Back in August, Surging Sparks was announced as an upcoming Pokémon TCG set. Releasing November 8, Pokémon’s newest set is now just over a month away. As a result, cards are beginning to be revealed for the TCG’s next big release.
Two new Illustration Rares appearing in Surging Sparks were revealed recently. These are the first cards we’ve seen confirmed to appear in Surging Sparks. Notably, these cards will first appear in the incredibly small Japanese Pokémon set Paradise Dragona.
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Latios and Latias EX
The two new Illustration Rares revealed to be appearing in Surging Sparks are none other than Latios and Latias EX. While these cards are definitely exciting for collectors, only one of these Eon Pokémon looks exciting for competitive play.
Unfortunately, Latios doesn’t offer much to entice players. Two mediocre attacks with statlines that are easily dwarfed by EX Pokémon is not an attractive trait.
Latias EX, on the other hand, has some interesting things going for it. The attack on this Pokémon is awkward, basically offering a Hyper Beam effect, but the ability Latias offers makes up for it. Skyliner lets any of your Basic Pokemon in play Retreat for free. This means that Latias EX will be able to Retreat on the off turns that it can’t use Eon Blade. Of course, if Latias EX is on your bench, this will apply to other Basic Pokemon as well.
Thanks to this ability, there is a possibility that Latias EX could see play, but it will likely need some other strong synergy pieces to get there. 200 damage is a lot, but it’s not enough to one-hit-KO most common threats. This means that, without help, Latias EX is likely unable to see play on its own.
In addition to Paradise Dragona, the new Surging Sparks set will also feature cards from Supercharged Breaker, a Japanese set releasing October 18, and from the Ceruledge/Sylveon EX preconstructed decks.