Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Pulse of the Frontier scans!

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Come on buddy, not every set can be perfect. At least the artwork looks cool. Lets just hope they keep it that way.
 
Cyrus' Initiative seems like a decent counter to Power Spray, or a game breaking Garchomp C Lv.X drop. Definatly a decent card, though the 25% chance for it to bomb isn't the most appealing thing.
 
Also, back to Rayquaza C lv. X: I just realized this thing can swing for 200 every turn even with the energy discard. You just need Energy Gain, 2 energy in hand (one to attach for the turn), that Flint supporter from Bonds that lets you attach an extra energy from your hand to one of your SP Pokemon, and the activation of Rayquaza's Body. When I list it out like that, it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. A SF Bronzong could even be teched just to make sure you always had the necessary energy in hand to pull this off.

Just look at the lengths people have gone to this format making AMU work to do the same thing (200 a turn, or every other turn). The Pixies don't have anywhere near the support SPs do, and they work. I think Rayquaza, with the stuff I mentioned as well as the rest of the growing SP trainer toolbox, has a lot of potential.
 
Charizard is better than ray if you want to make a deck with it because you don't need to swing for 200 every turn while charizard can easily swing for 150 every turn.
 
Naki Feralkin said:
Set is.. Exemplary, but not solid. It's lacking a lot of hard hitters or anything extremely notable. Most strongest cards IMHO:

Blaziken G Level X - Let the donkfests continue. You already control the field turn 1, then just level it up and nuke whatever for a lot of damage. Who cares about that extra 40? You have Poketurn if it gets too hot.

Absol G Level X - It sounds counter-productive, but again. Energy Gain, Dark Energy, Poketurn. Go. If it didn't benefit from the tools of the trade, then it wouldn't be viable, but 60-70 damage for one energy (and a discarded card which helps your Volkner's/Uxies/what have you.) is disgusting. The fact that Poketurn exists makes the power a little bit more viable too.

Emo Bird G Level X - Lack of supporters getting you blue? Need a Roseanne's Research to get your depressing looking bench up to par? Really need a Cyrus to get that critical Energy Gain to turn this game around? Look no further. Absolutely amazing tech. I'm sorry, to me this is a Holon Transciever every turn. and I see no reason to not have this guy in every deck once he comes out.

Garchomp (Non G) - Disruptive simply through its half-way decent and defensive body, its attack in addition to the second coming of Buffer Piece makes him a psuedo-wall with Kingdra annihilating capabilities (Oh-hi 100 damage for you only having one water on that silly Kingdra.), in addition to the fact that G Pokemon are most likely going to be running rampant (Energy Gain hates this in addition to their really low HP..), and lets not forget.. Oh-hi Garchomp Level X from Majestic Dawn making this guy happy.

Buffer Piece - I so happy.

btw, that Rayquaza Hype is silly. He really isn't that good.
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That pretty much sums up my thoughts about the set. Except I really do like Garchomp C Lv.X; easy to play, searchable, and Colorless for his cool attack (not that you'd use it a lot).
 
Waliken said:
The problem is that it can be killed easily enough that it isn't worth centering a deck around it. If SP pokes are the format when it rolls around what is the max HP you're going to see?
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Premier Ball is for inevitable KOs. Poketurn is for near-KOs. With 140 HP (factoring in Snowpoint), not much aside from Machamp and colorless stuff (ie. Flygon/Regigigas) take it down in one hit. Also, most playable SP Pokemon from Bonds/Pulse have HP in the 100-120 range, which will be 120-140 with Snowpoint (which I expect will be heavily played). There are almost no attacks that do over 100 on a regular basis, and so these Pokemon are going to be just as hard to OHKO as most of the stage 2s we have now. Rayquaza does enough for a OHKO every time, which is huge. Also, just because SP stuff is getting so much support and will indeed make up a large part of the format does not mean that the "regular" stuff will simply die off. Rayquaza kills anything out there with one hit, and it is a Basic that, unlike the Pixies, requires no other Pokemon to hit big. It is also supported extremely well as an SP.

Charizard lv. X does not swing for 150 on a regular basis unless you get a lot of heads.
 
My comments for the cards

Venusaur and Shaymin could be good if it was faster.
Butterfree is bad, it costs too much energy
Parasect could be what Torterra has to use if Sceptile is gone
Pinsir is too lucked based
I really don't like Yanmega
If Masqerain was a basic, I'd probably use it
I like the spread Ninjask does.
Shedinja is really resilliant, and doesn't have 30HP
Magmortar could combo with the other Magmortar
I love Blaziken
I like Camerupt as well.
Dewgong is okay
Seaking is bad, but the flip for heads can hurt
Swampert is awful
Wailord has only 180HP. PUI is slacking off here
Feebas could be a great starter
I'm not a fan of either Milotic
I'm okay with Empoleon. It does combo with Staraptor though
Plusle and Minun could be great starters
Electivire is great, with the energy from bonds it really becomes amazing.
I really like Mr. Mime
Madicham is a walking combo
Lunatone and Solrock have returned, and are already being worked on for combos
Yay. A non amazing Claydol
Chimecho is really bad
I like the sniping effect of Drifblim
Dusknoir can be a late game attacker
I like Sandslash
Primeape can be amazing vs Wailord (not that anybody plays him)
Rhyperior is back.
Both Brelooms are meant for each other.
The Shiny Relicanth can be a tech in Altaria decks
I'm still having a hard time understanding Honchkrow
Absol is really nice
Skarmory is too flippy
Mawile could be a T2 deck
I'm not a fan of Metagross
Since Dodrio's power stacks, I'll be playing 4
Dragonite is too slow
Exploud is meh
Spinda reminds me a lot of the PT Chansey
Rayquaza is amazing.
I'll be using Staraptor a lot.
Chatot and Primeape=Win
I don't like Garchomp
Lickilicky is bad
I like Regigigas
I'm going to try to use the Cynthia and Cyrus cards a lot
 
Chatot G, while an easy Power Spray target, is a FANTASTIC tech for Flygon Lv X (you choose what goes in the discard) and of course, Primate. However, if you whiff on a pokemon, or it doesn't have much HP, it's a pretty weak combo.

EDIT: If Porgyon2 stays in the format, Staraptor G (or whatever) Lv X, Porygon 2, 4 VS Seeker equals the new soviet engine! I can just see the abuse of that Supporter card that lets you attach another energy from your hand to one of your SP pokemon! lol
 
Chatot G + Absol G Lv.X is already a deck. Add some Lookers to shuffle your opponent's deck with, get rid of the crucial single card like Lv.X.

Without Chatot, Absol G Lv.X was luck. With it, it's control.
 
^sounds nice to me. i actually see a combo now, shaymin X+yanmega= new blastcune. attach all energy with shaymin, put 'em all back with yanmega. rinse and repeat.
 
Dennis Hawk said:
Chatot G + Absol G Lv.X is already a deck. Add some Lookers to shuffle your opponent's deck with, get rid of the crucial single card like Lv.X.

Without Chatot, Absol G Lv.X was luck. With it, it's control.
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Ah, Absol Lv X is interesting... Sending an important Lv X to the Lost Zone = Kodak moment.
 
I think it's sad to say that the MD Garchomp is actually way much better than the G version. The fact that you damage yourself is bad when faced against a T-tar that uses Spinnig tail. However, teching Chomp G LV.X is a good thing when used in a G deck.
I certainly hope that Absol's G card is translated correctly. It's gonna be the top card in just about any deck.
 
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