Category: Pokemon TCG Reviews

Slowpoke and Psyduck GX Review - A Pokemon TCG Card Review

2/9/2020

by Phoenix Desertsong, Pokemon Master!

Pokemon TCG: Sun and Moon Unified Minds brought several memorable Tag Team GX Pokemon cards to the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Can you get anymore of a classic pairing than Slowpoke and Psyduck GX, both original first Generation Pokemon with both Water and Psychic abilities? The Tag Team combo alone is enough to make collectors want this card PSA graded for their collections. But, are Slowpoke and Psyduck good enough to also be a competitive card in the Pokemon TCG?

There are actually FOUR versions of this Tag Team GX Pokemon. There’s the #35 “base card,” the #217 Full Art, the $218 Alternate Full Art, and the #239 secret rare Rainbow Foil. The secret rare #239 Slowpoke and Psyduck GX card is the key card you want to own, as it’s the rarest possible version.

How Good is Slowpoke and Psyduck Tag Team GX in the Trading Card Game?

Slowpoke and Psyduck form a Tag Team that comes into play with 250 HP, a solid number for a Tag Team Pokemon GX card. They have two attacks, Ditch an Splash and their GX attack Thrilling Times GX - which can only be used once per game. Ditch and Splash costs just two Water energy to use. It does 40 damage for each Supporter card you discard from your hand. So, it can potentially do a lot of damage.

The Thrilling Times GX attack depends on a coin flip. It does only 10 base damage, but if the coin flip is a heads, it deals 100 additional damage. It’s important to note that this attack only requires the same 2 Water energy to use as Ditch and Splash. But, there is a second part to this attack. If you have at least 6 additional Water energies attached to Slowpoke and Psyduck GX, you get to flip TEN coins. You then deal 100 damage for each heads.

Because the GX attack is so dependent on being able to flip 10 heads, this is definitely a finisher attack While it’s pretty much a guaranteed finisher, eight or more Water Energy is a huge commitment. So, how good is Slowpoke and Psyduck Tag Team GX in actual game play?

As it turns out, there are Slowpoke and Psyduck GX decks, but they are built almost exclusively around the Ditch and Splash attack. The Tag Team pairs well with Keldeo GX, and Lapras #36 from Unified Minds to recycle a copy of Misty’s Favor every turn. Misty’s Favor is key to the deck since it’s a Supporter card that fetches up 3 Supporter cards. It’s a nice little engine. So, Slowpoke and Psyduck become a key attacker in the deck. It turns out to be a very playable GX card.

While Slowpoke and Psyduck Tag Team GX isn’t yet a major hit among PSA-graded Pokemon card collectors, it’s clear that there’s interest. It’s a playable card in the trading card game and a classic pairing of two Generation 1 Pokemon. Because it includes one of the more recognizable Pokemon in Psyduck, this is a card with a bright future among collectors.

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Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX - A Pokemon TCG Card Review

10/18/2019

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by Phoenix Desertsong; Pokemon Master!

Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX is the #1 card in the Unbroken Bonds set for the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG). It also has a Full Art version, an alternate art Full Art, and a Rainbow Foil version. This Ultra Rare GX card is powerful in many ways, but its GX attack is particularly potent. Let’s break down just how good this GX Pokemon is in the game, as well as this card’s collectability.

Because this GX Pokemon card is a Tag Team, if it’s knocked out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards, rather than the typical two prizes for a regular GX Pokemon. But, because it’s a Tag Team between Pheromosa and Buzzwole, its power level is much higher than an ordinary GX Pokemon card. This Tag Team features two decent attacks, plus a particularly nasty GX attack.

This Tag Team GX Pokemon is Grass-type and two times weak to Fire attacks with no Resistance. It has 260 HP, which is pretty good, although low mid-end for Tag Team GX cards. The retreat cost is just two colorless Energy.

Breaking Down Pheromosa & Buzzwole Tag Team GX’s Attacks

First, we’ll talk about the first two attacks. The first of Pheromosa & Buzzwole GX’s attacks is Jet Punch. It costs a mere Grass Energy to use and deals 30 damage to the opposing Pokemon. But, it also deals 30 damage to a benched Pokemon. It's a nice simple attack. The second attack packs a wallop for just two Grass Energy and one Colorless Energy. It deals 190 damage. While that sounds incredible, the drawback is that during your next then, it only deals 60 damage. This means to get it back to 190, you can't use it for a turn.

The GX attack is what really makes.this card shine. Keep in mind you can only use one GX attack per game. So, especially with this one, you need to make it count. This Tag Team Pokemon's GX attack is called Beast Game GX. While it only does 50 base damage, the other effects are incredible. If this attack knocks out an opposing Pokemon, you get to take an extra Prize card. Then, if you have seven more energy than this attack requires, which is only a single Grass energy, then you instead take three extra Prize cards. Properly timed, this attack can win you the game.

Is There a Good Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX Deck in Competitive Play?

Understandably, Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX is a powerful card in competitive TCG play. The fact that it can theoretically take all six prize cards at once is a huge deal. There are various decks built almost entirely around Pheromosa & Buzzwole Tag Team GX. Not surprisingly, they are quite good. The Pheromosa and Buzzwole deck dominated Champions League Chiba in Japan and not surprisingly also was the tournament's winning deck.

In the Pokemon games themselves, Pheromosa is an Uber-tier Bug & Fighting type Pokemon. So, competitive players of the Pokemon Sun and Moon games can tell you he was a great choice for this Team Up. Buzzwole is also a fine competitive Pokemon with the same typing, also playable in the Uber competitive tier of the video game. although it’s relatively under-used. Fans of these Pokemon are probably happy to see this tag team

How Collectible is Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX?

From a collector's standpoint, you may think that Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX is a valuable card. In the early going, it's actually very inexpensive. But, collectors clearly see that this card has a future, as 61 have been submitted to PSA for grading, 46 of which have returned a Gem Mint 10. For any modern Pokemon card, that's the only grade that brings any sort of price premium.

The Full Art versions of Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX have fared better. The regular Full Art version numbered 191/214 has 18 PSA 10 graded copies which currently exist. The alternate art Full Art version numbered 192/214 has done better, with 29 PSA 10 graded examples in existence.

Interestingly, the Rainbow Foil secret rare of Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX - numbered 215/214 - is not more expensive than the alternate art 192/214. With 33 PSA 10 examples (out of 56 total PSA submissions), it’s likely to hold the most long-term value. That’s because it’s more condition-sensitive. So, despite currently having a fair amount of PSA 10 copies already, it's the rarest version of this card.

Of course, Pheromosa and Buzzwole are hardly iconic Pokemon. Despite its incredible game-winning power, you can own a copy of the GX card for a very reasonable price. As is always the best advice with modern graded cards, if you are looking at investing in Pokemon cards as an investment, you’ll want to go with the rarest version (in this case the Rainbow foil) in PSA 10. If you just want to collect, however, a PSA 9 Mint graded copy of any of these cards will suffice.

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Slowpoke and Psyduck GX Review - A Pokemon TCG Card Review

Pheromosa and Buzzwole Tag Team GX - A Pokemon TCG Card Review

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