BREAKthrough Player's Guide (TCG)
| BREAKthrough Player's Guide | |
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| ISBN: | None |
| Published: | 2016 |
| Publisher: | The Pokémon Company International |
| Author: | Wolfgang Baur |
The BREAKthrough Player's Guide is a booklet included within the BREAKthrough Elite Trainer Boxes detailing the BREAKthrough expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The booklet is written by Wolfgang Baur and was published by The Pokémon Company International in 2016. The content features strategy for the new cards introduced within the BREAKthrough expansion as well as a complete checklist for the expansion.
Contents
Welcome to the Pokémon TCG: XY—BREAKthrough Elite Trainer Box!
The first section gives a brief introduction of the BREAKthrough expansion, detailing the what the Elite Box contains, as well as a short overview of what is covered in the expansion.
New Turbo Power with Pokémon BREAK!
While there are plenty of Mega Evolution Pokémon and Pokémon-EX in the XY—BREAKthrough expansion, the biggest news here is clearly the Pokémon BREAK. This set includes six of these amazing new Pokémon: Chesnaught BREAK (12/162), Raichu BREAK (50/162), Marowak BREAK (79/162), Zoroark BREAK (92/162), Florges BREAK (104/162), and Noivern BREAK (113/162).
What is BREAK Evolution?
This special form of Evolution is different than advancing a Pokémon from Basic to Stage 1, or even from a Pokémon-EX to Mega Evolution Pokémon. Rather than completely replacing the Pokémon it evolves from, a Pokémon BREAK builds on that Pokémon. Every Pokémon BREAK retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of its previous Evolution—but its HP generally improves, and it gains new powers.
And the addition of powers is just that: when Raichu (49/162) becomes Raichu BREAK, for instance, it gains the Grand Bolt attack, which does 170 damage for 
and discards all attached Energy. That attack doesn't replace Raichu's two other attacks—it's a new option, and a powerful one. Think about combining Raichu with different versions of Raichu. One fun option is the Raichu from the XY expansion (42/146), with the Circle Circuit attack!
It's the same with Abilities. When Florges (103/162) evolves into Florges BREAK and gains the Floral Breeze Ability, it doesn't lose its existing Calming Aroma Ability—the evolves Pokémon has two Abilities instead of one. Get ready to break through to new power levels with Pokémon Break!
Overview of the Pokémon BREAK
Let's run 'em down and see what each Pokémon BREAK brings to the arena! Chesnaught BREAK has 190 HP and the Tough Hammer attack, which is 
for 160 damage, plus 30 damage to itself and to 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. That's right, it hits so hard that the damage goes all the way to the Bench!
In addition to Raichu BREAK's new attack and and Florges BREAK's new Ability, which we've already talked about, these Pokémon get a decent HP boost as well.
Marowak BREAK gets 140 HP and the Bone Revenge attack, which costs just 
and does a pretty modest 20 damage—unless your opponent has taken some Prize cards. In that case, add 40 damage for each Prize card taken—all the way up to 220 damage if your opponent has just one Prize card remaining! Yowch!
Zoroark BREAK has the Foul Play attack that some players may remember from the Black & White expansion, where Zoroark (71/114) first showed this versatile skill. The concept is simple: for a single 
Energy, Zoroark BREAK copies any 1 of the opponent's Active Pokémon's attacks! This is great if you are up against a powerful Pokémon-EX, of course—and a little less useful when your Zoroark BREAK is facing, say, a Paras or Wurmple. In that case, it can still use the Mind Jack attack that Zoroark (91/162) had before it evolved!
Noivern BREAK is the last of the premier set of Pokémon BREAK, and wow, it adds a crazy DJ move to the Stage 2 Noivern! The attack is called Synchro Woofer, it costs 
, and it usually does 70 damage. But if you've synched up your turntables, er, number of cards in hand to be the same as your opponent's—and conveniently, you can make that happen with Noivern's (112/162) Tuning attack—then it does 150 damage! Drop that bass, Noivern BREAK!
Power Cards from Start to Finish!
In addition to those new options, some of everyone's favorite power Pokémon show up in the XY—BREAKthrough expansion, starting with a stone-cold battle that every fan knows, with not one but two brand-new Mega Evolutions. Say hello to Mega Mewtwo-EX!
Mega Mewtwo-EX (63/162, 64/162, 159/162 and 160/162)
Mewtwo has a long record as a top Pokémon in the big leagues—and these cards show us why! With more than 200 HP each, they're in the usual range of Mega Evolution Pokémon, but the big deal is in their attacks.
Mega Mewtwo-EX has two variants. The first (63/162, with the illustration of Mega Mewtwo X) has Vanishing Strike, which uses to put 150 damage down, and 50 more if there's a Stadium card in play. That's a major wallop all by itself, but the twist is that nothing stops it! That's right—with a Stadium card in play, this attack ignores both Resistance and any effects of the opposing Pokémon!
The second Mega Mewtwo-EX (64/162, with the illustration of Mega Mewtwo Y) has slightly lower HP but an attack that can blow up even bigger. The Psychic Infinity attack costs just , and it does 10 damage plus 30 times the amount of Energy attached to both Active Pokémon. Pretty quickly, that means it delivers a bigger punch. This damage is not affected by Weakness, but considering how hard this attack can hit, Weakness might not matter that much!
Mega Houndoom-EX (22/162 and 154/162)
Houndoom-EX (21/162) attaches 
Energy to Benched Pokémon as part of its attack, and Mega Houndoom-EX is all about burning up that Energy. Its Inferno Fang attack costs just for 80 damage, but if you discard all Energy attached to the Pokémon, it does 80 more damage! Note that Rainbow Energy (152/162) does count as when using this attack!
Mega Glalie-EX (35/162 and 156/162)
Mega Glalie-EX is powerful to begin with, but once it's taken some damage, it gets mad enough to deliver a real stomp-'em flat attack! Its Cryo Mouth attack costs 
and does 100 damage normally—and a whopping 250 damage if Mega Glalie-EX has 10 or more damage counters on it! That's enough to Knock Out almost anything in just one stupendous hit!
Raikou (55/162)
This Legendary Pokémon lives up to its reputation. Raikou's Shining Body Ability gives it the power to reduce all damage it takes by 20, so long as it has any Energy attached. Its Thunder Lance attack costs for 50, and each attached adds 20 damage. Quite often, that'll be 110 damage for !
Haxorus (111/162)
Do the Dragon Dance with Haxorus and crush your opponent! This attack means that Haxorus does 100 more damage on all future attacks. Use Dragon Dance once, and then you can use Sharp Fang with for 160 damage or Dragon Pulse with 
for 230 damage. Dragon types got the moves!
Top Trainer Cards
With all the excitement about Pokémon BREAK and new Mega Evolution Pokémon, you might be forgiven for not paying as much attention to Trainer cards right away. But the Trainer cards in this set are pretty wild and well worth a look! Here are some of the cards to watch for in the XY—BREAKthrough expansion!
Take Me Down to the Parallel City!
Parallel City (145/162) is the first Stadium card that affects each player differently—and if you are putting it into play, you decide who gets what effect! One player can't have more than 3 Benched Pokémon, and the other player does 20 less damage when attack with , , or Pokémon. Totally your call, and definitely a game changer!
Giovanni's Scheme
For the first time ever, the Pokémon TCG has a card thats as two totally different cards—and you get to choose what it does. Giovanni's Scheme (138/162) lets you pick one of these effects: either drawing cards until you have 5 in hand, or doing 20 more damage this turn. More cards, or more damage? Either option is great, and it gives your game a tricky twist, just like Giovanni!
Extra-Bright, Extra-Hot Special Energy
These two Special Energy cards are must-haves if you play with Fire—or if you like decks with just a splash of this and that!
Fire-type Pokémon really like to discard Energy to power their attacks, and Burning Energy (151/162) solves that little problem quiet nicely. If Burning Energy is discarded by an attack of the Pokémon it's attacked to, you attach it from your discard pile to that Pokémon after attacking.
How does it work? Say Cyndaquil 18/162) has a Burning Energy and a basic Fire Energy attached. To use Cyndaquil's Ember attack, you have to discard a Energy attached to it. No problem! Just discard that Burning Energy, and as soon as the attack is over, it immediately reattaches to Cyndaquil! Its an amazing power-up for all Fire-type players, and a great card in combination with Mega Houndoom-EX!
Plus, Rainbow Energy (152/162) is back for the first time since the XY expansion, and that's very exciting news! Rainbow Energy works so well for every deck that includes multiple Energy types, because it provides any one Energy you need, exactly when you need it. Ask any long-term player: Rainbow Energy makes all sorts of decks click!
Pokémon TCG: XY-BREAKthrough Card List
This section lists out the 164 cards of the XY—BREAKthrough expansion, and their rarities.
Credits
Original Japanese Game
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English-Language Version
The Pokémon Company International
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Pokémon TCG: XY-BREAKthrough Showcase
This final section details the two BREAKthrough Theme Decks: Burning Spark and Night Striker.
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This article is part of both Project TCG and Project Merchandise, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Trading Card Game merchandise. | 
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