SV: Destined Rivals – FAQ

As Always, these FAQ have been reviewed and approved by Pokemon R&D and are official rulings for use with Destined Rivals Prerelease events in the TPCi regions. Enjoy!

POKEMON ABILITIES:

== BONDED BY THE JOURNEY (Ethan’s Quilava – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. In a Prerelease tournament, can I use Ethan’s Quilava’s “Bonded by the Journey” Ability if there are already 4 Ethan’s Adventure in my discard pile?

A. Yes, since the Prerelease is run as a Limited Format tournament, you can have more than 4 of a card in your deck!

== BUZZING BOOST (Yanmega ex – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Surfer to switch in Yanmega ex, do I draw cards for Surfer first or do I use Yanmega ex’s “Buzzing Boost” Ability to search my deck for {G} Energy cards first?

A. You get to choose which you do first.

== DARKEST IMPULSE (Team Rocket’s Ampharos – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. Can I use Team Rocket’s Ampharos’ “Darkest Impulse” Ability to put 4 damage counters on both of my opponent’s evolving Pokemon if they evolve two Pokemon from their hand during the same turn?

A. Yes, you can. The phrase “doesn’t stack” means that if you had two Team Rocket’s Ampharos in play, you would not be able to use both Darkest Impulse Abilities to put 8 damage counters on each of those evolving Pokemon.

Q. If I have Team Rocket’s Ampharos with the “Darkest Impulse” Ability in play and my opponent’s Team Rocket’s Zubat with 40 damage evolves into Team Rocket’s Golbat, do I get to use Team Rocket’s Golbat’s “Sneaky Bite” Ability before it gets KO’d?

A. Yes, you can.  Since both Abilities are happening at the same time, the owner of Team Rocket’s Golbat gets to choose the order they are applied.

== FLOWER CURTAIN (Shaymin – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Arboliva ex’s “Oil Salvo” attack and choose my opponent’s active Shaymin with the “Flower Curtain” Ability first with enough damage to KO it, can I then choose benched non-Rule Box Pokemon and do damage to them?

A. No, you cannot. All damage is done before KO’s happen, so the Shaymin is still there to protect Benched Pokemon that don’t have a Rule Box.

== GREEDY ORDER (Arven’s Greedent – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. Can I play an Arven’s Greedent from my hand if my opponent has a Team Rocket’s Arbok with the “Potent Glare” Ability as their Active Pokemon, if the Team Rocket’s Watchtower stadium is also in play?

A. No, you cannot.  Team Rocket’s Watchtower only affects {C} Pokemon in play, so Arven’s Greedent still has an Ability while in your hand and cannot be played due to Potent Glare.

== HURRIED GAIT (Rapidash – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I have two Rapidash with “Hurried Gait” Ability in play, may I use the ability once for each Rapidash?

A. Yes, you can.

== POTENT GLARE (Team Rocket’s Arbok – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. Can I play an Arven’s Greedent from my hand if my opponent has a Team Rocket’s Arbok with the “Potent Glare” Ability as their Active Pokemon, if the Team Rocket’s Watchtower stadium is also in play?

A. No, you cannot.  Team Rocket’s Watchtower only affects {C} Pokemon in play, so Arven’s Greedent still has an Ability while in your hand and cannot be played due to Potent Glare.

== RECONSTITUTE (Team Rocket’s Porygon-Z – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. Can I use Team Rocket’s Porygon-Z’s “Reconstitute” Ability to discard two cards from my hand if I have no cards in my deck?

A. No, because the discard is a cost to use its Ability. If you aren’t able to draw a card, then you can’t just pay the cost of the Ability.

== REPELLING VEIL (Team Rocket’s Articuno – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. What happens if I use my Team Rocket’s Wobuffet’s “Rocket Mirror” attack to move damage from my benched Team Rocket’s Pokemon to my opponent’s Team Rocket’s Articuno with “Repelling Veil” Ability?

A. Your benched Team Rocket’s Pokemon would remove its damage counters, but the opponent’s Active Team Rocket’s Articuno would not remove nor receive any. If you try to move damage *to* something that blocks effects, the damage disappears. If you try to move damage *from* something that blocks effects, the damage stays there.

== ROCKET BRAIN (Team Rocket’s Orbeetle – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Team Rocket’s Orbeetle’s “Rocket Brain” Ability to move damage counters from one of my Team Rocket’s Pokemon do I have to move the damage to another Team Rocket’s Pokemon.

A. No, while the damage must be moved from a Team Rocket’s Pokemon the damage can be moved to any of your Pokemon.

Q. Can I use Team Rocket’s Orbeetle’s “Rocket Brain” Ability to move enough damage to KO one of my own Pokemon?

A. You can if you want to; there is no restriction blocking you from KO’ing one of your own Pokemon.  However, you may not move more damage than required to KO the Pokemon because Rocket Brain only moves one damage counter at a time.

== SMOG SIGNALS (Team Rocket’s Koffing – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If my only Pokemon is Team Rocket’s Koffing with “Smog Signals” Ability and it is KO’d by damage, do I get to search for 2 Koffing and put them on my Bench or do I lose the game?

A. Yes, you get to use the Ability before you lose. Team Rocket’s Koffing takes the damage and you search your deck for 2 Pokemon with Koffing in their names and put them onto your Bench, then you check for KO’s afterward.

== SNEAKY BITE (Team Rocket’s Golbat – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I have Team Rocket’s Ampharos with the “Darkest Impulse” Ability in play and my opponent’s Team Rocket’s Zubat with 40 damage evolves into Team Rocket’s Golbat, do I get to use Team Rocket’s Golbat’s “Sneaky Bite” Ability before it gets KO’d?

A. Yes, you can.  Since both Abilities are happening at the same time, the owner of Team Rocket’s Golbat gets to choose the order they are applied.

== SNOW CAMOUFLAGE (Cetitan ex – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If my opponent’s Active Pokemon is Cetitan ex with the “Snow Camouflage” Ability, can I use Team Rocket’s Giovanni to switch one of their benched Pokemon with it?

A. If your opponent’s chosen Benched Pokemon is Cetitan ex, then Team Rocket’s Giovanni’s effect will be blocked. But choosing a Benched Pokemon without “Snow Camouflage” will cause it to switch with the Active Cetitan ex because the Benched Pokemon is the target of Team Rocket’s Giovanni. You will still switch your Team Rocket Pokemon either way.

== SO SUBMERGED (Misty’s Magikarp – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Primeape’s “Drag Off” attack and choose my opponent’s benched Misty’s Magikarp with “So Submerged” Ability, would it do 30 damage to their Active Pokemon?

A. No, damage is only done to the “new Active Pokemon”. The damage doesn’t happen because So Submerged prevents Drag Off from bringing Misty’s Magikarp into the Active Spot.

POKEMON ATTACKS:

== DRAG OFF (Primeape – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If my opponent has no benched Pokemon, do I do 40 damage to their Active Pokemon when I use Primeape’s “Drag Off” attack?

A. No. Damage is only done to the “new Active Pokemon”. If there is no switch, then no damage is done.

Q. If I use Primeape’s “Drag Off” attack and choose my opponent’s benched Misty’s Magikarp with “So Submerged” Ability, would it do 30 damage to their Active Pokemon?

A. No, damage is only done to the “new Active Pokemon”. The damage doesn’t happen because So Submerged prevents Drag Off from bringing Misty’s Magikarp into the Active Spot.

== EVIL INCINERATION (Team Rocket’s Moltres ex – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Team Rocket’s Moltres ex’s “Evil Incineration” attack to discard my opponent’s Active Pokemon, do I take any Prize cards for that?

A. No, you are discarding it, not knocking it out.

== HAUGHTY ORDER (Team Rocket’s Persian ex – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Team Rocket’s Persian ex’s “Haughty Order” attack, do I have to pay the Energy cost of the attack I chose?

A. No, you only have to pay the attack cost of Haughty Order!

== HYDRA BREATH (Hydrapple – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Hydrapple’s “Hydra Breath” attack but I don’t have six Basic Grass Energy to discard from my hand, can I discard the energy cards I have even though the attack will do nothing?

A. No, if you can’t discard the six required Energy you cannot discard any Energy cards.

== INFERNO KICK FLURRY (Blaziken – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Blaziken’s “Inferno Kick Flurry” attack and my opponent has no benched Pokemon, do I still have to discard 2 Energy?

A. Yes, you do. The discard of the Energy is a separate effect and is not optional.

== OIL SALVO (Arboliva ex – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Arboliva ex’s “Oil Salvo” attack and choose my opponent’s active Shaymin with the “Flower Curtain” Ability first with enough damage to KO it, can I then choose benched non-Rule Box Pokemon and do damage to them?

A. No, you cannot. All damage is done before KO’s happen, so the Shaymin is still there to protect Benched Pokemon that don’t have a Rule Box.

Q. If I use Arboliva ex’s “Oil Salvo” attack while Granite Cave is in play and choose three Steven’s Pokemon twice, how do I apply the damage?

A. Oil Salvo is a single attack. The attack’s damage is calculated after you finish making all choices, so all damage modifiers are applied to the total damage for each Pokemon. In this example, each of the chosen Pokemon receive 40 damage (20 times two) which is then reduced by 30 for each Steven’s Pokémon due to Granite Cave, so each will ultimately take 10 damage.

== ROCKET MIRROR (Team Rocket’s Wobuffet – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. What happens if I use my Team Rocket’s Wobuffet’s “Rocket Mirror” attack to move damage from my benched Team Rocket’s Pokemon to my opponent’s Team Rocket’s Articuno with “Repelling Veil” Ability?

A. Your benched Team Rocket’s Pokemon would remove its damage counters, but the opponent’s Active Team Rocket’s Articuno would not remove nor receive any. If you try to move damage *to* something that blocks effects, the damage disappears. If you try to move damage *from* something that blocks effects, the damage stays there.

== SEARCHING EYES (Team Rocket’s Blipbug – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Team Rocket’s Blipbug’s “Searching Eyes” attack to look at one of my opponent’s face-down Prize cards does my opponent get to see it too?

A. Your opponent does not get to see the Prize card, and you must replace it in the same position in the Prize area that you took it from.

== SPLASHING PANIC (Misty’s Gyarados – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. Can I use Misty’s Gyarados’ “Splashing Panic” attack if I have less than 7 cards in my deck?

A. Yes, you would do as much as you can.

== STRONG BASH (Zamazenta – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If my opponent’s undamaged Zamazenta used its “Strong Bash” attack last turn and my attack this turn does 200 damage, do I place 13 or 20 damage counters on my attacking Pokemon?

A. 20 damage counters. Remember, damage done to a Pokemon can be more than its maximum HP.

== TAINTED HORN (Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex – SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Team Rocket Nidoking ex’s “Tainted Horn” attack and the Defending Pokemon is already Burned, would I also put 8 damage counters for the Burned condition?

A. No, the text of Tainted Horn is only referring to the Poisoned condition.

TRAINER CARDS:

== ETHAN’S ADVENTURE (SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. In a Prerelease tournament, can I use Ethan’s Quilava’s “Bonded by the Journey” Ability if there are already 4 Ethan’s Adventure in my discard pile?

A. Yes, since the Prerelease is run as a Limited Format tournament, you can have more than 4 of a card in your deck!

== GRANITE CAVE (SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I use Arboliva ex’s “Oil Salvo” attack while Granite Cave is in play and choose three Steven’s Pokemon twice, how do I apply the damage?

A. Oil Salvo is a single attack. The attack’s damage is calculated after you finish making all choices, so all damage modifiers are applied to the total damage for each Pokemon. In this example, each of the chosen Pokemon receive 40 damage (20 times two) which is then reduced by 30 for each Steven’s Pokemon due to Granite Cave, so each will ultimately take 10 damage.

== TEAM ROCKET’S BOTHER-BOT (SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. What happens if I play Team Rocket’s Bother-Bot and my opponent has no cards in their hand or no face-down Prize cards?

A. You can always play this card unless the opponent has no face-down Prize cards AND has no cards in hand. If there’s no face-down Prize card, or if there’s no cards in the opponent’s hand (only meeting 1 of the conditions), you cannot make a switch but you would get to look at a card.

== TEAM ROCKET’S GIOVANNI (SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. If I play Team Rocket’s Giovanni, who chooses which Pokemon to switch for each player?

A. You make all of those choices.

Q. If my opponent’s Active Pokemon is Cetitan ex with the “Snow Camouflage” Ability, can I use Team Rocket’s Giovanni to switch one of their benched Pokemon with it?

A. If your opponent’s chosen Benched Pokemon is Cetitan ex, then Team Rocket’s Giovanni’s effect will be blocked. But choosing a Benched Pokemon without “Snow Camouflage” will cause it to switch with the Active Cetitan ex because the Benched Pokemon is the target of Team Rocket’s Giovanni. You will still switch your Team Rocket Pokemon either way.

== TEAM ROCKET’S WATCHTOWER (SV:Destined Rivals)

Q. Can I play an Arven’s Greedent from my hand if my opponent has a Team Rocket’s Arbok with the “Potent Glare” Ability as their Active Pokemon, if the Team Rocket’s Watchtower stadium is also in play?

A. No, you cannot.  Team Rocket’s Watchtower only affects {C} Pokemon in play, so Arven’s Greedent still has an Ability while in your hand and cannot be played due to Potent Glare.