Path to the Peak – Battle Styles
Date Reviewed:
July 1, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 4.50
Expanded: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
At last, we come to our number one pick from this set, and it is Path to the Peak (SW – Chilling Reign 148/198). This Stadium’s effect states that Pokémon with a Rule Box have no Abilities. Yeah, this is the upgraded form of Power Plant (SM – Unbroken Bonds 183/214; SM – Unbroken Bonds 269/236). Not just updated, Path to the Peak is a better version of Power Plant. Well, unless you’re wanting to use Abilities on Pokémon V (including VMAX), Prism Star Pokémon, or Pokémon BREAK. Those the the Rule Box Pokémon Power Plant will not shut down, but Path to the Peak will. Path to the Peak stops all of those plus Pokémon-EX (including Mega Evolutions) and Pokémon-GX (including TAG TEAMs).
Path to the Peak means your Crobat V, Dedenne-GX, and Kricketune V can’t draw. Eldegoss V can’t reclaim a Supporter from the discard pile. Zacian V can’t draw/try to attach Energy from the deck. Tapu Koko {*} can’t accelerate [L] Energy. Mewtwo & Mew-GX only have their GX-attack and access to no others. Heatran-GX can’t provide back-up for your Fire Energy-focused decks. Eternatus VMAX has to make do with a normal-sized Bench… that’s just some of the big names found in the decks from the Top 16 of the Players Cup III! Now, there are plenty of Abilities that are totally unaffected, because they’re not on a Rule Box Pokémon.
Even if your deck does use some of the above Pokémon, Path to the Peak can still be a valuable addition. Just like with Power Plant, and before that, Silent Lab (no Abilities for Basics), you can sometimes play around your own Path to the Peak. For example, go first, drop your Crobat V and/or Dedenne-GX, then play Path to the Peak to deny your opponent the same non-Supporter draw power. Is Path to the Peak really the best card in this set? No, but I thought it was the second best card of the set, and so did Vince, so it came out on top. Frankly, it might be the safest pick from our countdown for the role. You know how I favor cards that are more “general use” than others: Path to the Peak isn’t for every deck, but most decks can at least consider it, and a lot should include it as a one-of… plus Path to the Peak is about as good in Expanded!
Ratings
- Standard: 5/5
- Expanded: 4/5
Vince
So, we’ve reached the best card of Chilling Reign: Path to the Peak.
This isn’t a groundbreaking card, but it’s one of those cards that you should expect to see it pretty often, at least in the Standard format. This is a Stadium card that makes any Pokémon with Rule Boxes have no abilities. Fortunately, there’s enough clarification as to what Pokémon cards would be consider to have Rule Boxes:
- Pokémon-V
- Pokémon VMAX
- Pokémon-GX
- Prism Star Pokémon
- TAG TEAM Pokémon
- Pokémon-EX
- Mega Evolution Pokémon (not that they have any abilities in the first place; all of them carry only a single attack)
- Pokémon BREAK
That pretty much covers all the mechanics that are in the Expanded format. Also, this effect can also be considered future proof when it come to new mechanics with Rule Boxes, like the upcoming V-UNION mechanic, which also has a Rule Box. No matter how many abilities V-UNION possesses (like Greninja V-UNION having three abilities), they all stop working.
The caveat would be that not all of those Pokémon with Rule Boxes needs their abilities to function in order for the deck to be successful, though their strategy can still be ruined by this Stadium card. Baseline single-prize Pokémon is unaffected by this effect, so they can still provide support with ease. There’s also the matter of competition; while Path to the Peak may fit nicely into any deck, it may clash with other specific Stadium cards that benefit a select few decks. Silent Lab is still a pretty useful stadium card as it shuts down abilities from Basic Pokemon, regardless if they have a rule box or not, so that might compete with Path to the Peak.
Ratings:
- Standard: 4
- Expanded: 4
Path to the Peak wasn’t in any reviewers’ top pick, with both Otaku and me having this card as our 2nd place pick, though the voting points were enough to secure 1st place. This should replace older cards that weren’t future proof, like Power Plant for instance, which is about to leave rotation this year. Also, it also affects your own Pokémon with rule boxes as well, so you have to time it right.
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