REVIEW

Pokemon TCG Ancient Origins Review – Iron Tide Theme Deck

by Dominic Coles, September 8th, 2015

Ancient Origins introduces more cards to the ever growing Pokemon TCG but if you are new or a returning player to the game, you may be overwhelmed and wish to ease yourself back into the swing of things. If that is the case then there are two theme decks that are available in the set to help introduce both new cards as well as mechanics. In this case we look into the Steel, Water and a Normal deck called Iron Tide.

The deck is built around your go to Pokemon, Metagross. This steel based beastie is a fan favourite in the video games, especially now with his mega evolution. Although you won’t have access to Mega Metagross in this deck, you still have a great theme built around controlling the field to your advantage and your opponents detriment. Here are the Pokemon you will be battling with in the Iron Tide deck:

Card	Quantity
Metagross	x2
Metang	x2
Beldum	x4
Registeel	x1
Vaporeon	x2
Eevee	x3
Gyarados	x1
Magikarp	x2
Regice	x1
Relicanth	x2
Persian	x2
Meowth	x4

When playing with the deck you will be concentrating mostly on getting out Beldum, Relicanth or Eevee to start, so that you have a solid base for future evolutions and energy usage. However, if you do begin with a Registeel or Regice in your opening hand, do not feel let down. Put these Pokemon onto your bench for later as these can become your strongest units. A great first turn would involve putting Relicanth as your starting Pokemon, followed by having at least a Beldum on the bench. With this you can use Relicanths ability to search your deck for the Lucky Helmet and equip it onto the fish so that you can keep drawing cards as it tanks for your bench. Let the turns go by and get your Beldum evolved into a Metagross as fast as you can. Using cards such as Level Ball helps in this regard. When you have out your main Pokemon on your bench you can start using his ability, which is the main control mechanic of the deck.

Metagross’ ability allows you to switch out your main Pokemon with one of your benched Pokemon for free, however your opponent can do the same with their Pokemon also. To fully utilize this skill, you want to switch in and out your weak cards with your stronger ones to take out whatever your opponent is throwing at you. Note that you can also target the Metagross after the ability is used to switch it in and out as you wish. Now doing this once per turn seems great, but what if you could do it twice? Well luckily if you can get out both of your Metagross’, you can use the ability twice. This in turn will allow you to control the field even more and manipulate things as you see fit.

Here is an example of two Metagross’ using their ability to your advantage. You have both the Metagross cards on your side either on the bench or as your main, but only one of them has enough energy to attack. Use one of their abilities to switch in your energised Metagross with your non-energised one. If your opponent switches to a more powerful pokemon that you cannot deal with, then instead of switching to Metagross first, switch to a different Pokemon on your bench. Following this move, use the second Metagross’ ability to then switch that Pokemon with your energised Metagross and now your opponent would have to potentially switch out their number one monster. You have effectively made your opponent switch out to their best Pokemon first, only to force them to lose as of the second ability cast. It does seem confusing at first, but by mastering this technique you can pull off some amazing control moves.

The only Pokemon that you may have a problem playing with is Vaporeon. The problem here however is not around the need to evolve or apply energy. It is instead centred around the Pokemons ability. When you have Vaporeon as either your main or a benched Pokemon all of your other Pokemon are water type on top of all their other types. This may seem negligible at first but you will soon find out that you get both the strengths and the weaknesses of being a water type. This would mean that monsters such as Registeel and Metagross that wouldn’t be bad against Lightning types, will now receive bonus damage against a lightning move. This could effectively destroy your entire bench, so I would only recommend evolving into Vaporeon if you are against a deck with no strength against water types or if you have nothing but normal and water type Pokemon on the field already.

Now with the Pokemon covered, let us take a look at the other cards in the deck:

Supporters

Ace Trainer	x1
Pokemon Centre Lady	x1
Tierno	x2
Wally	x1

Items

Escape Rope	x1
Healing Scarf	x2
Level Ball	x1
Lucky Helmet	x1
Professor’s Letter	x2
Switch	x1

The trainer cards in the deck are mostly there to either assist with getting out Metagross or to assist with controlling the field alongside or instead of Metagross’ ability. Essentials such as Escape Rope, Level Ball and Switch can definitely help out in that regard. You also have solid card draw capabilities with Tierno and Wally. Energy draw cards are also there with Professor’s Letter, however there is no capability to regain energy from your graveyard. So be very careful with who you are placing your energy on.

There are a couple of cards you may not play very often or only play during certain scenarios. Healing Scarf for example is a card that should only be placed on Pokemon that either does not have all the energy they need or no energy at all but are damaged in some way. Lucky Helmet, the only card in the deck targetable by Relicanth’s ability, should only be placed on a Pokemon that you are willing to use as a tank of sorts. By doing this you can maximise on card draw whilst surviving from enemy attacks. If these attacks are getting very strong however, you do have Pokemon Centre Lady to heal whomever is in danger. But be wary, being the only recovery card you have in your deck you need to be very diligent with its use. Use it to save a Metagross or Regi in order to keep your main and strongest Pokemon away from the graveyard. Finally you have Ace Trainer which you can only use if you have more prizes than your opponent does. Try not to use this right away but instead use it to change your hand when you have nothing of use to play with.

The items in this deck are mostly used to support your main strategy of controlling the field and are not centred around bringing back any Pokemon, energy or trainer cards from the grave. With this in mind you have to keep on your toes when playing against your opponent. Use your Pokemon effectively and remember to change things as you need to make the situation work to your advantage. A wrong move or a miss timed use of a trainer card could result in your opponent winning a prize or even the entire match.

Iron Tide has a great theme behind it and has some very strong potential thanks to Metagross, Registeel and Regice. Being able to control the entire field is a power that some players will absolutely fall in love with. However, it does come with its fair share of challenges. Players that prefer straight forward aggressive decks may not be suited to the more calm and time consuming theme this deck brings. As well as that, there is not a lot of healing or retrieval cards in the deck to assist with your mistakes. This requires you to always be on your toes and make the ideal moves as the pace of the battle goes on. I would see this more as an intermediate deck for players to get their hands on rather than a beginner. If you are willing to put in the time to learn and embrace a more unique style of play, Iron Tide is a fantastic deck to get you into the swing of the Ancient Origins set.

What are your thoughts on the Iron Tide theme deck? Does it give you the power you desire in the Pokemon TCG? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and keep an eye out for our review of the other themed deck in the set, Stone Heart.