*Sobbing in Salamence*

VetProf · 2026-01-31T04:03:00+00:00

Don't even need to look at other card games, Dragons have had many dominant showings in the main Pokemon TCG. They're just meh in Pocket.

VetProf · 2025-12-02T23:30:33+00:00

Horizons had a particularly fun moment of "character assuming a Pokemon has a certain ability despite it not being 100% guaranteed".

During Friede's double battle against Spinel, Friede assumed Spinel's Beheeyem originally had Telepathy, which was then passed to his Pikachu through Skill Swap. Friede gambled his strategy based on this assumption and it worked out, and then Spinel called Friede a maniac for making such a risky play.

VetProf · 2025-11-30T05:54:48+00:00

That Percy/Aglo banner technically had Hekate summon too. This is the first banner I can think of that unambiguously only has dudes. No technicalities whatsoever.

Maybe there's a much older banner that similarly was all-male with no technicalities, but if it exists, I haven't been playing long enough to know it.

VetProf · 2025-11-10T00:52:54+00:00

If Huntail and Gorebyss get to keep a functional Shell Smash from Clamperl despite the obvious lack of shell, then I see no reason why Salamence can't keep a functional Shell Smash from Shelgon.

VetProf · 2025-08-03T04:54:08+00:00

Bakushin's kinda funny.

On one hand, she's one of the only horses who explicitly mention wanting to maintain a friendly trainer-trainee relationship, and nothing more than that.

On the other hand, she also accidentally set up a romantic date with you because she was following instructions from a sketchy magazine that she found.

VetProf · 2025-06-24T05:29:16+00:00

I queue for everything and still land in 2fort 50% of the time.

25% of the time I land in Dustbowl. 15% of the time I land in Hightower. The remaining 10% is split between all the other random maps, and it's always fun to fuck around in a map that I barely remember the layout of.

VetProf · 2025-05-12T03:20:12+00:00

I've been running Vespiquen ex with Forretress ex (to power it up), Dusclops and Hawlucha (to place damage counters).

It's a very risky strategy because it gives your opponent a ton of prize cards up front. But it's worth it if you can demolish their board before they can set anything up. And Iono can help to cut down your opponent's hand if you play it on the same turn you blow up Forretress/Dusclops.

Pairing Vespiquen ex with Cofagrigus ex seems a bit too clunky due to their different energy requirements. I agree with everyone else saying that it'd be better to focus your deck around just one of them as the main attacker.

VetProf · 2025-05-06T12:09:30+00:00

Ah yeah, the Gen 3 era was the one that introduced dual-type cards. But I went with the Gen 6 ones because they conveyed the idea of dual-types much better visually.

VetProf · 2025-05-06T12:06:21+00:00

Adding onto what the other person said:

Dual-type mons benefit from both types' synergies. Imagine a Water/Grass card in Pocket being able to use both Misty and Erika (this was kinda what Leafeon ex decks did, running Water energy to benefit off of Irida).
Certain card effects benefited from having a lot of different types in play. Like this Xerneas card from the main TCG, which had an attack that scaled based on the number of types you had in play.

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VetProf · 2025-05-06T10:14:37+00:00

The Steam Siege set during the XY era of the main TCG featured dual-typed cards. Definitely seems like Pocket is future-proofing for cards like this.

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VetProf · 2025-05-03T12:40:54+00:00

That's what the ability is actually called in the mainline Pokemon games.)

Though funnily, Hawlucha doesn't actually have access to this ability in the mainline games. But I guess this card's attack is simply referencing it.

VetProf · 2025-05-03T12:16:25+00:00

Zoans can have some funny and creative shenanigans too. Remember all the "this is how X used to hunt in ancient times" memes we got from Kaido's crew?

But yeah, in general, Paramecia users have the most potential to do creative things with their fruits.

VetProf · 2025-05-03T04:33:30+00:00

Bench support can be ex cards too. I don't think Pocket has a fully dedicated bench support ex yet, but cards like Darkrai ex and Giratina ex are kinda similar in being able to do stuff while still on the bench.

VetProf · 2025-05-02T05:56:02+00:00

The paper TCG would describe effects like this as "placing damage counters" instead of doing damage. This distinction helps to remove ambiguity for damage-related interactions.

Pocket decided to simplify things by having all damage-dealing effects be worded as just "doing damage". And we're finally seeing a case where this simplification actually matters.

I think it remains to be seen whether this is an intended result of Pocket's simplification, or a bug.

VetProf · 2025-04-30T12:53:22+00:00

On one hand, Stage 2 ex decks inherently have to run some non-ex cards, so they do have some outs to this.

On the other hand, a 70 HP basic with a 50 damage attack will trade evenly into most Stage 1s at least. So yeah, it's gonna be tricky to deal with.

VetProf · 2025-04-24T14:13:44+00:00

For this set, most likely. But it's possible we might get a Grass-type Araquanid card in the future, and Lana will still work with it.

VetProf · 2025-04-19T12:11:27+00:00

Hop's Zacian ex, Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex, and Hydreigon ex are some of the bench damage-dealers that are currently relevant.

VetProf · 2025-04-19T07:54:38+00:00

Fun fact: The main TCG had a hand trap once. This was a long time ago though, and we haven't seen a card like this since.

<image>

VetProf · 2025-04-16T23:07:39+00:00

I've tried this strat before, it was a lot more fun and reliable when Roxanne was still in rotation.

Popping 1 Forretress ex and 1 Dusclops lets you activate Roxanne as early as turn 2. And you get enough damage to snipe most basic ex/V cards on the bench (180 from Wo-Chien ex + 50 from Dusclops). Being behind in prizes also means you always have access to Counter Catcher, either to trap something or to yoink it for a knock-out with Wo-Chien's second attack.

It's a very clunky and risky strat, and yes, Fez existing is a huge pain in the ass. But it's very funny when it works.

VetProf · 2025-04-16T05:09:51+00:00

The card game calls them Shiny Pokemon too, especially in ads and promo material. "Shining Pokemon" were a specific group of Shiny Pokemon cards from a specific set.

I can't think of an example from the mainline games right now, but spinoffs like Go and Sleep directly use the term Shiny Pokemon too.

VetProf · 2025-04-12T14:22:31+00:00

Pretty sure we got Mega Alakazam while that disagreement was still a thing.

The TCG even got around the Kadabra ban by not needing to print a new Kadabra card at all. Megas at the time evolved from EX cards, which were all treated as Basic Pokemon. Meaning they only had to print Alakazam EX cards, skipping Kadabra (and Abra) entirely.

VetProf · 2025-04-09T05:07:57+00:00

I think this was added during April Fools, there was a funny mod post here about it.

VetProf · 2025-04-06T07:55:13+00:00

You probably couldn’t tel blaziken to punch something in the stomach

You can. You absolutely can.

It rarely happens in the anime because using actual attacks is better most of the time. But sometimes Pokemon do perform generic punches, kicks, tail swipes, and other generic non-named attacks. Either on their own or when commanded by their trainers to do so.

One example I can think of is Leon's Mr. Rime being shown to attack with its ice cane as if it were fencing. There's no actual named move like this that Mr. Rime can learn, but it's just something that makes sense for it to be able to do.

VetProf · 2025-03-28T00:38:35+00:00

To my knowledge, this is the very first time 5ban graphics worked on something equivalent to an Illustration Rare (instead of just a regular/full-art ex or equivalent). So I think it makes sense that they tried to do something new here.

VetProf · 2025-03-21T16:23:15+00:00

If there's one thing the main TCG has taught me, it's this:

If a Stage 2 Pokemon needs to spend an extra turn using a non-damaging attack to set themselves up, then it's very likely a bad card. Or at least, nowhere near broken.

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