00CoMiT

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I am very happy that the overall power level of cards seems to be dropping, especially for the basic Pokémon. However, the cards are just very bland from a gameplay point of view (the artwork is of course lovely). These are the kind of cards I would expect from a new tcg that is testing the water in terms of balance and mechanics, not an established game that has been going for over 25 years. Compare for example the cards from this set to those from the Diamond and Pearl base set, and you can see just how bland they are in terms of design.
 

ProfesserPopplio

Professional Air Breather
Member
This feels like the rebel clash of sets- second set, not that many good cards, introduced the new gimmick cards of the starter Pokémon.
 

N's Rhyperior

Aspiring Trainer
Tropius - eh. 2
Foongus/Amoonguss - eh. 2/2
Sprigatito/Floragato/Meowscarada ex - ability's like Greninja but that's about it. 3,3/3/3-4
Nymble/Lokix - eh. If it's on a Basic, I'll consider it. 2,2/3-4
P. Tauros - dmg too low tbh. Opt the dmg, if you want to KO basic exs. 3-4 all
Larvesta/Volcarona - what is going on here? 1/1
Litleo/Pyroar - yawn. 1/1
Oricorio - Stage 1 exs, no Stage 2s. 4
Fuecoco/Crocalor/Skeledirge ex - I get it, Cheryl, but how will you loop that 270 every turn, eh, Consistently? 3,3/3/4
Magikarp/Gyarados - eh. 3/3
Delibird : oh come on. 0.5
Buizel/Floatzel - eh. 2/3
Quaxly/Quaxwell/Quaquaval ex - That's it? Stage 2 ex are pretty much like VMaxes, at least boost the damage a little bit. 3,3/3/3
Wattrel/Kilowattrel - wish it was Tadbulb. 2,3/2
Misdreavus/Mismagius - then? 3/3
Spoink/Grumpig - it gets boring everytime. 2/2
Dedenne ex - being a tech opt for Gardevoir, yet Gardevoir still NEEDS a powerful Basic to utilize its ability. 3
Oranguru - yawn. 1
Tinkatink/Tinkatuff/Tinkaton - wish the ability was on a basic at least. 2/2/2
Diglett/Dugtrio - OKACHEKE Artwork! 1/1
Makuhita/Hariyama - bland much. 2/2
Rockruff/Lycanroc ex - just KO it anyway, 100 is gonna warrant its toughness. 3/3
Falinks - yawn. 2-3
Paldean Wooper/Clodsire - 3,3/3-4
Sableye - what's wrong with these? DP era had interesting cards back then, even though most are plain meh. 2
Seviper - yawn. 2
Deino/Zweilous/Hydreigon - same as before. I need to get this thing turn 1 without the hassle of evolving, before using this one. 3/3/3
Salandit/Salazzle, Yungoos/Gumshoos - meh. 1/1, 1/1
Superior Energy Retrieval - nice we get these again.
Great Ball - with Ultra Ball running around, it's not great anymore.
Dendra - now what? 3-4
Clavell - better at something. 4-5
Falkner - pretty much every Pseudo-draw 4 cards out there. 3-4
Artazon - that also affects your opponent so be careful. 4
Boss' Orders - good that we see this again.
Lesson Studio - still good, but not great. 3-4
Luminous Energy - pretty much Multi Energy, because Multi Energy back then saw less play. 4
Jet Energy - 4-5
 

N's Rhyperior

Aspiring Trainer
I am very happy that the overall power level of cards seems to be dropping, especially for the basic Pokémon. However, the cards are just very bland from a gameplay point of view (the artwork is of course lovely). These are the kind of cards I would expect from a new tcg that is testing the water in terms of balance and mechanics, not an established game that has been going for over 25 years. Compare for example the cards from this set to those from the Diamond and Pearl base set, and you can see just how bland they are in terms of design.
For now, as times go by, more powerful basic will emerge, pretty much like the last time. Wait until the likes of Paradox Pokemon will rule the meta, just like Ultra Beast bwfore.
 

Snowy Lilacs

Aspiring Trainer
Member
As one who just collects I can see these cards are more for us collectors than competitors, and like others have said it'd be easier just buying the cards you want versus trying to hunt for them
 

Clam

Almost decent
Member
You do have to realize that this is the first set in a new series of cards no? Pokemon generally starts the new series sets off with cards that are easier to understand for new players joining the standard metagame as to not make gameplay difficult. That being said there are plenty of good cards in this set, you just need to look into them further to see what will have good synergy. Please be sure to refrain from angry posting as others may take offense. After all we are all here because we love pokemon! Thank you for understanding (=
Just because it's the first set doesn't mean that it should be a bore to less casual players. Pokemon TCG isn't a hard game to understand compared to the other major card games. This set is not only simple but it's just downright boring. When a new set is released for the game people get excited that there will be new content to play with, but when that content is boring and stale people are going to be disappointed that they will have to wait another couple of months until they can have a chance to play a new game rather than staying in the same, stale meta that gets irritating for those who play a lot.
 

LightYearLiam

Avatar by LYNX3000
Member
You do have to realize that this is the first set in a new series of cards no? Pokemon generally starts the new series sets off with cards that are easier to understand for new players joining the standard metagame as to not make gameplay difficult. That being said there are plenty of good cards in this set, you just need to look into them further to see what will have good synergy. Please be sure to refrain from angry posting as others may take offense. After all we are all here because we love pokemon! Thank you for understanding (=
People are allowed to express their opinions in a strong way. It's not like anyone personally attacked people responsible for these cards. People who are offended by others expressing strong dislike of a product are the ones who need to reconsider their perspective. People are under no obligation to be positive and cheery about every new Pokemon product.
 

Ignoramus

Aspiring Trainer
Member
You do have to realize that this is the first set in a new series of cards no? Pokemon generally starts the new series sets off with cards that are easier to understand for new players joining the standard metagame as to not make gameplay difficult. That being said there are plenty of good cards in this set, you just need to look into them further to see what will have good synergy. Please be sure to refrain from angry posting as others may take offense. After all we are all here because we love pokemon! Thank you for understanding (=
I have been playing longer than you have.
 

Clear

Birb is the Word
Member
You see a set like this, and you ask yourself this question:
People pay money to buy this garbage?

It's not an excuse for the first few sets of a new rotation to look like this.
Going back to using Great Ball because they don't wanna put evo incence or whatever good searcher we had before, is NOT okay.
 

Mimikeon

Aspiring Trainer
Member
You see a set like this, and you ask yourself this question:
People pay money to buy this garbage?

It's not an excuse for the first few sets of a new rotation to look like this.
Going back to using Great Ball because they don't wanna put evo incence or whatever good searcher we had before, is NOT okay.
We have Ultra Ball. Great Ball is probably just a rotation-proof card now.
 

Clear

Birb is the Word
Member
We have Ultra Ball. Great Ball is probably just a rotation-proof card now.
not good enough, everything should be guranteed.
this happened last rotation too, when we only have quick ball, and no ultra ball, lack on consistency in decks that should not be legal in the first place.
 

Mimikeon

Aspiring Trainer
Member
not good enough, everything should be guranteed.
this happened last rotation too, when we only have quick ball, and no ultra ball, lack on consistency in decks that should not be legal in the first place.
Are you not reading what I said?

We
Have
Ultra
Ball
 

LightYearLiam

Avatar by LYNX3000
Member
Just because it's the first set doesn't mean that it should be a bore to less casual players. Pokemon TCG isn't a hard game to understand compared to the other major card games. This set is not only simple but it's just downright boring. When a new set is released for the game people get excited that there will be new content to play with, but when that content is boring and stale people are going to be disappointed that they will have to wait another couple of months until they can have a chance to play a new game rather than staying in the same, stale meta that gets irritating for those who play a lot.
Adding on to this point, in the most recent major Japanese tournament, the top 16 is mostly full of decks that are already huge in the meta (Lost Box, Lugia, Mew) and the only new deck to be found there is Gardevoir ex, which occupies 2 slots to Lost Box's 5/6 (depending on if Giratina counts as part of the archetype), Lugia's 4, and Mew's 4. Yes, a Gardevoir deck got 2nd place, but overall it looks like the meta might not be changing as much from rotation and Scarlet & Violet as people might've thought. Obviously, one tournament isn't absolutely defining or anything, but it's just an indication that we could find ourselves still in a meta mostly dominated by the same decks that have been dominating ever since Silver Tempest came out. So the fact that Paldea Evolved is not looking promising at all from a competitive perspective means we'll be stuck in a similar format for even longer! People are already getting tired of this meta and it's now looking like it won't be that massively different even when this year is halfway over!

Honestly, I'm borderline disgusted by how horrible a lot of these Pokemon are. I know it's nothing new for most single prizers to be pure bulk, but it's still very frustrating. I look at cards like Dugtrio, Pyroar, and Salazzle and I just think, "Why? Why couldn't they even try to make them the slightest bit interesting?" And the exes in this set are pretty bland and bad too!

The Special Energies are a big deal and Artazon Town looks like a really cool Stadium. But the lack of usable Pokemon makes it extremely unlikely new archetypes will emerge from this set. It seems more likely that existing archetypes will simply become stronger.

Again, though - nice art. But the TCG should be good for both collecting AND playing.
 

Clear

Birb is the Word
Member
Are you not reading what I said?

We
Have
Ultra
Ball
I did, I'm sure you didn't read what I said. I said this happened last rotation, when we have to use cope like Great Ball to make sure we brick less, when they could have just gave us Ultra Ball earlier in the first place. Only now, we don't have enough good searchers other than nest and UB. Think about it, Mew gets to run the feather ball like a boss, while the rest of the new kids on the block has to play Great Ball and whiff it 60% of the time. How is this legal?

Adding on to this point, in the most recent major Japanese tournament, the top 16 is mostly full of decks that are already huge in the meta (Lost Box, Lugia, Mew) and the only new deck to be found there is Gardevoir ex, which occupies 2 slots to Lost Box's 5/6 (depending on if Giratina counts as part of the archetype), Lugia's 4, and Mew's 4. Yes, a Gardevoir deck got 2nd place, but overall it looks like the meta might not be changing as much from rotation and Scarlet & Violet as people might've thought. Obviously, one tournament isn't absolutely defining or anything, but it's just an indication that we could find ourselves still in a meta mostly dominated by the same decks that have been dominating ever since Silver Tempest came out. So the fact that Paldea Evolved is not looking promising at all from a competitive perspective means we'll be stuck in a similar format for even longer! People are already getting tired of this meta and it's now looking like it won't be that massively different even when this year is halfway over!
No one is going to play bad cards that can't OHKO when there are cards that does it better.
It's common sense. Just make good cards in your ex slots, it's not complicated!
You cannot pay me any amount of money, to open these waste of trees.
 
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