Alakaboodle – Awakening Of The Psychic King Set Review!
Intro
Hello again PokeBeach members, It is Elbow! You might remember me from my last article about everything Raichu; you can check out that article here. This time I am going to write about the set revealed this past week, ‘Awakening Of The Psychic King.’ This set seems to be chock full of cool cards, so I’ll get right into it!
(One note, I did not mention all cards nor all of the EXs. That’s because I only commented what I viewed was ‘good’ and worth mentioning. These are my opinions and I’d love discussion, even if you disagree, in the comments below.)
Pokemon:
Delphox and Delphox Break 
Delphox – Fire – HP140
Stage 2 – Evolves from Braixen[R] Flickering Flame: 40 damage. Your opponent’s Active Pokemon is now Asleep.
[C][C][C] Psycho Storm: 20x damage. This attack does 20 damage times the number of Energy attached to all Pokemon (both yours and your opponent’s).
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2Delphox BREAK – Fire – HP180
BREAK Evolution – Evolves from DelphoxDelphox BREAK retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of its previous Evolution.
Ability: Flare Watch
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may search your deck for a [R] Energy and attach it to 1 of your Pokemon. Shuffle your deck afterward.
I think there could be something here with Delphox. First off, the regular stage 2 for a Fire Energy puts your opponent’s Active Asleep. His main attack is Psycho Storm, which for three Colorless Energy does 20 damage for ALL Energy attached to your and your opponent’s Pokemon. That attack is very underrated. If each side has two Double Colorless Energy down, the attack is doing 160 damage! This would be pretty minimal with just basic energy except that with having fire types you have cards like Blacksmith and Max Elixir to attach Energy and do more damage. Delphox Break would help with Energy attachment as well attaching an extra Fire Energy per turn, and if there are multiple Breaks down…you see where this is going. The deck also has synergy with Delphox from XY. You draw more cards per turn, so if you use a Blacksmith you can use the XY Delphox and Shaymin-EX to draw more cards / draw into more ways to attach Energy to the new Delphox. It is overshadowed by Entei being a stage 2, but definitely has its advantages as well, such as being able to one-shot mega Pokemon and not doing damage to itself. The Delphox line is worth looking into!
Omastar Break
Omastar BREAK – Water – HP140
BREAK Pokemon – Evolves from OmastarOmastar BREAK retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of its previous Evolution.
Ability: Dangerous Tentacles
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may choose 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon-EX and switch it with his or her Active Pokemon.
This card is not as good as people think. Some have called it a Lysandre replacement, but it’s far from that. First off it’s a restored Pokemon, meaning you either are going to run a restored deck, which tend to do poorly, or a deck with a restored line in it, which tends to be clunky. There’s also the possibility of running Omastar with Archie's Ace in the Hole, which can put the stage 1 Omastar onto the Bench. The problem with this is that you then have to EVOLVE Omastar into the Break, which takes another turn. Also, there are so many other Pokemon I’d rather get off an Archies: Empoleon, M Blastoise-EX, or Primal Kyogre-EX. And still if you manage to get up an Omastar though fossils or from Archies, you can’t bring up non-EX, which can be game winning. I see this card as a possible surprise factor in a deck, but nothing as exceptional as Lord Helix really is.
Glaceon-EX 
Glaceon-EX – Water – HP170
Basic Pokemon[W][C] Second Bite: 20+ damage. This attack does 10 more damage for each damage counter on your opponent’s Active Pokemon.
[W][C][C] Crystal Ray: 70 damage. During your opponent’s next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokemon by Evolved Pokemon.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Both attacks on Glaceon-EX seem very good. Second Bite is slightly better version of Wobbuffet attack, which is very handy. The second attack, Crystal Ray, is the real reason to look at this card. For 70 damage, you block all attacks to Glaceon-EX from evolved Pokemon. That sounds really good at first, but it has some flaws. Many Stage 1-2 decks now are running Pokemon with free retreat, such as Raichu, Garchomp, and Greninja. This really hinders the strategy of Glaceon-EX. There’s also the fact that there are just better Pokemon to run. With three Energy, you can do much more with other Pokemon, such as Blastoise-EX or Glalie-EX. I think Jolteon-EX from Generations outshines this card by miles.
Barbaracle
Barbaracle – Water – HP100
Stage 1 – Evolves from BinacleAbility: Hand Block
You can use this ability if you have a Stadium card in play. As long as this Pokemon is in play, your opponent can’t attach any Special Energy cards from his or her hand.[W][W][C] Claw Swipe: 70 damage.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
This has to be one of the most hyped cards to come from this set since it was released. So this is a bench sitter primarily and used for his Hand Block Ability, which, if a Stadium is down, stops your opponent from using special Energy. It’s going to be HUGE! Barbaracle is easy to get out as a stage 1, very techable as it isn’t attacking, and is capable to get turn one with Wally or Archie's Ace in the Hole! That means that it’s possible to get a Turn 1 lock with a Stadium, which is very possible for most decks. The only problem I see with this is the retreat. If a Seismitoad-EX deck attaches an Energy or two before Barbaracle is up and uses a Lysandre it will be hard to get it to get back on the Bench. Similarly, there is AZ and Float Stone that can be used to retreat one though, which makes the card very good.
Alakazam-EX and M Alakazam-EX
Alakazam-EX – Psychic – HP160
Basic PokemonAbility: Spoon Bending
When this Pokemon evolves into M Alakazam EX, you may place 2 damage counters on your opponent’s Active Pokemon and 3 damage counters on 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon.[P][C] Suppression: Place 3 damage counters on each of your opponent’s Pokemon that has any Energy attached to it.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: 2M Alakazam-EX – Psychic – HP210
Mega Evolution – Evolves from Alakazam-EX
When 1 of your Pokemon becomes a Mega Evolution, your turn ends.
[P][C] Zen Force: 10+ damage. This attack does 10 damage plus 30 more damage for each damage counter on your opponent’s Active Pokemon.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: 1
These are the card the set is designed around so the must be good right? I am not entirely sold. So the obvious archetype here would be Alakazam-EX and the Golbat/ Crobat line for additional damage. When Alakazam-EX evolves, it spreads a total of five damage counters on your opponent’s field. The deck has clear synergy with Dimension Valley, so you have low Energy costs. The question I have is why is this better than Wobbuffet? Now I know there are the obvious answers of more damage spread and HP, but I don’t think that those reasons are persuasive. Wobbuffet stops Abilities, which is very important in this format driven by Shaymin-EX. While Wobbuffet put on the damage like M Alakazam-EX does, lets remind the folks at home we have an EX here. M-EXs need a spirit link to evolve in one turn and gives up two prizes still. I don’t see why you would run this over Wobbuffet, but I know people will run it, so expect it.
Mew 
Mew – Psychic – HP50
Basic PokemonAbility: Beginning Memories
This Pokemon can use the attacks of each of your Basic Pokemon in play. (You must still have the necessary Energy to use each attack.)[C] Encounter: Search your deck for a Pokemon card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 0
Mew is a balanced card for this format right now and it will see a lot of play. The Ability is that of the Mew-EX that recently rotated out of format. This time, it is a low HP basic. Some people view this as overpowered as it does the same thing as Mew-EX but with a basic, giving one less prize. I disagree. Mew has such low HP not too bad to overcome it. Only one Golbat and Crobat damage one-shots it as well as Shaymin-EX or Yveltal with a Muscle Band. The low HP makes it so vulnerable that it’s not game changing. I guarantee you this card will see play in Night March and possibly in decks that want the Psychic Weakness, such as Manectric-EX and Seismitoad-EX decks.
Carbink and Carbink Break
Carbink – Fighting – HP80
Basic PokemonAbility: Energy Keeper
As long as this Pokemon is in play, your Basic Pokemon’s Basic Energy can’t be discarded by effects of your opponent’s attacks, Abilities, or Trainers.[F][F][C] Stone Edge: 60+ damage. Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 30 more damage.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1Carbink BREAK – Fighting – HP110
BREAK Pokemon – Evolves from CarbinkBREAK Evolution: This Pokemon has the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of the Carbink it Break Evolved from.
[F] Diamond Gift: 20 damage. Attach 2 Energy cards from your discard pile to 1 of your Benched [F] Pokemon.
Carbink Break will be the new M Manectric-EX of Fighting-type decks. Its attack, for one Fighting, attaches two Energy cards from the discard to any Fighting Pokemon. No that is not just basic Energy and no that is not just basic Fighting Pokemon, it’s all stages! This is a great accelerator for Lucario-EX decks that had poor Energy acceleration with Landorus. With Wally and Battle Compressor this could be Turn 1. The basic Carbink is good to stop decks that use annoying Crushing Hammer or Team Flare Grunt to stall you. This means the only way to discard is if they turn off Abilities, which is generally OK for Fighting decks.
Umbreon-EX
Umbreon-EX – Darkness – HP170
Basic Pokemon[C] Night Veil: 20 damage. Discard any number of cards from your hand. Then, draw an equal number of cards from your deck.
[D][C][C] End Game: 70 damage. If damage from this attack Knocks Out your opponent’s Active Mega Evolution Pokemon, take 2 additional Prize cards.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: Psychic (-20)
Retreat: 1
Umbreon-EX is very situational. First, it needs to KO a Mega to take four prizes. Four prizes in one turn is ridiculous, but to KO a mega from 70 damage is not. It can work well with Darkrai-EX and Yveltal-EX who can fail to hit numbers sometimes on Megas though. At most I an see it as a 1-of, but because it requires a lot for it to work out I doubt it will see too much play.
Lucario 
Lucario – Metal – HP110
Stage 1 – Evolves from Riolu[M] Vacuum Wave: 50 damage. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Weakness or Resistance.
[M][C] Fight Alone: 30+ damage. If you have less Pokemon in play than your opponent, this attack does 60 more damage times the difference in the number of Pokemon you and your opponent have.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: Psychic (-20)
Retreat: 2
Lucario is recognized for its attack Fight Alone. For each more Pokemon your opponent has in play, the attack does 60 more damage. For example, if you have two Benched and they have five, the attack does 30 + 50 + 50 + 50 damage, or 180 damage total. This can work well with cards such as AZ, Target Whistle, and Parallel City, but I can’t see your opponent not recognizing this strategy beforehand and planning accordingly. As well as the low HP, most decks will take constant OHKOes with ease before you even start doing major damage. Niche card, may see some play in the Metagross tier.
Genesect-EX
Genesect-EX – Metal – HP180
Basic PokemonAbility: Cassette Change
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may return a Pokemon Tool attached to this Pokemon to your hand.
[M][M][M] Rapid Blaster: 100+ damage. You may discard as many [M] Energy from this Pokemon as you like. This attack does 20 more damage for each [M] Energy discarded in this way.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: Psychic (-20)
Retreat: 2
As much as I want to like Genesect-EX, I don’t think I can. The Ability is pretty meh, there are no real tool swapping that affects Metal decks. Sure, maybe in like one out of 25 games you would want to swap a Float Stone for a Fighting Fury Belt, but even still that is somewhat situational. The attack is pretty good actually; with four Metal Energy you are doing 180 damage. The problem is the lack of Keldeo-EX in standard. Zoroark is OK, but usually doesn’t hold up. And with Genesect-EX here, you want to be hitting constant 180-240 damage, but that just isn’t going to happen. I think Metal decks should stick to its Aegislash-EX and Tyrantrum-EX roots, but maybe add one Genesect-EX as another backup attacker.
I will admit that Genesect-EX will be interesting in Expanded. With G Booster and Bronzong andKeldeo-EX, the deck has a chance of being in a top tier. And swapping around tools will certainly be more useful with Float Stone and G Booster. G-booster does take grass energy to attack, but discards any type, which is where metal comes in with Bronzong.
Lugia and Lugia Break
Lugia – Colorless – HP120
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Pressure
When this Pokemon is your Active Pokemon, damage done to this Pokemon by your opponent’s Pokemon’s attacks is reduced by 20.[C][C][C] Rising Burn: 60+ damage. If your opponent’s Active Pokemon is a Pokemon-EX, this attack does 60 more damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-20)
Retreat: 2Lugia BREAK – Colorless – HP150
BREAK Pokemon – Evolves from Lugia
Lugia BREAK retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of its previous Evolution.
[C][C][C][C] Destruction Wave: 150 damage. Discard 2 Energy attached to this Pokemon.
Players from the BW era will be reminded of Bouffalant when looking at Lugia. The only real difference is the Weakness to Fighting, of which both have bad Weakness disadvantages already. 120 damage to an EX is very good from a basic that only needs Colorless Energy to attack and is a basic as well, which could be seen as a tech card for Energy accelerating decks like M Manectric-EX and Garchomp. Destruction wave is very powerful as well, but this discarding two Energy, being a mock ‘stage 1’ and requiring four Energy will likely make Lugia unplayable. As well as popular Lightning-types like Dedenne and Manectric-EX, this will limit Lugia’s playability.
Diancie-EX
Diancie-EX – Fairy – HP150
Basic PokemonAbility: Twinkle Veil
As long as this Pokemon is your Active Pokemon, any damage done to your Pokemon by attacks is reduced by 30.[Y][C][C] Miracle Stage: 60+ damage. If there is a Stadium card in play, this attack does 50 more damage.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: Darkness (-20)
Retreat: 2
I brought Diancie-EX into the discussion as I think it’s a fairly decent Fairy attacker. Its ability is very good, making it essentially have 180 HP or more. If your opponent hits you for 180 damage it’s an OHKO, but if they hit you for 100 damage one turn and then 100 damage again the next turn it is not even a two hit KO! The Ability sure makes the EX bulkier. The attack is similar to Gallade sensitive blade, doing more damage if a Supporter was played, which is almost always the case. Sure, it needs three energies, but that can easily be solved by Double Colorless Energy as well as the power of t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶o̶l̶y̶ ̶g̶h̶o̶s̶t̶ Aromatisse and Max Potion shenanigans. I would expect to see this card in some Fairy lists, but I don’t know how many people are truly playing that deck right now, so I don’t know how playable it will be.
Regirock-EX
Regirock-EX – Fighting – HP180
Basic PokemonAbility: Regi Power
Each of your [F] Pokemon does 10 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokemon. (Excluding Regirock-EX.)[F][F][F] Bedrock Press: 100 damage. During your opponent next turn, any damage done to this Pokemon by attacks is reduced by 20.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
Regirock is somewhat like Deoxys-EX but with all Fighting-types. I think it could see play, but as a bench sitter like Deoxys-EX. Its attack is slightly better than Lucario-EX, but then again you only get one OK attack from Regirock-EX whereas two good and one mediocre attack (Somersault Kick) from Lucario-EX. As of now, I don’t think Regirock will be played outside of maybe a copy or two in Fighting decks. Fighting decks primarily rely on two hit KOes and having down four Regirock-EX won’t help achieve a turn 1 or 2 OHKO. And Fighting Pokemon who can OHKO, like Primal Groudon-EX, do not need help from Regirock-EX.
Trainers / Supporters / Stadiums:
Mega Catcher 
Mega Catcher – Trainer
ItemSwitch 1 of your opponent’s Benched Mega Evolution Pokemon with his or her Active Pokemon.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).
This card is terrible. This would only be useful in like 1 in 10 match-ups and still you’d have to run a large number of Mega Catcher for it to be used when you need to use it. Taking up 2-4 spots for a Mega Catcher would be such a waste of space though as you only need 1-2 for Lysandre, which is not restricted to Mega Pokemon. Lysandre is the better alternative.
Energy Pouch
Energy Pouch – Trainer
ItemPokemon Tool: Attach a Pokemon Tool to 1 of your Pokemon that doesn’t already have a Pokemon Tool attached to it.
If the Pokemon this Tool is attached to is Knocked Out by damage from an opponent’s Pokemon’s attack, return all Basic Energy attached to that Pokemon from your discard pile to your hand.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).
I think this card can be good in some decks. For example, Keldeo-EX in expanded has a lot of trouble recovering Energy once many are discarded. Energy pouch easily gets back this Energy and is quick to reattach with Blastoise ability. This would also be great for Magnezone in standard. It isn’t too practical otherwise. While Darkrai-EX/ Yveltal-EX decks run more basic Darkness Energy now, there are other tools like Fighting Fury Belt I’d rather attach and wouldn’t want to clog my hand with four Darkness Energy when I will likely use Professor Sycamore next turn.
Twisted Spoon
Twisted Spoon – Trainer
Item
Pokemon Tool: Attach a Pokemon Tool to 1 of your Pokemon that doesn’t already have a Pokemon Tool attached to it.
Prevent all effects of attacks, except damage, done to the Pokemon this card is attached to (effects already on this Pokemon are not removed).
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).
Twisted Spoon is a very underwhelming card. Originally I thought it blocked things such as Jolteon-EX and Giratina-EX, but in this format it is limited to basically nothing. I’d much rather run something like Sparkling Robe or even Healing Scarf over this tool.
Fairy Drop
Fairy Drop – Trainer
ItemRemove 5 counters from 1 of your Pokemon that has any [Y] Energy attached to it.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).
Fairy drop has a bit of versatility in this format. It is in a format with Rainbow Energy as well as Double Dragon Energy, which both count as Fairy Energy. The problem is that cards like Max Potion and Super Scoop Up usually outclass those cards in those types of decks anyways. Fairy decks usually use Aromatisse to move around Energy, and Giratina-EX deck that use Double Dragon Energy are using Super Scoop Up to heal. Not sure how practical it is, but it doesn’t need the discard to heal fifty damage, which is significant. It’s more limited than Potion in my opinion and in a Fairy deck would have a worst drawback than Super Potion, which heals for ten more HP as well.
Zygarde-EX and Power Memory
Zygarde-EX – Fighting – HP190
Basic Pokemon[F] Earth Pulse: 20 damage. This attack does 20 more damage if there’s a Stadium card in play.
[F][C] Cell Storm: 60 damage. Heal 30 damage from this Pokemon.
[F][F][C] Ground Force: 100 damage.
When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3Pow
er Memory – Trainer
ItemPokemon Tool: Attach a Pokemon Tool to 1 of your Pokemon that doesn’t already have a Pokemon Tool attached to it.
The Zygarde-EX this card is attached to can also use the attack on this card. (You still need the necessary Energy to use this attack.)
[F][F][C] All Cell Burn: 200 damage. Discard 3 Energy attached to this Pokemon.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).
Zygarde-EX is pretty bad IMO, with maybe it’s first attack being OK for knocking out basics Turn 1. We are mainly looking at Power Memory here. This card is almost like G Booster for Genesect-EX except that it discards three Energy. This actually isn’t too big of a deal since the format has many Energy retrieval Pokemon for Fighting-types, such as Garchomp, Landorus, and Carbink from this set. There’s also Max Elixir for Energy support as well as Strong Energy and Fighting Stadium for maximum damage. This card will make Zygarde-EX very good. If it becomes popular, there might be a resurgence of Seismitoad-EX, Startling Megaphone, Xerosic, or even Banette.
Lass’s Recommendation
Lass’s Recommendation – Trainer
Supporter
Draw cards equals to number of your opponent’s Benched Basic Pokemon.
You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn (before your attack).
This card is kind of similar to Battle Reporter. It relies on your opponent to have a large Bench to draw cards. It actually can be pretty good. Many decks do clog up their Bench with all five Pokemon, meaning profit! It’s so much better than Supporters like Bianca or Tierno that basically only draw you three every time used. Lass can possibly draw up to more, and with Sky Field it can be up to eight! While unlikely, I do think this card is a replacement for Shauna. While you are not shuffling your hand in, if you are on average drawing four to five cards off of Lass, it makes Shauna and Tierno virtually useless. I don’t know if I’d classify this card as a one of like Hex Maniac, nor a replacement for Professor Birch's Observations, but I know Lass will be used widely by the public.
Chaos Town
Chaos Town – Trainer
StadiumRed side: Choose which way this card faces before you play it. This ↓ Player’s Pokemon cannot be Asleep or Paralyzed. (If they are Asleep or Paralyzed, remove those Status Conditions.)
Blue side: Choose which way this card faces before you play it. This ↓ Player’s Pokemon cannot be Poisoned or Confused. (If they are Poisoned or Confused, remove those Status Conditions.)
This card stays in play when you play it. Discard this card if another Stadium card comes into play. If another card with the same name is in play, you can’t play this card.
As cool as this card looks, I don’t think it will sleeved in any upcoming tournament-level decks. Right now, there are barely any Pokemon that cause Paralysis, poison, Asleep, or confusion. And even if they do they are usually not playable cards, like M Ampharos-EX or Toxicroak-EX. There is a strategy revolving around Asleep, which is Darkrai-EX/ Hypno, but the deck does not need this Stadium. It runs All-Night Party, which is far superior as it heals thirty damage from the Active Pokemon as well. There is Gengar-EX which does see play, but as of right now it is being cast off by Trevenant BREAK right now. And certainly this Stadium would not help Gengar-EX in anyway, so with less Gengar-EX, there will be less Chaos Town.
In expanded, this will see play. Since you have major cards like Hypnotoxic Laser and Accelgor which do all four of those status conditions (two each), and Asleep / Paralysis can be the determinant factor in games, I think decks without a Stadium would opt to play this card.
Reprints:
Devolution Spray
This reprint from Dragons Exalted comes at an interesting time. There is the Crobat line and the Milotic line that will favor this card the most. It also works with Forretress and Forest of Giant Plants in standard, but I do not think that deck is good in any format. I don’t know how dramatically it will effect those decks, but I don’t think it will be as versatile as AZ or Super Scoop Up.
N
N is the most hyped card coming from the next set. It was one of the best Supporters of the BW era and is making its grand reprint nine months later. This will definitely replace Professor Birch's Observations as it is always a better alternative. With the reprint of VS Seeker as well, N will be sticking around and changing the format for a long time. I like that N was reprinted now with cards like Shaymin-EX and Octillery, but regardless N will bring a more toxic and luck based game that I dislike when you get N’ed down to one or two.
(Small rant, please skip this if you love N) Logically, reprinting cards like N and Skyla make no sense to the anime, which I don’t follow, but should align with the anime somewhat. Like in BW, Pokemon Card Labs introduces you to starter people like Professor Juniper and Cheren in early sets, and then late game characters like Iris and Ghetsis later on. This is consistent in many other sets, so it’s odd that they are adding in BW trainers to XY when there is little connections. In addition, they couldn’t think of a good Supporter card? Reprinting cards shows un-originality, and N is clearly the product of the fans whining about having no draw support. I wish this wasn’t a reprint and rather a new actually good draw Supporter, something like put two at the bottom of the deck and draw five or something like that.
Fairy Garden
I am happy this is reprinted. It’s a necessary card for Fairy decks and would make fairies, a concept only brought into the TCG four years ago, even more obsolete than they already are if it weren’t reprinted.
Strong Energy
Did we need this? Like, even more Fighting-types and reprinted Fighting support? I would rather have done this for any other Energy, or make a better Energy for Grass or Fairy, but a reprint of the best special Energy in format was pretty much unwarranted. Even a different special Fighting would have been OK by me, but this reprint is just PCL saying they want Zygarde-EX to take Lucario-EX place.
Thanks you for reading! I hope you liked the article and plan to read my stuff again!