It’s finally here. The Glory of Team Rocket card list has finally been revealed. Once again, we give our thanks to the online communities -such as Pokébeach- that hustle tirelessly to keep the rest of us informed.
A Wide Roster of Trainer Pokémon
As part of the Pokémon Company International’s (TPCi’s) stratagem to bring back Trainer Pokémon, The Glory of Team Rocket introduces one of the largest rosters of Trainer Pokémon. This follows on from Battle Partners and Hot Wind Arena, which kickstarted this trend once again.
Out of a 98-card list, over 40 of them are just Team Rocket Trainer Pokémon. That count doesn’t even include the Team Rocket Trainer cards to help support this large catalogue.
Whether or not this expansion marks a current end to the return of Trainer Pokémon to the game or not, TPCi is definitely doing a pretty good job in enticing its player base to try out these new additions.
Some Notable Additions
Throughout the past few weeks, TPCi has been revealing more and more of the cards to be included in this expansion, such as their Amppharos and Tyranitar line of evolutions.
Now, we have a few rather notable additions to this expansion’s registry of Pokémon.
Smolliv Ram: 10 damage.
Dolliv Nutrients: Heal 40 damage from 1 of your Pokémon. Tackle: 40 damage.
Arbolliva ex Oil Machine Gun: Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon 6 times and do 20 damage to it. (You can choose the same Pokémon more than once.) This damage isn’t affected by Weakness or Resistance. Aroma Shot: 160 damage. This Pokémon recovers from all Special Conditions.
First, we have the distinctly non-Team Rocket Arbolliva ex line. While Arbolliva’s earlier evolutions (Smolliv and Dolliv) are pretty standard, all things considered, Arbolliva itself comes with a rather distinct capability.
For just the measly cost of one grass energy, Arbolliva’s controlling player can choose an opposing Pokémon to deal 20 damage to 6 times.
By itself, 120 damage from a stage 3 Pokémon is pretty sub-par, but Arbolliva has a distinct lack of targeting restriction. Even its translated text reads that it can target the same Pokémon multiple times.
With this in mind, any Pokémon on the bench that has a health pool of 120 or less is well within lethal range for knockout. Coupled with cards like Rare Candy to speed up Arbolliva’s evolution and we may be looking at something pretty devious in the competitive realm.
Team Rocket’s Ekans Hold Back: Flip a coin. If heads, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Paralyzed. Gnaw: 10 damage.
Team Rocket’s Arbok Ability: Intimidating Glare If this Pokemon is your Active Pokemon, your opponent can’t play any Pokemon cards with Abilities from their hand (excluding Rocket’s Pokemon). Spinning Tail: This attack does 30 damage to each of your opponent’s Pokemon (don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokemon).
Speaking of devious, Team Rocket is once again up to no good, as their Arbok line is raising eyebrows at its competitive viability.
For a Pokémon line that only goes to stage 1, Arbok’s health pool is pretty normal at 130. That said, Arbok’s seemingly mundane 30 damage attack goes across borders as the entire enemy roster is hit at the same time.
This package is then further enhanced by Arbok’s main ability. With Intimidating Glare, the opponent is not allowed to play any Pokémon cards with an ability onto the board -unless it’s a Team Rocket Pokémon- while Arbok is in the active slot.
We shudder to think what will happen to the competitive scene if someone is able to make Arbok consistent and viable. Currently, the top-performing decks in the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) make use of a lot of Pokémon with abilities on them.
Team Rocket’s Arbok heavily punishes a very specific deck construction design unless the opponent is able to either set up their board before Arbok appears, somehow move the serpent from the active slot, or be running a Team Rocket roster itself.
Team Rocket’s Nidoran M Pierce: 10 damage. Hammer In: 30 damage. Team Rocket’s Nidorino Hammer In: 30 damage. Horned Gouge: 60+ damage. If your opponent’s Active Pokémon already has any damage counters on it, this attack does 60 more damage. Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex Dirty Horns: 100 damage. Your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Poisoned. During Pokémon Checkup, put 8 damage counters on that Pokémon instead of 1. King’s Impact: 240 damage.
Finally, we have Team Rocket’s Nidoking line. Probably more out of nostalgia value than actual competitive viability, Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex sports a rather hefty health pool at 330. And all of its evolution forms hit harder than the average.
In fact, Team Rocket’s Nidorino can take advantage of its allied (Team Rocket’s) Golbat and Crobat line to take out any opposing active Pokémon that doesn’t have a total health pool of more than 140 -which is a lot of Basic and Stage 1 Pokémon.
There’s a lot of excitement for the Team Rocket cards. They not only reach out to an older generation of Pokémon fans, but they also embrace a form of modern design that younger generations can appreciate.
For those interested in taking a gander at the full card list alongside their translated text, you can check it out over at Pokébeach.
The Glory of Team Rocket cards will be heading towards the Western market with the release of Destined Rivals on May 30th.