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TCG Jump: Featured Card- Emboar

EmboarPreleases for the new FlashFire TCG set are underway. This set is going to light a fire  within Fire type Pokemon in the metagame. Some real fire power is going to come out from this set. So in honor of this set, we are going to take a look at a card that has been in the TCG since the beginning days of Black and White. This card has helped ignited Fire decks and kept the spark alive for anything that needed to put Fire energy down quickly. So prepare to feel the heat as we talk about Emboar!

Emboar was initially release in the first Black & White set. It has since been release as a promo, a Secret Rare in Next Destinies and recently in Legendary Treasures with new art. Emboar is a Stage 2 Pokemon that evolve from Tepig. It does modest damage for two Fire and two colorless but that is nothing to be excited about.  What you really need to be excited about is Emboar’s Inferno Fandango ability which allows you to set as many Fire energy as you like from your hand. This card can help get a Pokemon charged up to attack in a single turn thanks to this amazing ability.

Unless you are desperate and need to attack to take the last prize, you will never attack with Emboar. Even with weakness, you will not knock out a full HP Grass type Pokemon EX without a Muscle Band. So why use this Stage 2 Pokemon? You will use it to help power up other Pokemon using Emboar’s ability. Ever since the change to the rules, Emboar has made a great pair with Rayquaza EX to fire off Dragon Burst turn after turn. You will use your normal attachment to put a Lightning Energy on Rayquaza EX then use Inferno Fandango to slap three Fire Energy down in the same turn to knock out a Pokemon EX with full health. It is that kind of destructive power that Emboar is responsible for. It all started with powering up Reshiram‘s Blue Flare to do a whooping 120 damage. Currently, it is doing 60 plus damage with Rayquaza EX. Soon it will be helping do 300 damage with the two new M Charizard EX being release in Flashfire.

What are some cons to using Emboar? One of them that Emboar is a Stage 2 Pokemon. You must manually evolve it from Tepig or use Rare Candy to get it on the field. That means the soonest you can get Emboar out and accelerate Fire energy is by turn two. Another con is that you can only accelerate energy in your hand. If you are lacking Fire energy and have no way to get any from the Discard Pile using Superior Energy Retrieval or Professor’s Letter to grab them from the deck then you won’t be attaching any energy to attack. The worst part, many Pokemon that pair up with Emboar such as Reshiram and Rayquaza EX love to discard Fire energy when they attack. That means you need a constant flow of Fire energy to replenish these attackers.

Is the future burning bright with Emboar? As mention earlier in this article, Flashfire will bring M Charizard into the metagame. These cards are able to knock out anything in the metagame with their 300 damage attacks. One M Charizard EX can battle with just five Fire energy. The other M Charizard EX needs one Darkness and four Fire energy attached to it. These are hefty energy costs but Emboar can make paying them much faster by dumping the needed energy down. The best part is that unlike Emboar’s previous partners, M Charizard EX isn’t going to be dumping the valuable energy into the discard. That means Emboar can take a break to power up another Pokemon without worrying about the active Pokemon that is taking prizes. By the time your Active M Charizard is knocked out, you will have another Pokemon ready to attack without scrambling to power it up.

Emboar is going to be staying around for a long time thanks to being reprinted in Legendary Treasures. That is good for any future Fire Pokemon that is wanting to set the game ablaze including M Charizard EX.

Best of luck in your pulls for Flashfire and make sure to keep Emboar in mind when building your decks.


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