Pokemon TCG - Rayquaza EX & Mega Rayquaza EX from Roaring Skies Review

by  R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

With the XY Roaring Skies set, the Pokemon Trading Card Game did something interesting. There are actually two Rayquaza EX cards in the set, as well as two Mega Rayquaza EX cards in the set, as well. We'll take a look at all four cards here today.

Rayquaza EX #60 and Mega Rayquaza EX #61 are two of the most straightforward Pokemon cards ever in terms of power level. On the surface, Rayquaza EX has some power, but seems to come up short when it comes to matching up with his EX brethren. 180 HP isn't bad, though.

His first attack, Dragon Claw, is hardly exciting. 30 damage for 2 colorless energy simply doesn't do much for anybody. His other attack, Dragon Strike, deals 130 damage for 2 Fire, 1 Electric, and 1 Colorless Energy. However, it's one of those coin flip attacks, so if you hit tails, Rayquaza EX can't use Dragon Strike the next turn. This doesn't seem all too fun.

However, the great news is that Rayquaza EX curves out perfectly into his Mega Evolution.

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For 3 Fire, 1 Electric, and one Colorless Energy, Dragon Ascent deals a whopping 300 damage. While you do have to discard 2 energy, 300 damage is enough to knock out pretty much any EX Pokemon.

The other cool thing is what sets this Mega Evolution apart from the other one. It has the ability to reduce damage taken from Grass,  Fire, Water, and Electric Pokemon by 20 - after applying Weakness and Resistance. Like all Dragon Pokemon nowadays, Rayquaza EX and Mega Rayquaza alike have 2x weakness to Fairy-type Pokemon.

230 HP isn't quite as high as other Mega Evolutions, but the attack power is formidable. This raw power made this version of Mega Rayquaza EX a #1 Best Seller among new Single Card releases on Amazon.

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Rayquaza EX #75 is quite different from his in-set counterpart. He has a little bit less HP at 170, but his first attack, Intensifying Burn, is extremely relevant in an EX happy game. It takes only one energy, and does only 10 damage, unless the opposing Pokemon is an EX, in which case it does 50 more. That's quite a wallop for a single energy.

The second attack isn't quite as exciting, but it takes three Colorless energy and deals 100. The cost is discarding the top 3 cards of your deck. It's not the worst drawback, and this being colorless makes it quite versatile.

So what will the second Mega Evolution look like?

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At first glance, Mega Rayquaza EX #105 doesn't look quite as exciting as its in-set counterpart. But this Mega Rayquaza has a special Evolution ability. You can evolve your Rayquaza EX on your FIRST turn or as soon as you play it. Ordinarily, you'd have to wait an entire turn. While the Mega Evolution still causes you to end your turn, this is a big deal tempo wise.

This Mega Rayquaza has an attack called Emerald Break, which costs 3 Colorless energy and deals 30 damage for each of your Benched Pokemon. This limits its power to 150 raw damage, but considering you could unleash this damage on Turn 2 with no drawback is really impressive.

The cool thing about having two Mega Evolutions is that you can choose which Mega to use. Still, it's clear that #60 and #61 go together and #75 and #105 go together. Overall, the first pair has better synergy and more overall power. But the second pair trades raw power for splash-ability and an ability to strike quickly.

Which pair do you like better?

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