EX Ruby & Sapphire Tips

The new Pokémon-e TCG: EX Ruby & Sapphire card set introduces several rules changes to the Pokémon-e Trading Card Game. Let's go over some of the rules changes and see how the new EX Ruby & Sapphire cards can take advantage of them. First, we'll examine the changes to Darkness and Metal Energy. Next, we'll see how the changes to the retreat rules have affected game tactics. Finally, we'll look at the cards that are effective in 2-on-2 battles.

Retreating and Curing Special Conditions
The new EX Ruby & Sapphire rules only allow you to perform one retreat per turn. As a result, only one of your Active Pokémon can retreat in a 2-on-2 battle. The rule change also prevents the classic tactic of using Pokémon with no Retreat Cost to cure themselves of Special Conditions for free. On the other hand, Confused Pokémon don't require a coin flip to retreat anymore. Confused Pokémon may now retreat normally. This makes Confusion a lot easier to get rid of. Since another new EX Ruby & Sapphire rule increases Confusion's damage from 20 to 30, this is a very good rule change.

Marshtomp (41/109), Combusken (28/109), and Grovyle (32/109) have the Poké-Body Natural Cure. If you attach a matching type of Energy card from your hand to them, any Special Condition they have is cured. This is especially useful when combined with Grovyle, since you can combine Grovyle (32/109) with Sceptile's (20/109) Energy Trans Poké-Power. Grovyle becomes cured of its Special Condition, and you can move the Grass Energy to another Pokémon if necessary.

Darkness and Metal Energy
Darkness Energy and Metal Energy cards now provide special benefits only to the matching type of Pokémon. So, a Water-type Pokémon may use a Metal Energy card as Colorless Energy, but it cannot gain the 10 HP resistance to attack anymore. Also, all "penalties" to attaching a Metal Energy or Darkness Energy to a non-matching type are removed. This means, for example, that self-inflicted damage is no longer reduced by 10 damage when a Metal Energy card is used on a non-Metal-type Pokémon. Older battle strategies that use Metal Energy cards for non-Metal-type Pokémon will no longer work. A Wailord (14/109) using Take Down with three Metal Energy cards will still hurt itself for 20 damage, because Wailord is a Water-type Pokémon.

2-vs-2 Battles
One of the biggest changes to the rules is the addition of 2-on-2 battles. If you plan to have some 2-on-2 battles, you may need to modify your normal battle strategy.

When building your 2-on-2 decks, make sure you have enough Basic Pokémon to survive the first couple of rounds. If your opponent starts with two Basic Pokémon and you start with only one, you might lose very quickly. This is because your opponent may have multiple types of Pokémon in the deck. Since every Basic Pokémon in EX Ruby & Sapphire has a weakness, it becomes more likely that your opponent will have an Active Pokémon that can exploit your Pokémon's weakness and Knock Out your Pokémon in one or two rounds.