Wondering if Cross Fist would get the secondary effect from the same Zeraora V if you retreated it to the bench and then switched it back to the active spot. This works for circumventing “next turn, this pokemon can’t attack” drawbacks since benching the pokemon clears that status, so logically it would similarly “reset” this Zeraora’s status as the initial user of Cross Fist.
Sure! I can’t guarantee there are no errors (maybe I missed one?) but this is what I have:
Masako Tomii
Yoshioka
toriyufu
matazo
OKUBO
Natsumi Yoshida
Cona Nitanda
Tetsu Kayama
KYUPIYAMA
rika
Bun Toujo
Kedamahadaitai Yawarakai
Takeshi Nakamura
satoma
Kariya
Keisin
Taiga Kayama
Oku
Holon’s Pokémon like Holon’s Castform can be played as either Pokémon or Special Energy.
There’s a Klefki card from Steam Siege (Klefki STS 80) that has an Ability that allows you to attach it as a Pokémon Tool card to 1 of your Pokémon, though you discard it at the start of your next turn.
Bl4ck
A Pokémon that works as energy… Is there another effect that works in a similar way? A trainer or an Ability with a similar rule?
Bonus, Gardevoir ex decks like using it to recover Pokémon primarily. But in some situations, they can use it to recover 3 Psychic Energies and use Shining Arcana to accelerate 8+ energies in one turn.
This kind of flexibility makes Super Rod so much more versatile than its pre-errata version.
It also depends on the deck. Gardevoir ex, for instance, would prefer Super over Ordinary (in a hypothetical standard format where both are legal) because Gardevoir ex rarely wants to recover basic energy, so being allowed to recover three pokémon is better than the two pokémon Ordinary Rod allows
the “up to” errata text definitely pushed super rod back over the line. prior the forced shuffle 3 made it situationally worse while ordinary rod could get back more at max and less when required, now super rod can get back more (of 1 type) at max with same flexibility.
Twylis
When Ordinary Rod released I saw it almost universally regarded as superior to Super Rod, but now that Ordinary Rod rotated out of standard and Super Rod is legal instead, I’ve been seeing a lot of claims that Super Rod is the better recovery card.
Did the merit of Super Rod’s increased flexibility only become apparent after having been limited to Ordinary Rod, or is the playerbase just biased toward whatever is currently legal? It does seem Super Rod can adapt better to the current game state, but numbers-wise Ordinary Rod seems like a clearly stronger effect.
And I always thought it was a stone arch bridge! I was imagining Gengar was in a Monet-type setting painted by Vincent Van Gogh under Starry Night conditions. I suppose I am still looking at a river, though… right?
Strikes Back does not chain, because it only triggers on the “opponent’s attack,” and not damage from Pokémon Powers.
Pokenewbie
Big noob question: what happens if my opponent and I have this Machamp as the Active Pokemon, my opponent attacks with “Seismic Toss”, then my Machamp attacks his with “Strikes Back”, will the opposing Machamp be able to use “Strikes Back” afterwards since it also took damage, essentially striking each other until one gets knocked out?
There is a website called TCGONE where people play many Wizards of the Coast era Pokémon formats, along with Worlds formats from 2004 to 2008 and from 2013 to 2019. New sets stopped being added at Chilling Reign so the few remaining volunteers could focus on bug fixes and adding older formats, but there are still plenty of formats to try out!
You can playtest cards using Tabletop simulator (available on Steam). Just go on YouTube and search “Playing Pokemon TCG in Tabletop Simulator – Start Here” and youll be on your way :)
Man, sometimes I wish there was a client like PTCGO/PTCGL that supported Unlimited play so stuff like that could be playtested and so on. I remember Jason dominating the game for a period as well. I didn’t play competitively until late EX / early DP era, but I’d have LOVED to have played WotC era cards competitively, just for the fun of it.
Not sure if it was played in Japan at the time, but Jason Klaczynski has a Base-Neo Tyranitar/Brock’s Ninetales deck on his blog. I have seen someone playing a similar list in of Hall of Fame within the past few months, but as for how widely it was played in its historical context, I honestly cannot say.
Whimsicott saw more play than Gourgeist due to it having a one Energy attack and access immediately upon release to U-Turn Board UNM 211 and being in a format with 3 Prize Card targets that would be Knocked Out by Flying Fury like Pikachu & Zekrom GX and Mewtwo & Mew GX. 90HP also helped it when Level Ball came out one set after Whimsicott VIV released.
It also saw play years later in the Expanded format in combination with Whimsicott VIV 76 as a rogue deck, able to turn Whimsicott’s Flying Fury into an attack capable of knocking out any Pokémon in the entire format.
For context: in Unlimited 150, basic Pokémon with over 150 HP were banned, and Pokémon Prime and Holo Rare Pokémon from Black and White onward were converted into ex’s. This meant that you could not play Glalie EX. However, another custom rule let you play Mega Pokémon EX onto a Pokémon with the same name as the EX that Pokémon would normally evolve from, as long as that Pokémon is already an evolved Pokémon or a Leveled Up Pokémon (M Mewtwo EX could evolve from Mewtwo Lv. X, M Houndoom EX could evolve from Houndoom UF, etc.). Spirit Links were all banned, and Archie’s and Maxie’s were nerfed to only work with basic Pokémon, so your turn was guaranteed to end… but once your 200+ HP Pokémon got into play, you could trade prizes favorably, then retreat to the bench and use Whimsicott AOR to move damage off of it onto a frailer Pokémon. Definitely worth losing a turn for.
That island has always intrigued me, in french the set is called “EX Dragon Island” so I’ve always wondered if the island in question was the floating one in the artworks. The set’s icon is also an island and all this time I assumed it was a regular water island but the more I look at it…
Drizzile saw play for two reasons. one, scoop up net made it really easy to recycle drizziles and keep searching. and two, drizzile had more use past its ability. It could evolve a second time, and either search 2 more trainer cards, or drop 2 damage counters each turn if you played the rapid strike inteleon.
Drizzile saw very little play right before Chilling Reign gave us RS Sobble and RS Inteleon
arda
Would see a lot of if it would have a proper lost block.
Sam
First Audino in a long while!
Mountain Dew Code Red
this card would be amazing with meowstic ex
brken11
“Benching [either] Pokémon ends the effect [on THAT Pokémon]”
The effect on the opponent’s Weakness remains if Cool Porygon enters your bench. Likewise, if the opponent switches, Cool Porygon preserves the Resistance Change.
This card was given away at various stores in 2019 to promote the release of the movie Detective Pikachu. It’s readily available on online marketplaces for a few dollars. There are links to TCGPlayer and Ebay above, but the cardmarket link is broken on this card. Here’s a working link: https://www.cardmarket.com/en/Pokemon/Products/Singles/SM-Black-Star-Promos/Bulbasaur-SMSM198
SquidSystem
It’s a shame that this card is pretty much always worse than Radiant Alakazam. It’s a fun card!
Twylis
Wondering if Cross Fist would get the secondary effect from the same Zeraora V if you retreated it to the bench and then switched it back to the active spot. This works for circumventing “next turn, this pokemon can’t attack” drawbacks since benching the pokemon clears that status, so logically it would similarly “reset” this Zeraora’s status as the initial user of Cross Fist.
The frequently-unreliable Compendium addresses using a different Zeraora V, but doesn’t address this scenario:
https://compendium.pokegym.net/category/3-attacks/cross-fist/
JP
Sure! I can’t guarantee there are no errors (maybe I missed one?) but this is what I have:
Masako Tomii
Yoshioka
toriyufu
matazo
OKUBO
Natsumi Yoshida
Cona Nitanda
Tetsu Kayama
KYUPIYAMA
rika
Bun Toujo
Kedamahadaitai Yawarakai
Takeshi Nakamura
satoma
Kariya
Keisin
Taiga Kayama
Oku
Anonymous
Did you write down a list of the eighteen illustrators? If so, could you please share it?
SPIRE_FAN
That’s a pretty cool fun fact.
Stewart of Gondor
Hey–same ability as on Klawf ex!
JP
Charjabug UNB is another example!
EctoCandy
I can think of a few other neat examples:
Holon’s Pokémon like Holon’s Castform can be played as either Pokémon or Special Energy.
There’s a Klefki card from Steam Siege (Klefki STS 80) that has an Ability that allows you to attach it as a Pokémon Tool card to 1 of your Pokémon, though you discard it at the start of your next turn.
Bl4ck
A Pokémon that works as energy… Is there another effect that works in a similar way? A trainer or an Ability with a similar rule?
brken11
Bonus, Gardevoir ex decks like using it to recover Pokémon primarily. But in some situations, they can use it to recover 3 Psychic Energies and use Shining Arcana to accelerate 8+ energies in one turn.
This kind of flexibility makes Super Rod so much more versatile than its pre-errata version.
SenatorStonk
It also depends on the deck. Gardevoir ex, for instance, would prefer Super over Ordinary (in a hypothetical standard format where both are legal) because Gardevoir ex rarely wants to recover basic energy, so being allowed to recover three pokémon is better than the two pokémon Ordinary Rod allows
Anonymous
Someone on the Steelix ex page said that Snorlax GX had more symbols still: an impressive 19 Energy symbols.
s
the “up to” errata text definitely pushed super rod back over the line. prior the forced shuffle 3 made it situationally worse while ordinary rod could get back more at max and less when required, now super rod can get back more (of 1 type) at max with same flexibility.
Twylis
When Ordinary Rod released I saw it almost universally regarded as superior to Super Rod, but now that Ordinary Rod rotated out of standard and Super Rod is legal instead, I’ve been seeing a lot of claims that Super Rod is the better recovery card.
Did the merit of Super Rod’s increased flexibility only become apparent after having been limited to Ordinary Rod, or is the playerbase just biased toward whatever is currently legal? It does seem Super Rod can adapt better to the current game state, but numbers-wise Ordinary Rod seems like a clearly stronger effect.
Whimsicast
This card saw some niche play in Flareon PLF decks in the Legacy Format (HS-LTR)
Anonymous
The problem is when the reviews ARE the back cover and you have to open the cover to read the blurb.
Anonymous
And I always thought it was a stone arch bridge! I was imagining Gengar was in a Monet-type setting painted by Vincent Van Gogh under Starry Night conditions. I suppose I am still looking at a river, though… right?
Skwoveet yeet
Best crystal type artwork!!
JP
Strikes Back does not chain, because it only triggers on the “opponent’s attack,” and not damage from Pokémon Powers.
Pokenewbie
Big noob question: what happens if my opponent and I have this Machamp as the Active Pokemon, my opponent attacks with “Seismic Toss”, then my Machamp attacks his with “Strikes Back”, will the opposing Machamp be able to use “Strikes Back” afterwards since it also took damage, essentially striking each other until one gets knocked out?
Anonymous
There is a website called TCGONE where people play many Wizards of the Coast era Pokémon formats, along with Worlds formats from 2004 to 2008 and from 2013 to 2019. New sets stopped being added at Chilling Reign so the few remaining volunteers could focus on bug fixes and adding older formats, but there are still plenty of formats to try out!
Mike
You can playtest cards using Tabletop simulator (available on Steam). Just go on YouTube and search “Playing Pokemon TCG in Tabletop Simulator – Start Here” and youll be on your way :)
Anon
it exists, it’s called TCG ONE
Jack
Man, sometimes I wish there was a client like PTCGO/PTCGL that supported Unlimited play so stuff like that could be playtested and so on. I remember Jason dominating the game for a period as well. I didn’t play competitively until late EX / early DP era, but I’d have LOVED to have played WotC era cards competitively, just for the fun of it.
Diego
Darkness Chant is decent, but Shadow steal could be a nightmare to dark and metal type decks in the late game.
Anonymous
Not sure if it was played in Japan at the time, but Jason Klaczynski has a Base-Neo Tyranitar/Brock’s Ninetales deck on his blog. I have seen someone playing a similar list in of Hall of Fame within the past few months, but as for how widely it was played in its historical context, I honestly cannot say.
https://jklaczpokemon.com/base-to-neo-decks/#brocks-ninetales-tyranitar
Erik
Thank u JP <3
i_know_bagu
Thank you JP!
nago
When JP says “we”, what JP really meant is that he did it by himself. Everybody say “Thank you JP!”
JP
We’ve corrected the release dates & formats for Alternate A cards! This should be helpful for folks who want to build era-accurate retro decks.
dotdotdot
looks like daisy from mario
Dusk Mage Necrozma
The final Fairy-type. (unless you count the Xerneas EX in Celebrations)
CoolKid
Perfect Team
Shellos REAL
i like shellow too
Whimsicast
Whimsicott saw more play than Gourgeist due to it having a one Energy attack and access immediately upon release to U-Turn Board UNM 211 and being in a format with 3 Prize Card targets that would be Knocked Out by Flying Fury like Pikachu & Zekrom GX and Mewtwo & Mew GX. 90HP also helped it when Level Ball came out one set after Whimsicott VIV released.
Whimsicast
It also saw play years later in the Expanded format in combination with Whimsicott VIV 76 as a rogue deck, able to turn Whimsicott’s Flying Fury into an attack capable of knocking out any Pokémon in the entire format.
Toobin
Look at how happy she is!!!
JP
It did! Its partner was Trubbish PLS 65 with Tool Drop, which does 20x for each Tool in play (on both sides of the field).
JP
https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards/series/ex15/6/ ?
Doc Martens
this card isnt real i looked it up
Guest
For context: in Unlimited 150, basic Pokémon with over 150 HP were banned, and Pokémon Prime and Holo Rare Pokémon from Black and White onward were converted into ex’s. This meant that you could not play Glalie EX. However, another custom rule let you play Mega Pokémon EX onto a Pokémon with the same name as the EX that Pokémon would normally evolve from, as long as that Pokémon is already an evolved Pokémon or a Leveled Up Pokémon (M Mewtwo EX could evolve from Mewtwo Lv. X, M Houndoom EX could evolve from Houndoom UF, etc.). Spirit Links were all banned, and Archie’s and Maxie’s were nerfed to only work with basic Pokémon, so your turn was guaranteed to end… but once your 200+ HP Pokémon got into play, you could trade prizes favorably, then retreat to the bench and use Whimsicott AOR to move damage off of it onto a frailer Pokémon. Definitely worth losing a turn for.
Sam
That island has always intrigued me, in french the set is called “EX Dragon Island” so I’ve always wondered if the island in question was the floating one in the artworks. The set’s icon is also an island and all this time I assumed it was a regular water island but the more I look at it…
Sam
Anyone have any thoughts on this card for GLC?
Mountain Dew Code Red
Drizzile saw play for two reasons. one, scoop up net made it really easy to recycle drizziles and keep searching. and two, drizzile had more use past its ability. It could evolve a second time, and either search 2 more trainer cards, or drop 2 damage counters each turn if you played the rapid strike inteleon.
Drizzile saw very little play right before Chilling Reign gave us RS Sobble and RS Inteleon
arda
Would see a lot of if it would have a proper lost block.
Sam
First Audino in a long while!
Mountain Dew Code Red
this card would be amazing with meowstic ex
brken11
“Benching [either] Pokémon ends the effect [on THAT Pokémon]”
The effect on the opponent’s Weakness remains if Cool Porygon enters your bench. Likewise, if the opponent switches, Cool Porygon preserves the Resistance Change.
arda
You can’t hit as cool porygon is colorless and switching porygon ends the effect?
brken11
If they don’t switch the Pokémon out during their turn you can hit for weakness on the next one… It’s not a good effect, but a neat one.
arda
If benching ends weakness effect on defending pokemon how can it be even useful?
Mountain Dew Code Red
too easy to switch out
arda
Improved version of Icecalibur on Kyurem EX
Wonder why they don’t played much.
koh
so cute! I like this new artist!!
Doc Martens
this is like the OG. the first card on earth
Doc Martens
is this misprinted where its pink? why is there pink?
Doc Martens
i think this won worlds a few years ago
Doc Martens
just use energy spinner
Lycan
I wish this card did 20 more dmg would be so much more usable
Gaardus
This card was given away at various stores in 2019 to promote the release of the movie Detective Pikachu. It’s readily available on online marketplaces for a few dollars. There are links to TCGPlayer and Ebay above, but the cardmarket link is broken on this card. Here’s a working link: https://www.cardmarket.com/en/Pokemon/Products/Singles/SM-Black-Star-Promos/Bulbasaur-SMSM198
SquidSystem
It’s a shame that this card is pretty much always worse than Radiant Alakazam. It’s a fun card!