Time to see what will be forbidden in Standard from Forbidden Light!
It was announced pretty early that the format for the 2020-2021 Season will be Team Up-on. Due to COVID-19, we do not know when we will see a return to tournament play. Though, it is expected that players will need to practice using this new format. Though, with any new format we see a few sets leaving the format including the cards in those sets.
This week we are going to look at which important cards are leaving the format this Friday, August 28th, 2020 and how this will change the game. Each day, a new list will go out stating which cards are leaving the format and how it will be affected. Starting from Ultra Prism and ending with the Black Star Promos!
We are going to see almost all of the Prism Stars cards leave to the Lost Zone of the Expanded format. Meanwhile, most of the Ultra Beast Pokemon and support will be going back into Ultra Space and far away from the Standard format.
Buckle in! We got a lot of card that are leaving the format thanks to this year’s rotation!
Forbidden Light
Forbidden Light was our set taking a look at the Kalos Region. We saw many cards showcasing the beauty of the Kalos region but also some that looked familiar but different. Some of this was seen in alternate type Pokemon that we saw from Ultra Prism. Dialga GX and Palkia GX both came out of the Ultra Wormhole but as Steel and Water type Pokemon. Though, they were not the only ones who came out of the Ultra Wormhole a little different from Sinnoh.
We also saw new Prism Star cards that would quickly find themselves into decks. Some of them included Diancie Prism Star who would help give a cheerful boost to Fighting decks for months to come.
If you wanted something that didn’t involve Prism Star cards then perhaps some Psychic Pokemon would interest you. After all, they got a new form of energy acceleration in the form of Malamar. This card alone would recharge plenty of Psychic Pokemon even in the year of 2020.
Though, we also saw things leaking out from Ultra Space emerge from the Ultra Wormholes. In this case, plenty of powerful new cards for the Ultra Beast archetype. They saw this in the form of Beast Ring for energy acceleration. Beast Energy Prism Star that any Ultra Beast can use to pay for energy cost while giving them more bite to their attacks. The Stadium card Ultra Space as a quick way to search out Ultra Beast Pokemon. Lastly, all of this to help support the grand and forbidden light of the Ultra Beasts, Ultra Necrozma GX.
With that said, lets take a look at what cards are leaving from Forbidden Light.
Pokemon
Pheromosa
Palkia GX
Frogadier
Greninja GX
Volcanion Prism Star
Magenezone
Rotom
Malamar
Naganadel GX
Garchomp
Zygarde GX
Diancie Prism Star
Buzzwole
Yveltal GX
Dialga GX
Xerneas GX
Goomy
Ultra Necrozma GX
Arceus Prism Star
Trainers
Beast Ring
Bonnie
Crasher Wake
Diantha
Fossil Excavation Map
Judge
Lysandre Prism Star
Lysandre Labs
Metal Frying Pan
Mysterious Treasure
Ultra Space
Energy Recycler
Energy
Beast Energy Prism Star
Unit Energy FDY
Thoughts
When it comes to Pokemon, Forbidden Light had a lot of cards that saw brief moments of play but never really panned out to anything impressive. There is the flagship Pokemon of the set, Ultra Necrozma GX. It had gotten plenty of support from Ultra Beast Trainer cards such as Beast Ring and Ultra Space. It even got Beast Energy Prism Star so it can do more damage while not worrying about the Steel cost for it’s attacks. Ultra Necrozma GX also got some non-Ultra Beast support in the form of Mysterious Treasure and Malamar who can accelerate energy to it. Though, in the end, Ultra Necrozma GX didn’t stay long enough to be played in the Standard format for two years. Now Ultra Necrozma GX and all the support that it was given are being rotated.
Though, if you want to talk about an Ultra Beast that came in swinging like a sledgehammer then take a look at Buzzwole. This Basic Pokemon was the surprise hit from Forbidden Light. It had a single energy attack in the form of Sledgehammer that can do plenty of damage. Though, if you add the boost from Diancie Prism Star then this single energy attack is going from 30 damage to 60 damage. Also, for a brief moment, Buzzwole existed in the same format as Strong Energy. Now that single energy attack is doing 80 damage.
Lastly, if your opponent wasn’t careful with how they take their prizes then they could activate Sledgehammer’s secondary prize related effect. What was it? The ability to do 90 more damage if your opponent had four prizes left. It was for a brief moment but now you could do 170 damage for a single energy attachment.
Even now in 2020, Buzzwole is still seeing play in Box type decks that needed to do plenty of damage for a single energy attachment. After all, it was in the winning deck for the Limitless Tournament series back in the early Summer of 2020.
When it comes to Trainers then we have more to talk about. After all, for the longest time time Beast Ring was used in several different Ultra Beast decks. That was because it could be used to accelerate energy quickly once the conditions of the card were activated. Once their opponents had three to four Prize cards left, players would slap down as many Beast Ring cards as they can to flood the board with four to six Energy at a time. Ultra Necrozma GX and other cards that would come loved it as it could hit heavy damage.
Mysterious Treasure will be leaving this format. This card is a staple in any Psychic decks as a way to search any Psychic Pokemon. If you were playing Ultra Necrozma GX then you were using this to search for anything in your deck from Tapu Lele GX for a Supporter, your Ultra Necrozma GX or Malamar to start up your energy engine. Later on Mewtwo & Mew GX decks would be using Mysterious Treasure to help discard GX Pokemon to search their deck but also gain access to their attacks on Mewtwo & Mew GX.
Metal Decks will have something to weep about. After all, their way to remove Fire weakness is now going away with the rotation of Metal Frying Pan. This Pokemon Tool allowed Metal Pokemon to take 30 less damage from attacks. That could have been the difference between a knockout on some Pokemon.
Though, Metal Frying Pan also removed Metal Pokemon’s weakness to Fire attacks. That means Fire decks were going have to work extra hard if they wanted to knockout any Metal Pokemon. Metal Frying Pan didn’t see a lot of play at first but as soon as Sword & Shield introduce Zacian V then we saw Metal Frying Pan go up in usage. It has died down in use as now the neck is focusing to be faster in setting up in the current format. Though, there are still some variants of Zacian V decks still playing it to help tank attacks.
An interesting card that is rotating is Energy Recycler. This card was first introduced back in Ancient Origins. It was later on reprinted in Guardians Rising. It should have rotated last year though it was reprinted in Forbidden Light as a Full Art Secret Rare. It saw some usage as a way to refilled the deck with some Energy from the discard. Most notably in Tapu Bulu-Vikavolt Decks and later on in another deck. Though, it has dropped down in usage since then.
Beast Energy Prism Energy. What can be said about it? It was used in Ultra Necrozma GX decks as a way to get around that requirement to need a Metal Energy. It would later be used in other Ultra Beast related decks as a way to do an extra 30 damage. Though, once Ultra Beasts were used less as a deck archetype then the card also saw less use too.
Hopefully you can use this list to have a good idea of which cards are rotating and what can be done to replace them. Best of luck in your upcoming decks in the Team Up to Darkness Ablaze format!
