Pokémon TCG Reveals Team Rocket's Moltres ex, With a Devastating New Kind of Move

The Pokémon Trading Card Game has revealed several new cards from the upcoming Japanese set The Glory of Team Rocket, including one new card that should be a major disruption for opponents. Later this year, Team Rocket returns to the Pokémon TCG via a new set dedicated specifically to the villainous team. The Glory of Team Rocket will contain dozens of Team Rocket's Pokémon, providing multiple options for players to build a deck around villainous Pokémon. Many of these decks will revolve around control and disruption rather than brute strength, as evidenced by a newly revealed card.

Over the weekend, the Pokémon TCG revealed several new cards for The Glory of Team Rocket (per Pokébeach). They include the three Kanto Legendary Birds: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Moltres will appear as a Pokémon ex card, with a brand-new kind of attack. The Evil Burn move allows players to discard one Team Rocket's Energy from Moltres ex in exchange for removing the opponent's Active Pokémon and all attached cards from play. While players don't get to claim a Prize for removing the opponent's Pokémon, this is a powerful disruptive effect that could make a big splash in competitive play.

Why Team Rocket's Moltres Ex Could Be A Disruptive Force In The Pokémon TCG

The New Card Can Throw Off The Cadence Of Many Pokemon Decks

The key to Team Rocket's Moltres ex is that many decks play a very tight resource game built around trying to gain the upper hand on trading prizes. Disrupting the tempo of these decks can be critical, especially if a player has no quick way to retrieve some of the cards discarded from play. Although the card won't earn many prizes, decks may want to use Team Rocket's Moltres ex to wipe out pesky walls or disrupt decks that rely on a small number of Pokémon.

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Another interesting card revealed this weekend was Team Rocket's Sneasel, a Basic Pokémon card that can deal 20 damage per damage counter on any Benched Pokémon. Several other Team Rocket cards deal damage to Benched Pokémon, which syncs up with Sneasel's ability to wipe out relatively healthy Pokémon as long as one-third or more of their health is gone. Players may also want to use the other Legendary birds, especially Articuno, which blocks all effects besides damage to a player's Pokémon.

Our Take: Get Ready For Team Rocket Decks In Competitive Play

Team Rocket Decks Have A Ton Of Options, But May Require A Lot Of Finesse

While the jury is still out on how much of an impact Trainer's Pokémon cards will have on the overall Pokémon TCG metagame, I just can't see how Team Rocket decks won't see a lot of play in the coming months. There are too many items, tools, and Trainer's cards that sync up well with these cards, and I feel that a few players will come up with crafty strategies using various Team Rocket combos. The only downside I see is that Team Rocket decks may require too much finessing to be used by more casual Pokémon TCG players.