Summary
AlthoughPokemon TCG Pocket’s Celestial Guardians set came out less than a month ago, it’s already time for another expansion in the form of Extradimensional Crisis, which will come out as early as May 29. This set is going to be all about Ultra Beasts, though other types of critters and cards will also be available, such as the new Lusamine Supporter that may very well make Ultra Beast decks OP in mid- to late-game. Several new cards have already been revealed, including what seems like an Ultra Necrozma Ex promo card with an interesting attack that mills both players' decks. Among these cards, one is very likely to sit at the top of the meta oncePokemon TCG Pocket’s Extradimensional Crisis set comes out.
The current meta inPokemon TCG Pocketis quite varied thanks to the introduction of Rare Candy in Celestial Guardians, though one of the very best decks in the entire game remains the tried and trueDarkrai Ex and Giratina Ex combo. Despite the many counters to this specific combo that were released with Celestial Guardians, the meta has yet to evolve past these cards, but Extradimensional Crisis may finally change things with the release of Guzzlord Ex.
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Guzzlord Ex May Break Extradimensional Crisis' New Meta
Guzzlord Ex is one of the new Ex cards introduced withPokemon TCG Pocket’s new expansion, and it’s canonically one of the strongest Ultra Beasts in the mainline series too. This card is a basic Pokemon with a whopping 170 HP, which is a ridiculous amount for a basic Ex card, and it also has two powerful attacks. The first is called Grindcore, and it costs two colorless Energy for 30 damage, whereas the second is called Tyrannical Hole for four Energy (3 Darkness and 1 colorless), dealing 120 damage. The main thing about Guzzlord Ex is that Grindcore also has a secondary effect, and that is to flip coins and remove one Energy from the opposing active Pokemon for each heads, until one gets tails.
This is basicallyPokemon TCG Pocket’s Team Rocket Grunt, but as a side effect of a 2-Energy attack on a very bulky basic Pokemon, and it doesn’t even require any specific Energy types to work. What follows is that one can hypothetically play Guzzlord Ex alongside Team Rocket Grunt and make a deck that has four cards dedicated to removing Energy from the opposing active Pokemon, disrupting the opponent’s strategy entirely.
Since Guzzlord Ex’s Grindcore attack requires two Energy of any type, one could even play it alongside Beedril Ex from Shining Revelry, adding yet another method of removing Energy from the opponent’s critters. This is not only a potentially problematic card on its own, considering how strong Energy manipulation is and has always been, but it could even act as a counter toPokemon TCG Pocket’s Giratina Exon two different levels:
Why Energy Removal is OP in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Even on its own and not counting the current Giratina Ex meta, Guzzlord Ex can be a very frustrating card to play against, as it will occasionally hit at least one or two heads on the coin flips, which can counter virtually any deck. On top of that, as Guzzlord ex removes Energy from its opponent’s Pokemon, it also keeps building its own to then hit enemies with Tyrannical Hole for 120 damage. It may be too soon to tell if Guzzlord Ex will actually see play, but considering how powerful it is, it’s quite likely that it will be popular and rise to thetop of the meta inPokemon TCG Pocket.
