The champ has arrived!
A brand new set has been released that will give players an ultra edge. Cards from time and space are ready to take the game by storm. These cards come from another dimension and they are bringing some powerful figures. One of these figures is well known for their skill and strength. These traits have translated well into the TCG as players respect the character. If you wish to put yourself into an optimal situation then surely you will want to have this lady in your corner. She will help you out while your opponent is left high and dry. That is expected from talented Pokemon trainers. It is why this character is known as the champion. Today we will be looking at Cynthia as our first Featured Card from Ultra Prism!
Cynthia is a Supporter card from Ultra Prism. When you play this card then you can shuffle your hand into your deck. Once you have done that then you can draw a new hand with six cards. You are only allow to play one supporter during you turn.
The Pros
What is there not to love about a great draw Supporter? You are able to draw a brand new hand of six cards whenever you play Cynthia?
Have a bad hand? Simply Play Cynthia to get a new hand!
You have a hand filled of much needed resources but only have a Professor Sycamore in your hand? Grab Cynthia to put those resources back into your deck and get a new hand!
Is your opponent stuck with a bad hand and you need a new one? Cynthia will allow you to get a new hand but leave your opponent with their bad hand.
Cynthia is a strong Supporter card that can get you out of a jam. Meanwhile, there is some strategy when using this card. There are times when you need to decide if you have to use Cynthia, N or Professor Sycamore to get a new hand. If all you need is to get a new hand then then Cynthia is your card. A new hand of six cards is always better then five cards. You never know when that six card will be the one you need.
Cards like Professor Sycamore can be too destructive. N can sometimes backfire and put your opponent ahead if they get a new hand. Cynthia is just right as it can help you get a brand new that is needed to win the game.
Lastly, you have the chance to take a knockout when you using Cynthia. Though, we will talk about that part later.
The Cons
There are a few cons to using Cynthia which involves your hand size. If you have a big hand size when you play Cynthia then you may risk getting some of the same useless cards in your new hand. Nothing feels worst then playing a shuffle-draw cards only to draw into the same cards. It will be best if you play down your hand to a small size and then use Cynthia. That way you can dig deeper into your deck when you draw a new hand.
There are also plenty of great Supporter cards in the current format. When it comes to draw Supporters then there is N and Professor Sycamore. These are the draw Supporters that everybody plays. You also have some staple Supporters like Guzma and Brigette which players play in some form or way. The problem will be when playing Cynthia is how many or which Supporters will you take out in order to play at least one or two Cynthia. Do you take out some N? Would it be better to take out some Professor Sycamore from your deck? Maybe cut down on some Guzma or perhaps Tapu Lele? Players who wish to play Cynthia will need to find the right balance between N, Professor Sycamore and their other cards to fit this card in their deck.
Lastly, you do not want to play Cynthia when your deck and hand are at a low number. You may accidentally draw your whole deck or get close to do that. You will need to do some serious resource management if you are playing a long game and Cynthia is one of your most common Supporter cards in your deck.
How to Play It
If you hear a player saying that Cynthia is a weak or bad Supporter card then please tell them that they are wrong.
The ability to shuffle-draw is powerful. Players used this effect when this card was called Professor Oak’s New Theory. That card was a staple when the format had both it and Professor Juniper. An option to keep your resources and get a new hand is too powerful. That is what made cards like N great. It was another option to draw from your deck without having to discard valuable resources that will be used later it the game.
That is what Cynthia brings to the table. You can easily play this card at all times of the game. It is a dependable draw Supporter that can get you a big hand. That is what players want from a draw Support. Six is bigger then five which gives Cynthia an edge over her competition.
What makes Cynthia great is that it doesn’t help your opponent.
Prior to Ultra Prism, if you needed a shuffle-draw card then N was the card that you had to use. The problem is that if your opponent had a bad hand then you would be helping them by replacing that bad hand with a potentially good one. We have surely had games where we knew that our opponent had a bad hand and we refuse to use N so we can suppress our opponent.
There may have also been times when our hand was so bad that we needed a new hand that didn’t involve discarding valuable resources. So we caved and decided to use that N. Only for it to backfire and give you a horrible hand but your opponent a great hand. That is the worst! It feels horrible to know that you basically gave your opponent a new hand in an attempt to promote your board state.
Now that Cynthia has been released in Ultra Prism, we have another option! We can play Cynthia to give ourselves a new hand. Meanwhile, your opponent is left high and draw with their bad hand. The worst thing that could happen is that you get a bad hand from Cynthia. Though you gave yourself a shot while giving your opponent nothing. They are still stuck with a bad hand while you are in a slightly better position.
What makes Cynthia even more amazing is the fact that it has an awesome combo if you play it in a certain deck.
The Garchomp from Ultra Prism has the Royal Blades attack that does 100 based damage. If you play a Cynthia during that turn then this attack does 100 damage more. That is 200 damage for a three energy attack because you played a simple Supporter card to give yourself a new hand.
If you play Garchomp and Cynthia with Lucario then you have a powerful search engine for your deck. That is because Lucario from Ultra Prism has an ability called Precognitive Aura. This ability allows you to search your deck for any card and put it into your hand. All you need to use this ability is a Garchomp on your field. That means you can search for Cynthia when you need to play one to attack with Garchomp for 200 damage.
Want to up that damage? Then make sure to have two Lucario with the Precognitive Aura ability. That way you can use this ability twice during your turn. Your first Precognitive Aura search can be used to grab Choice Band. You can then attached that Tool and use Precognitive Aura again to grab Cynthia. Next, you can play Cynthia and grab a new hand. Lastly, use Royal Blade for 230 to knockout your opponent’s hefty GX/EX Pokemon. Just do that three more times and soon you too can become a champion.
The creators for the Pokemon TCG tried their best to put Cynthia and your key Pokemon into the game. They gave them powerful attacks and abilities. They even made use that Cynthia had a powerful effect. All of this is rather fitting for a Pokemon character that is known for her strength. If you are not playing Cynthia in your deck then you need to strongly consider it. After all, she is the champion and what can be better then being with the champ.
