'Phantom Gate' Scans and Translations! [9/10]

[Toro Rosso]

I'll be very honest and say that there's not much in this set that I really like. When I heard this set was going to focus on Psychic I was really hoping for an Alakazam... but no. It doesn't feature any Pokémon that I would consider my favourites or anything. Manectric EX is just another bull**** EX that gets freebie KOs on basic Pokémon turn 2. Looks like I'll be largely skipping this one.

Alakazam won't happen in this lifetime due to a copyright infringement. But here's what I see in terms of the set.

Venomoth - interesting but I doubt it'll be worth playing given the energy costs. The first attack is like a Hypno but forcing your opponent into a 50-50 flip and not being able to use it.
Pyroar - just bad overall. The ability is good but the attack is just terrible.
Feraligatr - interesting but that depends if you can get setup quickly. If so, you can wreck. Very very very hard.
Manetric EX - probably one of the better EXs to use in prelease. Add to the fact you can use Team Flare's Head Jammer for additional damage.
M. Manetric EX - a big Mega that actually synergises well with the attack being decent AND allows energy acceleration. Add the Spirit Link and you're unstoppable.
Heliolisk - might work well with the above M. Manetric EX. Discard and then reattach for extra fun.
Gengar EX - overhyped and it shows. Bad first attack and average second attack. If only Dragalge was in this set, then you'll see it shine a lot.
M. Gengar EX - perhaps the most disappointing EX of the set. Large energy costs will probably relegate this only to the pre-release plays only.
Wobbuffet - I think this is mistranslated as it should read "Do an addition 10 damage per damage counter on the opponent's Active Pokemon" not 10 times the damage counter on the opponent's Active Pokemon.
Chandulure - a 50-50 chance of knocking out the opponent's Pokemon? Cool if only it didn't rely on damn luck.
Gourgeist - probably the joker of the set. Awesome to see in action, pathetic attack for the second.
Malamar EX - who thought it was a good idea to put an awesome ability of sleep for EVERY energy attachment. Good grief...
Florges EX - genuinely surprised with Florges EX. It has a decent first attack if you're skimping for a Supporter. Not that this set has a decent supporter....
Slurpuff - a better one but still, not that great and good for pre-release only.
Hydregion - good ability, sucks that it has to be on a Stage 2.
Target Whistle - oh, you have a lot of 30hp Pokemon? LOLOLOLOLOL.
Substitute Robot - basically a Clefairy Doll from Base Set.
Head Noiser - get ready for more energy to lose!
Xerosic - well, at least we've got a Tool Scrapper and an Enhanced Hammer in a Supporter form. Wish they actually reprinted the damn cards instead!
Lysandre's Last Resort - bathplug, my milling deck isn't going to work this time round... T____T

Overall, not a bad set but just a lot of disappointment. But the Dialga EX...give me....

 

[Athena]

Alakazam could easily be done as an EX/Mega combo, since that wouldn't require a Kadabra card to be printed.

 

[RealSlim]

Alakazam won't happen in this lifetime due to a copyright infringement. But here's what I see in terms of the set.

The problem it's Kadabra, not Alakazam. Obviously M-Alakazam-EX will be in another set.

M. Gengar EX - perhaps the most disappointing EX of the set. Large energy costs will probably relegate this only to the pre-release plays only.

Large energy cost? 1 [P] and 2 [C] energies (1 [P] and 1 [C] if there is a Dimensional Valley Stadium in play) to perform 1 of the attacks of your opponent's Pokémon is a "large energy cost"? I don't think so.

 

[Wigglytuff]

Oh my god....
This set has the best artwork in any set I've ever seen
LOOK AT THOSE FULL ARTS!
Lysandre's Last Resort is BEAUTIFUL
Full Metal Dialga is AMAZING
AZ is MAGNIFICENT
BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO POKEMON COMPANY!

 

[don()shinobi]

Pokemon now has its equivalent of Yugioh's Foolish Burial. Only it sends 3.
My life is complete.

 

[pokedan24]

There are quite a few cool cards in this set, but man some of these evolutions are so ridiculously underwhelming.

Blissey is just terrible. Payback would have been balanced without the stupid coin flip and that second attack is way too expensive.
Pyroar's ability is cool, but it's attack is just awful. 4 Energy (3 which must be fire) and self damage? No thanks.
Gigalith's attack is even worse and it's a stage 2!
Liepard's attacks aren't horribly costed, but they do way too little damage to be effective.
Why does Talonflame even need a drawback for a mere 120 for 3? Again, it's a stage 2!

 

[ECHOxLegend]

Accelgor/Trevenant would have hated this.

YES< YES WE WOULD HAVE, thank you TCPI for sparing us the shame, I thought Virizigen was bad.

In other words the art made me eeeeeeeee!gasm, especially the pyroar, spiritomb, gourgeist, and full arts

So many usable things, I thought I would have to use tool cards for my no special condiitions metal deck but now we have a stadium too, Eigislash is just as good as we thought and know we have an ex that block almost everything, and ex that can stall, and an ex that hits for 100 no matter what. hell imma bout to buy 2 boxes HAHAHa, dreams do come true.

 

[GadgetJax]

This is one of the most dissapointing sets I've seen in a long time... it follows the awful tradition of making Evolutions that don't have abilities unplayable and every EX Pokemon exeptionally strong. But, here's my breakdown of anything that could see play:

-Yanmega - It can counter Pyroar for DCE and a Muscle Band, but not too great otherwise. It also has Fight Resistance, so, that's a thing...

-Pyroar - A Pokemon Catcher that works with Energy attatchment. Might work in some kind of Emboar variation. It's not bad by any means, it's just that Emboar doesn't have a good partner right now, so I'm kind of mixed...

-Kingler - Blastoise, maybe? Yeah, this guy stinks. At least he's a common.

-Feraligatr - Feraligatr is actually very, VERY good. IT just falls prey to being a stage 2, but it's otherwise really solid!

-Lumineon - Low HP, Grass Weakness, but it has an interesting first attack. Not much better than Emolga, Dedenne, or Kangaskhan, but being that you can search out any Pokemon, it's at least unique in it's own right...

-Jellicent - A great tech in Mewtwo-EX decks! It definitely struggles with Energy Manipulation decks(Aromatisse, Hydreigon), but looks pretty promising!

-Manectric-EX/Mega Manectric-EX - Easily the best EX in the set, because of it's sheer speed and compatibility with Spirit Links, but falls prey to the ever popular Fighting Type deck craze.

-Galvantula - Wait, this guy isn't a Holo? Then why is he the focus of a theme deck??

-Heliolisk - Could partner with Mega Manectric, but the Fighting weakness and large setup required might tether him down.

-Gengar-EX/Mega Gengar-EX - Gengar is a great Chesnaught or Trevenant tech, and Mega Gengar can plow against many decks, especially with the Fighting Resistance.

-Crobat - Without Devolution Spray in the format anymore, and the only way to recycle Evolution being AZ, it's dissapointing to see such a cool card go to waste...

-Wobbuffet - Garbodor that doesn't need to evolve, but requires being active. A Gengar tech, perhaps?

-Musharna - Shuffling back in? That's great! Though, it will probably just be knocked out next turn...

-Chandelure - Are you trying to tell me that he's going be good? haha, don't make me laugh... the ability is cool, like Cursegar, but if you're telling me that you have to rely on a coin flip that CAN'T be modified by Victini, you have yourself a pretty bad card...

-Gourgeist - Reuniclus tech, maybe?

-Honchcrow - Malamar-EX combo in the making!

-Malamar-EX - Oh my Crud, this guy is pretty good. The jack-of-all-trades of this set, if you will. CalamariMax is really strong, and pairs with Dark Trance Hydreigon and Blastoise/Emboar really well.

-Florges-EX - Umm, mixed on this one. 120 for 2 energy is interesting, just like Zoroark, but it's otherwise mediocre.

-Slurpuff - An extra draw per turn. Might pair with XY Slurpuff, but otherwise average.

-Hydreigon - He can pair with Dark Trance Hydreigon, but is otherwise laughable.

-Regigigas - Why do you have to be weak to Fighting Type attacks? Why? You had such potential... I sympathise for you, McGigas...

-Target Whistle - Really good, honestly! Just pull out a weak Basic and KO! Might see play with Crobat or Landorus-EX.

-Battle Compressor - ....

-Substitute Doll - Clefairy Doll. Mega Decks. That's all I can really say about it, though.

-Jamming Net - Reduces damage, that's cool. Not much to say about it.

-Head Noiser - I already gave my 2 cents about this card, and I still have my same opinion: Incredibly destructive on some decks, and useless against others.

-AZ - It's not Seeker. Y U No pick up Energy's?

-Xerosic - I hate this card. Team Flare Grunt was balanced because it required you to discard to active but this will either be useless or broken.

-VS Seeker - *Insert McGigas' GIF here*

-Full Metal Dialga-EX - really cool!

wait, no Special Lightning Energy? What? What?? This is mutiny! How could you?!?

---

Rayquaza didn't appear until after the release of Pokemon Emerald.

Giratina didn't appear until after the release of Pokemon Platinum

Kyurem appeared in Noble Victories, the 2nd set (Emerging powers was just promos)of BW, and Pokemon Gray was never made in favor of sequels.

Zygarde still hasn't appeared yet.

Pokemon Z Confirmed.

 

[evilpacman]

Isn't anyone else excited for KRABBY AND KINGLER?!?!??! Those guys have been absent for 6 years and have about 5 cards. Poor things are so underrepresented. I, for one, am excited to see them again.

 

[steffenka]

Giratina didn't appear until after the release of Pokemon Platinum

Giratina appeared in Legends Awakened which was released several months before Platinum

Anyways, yay Finneon and Lumineon are back!
I've always loved those two, so glad they're printed as cards again!
Also love Litleo, Heliolisk, Bunnelby and Gourgeist's artworks, and I love that 5-ban didn't do every gen 6 Pokemon in this set, and only a few non-gen 6 Pokemon

 

[HA559]

What is that number 9 on Regigigas's left hand?

It's quite funny how each mega pokemon has its own spirit link now.

Some of the artwork look nice but overall I don't really like this set at all.

 

[Athena]

The number 9 in the Regigigas artwork is the Route marker, those little signs that tell you what route you're on, like this.

 

[HA559]

The number 9 in the Regigigas artwork is the Route marker, those little signs that tell you what route you're on, like this.

Oh ok thanks for that. I didn't play any of the most recent pokemon games. I saw people playing it online but didn't take note of that.

Thanks

 

[pokedan24]

This is one of the most dissapointing sets I've seen in a long time... it follows the awful tradition of making Evolutions that don't have abilities unplayable and every EX Pokemon exeptionally strong. But, here's my breakdown of anything that could see play:

Like the XY first set, the best cards were revealed before the set was leaked. There are a few gems here, but the rest of them range from interesting to completely unplayable.

Also, no new Eeveelutions is a disappointment after last set.

 

[Milennin]

Alakazam won't happen in this lifetime due to a copyright infringement.

Tell me more?

 

[Athena]

Alakazam won't happen in this lifetime due to a copyright infringement.

Tell me more?

Kadabra's Japanese name (Yungerer) is based off of the name of "psychic" Uri Geller (esp. in the katakana, the names are almost identical, with the exception of a single character replaced that even looks rather similar ン instead of リ). Geller tried to sue Pokémon because he felt he was characterized unfairly in the Pokémon references, but the case was thrown out of court and Geller didn't get any money or anything. However, there have been incredibly few appearances of Kadabra since then, in both the TCG and the anime, and it is strongly believed to be done so as to not provoke Geller, who is rather well-known for trying to sue people and basically causing shitstorms.

Here is an old BBC article for reference.

 

[Pikachu6319]

Well this set has no Diancie in it. This tells me the Diancie we get in Phantom Forces will be the promo ones Japan got from the Cocoon of Destruction movies (like the Xerneas and Yveltal from the promo thing in November). As to where/if we get Diancie EX, no one knows...unless Japan releases that pack with Diancie EX/M. Diancie EX in it before November then we could get Diancie EX as our seventh EX in Phantom Forces, but then when will we get M. Diancie EX because the press release info made it clear we shouldn't expect M. Diancie in Phantom Forces.

Looks like aside from EX's and megas I won't have to worry about much from this set, though I could be surprised as we could find some promos placed into our English set (Fairy Dedenne, Fighting Pangoro, Dark Greninja, Goodra) that wouldn't need to appear in Phantom Gate. Slurpuff and Hydregion look cool though. It will be kind of neat to see what kind of promos get released in thet next couple of weeks in Japan to correlate with this set that might wind up in our English set (I hope for Psychic Delphox and Fighting Chestnaught). Full art Malamar EX looks cool and kind of evil, lolz. Manectric EX and Florges EX are kind of nice looking too but Gengar EX just looks kind of silly. The Metal looking FA Dialga EX looks cool too, but I might have to wait a bit before getting this one, depending on the price.

I am glad that Finneon/Lumineon (though this could have been better playwise) and Krabby/Kingler got some new cards after all this time.

I am a little dissapointed about the lack of new fairies. I understand they might be saving a fairy Gardevoir line for ORAS sets, but how about Mawile (I theroize Mawile EX and M. Mawile EX will be steel type) or Marill/Azumarill or Togepi/Togetic/Togekiss or Cottontee/Whimsicott or an official Snubbul/Granbull having been put in here. I'm also dissapointed that apparently we're going to have to wait at least another four months (possibly longer if we are going into ORAS next year) to get a Zygarde card. Speaking of Dragons, they got a bit shortchanged too though they don't have as much to work with. Dragon Tyrunt/Tyrantrum is about it and I can understand they might not want to release these Pokemon now since they were released last set.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a steel Heatran, something we haven't seen since I think Legends Awakened in DP era and Girafarig was colorless for the first time since I think the HGSS era. That being said, they should have taken that a few steps further. Diggersby could have been a fighting type instead of another colorless type and if they insisted on more colorless Pokemon the Helioptile/Heliolisk and/or Litleo/Pyroar line could have been colorless instead. And am I the only one who would like to see a psychic (ghost) line up for Frillish/Jellicent?

 

[blackbeltdude]

Furious Fists seems like it was overall better compared to this set... I didn't really think twice about getting a booster box for Furious Fists, but I'm not so sure about Phantom Gate... Maybe once we know what cards the North American set will have in it (possible Enhanced Hammer reprint, and some of the other promos?).

I do like a lot of the trainers in this set though! So it *might* be worth getting a box for? Probably not.

Battle Compressor will be great for finding Eggsecute and putting them directly into the discard pile. It will probably also be great for decks that accelerate via the discard (Yvetal, Bronzong, Blacksmith). It also has a little synergy with VS Seeker.

Substitute Robot seems like it's best use is going to be for getting a Mega Evolution out. If the translation is correct, then maybe you can only play it if you've retreated a pokemon to the bench? I guess it's possible you'd play it "infront" of your active, similar to the way substitute works in the games?

Xerosic isn't as good a Startling Megaphone, or Enhanced Hammer for offense. Defensively, you could probably retreat special energy off, or use that item that retrieves tools from the last set. I don't expect to see this card used too often.

Lysandre's Last Resort is crazy! VirGen needed a card like this, and decks like Empoleon that can draw through too quickly will also benefit from it. Between this and VS seeker, Pal Pad will probably be used much less than it already is (potentially sacred ash as well).

VS Seeker is going to probably be used a lot. Getting any supporter from your discard pile is going to make decks so much more consistent. Should be interesting to see if this changes the supporter counts and types that most decks have.

Pokemon wise, I'm not too crazy about most of these guys. I'd say that most of them are generally less viable compared to the last set's line up.

The new Pyroar will be worth putting 1 or 2 in to a Pyroar/Charizard deck, just for a catcher effect that can be power up with either an attachment, or the use of blacksmit. Plus, using the ability powers up blacksmith for the next turn anyhow. I think this card will see play in fire decks.

I wish Feraligatr was better... he's somewhat OK, but has high energy costs and a weakness to grass. It wouldn't be hard to get 180 damage off his attack, (Golbat, Crobat, Fortress) but getting him out and powered up doesn't seem to easy. Especially if you'd run Blastoise for acceleration... Maybe XY Lapras or Plama Freeze Manaphy would work with him better...

Malamar EX is just interesting at this point. I wish it worked more like Rayquza, since getting more than 2 heads to hit knock outs is pretty unreliable. The ability could balance that chance out a bit, but it seems pretty underwhelming.

Florges EX is just lame! Even Gogoat gets 2 supporters for 1 colorless energy! Not to mention VS Seeker would be better, since you can play the supporter that turn. Bright Garden just can't do enough damage to make it useful. Plus with the that Metal weakness and 160 HP, I don't think it'll be used.

Slurpuff seems like it's great for some draw support.

Gengar EX, Manectric EX (and their Megas), Dialga EX, and Aegislash EX also seem useful. The Crobat line does too, and the night march stuff seems interesting (would pair well with Plasma Flareon).

Other than that, most of the pokemon don't seem that great.

I was also really hoping for another special energy! I would have loved to have seen what special electric energy would do. Even if they just brought back special Metal energy, that would have been great too. Oh well; maybe Ruby and Sapphire's set will have better things.

 

[Milennin]

Tell me more?

-explanation-

Oh, I've heard of that story, but that happened ages ago and I'd think people would have gotten over it by now. If it's still such a problem why couldn't they just slightly change the Japanese name or something? Man, I just want my Alakazam card.

I am a little dissapointed about the lack of new fairies.

Totally agree. I'd love to build a Fairy deck, but there's just not enough (good) Fairy Pokémon released yet to make something that doesn't look the same as every other Fairy deck out there. Though, I guess it's nice that there's at least another Fairy type EX coming out in this set.

 

[Maserati777]

As a collector I like to collect sets with artwork I like, after seeing these scans I don't think I'll bother with this set. Really disappointing. Especially the holos and full arts for Manectric and Gengar.


Did a 5 year old draw Manectric?

Also the other full arts, Florges should clearly only be seen at a distance.