Space-Time Smackdown: Impressions on the latest Spoilers

My impressions on Lucario have only gone up. Riolu is a perfectly functional Basic attacker at the 60 HP, 1 energy 20 damage statline. This means your 2nd Riolu after landing a Lucario on board is comparable to Farfetch’d, which already sees play in the Fighting Toolbox archetype. Seeing as my bar to play Riolu was “Magikarp-level trash can” I can’t justify lowering my rating on Lucario.

MKCrimson's rating:

Dragon = dual-type no-weakness attacker, as advertised. Setting the ability aside, Dragon Claw is an incredibly efficient attack, clocking in at 100 damage for 2 energy. The numbers on Dragon Claw and Cynthia herself combine to hit two incredibly important breakpoints at 100HP – the Druddigon number – and 150HP. 150 is arguably the most important breakpoint to hit in the game, one-shotting Mewtwo EX and below. Then we get to factor in Reckless Shearing, which is our first card-draw Ability; ask any card game player how good “draw a card” is, even with the cost of discarding a card to it.

Garchomp has two major weaknesses to compensate. The first is that it’s a stage 2 – on top of that, it’s a stage 2 with a pretty middling-to-bad Stage 1 in Gabite.

By comparison, Cynthia’s other Stage 2 ace is potentially a much scarier attacker. Togetic is a significantly stronger Stage 1 than Gabite, with a pretty direct comparison in Genetic Apex Rapidash. Metal is a much less prevalent attacking type than Water, making it much less likely that we get hit for weakness while building up. Togekiss starts off fairly slow at 60 for but any attack past the first are hitting absurdly hard. 180 HP over two turns kills every non-Venusaur EX mon in the game, and there’s a certain crime boss we’ll be seeing later that makes it much less likely that our target can run to safety. Cynthia actually does us a fairly large favor, hitting a 110 breakpoint on our first swing and 170 on the second and beyond.

This brings me back to Cynthia. Her grade is entirely dependent on whether Togekiss or Garchomp see play. Since I gave both of them the same grade, and she’ll be in all of the decks playing either…

MKCrimson's rating:

It’s a Giovanni for tanks if you squint really hard and turn your head a certain way. Druddigon decks certainly will consider dealing 40 unavoidable damage every time they get swung into. The notable thing about Rocky Helmet and any other Poké-tools is they are face-up on the table, meaning it’s not going to be close to as good as Giovanni when attached to a dedicated attacker. The utility on tanks can’t be ignored, and there are some bulky attackers I want to equip this to (think Machamp EX). This will surely see some play.

MKCrimson's rating:

In a world with more status effects, Lum Berry could see some niche play as a 1-of to force through an attack without losing to Paralyze or Sleep. However, the only other primary status at the moment is Poison, and the decks trying to Poison you are usually trying to Venoshock you on the same turn and Just Kill You, which Lum Berry will tragically not prevent most of the time. Niche if the meta shifts, but not a world-beater.

MKCrimson's rating:

Pokemon TCG Pocket has become a game about breakpoints, and this is a cape-sized wrench that any deck can throw into the equation. Blue is seeing play at a worse rate while being equally face-up and only active for a single turn. Giant Cape gives +20 HP forever that can also be refilled by Potion and Erika. Don’t be surprised to see 1-2 copies in a ton of decks going forward.

MKCrimson's rating:

My rating doesn’t change on Pachirisu EX. Giant Cape is directly playable on it, and it has the same HP as Pikachu EX. This solves both of the major questions I had regarding its viability, but the 80 damage ceiling will be a factor.

MKCrimson's rating:

I’m not mincing words or padding – this card is a crime. Like Dialga EX, there is no type restriction on what can receive Manaphy’s energy, meaning cards like Tauros or Mew EX can benefit. Going second with a revealed Manaphy and literally anything to receive energy is frankly absurd ramp. Water decks are already not lacking for targets to ramp, especially with the addition of Palkia EX. That being said, this card is significantly worse if you are going first thanks to its pathetic 50HP. Any opponent worth talking about is going to kill this on sight if it’s at all reasonable to do so. You’re also generally not happy topdecking Manaphy in the event that you’re digging for cards to end the game. That being said, this is going to be making its way into any vaguely aggressive deck. Think Starmie EX, Articuno EX, Lumineon, or Palkia EX and not so much Gyarados EX. It will be the best card in those decks. This card is terrifying.

MKCrimson's rating:

Magnezone doesn’t look very strong on its own unless you know how Magneton’s Volt Charge ability functions. If you run a deck that does not naturally run energy, Volt Charge will still generate a energy onto Magneton. What this means is you can have a Magneton on the bench in any deck happily ramping itself up while you stack your play-per-turn onto whatever you feel like, and then evolve to Magnezone when the opportunity presents itself. Seeing as how Thunder Blast only requires one Lightning energy attached to work, you effectively have as many Thunder Blasts as you have Lightning energy cards to discard. Dialga EX and Manaphy can also feed energy to the Magneton line with their ramping attacks. This is much worse in full-Lightning decks that have stronger attackers but sneaky strong as effectively a Stage 2 that hits Lightning-weak cards, especially since the line received a new Magnemite that can hit for . Don’t sleep on this as a splash option in a variety of decks.

MKCrimson's rating:

These cards will almost certainly be run together; Weavile ex is below rate without prior damage on its target, and Honchkrow is at the moment the only pure Pokémon that can enable that condition without Poison. 50 damage for 2 energy is comparable to Electabuzz, which sees play in some variants of Pikachu EX as-is. Again, we’ll be discussing a certain Supporter later, and Honchkrow enables us to get mileage out of them as well. If Weavile ex gets to attack for 70 regularly, it’s the most efficient one-energy attacker in the game on rate, beating out even Exeggutor EX’s average of 60. Weavile EX should also place a fair amount of pressure on Mewtwo EX decks, hitting for a solid 140 over two turns counting Weakness. 140HP is a bit low, and Dark is still missing a true haymaker to breach large numbers in the lategame, but Weavile ex should enable low-energy strategies to stack energy onto a finisher in the same vein as Exeggutor EX + Celebi.

MKCrimson's rating:

The most important number on Infernape EX is the one on the bottom right; Fire now has a strong attacker with a 0 retreat cost! 140 is also a fairly large damage number, hitting the Legendary Birds, Dialga, and everything underneath for lethal in one shot. Losing all energy attached to it means that it cannot attack back-to-back turns, forcing it to leverage the 0-cost retreat to hide behind a Druddigon or a Moltres EX before it can swing again, as well as somewhat weakening its synergy with Moltres EX. That said, 170HP is hardly a small number, living even a Gyarados EX hitting for weakness assuming no prior damage. Infernape ex is going to be less straightforward to attack with than Arcanine ex or Charizard EX, being a Stage 2 that has a funky energy curve, but I have faith in big numbers.

MKCrimson's rating:

If this was any stage below Stage 2, I’d be all over Gallade ex and singing its praises. Sadly, 70 damage as a damage floor for a Stage 2 EX Pokemon is frankly unacceptable. To put in further perspective, it can’t even cleanly revenge kill a Charizard EX or Mewtwo EX if there was no prior damage. 170 HP is tanky but the damage just isn’t there, especially with the relevant weakness still putting it in one-tap range from Mewtwo EX. It’s not quite pack filler, but it’s an incredibly disappointing EX. This poor guy is just outclassed in its role by Machamp EX barring some frankly absurd circumstances.

MKCrimson's rating:

I think Lapras EX and Venusaur EX are the main proof I need that EX Pokemon that are tanky for tankiness’s sake aren’t worth the 2-point risk they represent. 80 damage for 3 energy is a poor rate, and even in the dream scenario of 2 Gardevoir feeding this thing every turn to heal 60, you’d probably just rather have a Mewtwo shredding whatever is in front of it. The base 140 HP also means it will Just Die to anything that can clear that threshold, which is currently about where lategame decks are at thanks to Gyarados EX and Mewtwo EX. Easily the most disappointing EX of the leak for me.

MKCrimson's rating:

Cyrus is our first Supporter variant on Sabrina and it is exceptionally strong. In exchange for the requirement for the target to be damaged, this is a targetable “Gust” effect. This not only synergizes with cards that stack on passive damage such as Greninja, Druddigon, or bench snipers, but also is a way to confirm KO’s on opponents cycling basics to preserve HP. Cyrus is going to completely warp aggressive strategies and you will need to keep Cyrus lines in mind to survive as any lategame strategy. Druddigon Stall Decks are going to get smashed in the face by bench damage even if the target has evolved out of range.