Hop’s Zacian ex looks a bit like Buzzwole GX, from the Sun & Moon era, with all the modifiers and the attack. Considering we’ve also got Zoroark ex too, probably not a coincidence.
Hop’s Zacian ex, Mamoswine ex, and More from “Battle Partners” Revealed!
- Thread starter Water Pokémon Master
- Start date
Mamoswine ex with Tatsugiri ex? (Plus things like Togekiss, Dusknoir, Pidgeot ex, etc.)
One energy for 30 damage to the opponent's active and 30 to the bench with a ton of ways to buff the damage to the opponent's active
Close enough welcome back Buzzwole GX
Close enough welcome back Buzzwole GX
I’m surprised that people are surprised that there’s regular Pokémon mixed in. The Platinum era sets, which were the last main appearance of Trainer’s Pokémon, also had regular Pokémon mixed in. I am surprised though that it really seems to just be four trainers here, but I guess they wanted to try and make all four of them into viable archetypes of their own. Lillie presumably only having three Pokémon complicates that though, so I’m not sure why they chose her over someone with more options.
I have never liked Hop at all (one of the worst rivals ever tied with the loser from SuMo for me), but those are some nasty ways to add up damage between his own stadium, snorlax, and choice band, 90 free damage of which 60 is easily searchable for with common cards and reduces your cost by C also. Yikes.
Oh hey, another Iono full art.
it's because people remember the gym sets, which were actually good and fun on top of committing fully to the gimmick. the gen 4 era owner's pokemon were trash and it felt like the card R&D were embarrassed to even be doing them given how afraid they were to look like they cared about it, so i'm very glad they're at least the real deal here, but it does seem almost entirely pointless to not have every pokemon belong to somebody. even if whoever owns the mamoswine doesn't have a complete package deck archetype ready to go now in the first set of the format (or ever) it would change very little about the cards in this specific set if they had instead been called "Brock's Mamoswine ex" or "Clay's Mamoswine ex" or even "Brassius' Meowscarada". it really all comes down to committing to your gimmick instead of getting cold feet.
if the set consists only of these four trainers, i would go as far as to say that it's actively bad for them to not be setting up later owner's archetypes ahead of time with the apparent "leftover" cards, and it's going to be even more relevant a complaint if there's a very conspicuous chunk of non-owner's cards in the final setlist, if it looks like it could have been room for one if not two more characters.
*sigh* Reeeeeally wish we didn't have to see more Zacian, let alone hop's whole arsenal, but that's just cuz I'm still reeling from ZADP even years after it rotated. I also just don't like hop, I think he's very annoying. And he's such a divisive character, it could've gone to Kieran (or maybe Cheren if they wanted to keep things colorless). I don't see it getting much play tho since we don't have any metal support. It could perform well in expanded... If we had expanded.
On the other hand, Mamoswine ex is cool. I would love to see it more if we got some better fighting acceleration other than Garganacl and Koraidon. We get the same handful of Pokemon in the meta (Charizard, Mewtwo, Zacian, Zoroark) so this would be a very welcome addition.
On the other hand, Mamoswine ex is cool. I would love to see it more if we got some better fighting acceleration other than Garganacl and Koraidon. We get the same handful of Pokemon in the meta (Charizard, Mewtwo, Zacian, Zoroark) so this would be a very welcome addition.
i can't imagine being particularly invested in either loving or hating the character. just feels like a really boring choice compared to the numerous other options for colorless / metal that might result in more interesting monster representation than yet another high profile zacian, snorlax, and cramorant.
PMJ
Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands
Forum Head
Articles Head
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
Is it, though? I'll admit that choosing Hop is probably more due to Zacian than anything, but I'd also argue that any relevant Steel-type user worth picking also has their own bunch of Pokemon that have been done to death and are not very interesting picks either. At least Hop is interesting and is more than just a GL/E4. And that's neat.
Normal has even worse representation and I will admit that not having any of Larry's Pokemon headline the set is a crime.
Lillie, N, Iono - these are all no brainers when trying to sell a set like this and they all have iconic (boring) Pokemon. We also haven't seen the whole set yet, so it's entirely possible that there will be some sleeper goated picks. Arven's Cloyster ex?
I don’t get the discussion in this thread. Like for real. Hop is the third in the ranking of most beloved characters in Japan. You all keep forgetting that this game, and especially this set, is aimed for the Japanese marked first and foremost.
Other than that, we will be getting more characters in the next few sets. Moreover, I’d argue that iono is a more boring character than Hop.
Actually Hop is pretty cool, the writing of the game is just bad and the Anime didn’t really feature him. But his resolve and what he stands for isn’t different from most other good characters on the franchise?!
Other than that, we will be getting more characters in the next few sets. Moreover, I’d argue that iono is a more boring character than Hop.
Actually Hop is pretty cool, the writing of the game is just bad and the Anime didn’t really feature him. But his resolve and what he stands for isn’t different from most other good characters on the franchise?!
There is still a chance we get a luxray that may be playable
Mamoswine ex + Vivillon (SSP) which can evolve turn 1 from Spewpa (SVI) and Scatterbug (SVI). You’re welcome.
I agree. Where do you see a list of most beloved pokemon characters in Japan?
I see where this is going. Use TM Evolution to get your first few stage 2's into play, then bench the Luxray when that Pokémon gets knocked out. Or maybe play Dusknoir to ensure that you are able to bench the Luxray if your opponent plays safe (and just to get Pokémon into KO range if you can't ramp fast enough).
Energy acceleration would go a long way towards making the deck work, though... I suppose technically Garganacl is all you need, but is it feasible? (Probably not with Dusknoir in the deck, at any rate.)
That probably depends on your definition of "feasible..."
*Reprints Lost Thunder Meganium*
I mean, I'm seeing a vision for Zacian. Hop's Cramorant can deal with what Hop's Zacian ex would simply be overkill against (Single prizers, and potentially some basic ex's if you can add just one more damage modifier), and you could potentially use Metang for Energy acceleration, since it only needs 3 Energy with the Tool attached.