Contest PokéBeach Create-A-Card: June 2018 - Glass Cannons ~ All Judging Up!

VioletValkyrie

You're out of your mind.
Member
VioletValkyrie's Entry: Electrode
June 2018 Create-A-Card


Electrode - Lightning – HP100
Stage One - Evolves from Voltorb

【 Ability: Electronical Detonator 】
Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is on your Bench, you may discard all cards attached to this Pokémon and attach it to 1 of your Pokémon as a Pokémon Tool card. The attacks of the Pokémon this card is attached to do 80 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). When the Pokémon this card is attached to is damaged by an opponent's Pokémon's attack, put 8 damage counters on the Pokémon this card is attached to.

[L][C][C] Blow the Fuse 120-
Before doing damage, your opponent may discard as many cards from their hand as they like. This attack does 120 damage minus 20 damage for each card discarded in this way.

Weakness: [F] x2
Resistance: None
Retreat: None

PokéDex Entry: Electrode eats electricity in the atmosphere. On days when lightning strikes, you can see this Pokémon exploding all over the place from eating too much electricity.

JU2018CaC // VioletValkyrie

➤ Thoughts and Creative Process:
I think I’ve established my work as something that edges the theme and trying to rebound it in an interesting way to create something that uses the given theme in a unique and unconventional way. For this month, we have a power unit that can turn anything it wants into its own glass cannon. Share the love.

This idea came to me immediately as a fun way to bend the theme. Upon further thinking, I thought of the idea of an equipped card that works in flavour as an energy source that breaks its limiter and puts strain on the user. I may have gone off-topic thinking too far into flavour and concept like this, but I thought Electrode would be a fitting choice, a Pokémon that can, on occasion, power itself past its limit to the point where it blows itself up. I have my concept, my Pokémon of choice, and now it’s time to start to write.

Electronical Detonator was a fun idea to think of a way to balance. If you’re going to attach a tool that adds that much damage, how much damage should it do back to you? You have to work out the numbers to a satisfactory balance, and I thought it would both be easier and simpler to keep them around the same number. I hope that balancing is proper, and this concept isn’t seen as unfair or too powerful. I considered causing Electrode to be knocked out to do this and give up a prize, but so many past Electrode cards have done that to the point where it’s incredibly stale. I’m more worried about is wording, honestly, specifically at the end about its return damage placement.

Blow the Fuse was an interesting concept that I’m proud of, not copying a simple attack from something else that already exists. That made it fairly difficult to word properly and balance, but I typically use creativity to lead my process, and touch it up between wording and balancing later.
I think I’ll just be repeating myself on my thoughts for the ability by going on further for this.

I feel rather confident in this entry, besides knowing I’ve put some errors into it. I think this is certainly an interesting theme and I’m certainly interested to hear what people think of this one.

See you next month, hopefully!

➤ References:
Cinccino [Sun and Moon: Crimson Invasion – 86/111]
Checking for correct or incorrect wording for Blow the Fuse.
Klefki [X and Y: Steam Siege – 80/114]
Wording on attaching a Pokémon to another Pokémon as a tool.
Muscle Band [X and Y – 121/146]
Wording on a tool adding straight damage modifiers to attacks.
Bursting Balloon [X and Y: BREAKpoint – 97/122]
Wording on a tool causing return damage, modified to holder and not attacker.
 

Luplayz

The Master of bad Pokemon
Member
Now that I think about it I Probably should have added the Rules for GX and such.
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
If you don't reckon you'll be able to complete your entry by the deadline (~72 hours away), don't forget to drop out within the next 24 hours! Otherwise, power on. ^.^
 

card_collective

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Well here's my entry for the text contest.

Gengar GX – [P] – HP230
Stage 2 – Evolves from Haunter

Ability: Cursed Body
Whenever Gengar GX attacks, put 1 damage counter to it, Gengar GX then gains +10 damage for this turn.

[P] Malefic Bomb 30

[P][P][C] Disastrous Gaze 140
Discard the top 3 cards on both players deck

[P][P][P][C][C] Destiny Bond GX
Deal damage to Gengar GX equal to its base HP, then choose one of your opponents Pokémon put the same amount of damage to that Pokémon. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack per game.)

Weakness: [P] (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: [C] [C]
It can absorb any surrounding heat, leaving a sudden chill.
 

Kavross

Aspiring Trainer
Member
MpVxxcb
1N9DcJn.jpg

Foxikel is a friend of mine from Deviantart Roleplay stuff, and the background is from Grave of the Fireflies
 

Nyan

She/They
Member
Ugh, I just can't get myself to get anything done, can't I?

I'm sorry, but I have to drop out. I'm probably too late to do so, i'll suffer whatever consequences I have to, I really don't care at this point. I'm just disappointed in myself for not being able to get an entry done for the past 3 months...

Goodnight
 

Blakers

Holder of the Holy Diamond!
Member
Swellow-GX – Colorless – HP160
Stage 1 – Evolves from Taillow

Ability: Guts
If this Pokémon is affected by a Special Condition, its attacks do 50 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon.

[C][C] Facade: 60 damage. If this Pokémon is affected by a Special Condition, this attack does 50 more damage.

[C][C] Dive Bombing Frenzy GX: 100 damage. This attack does 50 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.) This Pokémon is now Confused. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack a game.)

When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-20)
Retreat: None
 

quakingpunch73

At The Beach
Member
Blacephalon /// Basic Pokémon/ HP: 60 / Fire [Ultra Beast]

NO. 806 Fireworks Pokémon HT: 5’11” WT: 28.7 lbs.

(Ability) Pyrotechnics
If this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon and your opponent has 1, 3, or 5 Prize cards remaining, the Defending Pokémon’s Weakness is [R] type. Apply weakness for the Defending Pokémon as x4 instead.

[R] Big Bang 20+
You may do 40 more damage. If you do, you may not draw a card at the beginning of your next turn.

Weakness: [W] x2
Resistance: [*]
Retreat Cost: [C]
It slithers toward people. Then, without warning, it triggers the explosion of its own head. It's apparently one kind of Ultra Beast.
Refs: Porygon EVO, Luvdisc FLF, Regigigas-EX NEX, Vileplume BCR

I wanted to create a very exaggerated and situational, but very powerful glass cannon for this CAC. Under the right circumstances, this Blacephalon can be a potent attacker, blowing up even most GX cards for a single energy. However, when those circumstances are not active, Blacephalon is just a sitting duck, dealing meager damage and even hindering the player if they wish to use it to do modest damage. Stats are all pretty self explanatory, except for HP. Kartana CLS has 60 HP as well, and Blacephalon's HP is around Kartana's in the video game.
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
That would be deadline! (Quaking, your entry is still valid.)

I'll be putting up the fanvoting later today.
 

Anime Psyclone

System Failure
Member
When is this going to be ranked? It's been a month and it usually takes that long for one of these to be graded (is that the word I should use?).
 

that ivy guy

Aspiring Trainer
Member
When is this going to be ranked? It's been a month and it usually takes that long for one of these to be graded (is that the word I should use?).
It was just mentioned in the July thread that that's never happening, although that was regarding the fan voting; not sure about the official judging.
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
There won’t be any fan voting posted for this month since there was only two voters, so we don’t actually have results. For the official judging, there is a bit of a backlog right now - but it will come once May’s competition has been completely judged.
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
Image-Based Results

Judge: @bbninjas

This month's theme was undoubtedly challenging, and this month, the area to watch was the Believability / Playability section. It was tempting to go all out on power levels considering what you might stereotypically consider as a 'glass cannon' - but it's also vital to keep that power in check via some sort of balance. The entries that did particularly well this month, found a way to balance out their high damage output (i.e. by adding significant risks, rendering that damage output inconsistent and unreliable), keeping power creep to the minimum.

steffenka:
I’m already liking how well Gifted Diamond meets the “Glass Cannon” theme - your supporting your other Pokemon, with the cost of making Diancie even more frail. Diamond Storm has some obvious synergy in that it can heal off that damage -- although it mitigates the risky nature of the Ability a bit too much, since Diancie-GX can self heal any gained damage relatively easily. The damage output of Diamond Storm is also very high - compare that to Thundurus-GX, which does only 140 damage for a similar Energy cost. Jewel Barrier is fairly standard for a “rough skin” style effect, so nothing much to say there.

Diancie’s retreat cost also seems a bit high - considering that past Diancie only have costs of [C] or [C][C], and that Diancie isn’t a particularly heavy Pokemon.

Wording errors:
- There shouldn’t be a comma between ‘this Pokemon” and “and heal”. (-1pts)

Fonts and Placement errors:
-

Wording errors:
- In the SM-era, all removing of damage counters is referred to as ‘healing’, so ‘remove 3 damage counters’ should be ‘heal 30 damage’. (-1pts)
- “by an attack” should be “by an opponent’s attack”. (-1pts)
- The Ability could be written much more concisely, without two parts (i.e. heal, and then self-damage). Instead, you just move damage counters between Pokemon: i.e. “Move 3 damage counters from 1 of your Benched Pokémon to this Pokémon.” (ref: Alolan Ninetales-GX) -2pts)

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The font for card name should be a few points larger, and the text should be more condensed (slightly squished length-ways). (-1pts)
- There should only be a couple of pixels between the card name (i.e. “Diancie”) and the GX symbol. (-1pts)
- The Weakness symbol and x2 should be a few more pixels towards the left. (-0.5pts)
- The Illus text is a few pixels too high, and the font should look less slanted. (-1pts)
- The attack names should be a few more pixels towards the left. (-0.5pts)
- Each line of the attack effects should be justified (instead of left-aligned) between the Energy costs and the base attack damage. (-0.5pts)
- The white outline behind all of the black text should be a couple of points / pixels thicker. (-1pts)

Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(Fun attacks with some minor synergy.)
Wording: 11/15
(A few minor errors and a overcomplicated Ability effect.)
Fonts and Placement: 4.5/10
(A few misses.)
Believability/Playability: 3/5
(Powerful attack that mitigates the Ability’s consequence, high Retreat Cost)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Some nice, well-implemented Diancie art.)
Total: 30.5/50

TheR3DX:
Long time, no see R3! Nice to see you again. ^.^

I think I’m going to try and judge this seriously. Probably.

Pikachu Battle Bot is a nice spin on the traditional ‘your card must be of a Pokemon’ requirement, despite still being a Trainer card by technicality, so good on ya! “Decoy” Pokemon like this a pretty clearly glass cannon material, so the theme is met there. If that was enough, Metallic Wallop dishes out whopping massive amounts of damage - in fact, too much so! 150 for two on such as splashable card (a basic Pokemon, by effect) is pretty-much unheard, for good balancing reason. The fact that you can still take Prize cards off the discard is good, but the attack makes it immune to damage (although fortunately not effects, including damage counter placement), so that’s just the icing on the cake. Still very amusing nevertheless.

Wording errors:
- There should be a comma between “discard” and “your opponent” in “discarded your opponent may take a prize card”. (-1pts)
- “before your attack” should be in italics. (-1pts)
- “your opponent may take a Prize” should be “your opponent takes a Prize”. (They shouldn’t get an option. ;) ) (-1pts)
- There should be a “by your opponent’s attacks” after “done to this Pokemon”. (-1pts)
- Can Pikachu Battle Bot be retreated? You need to specify. (-2pts)
- You should specify what happens when Pikachu Battle Bot gets Knocked Out, not just discard. Plus, “When this card is discarded” should have a “from play” that follows, otherwise your opponent could be taking prize cards if you were to discard Pikachu Battle Bot from your hand. Yikes! (-3pts)

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The “Pikachu Battle Bot” text should be a few pixels higher and more to the left. (-1pts)
- The Illustration text should be a couple of pixels higher. (-0.5pts)
- The set symbol and the set number should be a few pixels more to the left. (-0.5pts)
- The card effect text begins a whole character too early. (It should begin a few more pixels later than it does.) (-0.5pts)
- The white stroke behind the attack effect text seems slightly too big. Make sure that the stroke doesn’t encroach or cover the natural edges of the letters. (-1pts)

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Definitely a creative take on not just the theme, but the competition in general! ++ points for humour.)
Wording: 6/15
(Some important information was missed.)
Fonts and Placement: 6.5/10
(A few misses.)
Believability/Playability: 3/5
(Much too powerful)
Aesthetics: 3.5/5
(The holosheeting is a bit rough around the edges of the Pikachu art.)
Total: 31/50

Kavross:
The art immediately gets my attention here. It’s comfortably derpy in a weird way, and that works quite nicely with the Ability flavour. Just imagine a derpy Mudkip casually destroying everything with floodwaters. No big deal.

I didn’t really see how this card meets the whole “glass cannon” theme. For the most part, the card plays the role of a ‘consistent support tech’ useful for any deck that accelerates energy from the discard pile. However, there is some nice and subtle elements of swingy glass-cannon-iness here. I like how your turn ends upon using the Ability, and how Flood Damage can fuel Puddle Jump so that you can dish out some decent damage for cheap - but for that output to be consistent, you lose your greatest asset - attacking - and risk getting KO’d in return. That’s enough glass cannon for me!

I am slightly concerned about how Mudkip might work with Pokemon that stall. You could easily put up an Item-blocking Pokemon, a big basic or the like so that your opponent can’t KO you, and setup your discard behind it - effectively mitigating that massive “Your turn ends” consequence. This could make for a very potent strategy.

Wording errors:
- Nothing that I see.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The “Mudkip” text is a few pixels too far to the right and a few pixels too high. (-1pts)
- The Energy costs (and consequently, the attack effects) should be a slight couple more pixels towards the left. (-0.5pts)
- The ‘x2’ text should be a couple of pixels more to the left. (-0.5pts)

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Very nice flavour and effect combinations resulting in a neatly subtle glass cannon.)
Wording: 15/15
(Seems all good.)
Fonts and Placement: 8/10
(A couple of minor misses.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(A cautious -1 point for balance.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(The derpy art is nicely comedic with the flavour.)
Total: 43/50

demifiend700:
I’m not really seeing how this Landorus is a glass cannon, to be honest. Therian Call is a bit swingy in that it could backfire and you don’t find any Thundurus / Tornadus, but that’s about it. Forces of Nature is a fairly standard spread-damage effect, but it’s not swingy or risky. It already dishes out some reliable damage for a solid Energy cost - and then you have some fairly reliable snipe damage on top of that. In fact, it’s not that hard to be adding an extra 60+, taking your output to 140, which is getting on the power creep side.

Wording errors:
- Seems fine to me!

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The card name should be a few pixels more to the left. (-1pts)
- The Weakness information should be a few pixels more to the right. (-0.5pt)
- The attack effects end a fex pixels too early (they should end more in line with the end of the attack damage). (-0.5pts)
- The font size for the PokeDex information (i.e. the species, the weight height) is a bit too large. (-1pts)
- The font size for the card number is a bit too large. (-0.5pt)
- The font for the PokeDex entry isn’t correct. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 7/15
(Doesn’t quite meet the theme.)
Wording: 15/15
(Looks all good!)
Fonts and Placement: 5.5/10
(A few minor slips.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(Some slight power creep.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Fairly standard art.)
Total: 34.5/50

3rd Place: TheR3DX’s Pikachu Battle Bot, with 31/50 points.
2nd Place: demifiend700’s Landorus, with 34.5/50 points.
1st Place: Kavross’s Mudkip with 43/50 points
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
Text-Based Results

Judges: @NinjaPenguin & @Jabberwock

NinjaPenguin:
I was the judge for creativity and believability for this month (Jabber took on wording), and first thing I was to apologize for the terrible wait on this judging; my life has just been incredibly busy over the last couple of months and this is not Jabber’s fault in any way. This month’s cards felt like a mixed bag to me; there were some that really took the theme into account and ended up with great cards (and in one case, one of the best cards I’ve ever judged), but many ended up feeling rushed and/or uninspired. The theme exists for a reason, and taking inspiration from it is really important, so you don’t end up with simple recycled (or even worse, vanilla) effects. Additionally, attention to detail is something that you really need to remember; a lot of cards missed tiny but essential elements and lost points in believability or wording for it. Be sure to refer to past cards while making yours to be confident that your card has a good power level and correct wording, or else you could suddenly be losing a lot of points. Taking time to think your card through and word/balance correctly is key to gaining points for most of you.

1. @The Last Shaymin
Creativity: 14/20
Power Trick GX is an very creative and effective way of tying in how the effect works in the games (and a smart way to incorporate the glass cannon concept into your card), while Shell Smash makes a very effective combination with it. Bug Bite is just simply a vanilla effect, which drags the card down a good deal.
Wording: 1/15
–– In the Pokémon-GX rule: hyphen in “Pokémon-GX”; capitalize “Knocked Out”; capitalize “Prize”. [-1.5 points]
–– Shell Smash needs to clarify when it can be used. [-3 points]
–– ”GX” needs to be italicized. [-0.5 point]
–– ”until it has 10 remaining HP” -> “until its remaining HP is 10” [-2 points]
–– “(if this Pokémon has 10 HP remaining, you cannot use this ability)” -> “(If this Pokémon’s remaining HP is 10, you can’t use this Ability.)” [-2 points]
–– Capitalize “Knocked Out”; “active”. [-1 point]
–– ”base HP” -> “maximum HP” [-2 points]
–– Missing GX attack clause. [-2 points]
Believability: 9/15
Power Trick GX basically allows you to sacrifice Shuckle to take a free KO, which is balanced enough considering that the presence of cards like Guzma makes it possible to get past the one turn safety. It’s a bit strange that Shell Smash basically allows Power Trick to have you place 5 damage counters wherever you want. 250 HP is wayyy too high for a Shuckle, which is bulky in the video games but not really in the TCG at all. Shuckle that are Grass type have Fire weakness, not Fighting. The Retreat Cost is significantly too high for a GX. -1 Point for “Dex Entry on a GX.
Edited: -2 Points
Final Score: 22/50

2. @Anime Psyclone
Creativity: 14/20
Berserk and Dragon Pulse feel like they’ve been seen before, but have a bit of interesting synergy. Ramram GX has also simply been seen before.
Wording: 4/15
–– Ability should be worded “If this Pokémon’s remaining HP is 90 or less, its attacks do 20 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).” [-5 points]
–– Dragon Pulse’s wording is incredibly awkward, but I can’t think of a better way to word it, so not docking any points there.
–– Need the “é” in Pokémon. [-1 point]
–– Ramram GX should read “This attack does 50 less damage for each damage counter on this Pokémon.” [-3 points]
–– Missing GX attack clause. [-2 points]
Believability: 9/15
130 HP is obscenely low for a GX; a full 50 HP than the normal type Drampa GX and 30 HP later than the lowest HP GX, which is a mythical Pokémon. The theme may be glass cannons, but there’s ways to go about that without just lowering HP. Dragon types don’t ever have Water weakness or Fire resistance. -1 Point for no GX Rule.
Final Score: 27/50

3. @Luplayz
Creativity:14/20
Ultima-Slice is a fun attack to force your opponent to play energy conservatively, while Long Strike is an interesting ability effect to build synergy with it and disrupt the opponent. Eradicate GX is nothing special. Not exactly sure how this card fits the theme.
Wording: 2.5/15
–– “(before your attack)” needs to be italicized and followed by a comma, without the line break before the next clause. [-2 points]
–– “discard” shouldn’t be capitalized. [-0.5 point]
–– ”attached to” -> “from” [-1 point]
–– ”Pokémon EX or GX” -> “Pokémon-GX or Pokémon-EX” [-2 points]
–– “times the amount of Energy” -> “for each Energy card” [-2 points]
–– need to clarify that it should be 5 random cards; i.e., cards chosen without looking [-1 point]
–– ”in” -> “from” [-1 point]
–– “into” -> “in” [-1 point]
–– Missing GX attack clause. [-2 points]
Believability: 4/15
Discarding an energy card every turn with no drawbacks is incredibly powerful; this would turn this card into a staple to counter GXs in basically every deck and destroy the format. The card also never lists that it is a Basic, which means it is literally impossible to play. -1 Point for no GX Rule.
Final Score: 20.5/50

4. @Lord Goomy
Creativity: 14.5/20
Aurora Frills is a extremely creative and unique effect, with fun consequences and a interesting enough drawback to make the card a glass cannon despite having 250 HP (I guess; I wish there was more of the theme here). Ice Age GX is also quite fun and has clear inspiration which comes across well on the card. Icebreaker Stomp has been seen before.
Wording: 10/15
–– Opening of the Ability should read “As often as you like during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon …” [-3 points]
–– “to your deck” -> “onto your Bench”, based on what I think you were going for. [-2 points]
Believability: 12/15
Aurora Frills may be a bit high power, since you can choose Paralysis and pseudo-lock your opponent out of the game with healing cards like Max Potion, but being a Stage 2 and the presence of many switching cards like Guzma keeps it mostly in check. Ice Age GX does 100 damage for only one energy, which is incredibly high. The drawback is quite large, but the fact you get so many parts of the evolution line makes it not bad if you survive the turn, however, and as such the attack may even occasionally be able to be used as an advantage (discarding useless bench sitters like Tapu Lele GX rather than hurting you). Finally, in SuMo, the card is Unidentified Fossil, not Mysterious Fossil.
Final Score: 36.5/50

5. @GamePhoenix
Creativity: 8/20
Burn Up has been seen before, as has Mind Blown. These effects are nothing special at all besides checking off the box for the theme.
Wording: 6/15
–– ”Blachepheleon” -> “Blacephalon” [-2 points]
–– “pokemon” -> “Pokémon” x2 [-2 points]
–– ”this Pokemon’s attacks” -> “its attacks” [-2 points]
–– Need to clarify that it only does increased damage to the Active Pokémon, and before applying W/R. [-3 points]
Believability: 13/15
The balance is fine with this card. Resistance to Psychic makes no sense. -1 Point for no ‘Dex stats.
Edited: -2 Points
Final Score: 25/50
6. @VioletValkyrie
Creativity: 19/20
Blow the Fuse is a beautiful effect, simple yet with a lot of interesting possibilities and combinations stemming from your opponent having the ability to reduce damage. Electronical Detonator is also very intelligent and creative, transforming whatever it attaches to into a true glass cannon, really taking this theme into account. Amazing job!
Wording: 15/15
–– On point.
Believability: 12/15
Attaching Electrode as a tool gives a large boost in damage, but has a large drawback built in and requires evolution to use, which provides another major drawback, to balance it well enough. Blow the Fuse may be a tad too powerful, seeing as 120 damage is high for a Stage 1 and any less with discards is also above typical power level. -1 Point for no ‘Dex stats.
Final Score: 46/50

7. @card_collective
Creativity: 13/20
Cursed Body is a unique combination of advantage and drawback, and is Destiny Bond GX. Disastrous Gaze, however, has been seen plenty of times before and Malefic Bomb is a bit boring. The theme is incorporated here, through Destiny Bond GX, but mostly isn’t here.
Wording: 2/15
–– Ability should be worded like this: “This Pokémon’s attacks do 10 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). Whenever this Pokémon attacks, put 1 damage counter on it.” [-5 points]
–– ”on both players deck” -> “of each player’s deck” [-2 points]
–– I’m assuming you mean “remaining HP” and not “base (or maximum) HP” for the GX attack; if you’re going for maximum HP the easiest thing to do is just “this Pokémon is Knocked Out, this attack does 230 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon, etc”. So if you mean remaining HP, it should be worded like this: “This attack does damage to 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon equal to this Pokémon’s remaining HP. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.) This Pokémon is now Knocked Out.” [-5 points]
––“per game” -> “in a game” [-1 point]
Believability: 9/15
Destiny Bond has an extremely high attack cost for very little advantage, seeing as the effect comes with giving your opponent two free prize cards. Gengar is also always weak to Darkness, not Psychic. -1 Point for no GX Rule. -1 Point for ‘Dex Entry on a GX.
Final Score: 24/50

8. @Blakers
Creativity: 12/20
Guts and Facade incorporate the theme and are interesting enough by themselves, but are just the exact same effect repeated on here, which is quite uninteresting. Dive Bombing Frenzy has some intriguing elements to it, but still feels a bit boring. Compared to your normal cards, this just feels a bit uninspired.
Wording: 13/15
–– Need to clarify “before applying W/R” for the Ability. [-2 points]
Believability: 12/15
The power level is fine enough considering the low amount of HP that Swellow has and drawbacks to getting a special condition, but the low HP itself is a major issue considering the fact that no Stage 1 GX has ever had below 190 HP, let alone as low as 160.
Final Score: 37/50

9. @quakingpunch73
Creativity: 18/20
Pyrotechnics is a really cool way to incorporate the ubiquitous Ultra Beast obsession with Prize Cards and make the card hit for true glass cannon numbers, while Big Bang has a very unique way of going about a damage increase to combo with it. It’s a quite fun combination in general.
Wording: 9/15
–– First instance of “the Defending Pokémon” should be “your opponent’s Active Pokémon”; second should be “that Pokémon” [-3 points]
–– Capitalize “weakness”. [-1 point]
–– Don’t need “[R] type”; just “[R]”. [-1 point]
–– “may not” -> “can’t” [-1 point]
Believability: 10.5/15
The attack is fine by itself, but when combined with the ability, it goes completely crazy. If you score a non-GX KO, you’re suddenly one-hitting GXs for one energy with a Choice Band/choosing not to draw next turn (along with having access to Ultra Beast synergy). Though opposing decks can try to mess up your prize math, it’s still very powerful. 60 HP is also probably a bit low still; Kartana seems like an exception rather than the rule, but it’s not guarantee so I won’t deduct anything here.
Final Score: 37.5/50

3rd Place: Blakers’ sagacious Swellow, with 37/50 points.
2nd Place: quakingpunch73’s bodacious Blacephalon, with 37.5/50 points.
1st Place: VioletValkyrie’s exuberant Electrode with 46/50 points
 
Top