Fates are going to collide as a new TCG set will be release on May 4th. The force will be strong as we see a clash between EX Pokemon and BREAK Pokemon that will shift the metagame in a new way. This all begins with Fates Collide hitting store shelves for players!
Several new cards will be entering the playing field with Fates Collide’s release. We will see powerful cards such as M Alakazam EX, Mandibuzz BREAK, Carbink BREAK and several more! Though this week we are going to cover some card that may end up being passed up. They are not the best cards but each one of the three cards mention today have gotten some buzz around the table. They have interesting effects to them that may be worth keeping in your binder as an interesting tech. So get ready to read about some cards with unique effects such as: Omastar BREAK, Grumpig and Chaos Tower.
Card name: Omastar BREAK
What does it do: Omastar BREAK has an ability called Dangerous Tentacle which allows you to switch your opponent’s active Pokemon with a Benched EX Pokemon.
Omastar BREAK will make a great tech card where it will allow people to not waste a Lysandre for the turn. It would actually help to hit certain EX Pokemon hard before they have the chance to attack you. It is because of this ability that Omastar BREAK may see some play as players would love the chance to pull up benched EX Pokemon and hit them hard. One of those Pokemon that may be a target. Shaymin EX is one of the most common Pokemon to be pulled by Lysandre to take a game winning knockout. After all, sometimes it is much easier to hit 110 HP then 170 HP.
There are some problems with using Omastar BREAK and that is the fact that it evolves from a Restored Pokemon. These type of Pokemon are maybe one of the most annoying and difficult mechanics of the TCG. Normally, you will need Helix Fossil Omanyte which states that if you find an Omanyte in the bottom seven cards of your deck then you may put that Omanyte on your bench. It is difficult to predict if you will have an Omanyte at the bottom of your deck when you play Helix Fossil Omanyte so evolving up into Omastar, much less Omastar BREAK, is a daunting task.
Luckily, Omastar is a Water type in Fates Collide which means you can skip the Omanyte stage by using Archie’s Ace in the Hole to bring Omastar on your bench. All you need is to find a way to get your hand to where only Archie’s Ace in the Hole is your only card. You can then play Archie’s to get Omastar on your bench and five new cards in your hand. Even better, Omastar is a pretty nice Pokemon as it has an ability called Restoring Beam. This ability allows you to search your deck for a Restored Pokemon and put it on your bench. It could make playing Restored Pokemon a little easier. That is good because there is a really cool Aerodactyl card that could hit pretty hard. This Aerodactyl would love to have Omastar BREAK drag Shaymin EX into the active to feel it’s Jet Draft for 120 damage.
Card name: Grumpig
What does it do: Grumpig can attack for a single Psychic energy to use Head Walking. When you use this attack, your opponent will be forced to put a basic Pokemon from your discard on to their bench. That Basic Pokemon will then gain three damage counters on it.
The reason why Grumpig is being brought up is because of it’s Head Walking attack could be used as a tech against Night March. In order to hit the big numbers with Night March, you need to discard Night March Pokemon like Lampent, Joltik and Pumpkaboo. Grumpig takes advantage of this by placing one of those Pokemon on your opponent’s bench and putting damage counters on that Pokemon. Though, most of the time Grumpig will be targeting those 30 HP Joltik who will instantly be knocked out thanks to the three damage counters that Grumpig puts on them from Head Walking. That means one easy prize for the one who uses Grumpig. It is a cheap knockout that will surely pull the rug your Night March opponent.
There is a problem with this situation and that is Grumpig. It has a weakness to Psychic type Pokemon which happens to be one of the type of Pokemon in a Night March deck. All your opponent has to do is promote Pumpkaboo to take a revenge knock out on Grumpig. Also, your Night March opponent could do a few things to avoid getting caught in this trap. One of the things they could do is not put Joltik in their discard. They will be hitting for less but maybe it will be enough to take knockouts. The second option a Night March player has is to fill up their bench with Pokemon so that way Joltik can’t be put on the bench thank to Grumpig’s Head Walking.
You will want to run Grumpig as a tech if you can fit it into your deck. Maybe a 2-2 line at most. It would come as a surprise for your opponent who will find their Joltik getting knocked out by a single attack with little effort. Though you will want to have something on your bench ready to take care of Pumpkaboo.
Card name: Grumpig
What does it do: If you play Chaos Tower with the Red Side facing you then your Pokemon can’t be put to sleep or paralyze. If your Pokemon already have those conditions then they are removed. If your play Chaos Tower with the Blue side facing you then your Pokemon can’t be Poisoned or Confused. You can remove those status conditions if your Pokemon already have those on them.
We are seeing a lot of status conditions being thrown around with Ariados’s Poisonous Nest and Malamar EX’s Hyper Hypnosis. Both of these things are annoying to have on your Pokemon as you are trying to mount an attack. Chaos Stadium could see some play from decks who do not mind having a Stadium and want some relief from certain pesky status conditions. Giratina and Darkness decks may want to play some Chaos Tower in order to prevent status effects from stopping their reign of terror.
Chaos Tower could see some play in Expanded for decks who are tired of all Poison being shot out from their opponents thanks to Hypnotoxic Laser and Accelgor. These cards can really halt a game if your opponent can put your Pokemon to sleep or paralyze them. Maybe you will like to prevent taking so much damage from a poisoned Pokemon? No matter what condition you are trying to avoid, simply play Chaos Tower the way you want to get out of one of those conditions.
One of the main bad things about playing Chaos Tower is that it can be removed from play simply by your opponent playing their own Stadium card. There will be nothing now from preventing your opponent from inflecting their status condition back on your Pokemon.
Another bad thing about Chaos Tower is if your opponent play their own and you are unable to play your first then you are stuck with whatever side your opponent gives you. This could lead to you being in a bad spot as your opponent begins to rain down unwanted status conditions onto your Pokemon.
Fates Collide is coming several new Pokemon cards are going to be forcing their way into the metagame. Make sure to keep some of these cards as your are ripping though packs for those big EX Pokemon. These cards may not be worth writing a full article for but they are useful in their own way.
Good luck in your pulls as you are opening your Fates Collide packs on May the 4th!
