Over the past few months, I’ve been super into the new Pokemon Card phone app, so in my spare time I’ve been cooking up ideas for a custom expansion based on the Unova Region. The project is far from complete, but I want to show off a bundle of ideas I’ve been working on.
I thought it would be fun to have a trainer card be the one “flagship” thing that the pack is featuring, so I wanted the “N” card to feel special on the level of EX Pokemon. I figured the best way to make the card feel special would be to make him interesting to use in a variety of contexts. He synergies with three different EX Pokemon that each require different energy types, so players have a multitude of potential types of decks to use with N.
I also wanted the card to do different things based on the context, which results in the card in its current state. It draws the EX Pokemon if there is one in your deck to draw. If there isn’t, the card instead makes the EX Pokemon retreat back into your deck, which heals it and discards the energy attached to it. This denies points from your opponent. I’m still not fully happy with the wording on the card, as it feels a bit too complicated and unintuitive to understand, but I intend to play with the idea for a bit longer.
The first card that works with N is Zekrom EX. When making him, I balanced him by using Moltres EX (a card already in the game) as a measuring stick. With 1 energy, Moltres EX could generate about 2 energy per turn on average, assigning them to benched Pokemon in any order. I didn’t want to use coin flips like Moltres EX, but I still wanted Zekrom’s ramp to have variety, so I decided that Energized claw picks who to give 1 Energy randomly. Because the “N” card would essentially discard all of the energy from Zekrom EX when returning it to the deck, I wanted Zekrom to have a fun way to burn off Energy on it’s own. So I decided to lean into the “Energy Ramp” theme by letting Zekrom give his energy to benched Pokemon with the “Overcharge” move.
Next up is Reshiram EX. I used Zapados EX as my measuring stick for this card. I was pretty happy with Flare Blitz as an interesting way to discard energy. The Energy lost/Pokemon hit with 30 damage scales up with each Pokemon on your opponent’s bench. This creates interesting interplay with your opponent as they have agency on how Reshiram’s big attack feels. With 1 or 0 Pokemon on your opponent’s bench, Flare Blitz does less damage overall, but it can be used repeatedly each turn without running low on energy.
Lastly, Zorua EX. I knew I wanted this card to feel different from the previous two, and I ultimately decided to front load all of Zorua EX’s power into an ability that triggers when playing the card. I’m not sure if this design is balanced or fun to play with/against, but without play testing, it’s hard to say. I tried to be restrained with the power-level of the cards health and attack power, as it’s ability can theoretically be triggered 4 times per game. I’m considering changing the ability to do damage instead of applying a status. It would probably give the opponent more agency and be more fun to play against, but it would mess with the theme of Zorua being related to illusions a bit.