Temporal Forces Set Review
Travel to the distant past and far future in the newest Pokémon TCG expansion, Temporal Forces! While the return of ACE SPEC cards is not relevant for Gym Leader Challenge, the new additions to nearly every type certainly will be. Take a look at some standout cards from this set and see if you can make use of any of these new strategies!
Brambleghast
Since the inception of Gym Leader Challenge, the most popular strategy has been to chain one-hit knockouts on the opponent’s Pokémon every turn while trying to stop them from doing the same. One of the best ways to stop them is very simple: use attackers that are too big for the opponent to knock out in one hit. Brambleghast takes this to the extreme with its Resilient Soul Ability. At the end of the game, this Pokémon can reach 350 HP, well beyond the range of the average attacker. Its Powerful Needles attack might be somewhat unreliable, but Energy-accelerating Grass-type Pokémon like Rillaboom and Cherrim can let you flip enough coins to roll through any threat your opponent presents. You can create a powerful endgame scenario by leaving Brambleghast as your only Pokemon, forcing your opponent to knock it out — just watch out for effects that can turn off its Ability!
Centiskorch
One of Fire’s biggest struggles is finding efficient attacks that deal a lot of damage for a manageable Energy cost. Even with good Trainer-based acceleration, it feels that Fire needs better cheap attackers. Temporal Forces Centiskorch makes the case for itself here with its Charring Breath attack, boasting a very impressive 180 damage for just two Fire Energy. It has a strange downside, however: this attack requires the defending Pokémon to already be Burned for any damage to be dealt. Because it’s quite easy for most decks to switch, retreat, or evolve to cure this status condition on their turn, it’ll be important to find ways to Burn the Defending Pokémon before you attack. That’s where Magcargo enters the picture.
Magcargo
While it doesn’t have an impressive attack, Magcargo does have a useful Ability in Lava Zone. This Ability will Burn any Pokémon brought up to the Active Spot via switching or retreating, teeing them up to be eviscerated by Centiskorch, or even just worn down by Burn damage. While it’s not the easiest combination to pull off, it’ll surely be satisfying.
Feraligatr
Many Pokémon seem to be perpetually cursed, receiving mediocre card after mediocre card for GLC purposes. Feraligatr has always seemed to be one of these cursed Pokémon, but Temporal Forces may be the set that breaks the curse for the Big Jaw Pokémon. Feraligatr has the Torrential Heart Ability, which basically powers it up into Super Saiyan mode for a turn, giving it the damage output to KO even the bulkiest Pokémon at the cost of its own HP. This is an appealing price to pay, as your opponent will likely spend a turn knocking Feraligatr out no matter how much HP it has left. And its Giant Wave attack not only reaches 280 damage after activating Torrential Heart, but it also has a respectable baseline of 160 damage when you don’t want to damage yourself. Time will tell if this Feraligatr can go claw-to-fin with the best Water attackers, but at the very least fans of this Pokémon can feel good about finally having a powerful card to play.
Raichu
Gym Leader Challenge is a format with so much room for creative strategies, and Lightning Spread is a fan favorite. Attackers like Tapu Koko and Electivire can damage each of your opponent’s Pokémon at once, resulting in huge prize swings. Raichu from Temporal Forces is another great addition to this suite of spread attackers with its Collateral Bolts attack. This 2-Energy attack is very efficient for its massive damage ceiling of 300 total damage. The challenge will be sequencing Raichu correctly, as it can’t really be used as the first attacker in a game, and it will struggle to deal with Pokémon that’ve been Benched in the last turn or two. But adding one more Pokémon to this archetype’s roster is never a bad thing, and Raichu may end up taking some very flashy knockouts in the hands of a skilled trainer. Just make sure you aren’t knocking out your own Pokémon!
Reuniclus
Part of the appeal of Gym Leader Challenge is the wide array of Evolution Pokémon you can play at one time, using multiple unique Stage 2 Pokémon on the same board in a way that just wouldn’t be realistic in other formats. If this is your favorite aspect of GLC, then Reuniclus can power your deck up even further. Its Summoning Gate attack can super-charge your bench, putting any Pokémon into play. This includes Pokémon of any evolution stage, and even Pokémon without Psychic-type pre-evolved forms, like Espeon or Orbeetle. You can also bring out generically good Pokémon that your deck may already be playing, like Dragapult or Gallade. To maximize your odds of hitting, you can combine this with cards like Mallow or Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking to guarantee certain Pokémon are found. Reuniclus is sure to be plenty of trainers’ new favorite Psychic-type strategy, especially if you enjoy big flashy plays or just gambling and seeing what your deck has in store this time!
Great Tusk
If you play Standard, you might be excited for an upcoming Great Tusk mill deck, but there’s actually a different Great Tusk card that may be more impactful in Gym Leader Challenge. This Ancient Pokémon is worth your consideration for its Wrathful Charge attack, a simple but powerful attack. It slots perfectly into Fighting decks that use plenty of “Earthquake” attackers that damage your own Pokémon. Once you’ve satisfied this condition, you can hit 160 damage on a Basic Pokémon which is a great rate. And this attack cost synergizes well with Double Colorless Energy or Coalossal, letting you string attackers while keeping up the pressure.
Metang
In Gym Leader Challenge, every card in your deck matters — including your middle evolutions. Metang might normally just be there to evolve into a Metagross, but now it might steal the show as the most important Beldum evolution. Metang has the powerful Metal Maker Ability, a sweet way to charge up Metal Energy to any of your Pokémon. While this ability relies on random chance to hit, it’s got a few sneaky upsides that you might not notice on first read. Metal Maker accelerates any number of Energy found, meaning that you can high roll or even stack your deck with cards with Supporter cards like Mallow or Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking. And it places all the cards you didn’t attach straight onto the bottom of your deck. This is a sweet optimization that skilled players can take advantage of: seeing which cards are now on the bottom of your deck can inform what you might draw from the top of your deck with other effects. Small edges like this are the cherry on top for Metang. Once your board is sufficiently powered up, you can always “cash in” Metang and evolve it into one of any number of Metagross cards, which each in turn get better when they evolve from such a useful Stage 1 Pokémon. It may not do an insane amount of damage itself, but Metang checks all the boxes of a good support Pokémon, and will be a welcome edition in any Metal-type deck.
Koraidon
One thing to note about Temporal Forces is that the Ancient and Future archetypes span across multiple types, which is less than ideal for making these sorts of decks work within Gym Leader Challenge. But some Pokémon may be strong enough to shine on their own. Koraidon’s first attack probably isn’t going to be too effective, capping out at 30 damage thanks to the lack of other single-prize Ancient Dragons. But Shred is a respectable attack, doing decent damage and smashing through pesky defensive effects for three energy. Notably, these energy are already commonly played in existing Dragon-type decks, so you might find it easy to add this Paradox Pokémon to your deck.
Miraidon
If you’re interested in trying a more “new-age” Dragon deck, maybe you’ll want to check out Miraidon. Its Peak Acceleration attack accelerates two Basic Energy from your deck onto any of your Future Pokémon! …Which at this point, is limited to only Miraidon itself. Still, poking something for some decent damage (and maybe KOing a Basic Pokémon with a damage modifier like Muscle Band) can be a decent play to start the game, and the next turn you’ll have the powerful Sparking Strike attack at your disposal. What’s interesting about Miraidon is that it attacks for energy which isn’t commonly played in Dragon-type GLC decks. See if there are other Lightning or Psychic synergies that you might finally have an excuse to try!
Pidove
Pidove is another example of how Gym Leader Challenge rewards you for considering every single card in your deck, even the evolving Basics. Pidove has the Emergency Evolution Ability, which is incredibly powerful. It can get a Stage 2 Pokémon right into play without having to search for Unfezant or use a Rare Candy, but it’ll require some setup. Luckily there are some great ways to damage your own Pokémon during your turn, namely Stadium cards like Team Magma’s Secret Base and Gapejaw Bog. If you play one of these Stadiums down, then bench Pidove, you can immediately turn it into an Unfezant as early as your first turn. There are nine different options for which Unfezant you might evolve Pidove into; see which one interests you the most!
Buddy-Buddy Poffin
One of the most contentious cards in Gym Leader Challenge is Battle VIP Pass, a high-roll Item card that can set up your board on the first turn but otherwise clogs your hand up after that. This high-risk card can create some feel-bad experiences for some players, while others argue the consistency it provides is worth it. However, both kinds of trainer will probably agree that they’re fans of the new Buddy-Buddy Poffin. This item fills your bench nicely with evolving Basic Pokémon, but it can be played on any turn of the game, reducing the odds that you’ll end up stuck with it. Whether you love VIP Pass and want a second copy or hate it and want a less stressful alternative, Buddy-Buddy Poffin deserves your consideration for your Gym Leader Challenge deck.
