Journey further into the land before and beyond time…
Welcome Pokemon adventurers one and all, it is the return and the beginning for a new collection of brand new paradox pokemon to be brought into the TCG after their debut in the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Video Game Series. Come on down as we discover the many new strategies and trainer cards from this new major set release!
Journey further into the land before and beyond time…
Welcome Pokemon adventurers one and all, it is the return and the beginning for a new collection of brand new paradox pokemon to be brought into the TCG after their debut in the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Video Game Series. Come on down as we discover the many new strategies and trainer cards from this new major set release!
Temporal Forces continues to introduce even more Ancient and Future Pokemon into the TCG with the release of many iconic Pokemon and Trainer cards that still see play in the card game as of time of writing. With a wide roster of cards available and great artworks that highlight some of Pokemon’s most well loved characters, such as Gengar and Metagross, but also gives some much needed love to a collection of niche but still well loved cards, as seen with Likitung and Bronzor. But the stand out moment for this set is the return of Ace Spec cards to the tcg as well as introducing a couple brand new ones to give a fresh spin on the classic card type. Even with these however, the set feels a little underwhelming and hasn’t really affected the card game in any major way, but perhaps there are still cards here yet to explore, hidden in the lands that time forgot…
Play with a brand new Ace up your sleeve with the return of Ace Spec Cards
Ace Spec cards return to the TCG after their initial release in the Black & White set Boundaries Crossed, introducing a new way to play and counter your opponents every step. There are a couple returning Ace Specs in the set, such as Master Ball that allows you to search any Pokemon out into your hand, as well as a collection of fun new cards, such as the powerful Prime Catcher Item Card that allows for the player using it to switch out an opponent’s active Pokemon with a benched one as well as switch out your own active Pokemon with one from your bench. To balance out these brand new effects they have also been set to only one copy per deck of cards and only one Ace Spec card per deck, similar to how Radiant Pokemon had operated before rotating out. This truly adds a new spin to the formula and helps out decks that need that extra help to kick off a strategy, now having an all powerful card to start them off or to help counter against certain pairings and level out the playing field for all players alike.
The battle between time continues to rage on!
Temporal Forces continue to introduce us to more Ancient & Future cards, both Pokemon and Trainer, focusing on bringing in a range of bigger strategies for boss monsters and deck archetypes. In the Pokemon Format, as of currently writing, it appears that the Ancient Pokemon cards are still holding relevance in comparison to the Future archetype. This is most notably seen in two of the decks that came out as part of these decks, such as the Roaring Moon Ancient Box that focuses on having a large array of cards featuring the Ancient tag on them to buff up the damage of your Roaring Moon Pokemon in the deck. This deck works well with many of the Ancient Pokemon playstyles, in particular with Roaring Moon EX as it allows for the player to have access to an early boss monster to battle with and one to slowly power up across the game’s length. Though the most well known deck from this set that is still doing well at tournaments is the Raging Bolt EX Pokemon, letting the player be capable of sacrificing energy all their pokemon to unleash a wave of damage on the opponent, this is especially effective when paired with the energy gaining pokemon Teal Mask Ogerpon EX.
To this day, the dragon type card has continued to conquer TCG and adapt to the ever evolving format even after the past rotation of cards. Alongside this card is also a stunning looking Special Illustration Rare card showing off the prowess of the Raging bolt as it wanders around the jungles of Area 0.
A great variety of Illustrated Pokemon and Trainer cards
The artwork available as Illustration Rare Cards in Temporal Forces shows a proper appreciation for both popular and less popular Pokemon released over the years, having what could be the best variety of Illustrations available outside of a special set (such as Prismatic Evolutions and Crown Zenith). Some of the biggest cards that fans are after from the set are beautiful artworks such as the Iron Crown EX, presenting with a commanding presence as the moon rests behind it, or the parade of Gastly, Haunters and Gengars in the Gastly Illustration Rare. It also features many fun artwork cards for Pokemon that don’t often get the spotlight, giving appreciation to a wide variety of fan favourites. A few that I wanted to bring a focus on are the artworks for Litten, Lickitung and Metagross Illustration Rare Cards; Litten truly shows off its personality as it is seen lounging about amongst its trainer’s books and Litten memorabilia in a cozy book nook. Lickitung can be found sneaking into the kitchen to steal some snow cones while its trainer and friends are out, showing off more of what Pokemon get up to in their day to day life when not battling in tournaments. What is especially fun to see is a couple of Metagross’ with their trainer as they clean up the roads of snow in their town, helping out and filling out the place with adorable little snowmen.
Overall, Temporal Forces is a fun set that has shifted the meta of the Pokemon TCG with the release of both Pokemon cards, such as Raging Bolt EX, and the reintroduction of Ace Spec cards back into the format. The set is a great balance between collectible cards and rarities as well as having brand new competitive strategies to help shake up the game and its mechanics until they are rotated out in the future.
Zatu Review Summary
Zatu Score
80%
