Thanks to the ever-vigilant eyes over at Pokébeach, we’ve gotten word that Pokémon Company International (TPCi) has officially announced The Glory of Team Rocket expansion as well as showcasing a few other goodies.
Trainer Pokémon Aren’t Just Protagonists
Team Rocket has been around since the earliest days of the Pokémon IP. Despite this prominence, it's been a long long time since this organization appeared in the Pokémon TCG. In fact, the last we saw of Team Rocket was back in the 2000s, with the Team Rocket and EX Team Rocket Returns expansions.
After around two decades, these ne'er-do-wells are finally coming back to Pokémon in a big way. From the announcement, TPCi has wasted no time in building anticipation for what’s to come with the first wave of revealed Pokémon.
Starting off, we've seen what many might consider the Team Rocket utility package of Team Rocket’s Spidops and Porygon-Z. These two Pokémon aren’t all that impressive in the health or attack power department, but they do offer two very good utility options.
Spidops can easily recur any spent basic energy cards back to itself. Coupled with a Supporter card like Penny, then a player can easily reshuffle any energy cards to their vanguard. That’s assuming Team Rocket doesn't have their own in-house way of doing this and has yet to be revealed.
As for Porygon-Z, this little fella offers its player a faster way to dig through their deck. If worst comes to worst, a player can fill their discard pile with Supporter cards to have Porygon do some damage. Given its rather lackluster starting value, it’s a little difficult to see this being a worthwhile investment.
Next is Team Rocket’s Persian ex. This Pokémon always completed the James Bond-esque villain look that Giovanni -Team Rocket’s originally introduced leader- portrayed. This new Persian looks to have a very fun but albeit niche ability.
Featuring a pretty robust body, Team Rocket’s Persian can allow its controlling player to look at 10 cards from the opponent’s deck, look for any Pokémon revealed this way, and use any attack listed on the revealed cards. This is basically gambling at its finest and it fits Team Rocket’s theme of organized crime.
Assuming the attack sticks and a Pokémon card does appear, the opponent may end up staring down the barrel of their own ace Pokémon's attack for just two colorless energy.
On the other hand, Persian ex’s ability is heavily reliant on what the opponent is running and some luck. If you find this enticing, however, it could lead to a very interesting, if not comical, interaction with the opponent.
Finally, one of Team Rocket’s claims to fame in the original animated series was the introduction of Mewtwo. Now, this artificially created Pokémon is making its return in the form of Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex.
Featuring a very impressive 280 health pool for a basic Pokémon. Mewtwo comes with a caveat that it can’t attack unless four or more Team Rocket pokémon are on the field for its controlling player. This effectively locks a player into this archetype when building their Pokémon roster.
Assuming all parameters are met, Mewtwo can easily blast out an attack for 280 damage. This easily puts any competitively viable Pokémon either at death’s door or straight into the discard pile.
Tools of the trade
It’s not just Pokémon that Team Rocket specializes in. Team Rocket features a host of tools, offering everything a player is looking for in their deck.
Team Rocket’s Ariana and Receiver feature compelling draw and search functions. Assuming that only Team Rocket Pokémon are being used, Ariana can have her controlling player draw back up to a hefty 8 cards.
Team Rocket’s Archer is probably one of the strongest weapons in Team Rocket’s arsenal. This is a hand nuke that forces players to reshuffle both their hands to their deck. The opponent ends up with redrawing less cards (3) versus the controlling player's (5).
To round out the supporter suite revealed so far, we have Giovanni himself and Team Rocket’s Energy. While both are not as bombastic in their effects, they offer subtle control over the field.
Giovanni can easily allow the controlling player to manipulate the enemy lineup while the in-house energy supporter card basically functions as a two-for-one energy special to the Pokémon it’s attached to.
The look makes all the difference
To the surprise and delight of many fans, TPCi is further double-downing on the anticipation they’re building by announcing Team Rocket accessories and memorabilia.
Featuring a host of normal accessories -like card sleeves, deck boxes, etc.- with a Team Rocket design, the most eye-catching item showcased was an attaché case.
Going for about 14,900 yen ($100), the attaché case was announced to only be available via a lottery system.
Unfortunately, this dampened the enthusiasm of some fans. Sadly, it's going to be extremely difficult to even have a chance of obtaining this through legitimate channels alongside the luck factor a lottery entails.
Some are actually taking solace that at the very least, this system prevents -or at the least highly limits- the capabilities of scalpers from capitalizing on a potentially tempting purchase.
With Gamescom Latam featuring Giovanni and Team Rocket on some of their event credentials last month, there’s a high chance -if not already a certainty- that the Glory of Team Rocket will come to western shores with the Destined Rivals expansion set on May 30th.
As for fans in the Japanese market, The Glory of Team Rocket will be hitting the market on April 18th.
For those interested in reading the full translations for the revealed Team Rocket cards, you can find them here.