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Pokemon TCG Pocket’s first full set expansion ever since Genetic Apex launches January 30th and is set to bring seismic shifts to the current meta. The trailer may have been stingy, but even with just a few cards revealed in full, Space-Time Showdown is sure to bring some radical changes and new archetypes to the TCG Pocket metagame. Due to how Mythical Island released, it’s fairly unlikely we’re going to see more of the set than we already have before launch. Therefore, MKCrimson and CryoGyro are focusing on a select few cards from Space-Time Smackdown where the effects are known.
Rating Scale
: Unplayable pack filler (Rhydon)
: Niche tech or good for surprise factor (Dragonite)
: Solid tech or glue card (Mythical Island Primeape)
: Very strong, is either a staple card or has potential to win a game on its own (Celebi EX)
: Meta-defining (Druddigon, Pikachu EX, Sabrina...)
Dialga EX
CryoGyro: The time-turning head-turner of the trailer, Dialga ex isn’t that much to look at by the raw numbers. 30 damage for two Energy is laughable, and 100 for 4 is just okay; Dialga will struggle to take down exs and stage 2s by itself. That’s where Metallic Turbo’s effect comes in and Dialga’s role becomes clear: an early tank that can set up a stronger or healthier finisher, retreating and getting those last couple Energies for itself to end the game if necessary.
The most obvious targets for Metallic Turbo are fellow types like Melmetal and your second Dialga ex, which will certainly benefit, but there’s one sneaky and unprecedented detail about the attack: it works on Pokemon of any type. While this is unlikely to enable decks with two Energy types given that Metallic Turbo requires two Metal, any Pokemon with a decent colorless attack is fair game. Tauros, Pidgeot ex, Wigglytuff ex, and Mew ex have been floated as potential teammates, and a copy of Mew in particular will probably be an essential inclusion for answering Charizard ex, a terrible matchup for Dialga otherwise.
Considering we have also have a whole new set of potential synergies on the way, Dialga ex is all but guaranteed to make history headlining a whole new deck archetype.
CryoGyro's Rating:
Dialga from the Space-Time Smackdown trailer
MKCrimson: This was my three-step thought process when I saw Dialga EX:
- Energy ramp is strong, and this seems like the kind of Metal-type support card that’s sorely needed.
- Wait there’s no type restriction on Metallic Turbo.
- This card is going to break something.
Now, a few caveats. First off, decks as of now don’t have effects like Koga/Budding Expeditioner or Erika to give Dialga EX more survivability. As a result, even at 150HP, you’re not terribly thrilled having your Dialga EX exposed to whatever your opponent is attacking with. This is made doubly bad by its relevant weakness, which opens it up to dies-in-one against Arcanine EX + Giovanni, and dies-in-two to any number of lines the Blaine deck can take. We do know from another card we’ll be looking at that Poke-tools are being added to this set, so there’s a chance at least one of those will help Dialga EX stay in play. The second issue I’m immediately seeing is that this thing just doesn’t do damage very well. 100 damage for four energy is frankly pathetic – even Venusaur EX gets a secondary effect! Turn two (on the draw) at the very earliest is also quite slow.
What do you get in exchange for all these problems? Oh, just casually tripling your energy flow every turn. If you get more than one attack off with Dialga EX, you will be absolutely *swimming* in energy. Already, colorless attackers like Tauros and Wigglytuff EX have seen tournament success, and Dialga EX enables both of them. Notably, Dialga also sets up Mew EX for a next-turn Genome Hacking. I’d also be astonished if there’s 0 further support in Space-Time Smackdown. Even now, Bisharp is a completely reasonable card that has the unfortunate quality of being in a type without serious supplementary cards to pair with it. In the worst-case bench scenario of powering up a secondary Dialga EX, you’re not thrilled but setting up a followup 100 damage is far from the end of the world.
This is the kind of effect that will only get better as the card pool increases. I’m drawing my line in the sand that some kind of Dialga EX deck will wind up being tier 1. I can’t even think of a world where “add 2 energy to anything you want” is somehow not good enough unless there is literally zero other support.
MKCrimson's Rating:
Palkia EX
MKCrimson: This is about to be the new king of Misty non-game screenshots on Reddit. 150 is a humongous number to be able to swing for in one shot, let alone the 20 splash damage onto the opposing bench. The fact that this can also attack for a singular energy while you set up – and also the fact that it’s a basic - also enables this to be a servicable tank in big shells. This is notably weaker to Mew EX than fellow lategame nuke Gyarados EX since it dies in one to a Genome Hacking. However, I expect this card to be much better in Vaporeon shells than Gyarados EX simply due to the fact that it’s a basic; I really wanted Vaporeon + Gyarados EX + Starmie EX to be a thing, but three stage one lines is way more than two. There isn’t a whole lot of nuance to this thing – swing for 30 as a tank, sometimes kill your opponent’s active.
I expect Gyarados EX decks to do better initially if only because the Druddigon/Greninja shell is a known quantity, but don’t be surprised if Palkia EX gives Mythical Island Vaporeon a solid partner. It also bears repeating that 150 is a very large number. If you told me that this ended up being in the territory, I'd believe you.
MKCrimson's rating:
Palkia from the Space Time Showdown trailer
CryoGryo: Palkia ex is less impressive than Dialga ex at first glance, considering the many strong types already in Pocket, but just like Dialga, it brings something brand new to the world of exs: 30 damage for 1 Energy on a two-attack ex. The difference between 20 and 30 damage is enormous in the opening turns, threatening to 2-hit 60 HP Pokemon and 1-hit them with weakness and Giovanni. It can also negate a Potion over two turns, a subtle but game-deciding effect. While Dimensional Storm may not compare favorably to other flashy attacks like Gyarados ex’s Rampaging Whirlpool and Mewtwo ex’s Psydrive, being all but impossible to use repeatedly, I think this is a perfectly fair tradeoff for an ex with such a strong early-game statline. 150 is 150, and using it once will often get the job done, especially with the right supporting cast.
I can already imagine a deck using Palkia’s Slash for early damage to set up a Starmie ex’s KO, then using A1a Vaporeon to transfer the Starmie’s Energy and fuel Dimensional Storm for the win. You get all this flexibility on a Basic Pokemon, remember! There’s a ton of power in having such a toolset without explicitly needing to draw any evolutions, as Mewtwo ex has proved for months.
CryoGyro's rating:
Lucario
MKCrimson: This is an incredibly strong effect for a stage 1 bench support Pokemon. Two permanent Giovannis is exactly the kind of effect any deck would want. The current Fighting Toolbox archetype running Marshadows as a nuclear revenge option are sorely looking for more early-to-midgame damage to get early points. It’s a match made in aggro heaven.
The craziest part? This isn’t a unique effect. Two Lucarios means +40 damage. Four Giovannis every turn with no questions asked. Lucario isn’t a great on-rate attacker but 60 a turn is enough to not be embarrassing, especially for just two energy invested. The only downside is that current staples Hitmonlee and Farfetch’d will not get a benefit from Fighting Coach. This downside immediately disappears if we get any kind of strong Basic that can pose an immediate attacking threat.
This is any aggro player’s dream. Don’t believe me? Get hit by a Mythical Island Primeape for 70 on turn two and you might change your tune. We don’t know how much of a downside Riolu is going to be, but frankly I’d take a Magikarp-level trash can to get Fighting Coach into my aggressive fighting decks.
MKCrimson's Rating:
CryoGyro: Fighting has finally found its footing in the metagame with the Fighting Toolbox deck, but more straightforward, all-out attacking decks without colorless utility Pokemon are still shaky at best. Lucario just might change that with its incredible Fighting Coach Ability. As weaknesses readily demonstrate, a 20 damage boost is most impactful on weaker attacks, and Fighting has no shortage of those; Marowak (both versions), Sandslash, Dugtrio, and Hitmonchan are all decently reliable Pokemon that fall just a little short against the metagame’s heaviest hitters, and Fighting Coach elevates them to excellent for their low investment.
The only concern is that Lucario itself looks a little weak; 60 damage for is 10 below what other stage 1s can offer, and a retreat cost of is a little rough, obligating Leaf or X Speed to avoid a massive hit to your Energy economy. There’s also a decent chance Riolu turns out to be a flimsy Basic with 40 HP, which would make it a liability to open with, but that’s getting a little too speculative.
CryoGyro's rating:
Pachirisu EX
CryoGyro: The honor of becoming Pocket’s third type ex goes to everyone’s favorite VGC champion, and I couldn’t be happier. Pikachu ex decks have always somewhat struggled to fill out their roster, having to choose between somewhat inconsistent and specialized Stage 1s and overall weak Basics. Pachirisu ex steps up to offer a monstrous 80 damage on a Basic with a negligible deckbuilding cost; while we haven’t seen any Pokemon Tools yet, it’s very likely Pikachu decks will happily play at least one of them. Increasing damage, decreasing damage taken, and reducing Retreat Costs are all obvious potential and useful effects.
You could argue Pachirisu is actually a Stage 1 in practice, requiring you to draw certain cards to reach full power, but between the potential to run more than 2 Tools and the option to attack Tools to other Pokemon, it’s a far more flexible condition that will work as a great supplement to Pikachu’s slightly higher damage. That’s not to mention it can work as a core threat in a Lightning deck not looking to go all in on the type, making use of Jolteon (a potent but Pikachu-unfriendly threat given Eevee) and colorless Pokemon.
CryoGyro's rating:
MKCrimson: Pachirisu EX looks like a solid competitor to Pikachu EX in the “get on board and swing real fast” space for decks, with two big question marks.
- How strong are the Pokemon Tools going to be? I find it hard to believe that every single Pokemon Tool in the inaugural set for them is unplayable garbage, but weirder things have happened.
- How much HP does Pachirisu EX have? Pikachu EX has 120HP, which is the current lowest for a Basic Pokemon EX, but Starmie EX is not that much tankier at 130HP. Is 110 HP in play? 100? 120 is my best guess but there’s a good chance it ends up less durable than we’d like.
The biggest determining factor will be whether it’s just better to jam Pokemon Tools onto a Pikachu EX and call it a day since Pikachu EX has a higher damage ceiling. That being said, Pachirisu does not require any bench investment to start swinging, which means that with a Pokemon Tool attached, it will outdamage even a 2-bench Pikachu EX.
My gut is that Pokemon Tools are going to be good and that Pachirisu will get going on offense just a smidge more consistently than Pikachu EX. That being said, that pesky 80 damage ceiling is going to become an issue quick; Pikachu EX already runs into problems in the lategame and its flagship is swinging for 90.
MKCrimson's rating:
Leafeon
MKCrimson: As a stage one with 90HP and sporting a 90 damage attack for 2 energy, the most obvious comparison to me is Ninetales. Outside of the fact that there's a downside to attacking, that's where the comparisons end for me. The best guess we have on the remainder of Leafeon's text is that it is prevented from attacking the following turn, which puts a major limit on how often you're allowed to send 90 out. By comparison, not only does Ninetales get to attack every turn if you keep throwing energy at it, it has an actual aggressive support option with Blaine, giving it a much higher damage ceiling. The statline for Leafeon tells me it's supposed to be an aggressive pivot, but I feel like doing something after you attack is going to be the big killer. decks will need more aggressive one-point cards with low retreat costs in order to bring Leafeon up to snuff, and that kind of support doesn't exist as of yet.
MKCrimson's rating:
Cynthia
MKCrimson: We're lacking significant information on Garchomp and Togekiss, but we can make some educated guesses. For one, both of these cards will be Stage 2, requiring significant investment to get even one of them online. It's therefore fairly unlikely that you'll be playing Cynthia with both evolutionary lines in your deck.
Second, we know that Gible is type, implying the rest of Garchomp line will be as well. The only other Dragons in the game are Druddigon and the Dragonite line, both of which require multiple energy types to attack and lack weaknesses. We can therefore guess that Garchomp will require a multi-color deck, which as of yet has not had competitive success.
We actually don't know anything else about either line, but they will be stone-cold unplayable if Cynthia's +50 boost is a requirement to make them worth running. Funnily enough, that means that unless you're hitting specific breakpoints, Cynthia's +50 boost might become irrelevant. I'm not assigning a rating to Cynthia until we get any information at all on Garchomp or Togekiss, but my instinct is that I'm fairly skeptical she will power a tier one deck unless there's some absolutely silly numbers flying around.