so I'm going for a consistent engine deck or something. I have all relevant theme decks, and regularly participate in tourneys. 20 Lost Origin packs to my name, anything I should be doing?
Unfortunately Victini is struggling to say the least right now. So far in Lost Origin, limitless has recorded that across 93 tournaments in the format consisting of 18513 matches, there has not been one Victini vmax deck played. Victini is weak to water when the BDIF is palkia intellion, and a lot of decks are playing thick lines of Intellion SwSh and attack with it. Now you also have cramorant thrown in as a water type attacker in the most played deck. Plus one prize decks are at their peak and victini can't ohko common one prizers like Regis.
If you absolutely must build a victini vmax deck, the deck engine is going to be simple at least. Magma basin takes care of energy attachments for you, and you're going to want to run heavy heavy boss counts (4 boss, 4 pokegear at least) to tempo out the opponent and KO their evolving Vs before they can evolve. You can also throw in some Roxanne and a radiant charizard to put them at a low handsize and then shove a strong one prizer in their face after they KO a vmax.
Moving on from Victini, you are in luck - one prize decks have not been this strong in a long long time. I would highly reccomend looking into the lost box deck - not only is it strong and inexpensive, but the deck engine is worth investing in. It should be in format for a long time and can be easily adapted to fit future decks and archetypes. Even now, you can use lost engine with one prize box, giratina Vstar, dragonite V, Goodra Vstar, Vikavolt V, and Dialga vstar.
Right now there are two general builds of lost box, mainly centering around cramorant focused builds that use mirage gate and snorlax because snorlax + cramorant's damage hits perfect numbers for Vstars. These decks usually play greninja as your radiant pokemon, whichis the cheaper radiant. The other build focuses on heavy sableye, this is advantaged vs opposing one prize decks but plays radiant charizard which may be a bit much for your budget.
here is Alex Schemanske's take on the sableye version of the deck he used to get 1st in a 433 player tournament two days ago:
https://play.limitlesstcg.com/tournament/62e31bf5e4546c5c2e0c651e/player/mewpip/decklist
here is a video from Omnipoke on a cram/snorlax focused build that also just talks about the engine in general - good video to watch to understand the basics of the engine:
Finally, if you want an alternate budget deck, Regis is still very strong in format and got a massive upgrade with lost origin thanks to gift energy which fits the deck perfectly. Here is tablemon, the highest placing regi player at worlds playing the deck:
Don't fall into the trap of using gimmicks like Thorton is Regis - while it can lead to crazy youtube highlights, its very inconsistent and usually just leads to bricky hands and Regis is strong enough as it. 2 Gift energy is all you really need.
Finally, if you aren't opposed to being hated by a lot of the people you play against, it might be worth watching the control space - aka Sander Wojcok's twitter. No one has put anything together yet (at least not publicly) but control has all the tools needed to break out as a budget deck in a big way. Whether as Eldegoss using it's attack to forever loop itself and play Fantina every turn to never die and deck your opponent, or something like the below to trap an opponent and use Miss Fortune sisters, perrserker, and chandelure to mill all their switching cards
What are the rulings for Trainer cards with no card subtype (i.e. Energy Removal etc.)
They are just trainers without any special rules. They aren't items or supporters or stadiums. For example, you could still play them if your opponent used an attack that says your opponent can't play items, but not if their attack says you can't play trainers.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/03/nfl-star-blake-martinez-sells-pokemon-card-for-672k/
My Raiders might stink on the field but our linebacker has good taste in cards.
My Raiders might stink on the field but our linebacker has good taste in cards.
Incidentally I wonder if they're going to do more generational sets. Like the sleeping cuties. Kind of random to do a kanto 151 set otherwise; there's no big anniversary or anything by the time it comes out iirc (contrast with the Generations set) and the TCG is usually content to do Kanto pandering by just peppering "big" cards (Charizards, Mewtwos) throughought the sets.
Kadabra is obviously the centerpiece of "pokemon that have not appeared in the TCG in years" due to the Geller stuff, but there's various Pokemon that go a long, long time without a card. Just as a random example, Bellossom just got a new card in Silver Tempest a few months ago; the last time it had a card was in 2015.
The cross-gen Baby pokemon have been entirely retired outside of very specific, special cards like the Tag Teams (Bonsly had 2 promo cards for the Lucario movie and then 1 card in the DP set in 2006/7 and that's it). Presumably they find the weird "weak optional basic stage but sometimes has crazy ability/attack" to be a weird design space for babies. Togepi, Riolu & Toxel get around this by just being treated as normal evolutions, but it is presumably awkward to suddenly shift all Clefairy/Pikachu/Jigglypuff/etcetc into "stage 1" Pokemon even with rotations. So it'd be novel to see those come back in sets designed to have every Pokemon.
Speaking of odd mechanics....
When the SV set revealed "ex" returning as its primary big mechanic, I thought that okay they'll do Terastalizied pokemon later. Maybe they'd work like BREAK cards (an overlaid gaudy "evolution") or maybe be a later co-habitation addition ala Tag Teams or VStars.
Then before the set came out they showed off a terastal Arcanine ex. And at release there was also Gyarados.
Just seems so tacked on to the set. Only 2 of them, they're just ex pokemon with bench barrier and also you can't even see the dang hats?? It's the entire point of the terastalization! To see the silly hats!! Even the full arts mostly obscure them.
Also a bit surprised to see Paradoxes treated so normally, Great Tusk and Iron Treads are "just" ex Pokemon. I figured they would wait on those and then treat them in a dedicated set that would get special Paradox labels and support, like the ultra beasts (& Necrozma) got.
Kadabra is obviously the centerpiece of "pokemon that have not appeared in the TCG in years" due to the Geller stuff, but there's various Pokemon that go a long, long time without a card. Just as a random example, Bellossom just got a new card in Silver Tempest a few months ago; the last time it had a card was in 2015.
The cross-gen Baby pokemon have been entirely retired outside of very specific, special cards like the Tag Teams (Bonsly had 2 promo cards for the Lucario movie and then 1 card in the DP set in 2006/7 and that's it). Presumably they find the weird "weak optional basic stage but sometimes has crazy ability/attack" to be a weird design space for babies. Togepi, Riolu & Toxel get around this by just being treated as normal evolutions, but it is presumably awkward to suddenly shift all Clefairy/Pikachu/Jigglypuff/etcetc into "stage 1" Pokemon even with rotations. So it'd be novel to see those come back in sets designed to have every Pokemon.
Speaking of odd mechanics....
When the SV set revealed "ex" returning as its primary big mechanic, I thought that okay they'll do Terastalizied pokemon later. Maybe they'd work like BREAK cards (an overlaid gaudy "evolution") or maybe be a later co-habitation addition ala Tag Teams or VStars.
Then before the set came out they showed off a terastal Arcanine ex. And at release there was also Gyarados.
Just seems so tacked on to the set. Only 2 of them, they're just ex pokemon with bench barrier and also you can't even see the dang hats?? It's the entire point of the terastalization! To see the silly hats!! Even the full arts mostly obscure them.
Also a bit surprised to see Paradoxes treated so normally, Great Tusk and Iron Treads are "just" ex Pokemon. I figured they would wait on those and then treat them in a dedicated set that would get special Paradox labels and support, like the ultra beasts (& Necrozma) got.
the new Pokemon Classic thing got significantly weirder when seeing the full things you get out of it inexplicably includes new cards
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/02/p...unced-for-fall-features-new-and-classic-cards
not even new cards in the style of old cards, but literally just new cards. That are all illegal in tournament play anyway.
utterly bizarre product
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/02/p...unced-for-fall-features-new-and-classic-cards
not even new cards in the style of old cards, but literally just new cards. That are all illegal in tournament play anyway.
utterly bizarre product
I just learned in the Scarlet & Violet TCG we have another set of "story cards". This time, it's the Ralts family (minus Gallade, sadly)!
(https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/e/e0/RaltsScarletex83.jpg)
We first begin with a young couple (and their Ralts, guessing belonging to the lady) having moved into a new home.
Judging by the wedding picture on the wall showing Ralts with them, they're likely newlyweds.
BTW, note the houseplant.
(https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/3/3d/KirliaScarletex84.jpg)
Several years later, not only has Ralts evolved into a Kirlia, but the couple have had a baby (who is swaddled in a Ralts-themed onesie)! The couch also changed, oddly the frame is still the same but obviously the cushions are now a solid orange than a striped blue. Also the rug doesn't resemble the one that was rolled up in the previous card.
On the wall we see some new pictures have been added and the old ones moved around a bit. The wedding picture and a picture of Ralts has been moved to the right to make room for a new family picture. There's also a new picture to the right of the wedding picture of what looks to be a Pokekid with either Ralts' or Kirlia's sticking out from the bottom left corner; this is either a picture of the woman when she was young or another picture of their new baby.
On the floor is what you'd expect from a house with a baby in it: stacking blocks, a children's book, balls, I think a teething toy, clothes, and notably a knitted plush Ralts. Also, the houseplant is next to the house and has grown in height.
(https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/1/11/GardevoirexScarletex101.jpg)
And the years march on. The couple now look to be middle age and Kirlia has fully evolved into a Gardevoir. The couch is one again different, frame and all (though they kept the cough pillows even if they're mismatched with the new couch and carpet). And the carpet has changed to something which resembles the rolled up on in the Ralts card but is a different pattern. However they still have the table from the Kirlia card as well as their Ralts family-themed mugs.
But, where's their child? Well, let's look at the pictures, notably the new family one they've taken since the Kirlia card. In it we see their child (a girl, BTW), who looks to be about elementary school age, and she's in front of her parents and hugging Kirlia. In addition to that, we see next to it a child drawing of the daughter with Kirlia. Since Gardevoir was still a Kirlia at that point, and I'd imagine if the daughter was still home she'd be included in this image, is that she's probably an older teen/young adult and is either away at a boarding school or maybe on her own Pokemon journey (happy thoughts people, we're thinking happy thoughts). Their wedding picture, family picture when their daughter was a baby, Ralts picture, and Pokekid picture can still be seen (though some are covered up either by text or plants). Speaking of which, that houseplant is now even taller and sprouting yellow fruit (Grepa Berries?)!
In the background we see they put up curtains. They've a placed a few plants around as well as some stools, one which the husband is sitting on. The husband is holding a camera (and has a traveling bag next to him, I'd say he maybe just came home but he's wearing slippers, so maybe it's just a fancy bag they keep the camera equipment in?); guessing ready to take a new picture as they don't have one on the wall with Gardevoir in it. Finally, on the table in the foreground, we see the knitted plush Ralts (next to a new house plant as well).
Very heartwarming series of cards, up there with the Tepig family Legendary Treasure cards (personally I still feel they inch out ahead as we see more how the family in the cards grow; but the Ralts cards are beautiful in the background details that the Tepig cards weren't able to do). Sad they didn't include a Gallade card. Not sure how it would have fit in, maybe have it feature the older daughter in school or on her journey and she's with a boy(friend?) who has a Gallade.
(https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/e/e0/RaltsScarletex83.jpg)
We first begin with a young couple (and their Ralts, guessing belonging to the lady) having moved into a new home.
Judging by the wedding picture on the wall showing Ralts with them, they're likely newlyweds.
BTW, note the houseplant.
(https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/3/3d/KirliaScarletex84.jpg)
Several years later, not only has Ralts evolved into a Kirlia, but the couple have had a baby (who is swaddled in a Ralts-themed onesie)! The couch also changed, oddly the frame is still the same but obviously the cushions are now a solid orange than a striped blue. Also the rug doesn't resemble the one that was rolled up in the previous card.
On the wall we see some new pictures have been added and the old ones moved around a bit. The wedding picture and a picture of Ralts has been moved to the right to make room for a new family picture. There's also a new picture to the right of the wedding picture of what looks to be a Pokekid with either Ralts' or Kirlia's sticking out from the bottom left corner; this is either a picture of the woman when she was young or another picture of their new baby.
On the floor is what you'd expect from a house with a baby in it: stacking blocks, a children's book, balls, I think a teething toy, clothes, and notably a knitted plush Ralts. Also, the houseplant is next to the house and has grown in height.
(https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/1/11/GardevoirexScarletex101.jpg)
And the years march on. The couple now look to be middle age and Kirlia has fully evolved into a Gardevoir. The couch is one again different, frame and all (though they kept the cough pillows even if they're mismatched with the new couch and carpet). And the carpet has changed to something which resembles the rolled up on in the Ralts card but is a different pattern. However they still have the table from the Kirlia card as well as their Ralts family-themed mugs.
But, where's their child? Well, let's look at the pictures, notably the new family one they've taken since the Kirlia card. In it we see their child (a girl, BTW), who looks to be about elementary school age, and she's in front of her parents and hugging Kirlia. In addition to that, we see next to it a child drawing of the daughter with Kirlia. Since Gardevoir was still a Kirlia at that point, and I'd imagine if the daughter was still home she'd be included in this image, is that she's probably an older teen/young adult and is either away at a boarding school or maybe on her own Pokemon journey (happy thoughts people, we're thinking happy thoughts). Their wedding picture, family picture when their daughter was a baby, Ralts picture, and Pokekid picture can still be seen (though some are covered up either by text or plants). Speaking of which, that houseplant is now even taller and sprouting yellow fruit (Grepa Berries?)!
In the background we see they put up curtains. They've a placed a few plants around as well as some stools, one which the husband is sitting on. The husband is holding a camera (and has a traveling bag next to him, I'd say he maybe just came home but he's wearing slippers, so maybe it's just a fancy bag they keep the camera equipment in?); guessing ready to take a new picture as they don't have one on the wall with Gardevoir in it. Finally, on the table in the foreground, we see the knitted plush Ralts (next to a new house plant as well).
Very heartwarming series of cards, up there with the Tepig family Legendary Treasure cards (personally I still feel they inch out ahead as we see more how the family in the cards grow; but the Ralts cards are beautiful in the background details that the Tepig cards weren't able to do). Sad they didn't include a Gallade card. Not sure how it would have fit in, maybe have it feature the older daughter in school or on her journey and she's with a boy(friend?) who has a Gallade.
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Yo I found some ridiculous cards at my game shop and made a deck around them
The ability is JP on this scan but the ability is basically Rain Dance Blastoise except with Steel.
This one lets you shuffle your hand and draw 6.
Basically, these and some hand reset trainers and oher items(I use Base Set Professor Oak, Professor Birch's Observations and Professor's Letter) lets you attach absolute fuckloads of steel energy. This lets you turbo out strong Steels.
I use this guy a lot, mainly because its multiply attack is pretty good, its average damage is 120 and does 160 or 80 most the time. 240 is absolutely bonkers but it can also do 0 (worth the risk imo)
This is the main beneficiary of the strat, as it can set up all 5 energy basically instantly, and can also do up to 300 damage, or spread damage with Rock Slide. Good as a game closer/boss.
This card seemed generally boring but trapping can be good and 190 is really nice
I could probably find better beaters than my current selection but I think this is good
The ability is JP on this scan but the ability is basically Rain Dance Blastoise except with Steel.
This one lets you shuffle your hand and draw 6.
Basically, these and some hand reset trainers and oher items(I use Base Set Professor Oak, Professor Birch's Observations and Professor's Letter) lets you attach absolute fuckloads of steel energy. This lets you turbo out strong Steels.
I use this guy a lot, mainly because its multiply attack is pretty good, its average damage is 120 and does 160 or 80 most the time. 240 is absolutely bonkers but it can also do 0 (worth the risk imo)
This is the main beneficiary of the strat, as it can set up all 5 energy basically instantly, and can also do up to 300 damage, or spread damage with Rock Slide. Good as a game closer/boss.
This card seemed generally boring but trapping can be good and 190 is really nice
I could probably find better beaters than my current selection but I think this is good
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
He's free.
Kadabra is the obvious winner here but Abra has also been in the Phantom Zone
After the Kadabra ban in Skyridge (2003), Abra would come back one more time in Mysterious Treasures (2007) on a card with the gimmick of evolving straight to Alakazam.
Alakazam probably would have been in the same boat, but as a fully evolved Pokemon it benefited greatly from "big basic" cards:
Alakazam * from 2006
Alakazam E4 & E4 Lv X from 2009
Alakazam EX & Mega Alakazam EX from 2016
Alakazam V from 2020
And Radiant Alakazam from 2022
Probably not a coincidence that they made Alakazam an ex, the first time it's been able to be a big fancy evolving premium card in a long time.
After the Kadabra ban in Skyridge (2003), Abra would come back one more time in Mysterious Treasures (2007) on a card with the gimmick of evolving straight to Alakazam.
Alakazam probably would have been in the same boat, but as a fully evolved Pokemon it benefited greatly from "big basic" cards:
Alakazam * from 2006
Alakazam E4 & E4 Lv X from 2009
Alakazam EX & Mega Alakazam EX from 2016
Alakazam V from 2020
And Radiant Alakazam from 2022
Probably not a coincidence that they made Alakazam an ex, the first time it's been able to be a big fancy evolving premium card in a long time.
Apparently some kid was banned because he had a nervous laugh when asked for pronouns (Not even like being a dick or anything)
Also, this is probably a weird question, but can you be DQ'd for spelling curse words on the bench with Unown?
Also, this is probably a weird question, but can you be DQ'd for spelling curse words on the bench with Unown?
Probably them jumping the gun after a judge of theirs had this whole display earlier in the month https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/03/p...rassment-of-transgender-players-at-tournament
I'm guessing there would probably be some action taken for abusing Unown during the eras it had individual letter cards, but I also I imagine that would probably come during the registration part of the process. Same goes for the games.
Well, for the first article, the judge who asked him the question then revealed they went by alternative pronouns and called the kid a "jerk". So the problem sounds less like an over response to a previous incident and more a judge taking something personally. Though what confuses me is that it sounds like after that said judge must have submitted a complaint, no other official bothered to take the kid (and the kid's legal guardian) aside and asking about the incident and why they laughed, and just went right to disqualifying even though the kid already made a fair way into the tournament. If I were the Pokemon Company I'd refund any money they spent (they apparently spent $800 to get there) and invite the kid to another TCG tournament all expenses paid.
With the two stories combined, it's sounding to me that the TCG organizers need to be better at training their judges and how complaints are handled. Judges need to check all their personal biases at the door and before deciding a disqualification should have every side of the story.
A pretty cool video looking at the planned Jamboree set in production before Wizards lost the license. The most notable thing about this video being the interviews with various Wizards staff that worked on the game at the time.
About half the video is about that, going into details of what it was and the plans and some of the cards going to be made and why it was going to happen, but the back half is fantastic because thanks to all the interviews it veers into the relationship between Nintendo & Wizards, why Nintendo probably backed out and brought it in house, Wizard's frankly scummy view of the TCG and the fallout of Nintendo backing out ('scorched earth').
Geez, that video certainly took you on the trip, especially the latter half with the "scorched earth" tactic which fantastically backfired in not only making the Pokemon TCG more popular but the lack of foresight that that even if they "harmed" the TCG it would likely recover as soon as a new Generation of Pokemon came out.
Still, sad the members of Wizard who were honestly passionate about the TCG never got to make their own TCG set (and, if true Sandstorm reused some of their ideas, never got credit). Also would have been neat to see some of the Vending Machine cards and some other non-set cards be translated, but I also get Iwata's decision to pull back and wanting tighter control of licensing thus creating the Pokemon Company.
Another interesting aspect was learning a bit on how they translated and produced the English version of the cards. Comparing it to the above video I posted from PokeBeach (BTW someone on the Pokemon TCG Reddit had saved a copy of the video so it's not watchable once again) of the internal company video of who translates the Pokemon Cards now, under Wizards it looked like a laid back experience. Whereas now they cross reference all text with large spreadsheets, have graphic artists recreate shiny effects from scratch, and there being tons and tons of quality checking and approval of not just how the cards look but also for the logos and how the booster packs look; serious business.
A small story though I feel still notable: a Japanese store well known for selling Pokemon Cards, Hareruya 2, has just announced that there will now be a section of the store only for kids. In addition kids can only get at most 10 packs a day and they will be checking IDs for anyone they suspect is older that Junior High age. And once the cards run out that'll be it for the day.
And I'm hoping more stores adopt this idea. It's ridiculous things had to come to this, but if this is the only way for KIDS, you know, the targeted demographic and the ones this is mostly for so they can have fun, can get their hands on cards (let alone the new ones), then so be it! Hopefully they can enforce it andeveryone not too many adults try to find ways to bend the rules (I have a suspicion there's going to be a lot of "parents/older siblings/adult relative", who are going to have a few kids run into the store and buy 10 packs for them... they may want to think reducing the amount of cards per customer).
Though I'm also curious how they're handling the adult customers who want to buy some packs. Do they have to go directly to cashier and request some cards?
And I'm hoping more stores adopt this idea. It's ridiculous things had to come to this, but if this is the only way for KIDS, you know, the targeted demographic and the ones this is mostly for so they can have fun, can get their hands on cards (let alone the new ones), then so be it! Hopefully they can enforce it and
Though I'm also curious how they're handling the adult customers who want to buy some packs. Do they have to go directly to cashier and request some cards?