Glaceon VSTAR · Sword & Shield Promos #SWSH197

6 comments

1. 

   Strč prst skrz krk

   (2 years ago)

   Now that -ex cards have been revealed as returning next year (first time since 2007!), it seems that the VSTAR mechanic might be phased out. Which I consider a shame. It’s been a really cool mechanic in the TCG, like GX moves were.
   Though perhaps VSTAR cards and -ex cards will coexist? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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     AmbassadorStrč prst skrz krk

     (2 years ago)

     VSTAR and -ex will coexist since they’re not going to do a hard rotation/format reset.

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       Strč prst skrz krkAmbassador

       (2 years ago)

       True. Allow me to rephrase: I don’t expect that VSTAR and -ex cards will coexist *in future sets*–i.e., this new mechanic will replace the VSTAR mechanic completely.
       And that isn’t totally surprising; a lot of new mechanics only last one year (e.g., Tag Team cards were only in 2019; Ancient Trait cards were only in 2015; V-Union cards were only in 2021). Just seems a shame that the VSTAR mechanic, which was a pseudo-revival of GX moves, only lasted one year.

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         Strč prst skrz krkStrč prst skrz krk

         (2 years ago)

         P.S. — I’m aware that Morpeko V-Union has ‘2022’ as its release date. But in Japan, it came out at the tail end of 2021.
         The V-Union hamster also got a cool Marnie character art print that I doubt will be released in the West.
         https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Morpeko_V-UNION_(SWSH_Promo_215)#Release_information

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           AmbassadorStrč prst skrz krk

           (2 years ago)

           I mean yeah with respect to co-existence in the same sets I think it would be the XY era that kind of set the precedent for how things would be done from now on – CP4 (no direct English equivalent, it got scattered across promos/other sets) billed itself as the “EX x M x BREAK” set – i.e. Pokémon-EX, M-Pokémon-EX, and Pokémon BREAK were all considered to “co-exist” in the set, and you later saw similar with (normal ‘blue’) Pokémon GX existing alongside (Ultra Beast ‘red’) Pokémon GX, and then existing alongside Tag Team GX. Some of what I’m listing off is of mechanical consequence, some of it is purely flavor, but in terms of marketing and the way sets were designed the idea has been set up such that certain mechanics/gimmicks are deliberately existing alongside each other. Occasionally they’re framed as ‘rivalling’ mechanics (BREAK didn’t really do what it promised, which was to threaten Pokémon-EX, but that was the way they were framed; Tag Team GX clearly gave normal GX a run for their money).

           But no you’ve never seen “[previous Generation mechanic] x [new Generation mechanic]” as the theme of a set and it’s pretty obvious why – old Generation mechanic is old and busted, new Generation mechanic is the new hotness. You will occasionally see sort of transitory cards that acknowledge an old block mechanic and new block mechanic at the same time (e.g.s CEC Power Plant is still acknowledging the existence of Pokémon-EX despite coming out near the very end of Gen 8; RCI Scoop Up Net talks about both Pokémon V and Pokémon-GX) but it’s never a theme or a focus of a set to force them to co-exist. That the old mechanic is acknowledged at all is a concession to the fact they don’t do ‘resets’ of format rotation at the start of a new era.

           Tangent: Going forward, we’re probably going to see this just rolled in to one to talk about ‘rule box’ (compare CEC Power Plant to ASR Path to the Peak, it’s pretty obvious the latter is meant to be a future-proofed version of the former).

2. 

   Ambassador

   (2 years ago)

   To follow up on the above, Silver Tempest is going to have Regidraco VSTAR existing alongside Regidraco VMAX, so it’ll be another chance to see that recurring idea of mechanics “co-existing” in some kind of dualism/rivalry dynamic.

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