Over the past few weeks I’ve been playing casual games with friends over Redshark and Apprentice, and I’ve encountered some very interesting scenarios. People told me that they wanted some Pokemon TCG “puzzles” to solve, so I thought that maybe bringing a simplified version of the situations I played through would be somewhat fun. Real games are often a lot more exciting and have gambles and other options built in, but it’s not easy to write down all the assumptions and information we use during a match into a brief puzzle. I’ve condensed some nifty tricks I’ve used into scenarios, two of which are presented here.
I will post the solutions in a couple days, so look out for that if you are interested. If you think you solved the puzzle, please post a clear *SPOLIER ALERT* so that people know to avoid looking if they want to try it out themselves. Also, if this tactic is actually from my game against you, please DO NOT post an answer! They are not extremely difficult but can be easy to overlook if you are just playing it in a game. If you are interested, I have some harder ones from my games to post as well – but they are much more difficult to condense into a puzzle format.
PS: It might be helpful to draw out the “Game State” on a sheet of paper so you can more easily see what’s going on!
Scenario 1 (Easy):
This is on your opponent's Bench!
You are fighting an Ampharos Lock deck with Machamp, and surprisingly it turns out to be a close game. You are both down to 1 Prize, yet the Ampharos (PL) has taken your Claydol out of commission as it has several damage counters on it (sometimes you have to drop that Supporter, and Ampharos SW‘s “Jamming” really makes you pay for it!). Your opponent had just sent out Ampharos (PL) and Knocked Out your Machamp LV.X with “Reflect Energy” – at the same time preparing his benched Uxie LV.X.
Your opponent's Active Pokemon
Game State: Your opponent has Ampharos PL active (has 0 damage counters – 130 HP left, and Double Colorless Energy attached), and an Ampharos SW (has 0 damage counters – 130 HP left) and Uxie LV.X (has 3 damage counters – 60 HP left, with two Lightning Energy) on the Bench. You have a Machop SF active (3 damage counters – 30 HP left, with 2x Fighting Energies on it), and a Claydol (3 damage counters – 50 HP left) on the Bench.
Potential Savior?
Luckily your hand consists of a Rare Candy, Unown Q, Machoke SF, Broken Time Space, and 2x PokeDrawer +, leaving you with many options. Now you must decide which two cards to get with the PokeDrawer + to win you the game. The cards left in your deck are as follows:
Machamp SF
Machoke SF
Machop SF x2
Unown Q
Dusknoir DP
Duskull SF (Shiny)
Looker’s Investigation
Roseanne’s Research
Bebe’s Search
Pokemon Communication
Night Maintenance
Warp Point x2
Broken Time Space
Night Maintenance
PokeDrawer +
Luxury Ball
Fighting Energy x4
Double Colorless Energy
Is there any way to prevent Uxie LV.X from defeating you? What would you get with the PokeDrawers?
Scenario 2 (Medium):
The fearsome Gyarados SF
You are facing against a Gyarados deck and losing badly. You have not taken any Prizes, while the Gyarados player has taken five; leaving you with six prizes and your opponent with one. You try to kill his last Gyarados with the Deafen lock so that he cannot recover, but he keeps two in play so that he can still survive the Deafens.
Deafen Lock didn't work!!
Game State: It is now your turn, and your opponent has Gyarados SF active (has 10 damage counters – 30 HP left, and a Cyclone Energy attached), and a Magikarp SF (has 1 damage counter – 20 HP left) and Sableye (has 5 damage counters – 10 HP left, Unown Q attached) on the Bench. You have a Dialga G LV.X active (has 8 damage counters and a Special Metal Energy + Double Colorless Energy attached), and a Garchomp C (has 0 damage counters), and Crobat G (has 0 damage counters and an Energy Gain) on the Bench.
You rip the Cyrus! But can you win?!
Your hand was hardly spectacular, at just one Poke Turn, but you happened to topdeck a Cyrus’s Conspiracy. You play it, as your only Supporter in a time of desperation, and as you look through your deck, you see these options:
Basic Energy: Metal, Psychic
TGIs: Poke Turn, Energy Gain, SP Radar, Power Spray
SP Pokemon: Garchomp C LV.X, Dialga G LV.X, Dialga G, Bronzong G, Crobat G, Toxicroak G Promo
Supporters: Aaron’s Collection, Bebe’s Search, Cyrus’s Conspiracy, Pokemon Collector, Looker’s Investigation
What cards would you pick for the Cyrus, and why?
