EX Holon Phantoms: Wy-naut Wobbuffet?

By Cole Bendall

Picture it – you need good starting Pokémon. You want them to build up your Bench, to withstand most attacks, and to attack after they've built up. What do you pick? The current choice for that is Plusle from EX Deoxys, but that's likely to be rotated out of the Modified Format after the Pokémon TCG World Championships. So, how can you replace it? Try Wobbuffet from the Pokémon TCG expansion, EX Holon Phantoms!

First, let's look at the characteristics of Wobbuffet. It has 70 HP, which is respectable for an uncommon Basic Pokémon. This means it can withstand most attacks at the start of the game, so you can still set up with it. It's a Psychic type, which can be pretty dominant in the current format with many decks using Pokémon that have Weakness to Psychic, such as Medicham ex (EX Emerald), Mew ex (EX Legend Maker) or Lugia ex (EX Unseen Forces). Wobbuffet is, however, weak to Psychic types, which are still relatively common in the game with cards such as the previously mentioned Mew ex or Gengar (EX Legend Maker). It also has a Retreat Cost of 2, which makes it a little more difficult to retreat.

But let's look at its attacks. Its first attack, Call for Friends, costs 1 of any Energy and allows you to search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench, and then shuffle your deck. This is great to help you build up your Bench and to randomize the deck. If you aren't drawing what you want, you can shuffle your deck again and still have the bonus of up to 2 more Pokémon on your Bench to help you.

Its second attack appears to take advantage of its Weakness. Retaliate costs 1 Psychic Energy and 1 of any Energy and does 10 damage times the number of damage counters on Wobbuffet. This is great when you predict the proverbial "swan song" – when you know it will soon be Knocked Out, attach the Energy and go down fighting! As Wobbuffet stands on its own, it can do up to 60 damage for just 2 Energy, which is absolutely brilliant, enough to destroy most Defending Pokémon with Weakness to Psychic and most Basic Pokémon. Combine it with Energy Root (EX Unseen Forces) to give Wobbuffet 20 more HP and you can do up to 80 damage for 2 Energy, which is insurmountable and can even destroy those annoying Stage 1 Pokémon! This means that its Weakness mentioned earlier could be seen as an advantage to help build up your attacking ability!

Despite its high Retreat Cost and common Weakness, Wobbuffet makes a good starting Pokémon with the ability to withstand many starting attacks, to search for Pokémon in your deck, to go out with a bang, and really fire up battle with its second attack. Because of all this, you just have to ask, "Wy-naut" Wobbuffet?