Hi there. Here is an another Pokemon TCG post. There is more and more news of Pokemon card releases coming out of Japan. Whatever is released in Japan when it comes to the Pokemon TCG arrives internationally several weeks later.
In this post I feature two ACE SPEC cards from the Crimson Haze Japanese TCG expnasion. These two are Survival Braces and Hyper Aroma.
Image from Bulbapedia.
Survival Braces Card
This ACE SPEC card is a tool card. You are allowed only 1 ACE SPEC card per deck.
This card allows a full HP Pokemon to withstand a one hit knockout. Think of it like Focus Band from the Pokemon video game where a Pokemon with the attached item can endure a hit and leave itself with 1 HP. In the trading card game it would be 10 HP instead of 1HP.
Uses/Combos
Here are some combos and uses that I can think of.
- Cinccino in Lugia VSTAR decks. Attack for big damage over two turns.
- Mew ex to Protect it from one hit knockouts.
- Pidgeot ex to protect it from one hit knockouts
- Maybe on Chien Pao ex so it can search for Water energy and attack again.
Any Pokemon you want to protect would benefit from Survival Braces.
Pros
- Protect key Pokemon from one hit knockouts
- Searchable by Arven (Supporter) and Town Store (Stadium)
- Can use tool on any Pokemon. (Rule box and non-rule Box)
Cons
- Lost Vacuum is really popular to counter the abundance of Item cards in the F, G, H regulation block.
- Pokemon has to be full HP for this to work.
- Not many Tool recovery cards. Roseanne's Backup (Supporter) comes to mind but it is not widely used.
Survival Braces can be a good card but only in certain decks. Other ACE SPEC cards like Prime Catcher, Hero's Cape and Unfair Stamp (in Crimson Haze) are much more powerful and devastating.
Hyper Aroma Card
This Hyper Aroma Item ACE SPEC card is quite interesting. It can do very well in decks that rely on Stage 1 Pokemon like Xatu or Gholdengo from Paradox Rift.
Combos
One deck that comes to mind for this ACE SPEC card is Gholdengo ex. Setup is really important for this deck. Using Buddy Poffin to bench 70 HP or lower basics from the deck in the first turn and then using Hyper Aroma the next turn to evolve is quite powerful. A fast setup is really helpful when it comes to getting ahead in games and establishing a good board state.
Something like Xatu with Espathra ex can benefit from Hyper Aroma. Being able to setup Xatus and Stage 1 attackers fast helps put pressure on the opponent.
Pros
- Item card that can search for 3 Stage 1 Pokemon is quite powerful. Can play Supporter on top of this.
- Searchable by Arven & Irida Supporters
- No need to discard cards to get Stage 1 Pokemon unlike Ultra Ball.
Cons
- Watch out for Eri that can discard Item cards.
- Compatible to certain decks with Stage 1 evolution Pokemon, not great with Big Basic Pokemon (Basic Vs, exs, etc) or with Pokemon VSTARs or VMAX.
- Not optimal if you cannot evolve 3 Pokemon into Stage 1 Pokemon.
Thank you for reading.