Blend Energy Cards
– Dragons Exalted
Date Reviewed:
March 1, 2018
Ratings Summary:
See Below
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
 aroramage Another Twofer? In the same week? What is this, double or nothing the week? Blend Energy was first reviewed as the #1 card of Dragons Exalted in 2012 and last reviewed in 2014 when it was on our Top 10 cards lost to Rotation, sitting in at #4 alongside Prism Energy. These two cards each had different mixings of 4 Types – WLFM for one, and GFPD for the other. This gave each of them a flexibility which was major at the time, since most Dragon-Types required two different Energies. So if the colors were right, these cards would help out in getting those attacks more consistently!
It’s still very useful on its own though. Some decks may want to run a Pokemon that runs a different Type of Energy, despite being the same Type. They’re rare, but they exist. They also work well in any deck that wants to run two Types, though for whatever reason they seem rare. Something about being inherently more inconsistent than single Type decks or something. Shenanigans I say! Blend WLFM is my way for that Water/Fighting deck I wanted to build early on! …man I’m old. Rating Standard: N/A (all things considered though, Blend Energy is outmatched by a few things) Expanded: 2.5/5 (there are better Energies to use for covering multiple Types, but these are good for covering a specific few without the drawbacks that come with others) Limited: 4/5 (what they lack in utility, they make up for by not having a bunch of drawbacks) Arora Notealus: Blend Energy is definitely an Energy filled with utility. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have any interactions with things like Magnezone and Mt. Coronet…right? I mean if Rainbow Energy and Prism Energy don’t…I think that’s right…anyways, it’s a good Special Energy in general. Side Review: Sea of Nothingness – …well it hasn’t changed much, and nothing has come around to have it bring any more impact than before. Just kinda…happens. Next Time: And now for what you might say is the Standard version of this kind of Energy… |
 Vince Blend Energy GRPD and WLFM debuted on Black & White Dragons Exalted, the set that debuted the Dragon type Pokemon whose attack costs require two different types of energy, some are part of the same Blend Energy and some aren’t part of it. Both Special Energy cards provide ONE unit of energy, but Blend Energy GRPD can cover Grass, Fire, Psychic, and/or Dark energy costs; Blend Energy WLFM, conversely, covers Water, Lightning, Fighting, and/or Metal energy costs. Some Pokémon that may benefit from Blend Energy GRPD may include Hydreigon, Noivern, and Giratina-EX. On the other side, Blend Energy WLFM can supplment Garchomp, Black Kyurem, and Kingdra. Those energy cards can help reduce awkward deck construction of using two different basic energy types in case you were wanting that particular energy type but got a different type at the wrong time. The review crew actually reviewed these energy cards twice: one as the best card of BW Dragons Exalted and one as fourth best card lost to rotation in 2014.
Those cards were ranked highly because these special energy cards were the “second best thing” to use, to provide a similar purpose when a card is about to leave. Rainbow Energy was last printed in HGSS at the time, and is about to leave rotation a little after BW Dragons Exalted was released. Sure, there was Prism Energy from BW Next Destines, which provides every type of energy just like Rainbow Energy without a damage counter, but only worked for Basic Pokemon while Blend Energy can work on any Pokemon, albeit with incomplete type coverage and without a damage counter placement. There were very, very few Special Energies at the time when these cards were released, so it saw a lot of play for decks that only needed to cover such energy types. Whether it be Darkrai-EX/Hydreigon or Blastoise/Black Kyurem EX, you absolutely needed those respective Blend Energies, and possibly running a full four copies to have a chance to utilize them. Later on, the XY Base Set reprinted Rainbow Energy, which is probably the biggest competitor in regards to Blend Energy’s playability. That still doesn’t stop Blend Energy from being played for the last six months in 2013-2014 standard, where it will continue to do its job before leaving Standard and remain legal in Expanded. So after the past is said and done, how are these Blend Energies doing in Expanded? Well, the card pool is expansive as more sets are being released, and now there’s plentiful of Special Energy cards to give these two competitions. While some special energy cards revolve in a single type like Strong Energy or Splash Energy, a few has complete type coverage such as Double Dragon Energy and Super Boost Energy. However, Blend Energy will still hold a niche of providing the right type of energies that certain decks need, without going overboard like other energies mentioned earlier. These special energy cards are also legal in Legacy format, but then it’ll have to compete with Prism Energy and Rainbow Energy, and those cards WILL remain there in the Legacy format. Creating a prerelease using BW Dragons Exalted for the Limited format is expensive and the actual prerelease has been long gone. Even then, those energies are a must run unless you deck uses only one energy type, which would make those energies redundant. Those energies also appear in both theme decks: One piece of Blend Energy GRPD for DragonSnarl theme deck and one piece of Blend Energy WLFM for DragonSpeed theme deck. It is of no surprise that those cards are able to help their respective theme decks. Standard: N/A Conclusion: Blend Energy GRPD and Blend Energy WLFM are an interesting pair of Special Energy cards with a sound concept. This was the topic of Throwback Thursdays because we have another pair of cards that does a similar job in SM Ultra Prism. Guess what we are looking at tomorrow! |
 Otaku For this Throwback Thursday, we have another two-in-one review as we look at two cards from the game’s relatively recent past: Blend Energy GRPD (BW – Dragons Exalted 117/124) and Blend Energy WLFM (BW – Dragons Exalted 118/124). BW – Dragons Exalted officially debuted on August 15, 2012, and left the Standard Format on September 3, 2014, during that year’s set rotation. To me, this is all just yesterday’s news, but to many, I fear this seems like ancient history. Each Blend Energy card is a Special Energy that – while attached to a Pokémon – provides one unit of Energy that counts as four different Types. As the name and art already should tell you, Blend Energy GRPD provides [G], [R], [P], and [D] while Blend Energy WLFM provides [W], [L], [F], and [M]. While Standard legal, these cards helped shape the metagame in two ways. It made it easier to run certain combinations of Pokémon in the obvious manner; a deck could use the appropriate Blend Energy to work in something otherwise off-Type, but if you needed to use Blend Energy on something on-Type, you were still okay. It was also important as [N] Pokémon (Dragon Types if you haven’t learned the shorthand yet) sort-of debuted alongside these Energy, with their mixed Energy Type requirements that usually lined up with one Blend Energy or the other. This is how these cards managed to take first place in our countdown of cards from BW – Dragons Exalted. Some may be wondering why players didn’t just use Rainbow Energy instead, and the answer is simple; less than a month after the Blend Energy cards released, that year’s set rotation happened and the then most recent version of Rainbow Energy (HeartGold SoulSilver 104/123) left Standard Format play, and wouldn’t return until the XY 131/146 printing of the card that released February 5, 2014. The only real rival they had during their Standard Format run was Prism Energy, which provided one unit of Energy that counted as all Types while attached to a Basic Pokémon. The Standard Format was very Basic heavy during this time, so running Prism Energy wasn’t usually an issue; Blend Energy was valuable because it gave you eight total Special Energy that could meet a variety of Energy costs. In the PTCGO-exclusive Legacy Format, this is how the Blend Energy cards are still being used. This is why, when both Blend Energy cards and Prism Energy were axed in the same set rotation, all three (together) took fourth place in our countdown of cards we’d miss. In the Expanded Format, not only do you have both Prism Energy and Rainbow Energy (plus Double Dragon Energy for [N] Pokémon) but basic Energy card support is so good, decks that have the room and just need a few of a secondary Energy Type simply run a few copies of that basic Energy card. I doubt you’re BW – Dragons Exalted boosters for the Limited Format, but if you do, these can be fantastic pulls. It will depend on what else you get in your packs, but odds are good you’ll have something off-Type that becomes easier to use thanks to either Blend Energy card. There are no plans to re-released Blend Energy for the Standard Format, and I think it wouldn’t perform much better here than in Expanded. Why am I sure they aren’t going to re-release these cards? Come back tomorrow if you can’t figure it out on your own (hint hint). Ratings (for both) Standard: N/A Expanded: 2/5 Limited: 3.5/5 |
Nowadays, though, we’ve gotten access to a powerful Energy specifically for Dragons – Double Dragon Energy. This would fulfill the two different colors no matter the Dragon, all thanks to it providing two Energies at a time. This not only makes it a better option for Dragons than Blend Energy, but it also shows what Blend Energy doesn’t really do – namely providing more than one Energy and having the flexibility to be included in any deck with Dragons. We would love more volunteers to help us with our Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
Click here to read our Pokémon Card of the Day Archive. We have reviewed more than 3500 Pokemon cards over the last 17+ years!
