XY Player's Guide (TCG)
| XY Player's Guide | |
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| ISBN: | None |
| Published: | February 5, 2014 |
| Publisher: | The Pokémon Company International |
| Author: | Wolfgang Baur |
The XY Player's Guide is a booklet included within the XY Elite Trainer Box detailing the XY expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The booklet is written by Wolfgang Baur and was published by The Pokémon Company International in February 5, 2014. The content features strategy for the new cards introduced within the XY expansion as well as a complete checklist for the expansion.
Contents
Welcome to the XY Elite Trainer Box!
The first section gives a brief introduction of the XY expansion, detailing the fairy types and Mega Evolutions.
Fairy Type: What You Need to Know
Don't let the pink Energy cards and the bubbly Pokémon fool you: the new Fairy-type Pokémon have serious chops! These cute creatures have different strengths and great power against Dragon-type Pokémon, so they're a great way for you to surprise other players -- especially those who rely heavily on Dragon types!
The addition of basic 
Energy and Fairy-type Pokémon is one of the biggest changes to the Pokémon TCG since the addition of the Dragon type n 2012 -- so you need to know what new options and tools the Fairy-type Pokémon deliver for every player. You'll find a really solid core of helper cards for the new type in this set, including Fairy Garden (117/146), Aromatisse (93/146), and Slurpuff (95/146).
Slurpuff
Like Aromatisse, Slurpuff has a great Ability, but it also has a good attack: Draining Kiss does 30 damage for 
and also heals 30 from Slurpuff, for a total of 60 points in your favor. It's decent for what it is, but you still might not want to take Slurpuff off the Bench, because its Sweet Veil Ability makes all your Pokémon with Energy attached to them immune to Special Conditions. That's right -- they don't even need to be Fairy types, they just need Energy attached! Expect to see this even in decks that don't use a lot of Fairy-type Pokémon.
Fairy Garden
Similar to Slurpuff's Ability, this Stadium card affects each Pokémon with any Energy attached -- and lets them retreat for free. Very handy if you want to swap in and out fast! If works for both your Pokémon and your opponent's Pokémon, so think twice before playing it if your opponent has Energy floating around.
Aromatisse
This Stage 1 Pokémon has an OK attack, but that's not why you want it. Instead, keep it on the Bench and use its Fairy Transfer Ability to shift your Energy around to maximize your Active Pokémon's punching power. Your Fairy-type Pokémon will always be powered up! Not only that, but with Aromatisse in your deck, you will have a great resource to help power up Slurpuff and Fairy Garden!
Legendary and Mega Power
Pokémon-EX are always at the top of the list for big and bold, and that's the case here, but you'll find a brand-new and extra-powerful kind of Pokémon-EX: the Mega Evolution Pokémon. These evolved forms of the Pokémon-EX have the power to match! At the same time, when one of your Pokémon becomes a Mega Evolution Pokémon, your turn ends, so it's important to time it right!
Venusaur-EX (1/146) and Mega Venusaur-EX (2/146) might be the biggest bruisers you've ever seen in a grass type, enough to make opposing Trainers treat you with new respect. And this set has plenty more big guns, starting with Blastoise-EX (29/146) and Mega Blastoise-EX (30/146). You'll also find Emolga-EX (46/146), Yveltal-EX (79/146), Skarmory-EX (80/146), and Xerneas-EX (97/146) -- all crushingly awesome Pokémon with huge HP totals and brutal attacks. Which one's the best? Well, that depends on your play style!
Blastoise-EX and Mega Blastoise-EX (29/146 and 30/146)
This big Pokémon is all about riding the wave with water cannons. Blastoise-EX has a great attack called Rapid Spin that lets it hit for 30 and then switch out to the Bench -- and makes your opponent switch Pokémon as well. Its Splash Bomb for 
does 120 to the opposing Pokémon -- but it might do 30 to Blastoise-EX too, depending on how your coin flip goes!
Mega Blastoise-EX has just one attack, but it's a doozy: Hydro Bombard. For , it does 120 damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon, plus 30 damage to 2 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. Hose down the opposing side!
Yveltal-EX (79/146 and 144/146)
With 170 HP and the Evil Ball attack that does a base 20 damage, plus 20 more for each Energy attached to both Active Pokémon, this is a bruiser. Note that Double Colorless Energy counts as 2 Energy for this attack! The Y Cyclone attack does a flat 90 damage and also moves an Energy from Yveltal-EX to one of your Benched Pokémon. There are ways in the set to move Energy around, but you're better off with the Evil Ball attack most of the time. Yveltal's swift strike of darkness will leave your opponents in the dust!
Xerneas-EX (97/146 and 146/146)
The first Legendary Pokémon of the Fairy type is Xerneas-EX, and it delivers a strong Break Through attack: 60 damage to the Active Pokémon for and a massive 140 damage -- but the attack can't be used again on your next turn, so retreating Xerneas for another Active Pokémon is a good plan. Maybe a visit to the Fairy Garden (117/146) will help?
Top Trainer Cards
The fourth section goes through seven of the most useful cards included within the expansion.
Evosoda
This soda really pops! Evosoda let's you do two great things with just one Trainer card: search your deck for an Evolution card that evolves from any of your Pokémon in play, and then use it to evolve that Pokémon. Here's a fun trick: you can use Evosoda to find a Mega Evolution card, too!
Muscle Band
Your Pokémon's attacks do 20 more damage when it wears the Muscle Band! This is a nice item to have for an early edge in the game, or as a surprise late on when your opponent thinks the Active Pokémon will survive one more turn before retreating. Muscle up and say helloooo, Prize Cards!
Red Card
Make your opponent shuffle his or her hand away and draw 4 new cards! This is the ultimate revenge card when your opponent has just used up a bunch of deck searching or card-drawing tools to create a hand of 10 or more perfectly curated options. Make 'em throw it away and start over!
Team Flare Grunt
You can only attack 1 Energy per turn, so a Supporter card that discards Energy from your opponent's Active Pokémon can really slow down your opponent's deck and turn a temporary Energy hiccup into a serious problem! This card is less useful against highly tuned with perfect card-drawing engines, but when played early, it makes a big difference.
Professor Sycamore, Rainbow Energy, and Double Colorless Energy
OK, so these will be somewhat familiar to players of the Pokémon TCG, but they're still very useful! Professor Sycamore discards your hand to draw 7 new cards (always great when he's the only card in your hand), and Rainbow Energy makes it easy to splash in a single Pokémon that doesn't match your deck's other Energy themes. As for Double Colorless Energy -- well, getting two Energy for the price of one is obviously great!
Pokémon TCG: XY Checklist
This section lists out the 146 cards of the XY 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 Showcase
This final section details the two XY Theme Decks: Resilient Life and Destruction Rush.
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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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