Hop’s Silicobra and Sandaconda Revealed from “Battle Partners!”

By: Steffenka · Posted Posted onJan 15, 2025 at 3:43 AM · 15 Comments

Hop’s Silicobra and Hop’s Sandaconda were just revealed from SV9 Battle Partners, which releases in Japan on January 24th. Most of the unreleased cards from this set are expected to become part of the international set Journey Together, which releases in March. Thanks goes to Toine L. for translations!

Hop’s Silicobra – Fighting – HP80
Basic Pokémon

[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.

Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 2

Hop’s Sandaconda – Fighting – HP140
Stage 1 – Evolves from Hop’s Silicobra

[F][C] Tremor: 30 damage. During your opponent’s next turn, the Defending Pokemon can’t retreat.

[F][C][C] Ground Break: 140 damage. This also attack does 20 damage to each of your Benched Pokemon.

Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat: 3

View thread (15 replies)
Looks overall fine for the archetype they're a part of. Silicobra can find Postwick for others in the Hop set, while Sandaconda has a 1 energy (with choice band) retreat lock in a post Blocklax meta that can hit up to 120 damage with the full combo meal. There's definitely better choices for both turn 1 support attacks and control (cough budew), but they're still fine.
 
Looks… fine. I don’t think the hop architype will be meta shaking or whatever. It looks decent but nothing more imo
 
Hop just needs some better energy acceleration. And not have to rely on metang. With +60/90 damage a lot of his mons could be decent.
 
Silly cobra when miraidon just dies

Weakness boy until energy acceleration doesn't force you to clog your dexk
 
Tbh, cards like this are just bulks in your stash and nothing good. This is bland af. We've seen billion of attacks that stops retreating as an atk effect yet never fulfill its purpose. We are in a format that decks play multiple switching cards. This won't fit in. Also, 140 dmg in 2025 seems boring, to the point that it NEEDS dmg mods. Is it nice if you enough dmg with lending someone's help?
HexSableye said:
Hop just needs some better energy acceleration. And not have to rely on metang. With +60/90 damage a lot of his mons could be decent.
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2-2 Metang maybe but Metang is too slow depends on how many energy cards you are running, and it only accels 1 energy per Metang per turn, like know some maths about it, having 2 energy out of 1 seems very rare to happen, if you run like 8 energy in your deck. Archaludon comes to mind, but without Rad Gre, Archaludon struggles a lot, as an energy acceleration.
 
Seems like it could see play as a counter to Iono's deck hitting for weakness on a one prizer. Maybe N if they don't run any switch cards since we know that the stadium might cause no switch cards and they will have bait on the bench for Zoroark to pull from
 
Frost said:
It's such filler that Hop never has a Sandaconda in the video games. He uses a Silicobra one time and then never again.
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This is a promising development for Pokémon that we wouldn't previously have expected to get evolutions... when there's room in the set for those evolutions, of course. (*Cries in Purloin*)

I don't begrudge Hop the chance to be a meta deck, but the Hop's Zacian ex gameplay doesn't look particularly inspiring, so I'm still hoping the N archetype can at least get an attacker that will OHKO big basic ex's. I can't see relying on your opponent taking 2HKO's ending well for you, and N's Zoroark ex is not as appealing an engine for other attackers as Zoroark GX was, since Zoroark GX could trade prizes 2-2 in many matchups at the time and didn't have Quick Search to contend with. (Also, remember that N's Zoroark ex needs its own Energy type, techs to clog your bench, and preferably a means of Energy acceleration if you want to attack with it, so the only thing splashable about it is its ability.)
 
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HexSableye said:
Hop just needs some better energy acceleration. And not have to rely on metang. With +60/90 damage a lot of his mons could be decent.
Click to expand...
I'm glad the zacian at least has metang and archaludon. Seems like hop is mostly focused on pumping Zacian and this is just filler.
 
Frost said:
It's such filler that Hop never has a Sandaconda in the video games. He uses a Silicobra one time and then never again.
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Reminds me of the old Sabrina's Gengar. Like isn't Agatha the ghost type gym leader? I think breaking the game canon a bit in the TCG is fun though.
 
Well, the Kanto Elite Four never got representation in the TCG until recently. Lorelei and Blue in 2019, Bruno* and Agatha in 2021.

* - Bruno and Lance's Pokemon were in the Gen 2 VS set, but there wasn't a card named Bruno until Battle Styles (there still isn't just a regular old Lorelei card either since she shared a Tag Team with Misty). Lance has appeared regularly because he's Lance, but even then Lance Prism Star was the first actual "Lance" in 2018.
 
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