No, your eyes aren't deceiving you
- this is Snorlax-GX. No, he's not a Pokemon-EX, so he's
unaffected by anything targeting Pokemon-EX. No, he's
not a BREAK Evolution, he doesn't even evolve from
anything. No, he's not legal yet, but he will be and
that makes him relevant for next year (since he's
technically legal on the 30th).
So what is a Pokemon-GX then? Well
if you've taken a look at some of the preview cards for
the upcoming Sun & Moon set, you'll see that these are
going to be replacing Pokemon-EX in newer sets. So far,
they still have the 2-Prize clause (you KO a Pokemon-GX,
you take 2 Prizes) that the EX had, but they also have a
good amount of HP more. For instance, Snorlax-GX
actually has 190 HP. There's also some variance in terms
of what Stage the GX are at, but we'll save that for
later. For now, Snorlax-GX operates like a Basic
Pokemon.
He's also got three attacks, one of
which is a highlight of his Pokemon-GX status. Collapse
starts off strong at 3-for-80, though it does put
Snorlax-GX to Sleep. Luckily, Thunderous Snore can be
used while he's Asleep! Unfortunately, it costs 5 Energy
and can't be used unless Snorlax-GX is Asleep. But on
top of that, he can deal 180 damage with that second
attack - enough to instantly KO any Pokemon-EX that
isn't a Mega or Wailord-EX!
Then we get to the third attack,
the GX Attack. Think of this as a TCG version of the
Z-Moves from the games. In this case, it's Pulverizing
Pancake-GX, which does 5-for-210 damage!! THAT'S CRAZY!!
But what's the catch? Well, it does put Snorlax-GX to
Sleep - nothing too different from Collapse, but then
what's to prevent me from using it again? Well remember,
these are like Z-Moves in the TCG - and that means that
you can only use a GX Attack once. That's not once per
turn, once while the Pokemon is in play, or once while
you control a Pokemon-GX - that's ONCE PER GAME!! And
you can only use one of these attacks PER GAME!!
Right now, Snorlax-GX doesn't have
much competition for Pulverizing Pancake-GX, but you can
expect to be similar to the ACE SPEC cards from back in
the Boundaries Crossed and Plasma sets - some will be
powerful, and some will be underwhelming. For now, it's
decent and does what Snorlax-GX wants, but once other
Pokemon-GX come out, it'll pale in comparison as an
overcosted beefy bit of nonsense.
Rating
Standard: 3/5 (really, that's his
biggest drawback - his attacks cost a LOT)
Expanded: 3.5/5 (but even so, they
put out a lot of damage, even if Thunderous Snore needs
Snorlax-GX to be Asleep)
Limited: N/A (and besides, it's a
promo, so ya know, not usable)
Arora Notealus: Snorlax-GX is just
the first of what will become the inevitable power
creep'd shenanigans, the new era of powerhouses to be
feared and admired like the Pokemon-EX before them. Of
course it'll only be a matter of time before we find
some strategy that either works better than anything
these GX could produce, or else we'll find that they're
so dominant in their choices that it'll be polarizing to
pick between one or the other.
Next Time: What are we reviewing
this time around? Well how about we start by looking
back...
Otaku
Welcome to our last
promo for the week, Snorlax-GX (SM: Black Star
Promos SM05). Yes, not only is it a Sun & Moon
series card, but it is even the (sort of) new mechanic,
a Pokémon-GX! So what does it mean to be a
Pokémon-GX? So far it seems quite similar to being
a Pokémon-EX; Pokémon-GX give up an extra Prize when
KO’d, and based on early reveals, are intended to be
more potent than their regular counterparts. There
are some significant differences though; the most
obvious is that Pokémon-GX are not Pokémon-EX.
Card effects that specify one should not apply to the
other. I am a bit concerned about this creating
unintentional loopholes, but I was more concerned until
I saw how in the Legacy Format the similar situation
between Abilities, Poké-Powers, and Poké-Bodies ended up
working surprisingly well. Due to the “GX” in
their names, Pokémon-GX are treated as distinct from
their regular and Pokémon-EX counterparts. This
does bring up another significant difference though;
Pokémon-GX can be any of the three core Stages (Basic,
Stage 1, or Stage 2). A Stage 1 Pokémon-GX Evolves
from the same Basic as its regular Stage 1 counterpart,
and a Stage 2 Pokémon-GX Evolves from the same Stage 1
(or Basic, if using Rare Candy), as its regular
Stage 2 counterpart. So far all Pokémon-GX have
boosted HP scores and at least intended boosted effects
as when compared to their regular counterparts, but
unlike Pokémon-EX they have one other common feature
that might help the improved stats stick better than
with the sometimes awesome, sometimes awful, and often
ambiguous Pokémon-EX: all Pokémon-GX have a GX attack…
but more on that when we get to it.
As a Colorless Type
Snorlax-GX doesn’t have to worry about Weakness
or Resistance; being unable to exploit Weakness is
actually a big drawback, while not having to worry about
Resistance is only a minor benefit. Almost all
Colorless Pokémon have [C] Energy requirements, and
there is no basic [C] Energy card because it would be
pointless; [C] Energy requirements can be fueled by
Energy of any Type but [C] Energy can only meet [C]
Energy requirements, so even if it was present you’d
almost always be better off using a different form of
basic Energy, to tap into its support (including
non-Colorless Type attackers). Still it might
provide some synergy in that certain Special Energy
cards (like Double Colorless Energy and Plasma
Energy) essentially lose their main drawback of not
meeting any non-Colorless Energy requirements.
There are some good Colorless Pokémon but as they work
equally well off Type unless the deck also
features Colorless Type specific support, not sure how
much of a bonus that actually is. So moving onto
the Colorless Type support, it exists but I’m also
uncertain of how useful it is right now. There
isn’t much: Altaria (XY: Black Star Promos
XY46; XY: Roaring Skies 74/108) to negate their
Weakness, Aspertia City Gym for +20 HP (while it
remains in play), and Winona to provide a three
[C] Pokémon for one Supporter search, but the first two
have enough work arounds that I don’t believe they are
used much competitively (at least anymore). Winona
can be nice in certain decks, though. There are
also two explicitly anti-Colorless attacks, one found on
Exeggcutor (XY: Roaring Skies 2/108) and
the other on Haxorus (Dragon Vault 16/20).
So far they’ve never been worth it.
Now for the first
thing (besides the name) that screams “Pokémon-GX”: the
HP! Snorlax-GX has 190 HP, 10-20 above the
typical score for a Basic Pokémon-EX, though 60 below
the record-setting Wailord-EX. This is
enough to survive a hit most of the time, though one of
the exceptions comes from its Weakness, which is to the
Fighting Type. Fighting Types have a nasty habit
of stacking multiple, smaller damage bonuses onto a
solid, single Energy attack. What starts as
something like 20 or 30 for [F] can balloon into 90 for
[F] pretty quick. Good thing for Snorlax-GX
is that at least for now, some of those bonuses won’t
apply because they came from cards like Fighting
Stadium and Silver Bangle that specifically
targets Pokémon-EX. OHKOs by Fighting Types will
still happen, but at least they probably need a more
complex combo. Lack of Resistance is typical; -20
damage against a single Type isn’t a huge benefit, but
with 190 HP it would have been nice. The Retreat
Cost of [CCCC] is typical, at least for cards
based on “Snorlax”. Either you plan on having
Snorlax-GX tanking in the Active slot or you’re
including multiple cards in multiple
counts to assist in getting it out of the Active slot.
Snorlax-GX
sports three attacks. The first is “Collapse” for
[CCC], which hits for 80 damage but leaves Snorlax-GX
Asleep. Three Energy for the “budget” attack means
Snorlax-GX will be a bit slow (good for game
balance, bad for it), though a Double Colorless
Energy from hand, a successful Max Elixir,
and a means to promote it to the Active slot can ready
it in a single turn. Ignoring that this is a
Pokémon-GX for a second, this is a solid return for the
Energy invested; a minor boost (like a Fighting Fury
Belt) bumps it up to 90 damage, which means a 2HKO
on most Basic Pokémon-EX (or smaller) targets. Of
course in the case of said Basic Pokémon-EX, you’ll need
to hope they don’t also have a Fighting Fury Belt.
Putting itself to Sleep isn’t great, but unless your
opponent has an effect that needs your Active to be
Asleep, you’ll get not one but two coin flips for
it to go away before it can truly affect your gameplay.
For [CCCCC] Snorlax-GX busts out the attack
“Thunderous Snore”, and shows why you want to
fail those Sleep Checks; this attack does nothing (not
even damage) unless Snorlax-GX is Asleep, but
when Snorlax-GXis Asleep it scores 190
damage! That OHKO’s a lot, and even more with some
damage buffs. Now for five Energy and
needing to be Asleep, it isn’t any great shakes, but
with Hypno (XY: BREAKpoint 51/122), you
just need to supply the Energy (and hope your opponent
can’t shut down your Abilities). Lastly we have
Well, if you want
to get technical it is a GX attack in the TCG.
“Pulverizing Pancake GX” also requires [CCCCC] but it
hits for 210 damage. That means with something
like a Fighting Fury Belt and Giovanni (or
the soon-to-be-released Professor Kukui) you can
score a OHKO against even most Mega Evolutions. It
also leaves Snorlax-GX Asleep, but once
again that is probably a good thing as you might need it
for Thunderous Snore. Why wouldn’t you use
Pulverizing Pancake GX again?” Because you may only use
one GX attack per game. Think of it like a
more severe version of the Supporter restriction.
Still a bit early for me to be sure, but I assume that
means you may run multiple Pokémon with GX attacks, it
is just that you may only ever use one of the
attacks in a game. At least in a multi-game match,
you’ll get one shot per game. Requiring five
Energy already means this attack should be hitting
hard, but as the cost are all Colorless and it’s on
a Basic (instead of a space consuming Evolution) this
might be worth the cost of being a GX attack.
Until we see it (and its kin) in action it is a bit hard
to judge. A big mark in all their favor? All
have two other attacks or an attack and Ability as well;
the GX attack is basically treated like it’s an “extra”.
This card isn’t
even legal yet, as it just officially released today.
As such I have no proven deck ideas. Seems like
the obvious choice is to find some decent, compatible
Energy acceleration, then focus on Snorlax-GX as
an attacker while Hypno puts it (and the
opponent’s Active) to Sleep. Snorlax (XY:
Fates Collide 77/122) provides a likely partner; not
because it is also a Snorlax card but because it
also has an attack that hits harder when it is Asleep.
That seems decent, but you’re using some very Energy
heavy attackers and there are a lot of Pokémon like
Yveltal-EX that specialize in hitting Energy hogs
hard. Snorlax-GX isn’t great, but it seems like
it has a decent chance of making a functional deck,
something that probably won’t win a tournament, but can
take wins even against competitive decks. Expanded
provides more partners, but more competition… but this
time I do think it is a net positive, giving it a bit of
a bump in the score. Unless we get Snorlax-GX
re-released in a set, it isn’t Limited legal. If
it were, it would be an easy inclusion even though it
takes so much time and Energy to build.
Ratings
Standard:
3/5
Expanded:
3.25/5
Limited:
N/A
Summary:
Massive Energy costs and the need for combos to reliably
use the second attack will probably keep Snorlax-GX
from having a serious presence in the format, but it
brings just enough that sometimes you will run across a
serious Snorlax-GX deck… and it will have a
legitimate chance of winning. Which is good news
for Snorlax fans like myself. Of course right now
we don’t have any Pokémon-GX support or counters, and
such a thing could vastly shift this card’s usefulness.
