This week marks the release of XY which is the newest TCG set. This set has many new cards that will change the way that we play the game. Some of these are new types, Pokemon and Trainers. Some of these items may get some high use due to how great their effects are. This week we are going to look at a Trainer card that will be highly wanted due to what it can do during a match when your Pokemon attacks. Prepare to feel this hit as we look at the Item card: Muscle Band.
Muscle Band is an uncommon Trainer Item card release within the latest TCG set, XY. You can attach this card to any of your Pokemon. When the Pokemon that this item is attached to does a damage inducing attack, it will add an additional twenty more damage.
This means that we now have a Dark Claw for every Pokemon in the game. Darkrai EX isn’t special anymore as other Pokemon can experience a boost to their attacks that Darkrai EX has been enjoying since Dark Explorers. You can slap a Muscle Band on to Black Kyurem EX to make Black Ballista do a massive 220 damage. That is enough to make some Mega Pokemon a little nervous.
The addition of Muscle Band to the TCG means that trainers now have more options to deal additional damage. Prior to XY, trainers have been relying on the use of Virbank City Gym and Hypnotoxic Laser to deal an 30 more damage to their attacks. Muscle Band may deal out ten less damage but it allows players a little bit more room to play with in deck building. It also means that more decks can now deal more damage due to deck constrains. It is easier to fit in two or three Muscle Bands then the five or six cards needed to pull off the Virbank-Laser combo several times. More people are playing counter stadiums so there is a chance that Virbank City Gym won’t be staying on the field for long. Muscle Band also gets around that pesky Virizion EX that stops the Virbank-Laser combo. If you can fit both Virbank-Laser and Muscle Band into a deck, that is an additional 50 damage.
One deck that will take advantage of Muscle Band will be Yeti. A problem that Lugia EX has been experiencing is the inability to knock out high HP EX Pokemon without the assistance of other cards such as Frozen City. Now, if you have three Deoxys EX and a Muscle Band on Lugia EX then that 170 HP Genesect EX is looking at a 170 damage Plasma Gale attack that can cleanly knock it out on turn two. Facing off a Pokemon with 180 HP? Add another Deoxys EX on the bench. Even without the Deoxys EX on the bench, Lugia EX alone is doing 140 damage with a Muscle Band which is enough to knock out any non-EX Big Basic Pokemon.
Make sure to keep an eye out on Muscle Band when you are opening packs from XY. This card is going to cause some damage. Best of luck on your pulls!
