Welcome to another
exciting two weeks where
we will cover the top 10
promising picks from the
newest expansion,
Dark Explorers!
While some might
think I missed the last
several weeks of reviews
purely because they
weren’t “exciting and
new”, I simply have been
struggling to make time
for writing.
To help with
this, have decided to
stop linking to scans of
cards; if you’re serious
about the Pokémon TCG
you should already be
able to find what you
need on the
official Pokémon website
for anything Nintendo
has released, either in
scan or text spoiler
form.
Older card scans
and text spoilers can be
found on multiple sites;
I recommend using what
works for you.
I tend to favor
the
Pokegym Researching
Tower and
www.pokepedia.net.
I mostly started
linking just to silence
a few critics of me
underlining set names
(who apparently weren’t
taught to underline
titles for things like
books, movies, and TCG
set expansions).
Now getting back to the
Card of the Day itself,
just like the previous
predictions list, we
begin with a Pokémon EX,
Groudon EX!
Let’s rock!
Stats
As a Pokémon EX,
Groudon EX has the
usual text that allows
your opponent to take an
extra Prize when
Groudon EX is KOed,
and will need to be
significantly more
powerful than your
average (and as of late,
already potent)
“Legendary” Basic
Pokémon.
Just a quick
reminder for those who
might be half asleep
while reading this, I am
merely speaking of the
video game designation
for the (usually)
once-per-game (or less)
event Pokémon, not a
category of card like
Pokémon LEGEND.
As a Basic
Pokémon (with no
“specialty” combos built
in) you can run it with
the optimal 1:1 ratio of
slots to actual Pokémon,
drop it into play easier
than any other Stage,
and access a surprising
amount of “Basic
Pokémon” support like
Dual Ball,
Eviolite,
Pokémon Collector,
Prism Energy, and
Skyarrow
Bridge.
This is all
quite, quite obvious
unless you’re completely
new to the game, but
when evaluating a
Pokémon EX (like their
predecessors, the almost
identically named
Pokémon ex) ignoring the
fundamental nature of
the card will lead to
over- or underrating it.
Groudon EX
is a Fighting-Type,
which is most desirable
in the current format.
Players seem to
finally be working out
solid Fighting-Type (or
at least partially
Fighting-Type) decks and
even if they weren’t a
few Fighting-Type
Pokémon are used in
whatever can fit them,
all because the
dominance of Fighting
Weak decks is expected
to remain.
Scoring double
damage against most
Lightning- and
Darkness-Type decks in a
format of big HP scores
is likewise a “big
deal”.
Speaking of big,
Groudon EX possesses
180 HP.
This is only 20
below the maximum
printed on a legally
playable Pokémon card,
and is the maximum seen
on anything in the
current format; even for
Pokémon EX it doesn’t
get any better.
This will allow
Groudon EX to
survive all but the
biggest, most resource
intensive blows and it
stands a decent chance
of even surviving two
solid hits.
The exceptions
are its Weakness and
Resistance.
Water Weakness been
pretty painless most of
this format; we
constantly have the
promise of a “good”
Water deck and it
constantly fails to
deliver.
This is
understandable given
Lightning-Types are so
dominant, allowing the
best deck to score
double damage against
many Water-Type Pokémon.
There are a few
Water Pokémon that can
be worked into off-type
decks, and a few Water
decks that do see some
competitive play, though
the former have dwindled
due to a lack of Water
Weakness in the top
performing decks and the
latter are better at
spread damage.
When I first glanced at
Groudon EX I mistook
it for having Grass
Weakness.
This was
embarrassing for me, but
oddly doesn’t affect the
overall performance of
Groudon EX.
There
are
some very potent
Grass-Type Pokémon, but
they tend to be used for
non-attack effects and
thus aren’t going to be
much good for damage
anyway.
The one or two
exceptions are just
potent enough (and fit
into strong enough
decks) that it really is
a toss up whether Water
or Grass Weakness is
more dangerous.
Of course both
types currently have
unproven decks waiting
in the wings; so even
after correcting this, I
may be proven horribly
wrong by Battle Roads!
I am quite pleased there
is a Resistance to
balance out Weakness,
and in this case
Resistance easily
outweighs the Weakness.
Lightning
Resistance is quite a
blessing in the current
format, and while there
is a good chance they
won’t be quite as
dominant in terms of
overall decks played,
they will remain a
strong presence for the
foreseeable future.
This means that
your average
Lightning-Type deck will
need to switch to an
off-Type hitter or find
Groudon EX a
challenging 2HKO scoring
double damage via the
Lightning-Type deck’s
probable Fighting
Weakness.
Finishing off the Stats
we come to the Retreat
Cost of
Groudon EX.
This is the only
“bad” Stat on the card;
it takes a massive four
Energy for
Groudon EX to
manually retreat.
Four Energy is a
devastating price to
pay, and anything that
doesn’t zero out the
actual Retreat Cost
isn’t going to make a
huge difference.
Best to pack a
retreat alternative like
Switch or else
resign oneself to
Groudon EX remaining
Active until it is KOed.
There is a small
bit of recompense:
Heavy Ball can
easily pluck a
Groudon EX from your
deck, saving your
Supporter for something
else.
Effects
Like almost all Pokémon
EX,
Groudon EX has two
attacks.
The first is
Tromp, requiring (FC)
and inflicting 20 points
of damage to the
Defending Pokémon and 10
to each of your
opponent’s Benched
Pokémon.
Giant Claw, the
second attack, requires
(FFC) and deals base
damage of 80; however if
the Defending Pokémon
has at least two damage
counters on it the
attack’s effect adds an
extra 40 points of
damage.
Adding things up
means hitting an injured
Pokémon for 120 points
of damage, with the
Defending Pokémon ending
the turn with 14 damage
counters on it (barring
protective effects,
Weakness, Resistance,
etc.).
These attacks have a
solid level of synergy
to them, but at the same
time it is clear the
designers weren’t
pushing for what we’ve
seen in so many Pokémon
EX and “plain” Basic
Pokémon of the
“Legendary” variety.
There are few
combos to accelerate
Energy to
Groudon EX (and I’ll
cover those more in
usage), so you’re
looking at a minimum of
three (assuming
available Energy and no
outside interference)
before Giant Claw can be
used, and a fourth turn
if you are relying
purely on Tromp to build
the damage needed for
the attack’s effect
clause to trigger.
Tromp has a solid
and Giant Claw a good
yield based on Energy
alone, before factoring
in that this is a
Pokémon EX and how the
actual format has shaped
up: 80 for (FFC) is
literally on par with
Landorus, who is
not a Pokémon EX.
As a reviewer, it puts
me in an awkward bind: I
think
Groudon EX is well
designed, but if it was
built to be as obscenely
powerful as many other
recent Legendary Pokémon
it would be even more
fearsome.
It would need to
be a little faster,
either doing more damage
or being compatible with
more forms of Energy
acceleration.
Usage
So how does one use what
Groudon EX has to
optimum effect?
Fighting-Type
Energy lacks the
acceleration you see
for… well with this
latest set, all other
Energy Types.
Pokémon that use
Fighting Energy have to
use the “generic”
options available to any
Pokémon.
Still, they may
indeed be enough.
The easiest (and
yet most expensive in
terms of game resources)
comes from
Electrode (HS:
Triumphant 93/102)
“Prime”; just use the
card’s Energymite
Poké-Power and hope
you’re discarding mostly
the desired Energy from
your deck.
The downside is
as huge as the benefits:
it discards the top
seven cards of your
deck, costs you a Prize,
and without extensive
combos requires an
Energy rich build to be
even somewhat reliable.
A little more controlled
comes from using
Landorus (BW:
Noble Victories
74/101), which I cited
earlier for having
comparable damage yields
on a non-Pokémon EX.
Its first attack
that costs just (F)
allows it to attach
Energy to itself from
the discard pile, and it
is big enough to likely
survive that turn.
Skyarrow
Bridge
would grant
Landorus a free
Retreat Cost and
Shaymin (HS:
Unleashed 8/95)
could then shunt that
Energy to
Groudon EX.
This alone
wouldn’t be good enough;
Landorus isn’t big
enough to survive more
than one turn (and even
that turn isn’t assured)
to harvest discarded
Energy cards.
A three card
combo (not including
something to discard
Energy first turn and
the Energy cards
themselves) for just two
extra Energy isn’t worth
it, but fortunately
Landorus combos in
another way: Gaia Hammer
(its second attack) for
(FFC) hits for 80 plus
10 points of damage to
each player’s Benched
Pokémon.
Just opening with
it can set-up for Giant
Claw, and the
Eviolite you’re
going to want to attach
to
Groudon EX anyway
will protect it from the
Bench damage.
Absol
(HS: Triumphant
91/102) “Prime”; its Eye
of Disaster Poké-Body
places two damage
counters on any Basic
Pokémon your opponent
plays to the Bench from
hand.
A
Skyarrow Bridge
would grant
Absol Prime a free
retreat cost to get out
of the way (if your
opponent doesn’t try to
OHKO it), and either of
the above ideas should
enjoy a little extra
damage spread.
You can also simply add
it to a deck that
already has some Energy
acceleration that works
off-Type, and accept
that you’ll have to
settle for Tromp the
first turn you bust out
Groudon EX, while
also trying to make room
for
Fighting Energy,
Prism Energy, or
Rainbow Energy in a
deck that normally would
be focusing on whatever
is the accelerated
Energy Type.
If you are doing
this, you probably are
playing
Groudon EX just to
counter Lightning
Weakness (in addition to
exploiting hitting
Fighting Weakness), and
to be fair that why
you’d be running
Groudon EX in the
first place.
Without
exploiting Weakness its
attacks would struggle
to allow it to take two
Prizes before it is
KOed.
So what about other
formats?
You can certainly
build an Unlimited deck
around
Groudon EX, but it
won’t be anything
special; functional, but
not extraordinary.
If you’re lucky,
you might frustrate a
first turn win deck,
since the combination of
damage counter placement
and attack that most
such decks use will not
like having to deal with
180 HP.
More traditional
donk decks won’t like it
either, but if someone
else is playing a
semi-competitive deck
(namely anything that
was competitive prior to
the rules changes that
enabled the first turn
win decks) you’re at
best on even footing.
You’ll need some
form of Energy
acceleration and
probably Trainer denial,
and extra damage spread
would be nice… and all
have multiple options in
this format.
I am more
impressed with its raw
girth and Energy spread;
if your Trainers aren’t
being blocked it should
be easy to spam Tromp
and periodically heal
all damage via
Max Potion or
Pokémon Nurse, then
re-attach the needed
Energy.
In Limited play I’d call
Groudon EX a near
must-play; unless you
just cannot afford to
run
Fighting Energy in
your Limited deck (and
you would probably want
a minimum of four even
if they are all just for
Groudon EX) it is
going to be a powerhouse
like all Pokémon EX are
in this format.
Just remember
that the two Prizes your
opponent snags will be
half the starting total,
but that will probably
be worth it for the
spread damage (much more
effective here) and
OHKOs Giant Claw will
score even without the
effect clause.
Ratings
Unlimited:
3/5
Modified:
3.25/5
Limited:
4/5
Summary
Groudon EX
is a solidly designed
card that feels like a
slight reverse of power
creep.
For Modified play
it is going to have to
rely on exploiting its
excellent HP and
Resistance while hitting
the very common Fighting
Weakness for double
damage.
Without being a
Fighting Type or
Lightning Resistant, it
just couldn’t do enough
to justify play in a
competitive build, and
even with that it isn’t
an easy or obvious
choice.
It fills a very
specific niche,
resulting in a score
that is just a little
above average. A deck
not built for
Groudon EX is better
off not using it, but
one built with it in
mind should get a good
return.
I will comment that the
artwork is excellent on
the “normal” version of
this card, while the
Full Art version is just
sort of “there”.
I’ll also mention
that while
Groudon EX caught my
eye, it didn’t make my
own personal Top 10
list.
