Showing posts with label Solgaleo Prism Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solgaleo Prism Star. Show all posts

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Prism Star Cards - Pokemon TCG

Prism Star Cards - Pokemon TCG
All 6 Prism Star cards from the Ultra Prism set.
The newest set in the Pokemon TCG, Ultra Prism, was highly anticipated by competitive players of the TCG, Prism Star cards were one of those reasons. Prism Star cards are more powerful Pokemon, Trainers, and Special Energy cards. When deck building, you can't use more than 1 copy of a Prism Star card with the same name, and when a Prism Star card is normally discarded, it goes to the Lost Zone instead. There are a total of 6 Prism Star cards in the Ultra Prism set. These cards come in the reverse holo slot of the pack and on average, are 2 to 3 per booster box, it is possible to get both a Star Prism card and an ultra rare or secret rare in the same pack. For being more powerful, value wise, these cards aren't worth much, at least not yet, you're looking at $6 or less per card. I would assume Prism Star cards will be in the next several Sun and Moon series sets, similar to how BREAK cards were in the final XY series of sets.

Taking a look at the 6 different Prism Star cards, and I have obtained all 6 from my openings already, there are two that I really like, Solgaleo, and Cyrus, and both can be used in the same Metal type deck. Solgaleo is my favorite Prism Star cards for a couple of reasons, first, it does have a very high HP, which could be 200, with a Fighting Fury Belt attached to it, making it a tank of a card to take down and only get 1 prize card. Second, if you're facing something like Glaceon GX, and your EX and GX Pokemon's Abilities are disabled, you can still use this card's Radiant Star move to quickly attach Energy, probably to Dusk Mane Necrozma GX from this set. Plus, you can do 160+ damage with this card, you just need four Energy cards on it first. With the popularity of Zoroark GX, and its need to have a full Bench to do 120 damage with Riotous Beating, this can greatly increase the number of Energy cards you're able to attach with Solgaleo. So again, Solgaleo Prism Star is my favorite Prism Star in the set, I like its high HP, and both of its moves, especially if Glaceon GX becomes popular, this card doesn't rely on an Ability and it isn't a GX or EX card, so it works perfectly to accelerate Metal type Energy into play. Plus, Metal type Pokemon have a huge advantage over Fairy type decks, Sylveon GX and Gardevoir GX in particular.

My second favorite Prism Star in this set would be Cyrus. It is important to note that the Cyrus pictured above and all of the Cyrus Prism Star cards printed so far have an error in the description of what the card does. Currently, the card says "You can't play this card if you don't have any Water or Metal Pokemon in play", the correct version should say something like "You can't play this card if you don't have a Water or Metal Pokemon in your Active Pokemon spot". Regardless, if you're building a Water or Metal type deck, this card is beyond useful, quickly removing up to 4 of your opponent's Pokemon in play. This card can remove Pokemon that have Abilities that are used on the Bench, or, if your opponent already has a lot of Energy on their Benched Pokemon, it can ruin their strategy of getting lots of Energy into play quickly. The two Prism Star cards from this set I like most can certainly be used together in a deck, just make sure to use Solgaleo first, then Cyrus, otherwise, Solgaleo won't be able to add many Energy to your Pokemon if your opponent doesn't have many Pokemon in play. You could also use Cyrus with Glaceon GX, although it may backfire. More than likely if your opponent has played a couple of Tapu Lele GX, they will decide to remove them from play when you lay down Cyrus, but, if you have Glaceon GX in the Active Pokemon spot, when they get Tapu Lele GX back into their hand, they won't be able to utilize its Ability, Wonder Tag and grab a supporter when putting it on their Bench. This Cyrus card also weakens Zoroark GX, as it reduces the number of Benched Pokemon in play, having its attack go from 120 to only 40.

As far as the other Prism Star cards go, I was really excited about Super Boost Energy when it was first released in Japan, but the more I look at it, the more I think it won't be used. Sure, providing 4 Energy at once is very helpful, but I can't think of many decks that I've built where I have three Stage 2 Pokemon set up at the same time, and if I do, I probably have plenty of Energy in play already. Plus, Stage 2 Pokemon that are useful, like Vikavolt, Metagross GX, Gardevoir GX, and Decidueye GX, all either accelerate Energy attachment, or, they are only used from the Bench, so having 4 Energy cards at once isn't that important. The only deck I could see getting lucky with Super Boost Energy would be Gardevoir, since you may have two Gardevoir GX set up at once plus a Gallade, by laying down a Super Boost Energy, it would do 120 more damage when attacking with Gardevoir GX. And if you do have three Stage 2 Pokemon in play, and let's say they are close to being knocked out, you can slap a Super Boost Energy on Tapu Lele and do at least 80 damage, 110 damage with a Choice Band, in one quick move.

Lunala Prism Star is very similar to Solgaleo Prism Star, having an identical first move, in this case allowing you to attach up to 6 Psychic Energy cards from your discard pile to your Pokemon in one turn. The second move on this card, has lots of potential, since it can do 20 damage times the number of all Energy in play, so if you are facing a Gardevoir GX deck, it can do major damage. I would still prefer building a Metal type deck, using Solgaleo Prism Star and Dusk Mane Necrozma GX, just because Dusk Mane Necrozma is guaranteed to do 220 damage per turn, and Gardevoir GX is weak to Metal type Pokemon, but if you have any high attack cost Psychic Pokemon, Lunala Prism Star is a must!

Darkrai Prism Star and Giratina Prism Star are easily the poorest cards of the 6, both Pokemon are similar, with their Ability allowing you to move two Darkness or Psychic Energy from your hand to that specific Pokemon when it is put onto the Bench. So unlike the first move on Lunala and Solgaleo, the Abilities on these two cards only apply to Darkrai and Giratina. Both Darkrai and Giratina can do major damage when attacking, 120 and 160, but for the amount of Energy cards required, and the fact the you need Energy cards in your hand in order to use their Abilities, neither card is worth using when deck building. Between these two cards, Darkrai is the better one.

Personally, I have now opened around 150 booster packs of Ultra Prism and have lots of openings to post to YouTube very soon. I am currently working on reviewing a Zoroark GX and Golisopod GX deck, but hope to get to building a Metal type deck with Solgaleo Prism Star, very soon!

Friday, February 2, 2018

Pokemon TCG Ultra Prism - My Initial Thoughts

Ultra Prism Pokemon Cards

Today, February 2nd, 2018 is the official release date of the 77th expansion set in the Pokemon TCG, Ultra Prism. Although today is the official release date, I've already personally opened around 100 booster packs. Below, you'll find my initial thoughts on the new set...

Wow, this is one large set! With 173 total cards in Ultra Prism, this will not be an easy set for the wallet, this may be the first set in quite some time where I have to sell my duplicates in order to afford all of the ultra rares and secret rares in the set. Also, this is the first new set released where I can honestly say I have a good understanding of the current format and can jump right into building decks for the 2018 Standard Format with cards from the set. So the collector in me, and the competitive player are really pleased overall with the set, there are so many good cards in this set!

As a collector I can't wait to pull 1 of the 2 gold-colored GX Full Art Secret Rare cards, Lunala and Solgaleo. I've watched lots of openings and have been told that these cards are hard to come by, we're talking about less than 1 in 5 booster boxes, these cards may be the next Gold Star cards, we'll just have to see if they continue to appear in Forbidden Light and other future sets. I was lucky enough to pull a golden Solgaleo GX in my Japanese GX Battle Boost booster box, so I hope I don't have to end up buying each card individually in this set! I also like that 3 Ultra Beasts, Pheromosa, Xurkitree, and Celesteela are available as GX Full Art and GX Rainbow Rare cards in this set, after having regular GX forms, as Black Star Promos, in the Ultra Beasts GX Premium Collection Boxes.
Solgaleo Prism Star
Solgaleo Prism Star 89/156
I also really like the Prism Star cards in this set, they come in the reverse holo slot of the pack and are very appealing to the eye, with a black border that really stands out. I am assuming these cards will be in lots of decks in the future, although only 1 copy of the same Prism Star card can be used in a deck. The last thing I like about Ultra Prism, when it comes to collecting would be that the set includes lots of 4th Generation Pokemon, Pokemon featured in the Diamond and Pearl series of games and sets, I personally started on YouTube back in 2008, right in the heart of the 4th Generation, so this particular Generation is certainly special to me.


As someone fully involved with the competitive side of Pokemon cards right now, the best card in the set is easily Cynthia, both the uncommon Trainer and the Full Art. Instead of having to discard your hand with Professor Sycamore, or refreshing your opponent's hand with N, Cynthia allows you to shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 cards without touching your opponent's hand. Without Ultra Prism being legal in the Standard Format, it is hard to test what decks work best,
Glaceon GX
Glaceon GX 39/156
but there is lots of hype around Glaceon GX and its Ability which prevents all Abilities on GX and EX cards from working, it is unfortunate Glaceon has to be in the Active Pokemon spot for this to work, and things like Garbodor's Ability, or any Pokemon that isn't an EX or GX, will continue working just fine, but this card definitely has potential. I would say the first deck I plan on reviewing in this set would be a Metal type deck with Dusk Mane Necrozma GX, Solgaleo Prism Star, Magnezone, and Mt. Coronet, this deck can do major damage when attacking, we're talking 220+, and it accelerates Energy into play with both Magnezone and Solgaleo, plus it can easily take down any Fairy type deck out there, i.e. Gardevoir GX.
Dusk Mane Necrozma GX
Dusk Mane Necrozma GX 90/156
So to summarize, I really like Ultra Prism, at least so far, the pull rates are excellent, you're looking at 8-9 Ultra Rares, Secret Rares, and Prism Star cards per booster box, and right now, there are lots of valuable cards in the set, with Cynthia Full Art and the golden GX cards leading the way. I will certainly be opening both Elite Trainer Boxes, and all of the blister packs very soon on my channel. I would like to wish everyone the best of luck with their openings, I hope you're able to pull exactly what you're looking for from your packs!

I am hoping to get away from writing the daily card reviews on my blog that I've been writing for so many years, instead the hope is to write more articles like these a few times a week. I hope to write more strategic and advanced articles on my blog, ones geared mainly towards the Standard Format of the competitive TCG. If you have any suggestions for me, feel free to contact me or leave a comment. Also, if you'd like to battle me on the online TCG, my name there is primetimepkmn.