art by Ryo Ueda
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call- Featured Card spotlighting Dimension Valley.
Dimension Valley is a new stadium card that was release in Phantom Forces. This stadium card provides a nice benefit to all Psychic type Pokemon where their attacks cost one less Colorless energy. Dimension Valley stays in play until a different Stadium cards is set or is removed by the effects of another card.
Pros
Welcome to Dimension Valley which is giving Psychic type Pokemon a boost that is much appreciated. This card was part of the support that Psychic types got upon the release of Phantom Forces. Dimension Valley is a stadium that basically allows Psychic Type Pokemon a shortcut to attack by making their attacks cost one less energy to use. Do you want to use Mewtwo EX‘s X Ball but only have one energy in your hand? What to use Gengar EX‘s Night Attack for no energy cost? Then be prepare to slap down Dimension Valley on the field and attack to your heart’s content.
Dimension Valley gives speed to Psychic type Pokemon that nobody has ever thought was possible. Some of them were already quick where they just need a Psychic and/or a Double Colorless Energy to attack but now that attack cost has gone down to where the DCE isn’t needed anymore. This can be devastating for some decks who needs just a little time to set up. That one extra turn may be all that deck needs to get ready to attack and cause pain. Now Dimension Valley can be played to taking away that time and cause havoc on that set up deck who doesn’t have that grace period anymore. Energy manipulation in the TCG has always highly valued and while this doesn’t move around or pulls up energy like more traditional ways, the ability to make your attacks cheaper is a rather unique one that Dimension Valley does.
Cons
Now time for the weaknesses. The obvious one is that Dimension Valley is a Stadium card and thus gets all the weakness that a Stadium gets. That means it can be easily be removed when another Stadium card is put into play and right now the Stadium war is strong. There are so many other stadiums trying to get dominance during the battle in order to get some kind of advantage. Right now the popular Stadium to use is Virbank City Gym thanks to the popularity of Hypnotoxic Laser. Almost every deck that uses Hypnotoxic Laser is using Virbank City Gym to gain that extra 30 damage. You are also seeing Stadium cards such as Steel Shelter, Fighting Stadium, and Fairy Garden being used in Steel, Fighting and Fairy to help those decks work smoothly. The competition to get a stadium game is pretty fierce right now and can be difficult to have a stadium stay in play for longer then a turn. The best solution for this is to play at least three copies of Dimension Valley and wait to play the Stadium until the very last minute when you need it. That way you can give your opponent the chance to play their Stadium first so you can win the Stadium war in the long run.
Another weakness that has been seen a lot lately are Pokemon whose attacks discard Stadiums upon being use. The one I am thinking about right now is Donphan‘s Wreak attack. This attack does a base 80 damage then can do 60 additional damage if there is a Stadium in play. This card also discards the current Stadium card in play. Overall, your active Pokemon takes at least 140 damage plus you lose your valuable Stadium card. That is something that nobody wants to be on the receiving end. There is also Heatran from Phantom Forces that also does more damage if a Stadium is in play but it doesn’t have the Stadium destroying ability like Donphan has.
How to Use It
Now how will D
imension Valley be used? The popular Genesect EX–Virizion EX deck may actually have a use for it with Mew EX. This may sound like a crazy idea but slip Mew EX and take advantage of it’s Versatile ability. You will want to use Mew Ex’s Versatile ability to use a benched Virizion EX’s Emerald Slash with Dimension Valley on the field. Emerald Slash normally cost a Grass and a Colorless energy to use but thanks to Mew EX being a Psychic type Pokemon and Dimension Valley being the active stadium, Mew EX can attack for 50 damage with a single Grass energy.
Then to make thing better or worst, it can use Emerald Slash’s additional effect of attaching two Grass energy to a benched Pokemon like Genesect EX. This combo gives the Genesect-Virizion deck disgusting speed that it already had. Usually this deck struggles going second due to it’s inability to attack first with Emerald Slash’s attack cost but thanks to Mew EX and Dimension Valley, it can attack during that first attacking turn and potentially threaten somebody with a turn three G-Booster.
This combo can become even more disgusting if you play your cards right with the inclusion of Mew EX and Dimension Valley in Genesect-Virizion in the form of additional coverage. Thanks to Mew EX, this deck can hit Pokemon who have Psychic weakness pretty hard. If your opponent is setting up a Garbodor to shut off abilities then you can attach a Plasma energy to Red Signal the Trubbish to the active and have Mew EX knock it out with a single Grass energy Emerald Slash thanks to Virizion EX, Dimension Valley and weakness. Even scarier is that Mew EX also has access to Megalo Cannon which can be powered up for two Grass energy via the previous mentioned method. This little Mew EX is ready to fire a laser!
Another deck that wouldn’t mind Dimension Valley is Gengar EX variants. It may mean doing less damage at the end of the turn without Virbank City Gym in play but it could make the deck faster and easier to set up.
So enjoy your time in the Dimension Valley. It could lead to some unique and strange things that you never thought possible.
