Yeah, Leavanny actually doesn't do as much for grass, which already had Metapod.
New Hail Blizzard Psycho Drive scans
- Thread starter Dr. Mason
- Start date
- Status
TheRolesWePlay
New Member
Where DF did in fact have a lot of Powers and stuff, but keep in mind that that was at the end of the ex era, and immediately following it was DP which suffered a shortage of Powers. Pokemon often doesn't introduce a lot of new powers at the start of a new block, and you could sort of see it with HS as well. Blocks tend to be weaker at the start and then creep up to more powerful cards. Comparing exs for example, the first ex set had exs dealing 80 damage at most in Chansey's case but generally didn't get higher than 40, then in DF exs were capable of 80 almost for a minimum, or at least having good effects.
JPN Gallade
New Member
Well, the new set is already out. Time to for me to explain what I think are some of the good/interesting cards of this set. Note that while it may be exactly like my Pokebeach post on this subject, it really just summarizes my thoughts on the set, so If I wrote it down differently, it would still look almost the same.
Shaymin EX- Shaymin Sky Forme is an EX! I love it, and it also happens to be pretty good too. The first attack can help in speeding up decks, but that attack won't be really used a lot. The real reason why it is used, however, is the second attack. For two energy, it does 30 plus 30 more damage for each prize card your opponent has taken. This can make it an excellent attack late game. If your opponent has only 1 prize card remaining, you can deal a total of 150 damage! This makes it a great comeback attack. Sadly, there are downsides to it. One, it has the lowest HP out of all the Pokemon EX, at 110 HP. With so many EXs hitting quite hard, it can be pretty easy to KO Shaymin EX, so it should be used carefully. Fire weakness is another problem, as fire is gaining more and more popularity thanks to Reshiram. I also like the full art artwork for this card. It really shows Shaymin's power! Whatever so it may be, Shaymin EX is definitely a decent EX worth noticing.
Leavanny- The Ability, Leaf Tailor, is excellent. It's the new age Exploud. All of your Pokemon with energy attached have no weakness. Now that's pretty good. As an attacker, though, he's risky. You flip two coins, and the attack does 40 times the number of heads. Another problem with it is the it needs two energies to retreat. In all, this means he's Catcher bait, but not too harmful. It there's an energy attached to him, he won't get as easily killed by fire types as he normally would. I definitely see some potential in this card, and I won't be surprised if if finds its way into a few decks.
Luxray- Ah, Luxray. A Pokemon no one will ever forget, and now it kind of returns considering the fact we have Pokemon Catcher in this format and it has Flash Impact. In fact, it is almost the same as its SP counterpart, only you do 20 to one of your bench instead of 30. The fact you hit for 60 for one makes it a fast attacker for a stage 2, so its going to see some play. Most likely, it'll be played with cards that benefit from having damage counters, like Reshiram and Kyurem. Fighting weakness is the reason why it won't be so popular though, as he is weak to Donphan. Nevertheless, this card is still decent to likely being a rogue deck.
Musharna- Uxie Lv.X is back! I love it, in the form of Vision, which functions the exact same way as Trade-Off from the past. The setbacks though? 3 retreat cost and a bad attack: an attack that puts Musharna to sleep? Disappointing. This makes it easy Catcher bait, so whether or not it's going to be the new Claydol is unknown. Personally, I think it will, as the ability is pretty good. Yet, the only deck that'll benefit from is trainer lock. It helps give some added draw to those kinds of decks, and it can't be Catchered under the trainer lock.
Level Ball- At this rate, with no form of a reprinted Collector or Roseanne's, this may very well be the new basic search card BW-on. Yet, for HS-on, its pretty good too. It can grab any Pokemon that has 90 HP or less. This means it can grab most basics and stage 1s. Being a trainer, it is reusable, so I believe it'll some play.
Skyarrow Bridge- Another card that's making basics more playable. It reduces the retreat cost on all basics in the field by 1. Not only will it benefit some of the big, hard hitting basic attackers in this format, but it'll also benefit Smeargle. Smeargle needs free retreat in order to be affective, and with this card, I think Smeargle UD is going to coming back to our format, so it's definitely not bad, and I think it'll see quite a good amount of play.
Prism Energy- A Rainbow Energy for basics? Sweet! Seems like we returning to the SP days aren't we.
Amoongus- Flareon EX is somewhat back in the form of this card. Its ability is that when evolved, the defending becomes poisoned and confused. This card will benefit Leafeon UD I know that; right here, Leafeon will hit for 100 damage for 1 energy. The only problem with it? It's pretty good Catcher bait, and it needs Seeker and Super Scoop Ups to be affective. I think this card is decent, and will most likely see its spotlight in rogue decks.
Chandelure- Pretty good Chandelure that's for sure. For one energy, you do 30 to three of your opponent's Pokemon. Now that's some nice spreading, especially since it can KO multiple babies. Purgatory is also pretty good. 80 for two energies? Yes Please! Though you have to discard the two energies, you burn the defending in the process as well, so it can potentially hit for 100 thanks to the burn. I think its good with Typhlosion Prime in that it helps to restack the energy onto it, and that attack can two shot anything right now besides the EXs. Indeed, this card is probably going to see some play.
Gardevoir- I'm a Gardevoir fan, and I have to say, it's one of the best cards in the set. The ability is the new age Sceptile GE, but this time, it provides the benefit to
sychic: types. All energy attached to your psychic Pokemon provide 2 sychic: energies instead. Now this is pretty good with many cards, especially Mewtwo EX,which makes it a much better attacker thanks to Gardevoir. Indeed, I'm sure Gardevoir will see lots of play because of the many cards it can work with.
Darmanitan- An interesting card. Its first attack is a Copycat, and the second attack is funny (DarMAXitan for the win!) yet decent. With one DCE, it can potentially hit for 100, and with Victini, it can be a pretty good attacker. I just wonder if this card will really have an impact or not.
Groudon EX- Yep, he seems pretty good. The first attack does 20 and spreads 10 to all of the opponent's bench. The second attack can potentially hit for 120 damage, which is also pretty good. With 180 HP, he's certainly quite a tank. While water weakness may be rather bad, the lightning resistance does pay off. So far, I think Groudon will see some decent amount of play.
Bronzong- Finally, the REAL answer to counter anti-spread, no Lunatone needed. Let is sit on the bench and no one can heal damage. The attack is also pretty good if the opponent has a big hand, but it is situational. It is sadly Catcher bait though, with a retreat cost of 4, and it has 110 HP. Regardless, I think this card is pretty good, and it might make Kyurem even more playable.
Weavile- Weavile is interesting in that he's the Pokemon-tool counter. It hits for 90 damage for one energy, but only if the defending has a tool attached. Perhaps he'll be played a lot when Eviolite becomes popular? Who knows.
Heavy Ball- Another interesting Pokemon searcher. It can grab a Pokemon with a retreat cost of 3 or higher. With so many Pokemon with such a retreat cost, there' no doubt that this card will see play in decks.
Cilan- Being able to grab 3 basic energies is pretty good, especially for decks that need a lot of energy to attack, like ZPST and Emboar variants. While it may not look that good, there was a card similar to it named Mr. Stone's Project, only it searched for 2 basic energies, and that card was played a lot back in its time. If so, than it is quite possible that Cilan will see play too; after all, a lot of Pokemon need a lot of energy to attack.
As for some other thoughts:
I think full art EXs are really unnecessary. The real point of the EX artwork is for the EX to be popping out of the card with awesomeness and cool 3D affect. It was quite unnecessary to create such full arts. The only ones that really stand out of those full arts though are Shaymin and Mewtwo. Otherwise, the others are pretty bland.
The idea of shiny reprints was a pretty good idea, especially since they are all of the good cards. They all have really good artwork, and I'm personally wanting to get the Zoroarks and the Emboars. Botha re good cards and have cool artwork.
And whatever happened to Gallade EX/Gardevoir EX? What a shame we didn't see them. More importantly, what happened to Gallade? We have Gardevoir, but not Gallade. Oh well, there better be a Gallade in the next set, and also, I hope that they'll make up those absent EXs by making them as promos some how (not likely, but possible). Also, that leads me to the next point. Yet again only legendaries have the good stuff. The cool, normal Pokemon don't get such coolness. What a shame!
Well, one thing is for sure, at least this set is pretty good. It is much better than Red Collection, and I look forward to the day this set is released in the U.S!:thumb:
Shaymin EX- Shaymin Sky Forme is an EX! I love it, and it also happens to be pretty good too. The first attack can help in speeding up decks, but that attack won't be really used a lot. The real reason why it is used, however, is the second attack. For two energy, it does 30 plus 30 more damage for each prize card your opponent has taken. This can make it an excellent attack late game. If your opponent has only 1 prize card remaining, you can deal a total of 150 damage! This makes it a great comeback attack. Sadly, there are downsides to it. One, it has the lowest HP out of all the Pokemon EX, at 110 HP. With so many EXs hitting quite hard, it can be pretty easy to KO Shaymin EX, so it should be used carefully. Fire weakness is another problem, as fire is gaining more and more popularity thanks to Reshiram. I also like the full art artwork for this card. It really shows Shaymin's power! Whatever so it may be, Shaymin EX is definitely a decent EX worth noticing.
Leavanny- The Ability, Leaf Tailor, is excellent. It's the new age Exploud. All of your Pokemon with energy attached have no weakness. Now that's pretty good. As an attacker, though, he's risky. You flip two coins, and the attack does 40 times the number of heads. Another problem with it is the it needs two energies to retreat. In all, this means he's Catcher bait, but not too harmful. It there's an energy attached to him, he won't get as easily killed by fire types as he normally would. I definitely see some potential in this card, and I won't be surprised if if finds its way into a few decks.
Luxray- Ah, Luxray. A Pokemon no one will ever forget, and now it kind of returns considering the fact we have Pokemon Catcher in this format and it has Flash Impact. In fact, it is almost the same as its SP counterpart, only you do 20 to one of your bench instead of 30. The fact you hit for 60 for one makes it a fast attacker for a stage 2, so its going to see some play. Most likely, it'll be played with cards that benefit from having damage counters, like Reshiram and Kyurem. Fighting weakness is the reason why it won't be so popular though, as he is weak to Donphan. Nevertheless, this card is still decent to likely being a rogue deck.
Musharna- Uxie Lv.X is back! I love it, in the form of Vision, which functions the exact same way as Trade-Off from the past. The setbacks though? 3 retreat cost and a bad attack: an attack that puts Musharna to sleep? Disappointing. This makes it easy Catcher bait, so whether or not it's going to be the new Claydol is unknown. Personally, I think it will, as the ability is pretty good. Yet, the only deck that'll benefit from is trainer lock. It helps give some added draw to those kinds of decks, and it can't be Catchered under the trainer lock.
Level Ball- At this rate, with no form of a reprinted Collector or Roseanne's, this may very well be the new basic search card BW-on. Yet, for HS-on, its pretty good too. It can grab any Pokemon that has 90 HP or less. This means it can grab most basics and stage 1s. Being a trainer, it is reusable, so I believe it'll some play.
Skyarrow Bridge- Another card that's making basics more playable. It reduces the retreat cost on all basics in the field by 1. Not only will it benefit some of the big, hard hitting basic attackers in this format, but it'll also benefit Smeargle. Smeargle needs free retreat in order to be affective, and with this card, I think Smeargle UD is going to coming back to our format, so it's definitely not bad, and I think it'll see quite a good amount of play.
Prism Energy- A Rainbow Energy for basics? Sweet! Seems like we returning to the SP days aren't we.
Amoongus- Flareon EX is somewhat back in the form of this card. Its ability is that when evolved, the defending becomes poisoned and confused. This card will benefit Leafeon UD I know that; right here, Leafeon will hit for 100 damage for 1 energy. The only problem with it? It's pretty good Catcher bait, and it needs Seeker and Super Scoop Ups to be affective. I think this card is decent, and will most likely see its spotlight in rogue decks.
Chandelure- Pretty good Chandelure that's for sure. For one energy, you do 30 to three of your opponent's Pokemon. Now that's some nice spreading, especially since it can KO multiple babies. Purgatory is also pretty good. 80 for two energies? Yes Please! Though you have to discard the two energies, you burn the defending in the process as well, so it can potentially hit for 100 thanks to the burn. I think its good with Typhlosion Prime in that it helps to restack the energy onto it, and that attack can two shot anything right now besides the EXs. Indeed, this card is probably going to see some play.
Gardevoir- I'm a Gardevoir fan, and I have to say, it's one of the best cards in the set. The ability is the new age Sceptile GE, but this time, it provides the benefit to
sychic: types. All energy attached to your psychic Pokemon provide 2 sychic: energies instead. Now this is pretty good with many cards, especially Mewtwo EX,which makes it a much better attacker thanks to Gardevoir. Indeed, I'm sure Gardevoir will see lots of play because of the many cards it can work with.Darmanitan- An interesting card. Its first attack is a Copycat, and the second attack is funny (DarMAXitan for the win!) yet decent. With one DCE, it can potentially hit for 100, and with Victini, it can be a pretty good attacker. I just wonder if this card will really have an impact or not.
Groudon EX- Yep, he seems pretty good. The first attack does 20 and spreads 10 to all of the opponent's bench. The second attack can potentially hit for 120 damage, which is also pretty good. With 180 HP, he's certainly quite a tank. While water weakness may be rather bad, the lightning resistance does pay off. So far, I think Groudon will see some decent amount of play.
Bronzong- Finally, the REAL answer to counter anti-spread, no Lunatone needed. Let is sit on the bench and no one can heal damage. The attack is also pretty good if the opponent has a big hand, but it is situational. It is sadly Catcher bait though, with a retreat cost of 4, and it has 110 HP. Regardless, I think this card is pretty good, and it might make Kyurem even more playable.
Weavile- Weavile is interesting in that he's the Pokemon-tool counter. It hits for 90 damage for one energy, but only if the defending has a tool attached. Perhaps he'll be played a lot when Eviolite becomes popular? Who knows.
Heavy Ball- Another interesting Pokemon searcher. It can grab a Pokemon with a retreat cost of 3 or higher. With so many Pokemon with such a retreat cost, there' no doubt that this card will see play in decks.
Cilan- Being able to grab 3 basic energies is pretty good, especially for decks that need a lot of energy to attack, like ZPST and Emboar variants. While it may not look that good, there was a card similar to it named Mr. Stone's Project, only it searched for 2 basic energies, and that card was played a lot back in its time. If so, than it is quite possible that Cilan will see play too; after all, a lot of Pokemon need a lot of energy to attack.
As for some other thoughts:
I think full art EXs are really unnecessary. The real point of the EX artwork is for the EX to be popping out of the card with awesomeness and cool 3D affect. It was quite unnecessary to create such full arts. The only ones that really stand out of those full arts though are Shaymin and Mewtwo. Otherwise, the others are pretty bland.
The idea of shiny reprints was a pretty good idea, especially since they are all of the good cards. They all have really good artwork, and I'm personally wanting to get the Zoroarks and the Emboars. Botha re good cards and have cool artwork.
And whatever happened to Gallade EX/Gardevoir EX? What a shame we didn't see them. More importantly, what happened to Gallade? We have Gardevoir, but not Gallade. Oh well, there better be a Gallade in the next set, and also, I hope that they'll make up those absent EXs by making them as promos some how (not likely, but possible). Also, that leads me to the next point. Yet again only legendaries have the good stuff. The cool, normal Pokemon don't get such coolness. What a shame!
Well, one thing is for sure, at least this set is pretty good. It is much better than Red Collection, and I look forward to the day this set is released in the U.S!:thumb:
hunter994x
New Member
A question for people who have bought boxes of Hail Blizzard/Psycho Drive.
I've heard that you get one of each regular holo and one of each EX per box. Is this true?
I've heard that you get one of each regular holo and one of each EX per box. Is this true?
dark wobbuffet
New Member
The power creep in action...
TheRolesWePlay
New Member
By the way has anyone noticed that the EXs are actually labeled as Rares and not SR (thought the Full-Arts are), or UR. Does that mean Japan is trying to make the EXs easier to get? If so, and if it translates that way to America I'd be very happy, since they wouldn't be so hard to get then.
King Piplup
Active Member
Actually, Japan no longer has "Holo Rares" in their sets, these will be the rarity in Japan as a Holo Rare would've been. So, they will probably still be just as rare, but I could be wrong.
- Status