The remaining 9 cards from cards lost to rotation 2018 (side reviews)
17th: Regirock-EX
This card took first place in the top 10 cards of XY Fates Collide. It was used for its ability called Regi Power, which made your Fighting Pokemon deal 10 more damage to the Defending Pokemon. This ability stacks, so if you had four of them, that’s 40 more damage you can deal.
Of course, cards have flaws. Bench space can be limited if you went overboard, and ability denial means that this Pokémon is mostly sitting there doing nothing. It can even be dragged out front for either a KO that’s worth two prizes or making it stuck in front (the three retreat cost makes it hard to pay, and it’s less likely to be a secondary attacker).
18th: Bursting Balloon
This Pokémon tool card that lasts until the end of your opponent’s turn makes your opponent think hard about consequences. To attack or not to attack? If they do, the attacking Pokémon takes SIX damage counters from this tool.
19th: Zoroark BKT
This Pokémon has an ability that does the same as Keldeo-EX and Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX, and paired with a Float Stone, you got control as to which Pokémon you want in front while completely avoiding paying for retreat costs. It is a small Pokémon with 100 HP and being a Stage 1, but is worth a single prize. Zoroark BREAK gives you more HP to 140 and adds an attack that copies one of your opponent’s Defending Pokemon’s attacks.
20th: Talonflame STS
This Pokémon has the unique ability which puts itself on the Active spot when both players set up to play without needing its pre-Evolved forms (though that makes the other three Talonflames, or all four, dead cards if you don’t start with one). It’s Break Evolution can help you get more HP up to 170 and change it’s Type from Colorless to Fire if you want to exploit certain weakness.
21th: Volcanion-EX
Here’s a nickname I gave to this card: The Steam-Up Engine! That ability makes Basic Fire Pokemon do 30 more damage if you discard a Fire energy from your hand. Like Regirock-EX, it stacks! And you know what this means! It can turn even a puny attack that does 10 damage 2HKO monsters! That’s not all it can do; it can just sit there to amplify Xerneas’s Rainbow Force by 60 more damage due to its dual typing.
22th: Greninja Break
The deck of its own! This Pokémon placed well in Worlds, with the highest placing being 2nd on both 2016 and 2017, and 4th on 2018 (by a senior division player, while the other 7 decks were either Buzzwole, Rayquaza, and Zoroark variants). If you played to its strengths, then you can eventually come out as the top, by placing damage counters from its gigantic shuriken and shutting down abilities via shadow stitching. Yup, that what these frogs do!
23th: Professor’s Letter
The successor of Energy Search is leaving the format, but there’s another card coming soon that fetches energy. Anyhow, this private letter fetches you 2 basic energies, which will be enough to do what you need to do, whether it be manual/unlimited attachments or paying energy from your hand for certain attacks or abilities.
24th: Evosoda
This card is useful that not only you evolve your Pokémon by one stage, but you also thin your deck a little. Since Wally got banned, Evosoda should see more play.
25th: Starmie EVO
Last but not least, Starmie. It’s ability acts like the old-school Energy Retrieval, which can be helpful to certain decks like Volcanion-EX or Greninja BREAK so that you don’t run dry of energies. Being an ability, it gets past item lock, but runs the risk of being shut down.