Penny, Arven, Jacq, and Other Trainer Cards Revealed from “Scarlet & Violet!”

Energy generator sounds like a stupidly good card, but it has Max Elixir vibes to keep it in check: Even with decks designed around that card back then, bricking wasn't uncommon - And it checked six cards for just finding one energy. That was even with plenty of deck thinning cards to help with the odds, too.

In other words, the ways to up the chances for this card that only checks five cards, you really need most of your deck revolved around the acceleration - which mean less special energy, lots of search, and a much fatter energy supply. And even then, getting just one energy each check is most realistic.
 
Energy generator sounds like a stupidly good card, but it has Max Elixir vibes to keep it in check: Even with decks designed around that card back then, bricking wasn't uncommon - And it checked six cards for just finding one energy. That was even with plenty of deck thinning cards to help with the odds, too.

In other words, the ways to up the chances for this card that only checks five cards, you really need most of your deck revolved around the acceleration - which mean less special energy, lots of search, and a much fatter energy supply. And even then, getting just one energy each check is most realistic.

After coming back from work and having cooled from the initial reaction I have to agree 100% with this, I think the more grounded apporach here is totally correct, when you think about it, yeah, Max already whiffed a lot when looking at 6, here you're looking at 5, and to have 40% of the cards be 2 energies is gonna either be an insane high roll, or you've already built the deck in a way that it gets just normal to hit 5, in which case the balance comes precisely from that deck building restriction. I think it will be a sick card, but yeah, it's not gonna break anything.
 
I wish... Gust effects are stupid, it makes retreating innocuous, when it should be a much more relevant part of the game. The best format I have played is PTCGO's legacy, and gust is pratically non-existing there, and it's one of the reasons the format is so good.
I am gonna have to agree. I don't really like the gusting mechanics of the tcg too much. Which is why legacy on PTCGO was so fun, hardly any Gusting. But unfortunately Gusting is a big part of the tcg and i don't see them dropping that mechanic anytime soon.
 
I think gusting is a necessary evil to prevent games from lasting forever in formats where the meta doesn't have (m)any spread options... that said I wouldn't mind if in the future it's restricted to one time use mechanics like with Ace Specs (that also lost zones itself after use), Prism Stars, or VStar Powers, so you only get 1-2 strategic and decisive gusts per game... that or introduce better anti-gusting options than Baffling Thievul, Princess' Curtain Diancie, Moon & Sun Badge, or Camo Poncho (granted I love using that tool in Crobat VMAX + Galarian Weezing), such as an anti-gusting as accessible as Bench Barrier and on a basic non-rulebox Pokemon as an ability, except the card doesn't protect itself.
 
After coming back from work and having cooled from the initial reaction I have to agree 100% with this, I think the more grounded apporach here is totally correct, when you think about it, yeah, Max already whiffed a lot when looking at 6, here you're looking at 5, and to have 40% of the cards be 2 energies is gonna either be an insane high roll, or you've already built the deck in a way that it gets just normal to hit 5, in which case the balance comes precisely from that deck building restriction. I think it will be a sick card, but yeah, it's not gonna break anything.
This, in many ways, makes the card worse for the game. For one, the difference between maximum payout and no effect is so polarizing, that it carries an insane luck factor with it. Imagine a format with Crushing Hammer, but you get to flip twice - the entire format would be warped around who gets the best Hammer flips, not what's actually happening in the game.
Second, the fact that large spaces of deckbuilding will be restricted by just having the card means decks will look more similar to each other. Obviously deckbuilding is built around pairing cards together, but this should ideally be done with positive synergies, not negative ones.
 
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