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What’s the best thing about the summer? Being able to see the sun for sometimes multiple hours in a row? Being able to eat ice cream all the time and not get weird looks? (eating ice cream in December will get you weird looks, believe me) Being able to break out the loud shirts and wear them ‘unironically’? No, it is clearly not any of these (though these are undeniably top tier) but the fact that summer brings with it a Pokemon holiday set – come on!
For all those new to or unfamiliar with the game, Pokemon bring out four official sets a year (this year’s being Temporal Forces, Twilight Masquerade, Stellar Crown and Surging Sparks) and two holiday sets.
The first set of the year usually comes out in January and will often be a kinda greatest hits set, containing a mix of spangly versions of cards from recent sets (shinies and alternative arts), reprints and leftover cards that were omitted from recent sets for… reasons. These have usually been ‘take it or leave it’ sets for me as they are more about collectables rather than playables (I did get a Paldean Fates tin for the Charizard ex… still haven’t made that deck yet…).
The second set is often a bit more interesting and have a definite theme rather than just ‘oooh, look at the shinies!’ – cases in point are the last two summer sets which celebrated Pokemon Go! and Pokemon 151, which celebrated Pokemon GO and the original 151 respectively. Both sets featured cards that became staples (Poke-Stop from GO and Mew ex from 151) and a lot of cards that were just some fun. Fair to say, I prefer the summer sets to the winter ones.
Shrouded Fable, being a summer set, is about 90% OC (original content) and this is only due to the size of the set and the nature of some of the rares (special and full art versions of cards from previous sets). It’s based around the theme of… poison? Could be, but this is more to do with the Loyal Three, but the theme is probably not as apparent or strong as GO and 151. Not the hugest of issues, because it’s all about the cards, and there are some very interesting cards in here. Very interesting indeed…
Though It Be Small, It Be Fierce
After the 207 cards of 151, Shrouded Fable seems pretty miniscule, but compared to GO’s 88 cards, maybe not so much. Similar to the Japanese set it is based on, Night Wanderer, it has 64 main cards, but 35 secret rare cards, five more than the Japanese set. There are 53 Pokemon in the main set, six of which are ex cards, two Stadiums, two Tools, three Items and four Supporters. Two of the Items and one of the Stadiums are Ace Specs. There are 15 Illustration Rares, six Full Art exs, four Full Art Supporters, five Special Art Rares and four Gold Cards. It works out as being just over a third of the cards being Secret Rares. Sadly, the pulls may not reflect this, but it’s not just about rarities. Which is nice.
The ex Factor
I can’t lie to you – when it comes to ex cards in this set, they are very sparse. It only has six ex cards, which is half as many as 151, the last comparable holiday set, and one of them is a bit of a head-scratcher considering that there are some Pokemon that have been completely neglected. (if anyone at Pokemon is reading this, and I’m sure they are, because they clearly hang on my every word – WHERE’S THE LOVE FOR PRIMARINA? Look, even [Palworld] have been more eager to release a version of Primarina, and they are seriously close to infringing on copyright… sort it out for the sake of my son!).
The head-scratcher is Revavroom Tera ex. This is the seventh Revavroom card (if you count promos and Battle Academy) and the second Revavroom ex card… and the card in the base set of Scarlet and Violet is still the most relevant and will become more relevant in a world without Bibarel. Give. It. A. Rest. Rant over. Revavroom Tera ex is a lightning type with 280 HP, but uses steel energy, which pleases no-one, and has two attacks – the first for one steel energy does 20 damage, but an extra 120 damage if it moved from the bench this turn, or for three steel does 250 damage before sending itself and all cards attached to it to the discard pile. A very pricey glass cannon, but at least it doesn’t give up two prizes. Not completely useless, and who knows what cards we will get to back it up, but at the mo it is far from being great.
Much better, personally, is the Kingdra ex. I have always had a soft spot for the big seahorse, and the last time we saw this beast get a big card was Kingdra GX in Dragon Majesty… back in 2018. Long time. (NOT AS LONG AS PRIMARINA). It has 310 HP and of course, you couldn’t get Kingdra without Hydro Pump, and here is does 50 damage plus 50 damage for each water energy attached to it (with a base cost of two colourless). Potentially devastating, but the first attack, King’s Order, allows you to put three water Pokemon from your discard pile onto your bench for one water energy. And this doesn’t mean basic Pokemon. ANY Pokemon. Sure, it’s a stage two, but there are plenty of ways you can get other stage twos like Baxcalibur, the draw engine Kingdra or Feraligator into your discard pile… then there’s Palkia VSTAR, or another Kingdra ex… It takes some set up, but once in play can become an absolute menace. The Special Art rare is also stunning.
Then there is the main event – the Loyal Three and Pecharunt exs. All of them are dark-type Pokemon, all weak to fighting-types and all working together in some kind of sinister synergy. Which makes it really difficult to know where to start with them. Probably best to start with the Pecha-runt of the litter…
Pecharunt ex has only 190 HP, which is very low for even a basic ex, but kinda holds the whole bunch together. It has a not too bad attack – for only two darkness energy, it will do 60 damage for each prize card your opponent has taken, so it’s a decent late game attacker, if a bit of a liability. It also has an ability that allows you to switch a dark-type Pokemon that isn’t Pecharunt ex into the active. Only drawback is that the Pokemon in active is now poisoned. I’ll tell you now, there’s a lot of poison shenanigans in this set…
Poison is not always a drawback, though – humans are renowned for poisoning themselves for fun (then again, most of the natural world does it too) – and some Pokemon positively thrive in a toxic environment (that Klawf from Paradox Rift that does 160 more damage if it has a special condition, for instance). In the Loyal Three, this is Okidogi ex – sounds cute, but he’s one angry pooch with 250 HP. For one darkness energy, it can search the deck for two darkness energy and attach them, but leaves it poisoned. For two darkness and a colourless, it does 130 damage, but if it’s poisoned, stick another 130 damage on that. Not quite enough damage to KO VSTARs, but we’ll come back to him later…
Munkidori has already made a name for itself in Twilght Masquerade as a back-up damage shifter – so much fun – played in all sorts of decks where you expect to take damage. Could Munkidori ex be just as annoying? For two darkness and one colourless, it can do 190 damage and can’t use the attack the following turn. Okay, I suppose. If Pecharunt ex is on the bench , though, when knocked out it gives up one less prize card. It only has 210 HP, but yeah… pretty annoying, especially if Legacy Energy is attached, reducing it to… no prizes. What fun.
Which leaves us with the bad birdy, Fezandipiti ex. It has an attack of sorts, which does 100 damage to one of your opponent’s Pokemon for three colourless, but no one is going to play it for the attack. The ability, Flip The Script, allows you to draw three cards if one of your Pokemon was KO’d during your opponent’s last turn. Is this a card that everyone will play? Yes, yes it is. Will it be affordable to buy as a single? No, no it won’t.
All These Cards? For Me? You Shouldn’t Have…
Whereas the ex cards are nice to have, and there are some lovely Full Arts and Special Art Rares (Art Rares too), they aren’t just giving these away. Fortunately, there are a fair few common, uncommon and rare cards that have been printed that are… just right for the kind of daft decks that I play, actually. How nice! But there are also some cards that will definitely have their place in the right kind of deck in the right kind of situation.
First off we get a couple of interesting dragon types, Haxorus and Kyurem. Haxorus is a rare (and rares come up a bit too frequently in the new format for my liking) and as a stage 2 is a bit awkward. But is does have an interesting attack for one fighting energy – it KOs any Pokemon with a special energy attached. This makes it a bit of a peril to certain decks (ie Lugia), but is very specific (the second attack does 230 damage for a fighting and a steel, which is decent, but will eat through the top three cards of your deck). Also specific as you like is Kyurem, which for the ridiculous cost of two water, two steel and a colourless, does 110 damage to three of your opponent’s Pokemon and discards all energy. If your opponent has a card with ‘Colress’ in the title in their discard pile, this goes down to a cost of one colourless - does someone at Pokemon HQ hate Lost Box decks as much as me? Could be… (there is also a Supporter in this set called Colress’s Tenacity, which allows you to search your deck for a Stadium and Energy card, so it’s not just about the Lost Box hate (it is totally about the Lost Box hate)) There is, however, another way of playing these two dragon types, and that is as part of Regidrago VSTARs Dragon Box deck -dump them in the discard pile and use them when you need. Just when we see the back of one Box…
It’s not just about feeding the ‘Drago though, as there are some other distinctly anti and pro-meta cards among the Pokemon. There is a new Zoroark that for two colourless does 60 damage for each of your opponent’s V or ex cards in play – take that, The Meta! – and a new Galvantula that does 50 base damage for a grass and colourless, but does an extra 80 if it has a lightning energy attached and another extra 50 if your opponent’s Pokemon has an ability – take that er… um… it’s Dark Charizard, isn’t it? We also get another Bloodmoon Ursaluna, this time a fighting type but with another interesting ability. This time, when you play it from your hand to the bench, you can attach up to two fighting energy from your hand… for free! It also has an attack for two fighting and one colourless energy that does 100 damage, plus 30 for each damage counter on your opponent’s active Pokemon. Not quite as good as Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex, but interesting.
The next lot are legitimately good, and will make Dark Charizard even better (because it wasn’t ridiculously good to begin with, was it?) – Duskull, Dusclops and Dusknoir (why Dusclops isn’t Dusklops is beyond me, but there you are). Duskull is just your basic Duskull, but both Dusclops and Dusknoir have a nifty, nasty ability that requires you to voluntarily KO them, because when you do that, Dusclops allows you to drop five damage counters or, if Dusknoir, allows you to drop 13 damage counters on one of your opponent’s Pokemon. Not only can this really help with knocking out Pokemon, but it also helps to power up Dark Charizard! Can anything stop the Obsidian Beast?
Up from the depths, almost three feet high… just when you thought it was safe to go back to the aviary… UNITED WINGS IS BACK! Yes, there is a Dartrix in this set which has the United Wings attack
(there is a Decidueye, which does 170 for one grass, but you need to discard a grass energy)! This not only means another four cards for the United Wings attack, but as a grass type is the perfect counter to THE BIG GUY. Does it make United Wings meta? Don’t care. Got ma Wings – AY!
What’s Your Poison?
One thing about the Loyal Three is that there seems to be a lot of poison around – that purple and green colour scheme screams toxic trouble – and a fair few Trainer cards in this set reflect this. Kinda. Alright, I was just struggling for a heavy handed segue…
There are only four Supporter cards in this set, one of which is toxic and another of which is TOXIC. Cassiopeia can only be used when it is the last card in hand and allows you to search for two cards from your deck. Like Brandon, this is a great effect but completely impractical. Colress Tenacity is much better, allowing you to search your deck for a stadium and an energy (any energy, not just basic) – very useful, but puts you on Kyurem’s hitlist. Janine’s Secret Art is a big boost for darkness decks, allowing you to accelerate two darkness from your deck to two of your darkness Pokemon – but poisoning your active Pokemon if you attached to that – a bit toxic. But the TOXIC card is Xerosic’s Machinations, which forces your opponent to discard down to three cards – great for stall, great for mill, great for Arbok ex, not good for making friends and influencing people.
There are three Items, one that is good, two that are not so good – two of them are also Ace Spec – guess which is the good one? Wrong. Dangerous Laser and Poke Vital A are the two Ace Specs and burn and confuse your opponent’s active Pokemon or heal 150 from one of your Pokemon respectively – meh. Night Stretcher, however, is pretty good, as it allows you to retrieve a Pokemon or an energy from your discard pile. A very useful Item indeed.
Of the two Stadiums, one is uncommon and one is Ace Spec, and they both have their places. The Ace Spec Neutralisation Zone prevents damage from Rule Box Pokemon against Pokemon without a Rule Box. Nice for single prize decks… until someone brings a Lost Vacuum to the party. The regular Stadium is Academy At Night, which allows either player to put a card from their hand on top of their deck. This would be pretty *shrug*… unless you play Baby Iron Thorns, which does more damage depending on how many Future cards your can discard out of the top five of your deck – which with this Stadium and Cryptomaniac can guarantee 210 damage at least for a two-energy attack on a single prize Pokemon. Very nicey, very spicey.
I’ve left the two tools ‘til last because… well, tools don’t always get the love they deserve, so here they are, two very specific tools for two very specific decks the sort of decks I like to play. Binding Mochi comes first and is specifically for those self-destructive Pokemon that poison themselves – so like the human race. If the Pokemon that it is attached to is poisoned, that Pokemon’s attacks do 40 more damage. We’ve already seen how Okidogi ex does 260 damage if it is poisoned – chuck one of these on them and it’s up to 300. Now we’re talking! But if you don’t fancy risking a two-prize liability, how about the Klawf from Paradox Rift I mentioned which can hit for 190? How about 230 instead? Now we’re really talking! The other tool could be useful across quite a few decks, but I have one in mind – the electric deck that took a blow when it lost Flaafy. Powerglass (witty!) when attached to your active Pokemon allows you to attach an energy from the discard pile to the active Pokemon at the end of the turn. This means that Pokemon that do maore damage by discarding more (Raging Bolt and Chien-Pao) can partially recharge themselves after attacking. For me, though, this is all about the Pawmot ex – discard two electric to drop 220 on a Pokemon of your choice, THEN get one back? It may not be Flaafy, but it’s certainly not naffy! Eh? Eh? I’ll get me coat…
What’s In The Box?
Due to the premium nature of the holiday sets, you can’t just buy a booster box, so the best bet at bangs for your buck is the Elite Trainer Box. In its lurid green and purple colour scheme, the Shrouded Fable ETB is very striking, and carries on the theme to the card sleeves, dividers and dice within – those purple and green dice remind of some kind of apple and blackcurrant chew bar from the eighties… (note to self: don’t eat the dice) The Pecharunt promo has a real haunted hollow vibe to it (though I do miss the time when we use to get V/VSTAR or GX promo cards) and really highlights nagimiso’s dynamic anime style. These are all very nice, but what about the packs – WHAT’S IN THE PACKS?
For such a small set, you know that there’s going to be one obviously problem – duplication. But also, with such a small set, shouldn’t you get a better chance at hitting the good stuff?
Um… about that.
Due to the limited number of Ace Specs, exs, full arts, art and special art rares (44, compared to over 130 in Shiny cards alone from Paldean Fates), the pulls can seem particularly harsh, and some holo rares do seem less rare than your uncommons – seven holo rares as opposed to 20 uncommons. Heck, I’d go as far as to say that holo rares could be more common than commons: case in point, I managed to pull four Tapu Bulu rares (including the art rare) out of 14 packs opened… and only one Dartrix – a common. I do wonder if the selection process for UK pack contents are becoming too automated as well, because you often see the same sequence of cards come up in several packs (the Tapu Bulu card thing again? Every pack that had a grass energy had a Tapu Bulu card – every one). Considering that this is a premium set, this could make it a deal breaker.
It’s not all bad news though, because the Pokemon Company know how much we love shiny things so… let’s make with the shinies! First off, the reverse holo pattern has been customised for this set, and now features a hex pattern containing the Poke-ball image – a nice touch, and confirmation that Pokemon are maintaining their reverse holo game. Secondly, shiny energy are back. For this set, anyway. Fans of shiny energy may be a bit disappointed as this also uses the same hex-pattern as the reverse holo cards, so no swirl-hunting for you, but it does offer a smidge of consolation when you pull yet another Haxorus in the rare slot – come on, the least you could give me is one measly Duskull…
With regards to the packs I got in the ETB, my pulls were… not too bad, actually – two exs (Revavroom and Pecharunt), an art rare (Tapu Bulu… ALWAYS Tapu Bulu) and two shiny energies. I also pulled a whole load of Night Stretchers, a couple of Powerglasses, Binding Mochis and Academy At Nights, all of which have been strategically placed, way too many Kyurems, Haxoruses, Bloodmoons, Decidueyes and Galvantulas, a healthy number of Dusknoirs and Dusklops… but only one Duskull, one Zoroark and one Dartrix. Gotta love those ratios, Pokemon, gotta love those ratios.
Was It All Worth It?
Well, there’s a pertinent statement. I mean, we’re talking about a card game here, not life or death, but you know what I mean, from a Trainer’s perspective. There is a definite must have card in here (Fezendipiti ex) and some very nice additions for all you Charizard scrubs out there (and for all the ones to join you when the League Deck comes out) in the shape of the Dusk- line. In fact, there are a good number of cards that may revive those janky old rogue decks out there – Roaring Moon, both the ex and the baby get a nice buffing from Pecharunt ex, Janine and Mochi. I would suggest, because of this, this is not an entry level set, and because of the specific nature of some of the cards, will not appeal to those who are pretty much satisfied with their competitive decks. It will, however,
appeal to those that want to try something a bit sneaky, different or outright bewildering. People like me for instance. And that is absolutely fabulous, darling