TPCi (The Pokémon Company international) has finally given us something to chew on. With the recent sneak peek from a recent promotion, it was only a matter of time before more information came through.
Currently, it appears that we’re receiving information on only half of the advertised cards from the promotion, including Mega Absol ex, Mega Mawile ex, and a new Supporter card.
Mega Absol ex
Doom Period: If your opponent's Active Pokémon has exactly 6 damage counters on it, that Pokémon is Knocked Out.
Cruel Claw: 200 damage. Your opponent reveals their hand. Discard a card you find there.
It seems like the number six is TPCi’s favorite number when it comes to instant knockout effects.
Somewhat similar to the Hydrapple revealed back in Destined Rivals, Mega Absol ex’s can be used to take out beefier opponents with the right game plan. Doom Period’s only parameter is that the opposing active Pokemon needs exactly 6 damage counters on it.
This could be easier than it sounds. Mega Absol ex can take a hit, and Munkidori from Prismatic Evolutions is still running around in legal rotation.
With both these Pokemon being at Basic-Stage, a player could easily build up a board to fling 6 damage counters with a couple of Munkidoris before finishing off the target with Mega Absol ex.
There’s also the potential for Mega Absol ex to just hand rip a card with Cruel Claw if the situation calls for it.
It’s respectable in its own right, but compared to current meta frontrunners, it may seem lacking in either the damage department or in its speed of activation.
Mega Mawile ex
Greedily Devour: This attack does 80 damage for each Prize card you have taken.
Big Bite: 260 damage. If your opponent's Active Pokémon already has any damage counters on it before this attack does damage, this attack does 30 damage instead.
TPCi seems to be making it a trend that Basic-stage Mega Pokemon need a good amount of energy to activate. This may be to help promote the Cinderace line that was revealed previously.
Mega Mawile ex feels a little strange, but this may be because its Greedily Devour attack feels like a ‘win more’ mechanic. It has a good energy-to-damage ratio, and scales very well, but it needs the controlling player to score prize cards first to get going.
As for its Big Bite attack, its design actually feeds the theory that Cinderace might be a big enabler for some of these Mega Pokemon.
You start with Cinderace, attack once, energy accelerate Mega Mawile ex, make a quick switch the following turn, and you’re hitting for roughly 340 damage in the first couple of turns. That’s not too shabby, all things considered.
Acerola's Mischief
You can use this card only if your opponent has 2 or fewer Prize cards remaining.
Choose 1 of your Pokémon in play. During your opponent's next turn, prevent all damage from and effects of attacks done to this Pokémon by attacks from your opponent's Pokémon ex.
Acerola’s Mischief is one of those cards you’d like to have when the situation calls for it, but not something you’d want to see otherwise. It wouldn’t be the first time a Supporter card’s activation would be tied to the number of Prize cards left on the field.
On one hand, Acerola’s Mischief could delay the opponent once at match point. This, however, would depend on what the softest target for them is, either your active Pokemon or one of your roster members on the bench, and how easily they can reach that target.
On the other hand, we have field manipulation cards, like Boss’s Orders, or Pokemon who can just snipe benched Pokemon, like Dragapult ex, in legal rotation.
The existence of these cards would mean that a player using Acerola’s Mischief would really have to think hard about which Pokemon they’d wish to protect.
That said, players of the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) tend to prioritize aggression and damage output. It’s why there’s usually an emphasis on energy acceleration in a lot of tournament-topping decks.
Acerola’s Mischief doesn’t fit the mold at the moment unless TPCi changes the formula for the game with the upcoming sets or rotations.
It makes for a good tech choice, though, but we’ll see if any tournament goers think this card will be of any use when the time comes.