News 'Pokemon Champions League' Tournament Promos Announced!

[Nyora]

Expanded will still be a thing so its usable there too.

its still uncommon for a Base Set or near Base Set to have stuff relating to past sets before it. In BW, they had nothing against LEGEND Pokémon, and XY has nothing against ACE SPEC or Team Plasma Pokémon. So it's rather unusual that they are printing this card to hit EXs as well, unless they plan on keeping them a bit longer.

 

[BraviaryBoi]

2018 format will be TCG BREAKpoint - on. So Fighting Fury will still be allowed as it is inside BREAKpoint.

You have no proof that this rotation will occur

 

[crystal_pidgeot]

its still uncommon for a Base Set or near Base Set to have stuff relating to past sets before it. In BW, they had nothing against LEGEND Pokémon, and XY has nothing against ACE SPEC or Team Plasma Pokémon. So it's rather unusual that they are printing this card to hit EXs as well, unless they plan on keeping them a bit longer.

The biggest difference is those formats didn't have a Expanded format around. I think its odd to see such a card with an effect like that but all that proves to be is they were just better off keeping Pokemon-EX around just to avoid confusion.

 

[VinculumStellarum]

Hey, Victory Medal's back! I still remember when they gave out Victory Cups for the Battle Roads, when those existed. I wonder if we (North America) will get them for our tournaments––I'd love to be given one of these after a League Cup or League Challenge.

Choice Band is interesting. It's pretty much Silver Bangle, but it can be put on any Pokémon and affects both EX and GX. With the currently EX-dominated format, this card has a ton of potential, and I won't be surprised if I see at least one in almost every deck.

Togedemaru is pretty much your typical Premier Event promo. Nothing special about it except a nice watermark in the corner.

 

[Dalton]

Choice Band allows Greninja to hit the Magical 170 with Giant Water Shuriken.

-Asmer

You said that before me. So lets do the math now.
Moonlight Slash = 110 + Giant Water Shuriken = 170.
To deal with Fighting Fury Belt you then retreat and Giant Water Shuriken a second time, then attack.

(80 for attack) + (60 For each Giant Water Shuriken) + (30 from tool) = 230

In the current meta, the only thing that could survive, and in return 1 shot Greninja BREAK is a rouge M Gyarados.

2018 format will be TCG BREAKpoint - on. So Fighting Fury will still be allowed as it is inside BREAKpoint.

They will not put the rotation in the middle of a "series". They will either rotate 3 sets and do Breakthrough on, or 5 sets and do Fates Collide on. Either way, I can't imagine they would rotate only 1 of the BREAK sets.

 

[AuraStormLucario]

its still uncommon for a Base Set or near Base Set to have stuff relating to past sets before it. In BW, they had nothing against LEGEND Pokémon, and XY has nothing against ACE SPEC or Team Plasma Pokémon. So it's rather unusual that they are printing this card to hit EXs as well, unless they plan on keeping them a bit longer.

It's possible, as there's still some eligible pokemon for mega evolution which don't have mega evolution cards. These pokemon are: Abomasnow, Banette, Latias, Loupunny, Medicham, Pinsr, and Sableye.

 

[Starsoulklr]

Choice Band allows Greninja to hit the Magical 170 with Giant Water Shuriken.

Just let that "sink" in.

-Asmer

Not really that worried it has to deal with either Garbotoxin or the new and even faster Devour Light. Still nice to have a damage tool option for evolution Pokemon again. I don't know if EXes are going to jump straight on this card since most are basic and would rather have a little extra bulk with Fighting Fury Belt. They might slide in a copy om though for the KO chances perhaps.

its still uncommon for a Base Set or near Base Set to have stuff relating to past sets before it. In BW, they had nothing against LEGEND Pokémon, and XY has nothing against ACE SPEC or Team Plasma Pokémon. So it's rather unusual that they are printing this card to hit EXs as well, unless they plan on keeping them a bit longer.

This may come to that they also want Expanded being a bigger thing and in a way it's refreshing to see them considering previous eras for the game rather then looking forward and never back.

Black and White is when they shifted to Abilities over PokePower/Body so with how LEGENDS never took off they didn't concern themselves with counters to them. They did print one Anti-ACE SPEC card in Legendary Treasure and it's pretty useless to stop a card that decks only can carry one of so no point in XY-on Sets to make another one.

 

[GrandPanacea]

I realize hat this point, I'm essentially preaching the choir, but holy crap, Choice Band is sick. Gonna replace Silver Bangles in my Beevees deck with her a the moment they're released in English... Assuming they get an English release.

 

[Lunarwork]

Choice Band=30 Damage Muscle Band and Silver Bangle with GX effect. Plus, the Victory Medal is mostly overshadowed and in my favor by Professor's Letter (unless you don't need to shuffle.)

 

[Asmer]

You said that before me. So lets do the math now.
Moonlight Slash = 110 + Giant Water Shuriken = 170.
To deal with Fighting Fury Belt you then retreat and Giant Water Shuriken a second time, then attack.

(80 for attack) + (60 For each Giant Water Shuriken) + (30 from tool) = 230

In the current meta, the only thing that could survive, and in return 1 shot Greninja BREAK is a rogue M Gyarados.

I love how delicious those numbers are, especially since it's pretty dang easy to loop GWS over and over. Love it~

Not really that worried it has to deal with either Garbotoxin or the new and even faster Devour Light. Still nice to have a damage tool option for evolution Pokemon again. I don't know if EXes are going to jump straight on this card since most are basic and would rather have a little extra bulk with Fighting Fury Belt. They might slide in a copy om though for the KO chances perhaps.

I just like making puns is all. Because "sink" in? Hehe...heh...heh.

In all seriousness, I have a feeling Choice Band will play a larger factor in decks/strategies that can set up a good Stage 1 or Basic Pokemon (non-EX) that can scale well. Things like Vespiquen may enjoy this since she scales very well and 30 Damage helps her a LOT. Other things that come to mind are Raichu XY, who hits 190 off Sky Field + Full Bench (granted, Parallel City absolutely shreds the deck, but still), Flareon PLF (though, Muscle Band may simply be better), and Zoroark BREAK (specifically Zoroark BKT). Still, that seems to be the best kind of place to play this card.

Also, in regards to EX Pokemon, I don't see why they would give up FFB, no. What will probably happen is Choice Band will be played alongside FFB as kind of a utility-based thing. Actually... speaking of that, this would make Weavile STS extremely good in certain situations (Zygarde-EX immediately came to mind, now able to juggle 4 different tools instead of three).

This may come to that they also want Expanded being a bigger thing and in a way it's refreshing to see them considering previous eras for the game rather then looking forward and never back.

I have a feeling this is something we should be discussing as a general. With all the EX reprints (via boxes and most likely more Tins), I have a feeling they're going to continuously push Expanded as hard as they possibly can.

Either way, I really do love this card. It gives us another tool to play with when it comes to the numbers game and that always has been a big interest of mine.

-Asmer

 

[Loaf of Slakoth]

But it referencing both makes me think Pokemon-EX will still be here for the long-haul.

I doubt it, whenever a set introduces a new mechanic it always keeps previous mechanic cards from sets in the same expansion(breakpoint kept Mega Evolutions and also introduced breaks, X and Y base kept the EX mechanic from BW but introduced Mega Evolutions). The Pokémon-EX part is to prevent confusion since any rules between GX and EX have not been established yet, and because EX Pokémon are still in standard. If Pokémon EX will be continued in Sun and Moon we would have seen Pokémon-EX in the Japanese Collection Sun/Collection Moon sets.

On the other hand, Mega Evolutions existed in the Sun and Moon video games, and all Megas are EXs, so I could see them having megas and thus EXs.

 

[Asmer]

On the other hand, Mega Evolutions existed in the Sun and Moon video games, and all Megas are EXs, so I could see them having megas and thus EXs.

The question then becomes, at least for me... do they actually print new EX cards or do they simply label their new "EXs" under the GX sub-class? For example, Tauros-GX is quite clearly just a Basic EX with slightly more HP (with the exception of comparing it to something like Tyrantrum-EX) and a GX attack. I could see them going along these lines for most, if not, all of their new "EX" Pokemon and leaving EX to the older cards.

Either that, or we'll get some really weird mix of the two that probably shouldn't exist.

-Asmer

 

[RiverShock]

I doubt it, whenever a set introduces a new mechanic it always keeps previous mechanic cards from sets in the same expansion(breakpoint kept Mega Evolutions and also introduced breaks, X and Y base kept the EX mechanic from BW but introduced Mega Evolutions). The Pokémon-EX part is to prevent confusion since any rules between GX and EX have not been established yet, and because EX Pokémon are still in standard. If Pokémon EX will be continued in Sun and Moon we would have seen Pokémon-EX in the Japanese Collection Sun/Collection Moon sets.

On the other hand, Mega Evolutions existed in the Sun and Moon video games, and all Megas are EXs, so I could see them having megas and thus EXs.

We have NEVER had a card that refers to both old and new mechanics before. There's no way they just did this because there's currently still Pokemon-EX in the format. We know there's still at least a couple of Pokemon-EX coming. I wouldn't be surprised if they continued for quite a while as promos and mini-sets. (At the very least, I see us getting all the remaining Megas, since I doubt they'll be introduced as Pokemon-GX.)

 

[MetalPharoah]

They will not put the rotation in the middle of a "series". They will either rotate 3 sets and do Breakthrough on, or 5 sets and do Fates Collide on. Either way, I can't imagine they would rotate only 1 of the BREAK sets.

They rotate 4 sets every year since the dawn of Modified Format, there is ONE exception though. They did an emergency rotation a few months before rotation normally would have happened during DP to rotate Sabledonk and TombDoom. That rotated out 6 sets in order to hit the entire deck leaving us basically with purely just HGSS sets. When rotation comes it is likely they will follow their same formula to rotate Primal Clash, Roaring Skies, Ancient Origins, and BREAKthrough. That would leave us with 2018's rotation of BREAKpoint, Fates Collide, Steam Siege, and Evolutions. Now, perhaps you are right, and they will leave BREAKthrough in. Only time can tell if they will instead cut only 3 sets instead of the typical 4.

 

[Dalton]

They rotate 4 sets every year since the dawn of Modified Format, there is ONE exception though. They did an emergency rotation a few months before rotation normally would have happened during DP to rotate Sabledonk and TombDoom. That rotated out 6 sets in order to hit the entire deck leaving us basically with purely just HGSS sets. When rotation comes it is likely they will follow their same formula to rotate Primal Clash, Roaring Skies, Ancient Origins, and BREAKthrough. That would leave us with 2018's rotation of BREAKpoint, Fates Collide, Steam Siege, and Evolutions. Now, perhaps you are right, and they will leave BREAKthrough in. Only time can tell if they will instead cut only 3 sets instead of the typical 4.

4 is average, but recently they haven't done exactly 4 much. They rotate out entire series instead of 4 sets a year. The only reason 2016 was 4 was because it was the entire XY series before ORAS cards. Had legendary treasures of been XY base set, the rotation would of been 5 and the year before would be 4.

2016 4 XY-PHF
2015 5 BRC-LTR
2014 3 NXD-DRX
2013 3 BLW-NVI
2012 5 HGSS - Call of legends

 

[Loaf of Slakoth]

The question then becomes, at least for me... do they actually print new EX cards or do they simply label their new "EXs" under the GX sub-class? For example, Tauros-GX is quite clearly just a Basic EX with slightly more HP (with the exception of comparing it to something like Tyrantrum-EX) and a GX attack. I could see them going along these lines for most, if not, all of their new "EX" Pokemon and leaving EX to the older cards.

Either that, or we'll get some really weird mix of the two that probably shouldn't exist.

-Asmer

I could see them having both. GX tins seem likely, but:

We have NEVER had a card that refers to both old and new mechanics before. There's no way they just did this because there's currently still Pokemon-EX in the format. We know there's still at least a couple of Pokemon-EX coming. I wouldn't be surprised if they continued for quite a while as promos and mini-sets. (At the very least, I see us getting all the remaining Megas, since I doubt they'll be introduced as Pokemon-GX.)

GXs just have too high of an HP and already have a powerful GX attack for them to make Megas. The only megas that have no cards(I think) are Pinsir, Banette, and Medicham. They'll probably put them in boxes like M Swampert-EX or Blaziken. But I don't think that, due to the low amount of remaining Megas, that EXs will be printed outside of promos.
We've also never had a format when EXs might be phased out, so I think it's still possible.