Ancient Origins [8/15, aka Bandit Ring]

Maybe it would've been better if it was ' when the lightning pokemon this card is attached to attacks, it also does 10 damage to each of your opponents benched pokemon'?

Maybe up the ante with instead 'when the lightning pokemon this card is attached to attacks it does 10 damage to each pokemon in play both yours and your opponents pokemon excluding any lightning pokemon (don't apply weakness and resistance to this damage). '

Fire special should be 'Burn energy'' - If the fire pokemon this card is attached to receives any damage from your opponents pokemon, the attacking pokemon is now burned.

Water special should be 'Life energy' - Remove 1 damage counter between turns from the water pokemon this card is attached to.
 
Otaku said:
Ditching Weakness in an era when Weakness x2 damage and your Weakness is one of the top Types in the game is "decent". It isn't going to affect all match-ups, but when it matters it likely really matters. Your mileage will vary of course according to the HP of the Pokémon in question.

While I agree I would have expected a different effect for a Lightning-Type exclusive Special Energy there is a problem: ideas like you suggest or like my own (an [LL] or [LLL] Energy that discards itself at the end of the turn) would just be way too good with anything resembling the pending card pool. I mean, we've got this new Jolteon scheduled for the same set that will allow the Energy to work for basically any Stage 1.
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Fair enough~ Oh man that new Giratina's art is so pretty. Not diggin that partial lock but it seems worth it's energy.
 
Holy cow Giratina EX looks great. I can't wait to see the actual card close up so I can give credit to where credit is due but Giratina EX along with Hoopa EX are looking like the best looking EX's in the set so far.

Now for that attack, even without Vileplume that is one hell of a lock, I'm just talking about blocking Special energies. One, the faster Giratina EX shuts down mirror matches handily unless you are able to play tons of basic grass and psychic energy. I don't think I have a point two but still, the old Giratina EX was alright (the full art was incredible but I don't think people even gave it a second look after its attacks were unwieldy), but this Origin-forme Giratina EX is looking to be fantastic in artwork and in its impact for the format.
 
The Giratina we got from Dragons Exalted is the altered Forme. And this new one is Origin Forme. :) I'm good with that.
 
Funny they decided to give Giratina 170 instead of 180 HP, considering Giratina has one of the highest HPs in the game.
 
[?] Chaos Veil: 100 damage. Decks that are not already winning in the meta stand even less of a chance.
 
Are people joking about this new Giratina-EX being the next Seismitoad-EX, or are we assuming the Energy costs are inline with setting it up on your first turn?

Seismitoad-EX has been an issue because:

1) Just about everything other than its release suggests that the designers have been pushing to get Items back to past levels of performance.* Not only the potency of the Items, but how the primary draw effects all work together to reward "throwing your deck" at your opponent. You want to run mostly Items that can be played ASAP instead of holding onto them for too long to go for a big combo... because the game now does big combos on the fly. =/ Pokémon Tools, Special Energy and Stadiums are important but not that important.

2) It could attack T2 (T1 if the rules didn't forbid it) thanks to Double Colorless Energy. The new Giratina-EX appears to need at least three and probably four Energy to attack. Double Dragon Energy will speed this up, Reshiram (ROS) might speed it up (depends on the exact Energy requirements) but it will take something like both to do it in a single turn. As long as you run at least some basic Energy cards you shouldn't be in too bad of shape.

*Exactly where in the past is awkward to describe because it mostly reminds me of stuff seen in Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge and the Neo sets except those are all "pre-Supporter". So imagine if the strongest Trainers of that era (mostly from Base Set - it is a little messy because the first "Modified" format went into effect during this time) had all been Supporters with the "lesser"draw/search/etc. effects remaining "normal"Trainers (what we now call "Items").
 
Otaku said:
Seismitoad-EX has been an issue because:
<snip a bunch of correct commentary>
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My dilemma is a philosophical one: why should people who stop others from playing the game be rewarded with wins?
I don't dare decry lock as an unfair strategy. I played Magic in the 90s and I love control. I think it becomes problematic when lock hurts the viability of non-lock decks, and considering the sheer volume of g.d. 'toads, I think that is the situation we are in. Vileplume is forgivable for a couple of reasons (Hay Fever throwback, Stage 2, Lysandre bait) but making MORE lockdown attacks that do OHKO-range damage on high HP basics that have the type support to ease energy costs is a real w.t.f design move.
 
That art on Giratina. I want to know who made that. It might be the same guy who made kyurem, as the art is similar..hmm...Nonetheless, it reminds me of shizurow, which makes me happy.
 
Sweeet! Can't wait for this, hopefully it's attack doesn't cost 4+ as three is doable in 1 turn (DDE + reshiram)
 
I know everyone is a little disappointed in the artwork on some of these ex's but i have a feeling the full arts are going to be insane!!
I mean seriously...giratina , lugia , hoopa ,kyurem , machamp , sceptile , ampharos ,tyranitar and thier megas , all in full art already sounds amazing and we haven't seen any yet lol i love my full arts so i welcome any and all of them , reprints or not!!!
 
I think he's ok, you hit them with head smash and then you evolve him and deal 470 damage with destroyer king,aka KO.(Although tyranitar ex from unseen forces was better than this, I think he's viable)
 
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Even though it's another rehashed Pokemon, the rehashed Pokemon don't outnumber the new Pokemon in this set so I'm still planning on collecting the set.
 
fleshrum said:
My dilemma is a philosophical one: why should people who stop others from playing the game be rewarded with wins?
I don't dare decry lock as an unfair strategy. I played Magic in the 90s and I love control. I think it becomes problematic when lock hurts the viability of non-lock decks, and considering the sheer volume of g.d. 'toads, I think that is the situation we are in. Vileplume is forgivable for a couple of reasons (Hay Fever throwback, Stage 2, Lysandre bait) but making MORE lockdown attacks that do OHKO-range damage on high HP basics that have the type support to ease energy costs is a real w.t.f design move.
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I actually understand your conundrum: I loved trying to craft a "perfect lock" deck in Pokémon many years ago for Unlimited play, when the newest sets were from the Neo block. Someone got me thinking by pointing out "Would you like to lose that way?"

The short answer is "no" so I try to only use such decks if that is the only realistic way for me to have a competitive deck and I am participating in a highly competitive atmosphere. I also realized many powerhouse decks can be no better; if I can steamroll my opponent, especially if I've got a way of ensuring the damage hits the right Pokémon to prevent my opponent from launching a counter strategy (or the deck is a juggernaut that simply cannot be stopped once it gets going outside luck/impractical cards) it isn't really any better. Actions that effectively do nothing aren't much better than doing nothing. There is a key exception; set-up time. Games are already a countdown so if it takes about as long to get into lock as it does to take six Prizes, it shouldn't be anymore "unfair". There is also the matter of whether it is a one-sided or two-sided lock. I am quite fond of the classic Dark Vileplume, but Unlimited is so unbalanced I couldn't actually enjoy it there even if I still had my old deck.

In the end though, the main thing is... Giratina-EX really does not look to be Seismitoad-EX level. Not even remotely. So don't sweat it; if your opponent constantly only has Tools, Stadiums and Special Energy worth playing that's either extraordinary bad luck, bad deck design, or a risk they were willing to take for some reason.
 
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