Video ©2010 Pokémon. ©1995-2010 Nintendo / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc.

London State Championships Win for Nicholas Fotheringham!

Nicholas Fotheringham didn’t let his move up to the Masters age group affect his play as he battled hard over five rounds of Swiss and two knockout rounds to claim the title of London State Champion. Last year Nicholas won UK Nationals in the Seniors age group and made the top four players in the Seniors at Worlds 2009, finally finishing in third place.

Nicholas is again proving to be a tough player to beat and we have to wonder can anyone stop him? National Champion and Worlds number two Sami Sekkoum has yet to face off against Nicholas this season; when they do finally meet to battle, it is sure to be a great game.

Meanwhile Luke Burke won seven of the nine games he played at the Benelux Championships and went on to finish in second place in the Seniors age group. He decided to protect the Premier Points he earned there and dropped from London States after a first-round loss. With places at Worlds 2010 up for grabs, protecting your Premier Points is a sensible thing to do. Players across the globe all face the same dilemma about playing on and potentially losing points or dropping quickly to save your rankings place.

Freddy K was in residence at London States too. Here he is pointing out that Gyarados was the Pokémon that won him his fourth place trophy. And second place Master Tom Hall must be cursing his slip of the pen that put 4x Expert Belt into his decklist by mistake.

HeartGold SoulSilver Unleashed – 12 May

12 May is the scheduled release date for the next HeartGold SoulSilver set… Unleashed. It will see the return of Suicune, Raikou and Entei as combined Legends Cards and it promises to be just as sought after as HeartGold SoulSilver.

We expect that Prereleases will be scheduled for the weekend of 8-9 May and will go on into the following week or two.

Spring Battle Roads started in April

The Battle Road series is designed to provide players with small, entry-level events on a local scale. Battle Roads Spring tournaments give players another opportunity to work on their Premier ratings, potentially earning an invite to Worlds 2010. Look out for one of these special events at a League or Tournament near you soon.

Ditto picks the decks that caught his eye at the 5th Benelux Championships and the London State Championships…

February and March have seen two of the big Pokémon events in Europe taking place and Ditto was there to get you the his hot picks from both of them. First up was the 5th Benelux Cup on 21 February in Utrecht, Netherlands. This large European Tournament is fast becoming a must-go-to fixture for the best Pokémon Trading Card Game players across the continent.

From the Benelux Championships comes Ditto’s first Hot Pick, which is a resurrected Gardevoir/Gallade Deck that uses a combination of Spiritomb’s ‘Keystone Seal’ Poké-BODY and ‘Darkness Grace’ attack to accelerate the evolution of Gardevoir/Gallade whilst stopping either player from playing Trainer cards. Spiritomb can use ‘Darkness Grace’ to evolve any of your Pokémon lines and the attack will search the deck for the next evolution and attach it to that Pokémon.

Poké-BODY: ‘Keystone Seal’
As long as Spiritomb is your Active Pokémon, each player can’t play any Trainer cards from his or her hand.

You could use ‘Darkness Grace’ to go for an early Gardevoir, Gallade or Claydol – which could help you draw into your deck using its Poké-POWER ‘Cosmic Power’. When working alongside Gardevoir and its ‘Telepass’ Poké-POWER, Claydol can help you overcome the downside of ‘Keystone Seal’ that stops you and your opponent playing Trainer cards.

Poké-BODY: ‘Darkness Grace’
Search your deck for a card that evolves from one of your Pokémon and put it onto that Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.) If you do, put 1 damage counter on Spiritomb. Shuffle your deck afterwards.

Now factor in your Gardevoir attacking with ‘Psychic Lock’ each turn and you start to see why the deck is fun to play: it can draw the cards you need with Claydol, with the Supporter cards it has in the deck, and it can use Gardevoir and the Telepass Poké-POWER to copy any one of the Supporters from your opponent’s discard pile each turn. Meanwhile an active Spiritomb can frustrate your opponent and limit their ability to play Trainer cards and once up and running, Gardevoir will be hitting them with ‘Psychic Lock’ for 60 damage each turn and will prevent them from using any Pokémon Powers, including Claydol, during their next turn!

Graceful Gardevoir Deck

27 Pokémon Cards
4 x Ralts (Platinum #89/127)
2 x Kirlia (Platinum #51/127)
1 x Gardevoir (Platinum #8/127)
2 x Gardevoir (Secret Wonders #7/132)
1 x Gardevoir LV.X (Secret Wonders #131/132)
1 x Gallade (Secret Wonders #6/132)
1 x Duskull (Stormfront #SH2/100)
1 x Dusknoir (Diamond and Pearl #2/130)
2 x Luxray GL (Rising Rivals #9/111)
2 x Luxray GL LV.X (Rising Rivals #109/111)
2 x Baltoy (Great Encounters #60/106)
2 x Claydol (Great Encounters #15/106)
3 x Spiritomb (Arceus #32/99)
2 x Unown G (Great Encounters #15/106)
1 x Azelf (Legends Awakened #19/146)

21 Trainers/Supporters/Stadium Cards
4 x Bebe’s Search
3 x Rare Candy
3 x Team Galactic’s Wager
4 x Roseanne’s Research
2 x Moonlight Stadium
2 x Expert Belt
1 x Night Maintenance
2 x Warp Point

12 Energy Cards
7 x Psychic Energy (GS)
4 x Double Colourless Energy (GS)
1 x Lightning Energy (GS)

The deck is also loaded with some of the now familiar tech cards such as Luxray GL and Luxray GL LV.X – with which you can control which of your opponent’s Pokémon are Active – and Dusknoir, which can take Pokémon and cards attached to them from your opponent’s Bench and shuffle them back into their deck. So combine Luxray GL LV.X and Dusknoir and you can shuffle any large threat away whilst choosing your opponent’s least threatening Pokémon as their Active Pokémon.

Moonlight Stadiums give your Psychic Pokémon free retreat and Gardevoir LV.X with ‘Teleportation’ lets you switch out your Active Pokémon with itself should you get a Pokémon locked in place or affected by a Special Condition.

Poké-POWER: ‘Teleportation’
Once during your turn (before your attack), choose one of your Active Pokémon or one of your Benched Pokémon and switch Gardevoir with that Pokémon. This power can’t be used if Gardevoir is affected by a Special Condition.

And of course Gardevoir LV.X can always attack with ‘Bring Down’ which, for two Psychic Energy, will knock the Pokémon with the lowest hit points in play out of the game; just remember, that includes your Pokémon too!

CurseGar Deck

27 Pokémon Cards
3 x Gastly (Stormfront #62/100)
2 x Haunter (Arceus #41/99)
2 x Gengar (Arceus #16/99)
1 x Gengar (Stormfront #18/100)
1 x Gengar LV.X (Arceus #97/99)
4 x Spiritomb (Arceus #32/99)
2 x Baltoy (Great Encounters #60/106)
2 x Claydol (Great Encounters #15/106)
1 x Duskull (Stormfront #SH2/100)
1 x Dusknoir (Diamond and Pearl #2/130)
1 x Mewtwo (Majestic Dawn #9/100)
1 x Mewtwo LV.X (Legends Awakened #144/146)
2 x Mr. Mime (Mysterious Treasures #30/123)
1 x Relicanth (Supreme Victors #79/147)
1 x Azelf (Legends Awakened #19/146)
1 x Unown G (Great Encounters #15/106)
1 x Unown Q (Majestic Dawn #49/100)

21 Trainers/Supporters/Stadium Cards
4 x Bebe’s Search
3 x Roseanne’s Research
3 x Team Galactic’s Wager
4 x Rare Candy
2 x Warp Point
1 x Night Maintenance
2 x Expert Belt
2 x Moonlight Stadium

12 Energy Cards
7 x Psychic Energy
4 x Call Energy
1 x Fighting Energy

Shadow Skip
(60 Damage)
Does 10 damage to one of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.) You may switch Gengar with one of your Benched Pokémon.

Next up is a deck that is seeing increasing play: CurseGar. It can be used to counter decks that are Trainer-heavy like Gyarados. It uses Spiritomb to keep Trainers in your opponent’s hand whilst evolving up to Gengar from Stormfront, which will do 30 damage for each Trainer, Supporter and Stadium Card in their hand!

The ‘Curse’ part of the deck comes from the second Gengar being played from the Arceus set, which has the ‘Curse’ Poké-POWER. This allows you to move a damage counter from one of your opponent’s Pokémon to another of their Pokémon. And with two working together it is possible to line up a Pokémon for a One-Hit Knock Out or even Knock Out two Pokémon in one turn, by moving damage counters around on your opponent’s Benched Pokémon.

Poltergeist
(30 Damage)
Look at your opponent’s hand. This attack does 30 damage times the number of Trainer, Supporter and Stadium cards in your opponent’s hand.

And Gengar has another trick too: if the Stormfront Gengar is Knocked Out by damage from an attack, you flip a coin and if it’s heads, you Knock Out the Attacking Pokémon as well! So your opponent will be wary of Knocking Out Gengar, just in case they lose their Active Pokémon to ‘Fainting Spell’.

The real key to the deck is Arceus Gengar and its ‘Shadow Skip’ attack; this does 60 damage to the Defending Pokémon and then lets you switch Gengar with one of your Benched Pokémon, ideally a Spiritomb. You then attach an Unown Q from your Bench to Spiritomb or use Moonlight Stadium to free retreat and repeat Gengar’s ‘Shadow Skip’ attack.

The result is a very frustrated opponent who is again effectively locked out of playing any Trainers whilst you are protecting your main hitter, Gengar. Because Luxray GL LV.X can effectively break the lock, the deck also plays Mewtwo LV.X and Mr Mime, shutting down low-Energy-count attacks and attacks from Basic Pokémon.

That is it for Ditto this month. Why not give one of these Tournament-winning decks a whirl and see if you have what it takes to master one of Ditto’s Hot Pick decks?

Another new home for the UK Nationals, pay attention now…

This summertime, 12 June will see UK Nationals moving to another new home: Wicksteed Park Pavilion near Kettering. Wicksteed Park can be found just off the A6003, not far from the A14, in the county of Northamptonshire.

As well as the Pavilion venue for UK Nationals, Wicksteed Park also offers a great fairground with a range of attractions that are designed specifically for families with young children, up to 14 years old. There are lots of cool rides like the Double Pirate Ship, Chairoplanes, Astroglide and Rockin’ Tug, or you could try your hand at Wicky’s Inflatable Laser Tag. All in preparation for your Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament, of course! Check out where this Pokémon event is going to be held by pointing your browser to www.wicksteedpark.co.uk and we will bring you more details on UK Nationals when we know them.

Dates For Your Diary

Provisional Prerelease dates for the next card set…

We have got some hot news for you on the next Pokémon Trading Card Game set to be released. The long-awaited HeartGold & SoulSilver has been given an official release date of 10 February in the UK. That should mean Prerelease tournaments happening around the end of January and the first weekend in February. This English-language set is the equivalent of Japan’s already released LEGEND: HeartGold and SoulSilver. Although with just 120 cards, the set does look light by 44 cards – the Japanese set had 150 cards and an additional 14 promos.

With 44 cards to be cut, it looks likely that our second English-language HeartGold & SoulSilver set will consist of the 44 cut cards, plus the 54 cards from the Battle Starter Decks and Expert Decks in Japan. So that is Leafeon vs Metagross and possibly some of the more recent Japanese promos such as Raichu (Prime). Revived Legends, the third of the HeartGold & SoulSilver sets, should be along with the Tyranitar and Steelix theme decks sometime in August.

HEARTGOLD & SOULSILVER
Release date: 10 February
Set contains: 120 cards
Details:
• New kinds of cards that will change the way you play
• Six new Pokémon Prime cards
• Astonishing dual-card Pokémon LEGENDS: Ho-Oh and Lugia
• New Trainer cards that will accelerate your game
• Select Energy cards with a brand-new look
• Three exciting theme decks built around…
Mind Flood – featuring Feraligatr
Ember Spark – with Typhlosion
Growth Clash – starring Meganium

City Championship Promo Gible

Take a look at the promotional card given out to all who played…

Despite the City Championship support being late in arriving here in the UK, we did manage to catch a glimpse of the promotional card being issued to all who attended a UK City Championships. Gible, from the Supreme Victors set, gets a nice shiny make-over for the CCs as a new-style reverse Holofoil Promo card. So a good guess for States promo would the Supreme Victors Gabite; and for UK Nationals Promo, the Supreme Victors Garchomp. Both should look great as Reverse Holo ‘Poké Ball’ Promos, and the set of three will be a must for Pokémon TCG card collectors.

The first of the UK City Championships are starting just as we are going to press, so the tournament reports will have to wait until next issue, when we will be bringing you pictures of the players in action, the latest of Ditto’s Hot Picks as well as more news and reviews from across the UK and the Pokémon Trading Card Game playing world.

Two Winter Warmers to keep the chill of losing away.…

The first of Ditto’s Winter Warmers is a deck that utilises the power of two of the latest Promo cards from Nintendo: Cresselia and Darkrai. Cresselia (DP Promo 51) and Darkrai (DP Promo 52) enhance each other when they are both in play. Cresselia has a healing Poké-BODY ‘Lunar Aura’ that heals itself for one damage counter between turns if you have Darkrai in play too. So that is ten damage removed between your opponent’s turn and your turn, and then another ten damage between your turn and your opponent’s next turn.

Very useful indeed when your one and only attack, ‘Lunar Flight’ does 80 damage for two Psychic Energy minus ten damage for each damage counter on Cresselia. With ‘Lunar Aura’ you can always make sure you are hitting your opponent’s Pokémon for a bigger attack than you would otherwise be able to do. But you will want to make sure that when Cresselia does attack, you have Levelled Up to the deadly Cresselia LV.X from the Diamond & Pearl: Great Encounters set. It has a great attack that can get you two Prizes when you Knock Out a Pokémon, and it has an awesome Poké-POWER too.

Poké-POWER: Full Moon Dance
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may move one damage counter from either player’s Pokémon to another Pokémon (yours or your opponent’s). This power can’t be used if Cresselia is affected by a Special Condition.

So now you can remove two damage counters between your opponent’s last turn and his or her next turn using ‘Lunar Aura’ and you can move a damage counter from any of your Pokémon to any one of their Pokémon on each of your turns too, using Cresselia’s ‘Full Moon Dance’ Poké-POWER.

‘If the Defending Pokémon is Knocked Out by this attack, take one more Prize card.’

Finally, Cresselia LV.X gives you yet another reason to play with Cresselia: its ‘Moon Skip’ attack. For the same two Psychic and one other Energy requirement of ‘Lunar Flight’, Cresselia can use ‘Moon Skip’ to attack and do 40 damage. Okay, it is only 40 damage instead of ‘Luna Flight’s 80 damage and you may think why should I bother to use it? The answer is, of course, because ‘Moon Skip’ gives you the chance to take one more Prize when you knock out an opponent’s Pokémon when you attack for a Knock Out; two for the price of one is always nice. Level Up at the right moment and attack with Cresselia LV.X utilising ‘Moon Skip’ and ‘Full Moon Dance’ and you could be winning your game early.

Winter Warmer One The ‘DarkCress’ Deck
23 Pokémon
4 x Sneasel
2 x Weavile
2 x Cresselia (Promo DP51)
2 x Cresselia LV.X
2 x Darkrai (Promo DP52)
2 x Darkrai LV.X
3 x Uxie
1 x Uxie LV.X
3 x Unown Q
2 x Unown G

23 Trainers/Supporters/Stadium
4 x Roseanne’s Research
2 x Bebe’s Search
1 x Lucian’s Assignment
2 x VS Seeker
2 x Night Maintenance
2 x Expert Belt
1 x Luxury Ball
4 x Great Ball
2 x Premier Ball
2 x Warp Point
1 x Technical Machine TS-2

14 Energy Cards
4 x Call Energy – Special
5 x Darkness Energy – Basic
5 x Psychic Energy – Basic

Darkrai itself is no slouch and it has a good Poké-BODY too, ‘Darkness Aura’ that adds 20 damage to each of Darkrai’s attacks if you have Cresselia in play. For two Dark Energy and one of any other type, Darkrai can attack for 60 damage with an additional coin flip of heads that will put your opponent’s Active Defending Pokémon to sleep. Of course, with Cresselia in play, that attack goes up to 80 – and with Special Darkness Energy attached, you could do even more damage.

Darkness Energy – Special Energy Card
If the Pokémon Darkness Energy is attached to attacks, the attack does 10 more damage to the Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). Ignore this effect if the Pokémon that Darkness Energy is attached to isn’t a Dark Pokémon. Darkness Energy provides one Dark Energy. (Doesn’t count as a basic Energy card.)

You are limited to just four Darkness Energy cards in your deck, but you can augment those with basic Dark Energy. And Darkrai LV.X has a nice Poké-BODY ‘Dark Shadow’ that can give Basic Dark Energy the same ability as Special Darkness Energy so that they all add +10 damage to an attack when attached to a Dark Pokémon.

Poké-BODY: Dark Shadow
Each basic Dark Energy card attached to your Dark Pokémon now has the effect “if the Pokémon Dark Energy is attached to attacks, the attack does 10 more damage to the Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).” You can’t use more than one Dark Shadow Poké-BODY each turn.

Now this deck has two potentially big problems; the first is the Energy requirements to use Cresselia and Darkrai’s attacks. All of Cresselia’s and Darkrai’s attacks require three Energy cards to be attached, to either the Basic Pokémon or their Level X Pokémon. That can get you into serious trouble at the start of the game when your opponent may be looking to rush you with cheap attacks. As well as being slow to get up and running, the deck would also have a horrible time dealing with Mewtwo LV.X and it’s ‘Psybarrier’ Poké-BODY.
Now there is a natural choice to get round both the speed problem and the possibility that your opponent will be playing Mewtwo Level X: the answer is to put Weavile into the deck. Not only can it provide Energy acceleration via its no-Energy-required ‘Shadow Charge’ attack, it can also use ‘Chip Off’ to hit back at any potential Mewtwo LV.X. If you start your game with an Active Sneasel and evolve to Weavile, you can quickly get a fully charged Darkrai up and running that can then use ‘Hypnoblast’ to hit for up to 110 damage with a Cresselia in play. An Expert Belt could push that even higher, but they should really be saved for use with Cresselia. Once it is charged up with two Psychic and one Dark Energy, Darkrai can then retreat and Cresselia can move up to attack with ‘Moon Skip’ for 70 damage.

Poké-POWER: Dark Engage
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may use this power. Each of your Active Pokémon’s type is Dark until the end of your turn. If that Pokémon is no longer your Active Pokémon, this effect ends. That is 40 damage for ‘Moon Skip’ and another 20 damage from the Expert Belt, taking it to 60 damage – and, of course, another ten damage from the Dark or Darkness Energy attached when you use Weavile’s Poké-POWER to turn Cresselia into a Dark Pokémon, while Darkrai effectively turns all Basic Dark Energy into Special Darkness Energy!

And don’t forget the ability to move a damage counter from Cresselia to one of your opponent’s Pokémon too. That will hopefully help increase your ability to take two Prizes in one turn. The downside of Expert Belt can be limited and worked around when it is attached to Cresselia. With its ability to heal itself and move damage counters, you can always retreat a badly damaged Cresselia to the Bench and wait for it to heal, thus preventing the two-Prize penalty from Expert Belt.

The deck rounds itself off with a nice back-up line of Pokémon, Supporters and Trainers. Uxie will help the deck draw into the cards it needs through its ‘Set Up’ Poké-POWER, while Unown G prevents effects of attacks and stops Machamp from KOing your Basic Pokémon for just one Energy! The Unown Qs help with paying your retreat costs.

Meanwhile Uxie LV.X gives you another potential attacker that can always soak up some damage and then return itself to the bottom of your deck. And, of course, Uxie LV.X also has the ‘Trade Off’ Poké-POWER too, which again can help you draw into the cards you need when you need them. Roseanne’s Research can get you Basic Pokémon and Basic Energy cards from your deck, while Bebe’s Search can get you any Pokémon including Level X ones. Great Ball will put any Basic Pokémon from your deck to your Bench – great for getting those Unowns just before you use their Poké-POWERs to attach them as Pokémon Tools.
Lucian’s Assignment helps you keep those all-important Energy cards in play, while Night Maintenance helps you get Energy and Pokémon back from your discard pile into your deck. VS Seeker will let you play your Supporters for a second time, while Premier Ball can raid your deck or discard pile for the Level X Pokémon your deck needs. Our next deck also abuses Expert Belt and shows how you can use one small Basic Pokémon to do a lot of damage very quickly. It also uses an insane 42 Trainer, Supporter and Stadium cards and just three Basic Energy!

Nicknamed Area 51 by some players, the deck looks to use the Pokémon TCG Platinum set Shuppet as its main attacker. The deck transforms this humble Basic Pokémon into a huge hitter through the use of and abuse of its one-Psychic-Energy-cost ‘Fade Out’ attack. So how does this deck turn the humble Shuppet into a deadly ninja warrior who hits hard and then disappears? Well, 42 Trainers help – the aim of the deck is to overwhelm your opponent in a rush so fast and furious that they will never recover.

Great Ball is used to get the Unown Rs and maybe Shuppet at a pinch, with the Unown Rs being discarded straight away to draw another card. Pokédex HANDY 910is draws two and then puts one of them (the one you don’t want just yet) on the bottom of your deck, while multiple Uxies help you get your hand back up to seven cards. Pokémon Contest Hall is used as yet another way to get Basic Unowns onto your bench, ready to use their Poké-POWERS, and again can be used to get Shuppet in a pinch.

Poke Blower+ is used to inflict ten damage on a Pokémon, or you can wait and use two together to bring out one of your opponent’s support Pokémon or a Benched threat they may be building up, before KOing it. Crobat G adds to your opponent’s pain, with the deck’s four Poké Turn and four Super Scoop Up allowing you to repeat that pain for up to eight times – especially if you are blessed with good luck on your heads/tails coin flips for Super Scoop Up. Expert Belt is abused again in the deck, this time when attached to Shuppet together with PlusPower: after attacking with ‘Fade Out’, Shuppet is returned to your hand together with all cards attached to it!

’Fade Out’:
Return Shuppet and all cards attached to it to your hand. (If you don’t have any Benched Pokémon, this attack does nothing.)

Winter Warmer TWO The ‘Area 51’ Deck
15 Pokémon
3 x Shuppet
4 x Uxie
1 x Unown Q
4 x Unown R
2 x Crobat G
1 x Banette

42 Trainers/Supporters/Stadium
3 x Time-Space Distortion
3 x Roseanne’s Research
1 x Luxury Ball
4 x Poke Drawer +
1 x Night Maintenance
4 x Super Scoop Up
4 x Night Teleporter
4 x Poké Blower +
4 x Poké Turn
2 x Expert Belt
4 x PlusPower
4 x Pokédex HANDY 910is
4 x Great Ball

3 Energy Cards
3 x Basic Psychic Energy

Finally, Banette completes the deck and ensures that Area 51 can get round that pesky Mewtwo LV.X to continue its rampage. Later in the game you could be hitting for 90 damage a turn with Shuppet: attach one Psychic Energy, Expert Belt and four Plus Powers, attack with Fade Out, return Shuppet and all cards attached back to your hand! Repeat next turn and Fade Out for the win.

So as the nights draw in and you sit huddled by the fire, grab one of Ditto’s Winter Warming Hot Picks and get yourself down to the local Pokémon TCG League or Tournament and give them a go. We’re sure you’ll do well and leave your opponents amazed at your TCG skills!

Video ©2010 Pokémon. ©1995-2010 Nintendo / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc.

So your deck is built, you have playtested it against your friends, the big tournament is coming up. Now is the time to add some bling, and dazzle your opponents with your deck as well as your sparkling play ability. Yes it is time to BLING IT ON! And it is not just those big, bad EX Pokémon that can shine, oh no. Since Legendary Collection first introduced them, Reverse Holofoil Cards have been found in our Pokémon TCG packs giving a shine to even the most humble Pokémon.

Many Pokémon TCG Players like to add some of that sparkle to their decks by using holofoil, reverse holofoil and rare stamped cards to replace the normal cards in their deck. The ultimate aim will be to replace all the cards in the deck with holofoil, reverse holofoil cards and special stamped cards. With the Regional Championships completed by the time this issue goes to print and with UK Nationals looming, we thought we would give you the Pokémon World guide to adding some ‘bling’ to your deck…

Energy Cards…
Now you would think that replacing all the Energy Cards in your deck with Holofoil and Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards is going to be a hard job; after all, that could be up to a third of your deck to find. Well, think again, Holofoil and Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards are some of the easiest ‘bling’ cards to find.

You may not know it yet, but when it comes to Holofoil and Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards you are in fact spoilt for choice. There are the old Wizard of the Coast (WotC) Holofoil Energy Cards that were given out in huge numbers at their final goodbye tournaments. They are still Modified Format Tournament Legal and are highly shiny, though they do look a little outdated. They are cheap to buy too. On eBay, we found some at £4.50 plus postage for 25 Holofoil Energy Cards, that is bargain-priced bling! And there are more WotC-era cards to help you, like the Winners and non-Winners Reverse Holofoil Special Energy card. Then there are the first Nintendo Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards from Ruby and Saphire, these are harder to find as they were not printed in great numbers; however, their flat shiny look is quite classic.

Then, of course, in the EX Emerald Set Nintendo started printing a new generation of Holofoil Energy Cards, they became easier to find and the preceding sets have continued to give us some amazing variations in the look and style of Holofoil Energy Cards. When they were first seen the Matrix Energy Cards from Ex Emerald were hot property and very sought after by players. They have lost their appeal somewhat since then and with a new Holofoil treatment given to the Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards in EX Holon Phantoms, players were soon scrambling to add the newer bling energy cards to their decks. Nintendo quickly followed this up and EX Power Keepers released the Matrix/Phantoms mix effect Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards. But if you really want to impress your opponents with bling in your deck, then the lastest Holofoil Effect Energy Cards from the Pokémon TCG League Player Rewards Program are just the thing. Using the same symbols as the classic energy cards, but with a brand new highly shiny foil treatment, these cards will leave your opponent gasping and asking you just where you got your energy cards from!

Finally, if you really want to be exclusive, you could always go for the Professor Energy Cards. Issued to Pokémon Professors as a reward for all their hard work during the 2004/2005 tournament season, the Professor cards are rarely seen outside the decks of these Pokémon gurus. They don’t have a Holofoil treatment, just a very discrete and classy Professor Program Logo and the words ‘Professor Program 2004-2005’ stamped in silver just below the word ‘Energy’ on the Energy Cards.

A word of warning, though, their rarity is reflected in the cost of these cards. Current prices start from around £7.50 for a set of six and they rarely appear on eBay, if you see them and you can afford them they are well worth grabbing. But if you want to add your Energy Bling on a budget buy the old WotC Promo Reverse Holofoil Energy Cards.

Pokémon Cards…
Okay, so you have sorted out your Energy Cards and now it is time to look at the Pokémon. Now the fun really starts because you can bling your deck the obvious way with Reverse Holofoil Cards and that will look really cool too, just like our Holofoil Machamp line above. But once you have started on the Pokémon bling you can take your deck over the top by adding some very exclusive cards.

How about adding an exclusive Nationals Machamp to your line-up? What if we go one better and make it a Staff Promo! Again we must warn you that Staff promos are very rare cards and prices start from £30 for a good condition staff promo. What about some of the exclusive cards you already have? Maybe you have been to the 10th Anniversary Tour and can use that Pikachu promo in your deck? What about the City Championship Squirtle Promo? Or some of those pre-release stamped cards? As you play in more Pokémon Organised Play Events you can win more bling for your deck! And don’t forget your league rewards, those Pokémon Organised Play Promo Packs contain exclusive Pokémon Cards – okay, they are not shiny holofoils but they are more exclusive than most cards.

Trainer Cards…
Finally, we come to the Trainer Cards, just like the Pokémon and the Energy Cards your choices are endless and with Trainer Cards being reprinted more than most other cards, you will also have an easier time adding that bling. If you want to include something a little more exclusive there are the newer Professor Reward promos like Professor Birch and Professor Elm’s Research that, like the professor Energy Cards, are exclusive to the Pokémon Professor Program and given as rewards to Pokémon Professors.

However you decide to bling up your deck, we hope you have fun doing it and that it adds some sparkle to your play. And if you have not yet participated in a Pokémon Organised Play event or you have to join your local Pokémon TCG League, just remember you are missing out on a chance to bling your deck with some very exclusive and very shiny cards.

Choosing the correct Basic Pokémon to feature in your Deck either as a Starting Pokémon for an Evolution Line, or as the foundation of a Big Basic Pokémon (BBP) Deck can be key to winning or losing games. But just how do you choose the right Basic Pokémon and what criteria should you use to help you now and in the future? Well to help you make that choice we have put together the Pokémon World guide to choosing Basic Pokémon, yes it’s time we went ‘Back to Basics’…

Hit Points and Big Basic Pokémon (BBP)…
Back when the Pokémon TCG first hit the UK in 1998 a Deck emerged that utilised Big Basic Pokémon it was named after Base Hitmonchan’s attack translated as Haymaker, the Deck was fast, furious and won through strength and speed. Today with a format dominated by Pokémon Powers, Stage One and Stage Two Pokémon and combinations working together to deliver a knock-out blow there are not many usable Big Basic Pokémon left.

Latias and Latios are the obvious exceptions and form the basis for a Deck all by themselves, but there are others we can find, take a look through your collection and see if you can spot any usable BBPs? Some are only good as supporting Pokémon for your evolution lines, some are not playable at present and some are just plain bad. There are not many viable BBP Decks in the current format, but maximising the Hit Points (HP) of a Basic Pokémon still matters when choosing the Pokémon for your support or evolution lines.

Let us look at how you use HP when choosing a Basic Pokémon to start your evolutionary lines. Consider Trapinch, it is the start of the evolutionary line that ends with that powerhouse stage two Pokémon Flygon EX, and its support line of Flygon ‘delta’. Just how do we choose the right Trapinch? We have a choice here of three…

If we based the choice purely on HP you would have to choose the EX Legend Maker Trapinch every time. But most Flygon/Flygon EX decks do not play that Trapinch! Why? Well, the other delta tagged cards have better synergy with the rest of the cards in the deck and that synergy is more important than an extra 10 HP.

Expect to see a Flygon deck stuffed full with delta tagged Pokémon because they use that staple of most ‘delta draw decks’; Holon’s Castform. The ability to draw cards based on the number of ‘delta-tagged’ Pokémon you have in play is awesome and ‘Delta Draw’ alone makes it worth considering in any delta deck. Combine that with being able to play Holon’s Castform as a Double Rainbow Energy and that clinches it. In decks where the ‘Holon Draw Engine’ and Holon’s Castform are key components you will find that Synergy wins out over HP and other considerations when choosing which basic Pokémon to play.

Pokémon Powers (Poké-POWERS) and PokéBODYS)…
Sometimes a Pokémon Power or series of Pokémon Powers (Poké-POWERS and Poké-BODYS) are so good that they lead you to include a Pokémon in your deck even when the hit points are low, or other items on our list would lead you to not normally include a particular Basic Pokémon in your deck.

The ‘Delta Tagged’ Latias EX and Latios EX both have amazing Pokémon powers, good hit points and in Latios some great attacks, but even the humble 40 HP Eevee can have a Pokémon power that makes it worthy of putting in a deck. Look through your collections and see which Basic Pokémon have interesting and usable Pokémon powers. Take another look at Mewtwo from EX Delta Species, this Pokémon lets us rearrange our basic energy cards when played from your hand, it is very useful and often just one basic as support tech in a deck is all you need.

Synergy With Your Deck…
Synergy is all about how the cards in your deck work together, Latias and Latios EX have a synergy that works well together and with the other Latias and Latios variants available to the current modified format. As we have already said, Holon’s Castform has a marvellous synergy with any deck using ‘delta tagged’ Pokémon; a powerful draw card and a double rainbow energy card too. It also works well with Holon Mentor and the other Holon Trainers.

Attacks…
Now we can take a look at Attacks, we will work through our list of points to look out for the right Attacks when choosing a basic Pokémon. Take the four Eevees here, all are from the current modified format, the first from the Pokémon Organised Play Promo Booster Pack 3 (POP 3), the second from the EX Unseen Forces set and third and fourth from the EX Delta Species set. How would you assess which one would be the better card to put into a deck as a starting Basic Pokémon? We start by looking at the Hit Points and it would seem obvious at first that 40 HP is not good enough, especially when combined with a weakness to fighting as well. And indeed I would be pushed to play the Ex Unseen Forces Eevee, but some decks; mainly ‘Eeveelutions’, would risk the low hit points to use the ‘Energy Evolution’ Poké-POWER. Still it is too risky unless the Synergy of ‘Energy Evolution’ and a good Stage One evolution like the EX Unseen Forces Vaporeon with a great first attack that is key to the deck, otherwise we would not pick the EX Unseen Forces Eevee.

One down and three left to pick from and all with 50 HP, it seems there is nothing to choose between them on HP, all are without Pokémon Powers and all have a weakness to fighting types. So what about Deck Synergy and Attacks then? Well, the most useful in just about any deck would be the EX Delta Species set Eevee with the ‘Call for Family’ attack, but if you were building some weird Delta Species themed deck then maybe the EX Delta Species set ‘Delta Tagged’ Eevee with the ‘Metal Scoop’ attack would be the one, but the POP3 Eevee just isn’t good enough. So with just two to choose from, it has to be the ‘Non-Delta Tagged’ EX Delta Species Eevee #69/113 as our pick that versatile first attack wins through with an ability to go and get a Pokémon from your deck and put it onto your bench.

Weakness and Resistance…
You need to consider what are the dominant forces in the playing environment, and, where possible, look to exploit them by trying to pick Pokémon with a resistance to popular decks. Make sure too that they do not have a weakness to the popular decks around and if you can, try to consider what those decks are weak to. Fighting, Psychic and Lightning weakness are all going to bite you at the moment with three of the most popular decks, Raieggs, Flygon and Metanite using fighting, psychic and lightning Pokémon.

Retreat Costs…
The last thing you need is a Pokémon stuck out active that you cannot afford the retreat costs for. Always consider the retreat cost of your basics and look to minimise it where possible. If you do end up with two or three energy retreat costs either be prepared to let that pokémon be knocked out or have some switch and warp point handy.

Basic Pokémon – How to choose and what to look out for
• Hit Points
• Pokémon Powers (Poké-POWERS and Poké-BODYS)
• Synergy with your deck
• Attacks (including ascension, energy collection and push away)
• Weakness and Resistance
• Retreat Cost

All of us in the Pokémon World office are just drooling over the new Japanese 151 branded Pokémon T-shirts. The ‘Pokémon 151’ brand is aimed primarily at adult Pokémon fans and the T-shirts feature only the first generation of Pokémon, the original 151. Take a look at the pics on this page – they’re really cool.

All that drooling soon made us thirsty and over a cup of tea we got thinking about what other Pokémon goodies, clothing, card accessories, deck boxes and sleeves were available to Pokémon TCG players right now in the UK. What can you wear, use and flaunt at the next Pokémon TCG tournament you go to? Just how can you show your true Pokémon colours?

First of all let us take a look at some the baseball caps that were given as prizes to winners and participants by Pokémon Organized Play. Our favourite is last year’s World Championship attendees baseball cap featuring that loveable yellow chap Pikachu, but Mewtwo comes a close second.

So what else can you wear? Well there are the more exclusive Pokémon Professor baseball caps and the Professor T-shirts and polo shirts. Of course, you could buy a Pokémon branded T-shirt or baseball cap in the shops or even try and get hold of some of the fan produced T-shirts and polo shirts, like the Gamer’s Guild ones that feature a certain Pokémon magazine displayed prominently on their left breast! Of course, if you happened to have won a Pokémon

City Championship in the last three years then you could always wear your ‘bling’ and put on your CC medal. For those without a medal what about your league badges? There are loads of Pokémon TCG League badges to choose from; show how long you have been playing with some old school league badges or your winner’s medals.

Then again you could always casually pull a notepad and pen from your bag and make notes on your game – how about using that notepad you got at a pre-release? What about the one in the winners’ goodies at the city championships? There are even pencils to go with that one. If you are friendly with one of the Pokémon Professors in your area you could always trade them for one of their exclusive Pokémon Professor Program notebooks and Professor Program pens. There is one item that you will not normally get your local Pokémon TCG Professor to trade, if he has one – he will probably not let go of his very exclusive Professor Program watch. The watches were an item that Professors only had available to them for a very limited time and they soon went out of stock. If you ever get a chance to barter or trade for one then you will be extremely lucky.
Well we have covered hats, shirts, watches, pens, notebooks, badges and medals, so what else can you do to show your true Pokémon colours? How about the accessories that help you play the game, or that protect your deck?

What about the coins you use to flips for heads or tails? Yes we know that a lot of the Pokémon TCG Players do not like flipping coins and use dice instead but we like sticking with the true spirit of the game in our office. The rules of the game say to flip a coin and we encourage all players to get practising with one, and again here is a chance to show your true colours. We like to use older coins or Japanese ones yet to be released in the UK to ‘bling’ up
our play table.

Pokémon Organized Play-approved coins are available in any of the Pokémon USA theme decks, Japanese theme and half decks and the Trainer Kits. They come in all sorts of patterns and colours and usually feature Pokémon characters – the Team Aqua and Team Magma coins are the exception here as they feature the Team Symbols, a stylised A on a blue coin and a stylised M on a red coin. Can you spot them in the picture above?

The older-style thin Wizards of the Coast coins are not approved by Pokémon Organized Play for tournament use. So stick to the thicker coins – they look nicer and flip better than the old WotC ones and are sure to liven up your games.

You can go very Japanese on your damage counters and damage counter storage, for the ultimate in showing off at the Pokémon TCG Table. Try the Dialga and Palkia damage counter box – it has two flip lid compartments to store your damage counters, coins and poison and burn markers.

We have some Japanese counters that we keep with ours and the box is small and neat enough to slip into a bag or pocket and not take up much space. You will want to protect your cards and store them safely too, so how about some of those POP Promotional Card Sleeves that get given out at Pre-Releases or the multitude of Pokémon branded deck boxes to keep your decks in. Here are just a few examples from the goodies pile here in our office.

So, now you have something to wear, you have sleeved your deck, found a box to put it in, and got your damage counters and coins, finally you can choose a bag to put it in. We suggest you try one of the City Championship bags. There is a choice of Pikachu, Groudon and Blastoise to choose from; we use the Groudon bag all the time for hauling our paperwork and, of course, copies of Pokémon World around the place.

If you did not win one of the City Championships bags do not despair, there are lots of Pokémon branded bags in all sorts of shapes and sizes that can carry your TCG stuff. We particularly like the old style Pikachu plush backpack that can still be found on eBay
for under £10. Here is our Pikachu plush bag hanging around the office waiting to go home!

However far you want to go when showing your true Pokémon colours is up to you; a discrete League Badge and a nice deck box and sleeves may be all you want to do, or maybe, like a true Pokéfan, you will want to wear, use and display as many Pokémon branded products as you can! Be it a small show or large, remember always wear your Pokécolours with pride. If you’ve got some great PTCG game stuff, send in a photo and you could end up in the monthly magazine!

Our intrepid Pokémon World reporters have been visiting Tournaments and City Championships over the past few months and we have noticed that some of you are making what we think are fundamental mistakes. We had to act – so here it is our list of the top seven mistakes we saw being made – Pokémon World’s Seven Deadly Sins!

Sin #1

Rainbow Energy & Friends
Rainbow Energy and its friends Double Rainbow Energy, Delta Rainbow Energy, Holon Castform, Holon Electode, Holon Magneton, Multi Energy and finally Scramble Energy, can all produce more than one energy type. Some, like Double Rainbow, Holon Castform, Holon Electrode, Holon Magneton and Scramble Energy provide more than one energy as well.

The common mistake being made when these cards are played in a deck is that players think they can dictate what energy types these cards produce. This is wrong and the first of our seven deadly sins.

If it says while in play, “this Energy provides every type of Energy” but provides only ‘1, 2 or 3’ Energy at a time, what it means is that as in the case of Rainbow, Delta Rainbow and Multi Energy the card provides every Energy type but just one energy at a time. So Ralts, 60/101 from EX Dragon Frontiers could use any of these Energy cards to either use its Hypnosis attack, requiring one Colourless Energy or Psychic Boom for one Psychic Energy.  It is as important to remember that when an attack says discard all cards of one Energy type that includes your Rainbow Energy cards and it’s friends, you can not dictate that it is another type of Energy when it comes to discarding.

Sin #2

One Energy per turn, unless you can legitimately break the rule!

Remember to only attach one Energy Card a turn, be careful when you do your Energy attachment. For example, do you do it before playing a trainer to draw more cards or afterwards? It all depends on the situation so think before attaching and look at the game state too. It really is not worth attaching an Energy to a Pokémon that is going to be knocked out next turn, unless you can get a good attack in first with it. Look out for ways of attaching more than one Energy a turn, like using Blaziken’s Fire Starter or Gardevoirs Psy Shadow Poké-POWER. Rule breakers like these often form the core of decks like the MetaNite deck that abuses Delta Species Dragonites Power to suck Lightening Energy from the discard pile.

Sin #3

Swift Attacks – bypass Metal Energy and Safe Guard Poké-BODY!
This sin is caused by players not using Swift Attacks like EX Deoxys Fastwave properly. These attacks get through all effects on the defending Pokémon including Metal Energy, Resistance and Poké-BODY effects like Safeguard.

Nidoqueen players beware when Ex Deoxys is played it can One Hit Knockout the Queen regardless of how many Metal Energy is on her! Swift type attacks may not be the most powerful out there and usually will not get you a one hit knockout (OHK) but their ability to bypass all effects on the defending Pokémon make them worth looking at, just make sure next time you play a Pokémon with a Swift type attack you play it properly!

Sin #4

Stadiums – only one per turn
Here is an old rules change that has slipped by many players, you can only play one Stadium a turn and you cannot replace a Stadium in play with one of the same name. So you can not, for example, play a Power Tree Stadium card, put a Basic Energy from your discard pile back into your hand and then play another Power Tree Stadium to discard the one in play, and then use the new Stadium’s Power again to retrieve another Basic Energy card from your discard pile. So remember with Stadium Cards it is one per turn and no duplication of the one in play! If you want to ensure you get regular updates of the Pokémon Trading Card Game rules, then you need to subscribe to Pokémon World magazine where our resident expert updates players all over the world each month.

Sin #5

Retreat Once – only once per turn unless using trainers
You can only retreat once a turn by discarding Energy, but you can retreat multiple times by using Trainers such as Switch and Warp Point or Energy cards like Warp Energy. This once per turn limit on retreating has been around a while but still gets misplayed time and time again. So look out for it and do not retreat more than once a turn yourself.

Sin #6

Self Referencing Cards – complex but important rules
Now this looks more complex than it is, honest! Some cards refer to themselves by name of the Pokémon on the card. For example the Slaking reprint from Ex Power Keepers has the Poké-BODY Lazy which says, “As long as Slaking is your Active Pokémon, your opponent’s Pokémon can’t use any Poké-Powers.” Some players have argued that if any of the TCG Slaking cards are active whilst a Slaking with the Lazy Poké-BODY is in play then the Pokémon Body applies to it too and your opponent can’t use any Poke-Powers. That is incorrect, the way to read the sentence is, “As long as this card is your Active Pokémon, your opponent’s Pokémon can’t use any Poké-Powers.” By replacing the text Slaking with this card we can now see exactly how the power works. This is called self referencing and is the easy way to read these complex Poké-Powers and Poké-BODIES so that they work correctly.

Sin #7

No Evolving on the First Turn – Unless you have played a card that allows you to break this rule

Another fundamental rule of the game that gets forgotten sometimes in the heat of battle is this one, you can only evolve a Pokémon once per turn and not on your first turn or the turn it first comes into play. You can get around this with the use of Rare Candy and Wally’s Training, for example, but otherwise the rule still stands. So make sure you do not try to evolve your Pokémon when they can not do so.

Thou Shalt Not…
1. Rainbow Energy and pals – misplaying cards that produce more than one Energy type.
2. One Energy Attachment per turn – unless you have card in play that allows more.
3. Swift Attacks – does ignore all effects on the defending Pokémon including Metal Energy and Safeguard.
4. Stadiums – Only one per turn and not the same as already in play.
5. Retreat Once – but Switch and Warp do not count towards this limit.
6.Self Referencing Cards – A complex but very misplayed rule.
7. No Evolving on the First Turn – unless you have played a card that allows you to break this rule.

It has been a couple of months now since we last talked about the game-breaking cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game (PTCG). We looked at how all games have rules that regulate how you play them. The PTCG is no exception and it too has rules about how to play the game, what you can do and when you can do it. But, we also told you that there are ways round the rules of the game, and that…

“Where the text on a card overrules the rulebook, the card text takes precedence.”

With that in mind, over two issues we looked at some of the cards that could break the basic rules of the game when it came to evolving and placing energy cards. In this issue we will continue to look at how the rules can be broken or bent by the text on our Pokémon, Trainer, Supporter and Stadium Cards. We finished last time on page nine of the rulebook, taken from the Stormfront ‘Dark Rampage’ theme deck. We looked at how you could get round the rules on placing one energy from your hand each turn and how some Poké-Powers, Poké-Bodies and even Attacks could allow you to play extra energy each turn.

Since that last report the Platinum set has been making a real impact on the tournament scene and Platinum Rising Rivals is set to hit the shops before this issue goes on sale. That set is bound to add new game-breaking cards to the game. In the meantime, let us continue to look at the current crop of game-breaking cards, as we go back to page nine of the rule book to look at how you can get round the restrictions on playing Supporters.

“On the first turn of the game, the starting player cannot play any Trainer, Supporter, or Stadium Cards from his or her hand, including Fossil Pokémon (such as Claw Fossil, Root Fossil, etc).”

Not being able to play Trainer Cards, Supporters and Stadiums when you are going first is a serious setback. In the past going first only meant you missed the chance of playing Supporter Cards, but now it prevents you from playing anything other than Basic Pokémon and Energy. Going first may get you ahead by one energy drop but it can certainly cost you the game, especially if you cannot play a much-needed Supporter Card. So what can you do to get round the no Trainers, Supporters and Stadiums on turn one if you are going first?

Sableye from the Diamond & Pearl Stormfront Set is a useful starting Pokémon, because he allows us to not only ensure we go first through his ‘Overeager’ Poké-Body, but he also has a great first turn attack ‘Impersonate’. Impersonate says…

“Search your deck for a Supporter Card and discard it. Shuffle your deck afterward. Then use the effect of that card as the effect of this attack.”

This means when going first we can use the effect of a Supporter Card and that could just help us win the game! But, remember you can of course use the ‘Impersonate’ attack again next turn, even after you have already played a Supporter. Which means you can get round another rule of the game and effectively play two Supporters in one turn.

“Supporter Cards are played like Trainer Cards, except you can only play one Supporter Card per turn.”

There is another Pokémon that can enable us to play two Supporters in one turn and it will not cost us an attack. It used to see a lot of play in the past, but that has fallen out of favour recently – Gardevoir, from the Diamond & Pearl Secret Wonders Set has the Poké-Power Telepass. It says…

“Once during your turn (before your attack), you may search your opponent’s discard pile for a Supporter card and use the effect of that card as the effect of this power. (The Supporter card remains in your opponent’s discard pile.) You can’t use more than 1 Telepass Poké-Power each turn. This power can’t be used if Gardevoir is affected by a Special Condition.”

So Gardevoir gives us another way to get round the one- Supporter-card- per-turn rule too. Unfortunately Gardevoir is very likely to leave the Modified Format in September, so consider playing it in your decks while you can.

On page ten of the rulebook we are told that you can only Retreat your Active Pokémon once per turn. Now that could be a problem, especially when you need one Pokémon active for part of a turn to use a Poké-Power or to Level Up, but you want to attack with another Pokémon.

There are a number of cards that allow you to get round the rule on retreating only once per turn. One of them has been with us since the start of the game, it was in the original Base Set and is still part of the current Modified Format – but what is it? Well, it’s Switch, of course!

Warp Point also allows you to change your Active Pokémon and has the added advantage of forcing your opponent to do the same thing. They have to choose a Benched Pokémon to switch with the Active Pokémon first before you make your choice of Benched Pokémon to switch out.

With the addition of Platinum to the Modified Format you can now also use Poké Turn to ‘Return one of your Pokémon SP and all cards attached to it to your hand.’ This means Poké Turn can not only act as a form of Switch when used on an Active SP Pokémon, but it can also be used to heal damaged Pokémon regardless of whether they’re active
or not.

Using cards like Switch, Warp Point and Poké Turn also has the added advantage of allowing you to retreat, switch and swap your Pokémon without paying their retreat cost, either. And of course you can also switch out Pokémon that normally could not retreat because they were asleep or paralysed. Not forgetting of course that going to the bench or being returned to your hand will end all those pesky special conditions like Burn and Poison, too.

There are also Pokémon that have attacks that can switch your Active Pokémon with one on your Bench, like Donphan and Furret from the Diamond and Pearl Secret Wonders Set.

Donphan’s attack with Rapid Spin does 40 damage and then your opponent is forced to switch his/her Active Pokémon with one from his/her bench. You then switch Donphan with one of your Benched Pokémon, just like a warp point that does damage.

Furret, meanwhile, has an attack Baton Pass that does 40 damage and then gives you the option to switch Furret with one of your benched Pokémon. If you do you move as many energy cards as you like from Furret to the new Active Pokémon, it acts like a combination of Switch and Energy Switches combined that can also do 40 damage – fantastic!

Moving on to page 11 of the rule book, we can go from Retreating to Attacking. The rule book states that…

“You are only allowed to attack once during your turn, (if your Pokémon has two attacks you can only use 1 of them each turn).”

So just how can we get more than one attack in per turn? Well we can use a card from the Diamond & Pearl Stormfront Set that Ditto thought would see more play than it has. Raichu LV.X has the Poké-Body Link Lightning that allows you to attack once with Voltage Shoot and then again with another attack of Raichu afterwards. You can only use Link Lightning when you first place Raichu LV.X on Raichu and of course having to discard two lightning energy when you use Voltage Shoot does not help.

However, chose your Raichu carefully and you could be using attacks like the Mysterious Treasures Raichu with its Electromagnetic Induction attack. For no energy you can search your deck for up to two Lightning Energy Cards and attach them to one of your Pokémon. If you used this as your second attack and chose to put the energy onto Raichu LV.X, you could be powered up and ready to use Voltage Shoot again next turn.

Or you could choose to use the Majestic Dawn Raichu that has Agility attack; for one energy of any colour you can do 20 damage and flip a coin. If you get heads you prevent all effects of attacks, including damage done to Raichu during your opponent’s next turn. Use that as your second attack and you not only do 20 more damage, but you potentially stop your opponent from attacking you.

The rule book also tells us also on page 11 that we cannot use an attack unless we have the correct energy attached to our Active Pokémon. Well Honchkrow from Mysterious Treasures has a useful Poké-Body Dark Genes, that will let us ignore that rule. Any Murkrow can copy any of Honchkrow’s attacks and use it as its own, even if it does not have the required energy attached to it. All you need to do is make sure that your benched Mysterious Treasures Honchkrow has the required energy attached to it for each of its attacks. You can then swarm the field with Murkrows and keep on attacking even when they have no energy attached at all. And while you do that you can keep Honchkrow safe on your bench, ready to deliver the knockout blow when it is needed.

That is it all we have space for this issue on the Rule Breakers and Game Makers. Next time you build a deck, look for those cards that can help you break the rules, the ones that allow you to retreat where and when you like, that can attack more than once in a turn and that can attack without having the required energy attached. Go on, break the rules – and have fun and win while you’re doing it!