Scarlet & Violet 151 Set Review
With the final cards of Pokemon Card 151’s Main Set revealed in Japan, I thought it’d be a good idea to go through every card that I personally thought had some semblance of usefulness. Whether it’s simply a better Basic for an evolution line, leads to funny meme deck potential, or is actually prevalent in an upcoming meta, here are all the cards I think are worth mentioning for GLC from ‘Pokemon Card 151’!
****
Butterfree – Grass – HP130
Stage 2 – Evolves from Metapod
[G] Whirlwind: 60 damage. Your opponent switches their Active Pokémon with 1 of their Benched Pokémon.
[C][C] Bye-Bye Flight: Choose 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. They shuffle that Pokémon and all attached cards into their deck. Then, shuffle this Pokémon and all attached cards into your deck.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 1
Some people had their eye on this card already, but this card is very interesting, especially given the prevalence of Archeops in today’s meta. Its second attack “Bye-Bye Flight” allows you to target any of your opponent’s benched Pokemon and shuffle it back into the deck. The most notable use of this is the aforementioned Archeops, but even against decks like Water or Metal, shuffling in their Blastoise, Baxcalibur, or Magnezone puts a huge thorn into the players’ side, potentially stalling out multiple turns if done at an opportune moment. It’s even further benefited by the pre-evolutions for Butterfree: Caterpie and Metapod. These have the ability “Adaptive Evolution”, which reads “This Pokemon can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it.” allowing Butterfree to be set up in only one turn.
****
Pidgey – Colorless – HP50
Basic Pokemon
[C] Call for Family: Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
[C][C] Tackle: 20 damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
Everyone’s favorite BDIF just got a little bit better - Now alongside Minccino, Colorless has another phenomenal starter in the form of this Pidgey with its Call for Family attack, allowing you to search your deck for 2 Basics and place them on the bench. It’s simple but effective, and makes the deck just that much better, especially in the early turns.
Pidgeot – Colorless – HP130
Stage 2 – Evolves from Pidgeotto
[C] Flap: 40 damage.
[C][C][C] Fly: 150 damage. Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing. If heads, during your opponent’s next turn, prevent all damage from and effects of attacks done to this Pokémon.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 0
This card might seem like a meme to some, but if you find the deck space and are willing to tango with Lady Luck, this card could be for you! If you’re a huge Pidgeotto believer, consider this Pidgeot during your next update for your Colorless deck, as it can (potentially) turn your measly support Pokemon into one heck of an attacker! It doesn’t have the highest bulk, but its attack “Fly” could potentially make up for that! Personally, it’s a bit too high risk, as you’re dedicating 3 energies for an attack that reads “If tails, this attack does nothing.” However, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people ran this card and it started to steal games right from under people’s noses.
Spearow – Colorless – HP50
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Evolutionary Advantage
If you go second, this Pokemon can evolve during your first turn.
[C] Speed Dive: 10 damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
****
Fearow – Colorless – HP90**
Stage 1 – Evolves from Spearow
[C] Beak Catch: Search your deck for up to 3 cards and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
[C] Speed Dive: 50 damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 0
Now this evolution line could be spicy into certain builds of Colorless control. Being able to search for 3 cards on your first turn going second is an incredibly powerful attack, and while it does require you to not only go second, but also have the means to get Spearow out evolve it, get it into the active, AND have the energy to attack. Maybe, just maybe someone can find the usefulness of this card and make it devastating. Luckily the Fearow is Level Ball searchable with 90 HP, so you could hypothetically get this off with a simple Ball Guy. Just make sure to check your prizes!
Raichu – Lightning – HP120
Stage 1 – Evolves from Pikachu
Ability: Grounding
When your 1 of your Pokemon is Knocked Out by damage from an attack from your opponent’s Pokemon, you may move 1 Basic [L] Energy card from that Pokemon to this Pokemon.
[L][L][C] Thunder: 180 damage. This Pokemon also does 50 damage to itself.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 1
Lightning continues to get some interesting big hitters. This Raichu has the effect of Exp Share as its ability, meaning that it’s actually a pretty low maintenance attacker. The downside? A stage 1, with low bulk and even less after taking 50 damage from its own attack. Lightning continues to be dependent on Raikou in order to offset a bad prize trade, because otherwise its attackers are all too frail. Maybe if you forgo the usual approach and just start swinging, you could see some success with a card like Raichu.
Sandshrew – Fighting – HP60
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Hide in Sand
Trainer cards in your opponent’s discard pile can’t be returned to the deck by the effect of your opponent’s Item or Supporter cards.
[C][C] Scratch: 30 damage.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 1
If control ever becomes meta-defining again, Fighting just got a pretty splashable tech for the matchup. Sandshrew stops your opponent from shuffling Trainer cards back into the deck through the effect of Items or Supporters, meaning your opponent can’t use Pal Pad or Cyllene for specific targets. It’s definitely a bit lackluster, as if it read no into-deck recycling period it would be an auto include for certain. Still, it’s good to have options, and Fighting is starting to get them here and there, though they’re still not the greatest
Nidoqueen – Darkness – HP170
Stage 2 – Evolves from Nidorina
[D][C] Queen Press: 90 damage. During your opponent’s next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokemon by attacks from Basic Pokemon.
[D][D][C] Lunge Out: 160 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
****
Nidoking – Darkness – HP170**
Stage 2 – Evolves from Nidorino
Ability: King’s Vigor
If Nidoqueen is on your Bench, this Pokemon’s attacks cost no Energy.
[D][D][C][C] Venom Impact: 190 damage. Your opponent’s Active Pokemon is now Poisoned.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3Honestly, I love this deck concept. It’s gonna be tough to pull off, as it’s two Stage 2s you have to have in play, but if you succeed, it’s pretty darn good! Nidoking, so long as Nidoqueen is on your bench, gets to attack for FREE, making its high attack cost a breeze. This lets you swing for an effective 200 DAMAGE after the poison at the end of the turn! The Nidoqueen isn’t too shabby either, blocking damage done by your opponent’s Basics during their next turn. I don’t think this core will be meta defining, as it’s just too slow and subject to bad prizing. I do think however, that anyone who loves Nidoqueen and Nidoking now has a very good duo of cards for these Pokemon.
Clefable – Psychic – HP100
Stage 1 – Evolves from Clefairy
[P] Follow Me: Switch in 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.
[P][P][P] Additional Moon: 50 damage. If your opponent’s Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, take 1 more Prize card.
Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2
Anyone who knows me knows I’m excited for this card. I genuinely believe this card has a lot of potential, especially in a Psychic spread list. Being able to manipulate damage counters with Dusknoir enables the potential of getting off a MASSIVE prize turn with this Clefable, potentially sniping off a few low HP mons with Dusknoir while still having the means to getting the KO with Clefable. Unfortunately, it has a 3P attack cost, meaning it can’t be cheapened through Dimension Valley. However with the addition of Reversal Energy and the fact that Psychic Spread is often behind in prizes until the game’s final few turns, I think this is a very doable and arguably very good card.
****
Zubat – Darkness – HP40
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Full-Vision Echo
Once during your turn, if this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, you may use this Ability. Your opponent reveals their hand.
[C] Bite: 10 damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
**
Golbat – Darkness – HP80
Stage 1 – Evolves from Zubat
[C] Skill Dive: This attack does 40 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
This Zubat was ALMOST a shoe-in for the best Zubat in Dark. Its ability Full-Vision Echo lets you see your opponent’s hand if it’s in the active, except it would need one more thing to achieve absolute GOAT status: Free Retreat. There’s a Zubat from Silver Tempest with free retreat, and while it doesn’t have an ability, that might just prove to be beneficial for the same reasons as to why I bring up the second card in this segment: Golbat. Now Golbat isn’t anything flashy; it does 40 damage to one of your opponent’s Pokemon and has no ability. Many of you would claim that it is inferior to the Discreet Draw Golbat we got in Battle Styles, which allows you to draw 2 when you evolve into it. However, as a Dark Snipe enthusiast, and a firm believer in not only Silver Tempest’s Critical Bite Crobat but also Rule of Evil Weavile, I think this Golbat holds merit. You don’t have to be afraid during the early turns of swinging with this Weavile about KO-ing your sitting Golbat or making it easier for your opponent to KO as you wait for the opportune time to swoop in with Crobat. Additionally, depending on how slowly your opponent starts, swinging for 40 for 1 energy ain’t too shabby.
Gloom – Grass – HP70
Stage 1 – Evolves from Oddish
Ability: Early Bloom Energy
When you play this Pokemon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokemon during your turn, you may look at the top 3 cards of your deck and attach any number of Basic Energy cards you find there to your Pokemon in any way you like. Shuffle the other cards back into your deck.
[C][C] Drool: 30 damage.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
This Gloom could potentially be the best Gloom for Vileplume enjoyers? It’s a little hard to say. It’s ability can only be used when you evolve it, and also only looks at the top 3 cards of the deck to search for energy. Nevertheless, maybe that’s worth it for some of you. The Vileplume from this set however is just inferior to everything else Grass has to offer in terms of acceleration, and worse than the Item Locking Irritating Poison Vileplume as well.
Parasect – Grass – HP120
Stage 1 – Evolves from Paras
[G] Scatter Fungus: Flip 2 coins. For each heads, search your deck for a [G] Pokémon and put it onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
[C][C] Claw Slash: 50 damage.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2
This Parasect is gas. You may call it a meme, but I call it a dream! Being able to cheat out powerful stage 2s is undoubtedly strong in GLC. While it is on a coin flip, this could bring a whole new flavor to Grass Control, especially if your goal is to make your opponent absolutely hate you. Cheating out cards like Irritating Poison Vileplume, Swaying Strangle Cradily, POGO’s Loopy Lasso Venusaur, or even Quick-Ripening Herb Meganium could be incredibly powerful at looping some of the control cards Grass has to offer, albeit you have to dance with Lady Luck in order to do so.
Venomoth – Grass – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Venonat
[G] Distraction Powder: 30 damage. Your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Confused. During your opponent’s next turn, they can’t play any Item cards from their hand.
[G][C][C]: Speed Wing: 90 damage.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2Let’s continue down the train of Grass Control, cuz man is this Venomoth kind of disgusting. For only a single Grass Energy on a Stage 1, you can do 30 damage to your opponent’s active, leave it confused, AND lock your opponent from playing Item cards during their next turn. Combine this with the aforementioned Swaying Strangle Cradily, and you’ll be locking your opponent in the active, without even Escape Rope to save them! Honestly, this could bring some heavy competition to Vileplume in Grass Control lists because even though it is an attack for turn and isn’t passive, it doesn’t lock you out of items and leaves you with some more deck building potential. Being a stage 1 over a stage 2 also helps.
Primeape – Fighting – HP120
Stage 1 – Evolves from Mankey
[F] Yell: 40 damage. This Pokémon is now Confused.
[F][C][C] Enraged Smash: 150 damage. If this Pokémon isn’t Confused, this attack fails.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2
I’ll keep this one short: This Primeape is probably not the best, but swinging for 150 as you wait to evolve into Annihilape is pretty darn good. It’s a shame Enraged Smash doesn’t bypass the Confusion flip since it has Confusion as a prerequisite to attack, but I’m not a card designer.
Arcanine – Fire – HP150
Stage 1 – Evolves from Growlithe
[R} Heat Up: 30 damage. Attach up to 2 Basic [R] Energy cards from your discard pile to this Pokemon.
[R][R][C][C] Dynamite Fang: 240 damage. Discard 2 [R] Energy from this Pokemon.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 4Have you ever wanted to blow something up? Well now you can, as Arcanine’s Dynamite Fang swings for an unprecedented 240 damage! The cost? Discarding two Fire energy, which is really only one as long as you have POGO’s Burn Brightly Charizard in play. Arcanine already evolved from a pretty phenomenal Growlithe from Scarlet & Violet, however some argue that it unfortunately still isn’t good enough when compared to Grand Flame Arcanine’s utility. Personally, I think there’s an argument to be made either way, and its compatibility with Double Colorless Energy is something one can mess with. I particularly like that unlike Grand Flame Arcanine’s second attack Heat Tackle, Dynamite Fang doesn’t do damage to itself, allowing you to maybe attach a tool to further this Pokemon’s survivability and continue to OHKO practically everything in the format.
Poliwrath – Water – HP160
Stage 2 – Evolves from Poliwhirl
[W] Bubble Beam: 50 damage. Flip a coin. If heads, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
[W][C][C] Hearty Punch: 100+ damage. Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 150 more damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2
I don’t think this Poliwrath is great. If it was a stage 1, maybe, but coin flipping for meaningful damage on a stage 2 is incredibly lackluster (see Pidgeot above). However, I think Poliwrath fans got a card they can actually use, and that’s a good enough reason to mention it in this article. That, and the Art Rare for the Poliwhirl that has been revealed at the time of writing is honestly super cool.
Machop – Fighting – HP70
Basic Pokemon
[F] Flicker: Discard the top card of your opponent’s deck.
[F][F] Punch: 30 damage.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2
Could this be the optimal Machop? I think it’s up to the user and how much they value a discard over 20 damage when compared to Lost Origin’s Machop. Personally, I value it rather highly in a singleton format, and it can hit a little higher with 30 damage, albeit for 2 energy.
Victreebel – Grass – HP150
Stage 2 – Evolves from Weepinbel
[G] Spit Out: 50 damage.
[G][C] Delayed Acid: 120 damage. At the end of your opponent’s next turn, put 12 damage counters on the Defending Pokémon.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 3
This card is also gas. Combine this with all the aforementioned Grass Control stuff, and you’ve got a pretty devastating and cheap attacker. Use Battle Styles’s Weepinbell to leave your opponent’s active Burned and Poisoned, lock them into the active with Swaying Strangle Cradily or Galar Mine, and watch the damage fall at the end of your opponent’s next turn as you laugh maniacally, KO-ing practically everything in the format.
Ponyta – Fire – HP70
Basic Pokemon
[R] Collect: Draw a card.
[R][C][C] Flop: 30 damage.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 1
Rapidash enjoyers just got a better Ponyta. Personally, I think Heat Boost Rapidash is under-explored in Fire, as one thing it really struggles with is hitting the right numbers. Maybe this Ponyta giving the pre-evolution a bit more merit as a starter will make Fire Gym Leaders willing to try the flaming horse once more.
Slowbro – Psychic – HP130
Stage 1 – Evolves from Slowpoke
[P] Big Yawn: Both Active Pokémon are now Asleep.
[P][C][C] Leisurely Tackle: 160 damage. If this Pokémon evolved during this turn, this attack does nothing.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 2
Psychic gets a good Slowbro? A stage 1 that is Double Colorless compatible and swings for 160 is pretty darn good. Some talk has come up regarding its use in Garbodor deck, as it lacks an ability and is an easy attack to power up, and I think this line of logic holds some merit. The downside of it not being able to use its good attack the turn it evolves is honestly pretty negligible, however undoubtedly it will come up at some point, and it’ll be a sad sad day for the Slowbro enjoyer.
Magneton – Lightning – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Magnemite
[L] Junk Magnets: Put up to 2 Item cards from your discard pile into your hand.
[L][C][C] Head Bolt: 60 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 1
A pretty good Magneton, especially if you plan on going all the way to Dual Brains Magnezone. In a control list of sorts utilizing Dual Brains Magnezone to apply consistent pressure through your supporters, this Magneton seems like a shoe-in, and you don’t really wanna give your opponent a prize card with the Call Signal Magneton if you can help it, as this ultimately shortens your clock when playing control.
Dodrio – Colorless – HP100
Stage 1 – Evolves from Doduo
Ability: Rampage Draw
You must put a damage counter on this Pokémon in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw a card.
[C] Raging Beaks: 10+ damage. This attack does 30 more damage for each damage counter on this Pokémon.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
Colorless gets more support options, except this one also acts as an attacker! Dodrio’s ability has perfect synergy with its attack, and being able to swing for a maximum of 280 for 1 energy is pretty card busted. With so many options, you can now customize your colorless deck in a ton of different ways, and with those customizations show what you value when playing the GLC format. Some players have been saying this could replace the slots dedicated to Pidgeotto in some lists, and while personally I think I value the new Call for Family Pidgey pretty highly, it is definitely up for debate amongst Colorless Gym Leaders on who they wanna run and why.
Dewgong – Water – HP130
Stage 1 – Evolves from Seel
[W][C] Dual Splash: This attack does 50 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
[W][C][C] Aurora Beam: 100 damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2
Water Snipe got a 2 energy snipe 50 to 2? Unfortunately it’s on a stage 1, but simply having more accessible attackers is vital to Water Snipe’s success. I’ll be messing with it in the coming months either before or when it releases internationally.
Haunter – Psychic – HP80
Stage 1 – Evolves from Gastly
Ability: Lost Soul Return
Once during your turn, when you play this card from your hand to evolve a Pokemon, you may choose a Supporter card from your opponent’s discard pile and put it into their hand.
[P][C] Mutter: 30 damage.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1This little goon brings up a meme-y but potentially devastating Psychic Mill deck. Combine the use of this card’s ability with Hand Control Hypno, and you could be forcing your opponent to use Professor’s Research multiple turns in a row, milling entire hands of vital cards into the discard each and every time you do it. Combine this with cards like Surprise Box, Scoop Up Net, and the Devolution Sprays, and you can get this combo off multiple times so long as you can keep using Hypno’s Hand Control attack. I think it’s incredibly high-rolly, but maybe someone can conceptualize a consistent version of this with other control tools and make this list shine.
Weezing – Darkness – HP110
Stage 1 – Evolves from Koffing
Ability: Explode Together
If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and is Knocked Out by damage from an opponent’s attack, flip a coin. If heads, the Attacking Pokémon is Knocked Out.
[C][C] Spinning Gas: 50 damage. This attack does 10 damage to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2Where are my Dark Snipe/Spread enjoyers at? This card is pretty funny. It meshes pretty well with other Dark Spread cards such as Rule of Evil Weavile and Swirling Disaster Absol, but it could also take a Prize all on its own, on a coin flip. It’ll be hard to justify running this over the Neutralizing Gas Galarian Weezing, however maybe with Phantom Transformation Zoroark giving you the flexibility of turning into both, one could see great uses for this card.
**
Chansey – Colorless – HP110
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Lucky Bonus
If you took this Pokemon as a face-down Prize card and your Bench isn’t full, before you put it into your hand, you may put it onto your Bench and flip a coin. If heads, take 1 more Prize card.
[C][C][C] Gentle Slap: 70 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Unfortunately, Blissey has taken a backseat in Colorless lists with the release of Therapy Energy, doing exactly what Blissey does for Snorlax, but for way less deck space and commitment. However, if you value Blissey’s Busybody Nurse ability or just like the Pokemon in general, this Chansey is pretty phenomenal. Being able to cheat more Prize cards is always a cheeky way of stealing the lead or game from your opponent. With cards like Peonia or this set’s Daisy’s Help, this Chansey could be pretty ridiculous, albeit at the cost of a flip.
Seaking – Water – HP110
Stage 1 – Evolves from Goldeen
[W] Swim Freely: 10 damage. Flip a coin. If heads, during your opponent’s next turn, prevent all damage from and effects of attacks done to this Pokemon.
[C][C][C] Aqua Horn: 60+ damage. This attack does 30 more damage for each [W] Energy attached to this Pokemon.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Imagine you could Rain Dance Water energies to your Pokemon with a Basic, instead of having to go through the hoops of evolving all the way up to a Blastoise or the new Baxcalibur. Now imagine if your targets for this ability could swing for Hydro Pump-esque numbers. That’s what this Seaking does. Combine it with Oceanic Accompaniment Finneon, and suddenly you have a Swim Freely attacker that can swing for more than Zarude (Venusaur’s ability not included). Unfortunately it is on a Stage 1, but this is still a phenomenal addition to the Swim Freely archetype, and I hope to not only see good things from it soon, but also maybe a few more additions to the archetype over time. Please TPCi, please.
****
Gyarados – Water – HP190
Stage 1 – Evolves from Magikarp
Ability: Ruffian
When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you must discard the top 5 cards from your deck.
[W][C][C][C] Hyper Beam: 200 damage. Discard an Energy from your opponent’s Active Pokémon.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 4
What is one thing that is seemingly synonymous with Water GLC at this point? Big, BEEFY Stage 1s that hit for OHKO numbers. This Gyarados ain’t much different. It has a pretty harsh downside that when you evolve into it: you have to discard the top 5 cards of your deck. Nevertheless, if you’re a Gyarados lover and want to splash this Pokemon into your more typical Rain Dance lists, now you can! Or you can just Archie’s it into play and skip its ability.
Omastar – Water – HP150
Stage 2 – Evolves from Omanyte
Ability: Primal Tentacles
As long as this Pokemon is in the Active Spot, your opponent’s Active Pokemon can’t retreat.
[W][W] Aqua Split: 90 damage. This attack does 30 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokemon.)
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
Man, I really want this card to be good. Water Spread gets another addition in this set, albeit a rather hard one to pull off. Omastar can lock your opponent in the active so long as it is in the active, and start to set up some pretty disgusting damage on your opponent’s board. Through the Shady Dealings Engine and Irida, this Omastar may not be impossible to pull off in most games. Still, being a fossil Pokemon will always be a downside in this format, even for the almighty Helix God himself. Note: As there are no WATER Omanyte that evolve from Unidentified Fossil, you cannot use Pokemon Research Lab to cheat this Pokemon out, unlike some other fossil Pokemon, such as the Omastar in Fighting.
Articuno – Water – HP120
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Ice Float
If this Pokemon has any [W] attached, it has no Retreat Cost.
[W][W][W] Blizzard: 110 damage. This attack also does 10 damage to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokemon.)
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 2
More potential for Water Spread, we have this Articuno! Getting more and more attackers for Water Spread, especially Basics, is always nice to see. However, this one is pretty costly, as using it will take the slot of the Ancient Trait Articuno, which is often seen as a key piece for Water Spread decks, making use of all that sprinkled damage to take multiple knockouts with its Ancient Trait. Still, there is some use for this card, and ultimately I’m just happy we’re getting anything to play with at all.
Moltres – Fire – HP120
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Flare Float
If this Pokemon has any [R] attached, it has no Retreat Cost.
[R][R][R] Long-Distance Flight: Discard 2 [R] Energy from this Pokemon. This attack does 120 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokemon.)
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 2
Now this Moltres could be pretty disgusting. I already know some Fire Gym Leaders have been in the kitchen, cooking up what could potentially be a Fire Snipe list with this Moltres in mind. It’s a pretty efficient attacker with Charizard on the board and is a Basic. I expect great things from this Moltres as a Snipe/Spread enjoyer myself.
Dratini – Dragon – HP60
Basic Pokemon
[W] Strike: 10 damage.
[W][L] Dragon Whip: 40 damage.
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Retreat: 1
Not too much to report here, but I am touching just about every aspect of usefulness. Dragon got a 60 HP Dratini with 1 retreat. Many have already claimed this card is better than the Signs of Evolution Dratini, since you rarely ever wanna use its attack. Moreso because you’ll be forced to use a special energy to pull it off if you want to get use out of the energy later when you evolve into Dragonite and are forced to attack with it. Neither attacking with Dratini nor with Dragonite are A-Grade plays in a Dragon Gym Leader’s playbook, so maybe just sticking with the cutesy 1 retreat fella this set releases is worth it
Mewtwo – Psychic – HP130
Basic Pokemon
[C][C] Reflector Barrier: 20 damage. During your opponent’s next turn, if this Pokemon takes any damage from attacks, put the same number of damage counters on the Attacking Pokemon.
[P][P][C] Psystrike: 130 damage. Discard 2 Energy from this Pokemon.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 2
This card makes me conflicted. In one part, wow I love its Reflector Barrier attack. Sure your opponent can gust around it, but it still applies pressure and could result in your opponent having to skip an attack just to not get KO’d in the process. As if Psychic wasn’t already a pretty hard matchup for Metal, add this guy, finish off a KO with it of some sort, and watch your opponent argue amongst themselves on whether or not they should Retaliate with Zamazenta for the revenge KO. On the other hand, Crown Zenith’s Mewtwo is just so good. 180 during the last ~3 turns of the game are crazy numbers that not many Basic Psychic Pokemon can hit. It’s definitely a contested spot, but if nothing else at least we got some sick Mewtwo art from this card.
Energy Sticker – Trainer
Item
Flip a coin. If heads, attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to 1 of your Benched Pokémon.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn.
We’ve finally hit the Trainer cards! Honestly, this card is pretty garbage, but for all my turbo players that want a bunch of Item cards to burn, maybe you’ll find some use out of this card. Not being limited on what type of energy or what type of Pokemon, so long as it’s benched, makes this rather splashable and can even meet the requirements of some harder-to-power Pokemon, such as Dragon types and Amazing Rares.
Daisy’s Help – Trainer
Supporter
Draw 2 cards. Look at your face-down Prize cards.
You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn.
I love this card. I really do. It’s so dummy generic and draw-wise is worse than Hop, but the information on the Prize cards I deem to be very vital. For those that do not know, this card’s wording means you put the prize cards in the same order they were, meaning you can memorize or jot down what Prize card is where. This is vital for some strategies, such as the Chansey showed earlier today or Dream Ball. Yes, Peonia is better as you can put those cards INTO the prizes to activate them, but I still think this card is better than some people are giving it credit for. TPCi knew if they gave this thing Town Map it would’ve been nuts though, and I think it’s definitely got the 151 Chansey in mind in its design for the Standard format. Meme-y there, but I still think it’s good and worth exploring.
Cycling Road – Trainer
Stadium
Once during each player’s turn, that player may discard a Basic Energy card from their hand. If they do, that player draws a card.
This Stadium stays in play when you play it. Discard it if another Stadium comes into play. If a Stadium with the same name is in play, you can’t play this card.
Finally the last card of the set - Cycling Road. Honestly, I don’t know of many decks that can take advantage of this card, but I can think of one really good one: Water Storm. This Stadium allows you to draw with your massive amount of energies in your deck, and allows you to have another way of putting Water energies into the discard to power up Basulegion’s Upstream Spirits attack. I definitely think it’s worth experimenting with in the list, to get a bit more value out of those Basic Water energies.
Thank you so much for reading my first article for the CBW Website! I love theory crafting with new cards every time they’re revealed, and so doing articles on my thoughts on the sets is something I’m very interested in. However, as sets become larger and larger, I know articles as long as these can be rather hard to sit through entirely. So for that, another huge thanks for reading, I appreciate this community a ton, and look forward to hearing what you guys think about the new cards coming in Pokemon Card 151.
Special thanks to Pokebeach for providing a unified place to find these card translations, and to Bangiras, JustInBasil, and Toine L. for providing these translations as well as many others before for the community and public as a whole. Your work does not go unacknowledged, and I’m incredibly grateful for what you guys do for the community of Pokemon TCG.