It is time for something magical to appear in the TCG!
A brand new set has been released which means a rise in new tricks! Players will need to depend on their merit or pray to the guardians if they wish to see success in this brand new meta. There are plenty of new cards that have plenty of promise. The game can change thanks to certain cards and it will be noticeable. The way that we make decks may even change thanks to so many new cards! One of the first cards from Guardians Rising that we will feature is one that can make things come out of nowhere! It can slip itself into your deck to make things appear like magic. It is cute, pink and has plenty of tough stuff! This week we will be featuring the card, Sylveon GX!
Sylveon GX is a brand new GX Pokemon from Guardians Rising. It is a Fairy type Pokemon with 200 HP and a Stage 1 Pokemon. It has two attacks and a GX Attack. Sylveon GX can preform Magical Ribbon which cost a single Fairy Energy. This attack allows you to search your deck for any three cards. If you have a Fairy and two other energy then Sylveon GX can use Fairy Wind to do 110 damage to your opponent’s Pokemon. Lastly, Sylveon GX can use Plea GX which can return two of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon back to their hand. Sylveon GX has a weakness to Metal, resist Darkness and a two energy retreat cost.
The Pros
The major pro for Sylveon GX is that you can get it out on your first turn thanks to Sun & Moon Eevee. If you forgot what makes this Eevee so special then let me remind you. This Eevee has the Energy Evolution ability which allows you to evolve it when you attach an energy to it. So all you have to do is attach a Fairy Energy to this Eevee and then you will have a 200 HP Sylveon GX on turn one.
The fun does not stop there as you have an amazing one energy attack in the form of Magical Ribbon. This attack allows you to search your deck for three cards and put them in your hand. That means your whole deck is at your disposal as you find what you need for an explosive next turn.
This Sylveon GX allows you to not waste time and resources to search for it next turn thanks to Eevee’s Energy Evolution while also allowing you to progress your set up.
The Cons
So what is bad about Sylveon GX? The weakness to Metal could be pretty bad. There are not strong Metal decks in the game right now but the type has a few strong contenders thanks to Guardians Rising. We are talking about Metagross GX. (See here for what I mean.) There are some impressive support cards such as Magearna EX who can provide some amazing support that could render Sylveon GX’s Plea GX useless.
If a Metal deck is running Metagross GX and can get it set up then it will run through Sylveon GX. Metagross GX doesn’t care about energy being discarded because it can retrieve the energy back with it’s Geotech System ability. Metagross can then hit Sylveon GX for weakness to cleanly knock it out. If the Metagross GX player can repeat this three more times then the game is over and Sylveon GX is laying in the discard.
The gears are slowing coming together for Metal and this could be bad for Sylveon GX who can’t so much against this metal force.
How to Use It
You will want to focus on Sylveon GX’s Magical Ribbon attack when using this card. This attack is pretty powerful as it is essentially a Computer Search for three cards that ends your turn. You can grab more Eevee to get another Sylveon GX for your next turn. A Double Colorless Energy to use Fairy Wind to inflict 110 damage. Though most of the time you will use Magical Ribbon to find three disruption cards to slow down your opponent.
The disruption that you can cause with Sylveon GX is the meat of any Sylveon GX deck. You are bound to get a head if you use three Crushing Hammer in one turn. Team Flare Grunt can ensure that the energy on your opponent’s Pokemon will be gone. Team Skull Grunt will ensure that your opponent won’t have energy in their hand to retaliate. There are stadiums like Silent Lab to slow down your opponent’s set up by turning off Tapu Lele GX and Shaymin EX. If your opponent isn’t careful with their hand size then you can use Delinquent to eliminate their hand. A Field Blower can be handy to get rid of their Float Stone and keep them stuck with Team Aqua Base to make it difficult to move their Pokemon out of the active. Lastly, Max Potion will help a Sylveon GX last a long time if it ever gets a lot of damage. All of this is possible with a few Magical Ribbon attacks.
Once you have slow down your opponent with some of your disruption options then you can grab a DCE to start attacking. 110 damage may not one hit KO the big EX Pokemon and GX Pokemon but two 110 Fairy Wind attacks can spell win for you. The idea is that by the time you get your first Fairy Wind off that your opponent can’t retaliate with their own attack.
If you want to be extra nasty then make sure to use Plea GX on an opponent that is playing an evolution deck. If you time your Plea GX attack then you can put up two Stage 2 Pokemon back in your opponent’s hand and make them evolve against from the beginning. It doesn’t help that they have an limited number of Rare Candy in their deck.
Sylveon GX is a card that can be the only thing in the deck thanks to Magical Ribbon. If this card is played correctly then it will stop your opponent from playing as they will run out of energy or attackers as the game progresses. Your opponent can use N to take away the three cards that you grabbed from using Magical Ribbon but they can only do that so many number of times. They would also be force to choose between using much needed Supporter cards like Lysandre, Skyla or Professor Sycamore. After all, N will just give you, the Sylveon GX player, a new hand which could include some of the things you grabbed with Magical Ribbon during your previous turn. If not then you can search those things out again with Magical Ribbon. Eventually your opponent will stop using N and your items will stay in your hand to disrupt your opponent.
You will need to think when using Sylveon GX. You can’t just use Magical Ribbon and grab three Crushing Hammer. You will need to see what your opponent has and what they could do next turn. Grab the cards that you need to ensure that your opponent will be set back and then strike when the opportunity come. This deck takes a certain amount of calculating and action in order to pull a victory. If your can ensure a win by knockout then go ahead and be aggressive to take knockouts using Fairy Wind. If you need to play defense then Team Skull Grunt will be your best friend.
Sylveon GX is one of the most talked about cards from Guardians Rising. It will give you a magical time while putting your opponent in a nightmarish dreamscape. If you play your cards right then you will entangle yourself with a victory. So go ahead and give Sylveon GX a try!
Best of luck to everybody taking part in Seattle Regional and keep an eye out on Sylveon GX!
