Surging Sparks FAQ – SV08
We have a lot of rulings for you for this set. If you have questions that you don’t see answered here, please take a look at the Compendium for similar rulings at https://compendium.pokegym.net or you can post a question in our Ask the Rules Team forum on the PokeGym where only members of the Rules Team can answer you. Or, if you are a Professor you can ask in the Professor Discord for a quicker answer.
POKEMON ABILITIES:
== EXPERT HIDER (Kecleon – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Tatsugiri ex’s “Surprise Pump” attack against my opponent’s Kecleon with “Expert Hider” Ability and they flip Heads, does it do 100 damage or no damage?
A. Surprise Pump will do 100 damage. The attack ignores the damage reduction because Expert Hider is an effect.
== RESOLUTE HEART (Pikachu ex – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If Pikachu ex has full HP and a Lively Stadium is in play, and Roaring Moon ex uses its “Calamity Storm” attack and discards the stadium, will Pikachu ex’s “Resolute Heart” Ability prevent it from being KO’d leaving it with 10 HP remaining?
A. No, it won’t. Calamity Storm does 220 damage and that many damage counters are placed onto Pikachu ex, so it no longer has full HP at this point due to Lively Stadium and the “Full HP condition” is not met in order to trigger Resolute Heart; then the stadium is discarded, returning Pikachu ex’s maximum HP to 200, and therefore Pikachu ex is KO’d. However, if Calamity Storm does 230 damage (for example, if Roaring Moon ex has a Vitality Band attached), Resolute Heart would work; the attack places 230 damage onto Pikachu ex, thus meeting the “Full HP condition” in order to trigger Resolute Heart; then the Stadium is discarded, and Pikachu ex survives with 10 HP remaining (190 damage on it).
== UP-TEMPO (Quaquaval – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. Can I use Quaquaval’s “Up-Tempo” Ability to put a card from my hand on the bottom of my deck if I have 6 or more cards in my hand?
A. No, you cannot. You have to be able to draw a card when using this ability.
== VICTORY CHEER (Victini – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I put a Skeledirge (Stage 2) directly into play using Tatsugiri ex’s “Cinnabar Lure” attack and I also have a Victini with “Victory Cheer” Ability in play, will Skeledirge’s attacks do 10 more damage?
A. Yes. Although Skeledirge is not an “Evolved Pokémon” in this scenario, it is still considered an “Evolution Pokémon” (Stage 2) that meets the requirements for Victory Cheer.
== WONDER KISS (Togekiss – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I have Togekiss with “Wonder Kiss” Ability in play and my opponent’s poisoned Active Pokémon only has 10 HP left, do I take an extra prize when it is KO’d during Pokémon Checkup if I flip Heads for “Wonder Kiss”? What if Togekiss is in play and my opponent’s Active Pokémon knocks itself out?
A. The KO can be during either player’s turn or during Pokémon Checkup, and it doesn’t have to be from an attack. Wonder Kiss only looks at your opponent’s Active Pokémon.
POKEMON ATTACKS:
== BLAZING CHARGE (Gouging Fire – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. In Prereleases where we start the game with 4 Prize Cards each, how much damage does Gouging Fire’s “Blazing Charge” attack do?
A. Blazing Charge would do 170 damage (100+70) since each player starts the game with 4 Prize Cards.
== CINNABAR LURE (Tatsugiri ex – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Tatsugiri ex’s “Cinnabar Lure” attack, can I choose to put Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokémon cards directly onto my Bench?
A. Yes, as long as there is room on your Bench to put them.
Q. If I put a Skeledirge (Stage 2) directly into play using Tatsugiri ex’s “Cinnabar Lure” attack and I also have a Victini with “Victory Cheer” Ability in play, will Skeledirge’s attacks do 10 more damage?
A. Yes. Although Skeledirge is not an “Evolved Pokémon” in this scenario, it is still considered an “Evolution Pokémon” (Stage 2) that meets the requirements for Victory Cheer.
Q. If my opponent put a Stage 1 Pokémon directly into play using Tatsugiri ex’s “Cinnabar Lure” attack, and I use Paldean Tauros’ “Spirited Tackle” attack while that Pokémon is Active, would it do 90 or 180 damage?
A. 180. Although the Stage 1 Pokémon is not an “Evolved Pokémon” in this scenario, it is still considered an “Evolution Pokémon” (Stage 1) that meets the requirements for Spirited Tackle.
== CRIMSON BLASTER (Armarouge – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Armarouge’s “Crimson Blaster” attack but my opponent has no benched Pokémon, do I still discard all my {R} energy?
A. Yes, but it would not do any damage to the Active Pokémon.
== CRUSHING PULSE (Rotom – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Rotom’s “Crushing Pulse” attack, may I choose to not discard certain Item or Tool cards from my opponent’s hand?
A. No, you must discard all of them.
== DRAG OFF (Braviary – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If my opponent has no benched Pokémon, do I do 40 damage to their Active Pokémon when I use Braviary’s “Drag Off” attack?
A. No. Damage is only done to the “new Active Pokémon”. If there is no switch, then no damage is done.
== ENTANGLING WHIP (Wo-Chien – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I Knock Out my opponent’s Active Pokémon with Wo-Chien’s “Entangling Whip” attack and take my last prize card but also discard the last cards in my deck, do I win or lose because I have no cards left in my deck?
A. You win. You lose if you can’t draw a card at the start of your turn, but since you took your last prize the game ends before that happens.
== EVO-POWDER (Vivillon – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. Can I use Vivillon’s “Evo-Powder” attack to evolve Basic Pokémon that I just put into play this turn?
A. Yes, you can.
== FRIGID FANGS (Walrein – SV:Surging Sparks) <SV8_45>
Q. If I use Walrein’s “Frigid Fangs” attack and on my opponent’s turn they somehow move Walrein to the Bench, do they still need more than 2 Energy attached to their Pokémon to attack?
A. Yes. The effect resides on all of the opponent’s Pokémon, not on Walrein, so moving Walrein to the Bench does not get rid of the effect.
== NOW YOU’RE IN MY POWER (Oranguru – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. Does Oranguru’s “Now You’re in My Power” attack mean the Defending Pokémon is now weak to all types?
A. No, not all types. It only makes it weak to Colorless Type Pokémon.
Q. If a Pokémon has no Weakness to begin with, does Oranguru’s “Now You’re in My Power” attack give it a Weakness to {C}?
A. Yes. If a Pokémon has no Weakness printed on the card, Oranguru’s attack will give that Pokémon a x2 Weakness of Colorless.
== PARALYZING CRACKLE (Walrein – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Stunfisk’s “Paralyzing Crackle” attack and flip tails, do I still get to discard an Energy card from my Opponent’s Active Pokémon?
A. No, the coin flip is for both Paralyzing the Pokémon and discarding the Energy card.
== PRISM CHARGE (Terapagos – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. Terapagos’ “Prism Charge” attack can attach energy to “Tera Pokémon”, but can I attach that energy to this Terapagos?
A. No, although Terapagos’ *category* is literally “Tera Pokémon” that doesn’t count for the purposes of this attack which only counts for Pokémon with the “Tera Pokémon” attribute.
== SPIRITED TACKLE (Paldean Tauros – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If my opponent put a Stage 1 Pokémon directly into play using Tatsugiri ex’s “Cinnabar Lure” attack, and I use Paldean Tauros’ “Spirited Tackle” attack while that Pokémon is Active, would it do 90 or 180 damage?
A. 180. Although the Stage 1 Pokémon is not an “Evolved Pokémon” in this scenario, it is still considered an “Evolution Pokémon” (Stage 1) that meets the requirements for Spirited Tackle.
== SURPRISE PUMP (Tatsugiri ex – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Tatsugiri ex’s “Surprise Pump” attack against my opponent’s Kecleon with “Expert Hider” Ability and they flip Heads, does it do 100 damage or no damage?
A. Surprise Pump will do 100 damage. The attack ignores the damage reduction because Expert Hider is an effect.
== UNRELENTING ONSLAUGHT (Koraidon – SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I use Koraidon’s “Unrelenting Onslaught” attack, can I get the extra bonus damage if I attacked last turn with a different Koraidon?
A. Yes. Unrelenting Onslaught only cares about whether a different Ancient Pokémon attacked during your last turn.
TRAINER CARDS:
== AMULET OF HOPE (SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I have only 1 card left in my deck and my Pokémon with the Amulet of Hope tool attached is KO’d do I have to take that card and put it into my hand?
A. Yes. You must take at least 1 card with Amulet of Hope when it applies.
== BRILLIANT BLENDER (SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I play Brilliant Blender but don’t want to discard any of the cards in my deck, can I choose to discard no cards?
A. No, you must discard at least one card from your deck if you play Brilliant Blender.
== ENERGY SEARCH PRO (SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. For Energy Search Pro, can I search for multiple Basic Energy cards of different types, like 3 Grass and 2 Fire and 4 Water?
A. No, you can only put ONE card of each energy type into your hand.
== MEGATON BLOWER (SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. What happens if I play Megaton Blower and there’s not a Stadium, a Tool, or a Special Energy in play?
A. You can’t play the card for no effect, but if there is at least one of those types of cards in play you do as much as you can.
Q. Can I use Megaton Blower if there’s a Stadium in play but my opponent doesn’t have any Tools or Special Energy cards in play?
A. Yes, you can. Discarding the Stadium is not reliant upon discarding any other cards in this case.
== SURFER (SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. Can I use Surfer to switch my Active Pokémon with a benched Pokémon, even if I have no cards left in my deck?
A. Sure thing, bro!
Q. If I have no Pokémon on my bench can I play Surfer?
A. No way, dude! You must be able to switch a Pokémon from the Bench in order to play Surfer.
== TYME (SV:Surging Sparks)
Q. If I play Tyme, can I put a Ceruledge ex face down and say “Ceruledge”?
A. No, you have to state the full card name. In this case, “Ceruledge ex”.
