The release of Pokemon TCG Pocket’s first expansion, Mythical Island, couldn’t come soon enough. For diligent collectors who have completed the Genetic Apex base set, the mini-expansion is a great way to bring some excitement back to pack openings. But for competitive players, Mythical Island represents an opportunity to course-correct some of the game’s biggest flaws.
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With 80 new cards coming to the game, Mythical Island will no doubt shake up the meta. The real question is whether or not it will improve the quality of matches, or if it will simply continue to push polarizing decks to the top. Let’s look at some new tech coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket this week.
Mew Ex And Aerodactyl Ex
The most exciting new cards in any set are undoubtedly the ex Pokemon. One of the most intriguing cards in Mythical Island is Mew ex. Its ability, Genome Hacking, uses three colorless energy to copy an attack from your opponent’s active Pokemon.
There’s a lot of use cases for this Pokemon in the current meta. Against Pokemon with attacks that cost four energy, Mew ex has the potential to use its Genome Hacking attack first. This means you can take out a Mewtwo ex with its own Psydrive attack or defeat a Charizard ex with its own Crimson Storm. Because Mew ex’s ability uses colorless energy, it can also be used in any deck.
Cards like Celebi ex and Pidgeot ex have potential too, but Mew and Aerodactyl ex stand out as the strongest of the bunch.
Aerodactyl ex also has a lot of potential. Its Primeval Law prevents your opponent from evolving their active Pokemon. All you have to do is stick an Aerodactyl ex on your bench and it can seriously mess up your opponent’s game plan. On top of that, its Land Crush attack does 80 damage for just two energy, which is pretty impressive.
Vaporeon Keeps Water Deck On Top
Thanks to Misty, Water has been the most dominant deck archetype throughout the Genetic Apex. Not only does Mythical Island not add any direct counter to Misty, but it further enhances Water decks with the new Vaporean.
Vaporean’s ability, Wash Out, allows you to move as much Water energy from a benched Pokemon to your active Pokemon. Water Pokemon have the highest energy cost in the game, and this ability allows you to play aggressively by attaching energy to your active Pokemon, then move them to the bench and reallocate all of their energy to another Pokemon. This is a high-skill card that will enable some truly oppressive play lines in the new meta.
Other Mythical Island Cards To Look Out For
The new Dedenne has a 10 damage attack called Thunder Shock that will paralyze the opponent’s active Pokemon with a coin flip. It only costs one Lighting energy, so its potential to stall games is incredibly high. The Reddit rage posts practically write themselves with this one.
Blue is an interesting new trainer card that reduces damage taken by ten. Considering how important Giovanni has been to reaching certain breakpoints with some decks, Blue could end up being an important counter in the new meta.
I’m particularly intrigued by the new Exeggcute. Its Growth Spurt attack lets you attach a Leaf energy to it, meaning you can run Exeggutor ex in any deck now.
From a competitive point of view, Pokemon TCG Pocket has some big problems to solve. So while Mythical Island adds a lot of new toys to play with that should widen the meta, I don’t expect any one set is going to fix the game simply by adding new cards. If you hated Misty before, you’re going to hate Misty just as much now, but at least you’ll have some new cards to play with.
Experience the fun of collecting Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) cards with Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, an upcoming game for iOS and Android devices from Creatures Inc., the original developers of the Pokémon TCG, and DeNA Co., Ltd.
In this game, you will be able to open two booster packs every day at no cost. You can collect digital cards featuring nostalgic artwork from the past as well as brand-new cards that are exclusive to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.
Be on the lookout for new “immersive cards,” which will make you feel as though you’ve leapt into the world of the card’s illustration.