By: [mod]Serperior[/mod] and [smod]Vulpix Yolk[/smod]
On November 7th of 2012, our most recent TCG set, Boundaries Crossed, hit shelves nationwide. This is a massive set containing 149 cards along with the addition of four Secret Rares, bringing the grand total to 153. While there are too many to break down, this set came with quite a few noticeable cards. We're going to go ahead and analyze the few cards we thought may have some potential and/or showed potential at Cities, so read on!
[3] Vileplume:
This is a card that got noticed when the scan was first revealed. People were surprised and excited for a card that can increase a Pokémon’s weakness. Some people even thought that it was overpowered. Now that it has been released, it seems that it has significantly dropped off in play. Even though it may not have lived up to some people’s expectations, it is still an interesting card to center a deck around. The main idea of a Vileplume Toolbox is to play various attackers, usually Basic and of different types, that can hit for decent damage for low amounts of energy. You can get out different attackers for different match ups. Cards like Landorus EX, Emolga, Rayquaza Dragon Vault, and Meloetta are just some of the cards that see play in Vileplume Toolboxes. While hitting somethings for 4 times the normal amount of damage is great, Vileplume does often times fall short as a deck, simply because it can not function if Vileplume isn’t out. It is a card worth experimenting with, but don’t expect the most excellent results. Keep this deck for league play.
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[9] Celebi EX:http://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/9-celebi-ex.jpg
It's been a while since we've seen our friend Celebi around, but he's back in Boundaries Crossed in EX form. A Grass-type, it's nice to see we have another card that could potentially stand up to Keldeo EX. It even has a Water-type Resistance, which is pretty nice too. Sounds pretty nice to tech against Keldeo. We look at the attack, however, seeing that this is far from the case. Celebi has Wind Whisk, an attack that does 60 damage for a Grass Energy and a Double Colorless and acts as a free Switch right after you attack. But 60 damage hardly makes a dent in most big-time Pokémon nowadays, and doesn't even OHKO Keldeo. Being an expensive attack and a pretty poor one at that, there needs to be more to Celebi if it were printed as an EX. There is: Time Recall. This Ability is essentially a Memory Berry for all of your Evolved Pokémon because as long as Celebi is on the field, those Pokémon get to use attacks from their previous stages. In a game where Basic Pokémon dominate the format, this isn't very helpful. Hydreigon from Dragons Exalted won't be attacking unless it's to deal the massive 140 it can with Dragonblast. Eelektrik won't be attacking because Zekrom and Raikou EX do a lot more damage and are much more effective. (If Eelektrik were to use its predecessor's Thunder Wave, this can often be remedied by Skyla-ing a Switch or having a Keldeo EX on the Bench use Rush In.) What makes Celebi EX bad is its HP. I saved this for last because it really is the aspect that kills this card. 110 HP is extremely fragile during today's metagame. Sure, it's 10 away from being Volt Bolted by a Raikou EX, but from there it can be easily picked off - and even Keldeo EX, which this supposedly counters, can still OHKO it with 4 Water Energy attached. Wasting a Max Potion on a Celebi for its rather useless Ability in today's metagame isn't efficient for your resources either. Until Evolved Pokémon get a boost or the old Rare Candy rule comes back, (remember when you could Rare Candy a Basic into a Stage-2 on the same turn? Oh, the good ol' days...), keep Celebi in the binder.
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[20] Charizardhttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/20-charizard.jpg:
You remember pulling this card when you were a kid, or you remember begging that one guy on the block who had it to trade you. Regardless, Charizard has a prominent mark in Pokémon history, and always will. He doesn't make much of an impact in Boundaries Crossed, however. With 160 HP, Charizard has an above-average HP than most Stage 2s - in fact, it has the highest HP on any non-EX card that isn't Wailord, which is excellent. Get past the amazing artwork on this card, and we see two attacks, both quite costly, that are DCE-compatable. Split Bomb allows you to snipe two Pokémon for 40, which is pretty solid. This could mean two Tynamo KOs, or some damage to spread for bigger attacks later. Conveniently, this attack only requires a single Fire Energy and two Colorless, meaning you could slap a Fire and a DCE and be ready to attack. Charizard's second attack, Scorching Fire, requires a single Fire Energy and four Colorless, but hits for 150 damage. The drawback: discard a Fire Energy from Charizard. While from afar this looks awesome, it isn't enough for Charizard. Sure, you could be hitting 150 by T3 once you attach a Fire Energy to your Charmander, Rare Candy your Charmander T2 and attach the DCE, and attach the second DCE, but it just requires so much luck that it isn't worth it. Supporting Charizard is difficult too. Emboar's Inferno Fandango is good, but he is also a Stage 2 Pokémon. Eelektrik only recovers Lightning Energy. Enhanced Hammer discards DCE without problems. All the big Basics like Darkrai EX and Zekrom are still 2HKOing Charizard and they can get set-up far more quickly. Furthermore, Charizard's Weakness to Water-types vaporizes Charizard's chances in the metagame with the advent of Keldeo. While Charizard is a nostalgic card with awesome artwork, he doesn't really make it too far competitively.
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[31] Blastoisehttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/31-blastoise.jpg:
Blastoise, just like Charizard, found fame in the early stages of the Pokémon industry and still does today. He and Charizard would fight epic battles, and were notorious for being on the covers of the original Red and Blue Version games. While Red Version is more valuable simply because of Charizard, Blastoise will find that it is more valuable in Boundaries Crossed. Sporting 140 HP, Blastoise has the average amount of HP for a Stage 2. But if you have any experience with Blastoise in previous sets, you'll recall that it is often paired with a nice effect that attaches a crapton of Water Energy, and this one is no different. It won the 2006 Worlds in BLS, (Blastoise ex, Lugia ex, and Steelix ex), and this strategy continuously provides potential for future decks. Deluge is already infamously paired with Keldeo EX, because of the power multiple Energy attachments per turn provides. Because Blastoise provides this support, Blastoise will remain very popular as long as it stays in format. Furthermore, its Weakness to Grass-types makes Blastoise even more formidable, because Grass-types aren't very prominent in today's metagame. Lightning-types like Zekrom and Raikou EX can't one-shot Blastoise, or can't even attempt to snipe it as a Squirtle because of Squirtle's Shell Shield Ability that protects it from attacks on the Bench. This gives the player time to find that Rare Candy (thanks to new cards such as Skyla and Computer Search), and evolve a damage-less Squirtle into a fresh Blastoise. In addition to a fantastic Ability and an uncommon Weakness, Blastoise can even be used to attack in the case your Keldeo EXs, (or other attackers), don't seem to provide enough punch. When four Water Energy are attached, you're swinging for 100 damage consistently. The only problem here is Mewtwo EX, where all it would need is a DCE and another Energy, considering you have four Energy attached already. This is frowned upon, but a couple of Energy Retrievals can bring Blastoise to life in dire situations. Blastoise has been a long-time favorite for Pokémon fans, but it will find new popularity in the metagame thanks to Deluge. Welcome back, Blastoise.
Sample Blastoise Keldeo List
POKEMON (12)
3 Squirtle
1 Wartortle
3 Blastoise
3 Keldeo EX
2 Mewtwo EX
[/td]
[td]
TRAINERS (35)
4 N
2 Bianca
4 Professor Juniper
2 Skyla
2 Random Receiver
4 Ultra Ball
2 Level Ball
4 Pokemon Catcher
2 Super Scoop Up
3 Energy Retrieval
4 Rare Candy
1 Super Rod
1 Computer Search[/td]
[td]
ENERGY (13)
11 Water Energy
2 Double Colorless Energy
[/td]
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[49] Keldeo EXhttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/49-keldeo-ex.jpg:
Meet one of the best cards in the metagame right now. Keldeo EX. A Pokémon just recently introduced to the Pokémon world, Keldeo is making an excellent name of itself, and for good reason. Being a Water-type, we're automatically shutting down Reshiram and Entei EX, the only two real Fire-types we would have had to deal with. With 170 HP, the average amount of HP for an EX, we know Keldeo EX is gonna be hanging out for a while before it gets Knocked Out. It requires two Energy to Retreat, which isn't very good, and a Grass-type Weakness. While those seem kind of ugly, it's not as bad as we think because of Keldeo EX's Ability, Rush In. When Keldeo EX is on the Bench, you can Rush In at no cost. This is essentially a free Switch. Say your Keldeo is Paralyzed. Play another Keldeo EX, Rush In with that one, and Rush In again with your once-Paralyzed Keldeo EX and get back in the fight without a setback. The Grass-type Weakness makes Shaymin EX still popular in today's meta, and should be something Keldeo players to look out for. Other than that and Virizion Emerging Powers, however, there aren't many other Grass-types out there right now. So with a solid amount of HP, an awesome Ability, and an uncommon Weakness, Keldeo looks pretty awesome. But we have yet to discuss Secret Sword. This attack requires three Colorless Energy to do 50 damage. This seems pretty terrible, until you read that it does 20 more for each Water Energy attached. So to fulfill this Energy requirement, we could slap three Water Energy and do 110 damage. A lot. Better yet, this is stackable, so you can attach four and OHKO Terrakion and six to OHKO Mewtwo. The best partner for Keldeo is Blastoise, considering you can Deluge and attach a ton of Energy to Keldeo in one turn, Rush In, and start sweeping. Super Scoop Up is an excellent option for Keldeo/Blastoise players because of the recovery factor Keldeo has built-in. Flip heads, and Keldeo and all Energy attached to it jump back into your hand. Play the Keldeo, Deluge, Rush In, and you have a brand-new Keldeo. If you choose not to go the SSU route, you can run Energy Retrieval instead. Once the Keldeo EX gets Knocked Out, play another Keldeo EX, Energy Retrieval for the discarded Energy, and Deluge. Sure, you only get two. But many players are starting to run Cilan to search for three Energy and completely recharge Keldeo. There are just so many options! Furthermore, Keldeo can also be teched into random decks using Double Colorless Energy, because it doesn't need Water to use Secret Sword. This can help out the Landorus EX matchup, especially when Landorus is so prevalent in the metagame. We'll be seeing Keldeo around, so make sure you're prepared for our fourth Musketeer.
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[63] Dusknoir:
Dusknoir is a card that could see some play in the future. Despite having a terrible attack, retreat and weakness, Dusknoir is still somewhat viable simply because of its ability. Dusknoir essentially attacks as a Reuniclus for your opponent’s side of the field. Scoring KOs on benched Pokémon can really swing a game in your favor. Sometimes, a Dusknoir-centered deck can get multiple knockouts in one turn if you play your cards right. Since Dusknoir hasn’t really established its place in the metagame, it is hard to determine what it is best paired with. There are tons of ways to play Dusknoir, but no variants in particular are common, and no Dusknoir decks have seen great success so far. With this being said, one of the most common Dusknoir Variants is Dusknoir Flygon. With Flygon in play, you are putting up to 60 damage on your opponent’s field in-between turns. The 10 damage to all Pokémon really becomes dangerous when it is all placed on one or two cards before your opponent’s attack. This deck can also use Celebi EX to attack. After Celebi hits your opponent’s active, Flygon can be promoted to further the damage levels on your opponent’s field, and later Flygon can take advantage of Vibrava's attack, that does a solid 50 damage plus 10 more to each of your opponent's Benched Pokemon, giving you even more damage to move about. Another decent card to pair with Dusknoir is Darkrai EX. Darkrai EX gives Dusknoir free retreat, and a lot of damage counters to move around your opponent’s field fairly early in the game. With Dark Claw, Darkrai EX can put 140 damage on your opponent’s Pokémon with one attack. That is a large amount of damage to move around with Dusknoir’s ability. Dusknoir is definitely a card with potential. It will be interesting to see how it is played in the second half of City Championships this season.
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[67] Cresselia EX:
Cresselia EX is one of the more overlooked cards released in Boundaries Crossed. It has a lot of uses that are often times overlooked simply because of the card’s energy cost and weakness. With this being said, once Psychic Protection is set up, Cresselia EX is one of the strongest attackers in the game. It can hit for a consist 90 damage, enough damage to 2-hit-KO most cards in the format. Not only does it hit for high amounts of damage, but Cresselia EX can tank better than almost every other card in the format. Psychic Protection makes Sigilyph and Mewtwo EX non-threats, and Sparkling Particles provides useful, hard to work around, healing. Sparkling Particles turns a lot of 2-hit-KOs into 3-hit-KOs. When you add cards like Eviolite, Max Potion, Gold Potion, or even regular Potion to the mix, Cresselia EX becomes extremely hard to stop. Now, the biggest question is, what is the best way to power up Cresselia EX? There are two main ways that I can see. Gardevoir Next Destinies is a decent partner for Cresselia EX. Unfortunately, to use this variant, you have to have a deck centered around Gardevoir. It can work if you play cards like Sigilyph and Mewtwo EX as well, but there isn’t much versatility here. In my opinion, a 1 or 2 card tech in a Darkrai-Hydreigon build is the best way to utilize Cresselia. You drop a Cresselia EX, and power it up in one turn thanks to Dark Trance and Blend Energy. This can be unexpected, and you can heal Cresselia very easily thanks to Max Potion. Because of all of these factors, Cresselia is definitely a card that everyone should be aware of.
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[68] Munna:
Munna is a somewhat gimmicky card recently released. While Munna may not seem like the best card ever, it has some interesting uses that are worth looking into. As far as I can tell, Munna’s most practical use is in any deck that uses Keldeo EX. With Munna, you can use Long Distance Hypnosis to attempt to put your opponent’s active Pokémon to sleep. If you miss the flip, you can get yourself out of sleep easily thanks to Rush In. Sleep can be a very effective Special Condition if your opponent is successfully afflicted by it, you can force them to play a Switch to break the lock, or force them to Skyla for a Switch, wasting their Supporter for the turn. Making your opponent work around sleep several times in a match could really tilt the game in your favor. Munna is an interesting tech that may catch your opponent off guard if you decide to tech it into your deck. Whether its obvious cons outweigh its pros is really up to the player.
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[71] Swoobat:
I really really really really really really really really don't like this Pokémon. It's a knock-off of our friends Zubat and Golbat, and when TPCi tries re-doing old school, they fail. While Swoobat is annoying, it's also just as bad. Many saw Swoobat as the next Durant, but it will never live up to those standards. Sitting at 80 HP as a Stage 1, many players simply laugh at the Courting Pokémon for being OHKO'd by Darkrai EX, a Garchomp with only a single Altaria out, and Keldeo EX with two Water Energy attached. Yay, you have a Fighting-type Resistance, but it only takes you so far because 80 HP is absolutely terrible. The Lightning-type Weakness hurts as well, seeing that Eel variants are still seeing some popularity, making Swoobat suck even more. We can ignore Acrobatics because flipping for attack damage is pathetic, but Jet Woofer is something we can review. It has the potential to discard essential cards from your opponent's deck, but you need a Psychic Energy in order to discard more cards. The answer comes with Gardevoir from Next Destinies, but this also comes the downfall. Setting up a Stage 2 and a Stage 1 for your strategy isn't easy, especially when Gardevoir has a Weakness to Psychic-types and thus a Weakness to the still-popular Mewtwo EX. Durant simply needed more Durant on the Bench to discard cards, which was feasible with Pokémon Collector in the last format. Swoobat can't get enough Energy attached to it in time before it has already been Knocked Out, making the disruption strategy futile. You need more time, but Swoobat doesn't enough HP. Giant Cape is a possibility, but at 100 HP, you're still getting 2HKO'd by everything and still getting OHKO'd by Keldeo EX with three Water Energy. You'd only have time to attach two Energy, (discarding four cards if you have Gardevoir in play), but you'd need to consistently pump out Swoobats. You just can't keep up with Super Rods and Ultra Balls. It's just not fast enough in a format where speed is almost everything, so Swoobat is best off flying away from the format.
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[77] Meloetta:
This card has been one of the most overlooked cards released in Boundaries Crossed. Meloetta can hit almost anything in the format for a decent amount of quick damage. This can be great if you don’t have any other attackers available for the revenge kill. Meloetta can also drop a large amount of damage on a Mewtwo in a pinch, but the main purpose of Meloetta is to counter Sigilyphs, since it can OHKO a fully charged Sigilyph, regardless of Eviolite. If your metagame is Sigilyph heavy, Meloetta may be a great tech to consider adding to your deck. Test with Meloetta in any of your decks that can easily support it. You may like it more than you thought you would.
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[89] Landorus EX:
Ah, Landorus EX. This is a card that I could truly go on about all day. It is possibly the best card released out of Boundaries Crossed. It has been seeing a lot of play recently, and with good reason. Landorus has so many uses; there are decks that tech Landorus, and decks that are centered around Landorus EX itself. It is very widely played and an incredibly strong card. This is primarily because of its typing, and the early game pressure it provides with its Hammerhead attack. One of the most common decks that is focused around Landorus EX is Landorus EX, Tornadus EX, Mewtwo. This is a deck that focuses on consistent, high, early game damage output to draw prizes before its opponent can set up. All of the Pokémon in this deck can be powered up turn one with hardly any resources, making the deck a serious threat. There are two main Landorus-Tornadus builds the way I see it: offensive builds, and defensive builds. Offensive builds focus more on dishing out high amounts of damage with cards like PlusPower and Aerodactyl, while defensively centered builds use cards like Max Potion, Aspertia Gym and Super Scoop Up to keep its attackers alive for a longer period of time.
Sample Offensive List (Aerodactyl Centered)
| POKEMON (12) 2 Landorus EX 2 Mewtwo EX 2 Tornadus EX 2 Stunfisk 4 Aerodactyl | TRAINERS (36) 4 Juniper 4 N 4 Random Receiver 2 Bianca 4 Switch 4 Ultra Ball 4 Catcher 4 Pluspower 3 Twist Mountain 1 Super Rod 1 Tool Scrapper 1 Computer Search | ENERGY (12) 4 DCE 8 Fighting Energy |
Sample Defensive List
POKEMON (10) 2 Landorus EX 2 Mewtwo EX 3 Tornadus EX 1 Stunkfisk 2 Bouffalant | TRAINERS (38) 4 Professor Juniper 4 N 2 Skyla 3 Random Receiver 2 Bianca 3 Switch 4 Ultra Ball 4 Pokémon Catcher 1 Super Rod 3 Max Potion 3 Super Scoop Up 1 Computer Search 2 Eviolite 2 Aspertia City Gym | ENERGY (12) 8 Fighting Energy 4 DCE |
Both lists are very effective, but specialize against different decks and play slightly differently. Which build is the better choice really comes down to player preference. There is one more Landorus Variant that has definitely made its presence known by taken the largest amount of City Championships. This variant is Landorus EX, Mewtwo EX, Tornadus EX, Bouffalant. This deck can carry a lot of techs, and almost every variant is unique. This is the variant that I have had some success with so far during City Championships. It is somewhat tailored to my metagame and play style, so you may have to fiddle with it before it will work well for you.
My Personal List
| POKEMON (11) 2 Landorus EX 2 Tornadus EX 2 Sigilyph 2 Bouffalant DRX 2 Mewtwo EX 1 Meloetta | TRAINERS (35) 4 Professor Juniper 4 N 4 Random Receiver 2 Bianca 1 Computer Search 2 Enhanced Hammer 4 Ultra Ball 4 Pokémon Catcher 4 Max Potion 3 Switch 2 Eviolite 1 Super Rod | ENERGY (14) 4 Double Colorless Energy 4 Prism Energy 3 Fighting Energy 3 Psychic Energy |
On top of a large number of decks being centered around Landorus (I’m sure I didn’t mention a decent amount), there are many decks that have begun teching in Landorus EX for stronger coverage against the metagame. It seems that Landorus is slowly become a replacement for the ever-popular Terrakion Noble Victories. People have begun to play Landorus EX in Darkrai variants, Empoleon variants, Terrakion and Terrakion EX variants, and even some Eelektrik decks have started carrying one or two Landorus EX. Landorus is a card that you should definitely look into. There will be a high Landorus turnout at all City Championships around the country. It is a card that you should consider adding to your list. At the very least, you need to be prepared to see it at your local City Championships.
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[94] Scizorhttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/94-scizor.jpg:
Scizor is a frickin' boss. Just look at this guy's artwork. It's legit. And it's just a sick Pokémon that everyone loves. Scizor has always found a weird niche in the TCG universe but some success as well. Anyone remember Scizor ex from Unseen Forces? Yeah. Awesome. In Boundaries Crossed, Scizor makes its first reappearance since HS-Undaunted. The fact that Scizor is a Stage 1 is nice, considering we won't need Rare Candy to evolve Scyther. The downside is that you'd need to wait a turn after playing Scyther before you can do anything, but most Stage 2s have that weakness anyway due to Rare Candy, so this isn't that big of a flaw. Scizor has a hefty 120 HP, which is excellent for a Stage 1 Pokémon and definitely above average. As a Metal-type, this is neither good nor bad, considering no one really runs Fire-types nowadays, (so the Weakness to Fire is not an issue), but not really beneficial because we don't get to hit anything for Weakness (minus the Beartic...wait, no one plays that?). The Resistance to Psychic-types is nice, nonetheless. The two-Energy Retreat Cost is a little much, but once we read the attacks, we'll find it won't matter that much. We see an attack that does 100 for a requirement of a Metal Energy and two Colorless, (which is screaming to use DCE at this point), but Scizor shines in its first attack: Steel Slash. For a Double Colorless, Scizor hits your opponent for 40 and then ignores all damage from your opponent's Pokémon EX. This can be devastating if your opponent doesn't tech in a Terrakion, Bouffalant, or Zekrom in their deck, meaning that your opponent would have to rely on Pokémon Catcher for the remainder of the game. The problem with Scizor is that...yes. Many decks do. Eel variants tech in the Zekrom for Sigilyph, because Bolt Strike is an OHKO. It's an OHKO on Scizor as well. Terrakion can 2HKO Scizor with Land Crush. Unfortunately for Scizor, it's pretty much over at that point. This doesn't mean anyone should immediately trade off their Scizor or sell it. Scizor has found some popularity with Accelgor, because both can abuse DCE and keep their opponent's EX Pokémon from doing anything at all. It may be something worth testing if you're looking for a fun deck to play with.
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[99] Flygon:
This card looks familiar huh? This is a card with some rogue potential that has been released just in time for City Championships. To simply cut to the chase, Flygon is generally only used for its Ability; its attack doesn't see as much use, although it is capable of KOing a Rayquaza EX in one shot. Flygon’s Ability is fairly strong; you can put a large amount of damage on your opponent’s field in between turns. Flygon’s main partner is Dusknoir Boundaries Crossed. With these two cards together in a deck, you can drop large amounts of damage on your opponent’s Pokémon, then move it wherever you please. Flygon can also be paired with cards that let you switch your active after it attacks, however, there aren’t many of those cards in our current format. It’ll be interesting to see how Flygon is used in the future, but as of now, it is not found in any top tier decks.
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[101] Black Kyurem EXhttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/101-black-kyurem-ex.jpg:
When Black and White 2 was announced, I was disappointed. I was hoping that I'd only have to buy one game, which was hopefully going to be Gray. But nope. Kyurem got two formes instead, which I admit are kinda cool. When Boundaries Crossed was released and I saw these Pokémon in card form, I was disappointed once again. Before I start hatin' on Black Kyurem EX, let's go over some positives. This card looks beast. This artwork is absolutely amazing. I love how the ice looks real and how Black Kyurem EX is in mid-attack here. Also, Black Kyurem EX has 180 HP which is pretty good for an EX. But don't forget that Boundaries Crossed released a Black Kyurem EX-exclusive ACE SPEC, Crystal Wall, that jacks Black Kyurem EX's HP to 300. This is just monstrous. Black Kyurem EX also requires some Lightning Energy to attack, which means we could pair this card with Eelektrik if we'd like to. But from there, it all goes downhill. Its first attack, Dragon Fang, does a mere 60 damage for a Lightning Energy and a DCE. You get to flip a coin for Paralysis, but it doesn't matter as much as it used to with Skyla in the format to search for Switch immediately. You're 3HKOing Darkrai which is still very viable in the metagame. Its second attack, Freeze Shock, seems like it'd be awesome. 150 for four Energy isn't bad. But once you realize that you need to attach two more Energy in addition to the Lightning and DCE you had for Dragon Fang, it's not. And one of those needs to be a Water Energy. Furthermore, once you use Freeze Shock, you leave Black Kyurem EX out in the open for another turn, (unless you Retreat, but that costs three Energy), or use Switch or something like Rush In. Rayquaza EX only needs to discard two Energy for a KO. Tool Scrapper gets rid of the Crystal Wall. All in all, Black Kyurem is just too slow and too vulnerable for this format.
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[103] White Kyurem EX:
White Kyurem EX is a card that is just on the verge of playability. With the addition of Crystal Edge, it can be quite a threat if your opponent isn’t playing Tool Scrapper or Rayquaza EX. The cool thing about White Kyurem is that there are several ways to play it, and it can be built up relatively easily thanks to Double Colorless Energy. Dragon Stream is the heart of most variants, but Water Energy can be teched for the occasional Ice Burn. White Kyurem can be paired with Emboar to make a rather interesting deck. Fire Energy can be accelerated to White Kyurem, and Crystal Edge-equipped Kyurem can run through quite a few things with either of its attacks. Once Kyurem is knocked out, another Kyurem can be benched, and built back up relatively quickly. White Kyurem can also be played with Altaria from Dragon’s Exalted. With two, or even a single Altaria out, Kyurem starts to hit for a ridiculous amount of damage. A combination of Crystal Edge and Altaria can be very scary, 130 for 3 is something to be somewhat afraid of.
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[105] Raticate:
For veterans of the game, many can remember the Base Set Raticate with an interesting attack called "Super Fang." It did damage equal to half of the Defending Pokémon's HP, which wasn't bad if your opponent had a bulky Pokémon out. Fast forward about thirteen years, and Super Fang all of a sudden seems to be injected with steroids and puts damage counters on the Defending Pokémon until it has 10 HP left. Holy mackerel! Seems legit...not. While the attack seems to have gotten an epic improvement, Raticate itself has not. Like its Base Set counterpart, Raticate from Boundaries Crossed has 60 HP. Yes. This is a Stage 1 Pokémon with 60 HP. This Raticate has less HP than one of the Tepigs from Black and White, and just as much HP as the other starter Pokémon from that set. Wow. Not only would it take a turn to evolve your Rattata, chances are your opponent can dish out 60 points of damage in two turns for a KO. Minus the fact Super Fang requires three Colorless Energy, (or an Energy and a Double Colorless), Raticate is already a pretty bad card. But wait, there's more. That Fighting Weakness already spells out "free Prize Card" for your opponent. Landorus EX OHKOs this sucker and Terrakion doesn't even need to wait for a KO to Retaliate for an OHKO - on top of that, Darkrai EX's Night Spear can kill a Rattata with snipe damage before it even has a chance to evolve. Raticate's first attack only discards a Pokémon Tool card, and while Eviolite and Exp. Share still see play, they're not as popular with the release of Tool Scrapper. Nonetheless, Raticate could still find a partner with a particular Pokémon: Amoonguss from Next Destinies. If you got Raticate out quickly enough, (which would be very surprising), you could Super Fang to drag your opponent's Pokémon to 10 HP and KO it with Sporprise due to Poison. Interesting, but the fact that Raticate is so frail with an attack that is so expensive hardly makes it worth it. It could be something fun to play with, but don't be worried about it in tournaments.
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[108] Dittohttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/108-ditto.jpg:
It's been a while since we've seen Ditto, and it's back in Boundaries Crossed. Unfortunately, it's still not a very good card and a gimmick at best. Sitting at 70 HP, Ditto is 10 HP away from an OHKO by Landorus EX, due to its Weakness to Fighting-type Pokémon. But none of this really matters, because Ditto's Ability, Transform, is what Ditto is all about. You can play any Basic Pokémon on Ditto, and all of a sudden, Ditto becomes that Pokémon so to speak. This doesn't really do all too much, because you could save your deck a card space by just playing the Basic Pokémon you would play on Ditto onto the Bench to begin with. It just doesn't make any sense. Players have discussed that Ditto's Ability could give their deck a "surprise" factor, but there isn't much to hide when you start attaching a particular sort of Energy to it. What is nice about Ditto is that Basics, (such as Tynamo), with low HP can get a slight boost from Ditto before they evolve into Eelektrik. You can play the Ditto, chill for a turn, and then play Tynamo and Eel in the same turn. (Unless the Ditto got sniped for at least 40 damage. Then you're done.) Regardless, this kind of helps. Decks that run surprise techs, (Dusknoir, Vileplume, whatever), could play the Basic Pokémon and Rare Candy that Pokémon on the same turn to really surprise the opponent. This card may open room for some creativity, but for me too much needs to go right in order to pull this off. This causes inconsistency in your list, and Ditto just becomes dead draw late-game. Raikou EX OHKOs this puppy even on the Bench, and/or Ditto is just used as Catcher bait if your opponent's kind of wary. We'll see if Ditto can squeeze its way into some big-time lists, but from my experiences, he's been nothing but a free Prize.
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[122] Stoutland:
This is yet another interesting Pokémon, but when you take a closer look at Stoutland, it becomes seemingly less viable. Supporter lock is a great mechanic. This card could potentially ruin your opponent’s entire set up if it is used properly. Even though its ability is very strong, Stoutland is a somewhat weak card altogether for the time being. Lillipup's weakness to Landorus EX just doesn’t help anything. This deck can be torn apart by one or two Hammerheads, which are not at all hard to pull off early in the game. A Catcher can also break this lock very effectively. Maybe with the release of Ghetsis, Stoutland will become a stronger card, but for the time being, Stoutland decks aren’t going to be a good option for the second half of City Championships.
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[126] Audinohttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/126-audino.jpg:
I remember when I first got Pokémon White and I ran into this guy. When you finally defeat it and get a crapton of Experience, I made sure I attached Lucky Egg to my first Pokémon to train much faster. While Audino was helpful in the video game, it's not as helpful here. An 80 HP Colorless-type means that it's just ok. You have yourself a glaring Weakness to Fighting-types, which isn't good in the meta right now. You have a heavy Retreat Cost, indicating you'll be reliant on Switch, and you're doing 30 damage for a Double Colorless. All in all, not very awesome. But Audino isn't really about attacking. Its Ability, Busybody, may have some promise. Essentially, discard Audino to heal 10 damage and a Special Condition from your Active Pokémon. This isn't very good at the moment, (because only Accelgor works around Special Conditions), but it may be a nice tech with Poison becomes popular with Virbank City Gym, Team Plasma's Crobat, etc., or in areas where cards like Raikou EX and Tynamo, which utilize paralysis, are common. But even then, you can just retreat or play Switch to get rid of the poison. As of now, this card isn't worth a space in your deck. You're better off running Switch or even just a Potion if you want to heal your Pokémon. Worst case scenario is that you get stuck with Audino as your Active with your opening hand. You should scoop right there. The fact that'd you need to waste a Switch or two turns attaching Energy is really detrimental in today's meta. Don't run Audino now. It's just not worth it.
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[127] Aspertia City Gym:
Aspertia City Gym is a Stadium card that has made a surprisingly large impact on the metagame. On the surface, it may seem like this Stadium is a waste of space, but once you look deeper into the card, it has several important and great uses. Aspertia City Gym has helped Tornadus EX grow in popularity for City Championships. With Aspertia, Tornadus gets a 20 Hit Point boost. With Eviolite attached, your Tornadus becomes an extremely bulky Pokémon that can hit for large amounts of damage early in a game - and even better, with Eviolite and Aspertia Gym in play, a Tornadus EX needs to be hit with 210 damage to be taken down in one shot - a feat effectively impossible outside of exploiting Weakness. If you add healing power like Max Potion into this mix, Tornadus EX quickly becomes one of the strongest attackers in our current format. Aspertia City Gym also makes it easier to Blow Through for higher amounts of damage. When you are playing a large amount of Aspertia City Gym and Tornadus EX, 60 damage turn one becomes a very reachable and devastating goal. Aspertia City Gym has greatly boosted Bouffalant Dragon’s Exalted playability as well. 120 damage to an EX Pokémon is a pretty large threat. Bouffalant can take a large number of hits from your opponent’s attackers as well thanks to Aspertia City Gym and Eviolite. In fact, with the combination of Eviolite, Bouffalant’s Ability, and Aspertia, your opponent is going to need to deal 160 damage to take down one of your Bouffalants. Darkrai EX can’t two-shot a Bouffalant through Eviolite and Aspertia. Bouffalant and Tornadus EX have quickly become larger parts of our metagame thanks to Aspertia City Gym.
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[134] Skyla:
Play at least two of this card in your deck right now. It's that good. In last year's format, we had to reluctantly say adiós to our good and trusty friend Junk Arm. He got us our Trainer cards out of the Discard Pile after we used them, to get back that late-game Catcher we needed for the win. But those were the good old days. Boundaries Crossed gave us Skyla, a Supporter that searches our deck for any Trainer, (which means a Supporter too, an ACE SPEC, whatever), we need. This is pretty awesome. Skyla can get us the Catcher, Computer Search, (meaning you can get any card now), Ultra Ball, whatever you need that fits the situation. But with Skyla comes versatility. I run Energy Search in my deck now so I can snatch an Energy when I don't have one instead of banking on N. Energy Switch can be crucial in certain situations. In decks like Hammertime, Skyla searches out the Crushing Hammer to be reused turn after turn when Sableye Junk Hunts for them. But don't forget that Skyla can grab Supporters too. If you have a terrible hand, you can Skyla for a Professor Juniper or an N for the next turn. Skyla will add some consistency to your deck because it can inadvertently get you the Pokémon to set up with or the Trainer for the vital KO. Because every deck should run four Juniper and N, there isn't enough room for four Skyla. Two or three normally does the trick, especially if you have that kind of draw power already. I could go on forever about the situations in which Skyla saves the day, but you can probably come up with your own. Just trust me and play this card.
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[136] Town Maphttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/136-town-map.jpg:
This is another gimmicky card that Boundaries Crossed gave us. At first glance, this is pretty interesting and intriguing. To play the rest of your game with knowledge of your Prize cards is a pretty good deal, and it costs one slot in your deck. There are times when you need that tech you run one of, or that last Catcher that isn't in your deck, and the Town Map can really help you out. Unfortunately, there is and always a price. While this card seems like a pretty solid choice to squeeze into your deck, you'd only be running one of these because you only need one. (You don't really need four Town Maps to flip your Prizes over four times...) Furthermore, you'd have to spend a turn either Skyla-ing out the Town Map, (in contrary to using Juniper, N, etc.), or using Computer Search to snag it. Another problem: it could get stuck in your Prize cards. Then it's just a waste, and you find yourself frustrated. Another thing to consider is the vulnerability to N after you get your Prize card. Your opponent could be able to decipher your strategy if key cards somehow find themselves in the Prizes, making your moves somewhat predictable. Once you pick up a particular Prize, your opponent can N it away. With cards that can KO in the middle of a turn or between turns in transition to your turn, this might be something to look at. You could pick up a Prize and then transition to your turn immediately, avoiding N and getting you exactly the card you'd need. Try Town Map. I don't think it's game-breaking, but it's interesting.
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[137] Computer Searchhttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/137-computer-search.jpg:
Ah, yes. A blast from the past indeed. This card was originally released in the Base Set when the game was first released, but now it's back to share some of the spotlight in a super-shiny form: an ACE SPEC. With these new ACE SPECs, you're only allowed to run one of these per deck. Because they're really good. But opposed to the other ACE SPECs, Computer Search is far better. For the price of discarding two cards, you can search your deck for anything you need. Yup. Anything. A Pokémon, Supporter, Trainer, that DCE for a Mewtwo EX war, whatever. What I love about Computer Search is the fact that it's still an Item, and you can grab what you need based on the situation. Poor hand? Go for the Juniper. Not drawing into any Ultra Ball or Blastoise? Computer Search can help. Need to get some Lightning Energy in the Discard Pile? Well, Computer Search can get you an Eel and charge up Dynamotor. This card is just oh so good. Computer Search is still an Item (and thus does not waste your Supporter for the turn), so you can really boost your consistency with this card. Better yet, you can use Skyla to search for this card to search for any other card. There is no reason why any deck shouldn't run Computer Search. It's just phenomenal and pretty much a staple.
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[138] Crystal Edge:
This card is an obvious must in any deck that carries White Kyurem EX. Bring its all ready high damage output up by 50 damage is very effective, letting White Kyurem EX hit for a devastating 110 damage for only 3 Energy, or 200 for 4 Energy to go for crucial knockouts. Tool Scrapper is a large threat, but if your list carries Sableye, Crystal Edge can be recovered. There really isn’t much to say about this Ace Spec, it makes White Kyurem much more playable, but doesn’t do anything else for any deck in the format.
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[139] Crystal Wallhttp://pokebeach.com/scans/boundaries-crossed/139-crystal-wall.jpg:
It's kind of hard to give Crystal Wall any glory when we find that it's an ACE SPEC and when we just talked about Computer Search. Really. Crystal Wall is another ACE SPEC introduced in Boundaries Crossed with the niche that it's Black Kyurem-exclusive. All of a sudden, (when you attach this card to Black Kyurem), Black Kyurem's HP jumps to 300 HP. This is more HP than any other legitimate card in existence. At first glance, this blew many people out of the water. "IT'S THE POWER CREEP!" many shouted. "IT'S TOTALLY OP!" LoL players yelled. Unfortunately, this doesn't really do much for Black Kyurem. Sure, it's going to be a beast to take down, but Tool Scrapper is still a thing with Garbodor around. Rayquaza EX hits Black Kyurem for Weakness. And...Computer Search is just much better to have. Furthermore, the fact that this card can only be attached to a Black Kyurem EX is pretty rough. Black Kyurem EX isn't a very good card in itself, requiring two different types of Energy to attack with attacks that aren't very good anyways. But we already reviewed that card so you get the idea. Why go through the trouble of playing Crystal Wall when the Pokémon you attach it to can't even hold its own? You're better off running Computer Search. Much better off.
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[140] Gold Potion:
Gold Potion is a very interesting card. With three times the healing power of regular Potion, it is no wonder that this card sees a small amount of play. Unfortunately, since it is an ACE SPEC card, it seems that Gold Potion often times has to play second fiddle to Computer Search. Even with a card as spectacular as Computer Search in the format, it is worth looking into Gold Potion because its healing power is extremely effective and possibly game changing. While pretty much every deck can benefit from a well-placed, unexpected Gold Potion, one deck that this tech works extremely well in is Hammertime. By teching a Gold Potion into Hammertime, you can turn a lot of 2-hit-knockouts on your Darkrai into 3-hit-knockouts. The best part about Gold Potion in Hammertime is that it can be used more than once thanks to Sableye from Dark Explorers. Using Gold Potion twice in a game can be very useful and annoying for your opponent. You may want to consider playing it in some of your future decklists, especially if you don’t own Computer Search or if you play Sableye.
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Boundaries Crossed is a flip-floppity sort of set. Sure, the set contains some awesome cards like Keldeo and Landorus EX, but also some extremely pathetic ones. Unfortunately, the majority of these are part of the latter. If I were you, I would simply buy singles. The crucial cards like Skyla and Computer Search every player needs in his or her deck will cost less on their own than the cost of purchasing packs and crossing your fingers to pull them yourself. As we've seen from City Championships results, the set is still metagame changing, and is still valuable. The value, however, lies in the few cards that we've noted in the article. There's no use trying to pull a handful of cards out of a 153-card set. The odds are definitely not in your favor. We hope that this article has successfully highlighted the strong cards in the set, and how they can be used for the second half of City Championships this season. Thanks for reading!
