'VMAX Rising,' Japan's February Set!

Timmony_tcg

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I'm curious about the wording of the twin energy card. It says it only provides 1 energy to Pokémon GX and V, but makes no mention of VMax. Since we haven't heard if that is a different category I wonder if this can be used for full 2 on VMax, or if it will still only produce 1 since the Pokémon does have V in the name.
So long as the card has a "V" symbol in the top left corner of the card (which appear on both regular Pokemon V and VMAX), I believe that's meant to indicate that it falls under the umbrella term "Pokemon V"
 

snoopy369

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
Member
So long as the card has a "V" symbol in the top left corner of the card (which appear on both regular Pokemon V and VMAX), I believe that's meant to indicate that it falls under the umbrella term "Pokemon V"
I'm sure we'll get a clarification for the next Pre-release about that (if not something sooner), but that seems correct to me as well.
 

Skeleton Liar

サーナ~
Member
Yeah, sort of (or exactly) like how something that applied to an EX also applied to a Mega EX.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Anything that targeted EX's included Megas too. But if something specifically wanted to target Megas, like Mega Turbo, it says so.

And honestly, it sounds like @Timmony_tcg has the best explanation! I see no reason why that wouldn't be the case.
 

The Binder Guy

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Yeah I don't know. It basically gives you access to 8 DCE the same way Juniper/Sycamore gives you access to 8 discard-draw 7. That seems relevant.
I have to side with @Nyora here, the differences between DCE and Twin Energy are more cut-and-dry than Professor Juniper/Sycamore and Professor’s Research. I suspect part of the reason why PCL made that errata, along with how broken it looks on paper, is probably due to the very likely scenario of decking out due to heavy misuse by the causal crowd.

I also don’t think DCE and Twin Energy will receive an errata like that due to a similar situation happening during the early XY era: NXD’s Prism Energy and XY’s Rainbow Energy reprint were both legal for a time and while both had the same effect (providing one unit of ANY Energy type at a time) they had different limiting factors (Prism was restricted to Basics while Rainbow has its 1 damage counter placement requirement). Despite similarities and serious boosts they can give certain Pokemon neither card was banned and both remain legal in the Expanded format. I will admit there's a CHANCE for one but I’m not seeing it, neither Seismitoad or M Rayquaza-EX top tournaments these days and don’t think Twin Energy will really change that. One deck that COULD’VE benefited from Twin Energy is ZoroGarb but PCL seems to have noticed that thanks to Twin Energy’s ruling.

In the end, we’ll have to wait for the results of first SwSh-legal Expanded tournament to see if it changes the playing field.
 

AngryBokoblin

Guzzlord is fun
Member
The nose:
lego-dark-stone-gray-binoculars-30162-90465-30-353715-50.jpg
 

Number51x

Blasting off at the speed of light!
Member
I have to side with @Nyora here, the differences between DCE and Twin Energy are more cut-and-dry than Professor Juniper/Sycamore and Professor’s Research. I suspect part of the reason why PCL made that errata, along with how broken it looks on paper, is probably due to the very likely scenario of decking out due to heavy misuse by the causal crowd.

I also don’t think DCE and Twin Energy will receive an errata like that due to a similar situation happening during the early XY era: NXD’s Prism Energy and XY’s Rainbow Energy reprint were both legal for a time and while both had the same effect (providing one unit of ANY Energy type at a time) they had different limiting factors (Prism was restricted to Basics while Rainbow has its 1 damage counter placement requirement). Despite similarities and serious boosts they can give certain Pokemon neither card was banned and both remain legal in the Expanded format. I will admit there's a CHANCE for one but I’m not seeing it, neither Seismitoad or M Rayquaza-EX top tournaments these days and don’t think Twin Energy will really change that. One deck that COULD’VE benefited from Twin Energy is ZoroGarb but PCL seems to have noticed that thanks to Twin Energy’s ruling.

In the end, we’ll have to wait for the results of first SwSh-legal Expanded tournament to see if it changes the playing field.

Well, with that kind of precedent then yeah, I can see how that would be. Thanks for the history lesson.
 

Wailord's Pokemon

Pokemon TCG player. 2019 Worlds Competitor.
Member
HEEE'S BACK.

I think, if they want us to throw away piles of old Double Colorless Energy and sell us a new variant, there needs to be a damn good reason. However, I am not sure how I feel about this type of balance yet. It definitely allows them to balance Vs and basics differently, but it won't be that big of a deal with Frostmoths and Welders flying around.

And, to be honest, I enjoyed the format without DCE. DCE didn't bring much complexity to neither deckbuilding nor gameplay, but it added a hell of randomness.
After some testing, I feel like twin energy is gonna be a really welcome addition to the game. Welder decks are already phasing out of the metagame, and the new supporter rule is a real hinderance to the card and the archetypes that surround it. Decks such as lost march will become playable again, and we may end up in a very well-split V/VMAX and 1-prize attacker meta.
 

Yaginku

H-on Will Save Pokemon
Member
After some testing, I feel like twin energy is gonna be a really welcome addition to the game. Welder decks are already phasing out of the metagame, and the new supporter rule is a real hinderance to the card and the archetypes that surround it.
I would be worried if Welder, which is still the best supporter in the format, is actually phased out - it would signify that we went even further with power creep. Sure, it can also be due to rise of water and anti-Welder decks, but a healthy format - which is something we don't have now - would still allow Welder to thrive.
Decks such as lost march will become playable again, and we may end up in a very well-split V/VMAX and 1-prize attacker meta.
Don't know about 1-prize decks with ADP running around, outside of obvious gimmicks and counters. 2-prize decks are basically done, they're getting the worst of both worlds.
 

JustInBasil

Grass-Type Gym Leader
News Staff
Member
A Barbaracle was just revealed from VMAX Rising. Looks to be pretty decent with Twin Energy, Marnie, Reset Stamp, and Pidgeotto.

Barbaracle - Fighting - HP120
Stage 1 - Evolves from Binacle

[F][C] Rock Hurl 50
This attack's damage is not affected by resistance.

[F][C][C] Hand Press 80+
If you have more cards in your hand than your opponent, this attack does 80 more damage.

Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
 

taigercub

Aspiring Trainer
Member
A Barbaracle was just revealed from VMAX Rising. Looks to be pretty decent with Twin Energy, Marnie, Reset Stamp, and Pidgeotto.

Barbaracle - Fighting - HP120
Stage 1 - Evolves from Binacle

[F][C] Rock Hurl 50
This attack's damage is not affected by resistance.

[F][C][C] Hand Press 80+
If you have more cards in your hand than your opponent, this attack does 80 more damage.

Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3




That looks really fun with Copycat and something like sawsbuck
 

Yaginku

H-on Will Save Pokemon
Member
That's an interesting attack that's never going to see play, because it doesn't deal 300 damage.
 

Clam

Almost decent
Member
im not too impressed
Its kinda funny how this 160 damage was good when you could use things like choice band and the GX pokemon were weaker
 
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fleshrum

Cephalophore
Member
perfectly balanced, strong even, in a format without fat basics. Make it work for you at home, cause tpci is uninterested in making it work in the big leagues.
 

Flygonite

Meta/budget player
Member
People outright miss the point with this card. It ain't mediocre because it hits for 160, it's mediocre because it's a stage 1 that requires hard-attachment of energies because to this day, fighting types have no good acceleration. I have built some usable decks that use stage 1s and the rare stage 2 pokemon, but they either require the use of triple acceleration energy or acceleration from welder and other engines.
 

Yaginku

H-on Will Save Pokemon
Member
It ain't mediocre because it hits for 160, it's mediocre because it's a stage 1 that requires hard-attachment of energies because to this day, fighting types have no good acceleration.
The goal shouldn't be to allow every type to accelerate three energies in one turn and make energy management a complete joke. The goal should be to scale it back to the levels it was in Sun & Moon-onwards.
 

CrownAxe

Aspiring Trainer
Member
The goal shouldn't be to allow every type to accelerate three energies in one turn and make energy management a complete joke. The goal should be to scale it back to the levels it was in Sun & Moon-onwards.
Why not? if every deck can play at that speed then what's the problem
 
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