ThePokemon TCGsays goodbye to the Rapid and Fusion Strike system and welcomes the Ancient and Future Pokemon, the card system that will rule the meta from now until a new generation comes by. Both the Ancient and Future Pokemon will be around for a while, so it’s important to see which ones are worth the hassle.
Here, we’ll rank all these Ancient Paradox Pokemon from worst to best while, at the same time, evaluating how well these decks will perform in the current meta and how playable they are in usual circumstances. Want to see which is the best Ancient Pokemon? Let’s check it out!
Slither Wing
Several Drawbacks, Almost No Benefits
Slither Wing is by far the worst Ancient card of the bunch. The main issue with this card isBurning Turbulence, an attack that makes it deal 90 damage to itself,and it doesn’t deal that much damage to your opponent’s Pokemon afterward.
Considering Slither Wing only has 140 HP,leaving it with only 30 HP on the field is a big problem.Even though you can suit it up with Emergency Jelly and more protective items, 120 damage isn’t worth the whole set-up, andthere are way more cards that can do the samewithout risking their HPor forcing you to suit them up with items to make it work.
Sandy Shocks Ex
Nothing New To See Here
Sandy Shocks’setup is complicated, and it can only complicate things more than they already are.This card is planned to be used as a comeback whenever you are losing a match, butGround Spark’s 200 damage is not enough, and it costs three Energy cards, which makes things even worse.
On top of all of that,you can’t use this attack again in the next turn,so you are forced to retrieve Sandy Shocks from the Active Spot, wasting even more resources you might not have in the late stages of the match. You can try to give it some usage early against some decks like Lost Boxes, where you don’t need that much, buteven there it can be hard to use because of the three Energy Card cost of its attack.
Scream Tail
Gardevoir Ex’s New Best Friend
It might be hard to understand that a card like Scream Tail is better than Sandy Shocks ex, but this isbecause of its excellent fit with one of the best decks of the meta, Gardevoir ex.Gardevoir has an ability named Psychic Embrace, whichyou can use to attach a Psychic Energy card to any Pokemon you like, but if you do,that Pokemon will receive two damage counters.
This is especially useful against the likes of Klefki or Sableye, both usual cards in the Lost Box engine. With Scream Tail, you canbuild Gardevoir, send the Energy cards to the discard pile, and then suit the Scream Tails with both Energy cards and damage counters.
Brute Bonnet
Poisoning Its Way To The Victory Since 2023
Brute Bonnet is a great utility Pokemon thanks toits ability Toxic Powder because poisoning your opponent is always great. you may mix it up with Radiant Hisuian Sneasler to deal a lot of damage with it, so this card has good deck potential, but most importantly,if you attach the Energy Boost Capsule to it, you can poison your own Active Pokemon.
While poisoning your own Pokemon doesn’t seem like a good idea, there are some Pokemon in this set (like Klawf) thatcan deal a lot of damage if it’s affected by a Special Condition.The problem with those Pokemon is thatit’s hard to make them have a Special Condition, so Brute Bonnet is now here to help them out.
Roaring Moon Ex
Automatic Knock-Outs Without (Many) Drawbacks
Roaring Moon is not only the best Ancient Paradox Pokemon cardbut also the best card of the expansion, as its excellent first moveworks even better coupled with the Ancient Energy Boost Capsule, which protects you from 60 damage. Then, you can throw some add-ons to the mix like the Emergency Jelly, basically getting a free Knock Out without many consequences.
If you want to be a bit more conservative,Calamity Storm is such a great move that has no contrary effects on Roaring Moonrather than removing the stadium in play, butyou should plan a deck with this attack in mind,having plenty of stadiums only to discard them afterward. Roaring Moon offers a lot of variants, and it’ll be fun to see it in action.
NEXT:Pokemon TCG: The Most Valuable Cards Of Scarlet & Violet 151
