Below I have 3 proposed Promo Cards that can be released together in a Promo Box

set in english and could either be released as seperate promos or in a Champion

s Pack in Japan.
These promos have been designed to Promote the recent Dual Type mechanic in conj
unction with the BREAK mechanic.
---

Azumarill Break - Fairy/Water - 140HP

BREAK Evolution
Evolves from Azumarill
Azumarill BREAK retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retrea
t Cost of its previous Evolution.
Ability: Huge Power
This Pokemons Attacks do 80 more damage.
--Azumarill is a card that I saw spoiled from the latest set that will be released
in August. It was one of the first new dual type pokemon I saw and I was quite
excited
to see how Dual types might impact the game and the meta. I felt that Azumarill
looked quite underpowered despite the new typing and great art. Its attack requi
red 3 energy
(Y)(Y)(C) and its damage was 80 and it would heal for 30. Requiring 3 turns to s
et up an attacker for 80 damage is not a card that would be played in competitiv
e.
Not only this but with only 100 hp it would easily be knocked out in 1 attack an
d if not 2 which made the 30 heal reduntant except in very rare cases. This why
I thought
it could benefit from a break card. It would be quite exciting for players to be
able to use break cards that were also Dual Type and would work well with exist
ing cards
which is where design for this break began. This break should be balanced around
not only the Steam Siege Azumarill but also other Azumarill that it might be pl
ayed with.
The only other Azumarill in Standard are the two from Primal Clash and there is
one in Expanded. Of these only 1 seems playable with is the H* rare from Primal
Clash which does 100 damage -10 for each damage counter on Azumarill.
Now to look at balancing the break itself, i have given it 140hp which is an inc
rease of 40hp from both of the two Azumarill we would expect to see it played wi
th.
40hp is consistant with increases shown on other breaks as well as general incre
ases for normal evolutions. Also at 140 HP it can be still be KO'd in 1 attack f
rom
various attackers which is important to keep in mind as there are healing option
s for this card so 1 hit KO will be the expected counter play.
Previous Break Cards either give the pokemon it is evolving from an additional a
ttack or an ability. Now as both of the Azumarill it is expected to evolve from
already have
attacks that we would expect players to use then this card most would most benef
it from an Ability. To look at ideas for what ability to give Azumarill I checke
d what
Abilities it can have in the Video Game. These are Thick Fat, Sap Siper and Huge
Power. Thick Fat and Sap Siper are both defensive abilities which could give Az

umarill
even more of a defensive advantage in certain match ups, seeing as we want other
decks to have option to get round Azumarill defenses I decided it would be best
to stay
away from these abitiles for the break. This left Huge Power as the only remaini
ng abilty from the game we could look at incorporating. In game this doubles the
attack stat.
The quickest and easiest way to convert this to the TCG would to have it double
damage dealt. Now looking at the two Azumarills we expect the break to be played
with we
can quickly deduce that this could be an issue especially with the one from prim
al clash as that could be a 200 damage attack with no tools. It might also prese
nt rules
issue with how it interacts with other cards without very particular wording whi
ch could also make balacing future Azumarills that could be released problematic
.
This doesnt mean that Huge Power could not be incorporated into the TCG, it just
means it couldnt be an exact translation. Looking at the Steam SiegeAzumarill t
he
attack does 80 damage. We can then look at trying the Ability with "This Pokemon
s Attacks do 80 more damage." Now for the Steam Siege Azumarill while the abilit
y is
active its attack would do 160, and we can assume players may use Muscle Bands s
o it could become 180. This is now enough to knock out most EXs.
Primal Clash Azumarill could hit 180 without a muscle band but it would need to
have no damage counters on it. This increased damage can still be anticpated and
counterplayed by oppoenents through Hex Maniac, Bide Barricade or Garbotoxin to
prevent OHKOs.
The trade off between Steam Siege Azumarill and the Primal Clash Azumarill with
this BREAK would be damage potential and damage consistancy.
Its also worth noting that with Water type and Fairy energy attack requirments A
zumarill BREAK would have access to Rough Seas and Fairy Drops for healing. This
could
supplement Steam Siege Azumarills healing or allow Primal Clash Azumarill to mai
ntain a high damage output.
I think it could become apart of the meta in a meta where high damage outputs ar
e not common and it can heal through attacks. It could also feature in meta wher
e dragon
and fire type Pokemon are the most comon played decks due to its dual typing. I
would not expect it to dominate the meta for any length of time due to easy coun
terplays
and measures opponents can take.

---Drapion Break - Pyschic/Dark - 170HP

BREAK Evolution
Evolves from Drapion
(P)(P)(C) Venoshock 80+
If your opponent's Active Pokmon is Poisoned, this attack does 80 more damage.
--For the final card in my example Break Promo box I have chosen Drapion. This is
not to highlight the Trait feature but to highlight the Dual Type feature. Drapi

on has been
printed as both Psychic and Dark type in the past but primarly as a Psychic type
. Being a Stylistic pokemon that may attract player attention it seemed like a g
ood choice for
a promo box. Drapion had also been released as a rare in the recent break point
set so it would still be likely to be in players collections. With its base hp o
f 130 and most
BREAK Evolutions getting 40hp I felt it would be reasonible to start by giving D
rapion BREAK 170hp. Next I decided that like many other BREAK's Drapion would be
nefit from
another attack. I have chosen Venoshock as this is an attack it can learn in the
video game and is also an attack it has been printed with in the past. I have b
ased this
attacks cost and damage values around what venoshock has done previously in the
TCG, what it does in the video game and how effective BREAK cards are expected t
o be.
I felt (P)(P)(C) while one less energy cost than Scolipede was balanced as I fel
t Scolipede did not see any competitive play and didnt effect the meta due to th
e overly
expensive attack cost. Scolipedes attack did 80 + 40 which added up to 120, I fe
lt this was underwhelming considering the set-up required for the attack especia
lly when
compared to other BREAK cards. I decided to keep the intial 80 damage and instea
d place more power in the text which would reward player who is able to set up t
he attack.
At 80 + 80 more if they are poisoned it would mean 160 damage could be dealt and
become 170 once poison was dealt in between turns. When comparing this too othe
r stage 1
BREAK pokemon I feel this is consistant. Raichu does 170 damage for (L)(C)(C) an
d discards the energy attached. This is the same end damage as the DRAPION BREAK
and has a
similar attack cost. Raichu's attack can either be done with a 3 energy or a lig
htning and a DCE, I feel this can easily be compared to the 3 energy attack of D
RAPION BREAK
which can be also be done with 2 energy and a Dimesion Valley. I felt like the D
CE vs the Stadium requirement were similar enough to be balanced. Another Stage
1 BREAK to
compare DRAPION with would be Pyroar BREAK. Pyroar has 160 hp (10 less) and does
180 damage (10 more). Pyroars attack also costs 3 energy, with the option of ge
tting these
energy into play faster with Blacksmith. I felt that compared to DRAPION BREAK a
nd RAICHU BREAK this was a higher cost than a DCE or having Dimension Valley in
play but as it
took the supporter for the turn but wasnt to much difference considering what ot
her cards can assist the fire archetype. The other thing noted was Pyroars attac
k did
50 damage to Pyroar. Looking at both Pyroar and Raichu BREAKs there is downside
to using the attacks, 50 damage to self and discarding energy respectively, this
however
is offset not by downside but by a prerequiste on Drapion BREAK of the opponent
being poisoned. To look at how much this prerequiste might impact might effect g
ame we need to
look at how the player can poison the opponents Active. First of all is attacks
that apply Poison, the most likely of which to be used would be Poison Claws on
the Drapion
from BreakPoint, the downside to this is that it takes an attack and therefore e
ntire turn to set up. I would expect players to use other alternatives to apply
the poison.
In standard this would be Ancient Origins Ariados and in Expanded this would be
Hypnotoxic Laser. Looking at Standard first, Ariados is a stage 1 that poisons b

oth actives if
they are not grass type. This is an effective partner for Drapion BREAK in stand
ard with obvious downside, the first being that Drapion would be poisoning itsel
f to utilise
this effect. The 2nd downside would be that if they Drapion BREAK player was vsi
ng a Grass deck they would not be able to poison their opponent in this manner.
This presents
a distinct impact for the Drapion BREAK player of both their self poisoning and
the disadvantage vs Grass decks. There are available counter play options such a
s using
Hex Maniac(or other ability stoppers), Chaos Tower or having a Grass attacker in
their deck. Looking at Expanded however there is less downsides for the Drapion
BREAK player as they only require an
item in the form of Hypnotoxic Laser. This only poisons the opponent, has an add
ed benefit of potentially putting them to sleep and as an item is 1 card as oppo
sed to 2 to
get the effect. Despite this I do not feel like Drapion BREAK would have a majo
r impact on Expanded as it is a stage 1 Break so would require at least 2 evolut
ions and 2
energy attachments making it hard to continously have attackers active especiall
y in the faster pace of the expanded format. Also item lock is quite common in e
xpanded
meaning reliance of Hynotoxic Laser would be risky.
--Zapdos Break - Lightning/Colourless - 150HP
Evolves from Zapdos
BREAK Evolution
Ability: Static Charge
When you attach (L) energy from your hand to this Pokemon (except with an attack
, Ability, or Trainer card), you may flip a coin, if heads the defending pokemon
is now
Paralyzed.
--I have picked Zapdos as it is a popular pokemon and for this reason alone it wou
ld be a good promo. It also highlights that colourless is an additional type. I
also felt
that as a Pokemon it being dual typed with Colourless in the TCG it would not ga
in as much power as it would not gain the benefit of hitting twice as many pokem
on for
which is the usual benefit of dual typing. The main benefit of its colourless ty
ping is how it interacts with other cards such as Altaria and Winoa from Roaring
Skies.
I have given Zapdos BREAK 150hp, while this is only a 30hp increase from the ori
ginal card I felt this kept it in line with the Legendary BREAK cards and would
ensure it
did not become to overpowered. Next I have given Zapdos BREAK an Ability instead
of an attack as all the Zapdos in Standard and Expanded have 2 attacks and no A
bilities.
I have designed Static charge for Zapdos, I feel this fits thematically as it is
similar to Zapdos Hidden Ability in the game and with Zapdos being a lightning
type pokemon.
Static Charge is an ability that has the chance to Paralyze the opponents active
pokemon. I wanted this ability to have potential to occur more than once so I d
ecided energy

attachments could be reliable way to get this effect but Paralyzed is one of the
strongest conditions in the game so I had to ensure the ability could not be ab
used. I then
ensured that the effect could only happen once per turn by including (except wit
h an attack, Ability, or Trainer card). Next I set the effect to only active whe
n (L) energy
are attached so that Zapdos BREAK would only be effective in some decks and coul
dn't be a staple for all of competitive play. Now paralyzed is such a strong con
dition that
for the card to be balanced it could not be a guaranteed effect so I included a
coin flip. This coin flip is also seen in other abilities that Paralyze such as
Servine to
balance the effect. To look at how Zapdos BREAK might effect the meta we would h
ave to look at how common Weakness to Lightning is, if there are good pokemon it
can be
partnered with, how common ability lock is (Hex Maniac, Garbotoxin, Bide Barrica
de), and whether or not status condition removal is prevalent. Both of the Zapdo
s in
Standard or Expanded are not particulary powerful and dont see very much competi
tive play (if at all), because Zapdos BREAK only provides an ability that has bo
th chance and
a limit to its effectiveness I would not see the release of Zapdos BREAK alone c
hanging that. As mentioned it would rely on external factors being benefical mos
t importantly
would be either Weakness to Lightning being common for it to be effective by its
elf or other strong lightning attackers being apart of the format. It would also
need for its
counters to not be commonly played as lots of Ability Lock and Status condition
removal would render the card very ineffective.
--Will these cards appeal to players:
I believe these cards would appeal to both experienced players and beginner play
ers. For experienced players they might see an opportunity to make a rogue deck
depending on
state of the meta, for newer players they might see this as easy opporunity to g
et some ultra rare cards and start to make a more competitive deck around some m
ore easily
available cards.
Will these cards appeal to collecters:
Promo Boxs should also be expected to intrest collecters. With Unique BREAK card
s only available in the box and with BREAK cards having Golden artwork of Pokemo
n.
Azumarill BREAK and Drapion BREAK should be of interest to various collectors an
d pokemon fans but I expect the biggest atrraction for collectors to be Zapdos
BREAK.
Zapdos is a fan favorite among many especially the older players as it is one of
the Legendary Bird pokemon. When this card is released in english I would expec
t it
come with either a enlarged Promo card of Zapdos BREAK or figure of Zapdos.
Do these cards increase the appeal of other cards:
Cards released should not only have their own appeal but increase the appeal of
cards.As BREAK cards we can instantly see how they will make the cards they evol
ve from more
appealing, in this case it would be Drapion, Azumaril and Zapdos tcg cards that
would directly benefit. These pokemon can all be found in recent sets, which may

increase
intrest in these set (Steam Siege, BREAKPOINT, Generations). These cards might a
lso increase the appeal of cards by interaction. Chaos Tower for example might b
ecoming
appealing for players to use in their decks to prevent the poison status conditi
on required by Drapion BREAK or to prevent the Paralyzed condition from Zapdos B
REAK.
Fairy Drop become more appealing to be used with Azumarill BREAK. It is importan
t to keep more cards appealing to players as this helps raise sastisfaction with
players
opening boosters.
What impact will these cards have on Standard Competitive play:
As discussed above these cards will be good enough to see some play potentially
depending on the meta and whether things that are weak to their types or certain
styles
of deck might influence their playablility. We could also expect them to be used
by newer players. They have multiple cards that they can interact with for deck
building
for a healthy playstyle.If these cards do become a major part of the competitive
play there are counter measure opponents can take by making techs. Also commonl
y played
cards such Hex Maniac, Stadium cards and various others can be used to offer cou
nter play vs these cards. With such easily counterable weaknesses and
What impact will these cards have on Expanded Competitive play:
I feel these cards will have very little impact on competitive play due to how c
ommon Ability Lock is and how fast paced more aggressive decks can be. Decks rel
ying on
stage 1 BREAKs with multiple energy cost will find they will struggle to keep an
Active pokemon set-up to attack every turn. Zapdos BREAK would struggle vs Abil
ity lock with
Garbotoxin being very common and the limitations of its ability requiring the ma
nual energy attachment would mean alot of players would find it hard to justify
playing it in
a deck with other options being more reliable.
BREAKs would be ineffective.