Celesteela-GX – Unbroken Bonds Pokemon Review

Otaku

Let’s knock out some more runners-up from the current expansions countdown before it becomes the “previous” expansion in less than two months. Celesteela-GX (SM – Unbroken Bonds 163/214, 208/214, 228/214) would have been our 14th place pick if we’d done a large enough countdown, but it didn’t make my personal top 20. Did I mess up? Let’s find out. Celesteela-GX is a reasonably big Basic at 200 HP, so it will be easy to run and often be able to take a hit, though when it does go down, that’s two Prizes instead of one. [L] Weakness is fairly bad right now, but not the worst, while any Resistance is welcome and [F] Resistance might come in handy. The massive Retreat Cost of [CCCC] means Celesteela-GX is stuck up front without some serious help or a serious Energy investment, though it does allow Celesteela-GX to done Buff Padding for some extra HP, should that matter. Being an Ultra Beast is probably to the card’s benefit, as the support seems to outweigh the counters.

“Force Cancelor” is an Ability that lets Celesteela-GX become a very situational wall; your opponent’s GX-attacks don’t affect Celesteela-GX while it is Active, not even doing damage to it. [CCC] pays for “Power Cyclone”, which does 110 damage while requiring you move an Energy from your attacking Celesteela-GX to one of your Benched Pokémon. Most of the time, this is actually a benefit; attack, move something like a Double Colorless Energy to another attacker on your Bench, drop an Energy onto your next attacker (if it needs it) to keep up the assault. With Celesteela-GX’s HP, you may be able to use Acerola to deny your opponent KO’s while keeping up a solid 110 damage per turn. There’s a risk you’ll wind up with a Celesteela-GX stuck up front, unable to attack the next turn, however. “Discover-GX” requires only [C] to use; it lets you add all your Prize cards to your hand, but that doesn’t mean you win as the rest of the effect has you replace what you took with cards from the top of your deck. Potentially useful for decks that don’t typically take Prizes but are worried something important is stuck there, or for some oddball combos that require manipulating what is in your Prizes.

So, how is this card doing right now? Not so great. I think it may be because this card isn’t greater than the sum of its parts. Celesteela-GX has a lot going for it, but there are better walls, there are better attackers that move Energy off of themselves, and there are potentially better combos for controlling what is in your Prizes.  Combos pop into my head for things like Beast Ring or Greedy Dice, but then I work through them and they aren’t likely to actually see you coming out ahead.  Let’s look at the two examples I just named.  By the time Beast Ring can be used, you probably don’t want to use it just to fuel an attack that does 110 damage for three Energy, even if you get to move an Energy onto something else that couldn’t receive from Beast Ring.  With Greedy Dice, as you’re giving up an attack (a GX-attack at that), you’re probably not coming out ahead; there isn’t a good way to stack four Greedy Dice and a Jirachi {*} on top of your deck.

Ratings

• Standard: 2/5
• Expanded: 2/5
• Limited: 3.5/5

For now, enjoy Celesteela-GX in the Limited Format (where it is a good pull) but don’t forget this card exists, either. It might prove better post-rotation, though losing Double Colorless Energy will hurt.