'VMAX Rising,' Japan's February Set!

The set looks rather decent. Here are some comments on the cards that caught my attention:

  • Rillaboom V: Nice card with a solid damage output despite the fact that he is intednded to be evolved. The only issue is the weakness to Fire and Metal being resistant to Grass now.
  • Rillaboom Vmax: One of the highest damage output available to us at the moment and could be the attacker Rillaboom has been looking for.
  • Appletun: Delicious Sent is a permant Pokémon Catcher which is a great addition to Grass decks. May only reservations the low HP on the Basic it evolves from.
  • Cinderace Vmax: Could be good as a deck on his own with Infernape and Burning Scarf. Unlike the Rillaboom Vmax line the regular Cinderace V does not impress me much and is more of a needed stepping stone for Cinderace Vmax.
  • Vikavolt: Another great partner for Inteleon from S1W combined with Charjabug and Twin Energy.
  • Boltund V: This seems to be an all around great card. Combined with Pikachu and Zekrom GX Lightning Storm can hit numbers fast and he also has access to Electro Power and all the Lightning support from Sun and Moon.
  • Galarian Cursola: Perish Body is an excellent ability as long as the opponent cannot gust around it.
  • Dragapult: Infiltrator is a nice and annoying ability. In addition to that he has free retreat, a low attack cost and the attack is decent too.
  • Galarian Sirfetch’d: Would like to love this card but I fear that 180 damage for a single Twin Energy attachment if you are behind is not enought in this new format.
  • Sandaconda V: Great damage output on the second attack. Maybe this could work with Zygarde and Diancie Prism Star.
  • Grimmsnarl: Looks decent but I am less sold on this card compared to Dragapult or other stage two attackers such as Nidoqueen and the new Vikavolt.
  • Duraldon: Nice one-off in Zacian V decks.
  • Wooloo V: Looks like a decent cleaner in Fire decks or Grass decks.
  • Burning Scarf: Could be nice in Cinderace Vmax with Infernape to boost burn damage.
  • Full Bucket: Nice energy search for Frosmoth.
  • Skyla: This one could be great in the current format in selected decks.
  • Turrfield: Looks like it was made to work with Rillaboom and Appletun.
  • Traning Court: Could be the stadium card of one's choice in Frosmoth decks.
  • Twin Energy: Some stage two and tage one one-prize attacker decks will love this card for sure.
 
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I’m guessing that the text for #36 Corsola, when they use “pistachios” instead of ”damage counters” was a joke?
 
Except the first atk is not recommended to use. Boltund V has the same weakness as Pikarom. The advantage is, Pikarom can take a base hit from Zacian
 
  • Caterpie/Metapod/Butterfree - If we have a decent Butterfree with a DECENT ability (I haven't see Ability Butterfree for days), that would be the best Caterpie and Metapod to use. 4/4/2
  • Snover/Abomasnow - ehh?! 2/2
  • Rillaboom V/VMAX - 280 for 4 is nuts, looping it is a problem. Rillaboom SWSH1 can help. 4/4
  • Shuckle - Shuckle, use Energy Recycler! 2-3 Geodudes
  • Applin/Appletun - I won a battle on Showdown on NatDex AG format using Appletun, yesterday. This one is fine. Vs are all basics so that's an advantage and, where's Flapple? I need Flapple, I love Flapple. 3-4 Geodudes
  • Vulpix/Ninetales - Ninetales as a Zacian V counter? Not quite, hehe. 3/3-4
  • Growlithe/Arcanine, Burning Scarf - Still have my trust issues. 3/3-4, 3-4
  • Cinderace V/VMAX - Against a Water deck, auto-lose. 3-4/4
  • Magikarp/Gyarados - still awkward to run in a Frosmoth deck. 2/3-4
  • G. Mr.Mime/Mr. Rime - Okay. 3/3
  • Inteleon V/VMAX - Very underwhelming among the three VMAXs in the set. 2-3/3-4
  • Cramorant - 110 HP? What?! No! 2
  • Arrokuda/Barraskweda - ehhh?! 2/2-3 I hate that you have to burn a Water Bucket for this.
  • Grubbin/Charjabug/Vikavolt - UNB Charjabug has entered the chat. 3/2/4
  • Helioptile/Heliolisk - ehh?!! 2/2
  • Boltund V - as a tech to Pikarom, yes. Outside Pikarom, no. 3 Geodudes
  • G. Corsola/Cursola - Although G. Cor's artwork really caught me, Cursola is fine and its not Stormfront Gengar. 3/3-4
  • Indeedee - Use the V instead. 2 Geodudes
  • Natu/Xatu - Although it looks meh, the single energy atk can be useful in some circumstances. 2/3
  • Toxel/Toxtricity - fine. 2/2-3
  • Dreepy/Drakloak/Dragapult - Free Retreat, Ability that gives your opponent a 50% chance to hit you, and an atk that does 150 total for 2 energy. Not CC though because Twin Energy would pay it, at least 2 energy. Stage 2 tho. 3/3/4
  • Galarian Farfetch'd/Sirfetch'd - I still hate that you can't spam the main atk. 2-3/3-4
  • Binacle/Barbaracle - I forgot Marnie existed. Still. Spammability is the main problem. I put SWSH Cinderace as an example because it got the spammability that most cards don't. 3/3
  • Sandaconda V - Ignore the Flaw of F Pokémon for the potential 290 dmg. Where's the VMAX? Are we expecting Primal Clash situation again? 3-4 Geodudes
  • Falinks - Like Passimian. Do more damage for every kind on the bench. What Passimian is better than Falinks is back in the day, we got FCO Mew and can copy atks & Town Map to monitor your Passimian to make sure none of them are prized. Those were the things that Falinks don't have. It only have is it does 90-100 for a Twin Energy. 3 Geodudes
  • Stunky/Skuntank - ehh?! 2/2
  • Impidimp/Morgrem/Grimmsnarl - 130 base damage!! 3/3/3-4
  • Bronzor/Bronzong - ehh?! 2/2
  • Honedge/Doublade/Aegislash - still ehh?! I don't feel like it. 2/2/2-3 (I'll give Aegislash a chance)
  • Duraludon - perfect starter indeed. 3 Geodudes
  • Bunnelby/Diggersby - risky but rewarding. I hate the fact that some people cards to pair it that may cause Card Burning. Anothet fact that Dragon type really messed up. The only pure Dragon, in nature in the Galar Dex are Haxorus and Goodra. I want to know if the Dragon types really exists in the TCG now.3/3
  • Hawlucha - still ehh. 2
  • Dubwool V - perfect as a comeback card. Stinger GX won't count because it reshuffle the prize cards not count as "Taken" prize cards. 4 Geodudes
  • Water Bucket - good for Frosmoth. 4 Geodudes
  • Turfield Stadium - good for G decks. 4 Geodudes
  • Training Court - maybe Viridian Forest replacement after 2021 rotation? 4-5 Geodudes
  • Sonia - Slight difference.than Roseanne's research. 3-4 Geodudes
  • Milo - Not as good as Roxie, not as good as any draw cards we have now. 3 Geodudes
  • Twin Energy - Its not DCE, but ifs the best we have. 5 Geodudes
  • Skyla - Who is in the right mind that they decide to reprint Skyla after 1 year of no appearance in the format? Skyla in our format now? There are cases that Skyla can be teched as a 1-of becuase we need Setup. 4 Geodudes
  • STILL NO GREEDENT. Sword & Shield broke the tradition of putting a Route 1 rodent in every Base Set. Greedent was the Gen 8 early route rodent. And it makes me weird why they didn't include it. I love Skwovet tho. I do my research about this so don't ask me about it.
 
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So...that Pokemon is a pie.

Also that Skyla came outta nowhere! What's up with that?? Is it normal for supporters from 2 generations a go to crash the party like this?
 
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Number51x said:
So...that Pokemon is a pie.

Also that Skyla came outta nowhere! What's up with that?? Is it normal for supporters from 2 generations a go to crash the party like this?
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I mean Cynthia did the same in Sun & Moon era, so I guess?
 
Some translation changes:

-Mr. Rime: Screen Free > Screen Cleaner, its signature ability in the games

-Charjabug: Recharge > Charge, a move it gets in the games

-Dragapult: Ghost Dive > Phantom Force, a move it gets in the games

-Binacle: Double Chop > Dual Chop, a move it gets in the games
 
Just throwing it out there: there is currently a standard legal Butterfree that lets you attach 3 basic energy from the deck for 1 [C].
 
Interesting, I don't see many powerful cards here. Every non-V Pokemon looks unplayable - even if you're dealing 200 damage + weakness, these attacks tend to be extremely overpriced, while VMAXes effortlessly OHKO everything but other VMAXes.

Rillaboom VMAX is probably the best.
 
Is it just me or does this set feel very underwhelming compared to Sword & Shield? I have a list of cards I need for tournament play that is massive from Sword & Shield, but looking at the set list for VMax Rising I can't see much of anything in this set being anywhere near comparable to what we are getting right now (Zacian V, Oranguru, Tapu Koko V, Professor's Research, Quick Ball, Marnie, Metal Patch, Aurora Energy). The short list I covered doesn't even scratch the surface of cards that are really good in Sword & Shield, and yet none of the cards in Japan's VMax Rising feel like they measure up.
 
Kenatta_tcg said:
Is it just me or does this set feel very underwhelming compared to Sword & Shield? I have a list of cards I need for tournament play that is massive from Sword & Shield, but looking at the set list for VMax Rising I can't see much of anything in this set being anywhere near comparable to what we are getting right now (Zacian V, Oranguru, Tapu Koko V, Professor's Research, Quick Ball, Marnie, Metal Patch, Aurora Energy). The short list I covered doesn't even scratch the surface of cards that are really good in Sword & Shield, and yet none of the cards in Japan's VMax Rising feel like they measure up.
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English sets are typically made up of like what, 3-ish Japan sets? And to my knowledge this is the first of those revealed. Give it some time. The one with Dragapult V is supposed to have a super good staple, so I wouldnt be surprised if our 2nd English SS set is way better than the first.
 
Kenatta_tcg said:
Is it just me or does this set feel very underwhelming compared to Sword & Shield? I have a list of cards I need for tournament play that is massive from Sword & Shield, but looking at the set list for VMax Rising I can't see much of anything in this set being anywhere near comparable to what we are getting right now (Zacian V, Oranguru, Tapu Koko V, Professor's Research, Quick Ball, Marnie, Metal Patch, Aurora Energy). The short list I covered doesn't even scratch the surface of cards that are really good in Sword & Shield, and yet none of the cards in Japan's VMax Rising feel like they measure up.
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It is a mini set but there are some cards that hold promise:

  • Rillaboom Vmax: He can hit for 280 which is sufficient to knock out Zacian V but he can also adjust the damage he does. Weakness is the one main issue but it is still worth the risk.
  • Appletun: Delicious Sent is a permant Pokémon Catcher for Basic Pokémon which sounds rather decent to me.
  • Cinderace Vmax: Counter is raher nice. Either you can knock him out in one hit or he will do so. Would work as a deck on his own.
  • Boltund V: This seems to be an all around great card that enables Pikachu and Zekrum GX to achieve ohkos rather soon and he has access to all the electric toys.
  • Vikavolt: Another great partner for Inteleon from S1W and meganium which is much more consistent than it looks on paper. Combined with Charjabug and Twin Energy he reaches relevant numbers real fast.
  • Duraldon: Nice one-off in Zacian V decks.
    Wooloo V: Looks like a decent cleaner in Fire decks or Grass decks.
  • Burning Scarf: Could be nice in Cinderace Vmax with Infernape to boost burn damage.
  • Full Bucket: Nice energy search for Frosmoth.
  • Turrfield: A nice consistency card in Rillaboom decks that make the deck much more stable and allow one to cut almost all the Tag Team GX from this deck..
  • Traning Court: Frosmoth decks love this stadium.
  • Twin Energy: Some stage two and tage one one-prize attacker decks will love this card for sure.
A total of 14 cards from a set that only contains 70 cards in total is not bad at all.
 
Nyora said:
English sets are typically made up of like what, 3-ish Japan sets? And to my knowledge this is the first of those revealed. Give it some time. The one with Dragapult V is supposed to have a super good staple, so I wouldnt be surprised if our 2nd English SS set is way better than the first.
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Yeah I thought the same thing as we still are missing around half of the next English set. Even still, my comments were more on this portion alone. I guess it's better to be in Japan because then you could just skip this portion all together. In the US we get monster set sizes which make pull rates really bad.
 
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