Journey Together Set Review
Journey Together is nearly here and brings a ton of great cards for GLC! Trainers' Pokémon are reintroduced in this set and because they all have their trainer's name prefixed to the Pokémon's name, all trainers' Pokémon can be played alongside the regular variant of the Pokémon. That means you can play multiple Snorlaxes now!
The Hop’s Colorless cards are so good that ban speculation has begun, and the big new Wailord is a 2 for 1 monster. We’ve everything you need to know about Journey Together for Gym Leader Challenge right here!
Grass
Butterfree
[G] Scales Hurricane: 60x damage. Flip 4 coins. This attack does 60 damage for each heads. If 2 or more are heads, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is Paralyzed.
Butterfree is a fun new option for status control decks that hits hard for just a single Grass energy. Pair it with Adaptive Evolution Caterpie and Metapod for a turn 1 donk!
Lilligant
Ability: Sunny Day
Your [G] and [R] Pokémon’s attacks do 20 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
[G][C][C] Spinning Attack: 60 damage.
Lilligant is damage boost ability Pokémon number 2 for Grass, adding to Lurantis as another option for making your Jumpluff and Dipplin hit even harder!
Fire
Magmortar
Ability: Magma Surge
During Pokémon Checkup, put 3 more damage counters on your opponent’s Burned Pokémon.
[R][R][C] Searing Flame: 90 damage. Flip a coin. If heads, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Burned.
Are you a burn enjoyer? Magmortar is a Fire Pokmeon that finally adds counters to burn damage rather than setting a hard number. Fire burn may not be a complete archetype yet, but Magmortar is certainly one step in the right direction.
N’s Darmanitan
[C][C] Backdraft: 30x damage. This attack does 30 damage for each Basic Energy card in your opponent’s discard pile.
[R][R][C] Darman-i-cannon: 90 damage. Discard all Energy from this Pokémon. This attack also does 90 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
N’s Darmanitan is yet another bench-sniping Fire option. Add this to Ninetales, Heatmor and Moltres and that’s quite the snipe crew. Darmanitan may fill a special niche because of the 90 damage to the active as well as 90 to the bench - a great option to test out!
Water
Ludicolo
Ability: Vital Samba
Each of your Pokémon in play gets +40HP. The effect of Vital Samba doesn’t stack.
[W][W][C] Hydro Splash: 130 damage.
Maybe not the most competitive option, but Ludicolo could be part of the ultimate tanky Water build. 40 HP is nothing to sneeze at!
Wailmer
[C][C][C] Surf: 60 damage.
130 HP Wailmer? Yes please.
Wailord
[C][C][C][C] Hydro Pump: 10+ damage. This attack does 50 more damage for each [W] Energy attached to this Pokémon.
A straight upgrade to the Vivid Voltage Wailord, Journey Together brings a 40 HP, no ability and 10 damage per Water energy buff to the Hydro Pump deck! This Wailord is sure to be seen rampaging across Gym Leader Challenge after its release. It is a 2 for 1 prize trade monster!
Lightning
N’s Jolitk
[C][C] Crackling Short: 30 damage. Before doing damage, discard all Pokémon Tool cards from your opponent’s Active Pokémon. If you discarded a Pokémon Tool card in this way, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
I’m having trouble visualizing where to play N’s Joltik, but I know I will be surprised by what Zman or Ghouls cooks up with this card. It fills a very specific control niche and I am interested to see what the community comes up with!
Iono’s Kilowattrel
Ability: Flash Draw
You must discard a Basic [L] Energy from this Pokémon in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand.
[L][C][C] Mach Bolt: 70 damage.
We were so close to the draw engine Lightning needed. Requiring an energy attachment to Iono’s Kilowattrel in order to draw is a hefty price to pay, but perhaps with the right build, this card prevents Lightning from needing to sprint everything away every turn. Very interesting option!
Psychic
Banette
[P] Cursed Speech: Your opponent shuffles 3 cards from their hand into their deck.
[P][C] Spooky Shot: 70 damage.
Goodness gracious I forgot this card was printed. Xerosic’s new best friend. If you pair this card with Xerosic’s Machinations, surely your opponent will walk away from the table. Truly an amazing option for Psychic control!
N’s Sigilyph
[P] Psychic Sphere: 20 damage.
[P][C][C] Victory Symbol: If you use this attack when you have only 1 Prize card remaining, you win this game.
N’s Sigilyph is an interesting option in Psychic for a free game winning play. 3 energy is a steep cost, but surely it’s playable in something?
Lillie’s Ribombee
Ability: Inviting Wink
Once during your turn, when you play this card from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, you may look at your opponent’s hand, choose any number of Basic Pokémon you find there, and put them onto their Bench.
[P] Magical Shot: 50 damage.
Our resident control players may find a way to sneak this into to their lists. Ribombee is an interesting option that could have niche usage in GLC.
Fighting
Regirock
Ability: Rock Armor
If this Pokémon has any Energy attached, it takes 30 less damage from attacks (after applying Weakness and Resistance).
[F][F][F] Buster Lariat: 120 damage. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Resistance.
160 effective HP on a basic Pokémon is a lot - a great option for energy acceleration builds like Garganacl and/or Coalossal that can put a lot of energy in play quickly.
Hop’s Silicobra
[C] : Search your deck for a Stadium card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
[F][C] Gnaw: 20 damage.
Hop's Silicobra is a great aggro option for Fighting! If you start with Hop's Choice Band, you can hit for an easy 50 damage turn 1 with a single energy. If not, you can search out the new Postwick stadium for turn 2 fun. Even better, if you start Guzma & Hala, Hop's Silicobra is yet another donk option hitting 100 on turn 1 thanks to Strong Energy (+20), Hop's Choice Band (+30) and Postwick (+30).
Hop’s Sandaconda
[F][C] Tremor: 30 damage. During your opponent’s next turn, the Defending Pokémon can’t retreat.
[F][C][C] Ground Break: 140 damage. This attack also does 20 damage to each of your Benched Pokémon.
Hop’s Sandaconda can hit incredibly hard for just 2 energy thanks to the new Hop's Choice Band tool that was printed in this set. Attach two turns in a row with Guz Hala retrieving the band and Postwick stadium, and you have a 140 HP attacker hitting for 200 damage on turn 2, not to mention the great synergy with other earthquake Pokémon!
Darkness
Bombirdier
[C] Glide: 20 damage.
[D][D][C] Drop Shot: Discard all Energy from this Pokémon. This attack does 120 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
Bombirdier is a fun new card for Darkness to play with. Perhaps it fits well in a rain dance Dark build? What cool ways will people come up with to play this new style of disruption card Dark didn’t previously have access to?
Metal
N’s Klinklang
[C] Magnet Blast: 50 damage.
[M][M][C] Triple Smash: 120x damage. Flip 3 coins. This attack does 120 damage for each heads.
If you love flipping coins, N’s Klinklang is for you. 50% of attacks it hits for 240 damage or more, and with all of Metal’s tankiness enablers, it could very easily attack twice in a row.
Magearna
Ability: Auto Heal
As long as this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, whenever you attach an Energy card from your hand to 1 of your Pokémon, heal 90 damage from that Pokémon.
[C] Spike Draw: 20 damage. Draw 2 cards.
Tank and Heal Metal may yet rise again. Using Magearna as a pivot, you can heal gobs of damage from your Pokémon each turn. If you pair this with rain dance Magnezone, you can heal off nearly unlimited damage in one go!
Dragon
N’s Reshiram
[R][L] Powerful Rage: 20x damage. This attack does 20 damage for each damage counter on this Pokémon.
[R][R][L][C] Virtuous Flame: 170 damage.
A bit lackluster for N’s Reshiram, but 170 damage in heavy energy accel builds will certainly be looked at. Welder and Turboblaze Reshiram come to mind to for getting more fire energy onto N’s Reshiram.
Colorless
Hop’s Snorlax
Ability: Big Belly
The attacks of your Hop’s Pokémon do 30 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). The effect of Big Belly doesn’t stack.
[C][C][C] Dynamic Press: This Pokémon also does 80 damage to itself.
TPC loves Snorlax! Because Hop’s Snorlax has a different name than “Snorlax”, you can play both Hop’s Snorlax and regular Snorlax in your GLC deck. This one hit for 170 damage for two energy on turn 1 using Hop's Choice Band, and further enables Hop’s Cramorant to hit for wild numbers for 0 or 1 energy. This card is sure to be seen in nearly every Colorless deck going forward. The main downside to this Snorlax is the self-damage which keeps it fairly balanced and opens up avenues for spread decks to take advantage of. Be sure to use Mallow & Lana and Scoop Up Net with this attacker.
Noivern
Ability: Tuning Echo
If you and your opponent have the same number of cards in your hands, ignore all Energy in this Pokémon’s Panic Howl attack cost.
[C][C][C] Panic Howl: 110 damage. Your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Confused.
A new favorite mechanic of TPC, Noivern is Colorless’s version of Psychic’s Iron Boulder (which sees a lot of play). Despite being a Stage 2, Noivern fills some interesting niches with free retreat and free attack. I am excited to see what decks this ends up being played in!
Hop’s Dubwool
Ability: Challenge Horn
When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you may switch in 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.
[C][C][C] Headbutt: 80 damage.
Hop’s Dubwool is an underappreciated card that should definitely see play. Boss on command for only Pokémon search is an incredible ability. The only thing that may keep this card out of Colorless decks is the sheer volume of amazing cards Colorless has to offer. Definitely play Scoop Up Net with Hop’s Dubwool!
In addition to the amazing ability, Hop’s Dubwool is an evolution Pokémon which gives an option to clear opposing Pokémon such as Eiscue, Nidoqueen and the like which block attacks by Basic Pokémon (a weakness of a turbo Colorless deck).
Hop’s Cramorant
[C] Fickle Spit: 120 damage. If your opponent doesn’t have exactly 3 or 4 Prize cards remaining, this attack does nothing.
Cramorant is one of the best cards we’ve seen in a while in the context of an existing deck. Colroless decks sometimes had trouble reloading attackers around the 3-4 prize turn because of the steep cost of attacks, usually costing 3 energy each. Cramorant can attack for free, for 150, 180 or even 210 damage. The 1 energy attack cost and easy recyclability makes Cramorant such an amazing option for Colorless it cannot be understated. I am expecting big things out of this Cramorant!
Trainers
Hop’s Bag
Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Hop’s Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
Hop’s Bag is Battle VIP Pass with no turn restriction, but limited to Hop’s Pokémon. Any list playing Hop’s Pokémon should heavily consider this as an option!
Hop’s Choice Band
When the Hop’s Pokémon this card is attached to uses an attack, that attack costs 1 [C] Energy less and does 30 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
What an incredible card! Hop’s Choice Band combines Defiance Band and Karate Belt into a single card with no “behind on prizes” restriction. In my opinion, this card should be under consideration for a ban - it is truly that strong. This enables Snorlax turn 1 for up to 230 damage and Cramorant hitting for 0 energy for up to 210 damage!
Iris’s Fighting Spirit
Discard a card from your hand. If you do, draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand.
Iris’s Fighting Spirit is another decent draw Supporter we are sure to see pop up in decks here or there. If you are playing an aggro list with tons of options where discarding is a benefit, consider Iris!
Levincia
Once during each player’s turn, that player may put up to 2 Basic [L] Energy cards from their discard pile into their hand.
Levincia gives Lightning an option to recycle energy from the discard to hand which is fantastic if you are running rain dance Magnezone, or even potentially Iono’s Kilowattrel. What a great stadium for Lightning!
Lillie’s Pearl
If the Lillie’s Pokémon this card is attached to is Knocked Out by damage from an opponent’s Pokémon’s attack, your opponent takes 1 fewer Prize card.
Not broken yet, but potentially broken in the future.
N’s PP Up
Attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to 1 of your Benched N’s Pokémon.
N’s PP Up is the subject of many juvenile jokes, but it is a decent choice if you are running N’s Reshiram or N’s Klinklang.
Postwick
The attacks of Hop’s Pokémon (both yours and your opponent’s) do 30 more damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
A big damage enabler, Postwick lets those Hop’s Pokémon hit very hard, but also means your own Pokémon take extra damage. Be careful what you wish for!
Redeemable Ticket
After counting your Prize cards, shuffle them and put them on the bottom of your deck. Then, take that many cards from the top of your deck and put them face down as your Prize cards.
Goodbye Rotom Dex, hello Redeemable Ticket! Drizzile or Colress’s Experiment stuck in the prizes? Go put them in your deck with this new prize interaction card! Guibs famous Chansey deck will also enjoy stacking cards like Greedy Dice, Chansey and more into the prizes with this.
Ruffian
Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. Discard a Pokémon Tool and a Special Energy from that Pokémon.
Yet another interesting choice for control decks. Ruffian keeps opposing Special Energy and tools in check in one go - like Faba but on steroids.
Spike Energy
While attached to a Pokémon, this card provides 1 [C] Energy.
If the Pokémon this card is attached to is in the Active Spot and is damaged by an attack from your opponent’s Pokémon (even if it is Knocked Out), put 2 damage counters on the Attacking Pokémon.
Spread decks just got a great new tool to put more damage on the board with a new Horror Energy, but for all types.
Conclusion
Thanks for sticking through our Journey Together (lol). There are so many great GLC cards in this set and I am excited to see them played soon!