Pokémon TCG Live - ACE-less

Описание: The following Trainer Trials was the short-lived “ACE-less,” which prohibits ACE SPEC cards. This wouldn’t really be that big a deal on its own, but there are two other conditions: Rule Box Pokémon are not allowed (such as Pokémon ex), and following the Singletons challenge, only one copy of a card with a particular name is allowed at a time. (For instance, you can have Eevee and Eevee ex, but you cannot have more than one card known simply as “Charcadet” despite there being at least seven Charcdet cards.) There are also a number of Pokémon banned from this ruleset, probably because they were designed with the more powerful Pokémon ex in mind and would be overpowered in a format where HP, damage, and Ability effects are more limited, though it varies. My takes on them:

Brambleghast (Temporal Forces): can reach up to 350 HP; with all single-prize Pokémon, there is always a point in each battle where this is possible
Dusclops, Dusknoir (Shrouded Fable): Cursed Blast deals too much mid-turn damage for most non-Rule Box Pokémon to withstand
Fezandipiti (Twilight Masquerade): Requires a coin flip to hit
Glimmora (Paldra Evolved): Requires a coin flip to take a Prize card upon defeating
Skiploom, Jumpluff (Paldea Evolved): Requires a coin flip to hit
Luxurious Cape: Increases HP by too much and enables a two-Prize Pokémon in this format
Machamp (151): Requires a coin flip to knock out

As it follows the Standard rules rather than Expanded, as the last few Trainer Trials has been, I found it rather tricky to come up with something due to things being way more limited. Near the end of this Trainer Trials, which went on for just 7 days instead of the usual 14, I came up with this, based on the new Team Rocket Pokémon in the Destined Rivals set:

POKÉMON (16)
1x Team Rocket’s Tarountula (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Spidops (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Houndour (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Houndoom (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Articuno (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Chingling (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Wobbuffet (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Larvitar (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Pupitar (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Tyranitar (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Ekans (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Arbok (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Murkrow (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Sneasel (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Rattata (Destined Rivals)
1x Team Rocket’s Raticate (Destined Rivals)

TRAINERS (29)
1x Artazon
1x Arven
1x Crispin
1x Drayton
1x Earthen Vessel
1x Energy Search
1x Great Ball
1x Iono
1x Judge
1x Nest Ball
1x Night Stretcher
1x Professor’s Research
1x Rescue Board
1x Super Rod
1x Switch
1x Team Rocket’s Archer
1x Team Rocket’s Ariana
1x Team Rocket’s Factory
1x Team Rocket’s Giovanni
1x Team Rocket’s Great Ball
1x Team Rocket’s Petrel
1x Team Rocket’s Proton
1x Team Rocket’s Transceiver
1x Team Rocket’s Venture Bomb
1x Team Rocket’s Watchtower
1x Technical Machine: Blindside
1x Technical Machine: Evolution
1x Town Store
1x Ultra Ball

ENERGY (15)
1x Luminous Energy
4x Darkness Energy
2x Fighting Energy
2x Grass Energy
3x Psychic Energy
2x Water Energy
1x Team Rocket’s Energy

As you can see, they released a MASSIVE amount of Team Rocket cards, both Pokémon and Trainer cards. There’s even a Team Rocket’s Energy, which provides 2 of Darkness and/or Psychic Energy when on a Team Rocket’s Pokémon, which make up the entirety of this deck’s Pokémon. In addition, there are cards that either work only when you have just Team Rocket’s Pokémon in play (like Team Rocket’s Ariana) or work better the more Team Rocket’s Pokémon you have (such as Team Rocket’s Spidops), so it’s in my best interest to work exclusively within the Team Rocket framework.

Interestingly, beginning with this set, there are new sound effects and music for when Team Rocket’s cards get played or, in the case of the Pokémon, move to the Active Spot, evolve, or are revealed at the beginning of the game. Specifically, keep an ear out for the scare chords played on the pipe organ. They remind me of the song “En Garde, Jean-François,” so I put it as this video’s first song.

As strategies get very scattered due to the one-card rules for this format, my opponent seemed to be playing a fragmented version of the “Poison Package” deck, consisting of Pecharunt, Pecharunt ex, Brute Bonnet, and Perilous Swamp to maximize Poison damage and get away with doing up to 80 damage in Poison going first on the first turn, ideally securing a victory before your opponent’s first turn could even start. Obviously that didn’t happen in this video, so the battle played out as normal. Having only one of each Pokémon and no duplicate Trainers can take its toll if you don't get the cards you need nor can you search for them...