Okay so hey there guys im David/TheEpicBidoof and this is my review on the new upcoming pokemon tcg set Boundaries Crossed I will pick out the cards I see playable and mention what I think about them and how i can see them being used in the tcg.
I shall go through every type and pick out what I see as main candidates for tcg play.
I hope you enjoy my review.
Grass:
Vileplume- Okay so the major point of this card is its ability 'Allergic Panic', What is interesting about it is that it makes all weaknesses applied to 4x damage, this can be used extremely well in this format but as it is a stage 2 it is going to be quite hard to get out onto your bench, its one and only attack 'Pollen Spray' is pretty much useless, it needs a grass energy and three colourless energy to deal 50 damage and makes the opponents active pokemon asleep and poisoned, the only use for this is in a 'Ninetails Amoongus' deck because of 'Ninetails' amazing attack which deals 50 damage times the amount of status effects on the defending pokemon but we have already got amoongus and its ability for that so this would be useless in that specific deck.
Personally I think it would be interesting to see this card in a deck with 'Landorus EX' mainly because of 'Landorus EX's' attack which does 30 damage and also deals 30 damage to one of the opponents benched pokemon, the reason id see this interesting is because many of the decks in the current format are weak to fighting types (darkrai and eel variants) and with 'Vileplumes' ability 'Landorus' could be hitting the active pokemon for 120 damage for a single fighting energy and also 2hko the opponents benched tynamo and deino's.
Celebi EX- Personally I cant see 'Celebi EX' being played in any decks based around basic pokemon and basic EX's the only decks it can be seen in are ones using stage 1/2 pokemon. One deck id like to see it tested in is 'Ninetails/Amoongus' mainly because if you knock out a opponents pokemon you would have to de-volve 'Ninetails' and 'Amoongus' to set up 'Ninetails' attack to be able to hit for 150 and you are only allowed a maximum of 4 of each card in a deck so i could see 'Celebi EX's' ability helping out 'Ninetails' to use 'Vulpix's' 'Singe' to inflict burn onto the defending pokemon instead of wasting your devolution sprays on both 'Ninetails and Amoongus'.
Fire: Sadly there are no playable fire type cards in this set especially 'Charizard' its attack costs are really high and dont give anything good for the attack itself while the other pokemons attacks are just simply useless in my opinion.
Water:
Blastoise- Okay so personally I think that 'Blastoise' is a amazing card it has the bulky 140 hp for a stage 2 a semi decent attack and a amazing ability.
The 'Blastoise' in this set is pretty much a reprint of base set 'Blastoise' but better.
First of all it has a extra 40 hp compared to the base set version.
It has the exact same ability as the base set version which has most recently been seen in emboar from black and white which accelerates the attachment of fire energy.
'Blastoise's' ability 'Deluge' lets you attach as many water energy from your hand to your pokemon as you like per turn the main candidate to use this ability to good use is 'Keldeo EX'.
Keldeo EX- 'Keldeo EX' has the standard 170 hp of a EX.
Its ability is 'Rush' In which allows you to move Keldeo straight of your bench into your active pokemon position.
The main reason why 'Keldeo' works so well with 'Blastoise' is because of its attack 'Hydro Pump' which needs 3 colourless energy to deal 50 damage + 20 more damage for each water energy attached to it so if you have used 3 water energy for the energy cost you will be constantly hitting for 110 damage or even more if you add more energy to 'Keldeo'. Finally it has a good weakness to grass which is not being used in this format so it is not OHKOed by the electric type decks being used.
Lightning: Sadly once again the Lightning type cards in this set are not playable they have bad attacks etc and I just cant see them being used in current decks.
Psychic:
Cresselia EX- Okay to start of with 'Cresselia EX' is another pokemon that is recieving alot of hype. It is a basic 170hp EX, it has a retreat cost of one which can be dispelled with 'SkyArrow Bridge', it has a ability and a attack, its ability being 'Sparkling Particles' lets you heal 10 damage from 'Cresselia' any time during your turn. Its attack is called 'Psychic Protection' which requires a high energy cost which is 1 psychic and 3 colourless energy to deal 90 damage, you may be thinking why is this good, its good because it can 1HKO a non 'Eviolited' 'Mewtwo EX', an extra effect to its attack is that during your opponents next turn it has no weakness which can be very usefull as 'Mewtwo' is used in many decks so it is 'Cresselia' is a perfect counter for 'Mewtwo EX'.
Dusknoir- 'Dusknoir' is a 130 hp stage 2 pokemon with a extremely good ability which allows you to move 1 damage counter to another one of your opponents pokemon as many times as you like per turn which could help to move damage of your opponents active pokemon and pretty much snipe the benched pokemon your opponent is trying to set up.
Swoobat- Personally I find this pokemon extremely interesting, it is a stage 1 pokemon with 80 hp, the thing I find interesting about this pokemon is its first attack, it requires one psychic energy and discards one card of your opponents deck.
You may be thinking that its rubbish but teamed up with 'Gardevoir' from next destinies it can be taking out 1/6th of your opponents deck per turn with only 5 psychic energy attached to it.
Toxicroak: 'Toxicroak' is a stage 1 pokemon with 90 hp, the amazing thing about this card is that it can abuse the colourless energy cost, its first attack is what im going to focus on, it is called 'Revenge' and requires a single colourless energy and deals 20 damage however if any of your pokemon were knocked out from damage from your opponents pokemon's attacks during his/her last turn this attack does 70 more damage, this means that this pokemon can hit for as much damage as 'Terrakions' retaliate does for a single energy compared to terrakions 2 fighting and 1 colourless energy cost. Another good thing about the attack is that it could 1HKO a 'Mewtwo EX' for a single colourless energy, so 'Toxicroak' could be a tech in decks that dont use 'Mewtwo' as a counter towards it.
Fighting:
Landorus EX- 'Landorus EX' is a 180hp basic pokemon its extremely affective against dark and lightning type decks which are seen most in the current format, its first attack 'Hammerhead' deals 30 damage for one fighting energy but also deals a extra 30 damage to one of your opponents benched pokemon, this will be able to guarantee a 2hko against many pokemon in lightning and dark type decks because of its second attack 'Lands Judgement' which does 80 damage for 2 fighting and 1 colourless energy which also has a nice add on to it, if you discard all fighting energy to 'Landorus' you can hit for a extra 70 damage which will not likely be needed against lightning and dark type decks.
Metal and Dark: Once again no playable cards that I can see being used >_<
Dragon:
Black Kyurem EX- This is the only dragon type that I see playable, it is a standard 180hp basic EX pokemon.
Its first attack requires a single lightning and 2 colourless energy which deals 60 damage and allows you to flip a coin and if heads you paralyze the defending pokemon, its second attack requires 2 lightning, 1 water and a colourless energy which deals 150 damage and you can not use this attack next turn.
The main thing thats great about this pokemon is its 'Ace Spec' enhancer
'Crystal Wall' which makes 'Black Kyurem EX's' hp rise to a total of 300hp, a card I could see this in a deck with is 'Leavanny' number 3 from noble victories which has a nice ability to help out 'Black Kyurem EX' against other dragon types. 'Leavannys' ability states that each of your pokemon with energy attached to it has no weakness, with this 'Black Kyurem EX' will not be able to be OHKOed by other dragon types.
Normal:
Ditto- Okay 'Ditto' seems to be getting alot of hype and apparently its going to be good in alot of decks but I dont seem to understand it perfectly the one thing I can understand is that it is apparently going to be a major help if you play a turn 2 'tynamo' onto it to give it 70hp and prevent it from being sniped till its knocked out
Raticate-Okay so 'Raticate' is a stage 1 pokemon with 60hp, the main focus on this pokemon is its second attack 'Super Fang' which requires 3 colourless energy and it quotes "Put damage counters on the defending pokemon until its remaining hp is 10" this is a great move that can be used especially against them big basic EX pokemon with 170/180hp to be able to take them out on the next turn, another great thing about 'Raticate' is that it has 0 retreat cost so if it does not get knocked out on the next turn you can free retreat with a set up pokemon on your bench and knock out the defending pokemon with 10hp left.
Trainers: Many let downs in this set through the trainers, TPCi have for some reason not included the main trainers that were recieving quite alot of hype and replaced them with stuff we already had including pokeball greatball potion energy search rocky helmet and switch.
Skyla- 'Skyla' lets you search your deck for a trainer card and put it into your hand this can be a massive help if you are looking for a game changing card
Ace Spec Trainers: The new 'Ace Spec' cards are very interesting, they are so good that only one copy can be used in a deck.
Computer Search- We see the return of 'Junk Arm' in a new form known as 'Computer Search' which was also seen in the base set, this card lets you discard 2 cards from your hand and search for any card from your deck which will help whether your looking for pokemon, trainers or even energy.
Crystal Wall- This card has already been explained earlier on with 'Black Kyurem' but if you have forgotten, when this is attached to 'Black Kyurem EX' its maximum hp is 300.
Extra Cards: The 2 Extra cards we recieve are 'Cheren' and 'Bianca' in full art versions which are nice to have if you prefer a deck only using ultra copies or if you are just a collector to keep a nice flashy full art in your collection.
Shinies: Finally we have the shinies which are reprinted from previous sets, the ones we recieve this time are.
Golurk from Dragons Exalted.
Terrakion from Noble Victories.
Altaria from Dragons Exalted
Rocky Helmet from Noble Victories.
These New Shinies now feature a nice Golden Border and retain the type of the pokemon in the middle of the card.
Okay so thats Boundaries Crossed summed up in my view.
I really hope you have enjoyed this review of the set and I would really appreciate any feed back in the comments section and whether you would like me to make more articles when new sets come out in the UK/USA and Japan
-TheEpicBidoof-
I shall go through every type and pick out what I see as main candidates for tcg play.
I hope you enjoy my review.
Grass:
Vileplume- Okay so the major point of this card is its ability 'Allergic Panic', What is interesting about it is that it makes all weaknesses applied to 4x damage, this can be used extremely well in this format but as it is a stage 2 it is going to be quite hard to get out onto your bench, its one and only attack 'Pollen Spray' is pretty much useless, it needs a grass energy and three colourless energy to deal 50 damage and makes the opponents active pokemon asleep and poisoned, the only use for this is in a 'Ninetails Amoongus' deck because of 'Ninetails' amazing attack which deals 50 damage times the amount of status effects on the defending pokemon but we have already got amoongus and its ability for that so this would be useless in that specific deck.
Personally I think it would be interesting to see this card in a deck with 'Landorus EX' mainly because of 'Landorus EX's' attack which does 30 damage and also deals 30 damage to one of the opponents benched pokemon, the reason id see this interesting is because many of the decks in the current format are weak to fighting types (darkrai and eel variants) and with 'Vileplumes' ability 'Landorus' could be hitting the active pokemon for 120 damage for a single fighting energy and also 2hko the opponents benched tynamo and deino's.
Celebi EX- Personally I cant see 'Celebi EX' being played in any decks based around basic pokemon and basic EX's the only decks it can be seen in are ones using stage 1/2 pokemon. One deck id like to see it tested in is 'Ninetails/Amoongus' mainly because if you knock out a opponents pokemon you would have to de-volve 'Ninetails' and 'Amoongus' to set up 'Ninetails' attack to be able to hit for 150 and you are only allowed a maximum of 4 of each card in a deck so i could see 'Celebi EX's' ability helping out 'Ninetails' to use 'Vulpix's' 'Singe' to inflict burn onto the defending pokemon instead of wasting your devolution sprays on both 'Ninetails and Amoongus'.
Fire: Sadly there are no playable fire type cards in this set especially 'Charizard' its attack costs are really high and dont give anything good for the attack itself while the other pokemons attacks are just simply useless in my opinion.
Water:
Blastoise- Okay so personally I think that 'Blastoise' is a amazing card it has the bulky 140 hp for a stage 2 a semi decent attack and a amazing ability.
The 'Blastoise' in this set is pretty much a reprint of base set 'Blastoise' but better.
First of all it has a extra 40 hp compared to the base set version.
It has the exact same ability as the base set version which has most recently been seen in emboar from black and white which accelerates the attachment of fire energy.
'Blastoise's' ability 'Deluge' lets you attach as many water energy from your hand to your pokemon as you like per turn the main candidate to use this ability to good use is 'Keldeo EX'.
Keldeo EX- 'Keldeo EX' has the standard 170 hp of a EX.
Its ability is 'Rush' In which allows you to move Keldeo straight of your bench into your active pokemon position.
The main reason why 'Keldeo' works so well with 'Blastoise' is because of its attack 'Hydro Pump' which needs 3 colourless energy to deal 50 damage + 20 more damage for each water energy attached to it so if you have used 3 water energy for the energy cost you will be constantly hitting for 110 damage or even more if you add more energy to 'Keldeo'. Finally it has a good weakness to grass which is not being used in this format so it is not OHKOed by the electric type decks being used.
Lightning: Sadly once again the Lightning type cards in this set are not playable they have bad attacks etc and I just cant see them being used in current decks.
Psychic:
Cresselia EX- Okay to start of with 'Cresselia EX' is another pokemon that is recieving alot of hype. It is a basic 170hp EX, it has a retreat cost of one which can be dispelled with 'SkyArrow Bridge', it has a ability and a attack, its ability being 'Sparkling Particles' lets you heal 10 damage from 'Cresselia' any time during your turn. Its attack is called 'Psychic Protection' which requires a high energy cost which is 1 psychic and 3 colourless energy to deal 90 damage, you may be thinking why is this good, its good because it can 1HKO a non 'Eviolited' 'Mewtwo EX', an extra effect to its attack is that during your opponents next turn it has no weakness which can be very usefull as 'Mewtwo' is used in many decks so it is 'Cresselia' is a perfect counter for 'Mewtwo EX'.
Dusknoir- 'Dusknoir' is a 130 hp stage 2 pokemon with a extremely good ability which allows you to move 1 damage counter to another one of your opponents pokemon as many times as you like per turn which could help to move damage of your opponents active pokemon and pretty much snipe the benched pokemon your opponent is trying to set up.
Swoobat- Personally I find this pokemon extremely interesting, it is a stage 1 pokemon with 80 hp, the thing I find interesting about this pokemon is its first attack, it requires one psychic energy and discards one card of your opponents deck.
You may be thinking that its rubbish but teamed up with 'Gardevoir' from next destinies it can be taking out 1/6th of your opponents deck per turn with only 5 psychic energy attached to it.
Toxicroak: 'Toxicroak' is a stage 1 pokemon with 90 hp, the amazing thing about this card is that it can abuse the colourless energy cost, its first attack is what im going to focus on, it is called 'Revenge' and requires a single colourless energy and deals 20 damage however if any of your pokemon were knocked out from damage from your opponents pokemon's attacks during his/her last turn this attack does 70 more damage, this means that this pokemon can hit for as much damage as 'Terrakions' retaliate does for a single energy compared to terrakions 2 fighting and 1 colourless energy cost. Another good thing about the attack is that it could 1HKO a 'Mewtwo EX' for a single colourless energy, so 'Toxicroak' could be a tech in decks that dont use 'Mewtwo' as a counter towards it.
Fighting:
Landorus EX- 'Landorus EX' is a 180hp basic pokemon its extremely affective against dark and lightning type decks which are seen most in the current format, its first attack 'Hammerhead' deals 30 damage for one fighting energy but also deals a extra 30 damage to one of your opponents benched pokemon, this will be able to guarantee a 2hko against many pokemon in lightning and dark type decks because of its second attack 'Lands Judgement' which does 80 damage for 2 fighting and 1 colourless energy which also has a nice add on to it, if you discard all fighting energy to 'Landorus' you can hit for a extra 70 damage which will not likely be needed against lightning and dark type decks.
Metal and Dark: Once again no playable cards that I can see being used >_<
Dragon:
Black Kyurem EX- This is the only dragon type that I see playable, it is a standard 180hp basic EX pokemon.
Its first attack requires a single lightning and 2 colourless energy which deals 60 damage and allows you to flip a coin and if heads you paralyze the defending pokemon, its second attack requires 2 lightning, 1 water and a colourless energy which deals 150 damage and you can not use this attack next turn.
The main thing thats great about this pokemon is its 'Ace Spec' enhancer
'Crystal Wall' which makes 'Black Kyurem EX's' hp rise to a total of 300hp, a card I could see this in a deck with is 'Leavanny' number 3 from noble victories which has a nice ability to help out 'Black Kyurem EX' against other dragon types. 'Leavannys' ability states that each of your pokemon with energy attached to it has no weakness, with this 'Black Kyurem EX' will not be able to be OHKOed by other dragon types.
Normal:
Ditto- Okay 'Ditto' seems to be getting alot of hype and apparently its going to be good in alot of decks but I dont seem to understand it perfectly the one thing I can understand is that it is apparently going to be a major help if you play a turn 2 'tynamo' onto it to give it 70hp and prevent it from being sniped till its knocked out
Raticate-Okay so 'Raticate' is a stage 1 pokemon with 60hp, the main focus on this pokemon is its second attack 'Super Fang' which requires 3 colourless energy and it quotes "Put damage counters on the defending pokemon until its remaining hp is 10" this is a great move that can be used especially against them big basic EX pokemon with 170/180hp to be able to take them out on the next turn, another great thing about 'Raticate' is that it has 0 retreat cost so if it does not get knocked out on the next turn you can free retreat with a set up pokemon on your bench and knock out the defending pokemon with 10hp left.
Trainers: Many let downs in this set through the trainers, TPCi have for some reason not included the main trainers that were recieving quite alot of hype and replaced them with stuff we already had including pokeball greatball potion energy search rocky helmet and switch.
Skyla- 'Skyla' lets you search your deck for a trainer card and put it into your hand this can be a massive help if you are looking for a game changing card
Ace Spec Trainers: The new 'Ace Spec' cards are very interesting, they are so good that only one copy can be used in a deck.
Computer Search- We see the return of 'Junk Arm' in a new form known as 'Computer Search' which was also seen in the base set, this card lets you discard 2 cards from your hand and search for any card from your deck which will help whether your looking for pokemon, trainers or even energy.
Crystal Wall- This card has already been explained earlier on with 'Black Kyurem' but if you have forgotten, when this is attached to 'Black Kyurem EX' its maximum hp is 300.
Extra Cards: The 2 Extra cards we recieve are 'Cheren' and 'Bianca' in full art versions which are nice to have if you prefer a deck only using ultra copies or if you are just a collector to keep a nice flashy full art in your collection.
Shinies: Finally we have the shinies which are reprinted from previous sets, the ones we recieve this time are.
Golurk from Dragons Exalted.
Terrakion from Noble Victories.
Altaria from Dragons Exalted
Rocky Helmet from Noble Victories.
These New Shinies now feature a nice Golden Border and retain the type of the pokemon in the middle of the card.
Okay so thats Boundaries Crossed summed up in my view.
I really hope you have enjoyed this review of the set and I would really appreciate any feed back in the comments section and whether you would like me to make more articles when new sets come out in the UK/USA and Japan
-TheEpicBidoof-
