The release of Secluded Springs has finally arrived for Pokemon Pocket. Outside of the Legendary Beasts that were previously advertised by TPCi (The Pokemon Company International), we’ll be looking at what other cards peaked players' interests.
New ex Pokemon
With the Legendary Beasts all being ex Pokemon, we weren’t sure how many more ex Pokemon the developers would be include in Secluded Springs. With Secluded Springs full release, we now see two new ex Pokemon joining the roster of Pokemon Pocket; Jumpluff ex and Poliwrath ex.
Jumpluff ex
Jumpluff ex, despite its Grass-type nature, can actually be slotted into any deck due to the fact that its attack can work with energy type. Dealing 70 damage for just one Energy of any time is incredibly powerful, allowing Jumpluff to work with a wide variety of different partners. The ability to swap out can bring some unique partnerships that Pokemon Pocket has never seen before.
As much as we may not find it totally appealing, the first thing to come to mind is the Lightning-type Oricorio.
Against any deck with an ex Pokemon as its win condition, the controlling player can easily use Jumpluff ex to swap into Oricorio to prevent any retaliatory strike from an ex Pokemon. This may seem like a lot of trouble in Electric-focused strategies considering that Oricorio can deal 50 damage on its own, but it opens up a more seamless strategy in non-Electric decks that might want to use Oricorio as a stall tactic. This could also work in non-Psychic Sylveon ex decks.
The only downside this Pokemon forces onto the player is the fact that it is a Stage-2 Pokemon. A player would need to run a Rare Candy set-up to get the full use of Jumpluff ex’s potential speed regardless of what the rest of the deck would look like. And even though there is some synergy with Oricorio itself, Jumpluff ex still suffers from being unable to damage the little, yellow bird.
Poliwrath ex
Poliwrath ex offers an interesting puzzle for players of Pokemon Pocket to figure out. On paper, Poliwrath ex’s overall ability package can be competitively viable. It has a robust body of 180 health, allowing it to survive trades with other heavy hitters. Poliwrath ex’s damage potential on its own can be raised to 140 -with a little help from the new Mantyke- which is only 10 short of competitive frontliners like Giratina ex.
Zooming out a little, Poliwrath ex has access to non-Trainer damage boosters in the form of Politoed (Wisdom of Sea and Sky) and Lucario (Space-Time Smackdown). Depending how the board is built, Poliwrath ex could potentially be hitting for 160 to 180 damage. This kind of damage output could easily knockout almost any Pokemon in the game without the intervention of a Giant/Leaf Cape.
Like Jumpluff ex, Poliwrath ex suffers from some of the same caveats that previous ex Pokemon has; it’s a Stage-2 Pokemon, requiring the use of a Rare Candy, and it’s susceptible to Oricorio.
Some Interesting New Tools
Outside of ex Pokemon, there are a few more that caught our attention. While they may not necessarily shake up the competitive scene, they may prove to be an interesting, if not a fun, experience for the player.
Celebi
This Pokemon will definitely be raising some eyebrows. While the 40 damage Celebi provides is negligible most of the time, the capability of devolving the opposing active Pokemon puts any Rare Candy-focused strategy on the back foot.
Some decks using Rare Candy don't include stage-1 Pokemon altogether (e.g. Solgaleo ex). Once Celebi lands a hit, that de-evolution could spell the end of a game then and there.
Galarian Cursola
Tanking damage isn't a popular strategy for Pokemon Pocket, largely thanks to the popularity of big-damage strategies. The closest we got to a moderately successful implementation of this idea was with Druddigon paired with Giratina ex a few formats ago. Galarian Cursola might be the developer's way of trying to bring that strategy back.
While Galarian Cursola has a pretty lackluster offensive package, its ‘Perish Body’ ability will give any opponent not packing some form of indirect damage some pause. That said, considering how popular indirect damage from Greninja and Darkrai ex, are, this Pokemon might end up being useless.
In other scenarios, however, Galarian Cursola will commonly cause the entire game to hinge on a coinflip. Losing a Pokemon, especially an ex, for no cost is devastating. Looking ahead, this could be a counter-tech against Mega Evolutions, since losing the entire game on a coin flip seems rather effective, especially if you can get two Cursola into play.
Zoroark
Zoroark’s ‘Illusive Trickery’ has been sparking some interest with the playerbase. The ability to prevent any form of retaliatory damage from both attacks and abilities for a turn could potentially stop the opponent’s tempo.
Not only that, but Zoroark can be an out to Oricorio without risking a prize point when the opponent tags-in a bigger and heavier hitting body. Zoroark offers a simple kit, but could potentially become a very good counter tool to opposing tech choices.
Miltank (and Whitney)
Originally introduced back in the second generation of Pokemon video games, Whitney and her Miltank have carved themselves into legendary status. It appears that the developers are porting both of them to Pocket.
Miltank is a very accessible Pokemon whose value is firmly found if a player is going second. Miltank’s ‘Rolling Frenzy’ is quite similar to Alcremie's ‘Sweets Overload’. Unlike the latter, Miltank can get going by itself and gets more powerful the longer Miltank stays in the active zone and attacks.
By Miltank’s 3rd attack, this bovine Pokemon will have done an accumulated damage of 120. If an opponent takes too long to set up, Miltank can punish even the strongest of Pokemon for just one Energy.
As for Whitney herself, she helps keep Miltank around for longer unless knocked-out in a single hit. It’s a simple package, but a welcome one if you plan to use Miltank in your deck.