art by 5ban Graphics
Primal Clash has official been released for over a week now and we are seeing some cards making a splash. A huge splash! Then again, we may actually see a storm brewing with the power that this week’s card has. It holds a power that can wash away the competition. The seas of battle will surely be rough once this Pokemon enters the field. Now that we have settled introductions. Lets talk about this week’s Featured Card. Primal Kyorge EX!
Primal Kyogre EX is a Water type Pokemon with 240 HP. It is a Primal Reversion Pokemon which is similar to a Mega Evolve Pokemon where your turn end upon placing Primal Kyogre on the bench on top of Kyogre EX. Primal Kyogre EX has an Ancient Trait call Alpha Growth which allows you to attach two Energy cards instead of one outside of abilities, attacks or Trainers. Once you get three Water energy and a Colorless attached to Primal Kyorge EX then you can use Tidal Storm. This attack does a massive 150 damage and 30 damage to each EX Pokemon on your opponent’s bench. Tidal Storm also has the additional effect of moving two energy off of Primal Kyogre and move it to one of your benched Pokemon. Lastly, Primal Kyorge EX has a weakness to Grass type Pokemon and a four energy retreat cost.
Pros
Primal Kyogre EX is one of the cover Pokemon for Primal Clash and for good reason. It is a massive beast that can do heavy damage upon entering the field. It has 240 HP which makes it almost impossible to knock it out with one shot so it has lots of staying power. Even more, you can use the Stadium card, Rough Seas to heal 30 HP once during your turn. That is especially useful when people try to do chip damage on your Benched Pokemon. So if you are planning to get rid of Primal Kyorge EX quickly then you have a daunting task ahead of you.
Next, lets talk about Primal Kyogre EX’s attack and how easy it is to set up. If your cards are played correctly then you can have Tidal Storm powered up by turn three. That means you can hit for 150 damage and more with just three energy attachments thanks to the Ancient Trait, Alpha Growth. You can attach two Water energy on Kyogre EX and then in the turn after Primal Reversion, you can attach two Water energy thanks to Alpha Growth. It is an amazingly quick way to power up an attack that would usually be difficult to pull off. The best part about this attack is how easy it is to set up knockouts. You can do 150 damage to the active Pokemon and 30 damage to each EX Pokemon on the bench. That means if any of those Pokemon are normal EX Pokemon then they are right in the range of Primal Kyogre EX’s Tidal Storm for a knock out if they are ever in the active and never heal off their damage. Next, imagine this, if you don’t knock out the active EX Pokemon with Primal Kyogre EX’s Tidal Storm then that Pokemon isn’t safe on the bench if Primal Kyogre EX fires off another attack. Granted, there are ways around this such as Mr. Mime but not many decks play that card. I feel like the ability to do splash damage with Tidal Storm is one that is often forgotten and underestimated. So make sure you keep in mind of this secondary effect when battling Primal Kyogre EX.
There is also the side effect where Primal Kyogre EX moves two energy off itself to a benched Pokemon. This could be used to power up many different Pokemon such as Keldeo EX or another Primal Kyogre EX. This opens up many other options such as retreating your active Primal Kyogre EX with another attack in order to avoid giving up a prize. There have been plenty of great Water type Pokemon that were release prior to this set that you have plenty of targets to shift Water energy to. This is a huge pro when using Primal Kyogre EX.
Lastly, the fact that Primal Kyogre EX has a Spirit Link card makes it useable. You do not have to worry about losing your attack for the turn upon Primal Reversion so you can get right to attacking with this Primal Pokemon.
Cons
One of the biggest cons about using Primal Kyogre EX is it’s Grass weakness. Currently Genesect EX is one of the top cards used in the format. It can easily knock out Primal Kyogre EX if Genesect EX has a Muscle Band attached. Even worst, Virizion EX could be used to soften up a Primal Kyorge EX when it is still in the Kyogre EX phase in the early game. That will put your first Primal Kyogre EX in perfect knock out range of Genesect EX once it is ready to attack. It doesn’t help that Virizion EX can’t be put to sleep by using Kyogre EX’s Water Pulse. To make matter worst, Keldeo EX shares the same weakness.
The match up against a Genesect EX isn’t impossible but you will need to play your cards just right. You will need to be prepare to lose one Primal Kyogre EX and hope to get one Tidal Storm fired before being knocked out. Once you do that, you have set up a benched Genesect EX to be knock out by another Kyogre EX or Plasma Kyurem.
How to Use It
You will want to have Primal Kyogre EX set up as quickly as possible and make sure to attach energy to it every turn so that way you can be ready to attack the turn after or on the turn you Primal Reversion. If you start off with Kyogre EX in the active then do not be surprise if it takes some damage. Just make sure to use Rough Seas to heal up as much damage as you can. The first Primal Kyogre EX that you set up will be used to spread Water Energy to your other attacks such as Keldeo EX, Plasma Kyurem or another Primal Kyogre EX.
Make sure to run plenty of Professor’s Letter in your deck. The two Water energy you grab using Professor’s Letter can be used to power up Kyogre EX to attack with Tidal Storm after shift two energy to another Pokemon during the previous turn. This can be a life saver. If you run Energy Retrieval then you can expect similar results after retrieving two energy from the discard.
Important Note: Make sure to keep track of the splash damage and do not forget that it is there. That will be a major thing when that Pokemon hits the active later as it means knock outs with Primal Kyogre EX.
As mentioned before, there are plenty of great Water Pokemon to move energy to after using Tidal Storm. It will all depend on the situation. If you want to hit heavily and set up another Primal Kyogre EX then you can do that. If you want to clean up then Keldeo EX is the Pokemon you want to move energy to. All you need to do is attach another Water energy to it next turn and use Rush In to put Keldeo EX in the active. If you attach a Float Stone to Keldeo EX then this could be use to get rid of any status conditions that Primal Kyogre EX may gain. Lastly, Plasma Kyurem could be used as a recipient of Tidal Storm if you need to hit though Safeguard Pokemon such as Suicune. Also, attacking with Plasma Kyurem could force your opponent to knock out four Pokemon if they want to win the match. This Pokemon also lacks a weakness to Grass types so you have an option to attack with when battling Genesect EX.
There are other Pokemon you can consider running in this deck such as Mewtwo EX. This card can give you a non-Water attacker when facing similar decks or Genesect EX. You may want to be wary of Suicune as it Safeguard ability makes it unable to accept Water energy from Primal Kyogre EX’s Tidal Storm. If you attempt to attach Water energy to Suicune after using Tidal Storm then those energies will be discarded instead.
A storm is brewing and Primal Kyogre EX is in the eye! Expect the battle to become rough with this ancient beast entering the metagame. This Pokemon can cause a flood of damage while flooding the bench with energy. So be careful navigating the battle once you see Primal Kyogre EX and good luck!
