Discussion Opinion on GX Pokémon (GX VS. EX)

[Robin Aisaga]

Quite a few GX cards have been revealed, we now have a good insight of its mechanic. I'm curious how people think of these new cards? How do you compare them to EX Pokémon? Do you like their design for example.

I'm not very fond of them, personally. For a few reasons actually:

HP is getting too d*mn high. regular EX cards already took it to a new level. Then Mega evolutions were introduced into the TCG. It made sense for them to have even more HP. But a 200HP Lycanrock makes no sense. The fact that it gained 140HP form its previous stage makes it even more ridiculous in my opinion.

Their attacks and abilities are bland... I have yet to see an original mechanic on these GX cards. Currently they're all powerful variants of attacks from cards we've seen before.

The GX attack itself also bothers me, it does take skill to use them at the right moment. But a game changing attack only makes a match unpredictable. I already hear players sighing from an unexpected Lunar Fall that takes down one of their benched EX Pokémon with 180HP remaining.

The art on these cards look neat. The 3D models don't look like they were made by amateurs. However I'm not sure if I'll get used to the card layout, like the borders and stuff.

I do hope we get some kind of secret of ultra rare that blows us away!

 

[Meracle]

I kind of like it. They are basically the old ex pokemon (have to be evolved). Their hp is kind of high tbh but I can't judge it until they reveal other non-GX pokemon.

 

[WuBMaYNE]

Right now I think it's pretty safe to say, if you're not using GX cards when they come out, you will not be winning. Which probably isn't a great thing. But at least there's a bunch of them coming out with the first set, so it's not a one deck meta. Hopefully they beef up non GX Pokemon too, so people will actually be inclined to play them along side GX's.

There could also be A LOT of hard counter trainer cards that we just haven't seen yet. Like tools that give you +40 when you attack a GX Pokemon with a non GX Pokemon. That's an example, hopefully something like that will balance this out.

 

[Robin Aisaga]

Players already thinking of ways to balance GX Pokémon just adds to my concerns

 

[Chrswrites]

Let's wait and see what nintendo / TPCi is bringing to the game!

 

[キットちゃん]

I think Lycanroc GX's HP may be too high but I like that they've fixed a glaring flaw with the BW EX cards which is that they were so powerful yet never needed to evolve from anything, they're more like the EX series ex cards but with a 1 off super move which may add some strategy to what it should be saved for. I'm sorta concerned about how those moves might unbalance the game and that M EX level HP is concerning, especially since Evolutions is coming out with a few high damage evolution cards to counter EX and now GX might mop the floor with both.

 

[professor layton]

Think of it like this- for most new mechanics, the first set(s) usually don't contain the best quality ever. Look at ex's. Ruby/Sapphire had garbage EX's. It took a few sets to get going.

I'm happy to see them. they look awesome and will be fun to see what happens

 

[NinjaPenguin]

To me, the 200HP barrier was something sacred, that only megas (that needed to waste a turn to evolve) or Wailord EX could reach. Now, it's becoming the new norm. It's aggravating to see something like G-Booster suddenly become feeble. Giratina EX will now need to take 3HKOs. It's infuriating that the old cards in the format can become useless just like that. And to think we might not have seen the most powerful ones yet, that's just horrifying.

But wait, there's more. These cards come equipped with powerful attacks that can doing things like set up your MMewtwo to sweep, kill any EX on the field, or obliterate your opponent's side of the field. It's not balance; it's a huge advancement of the power creep. And I for one don't like it.

 

[Otaku]

I'm curious how people think of these new cards?

I have done no testing with proxies or anything, so I could easily be mistaken, but my "second" impression as it were is actually worse than my first.

The one positive is something multiple people already disagree with me on in this thread: higher HP. Not higher damage output or stronger effects, but higher HP all around would be beneficial to the game; it gives the designers more wiggle room and helps slow down the pace of the game. If someone new to the boards is reading this, I have gone on at length about the pacing of this game being too fast for its own mechanics; we don't need stronger Evolutions, we don't need weaker Basics, we just need slower (when it comes to attacking for damage) Basics with those that Evolve focused on aiding set up and those that don't mostly just stuck sitting there for a turn or two. Tah-dah, now that card advantage you gain from running Basics becomes a matter of running additional cards to set up and you just don't have a speed advantage. No need to try and figure out how to design a Basic that hits hard ASAP with an Evolution that takes a turn or two to hit the field and yet are both roughly equal. Hard to believe now, but there was a time when we had the opposite problem because of that approach: Basics were usually garbage and Evolutions dominated the game.

Which transitions nicely to Pokémon-GX. So once again we have something closely resembling an older mechanic (Pokémon-ex, the inspiration for Pokémon-EX) and with a similar sounding/looking name (though closer to Pokémon-EX). That might create some unneeded confusion, even if they are dropping Pokémon-EX in the newer sets. Pokémon-ex didn't balance out the game when they introduced either; remember that period when Basics were basically only there to Evolved, give or take the select few "competitive" examples? That's basically the period prior to and during much of the time when Pokémon-ex were a thing. All of this before we get to the whole "once-per-game" attack idea that seems absolutely terrible to me. This is the TCG, not the video games; tracking such a thing looks like a pain and balancing out effects and rules for it looks like a nightmare. Yeah, "rule"; we are used to effects resetting when a Pokémon leaves the field but obviously it cannot for these once-per-game attacks.

Oh, and the one positive I mention is marred because it is only Pokémon-GX making the jump. We need everything to make the jump, and since we aren't playing a single player game where we can grind for experience but are Benching and Evolving Pokémon during the match, that HP needs to be "front-loaded" onto the Evolving Basic Pokémon. Yes, this was the short version.

 

[GodzardX]

I love their design. I'll just leave it at that since I haven't yet stepped into the competitive scene ever since I came back to TCG collecting.

 

[Lorde]

Design wise, I need my EX cards, I kind of like GXs, but I'll only care if it's a Pokémon I really like. Hopefully they'll have GX full arts. If they do, then fine.

 

[crystal_pidgeot]

The solution here is to either make Evolving Pokemon HP a bit higher (100 HP Pidgey and 160ish HP Pidgeotto) so when the GX comes into play,the HP gain is justified. The other solution is to stop make attacks do so much damage but is clear that isn't happening by what is being printed. The thing I liked about the XY Pokemon-EX is it gave Pokemon a chance to be played that wouldn't otherwise be played. It also reduced the amount of cards you needed to play Pokemon like Blastoise, since you didn't need to run a huge line and Rare Candy. They ruined it by printing too many Charizard cards...

Overall, feel GX Pokemon may be better for the pacing of the game. They can print more Pokemon-GX so more Pokemon have ultra rare cards. The amount of cards also drop, making decks more Pokemon based as opposed to Trainer based. It would be nice if GX attacks were more unique though and Lunala-GXs GX move is clearly something of unintended card interaction. The focus of the game seems to just hit as fast and hard as possible and I don't think Pokemon-GX will change that.

The HP on Pokemon-GX seems about right since currently the mega Pokemon can have HP between 210 and 240. We haven't seen and Pokemon-GX with more than 210 HP right now since we only seen them on Stage one Pokemon so I assume stage 2 Pokemon GX will have at most 250, which isn't unrealistic. With Snorlax-GX, we see it has 190 HP which may not be the lowest HP since 3 Pokemon-EX have 190 HP.

 

[Maserati777]

To be honest they are poor mans versions of textured full arts. They kind of remind me of the full art promos. Like they aren't really worthy of being inan actual set.

If these aren't like Breaks and instead replace textured full arts then I definitely won't continue collecting the cards.
On one hand thats probably a good thing since i was spending too much money on thr tcg. On the other hand RIP Suicune, Pinsir, Banette, Mawile, Diancie, Solgaleo and Lunala among others.

 

[Starsoulklr]

GX Attacks certainly seem on the side of 'Forced gimmick for the sake of the main product' Instead of 'Mechanic that enhances the secondary game'. Like Megas they are implemented more for new shiny mechanic from the Video Game into the TCG and as we know with Spirit Links that wasn't implemented in very well.

Now I do like they are normal in the lines of evolution chains instead of being a separate Pokemon. While there will be basic ones still we will most likely see more evolution Pokemon instead.

Minor concern is the very 'GX forward only' look of Lunala's GX attack which if they're not careful they may make something really dumb. It does have a shimmer of phasing out EX and BREAKS for the next sets.

 

[LBelleBird]

I feel like the GX mechanic grants the possibility of slowing down the format. So far, for the most part, they've been showing GX's on evolved Pokemon. I hope they do more GX cards that are Stage 1 & 2, since the attacks are so strong it should be worth waiting a few turns to get to. If not, and there are more Basic GX Pokemon, then we're looking at just replacing EX with GX. I don't mind the once-per-game attacks, but so far they seem a little lackluster. But maybe they're just going to nerf all the regular attacks and push the average HP so high that GX attacks will have to be used to get ahead.

I'm not really sure how I feel about them overall - I'll reserve a full opinion when I see more cards that aren't GX's, like Trainers and other Pokemon. One thing I do know, is that I like the movement away from what is a very EX focused format.

 

[Anthony Orosco]

Honestly, I think they won't make too much of a splash in competitive scene RIGHT AWAY. The ones that I predict to be good are the Basic GXs, and the GXs with good support moves. Further more, I predict Solgaleo and Lunala GX (Still can't decide which legendary I like more and Sun and Moon is only a month away), will quickly become Benchmarks, and here's why. Solgaleo GX has a solid ability which is Ultra Road, and it allows you to switch your active Pokemon with any Pokemon on your bench once per turn. This entirely eradicates the need for any line of Zoroark or Keldeo depending on the format. It also has the move Sol Burst, which allows you to search your deck for up to 5 Energy and place them on your Pokemon in any way you like. This is the biggest form of energy acceleration the Pokemon TCG has ever seen. Personally, I would like to see a Xerneas Break/Giritina/Solgaleo GX deck happen sometime.

And for Lunala, things look pretty good there too. Its ability, Psychic Transfer can help a lot of decks that might struggle. With the rotation of Crobat, Mega Alakazam EX decks were left without a leg to stand on. Maybe Lunala on the bench can help jump start it? I think the biggest problem Solgaleo and Lunala GX would have is if somehow they weren't basics but like that's gonna happen......

 

[superdan51]

Honestly, I think they won't make too much of a splash in competitive scene RIGHT AWAY. The ones that I predict to be good are the Basic GXs, and the GXs with good support moves. Further more, I predict Solgaleo and Lunala GX (Still can't decide which legendary I like more and Sun and Moon is only a month away), will quickly become Benchmarks, and here's why. Solgaleo GX has a solid ability which is Ultra Road, and it allows you to switch your active Pokemon with any Pokemon on your bench once per turn. This entirely eradicates the need for any line of Zoroark or Keldeo depending on the format. It also has the move Sol Burst, which allows you to search your deck for up to 5 Energy and place them on your Pokemon in any way you like. This is the biggest form of energy acceleration the Pokemon TCG has ever seen. Personally, I would like to see a Xerneas Break/Giritina/Solgaleo GX deck happen sometime.

And for Lunala, things look pretty good there too. Its ability, Psychic Transfer can help a lot of decks that might struggle. With the rotation of Crobat, Mega Alakazam EX decks were left without a leg to stand on. Maybe Lunala on the bench can help jump start it? I think the biggest problem Solgaleo and Lunala GX would have is if somehow they weren't basics but like that's gonna happen.....

Spoiler includes my opinions based on data mined info that may or may not be 100% true, lurk at your own discretion

Spoiler

Actually, the leaks from the main game do show that they do both have previous evolutions. I think that at the time of the initial card release they didnt want to spoil that information, and now that we do know that the cards are most likely to get the pre evolutions. I personally think that this is great for the game. After next years rotation we can kiss this speed meta goodbye. Decks like greninja break and maybe even machamp break will flourish thanks to the fact that ex pokemon decks cant just speed through their deck and find all the resources on the first turn so they it just becomes who can sweep quicker. I didnt really like the idea of shaymin, but they wanted to try uxie again and it didnt really work all that well. I am very happy with GX because it changes the game. Were already stuck in a high HP heavy hitting meta, and trying to shift that away wouldnt really work, as the expanded format would be disastrous and most of the sets coming out wouldnt be able to compete until all the XY sets rotate. Sadly the days of low hp attacks and very slow meta are far gone, and its really all we got from here on in

but I do like GX over EX, it should take more than just a drop on the bench to get the sort of power. I dont mind having to wait a few turns to get setup if it changes the speed of the match. Its more balanced as well. I think that EXs should have had a turn of cool down after every attack

 

[Anthony Orosco]

Spoiler includes my opinions based on data mined info that may or may not be 100% true, lurk at your own discretion

Spoiler

Actually, the leaks from the main game do show that they do both have previous evolutions. I think that at the time of the initial card release they didnt want to spoil that information, and now that we do know that the cards are most likely to get the pre evolutions. I personally think that this is great for the game. After next years rotation we can kiss this speed meta goodbye. Decks like greninja break and maybe even machamp break will flourish thanks to the fact that ex pokemon decks cant just speed through their deck and find all the resources on the first turn so they it just becomes who can sweep quicker. I didnt really like the idea of shaymin, but they wanted to try uxie again and it didnt really work all that well. I am very happy with GX because it changes the game. Were already stuck in a high HP heavy hitting meta, and trying to shift that away wouldnt really work, as the expanded format would be disastrous and most of the sets coming out wouldnt be able to compete until all the XY sets rotate. Sadly the days of low hp attacks and very slow meta are far gone, and its really all we got from here on in

but I do like GX over EX, it should take more than just a drop on the bench to get the sort of power. I dont mind having to wait a few turns to get setup if it changes the speed of the match. Its more balanced as well. I think that EXs should have had a turn of cool down after every attack

Thank you!

 

[Otaku]

Decks like greninja break...

Are actually still pretty fast. Just a point I wanted to make; what most people think of as a "slow" deck is actually pretty fast. I mean even if you don't go second, Wally on your first turn, and get multiple Frogadier in play so that by your second turn you're hitting Greninja (possibly Greninja BREAK with a second Wally), that is still some insane speed. Unprecedented? Once the original version of Rare Candy hit back in EX: Sandstorm and especially when we had Broken Time-Space we've had this kind of speed. That first thing is from shortly after Nintendo took over the TCG, so its been quite a while. XD Still, I believe it worth pointing out that if you're focused on a deck that swarms Stage 2 or 3* Pokémon, such a thing taking three or four turns is not truly slow.

*Just treating the BREAK Evolution of a Stage 2 as a Stage 3 for simplicity's sake.

 

[bbninjas]

I am quite glad to see that PTCG is placing more focus on Evolutions again. The mechanic also seems to involve a bit more strategy, since you are limited to just a single GX attack each game. However, my biggest concern is the obvious power jump in the HP. While obviously necessary to compete with EXs, does this mean 300HP Pokemon will become normal in a few years time?