Help Tapu lele GX

Zeph Curtis

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Can someone explain why this card is so useful and/or used in current decklists and why so expensive? Thanks! New player here, sorry if this seems obvious.
 
1. Its Wonder Tag ability allows you to retrieve any Supporter from your deck, which provides you with far more options in a given turn than you would have had without it.
A couple examples:
  • Lele -> Wonder Tag for the Guzma you need for a knockout.
  • (In combination with Zoroark GX) Lele -> Wonder Tag for Mallow -> Mallow to put the two cards you need for a knockout on top of your deck-> Zoroark GX's Trade ability to draw those two cards.
  • Lele -> Wonder Tag to grab N to disrupt your opponent's hand after they use Alolan Vulpix's Beacon, or Metagross GX's Algorithm GX, etc., or to limit their hand after they've drawn a number of prize cards.
  • (In Stage 2 decks) Lele -> Wonder Tag for Skyla -> Skyla to grab a Rare Candy that you need to get a Stage 2 out quicker. (Gardevoir GX, VikaBulu, Metagross, etc.)
  • (And, of course, the most popular) Lele -> Wonder Tag for Brigette to set up your bench on your first turn. (This is less useful in decks that aren't heavily evolution-based that consist mainly of high HP Basic Pokémon, Volcanion for example.)
These possibilities and more are available to you simply by having a Tapu Lele GX or an Ultra Ball (plus two cards to discard) in your hand and a space on the bench.

The only other card in either Standard or Expanded that offers this same effect in an ability is Jirachi EX (Plasma Blast) in Expanded, and it provides an easy two prizes for your opponent at only 90HP and lacks a good attack, which leads into the other reasons Tapu Lele GX is a great card...

2. Tapu Lele GX has a very high HP for a support Pokémon at 170, no weakness, and a fairly powerful attack (Energy Drive) that can be used by nearly any deck in the Standard format because of its [CC] (two colorless) typing, making it a viable secondary attacker. (Ignore its GX attack though, there's almost always a more advantageous GX attack that you could use instead.) In addition, it has a low retreat cost of one, which can be relevant if you're using Guzma and need to retreat back into your main attacker.

The reasons listed above and that it's the only card in the Standard format to offer the effect of Wonder Tag in an ability are why the card is as expensive as it is. Don't expect it to drop much unless a better card is released or until it leaves the Standard format.
 
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