As the Pokémon Trading Card Game (or TCG)’s latest expansion, Surging Sparks, continues to be distributed all around the world, the metagame has developed, and new and old decks have emerged utilizing very powerful ACE SPEC cards to their advantage. Surging Sparks introduced eight new ACE SPEC cards, so let’s rank them in order of current viability.
What Are ACE SPEC Cards?
Originally introduced during the Boundaries Crossed expansion, ACE SPEC cards are limited to one copy of a single one per deck, as their effects can be game-changing.
They have since been reprinted during the Scarlet and Violet sets and feature a distinct magenta color, making them stand out from the deck whenever we search through it.
As such, due to their potential game-winning aspect, all competitive decks will have their choice of ACE SPEC – and some even use the ACE SPEC as part of their core strategy.
8th: Amulet of Hope
Grabbing any three cards from the deck is an extremely strong effect. However, when threats such as Lost Vacuum (fetched by the ubiquitous Arven) are commonplace as a singleton in many decklists, we need an ACE SPEC that can immediately impact the game. Boss’s Orders and other gust* effects likewise exist, which makes it easier for us to skirt around the opponent’s target of choice for the Pokémon Tool.
Due to its backloaded power, Amulet of Hope lands in the last spot for our rankings. However, for some inspiration, you may look into this Pidgeot ex Control Deck from the Japanese City League in Chiba.
*Note: “Gust” effects are those that force the opponent to switch their Benched Pokémon with the Active Pokémon. The name is taken from the Base Set Trainer Card Gust of Wind.
7th: Enriching Energy
Special Energy Cards always offer some interesting effects, which can be utilized by a variety of decks to further their game plan. However, Enriching Energy contains the stipulation that it must be attached from the hand to draw four cards. As long as Lugia VSTAR and Archeops are the main users of Special Energy Cards, these will always be attached from the deck straight into our Pokémon for the foreseeable future. After all, we already run Legacy Energy as our ACE SPEC of choice.
But not all hope is lost! Some Snorlax Stall decks use this energy alongside Pidgeot V as a draw engine. With the Vanishing Wings ability, we can shuffle Pidgeot V and all attached cards back into our deck. This means we can keep on attaching Enriching Energy to our Pidgeot V to draw cards, all while keeping ourselves from decking out.
6th: Scramble Switch
A switch effect on a card is already powerful enough to warrant inclusion in several decks. But Scramble Switch has the upside of moving around energy to the new Active Pokémon, which makes it a great way to effectively prepare an attacker out of nowhere.
In particular, Ethan Wilde played an Archaludon ex deck which could potentially power up an Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR from nowhere. He utilized Archaludon ex’s Assemble Alloy ability, paired with Scramble Switch for a quick Star Chronos VSTAR Power on the Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR.
5th: Brilliant Blender
A hyped-up card entering the new format, Brilliant Blender has failed thus far to consistently find a home in any competitive deck.
Its main user is Ceruledge ex, where it can power up its Abyssal Flames attack, all while thinning down the deck. For this particular list though, it does wonders and is consistently challenging Legacy Energy as the ACE SPEC of choice.
As more cards care about the Discard Pile, we can expect Brilliant Blender to see more use – there’s always a couple of Discard Pile-matters decks every block.
4th: Megaton Blower
A bit more aggressive than other ACE SPECs in the list, Megaton Blower is a godsend for control and stall decks.
Megaton Blower is a one-card answer to pesky decks that like to power up attackers with Double Turbo Energy, skew the prize trade with Legacy Energy, or even rely on cards like Pokéstop to accelerate the game. Though its current uses are limited, it has already popped up in several stall decklists, including this Snorlax – Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex variant in Japan’s City League tournament in Ibaraki.
3rd: Miracle Headset
Although some of the previous ACE SPECs mentioned in the article fit control and stall decks, if there’s one card that actually changed the game for them, it has to be Miracle Headset.
A powered-up version of the beloved VS Seeker, Miracle Headset lets us fish our discard pile for the two perfect Supporter Cards back into our hand, letting us use them again. Common targets are Cyllene and Team Yell’s Cheer, as these let use reuse even more Supporter Cards (and other types as well!) to continue locking the opponents out of the game. The instant nature of the ACE SPEC also lends to its usefulness, as we can get immediate impact from the card.
For some inspiration, look at this decklist, which placed 7th in the Juniors division at the Stuttgart Regional.
2nd: Energy Search Pro
Energy Search Pro managed to live up to expectations and has propelled Gholdengo ex into an actual tournament contender.
As we can search the deck for all Basic Energy Card types, we can essentially grab up to eight from the deck, ready to be discarded to Gholdengo ex‘s Make It Rain attack. It also pulls almost all of our energies from deck, which makes cards like Pokéstop even more potent, as we increase our odds of hitting what we need.
1st: Precious Trolley
Coming out of nowhere, this inconspicuous card has impacted the meta as more decks want to fill out their benches without relying on several Buddy-Buddy Poffins or Nest Balls.
As it’s searchable by Arven, the ACE SPEC is an easy out to full kit out the bench in a single turn. This is often paired with Technical Machine: Evolution (also searched by Arven!) to guarantee our Benched Basic Pokémon have a little bit more buffer room in terms of HP, and more importantly, allows us to evolve into a Stage 2 the following turn, circumventing the use of Rare Candy. The emerging Iron Thorns ex – Dragapult ex deck and a variant of Turbo Gardevoir ex both use this line of play to instantly accelerate their game plan.
Precious Trolley also sees play in decks that want to utilize Area Zero Underdepths to grab all of their utility Pokémon in one go. The rising Klawf – Terapagos ex deck fully utilizes Precious Trolley by grabbing a whole cast of Pokémon, all with different abilities to push the deck’s damage ceiling higher and higher.
As Surging Sparks continues to be the tournament format for the holidays, the metagame is shaping up to be an exciting one, with several contenders for the top spot. It’s going to be interesting to see which new ACE SPEC rises up the spots as someone discovers a build with it! While you’re here, consider checking out the full list of ACE SPEC cards in our feature.
