From time to time, I and others will be doing columns discussing particular cards. Think of these as "card of the whenever," but with a lot more depth and substance!
Introduction
Our friends at Pokebeach have been tirelessly leaking translations of Guardians Rising, the next expansion of the Pokemon TCG. One card that immediately caught my eye was, well…”Sabl”eye! Since there’s already a lot of hype and concern about this card, I thought now would be a perfect time to probe its true power…
Card Overview
–At 60 HP and no Resistance, Sableye is really brittle. Tauros GX knocks it out, Volcanion can easily knock it out, and Yveltal (Oblivion Wing) can handle it, too!
–The whole reason behind running this card in a deck is Limitation, an Attack that prevents your opponent from playing any Supporter cards during His or Her next turn. If you’re an older player and this looks familiar, you’d be right to think so!
Yes, Sableye Guardians Rising is actually the spiritual successor of another Sableye from EX: Deoxys. Luckily for us, we aren’t getting an exact reprint; in fact, when you compare the cards side by side, it’s obvious that they nerfed the Guardians Rising Sableye. I guess a Resistance to Tauros GX and a free look at your Opponent’s Hand would’ve been too broken, especially since we just got viable hand reveal in the form of Gumshoos GX.
Despite being a strictly better card, Sableye from EX: Deoxys never saw much play because decks had reliable Pokémon-based engines to dig out of Limitation lock. If you could always dig out of a bad hand caused by Limitation, then what's the point of it?
(In fact, search was so strong in Sableye Deoxys's day, it inspired the name for this column…Quick Search!)
…Now, though? We don’t have the angelic bird to save us; instead, we’re stuck with a monstrous Item lock deck wrecking the format, and reliable Pokémon search is non-existent. This of course creates the ultimate opening to run Sableye with Item lock, creating a supreme lock of all non-Stadium Trainer cards in the game. Considering how Trainers make up at least half of the average player’s deck, you can see why this is a cause for concern.
–We’ll address some of the tactics and strategies to be abused with Sableye below, but I should note that Scratch could be just enough Damage to bench an opponent, depending on the circumstances.
Standard Options
–Vileplume and Decidueye. If you have Vileplume and Sableye working together, all you're missing is Damage. Splash Decidueye GX into the mix, and you now have a complete lock that can win the game on KO's.
This idea is actually already impossible in Expanded through an Exeggutor from Plasma Freeze. Exeggutor deals too little damage to prevent the opponent from drawing out of a "complete lock," but Decidueye can add to its output much the same way it can add to Sableye's in Standard!
(It always confused me why Exeggutor looked afraid to be touching the water…)
To be honest, I think the only reason Exeggutor PLF/Vileplume/Decidueye doesn’t “work” in Expanded is simply because no one has been brave enough to try it in a tournament – not even myself. While Sableye is a Basic, it also needs Rainbow Energy to function assuming you want to use both Limitation and Hollow Hunt. However, considering the normal VD list runs eight Energy total, subbing your Grass Energy for Rainbow is an easy enough change. When you get this combo out, it is certainly a terror to behold. But this assumes the opponent already has every other element of the lock, which as you have seen from my streamed games, that is easier said than done, so take some comfort in knowing that it's hard to set up!
As one last thought on this point: If we as a community think up the best version of a Vileplume/Decidueye with Sableye, and it actually works consistently…the format is in peril, and a ban of Forest of Giant Plants after May/June Regionals would be totally justified.
–You can also play Sableye as a pseudo-starter in Dark. While Attackers like the Yveltal brothers (Yveltal XY and Yveltal BKT) are usually the preferred early game aggressors, I think a tech one-of Sableye could be very disruptive to anything facing off against Yveltal or Turbo Dark. It’s especially helpful in Yveltal/Garbodor, which will inevitably trade out the Supporter lock with an Ability lock.
–Hand disruption like Red Card, Judge, N, Ilima, and especially Delinquent. The nail in the proverbial coffin of an opponent playing against Sableye is having no playable cards in their hand, which is precisely what these cards do.
Expanded Options
–The above Vileplume idea, but with Blend Energy GRPD (Dragons Exalted) instead of Rainbow. It doesn’t damage your Pokémon, and can supply the cost for both Decidueye and Sableye the same way a Rainbow could.
–Hypnotoxic Laser, Rock Guard, Rocky Helmet, and any other means to achieve passive Damage. Sableye may not be able to deal Damage while attacking with Limitation, but your Items can!
–Magnezone Plasma (Plasma Storm). This rarely-used card in Expanded lets you use two Supporters a turn. One way you could use this to secure a lock is by playing one of the Supporters listed above (Judge, Delinquent, etc.), followed up with disruptive Energy-discarding Supporters like Xerosic and Team Flare Grunt. Combine those with a reliable way to reuse Supporter cards, such as VS Seeker or Pal Pad, and you’ve got on your hands a Frankenstein’s Magnezone of a lock deck.
(Since when does having two brains mean you're a Frankenstein's Magnezone? D:)
–Any deck already running Dark Explorers Sableye. Much of the support cards backing up a Limitation lock will be Items, so if you feel safe momentarily breaking the Supporter lock to get back crucial cards like Hypnotoxic Laser, you could position yourself for the late game pretty well.
–Exeggutor PLF. As mentioned above, Exeggutor PLF’s Blockade has a history being one of the best Supporter lock decks in the game’s history. Now that Lysandre’s Trump card is banned, it’s a lot harder for Exeggutor to maintain momentum on its own, and it requires a lot of cards just to get out a turn one Supporter lock if you wanted. One thing you could do to make an Exeggutor-focused deck more reliable is to run Sableye as your opener, using Limitation for the first turn and then subsequently using Blockade the second.
(For a potentially stronger deck, try pairing Sableye Guardians Rising with Stoutland BCR – it has an Ability that shuts off the opponent’s Supporter cards!!!)
Conclusion
I’ve only scratched the surface at the potential horrors lying in wait for us when Guardians Rising is released. However, I hope this special edition of Quick Search is at least jogging your creative minds for ways to abuse this card…and possibly break the game in the process.