A Whole New World — Jimmy’s Sword & Shield Review

By: Jimmy Pendarvis · Posted Posted onFeb 7, 2020 at 9:25 AM · 0 Comments

Hello everyone! I am excited to release yet another article for you. Sword & Shield is finally upon us, which means the rule change is here too. Shaking things up is fun whether it be a new set or a rotation and it feels like we are getting a huge shake up at this point in time. The whole game has changed from what it has been for so many years—for most players it’s the entirety of their involvement in the game. I will talk more about my feelings towards the rule change later in the article. As far as Sword & Shield goes, a few archetypes have come out from this set and many strong cards are being included in a majority of top decks. Let’s look at the best cards in Sword & Shield.

Sword & Shield Review

Rillaboom

To start things off, we have a card that is very niche when it comes to being playable. Like a few other cards on this list, this card is going to be confined to a certain deck. As for [card name=”Rillaboom” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card], this drummer is only going to be used with Pokemon that want a lot of Grass Energy on the board. Stuff like [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] come to mind. Speaking of which, Azul played with a Rillaboom / Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX deck on his stream and the goal was to win a long game with Tropical Hour GX. This card doesn’t seem groundbreaking but it has potential, especially in the long run when more strong Grass-type Pokemon are released.

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Lapras V, Lapras VMAX, Keldeo V and Frosmoth

These cards are lumped into one section because they have the potential to be used together. For [card name=”Lapras VMAX” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card], you require [card name=”Lapras V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] to be in the deck but they are both very strong attackers. Lapras V can do 210 damage while conserving some Energy for a future attack. Plus it only gives up two Prize cards, talk about efficiency! Lapras VMAX operates a little bit differently. It only requires three Energy to attack, but in order to get a ton of value out of G-Max Pump you are going to want to load it up with plenty of Water Energy in order to take a OHKO. Evolving does provide a massive HP boost of an additional 110 HP, so that is something to consider as well if you can’t take a OHKO. Similar to Lapras VMAX, [card name=”Keldeo V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card]’s Secret Sword attack is a mini version of G-Max Pump. It is a weaker attack but it is on a Basic Pokemon that only gives up two Prize cards. This can help pull off an OHKO out of nowhere or help turn the Prize trade in your favor. For this whole description of the new Water Pokemon, I have made flooding the board with Energy sound like a cake walk. Well, that’s because [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] is what makes all of this magic possible. Its Ability lets you attach as many Water Energy per turn as you want to. It is a Stage-1 but it will provide immense value as soon as it hits the board. This deck is very fun to play and I believe that it has a lot of potential.

Tapu Koko V

This card doesn’t exactly blow you away when you read it but [card name=”Tapu Koko V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] has a lot to offer. Its first attack provides some chip damage while drawing you some cards. This isn’t broken by any means but it is a nice bonus. The attack you will be using more often does 200 damage for three Lightning Energy, which is a bit more damage than you could do with any of your powerful Tag Team Pokemon-GX without using your GX attack. This card is such a strong inclusion in [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] because it has free retreat and it is a Pokemon V, meaning it only gives up two Prize cards, is not affected by [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tag Purge and your opponent can’t use [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card] on it.

Galarian Obstagoon

This card reminds me of [card name=”Pyroar” set=”Flashfire” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card]’s attack does 90 damage and makes it immune to Basic Pokemon on the opponent’s next turn. Basic Pokemon rule the meta, which means that Galarian Obstagoon is picking up some free wins right off the bat. Unfortunately for Galarian Obstagoon though, I think its reign of terror ends there. It doesn’t have a good way of dealing with any Evolution Pokemon so it should be built in a way where it is super consistent and hopes to hit the right matchups. This is why it reminds me of Pyroar, because they are both underwhelming cards that thrive in the right metagame.

Zacian V and Metal Saucer

This card is the most hyped card in the set, no doubt about that. [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] does 230 damage for three Metal Energy, and you can easily accelerate Energy to this beast with [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] and Zacian V’s Ability. The Ability can also draw you cards! What more is there to say honestly, this card can do it all.

Cinccino

Another hyped card is [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. While I agree it is going to see some play at some point, I am not sure this fluff ball will live up to the hype right away. This card is an incredible source of draw power and is expected to replace [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. I think that is true in the Expanded format because [card name=”Winona” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] can search out Cinccino and every other Pokemon in the deck. However, the same can’t be said for [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] in Standard. This might be okay because Professor Elm’s Lecture can’t be used when going first due to the rule change, which could force this deck to be more reliant on search cards and [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card]. At that point, Cinccino is the same thing as Pidgeotto when it comes to searching it out. Cinccino is better than Pidgeotto as a source of draw power, so it is the better choice if you can make it work. You have to discard a card, but then you get to draw two cards as opposed to seeing two and drawing one card. Discarding a card can be a good thing because it lets you thin the bad cards out of your deck, making you more resistant to [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card].

Cinccino is a great addition to control decks, but now you have to look at all the things you have to be able to handle as a control player right now.

  • [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] wiping your board early copying [card name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]’s Divide-GX.
  • [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] flooding the board with a ton of Water Energy cards immediately.
  • [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] running you over with Marnie and aggressive play.
  • [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] players can use Reset Stamp to drop you to a low hand size on turn 2 and start applying pressure with [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card]’s Fireworks Bomb.
  • [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] having built in draw power and Energy acceleration, none of which can be shut off.
  • Not being able to play a Supporter on turn 1, which makes it easier to fall behind in Prize cards right away.
  • Decks using built in draw support such as Pidgeotto or Cinccino.

All of that is a lot to handle but none of it is absolutely unstoppable, so it should be interesting to see how control decks try to adapt to the new cards and rule change.

Evolution Incense

This card searches out Evolution Pokemon, which is something that has been lacking outside of [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] is more linear as it can’t grab any Pokemon like Pokemon Communication can, but it is easier to use when you draw it. You won’t slap this thing into any deck, but it does have potential to see play in the right deck. This card reminds me of [card name=”Timer Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] in that way.

Lucky Egg

This is a card that is good in decks that utilise low HP Pokemon and need a large hand size to survive. This brings one deck to mind right off the bat, [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck is extremely weak to Reset Stamp but [card name=”Lucky Egg” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] fixes that because if your opponent uses Reset Stamp and wants to take a KO on your Active Pokemon, you get to refill your hand. The deck didn’t have any other Tool cards that it wanted to use anyway and Lucky Egg can be searched with Green’s Exploration, so it fits in this deck like a glove. Baby Blacephalon was already one of the strongest decks in the Standard format, with fellow PokeBeach writer Stephane Ivanoff taking down a recent Regional Championship with the deck. Lucky Egg is a strong addition to it.

Marnie

This card is an upgraded version of [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card]. Judge was never a great draw Supporter card and was only used as a form of disruption in decks that could bounce back from it with relative ease or didn’t mind taking the gamble. However, [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] is a much more reasonable form of draw support while disrupting your opponent in the exact same way Judge did. Your opponent is left with a four card hand but you get to draw five cards. That’s one more card than your opponent, and both players prior hand cards are put on the bottom of the deck instead of being shuffled in. When you play a shuffle-draw Supporter, you don’t want to draw the cards you shuffled back in, so this is a huge improvement. This means Marnie is infinitely better than Judge and competes with [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] in aggressive decks. I would not have liked this release if the rule change was not in effect, as going first and using Marnie would have been unbalanced. You can only use it after your opponent has had a turn to play some cards. Going second this has the potential to be pretty lethal, but it isn’t the same as using Marnie before the opponent has a shot at playing a card.

Ordinary Rod

Recovery options in Standard have been lacking since the rotation of [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]. Previously, the only options were [card name=”Lana’s Fishing Rod” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”195″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Brock’s Grit” set=”Team Up” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card], neither of which were ideal choices. Lana’s Fishing Rod only grabbed one Pokemon and one Tool card. Only grabbing one Pokemon isn’t the strongest recovery, so it was mostly used for recovering a tech attacker in the mid to late game. It also grabs a Tool card but only some decks play Tool cards. I only ever saw Lana’s Fishing Rod in [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and baby Blacephalon / Pidgeotto decks. The other option, Brock’s Grit has never been used in the Standard format. It is too slow because it takes up your Supporter use for the turn, and recovering six cards is usually too much. You only want to recover cards you are going to use, you don’t want to fill your deck with a bunch of nonsense. This is why [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] is a nice option to have, as it shuffles in up to two Pokemon and two Energy cards. It will be used in decks that aim to use a few Pokemon and a ton of Energy per game, so it will replace Lana’s Fishing Rod in Blacephalon / Pidgeotto decks. It will not be played in a deck like Malamar that wants Energy in the discard pile. This card will probably make its way into Pidgeotto / Cinccino control decks too because it can recover multiple Pokemon at once and get Water Energy back in the deck for [card name=”Articuno-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] to use. Water Energy is important in that deck and you sometimes have to waste precious Resource Management slots recovering them. This will make the Ordinary Rod a very valuable tool, especially when [card name=”Recycle Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”212″ c=”name”][/card] is prized.

Pokemon Catcher

[cardimg name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”126″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This card is not going to be played in every deck but I do think there is room for [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] in the meta. The current gust effect choices in Standard are [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card], and Pokemon Catcher. Custom Catcher was used in almost every deck when it was the only gust effect legal in Standard, but it wasn’t a great inclusion in most decks and more of a necessity. Then Great Catcher came out and it replaced Custom Catcher as the gust effect of choice, outside of decks that could easily search out Custom Catcher via [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card]. This made Malamar and Ability [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] better because the bench sitters were safe and it allowed people to play differently because only their Pokemon-GX could be dragged active.

However, things are different now that Great Catcher doesn’t work on Pokemon V. I think Great Catcher will take the back seat to Custom Catcher and the newly released Pokemon Catcher. These cards can target anything including Pokemon V. While they do have drawbacks of their own, so did Great Catcher. You will have to decide whether you want to have ease of access to a gust effect in Pokemon Catcher but the possibility of it doing nothing on a bad coin flip, or if you’d prefer to struggle to find a pair of Custom Catchers.

Professor’s Research

This card is going to see play in a majority of decks heading forward. [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] is a reprint of [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Black and White” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], both popular Supporter cards during their time in the Standard format and continues to see play in the Expanded format. The release of this card helps to balance stuff like [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card], since they are essentially trading draw power for Energy acceleration. I doubt that Welder decks will include Professor’s Research. At least, not in a high count, but most other decks will. I expect this card to be one of the most popular cards at the Oceania International Championships.

Quick Ball

This is another card that has received a ton of hype and [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] will make its way into a lot of decks. It is a versatile card as finding Basic Pokemon is something that pretty much every deck wants to do. Additionally, discarding a card is a welcomed drawback. Decks like Malamar as well as [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] want to discard cards as it is a part of their strategy. Other decks will use Quick Ball to discard useless cards most of the time, especially when thinning out the deck in the mid to late game. I expect this card to be another popular card at the Oceania International Championships.

Team Yell Grunt

This card might be played in control decks, such as Pidgeotto or Cinccino control. In the right circumstances, [card name=”Team Yell Grunt” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”184″ c=”name”][/card] is a great Energy denial tool when you don’t care that your opponent has an Energy card in their hand under the lock. It is very good early game against decks like [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], which control decks aim to never let do damage. You use [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Articuno-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]’s Cold Crush-GX, and Team Yell Grunt to stop their Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX being able to use Ultimate Ray. This might sound far-fetched, but this actually happens a fair share of the time.

Aurora Energy

This card will replace [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] in a majority of decks. A lot of decks don’t care about discarding a card and some decks want to discard cards. This is a better drawback then taking the 10 damage a lot of the time, especially when you look at what decks were previously using Rainbow Energy. Mewtwo and Mew-GX wants to discard cards, plus [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] wants to discard cards before [card name=”Mismagius” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] and often wants to discard useless stuff in the mid to late game. The only outsider here is Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX, which I am unsure about when it comes to the [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] vs Rainbow Energy debate. That is something that I need more time and testing to decide on.

The Sword & Shield Rule Change

I already talked a little bit about the rule change throughout the article and I am not an expert when it comes to the impact of the new rules, but I will share my current thoughts.

  • Overall, the rule change helped to balance things out a little better.
  • I think people forget that the previous rules were not very balanced, as the player going first has a huge advantage.
  • Some decks will pick to go second.
  • Evolution decks are hurt by this rule as much as they are helped, it truly does go both ways.
  • [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] is less toxic than it was before, as you cannot have six Energy cards on the board while your opponent has a maximum of one.
  • Abilities that draw cards are strong as they are necessary when going first, and good when going second.
  • Trainer cards that draw cards such as [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], are more valuable than before.
  • The rule change is good for balancing cards like [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card].
  • Players have a much better chance at actually getting to play the game than they did before.

Conclusion

Writing this article was very fun as the new cards and new rule are very welcomed changes. Playing the game right now is very refreshing as the current meta was pretty stale and the rules had been the same for a solid eight plus years now. I think the new set is very strong and the rule change was beneficial. This makes the game a whole lot better and more fun to play, which is something players like to see. I could be wrong about this, as I did express that the Expanded bans were not good for the game, but I did not fully comprehend how miserable they would make Expanded until Dallas Regionals was in full swing. I was previously a much bigger fan of Expanded but things have definitely flipped around, at least temporarily.

With that being said, I am excited to compete in some major Standard tournaments. My first one happens to be the Oceania International Championships that takes place in Melbourne, Australia in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to that tournament and the new format makes it more exciting. The tournament is very important to me because I need to get some amount of Championship Points to maintain my position in the Top 16 heading into the Germany  International Championships stipend cutoff date. I have had some poor performances recently, so that has been disappointing. That said, I am going to be testing as much as possible between now and Australia. I hope to find the perfect deck for the event and bring home the bacon. Good luck at any events you might be competing in before I am back with another article! Peace.

–Jimmy

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