Mega Rayquaza – EX – XY Roaring Skies 76/108
Date Reviewed:
February 3, 2022
Ratings Summary:
Standard: N/A
Expanded: 3.0
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Vince
As you may have noticed, I’ve been falling behind on schedule regarding COTDs because I wasn’t able to manage my time. Ranging from working IRL to hobbies after work (such as managing my physical collection of various TCGs and playing Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel), and still waiting for a full set list for Brilliant Stars so that I can compile a personal top X list, I just couldn’t deliver anything at this time. What I haven’t forgotten is Throwback Thursdays, as I can look through older cards from several years ago to see how those cards are doing in the present time period.
One of the cards that I’ve decided to look at is Mega Rayquaza-EX from XY Roaring Skies because it is also one of the cards featured in the Celebrations Classic Collection. One thing to note is that there are two versions of Mega Rayquaza-EX, one that is a Dragon type and the other being a Colorless type. The card I’m looking at is the Colorless type Mega Rayquaza-EX. This card has been reviewed only once as the sixth best card of XY Roaring Skies. I wasn’t there at the time to chime in, but I’m certain that I would have Rayquaza in my personal list as well.
Mega Rayquaza-EX has some features that helped be a great card at the time. It has an Ancient Trait, which is another short-lived mechanic that lasted only three expansions. It’s Delta Evolution Ancient Trait states that you can play this card to evolve a Pokemon in your first turn or the turn you’ve played that Pokemon, which is huge! Usually, you have to wait at least a turn for your Pokemon to evolve, but Delta Evolution helps you bypass the waiting time. This, however, makes all versions of Rayquaza-EX stepping stones to immediately evolve and whatever they have on the card is largely irrelevant, though you still need those Basic Pokemon in your deck to evolve. And if you’re worried that Mega Evolving your Pokemon instantly ends your turn, then Rayquaza Spirit Link helps you continue your turn. While it eats up your tool slot, Field Blower or Tool Scrapper can remove it for you.
After immediately evolving your Rayquaza-EX to Mega Rayquaza-EX, you have the Emerald Break attack, which does 30 damage times the number of your Benched Pokemon. With a full Bench of five Pokemon means you’re dealing only 150 damage, but thankfully, Sky Field happened to be in the same set as Rayquaza. This Stadium card lets you have up to eight Benched Pokemon in play, which means Emerald Break can deal 240 damage, which is enough to OHKO any Pokemon in the game with the exception of Wailord-EX and other Pokemon that protects itself from damage from Pokemon-EX. A Pokemon that is capable of achieving OHKOs isn’t something to scoff at, and not surprisingly there are deck lists that feature this card. And the best part is that it has the tools to go from zero from attacking, Mega Turbo and Double Colorless Energy fulfills the attack cost easily!
So, while it has done well in the past, I don’t think Mega Rayquaza-EX can keep up in Expanded. It still has the speed to evolve and the tools to accelerate energy with ease, but HP scores have risen. TAG TEAM, Pokemon VSTAR, Pokemon VUNION, and Pokemon VMAX’s HP score is beyond Emerald Break’s reach, so that attack can only 2HKO at best. Still, it has the power to take down Pokemon-V before they even get a chance to evolve.
Ratings:
Standard: N/A
Expanded: 3/5
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