The next Pokémon TCG set, Scarlet & Violet - Temporal Forces, is only a month away, and spoilers are ramping up at a very satisfying pace. The set already looks to be a lot more enjoyable than the video games of the same name, and we've now got a brand-new batch of spoilers, including one very cool Gengar.
Buddy-Buddy Poffin
Buddy-Buddy Poffin is an item that allows you to search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them onto your bench. Being able to draw two monsters you need for one card is not only card advantage but also good tutoring. Buddy-Buddy Poffin is an excellent choice for decks with a lot of evolutionary options.
Neo Upper Energy
Neo Upper Energy is a special new kind of energy that is useful to begin with, but when on a Stage 2 Pokémon, it counts as two energy of any type. It is an Ace Spec card, though, so you can only have this Ace Spec in your deck instead of any other options.
Drampa
Drampa, the adorable and slightly dopey-looking dragon, is getting a card in Temporal Forces, too. With 120 HP, this normal-type Pokémon isn't the healthiest around, but as a basic Pokémon, it does pretty well. Along with a 20-damage attack for one energy, Drampa can also dish out huge damage if you've got damage on your bench Pokémon. Raging Cannon costs three energy and does 100 damage as standard, but if all of your benched Pokémon have at least one damage counter on them, it does 220 damage instead, which is huge.
Iron Crown EX
Next is Iron Crown ex, which is another basic Pokémon, but this time is a Psychic-type with 220 HP. Along with having exceptionally cool artwork, this monster has an interesting ability. Cobalt Command makes your attacks from other Future Pokémon do an extra 20 damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon, which is a nice little buff. Along with that, it has an attack called Twin Shotels, which does a flat 50 damage to 2 of your opponent's Pokémon, no matter what their Resistances or Weaknesses are. It seems like a good buffer for Future Decks, and the attack is a nice bonus.
Gengar EX
The last card from this blog post showing off new Temporal Forces cards is Gengar ex, which is our favorite from this batch. Aside from being Gengar, who should be adored by all, this take on the Pokémon has 310 HP, and has a very potent ability. Gnawing Curse makes it so that whenever your opponent attaches an Energy card from their hand to one of their Pokémon, you get to put 2 damage counters onto that Pokémon. Your opponent can't not put Energy onto their creatures, so they'll either need to do it from the discard pile or something, or just suck up the damage. Gengar ex also has an attack called Tricky Steps that costs two energy and does 160 damage, which is a good start.
The real kicker, though, is that this ability allows you to move an Energy from the opponent's Active Pokémon to one of their Benched monsters instead. This combos nicely with Gnawing Curse, and could make Gengar ex a fairly terrifying foe to face down. So, we'd recommend being the one using it to get ahead of things.