Cards to Think About in Boundaries Crossed Pt.1

Welcome to the real beginning of this season! The time right now is a big transition for Pokemon TCG players. It is that sweet spot after Regionals and before the start of the City Championships. A new set was just released and everyone is trying to find new decks and ideas to get an edge up on the competition, and it's my job to help with that.

We are going to take a look at Boundaries Crossed and find cards that have a chance to make an impact in the upcoming tournaments.

• Vileplume

The interesting thing about Vileplume is it makes the most unlikely pokemon become one-hit machines. It allows you to abuse many different types of pokemon to make use of Allergy Panic (Landorus EX, Rayquaza, Virizion, etc.) As long as you stay focused on attackers that use single energy attacks or attacks that can abuse Double Colorless Energy, you in theory should have a fast paced set of attackers that knock out anything. All you have to do is get Vileplume out...which is the problem.

• Blastoise

This is one of the few cards everybody is talking about, well this with Keldeo EX. Blastoise is nothing new, I mean Emboar is still in the format. What sets Blastoise apart from the pack? Other than a certain attacker that was essentially made for it, Squirtle is what I believe to be THE card to help Blastoise survive in this bench damage driven format. Sure there is still catcher but when there are cards such as: Landorus EX, Darkrai EX, Registeel EX, and Kuyrem, being able to prevent early knockouts is huge when the main point of your deck is set up a Blastoise. The biggest drawback to Deluge is just like all the other Rain Dance strategies, you need the energies in your hand which makes N the decks biggest weakness (a weakness that is a four of card in every deck).

• Keldeo EX

Other than the obvious pairing of its attack with Blastoise, which is good, I really like Keldeo EX more for its ability, Rush In. It eliminates one of your opponents options of using Pokemon Catcher to bring up a Blastoise to the active spot in hopes of stalling. Rush In also allows you to break free of status conditions on any of your other pokemon, which was huge last Regionals with Victini and Tynamo/Raikou EX. The one thing that hurts Keldeo EX is the prevalence of Mewtwo EX in the format. While this card will certainly be paired with Blastoise, I believe that it will be a valuable tech in many different decks especially with its attack only requiring colorless.

• Dusknoir

Stage 2's are trying to make a comeback in this format, and one of them that has a good chance is Dusknoir. With his ability, Sinister Hand, it allows Spread damage to be more effective. The thing it has going for it is the amount of pokemon that have amazing spread attacks. Whether it is Landorus EX or Registeel EX, as long as the deck starts hitting fast it has the ability to take big prize swings later on. Unfortunately, the ability is the only thing Dusknoir has going for it.  Being weak to Darkrai EX, not having a usable attack, and having three retreat really sets back this amazing ability. I still see a use for Dusknoir as a tech, but a deck solely built around spreading and his ability, has to overcome its frailness.

• Cresselia EX

Cresselia EX is a very limited pokemon. The one thing it is good at is being a tank. Paired with Darkrai EX and Hydreigon it has a good chance of finding a place in this format. Although its attack takes four energy, once you get it going, it eliminates your weakness which is amazing against Mewtwo EX. With being able to survive hits from nearly every pokemon save Rayquaza EX, Cresselia EX is able to use Max Potion or even Gold Potion to a great effectiveness. In conclusion, I believe that it is a good card, but it definitely needs a lot of support around it to be successful.

• Landorus EX

When I look at a card like Landorus EX, I see a format breaking card. Both of its attacks are really good. The one people are going to use the most though is Hammerhead, 30 and 30 to a bench for one is amazing (it also helps that the two biggest things last format are weak to him) it is Tynamo's worst enemy. And with it only taking one fighting energy it is easy to put it into different decks as a tech or have it be the focus.  Landorus EX's  Land's Judgment is able to knockout opposing Blastoise and Hydreigons just by discarding all its fighting. Even the three retreat can be good with Heavy Ball in the format. The format would only be Landorus EX but since we got some of the best water pokemon we have seen in awhile, it might be in for some rough seas (sorry) ahead.


Cards to Think About in Boundaries Crossed Pt.2 Coming Soon...

All images courtesy of Pokebeach.com