At the beginning of this month, the Pokémon TCG saw the release of its 66th expansion of cards, titled BREAKthrough. The English adaption of the Japanese Blue Shock and Red Flash, the expansion is the eighth expansion of the XY series of cards and the first of the XY BREAK series, and is centered around Mewtwo and its Mega Evolutions.
Appropriately, it features a new type of card called Pokémon BREAK.
Since the first expansion in the XY series of cards, we’ve mainly just seen the return of Pokémon-EX, with the addition of Mega Pokémon-EX for the new mechanic in the video games. The series also continued the trend of “full art” cards, which were just reprints of other cards in the set with different artworks taking up the entirety of the card.
So it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a new type of card, especially one that adds a new mechanic to the gameplay. Pokémon BREAK cards are categorized as a new type of evolution card that’s played on top of the existing Pokémon. The artwork is sideways on the card, something that’s only ever been seen in the Legend cards of the HGSS expansions, and the card is played as such, as well. When in play, the BREAK evolution gives the Pokémon new HP, Abilities, and/or attacks while still retaining all the Abilities, attacks, Weaknesses, Resistances, and Retreat Costs of the original Pokémon.
Six Pokémon BREAK have been introduced in this expansion: Chesnaught, Raichu, Marowak, Zoroark, Florges and Noivern. The artwork showcases the Pokémon in all gold and taking up the majority of the card, and it’s certainly interesting, though not surprising, to see the TCG still implementing new ideas into the game.
With this new addition, it certainly raises the question of how competitive play will be affected!
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Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
