PK_deckXY_set2It’s been a LONG time since I’ve played the Pokemon TCG. I believe the last I played was either after the Rocket decks were released, or the first wave of Gym Leader decks.

Anyway. It’s been a while.

With the release of Pokemon X&Y, I figured now would be a good time to jump back in and start playing with the kids. I’m happy to say not much has changed, and we were easily able to jump right in and play.

Now when I say not much has changed, I’m speaking about the bones of the game. Obviously there’s been some status effects, Pokemon types, and even EX types added to the game since I last played. These new additions were very easy to pickup, and we really suffered no confusion or misplayed rules at all.

The 2 decks we played with were  Resilient Life (Xerneas) &  Destruction Rush (Yveltal). Both decks are well made, balanced, and complement each other very well. The biggest surprise to me was the addition of a deck box and play mat in the Theme Deck box. Very nice touch.

Resilient life is a Fairy and Psychic deck, with a focus on getting Fairy energy to the table and moving it around at will with Xerneas and Aromatisse. You’ve also got status protection for any Pokemon with Fairy energy attached to it thanks to Slurpuff. Add in the Fairy Garden Stadium that allows you to retreat Pokemon with Fairy energy on them at no cost, and you’ve got a really flexible deck.

Destruction Rush, on the other hand, is a hard hitting Dark and Figthing deck with Yveltal’s ability to pull dark energy out of the discard pile. Add in Krookodile‘s Knock-Back, and Malamar‘s Mental Panic to keep your opponent at Bay, and this deck hits hard and leaves the enemy struggling to come back.

Overall we had a blast getting back into the game, and are really digging the new cards. I can’t wait to get my hands on some more XY cards!

Copies of Resilient Life and Destruction Rush were provided free for review by The Pokemon Company Inc.