Here's my set review. In addition, I'll be adding a 1 to 10 scoring to each card, with anything 8 or higher being pretty much guaranteed to see play. Things that are a 2 or lower are pretty much worthless, and most things between 5 and 8 are good cards that have downsides that make them hard to use.
Vileplume - It's been hyped for an entire month, it was really good during the HGSS and early BW eras, and it will succeed again. Not much to say. 9/10
Bellossom - Both of the attacks here would have been at least okay with the original Vileplume, but they're kind of weak in this format. 120HP on a Stage 2 is very low, and capping at 60 damage is kind of underwhelming as well. I guess you could combine the attack with a card that self-accelerates like Alpha Growthers, but Sceptile PRC and Mega Sceptile EX seem a bit better. 2/10
Ariados - The Ability seems to be really nice for comboes that involve Special Conditions (like the new Sceptile-EX), and with Giant Plant Forest, getting 1 in play can be done very easy. A 1-1 line will probably be stuck into anything playing GPF just as a way of getting that bonus 10 on the board. 8/10
Mega Sceptile EX - Oh wow, they really needed a better version of Mega Manectric-EX? I do not like this card. That said, though, it's very strong. 2 for 100 is always amazing, 2 bonus Energy is always amazing, full healing is always amazing (Dragonite ROS was used by Dylan Bryan recently), this kind of review is redundant. My one concern with the viability of this card is whether or not it has any good OHKO attackers to work with. Shiftry FLF and Mega Heracross-EX seem like the best options, but Shiftry is kind of clunky when you throw in Megas and Mega Heracross has usually been a fringe deck thanks to it easily being stopped by a few damage counters. 9/10
Vespiquen - It's got Flareon written all over it, but better. First off, it's a Grass Type, so you can play it quicker with Giant Plant Forest. Second off, 90HP is actually better because Level Ball can search it out. Third, you get a great first attack that can help set up quickly. Finally, you can build this with all of the new Eeveelutions for great Weakness control. Vespiquen also gets free retreat, so it does everything Flareon can do and a bit more. Defenitely going to see play. 9/10
Virizion - Ah, a Prize-based attacker. It certainly sounds good in theory, but if your opponent already knocked out 1 of your Pokemon, he/she's probably all set up on their side, so 120 is not going to be enough. Defenitely a boss for Leagues and friendlies with the low Energy cost, but Rescue is the only thing that makes it good in competitive. 3/10
Flareon/Vaporeon - They've got the same Ability as Jolteon, so naturally you would think they're just as good. Sadly, Vaporeon just doesn't have much it can do for you. Only Fire Types and Ground/Flying Types have Water Weakness, so there isn't much to counter. On the other hand, Flareon covers Grass AND Metal, making it more versatile. Don't forget that it allows you to use Blacksmith on all of your Stage 1's! Flareon gets 8/10 while Vaporeon gets 7/10.
Entei - Fire Acceleration is already pretty common, so I don't think Burning Scent is all that good, but Combat Blaze makes up for it. Combat Blaze is a nice Absol-esque counter to Skyfield abusers, and it can hit pretty good Weaknesses. 2 Energy isn't that bad with all the Fire Acceleration out, and 120HP is pretty bulky. My one thought against it is that it still can't OHKO a Mega Rayquaza-EX, which is what you can obviously tell it was designed to do. 6/10
Ancient Entei - This is kind of like the XY-on version of Reshiram LTR. It's not going to be it's own deck, but pre-existing Fire decks can make great use of this one to apply pressure while getting around things like Beautifly ROS (It's gonna see play. GPF makes it gud). Sadly, the only 2 Fire decks in XY-on I can really think of that are any good are Speed Charizard-EX decks and Blaziken FUF decks, both of which are struggling right now. Because of this, Entei will only be as good as the deck it's used in. 6/10
Volcarona - The idea of searching for a Basic and automatically getting Energy on it is really strong, but setting up a Stage 1 to do it as an attack doesn't sound all that great. I guess it works really nice if you can keep it in play for a few turns, but 100HP isn't all that sturdy, so you'll rarely be able to prep more than 1 or 2 Basics before biting the dust. Time will tell if this card becomes good. 5/10
Gyarados - I didn't even notice the comboes this card has until
@TheStrictNein mentioned the possibilities with Flareon/Jolteon and Wide Lens. It certainly sounds strong, and the second attack could even become the focus of it's own deck if we can get some proper Water Acceleration in XY-on. Man, Blastoise, I'll miss you. 7/10
Ancient Gyarados - Augh, this card could have been so amazing. Counterattack is amazing and can hit really high numbers, but there's a very big problem with it: Magikarp only has 30HP. Putting a bunch of NFE's in KO range is a terrible idea in any deck, and since spread attackers are going to be a bit more useful thanks to Mr. Mime PLF's rotation, I can't see this being a reliable strategy. There is a bit of potential in this card if we ever get HP boosting effects soon, but as of now, Gyarados is too limited. 3/10
Relicanth - If the attack is correct in what I believe it does, it could be a fantastic starter card. Searching for any 2 Pokemon greatly boosts consistency in Stage 2 decks, and with N getting (probably) rotated, setup attacks are a lot more reliable. The Grass Weakness is going to be awful in the future, and 90HP is mediocre for a Basic, but you can't deny how strong this card is. 2 Master Balls for the price of 1 Energy! 9/10
The Regi Trio - All of these guys have some effect that revolves around EX counters. Regice is invincible to them, Registeel discards automatically against them, and Regirock does more damage to them.
Regirock is by far the best of them because it gets Fighting support, so in many cases, using just a few buffs can make Regirock OHKO those EX's that ruin your fun.
Regice is similar to Hippowdon PRC, but worse. It may be a Basic, but it lacks Fighting buffs to make your attacks do more damage and it doesn't really have a good card to work with that accelerates Energy onto it, and don't forget that Hippowdon saw is currently seeing little to no play due to Seismitoad/Hammers.
Registeel is creative and can greatly reduce Energy off of an opposing EX, and the Bronzong PHF support is nice, but many of the EX's in the current format that are dominating rely on a) low amounts of Energy or b) Energy acceleration. It certainly has uses, but the uses it has vary depending on your opponent.
Regirock gets 8/10, Regice gets 5/10, and Registeel gets 6/10.
Kyurem EX - This guy did not need a third EX. Besides, it's not even that good. Frozen World would at least be okay if Water Types had good acceleration in XY-on, but I can only think of Lapras XY off of my head. Volcarona could be good for that, especially since it covers the Metal Weakness, but Frozen World isn't strong enough to warrant that. Same thing goes for Icecalibur. 4/10
Jolteon - A format full of Yveltal-EX, Lugia-EX, & Mega Rayquaza-EX? Yeah, it's gun be gud. 9/10
Mega Ampharos EX - It's odd that this guy didn't get an Ancient Trait, but whatever. Exavolt is amazing since it does 170 while Auto Paralyzing, but there are a few things to consider. First off, most Pokemon will be Knocked Out anyway by 170 damage, so the Paralysis will usually be redundant. Besides, the 30 to yourself is a bit risky if you're not playing Protection Cube or Rough Seas. The Energy cost for Exavolt is also quite ugly, though it can be provided with Mega Turbo and Ancient Togekiss - hey, Mega Manectric-EX is way too clunky since it's another Mega. Overall, this is a pretty nice Mega. It's probably the worst here since all the others get a Trait that boosts them and they can do stronger effects than Mega Amphy, but this one still seems good. 7/10
Unown - This guy is a reprint of Unown R from DP, and it's quite good. It reserves spots on your Bench so you don't lose from a lack of an Active, and it also works really well with Bench-boosted attackers since you can leave it there to power up your attacker until you need to make room for a new attacker. Hey, a free draw isn't that awful, either. 8/10
Claydol - Rewind sounds unfair in theory, but since it allows your opponent to just re-evolve that turn, it's kind of useless. The only immediate use I can think of for it is by placing damage on your opponent equal to the HP of the Pokemon they evolved from, so that the devolution effect Knocks it Out. In many cases, Rewinding could even be a double-edged sword by allowing your opponent to re-use something like a Crobat PHF or an Ancient Togekiss. 2/10
Ancient Golurk - The Double Type Ability is amazing here because it gives Golurk access to what I consider to be the best type in the game: Fighting. With access to Fighting Type boosts, Golurk can start doing upwards to 60 more damage than usual with Superpower, which isn't too hard to power up since it runs on Colorless Energy. Double Type is also neat because it allows Golurk to combine well with those Eeveelutions. The Dark Type Weakness is unbearable, and the Retreat Cost is hard to get around, but this is still one of the better Stage 1 attackers from the set. 8/10
Hoopa EX - Let me get this straight: Playing Hoopa EX nets you 3 free EX's. Wow. I'm done. They can't make search cards any more powerful than this. I can easily see Mega Evolution decks using this as a 1-of for the Ability since it gets you both halves of the evolution in addition to 1 more EX. If you're playing something like Primal Kyogre-EX, you get to search for the Basic, the Primal, and something else like a Shaymin-EX. You heard me right. A single Ultra Ball can become a Shaymin-EX and a full Primal Kyogre-EX line. This is madness. 10/10
Machamp EX - This is my personal favorite Basic EX from the set because both attacks are interesting enough to merit their own uses. Thrash is really good when combined with cards that hurt your own Bench like Magma's Secret Base, and I defenitely see the Dugtrio XY combo in here. Crazy Hammer is also very good with the Ariados from this same set since it does a base of 170 with the Poison damage, but the Energy cost is a bit hard to provide without the use of something like Landorus FUF. I could see Ancient Togekiss being useful in this kind of build, but that might be too clunky if you're still using Ariados. 8/10
Quagsire - I feel bad for this card because it's just like the Breloom and Lanturn from Primal Clash. I hyped those cards so mcuh and they never saw any play, so I can't really give a fair opinion on Quagsire. I guess you could throw it into something that runs Water Acceleration, but with Blastoise BCR rotating (most likely), the only option I can think of is Lapras XY. 2/10
Mega Tyranitar EX - If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone try and see how much damage this guy can do, I'd have enough money to buy a Booster Box of this set. Destroyer King certainly lives up to it's name, and getting damage on the field isn't that difficult with cards like Forretress FLF and Spinda PRC. A single damage counter on a Pokemon makes Destoryer King do 170, which becomes 180 thanks to the pre-existing damage counter, and hitting the Megas out there isn't that hard either since just 1 more damage counter makes Destroyer King do 230, which becomes 250 with the 2 counters. Sounds too good to be true, right? It's true, but that doesn't mean this guy is flawless. Theta Double is a big threat to you because it means you'll need to play VERY strategically to guarantee no double Head Ringers on you. You'll need to make sure you always have a Spirit Link on Tyranitar, and you'll need an extra Tool as soon as you evolve. It may not be a deal breaker against Mega Tyranitar-EX, but it will be a big hurdle. 8/10
Sableye - Sabledonk this isn't, but it is wacky enough to be useful. Draw attacks have usually been kind of junky on Pokemon in recent times, but since Supporters of all shapes and sizes are being used in decks nowadays like Xerosic and Wally, there are lots of cool gimmicks you could find here. 70HP isn't good at all, and because of it, Sableye will usually go down in a single turn, maybe two if you're lucky. It's risky, but nice for the few people out there that won't be able to fit all the Supporters they need into their deck. 5/10
Malamar - Both of the attacks on Malamar are cool, but lacking. Entwining Control swaps and Confuses, which is good, but Switch and Retreat reducers like Hydreigon-EX eliminate any threat from this attack. Trash Tentacle is also a cool way to get Special Energy cards recycled, but I'd rather be using an Ability on a Stage 1 (Milotic PRC) to do it than an attack on a Stage 1. At least it does damage, which makes it tolerable. 3/10
Metagross - The Bronzong PHF combo here is so obvious it's hilarious. The Ability is great for allowing yourself to switch to the Bench as a way to power it up again, and Iron Cannon is a rather strong attack. You only need to discard 2 Metal Energy at max, and with a Muscle Band, you can hit 180. I'm also quite happy that this is the Theme Deck Promo for the set, because it'll be a great option for newcomers that want to build a good Stage 2 deck right out of the box, but the viability of Metagross depends solely on whether or not Stage 2's become viable again, so a Stage 2 format makes Metagross an 8/10 while a non-Stage 2 format makes Metagross a 6/10.
Ancient Metagross - This guy could have been semi-decent with Trump Card, but without it, it's going to be pretty lackluster. I'll explain: Machine Gun Stamp isn't going to take OHKO's no matter how hard you try, so you'll probably need 7 cards in your hand at a time so it can 2HKO. The Ancient Trait helps it stay clean thanks to Hard Charms, but having to constantly draw cards to do decent damage means that decking out is more harmful to you than actually being KO'd. Also, there are better 2HKO cards out right now like Lucario-EX and Ancient Excadrill (which sounds fun with Eeveelutions). The Slurpuff combo is interesting, and there are defenitely lots of fun ways to actually pull off OHKO's, but I'd rather be attaching Energy or risking self-damage to reach those points. Drawing cards to reach that number seems counter-intuitive. 4/10
Gardevoir - There is an unwritten law that all Gardevoir cards will see play one day, regardless of the format. This Gardevoir finally breaks that rule. It is so bad that it's disgusting. Just play Fresh Water Set! I'm not even going to review it. 1/10
Whimsicott - I think this little one could be a hilarious deck with Dusknoir FLF, but relying on a Stage 1 with 70HP is an awful idea when you need to have damage counters constantly piled on your side. Training Center helps max this out to 100, but even THAT number is relatively low. Because of this, Whimsicott will probably be better as a 1-1 or 2-2 line in a pre-existing Fairy deck to help heal off a bulky attack while doing heavy damage. Mega Gardevoir-EX maybe? 5/10
Giritina EX - The Ability is fantastic since the format is filled with lots of unfair Megas like Crayquaza and MegaMan, but there's just 1 simple way to get around the Ability: Don't Mega Evolve your Rayquaza-EX or Manectric-EX. As soon as your opponent sees that Giratina EX is in play, they'll start using Battle Compressor on their useless Spirit Links and Megas to stop dead draws. Because of this, you'll probably be using Giratina for the attack instead. Stopping Stadiums is good, but Stadiums are usually conveniences instead of neccessities(bar Sky Field, anyway). Special Energy cards like Strong Energy and Double Dragon are good to block out, but usually won't be game breaking. As for locking out Tools, this kind of thing is fairly unneeded, but having 3 options to block on hand is always great. It may seem brutal, but considering you need 4 Energy and the things you block aren't deck killers for your opponent, Giratina-EX is actually quite balanced. 8/10
Goodra - Retreat abuse decks have always been inbetween on playability because they can be countered by Float Stone and Darkrai-EX, but since both of those are (probably) going away, Goodra smoothes over quite well. The snipe capability is nice, and with Team Aqua's Muk and Aqua's Secret Base, there are a lot of fun ways to mess around here. Being a Stage 2 is obviously rough, and the lack of any OHKO potential is relatively bad, but Goomy can help make this card a bit more worthwhile. Nice job on making a Basic combo with it's evolution, Pokemon Company, even though this is only League material. 5/10
PorygonZ - Special Energy is fun to counter with Enhanced Hammer, but PorygonZ is cool because it eliminates all of them at once. It's not worth it to get it into play just to discard Energy, but the second attack is a bit fun to use, so this could defenitely be a goofy card to mess with in Leagues and friendlies (As long as you stay away from Fighting archetypes and Item lockers). 5/10
Ancient PorygonZ - No, I can't. I am not going to call it that. He's a computer program for crumb's sake!
Digital PorygonZ - The obvious pairs here are Crobat PHF and Forretress FLF, but most of those cards are good because they provide a nice bonus to a pre-existing card. Using PorygonZ is just too clunky for an effect that could easily be reached with other Stage 2 cards like Greninja XY. Certainly not bad, and defenitely not filler, but defenitely not tournament-worthy. Here's hoping Devolution Spray gets reprinted. 4/10
Lugia EX - Lugia is honestly worse than Mewtwo because it gets an even worse Weakness and can't cover Type Advantage, but the benefite of a strong second attack makes it cool. Most Energy Acceleration decks will probably ignore this card since they can already hit high amounts of damage, but I'm sure that Lugia-EX is going to see play. If Mewtwo-EX is still being used like crazy right now, then Lugia-EX should see at least a little use. 7/10
Eco Arm - Trump Card is gone, so having to dump your Tools with an unlucky Sycamore is no longer an issue. Mega Evolution decks are the decks that make best use of this since Spirit Links can be hard to keep on hand, and Head Ringers can also be picked up with this card. Eco Arm will probably be exclusive to a 1-of because of how it will rarely be needed more than once, but it will fit in as a nice Tool recover card. 6/10
Paint Roller - Stadium cards are huge. Paint Roller gets rid of them. Considering how popular Skyfield/Ninetales is, Paint Roller makes mincemeat of that combo by preventing your opponent from playing down anymore Stadiums for the entire game, and it nets you a free card. Man, this is so ridiculous, it may be enough to actually reduce Ninetales's viability, though a player could react to that kind of counter with AZ or Super Scoop Up, so there are ways for Ninetales to respond to this. Also, 1 card is kind of underwhelming. This one depends specifically on the metagame, so it can range anywhere from 4/10 to 9/10.
Level Ball - We all know this is going to be great for slowly bringing Stage 2's back, and it was good before, so I expect it to still stay strong. Bronzong PHF, the Eeveelutions, and Aromatisse XY seem like they were born for this one. 10/10
Lucky Helmet - Draw cards are already so potent outside of Supporters thanks to Slurpuff PHF and Shaymin-EX, so Lucky Helmet seems redundant. I think it's a really clever combo with Ancient Metagross since it allows you to draw 4 and then do 40 extra damage, but that's the only 'far out' use that exists for it. 3/10
Spirit Links - Only as good as their Megas.
Ace Trainer - Another great Shuffle & Draw card that gets severely nerfed because of the splash text: You can only use this if you're behind on Prizes. Sure, this can be useful with Milotic FLF, but Shauna is generally better for drawing a consistent number. I'm sure using it as a 1-of would be a useful tech for getting your opponent into a tricky hand, but that's about it. 5/10
Hex Maniac - Hey, did they really need to make sure that Garbodor DRX would never be forgotten? I'm glad it's balanced out by the fact it only lasts for a turn, but considering just how splashable it is, it will defenitely be an annoyance to the Ability-heavy archetypes out there like Crayquaza and Aromatisse XY. 7/10
Color-Drained City - Ever since MegaRay released, I've been wanting something that easily counters Mega Evolutions, and now we've gotten something. 2 counters between turns means you'll always do a minimum of 20 before your opponent can swap out the Stadium, and if your opponent can't respond to it, they'll be taking 40, which becomes 60 back into their turn. Sure, you can counter it with Ninetales PRC (which has been doing amazing recently), but that's not going to stop it from being used. 9/10
Giant Plant Forest - Broken Time Space would've been a bad idea to print because it would make Crobat PHF too unfair, so I'm glad that we got some form of it without being too destructive. There are a ton of great Grass Stage 2's like Shiftry FLF, Sceptile PRC, & the new Vileplume, so there are going to be tons of fun uses for this card. Hey, since the wording means that the root Pokemon is the one that has to be Grass Type, you can actually use this with Forretress FLF & Ancient Ludicolo. Cool. 10/10
Overall, really nice set. Lots of variety here, and it seems like they're trying to bring back Stage 2's with all of the new Pokemon search cards (Level Ball, Relicanth) & EX nerfers (Coler-Drained City, The Regis), so hopefully the format gets balanced out again to how it was before.
The good:
-No overpower Basic attackers.
-Great artwork.
-Gives a bit of a nerf to the OP Megas like Crayquaza and MegaMan with Giratina-EX and CDC.
-Lots of good variety in the Pokemon selection.
-Nice Stage 2 support in the form of GPF and Level Ball.
-Only 1 NFE card that has an Ancient Trait.
-None of the Types here are over-represented like in other sets, bar Grass Types.
-The Shiny Legendary FA's are so cool.
The bad:
-Most of the Ancient Trait cards here are underwhelming. Only the Megas, Entei, and Golurk look like they'll be really competitive.
-No new really good draw Supporters.
-Lots of repeat EX's.
-Nothing is guaranteed to see play here outside of the Grass Types and Hoopa-EX, so it's hard to review this set since we haven't gotten a taste of XY-on yet.
-The Shiny Legendary FA's are worse than their original variants, though I think it's good that they aren't that broken.
