Pokemon TCG Tag Team Celebi And Venusaur Card Revealed

The Pokemon Company has revealed the third Pokemon TCG Tag Team card for the west today.

The card features none other than Celebi and Venusaur. They have a Pollen Hazard attack that can deal some serious damage to the opposing Pokemon if they ahve a Burned, Confused, or Poisoned status.

Learn more about the new card and other Tag Team cards below:

Celebi & Venusaur-GXHave you ever seen a pair of Pokémon that look as confident as Celebi and Venusaur here? When the two join forces for this Celebi & Venusaur-GX TAG TEAM card, your opponents will understand why they’re so sure of themselves. The team’s Pollen Hazard attack doesn’t cause a ton of damage on its own, but leaving your opponent’s Active Pokémon Burned, Confused, and Poisoned can lead to some serious ongoing damage.

But it’s the Evergreen-GX attack that has the potential to be a real game changer—it hits for a considerable 180 damage, and it has the added benefit of fully healing Celebi & Venusaur-GX. Then, if the TAG TEAM has an extra Grass Energy attached, you get the team bonus: shuffling your entire discard pile into your deck! Suddenly having all of your cards back in the mix could tip the odds in your favor in a hurry.

Let’s see what the game designers at Pokémon TCG developer Creatures Inc. can tell us about this mighty team-up!

Why did you choose to match up these two Pokémon as TAG TEAM partners?

Atsushi Nagashima, game director, Pokémon Trading Card Game: We envisioned that Celebi & Venusaur were protectors of the forest and actually came up with a background story for them. Venusaur, the keeper of the forest, was visited by Celebi, who came from the future, and they joined forces to preserve peace in the forest and ensure that it continued to thrive. We actually had an illustrator draw the scene of their first encounter [for a different version of this card]. We hope to be able to show that one to you soon.

How did you capture the distinct traits of these two Pokémon on a single card?

Mitsuhiro Arita, illustrator, Pokémon Trading Card Game: The idea for this one came from the concept of two pro wrestlers crossing arms side by side, so I used Venusaur’s vine as if it were an arm to have it cross arms with Celebi. Since Celebi usually floats in the air, it was easy to draw this one.

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

The size difference between Pikachu and Zekrom may be considerable, but Pikachu & Zekrom-GX is ready for battles big and small! The duo’s Full Blitz attack hits hard and charges up one of your Pokémon with Lightning Energy. Load those Energy onto Pikachu & Zekrom-GX itself to unlock a special “team bonus” that’s unique to TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX: each one has a GXattack that gets better if you attach extra Energy. In this case, Tag Bolt-GX does 200 damage when the Pokémon has 3 Lightning Energy attached. If you attach 3 more—that’s 6 Lightning Energy total—it does 200 damage to the Active Pokémon, plus 170 to one of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon! That’s enough to take out two heavy-hitting Pokémon in one well-timed blast. Your foes are in for quite a shock when Pikachu & Zekrom-GX enters the battle!

Check out what the game designers at Pokémon TCG developer Creatures Inc. have to say about this dynamic duo!

Why did you choose to match up these two Pokémon as TAG TEAM partners?

Atsushi Nagashima, game director, Pokémon Trading Card Game: With the Pokémon-GX cards up until now, we primarily focused on making them really interesting from a game data perspective by implementing fun logic and gimmicks in their GX attacks. This time around, we thought about how the relationship between Pokémon and Trainers has been depicted quite a lot, but what about the relationship between different Pokémon? With that concept as a base, we tried to come up with lots of fun Pokémon combinations with the goal of making them exciting, unexpected, or a kind of dream team for fans. Our theme was to find a unique way to express the Pokémon from a non-gameplay angle this time. We then added a new type of GX attack that gets stronger when you have extra Energy attached to the card, which is a characteristic of the TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX cards, and worked to make these cards stronger than any past single cards.

With the first TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX card, we knew we wanted to feature Pikachu, which is such a beloved character around the world. We wanted to make the pairing really exciting, surprising, and feature a dramatic size difference between the two featured Pokémon while also expressing synergy between Pokémon that share a type, so after careful consideration, we settled on Pikachu & Zekrom for the card.

How did you capture the distinct traits of these two Pokémon on a single card?

Mitsuhiro Arita, illustrator, Pokémon Trading Card Game: Pikachu represents the cuteness of the Pokémon world, while Zekrom represents what cool can look like. I spent a lot of time trying to find the right pose for each of these Pokémon to express these traits. I feel like was I able to strike a good balance in making both Pokémon stand out and have a sense of presence by using the contrast of Zekrom’s large size and black color with Pikachu’s much smaller body and yellow color.

Magikarp & Wailord-GX

Magikarp might have a wimpy reputation, but when it pairs up with Wailord, there’s nothing puny about the power of this TAG TEAM. Magikarp & Wailord-GX features a massive 300 HP, a first for any Pokémon in the Pokémon TCG, and its attacks are just as massive. The Super Splash attack has a steep Energy cost but brings some impressive damage. The Towering Splash-GX attack can really bring the deluge: if you attach enough Water Energy to activate the team bonus, it floods your opponent’s side of the board with 100 damage to each of their Benched Pokémon.

See what the game designers at Pokémon TCG developer Creatures Inc. are saying about this awesome aquatic pair!

Why did you choose to match up these two Pokémon as TAG TEAM partners?

Atsushi Nagashima, game director, Pokémon Trading Card Game: The theme of TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX is two Pokémon forming a dream team and battling together. We knew we wanted to come up with some combinations that could only be possible in the Pokémon TCG and would really surprise players. We focused on pairs that had us really using our imagination to think of what kind of attacks they might use if they formed a team. This pairing features the biggest Pokémon alongside a Pokémon that is said to be the weakest, making them feel like a big mismatch, which we felt would be perfect for a TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX card.

How did you capture the distinct traits of these two Pokémon on a single card?

Mitsuhiro Arita, illustrator, Pokémon Trading Card Game: Water-type Pokémon give a rather plain impression if you draw them in an underwater setting, so I made Magikarp jump. With the seawater pouring into Wailord’s gaping mouth, I was able to give a sense of momentum to the art, but I hope everyone will worry for Magikarp and hope it doesn’t get sucked in with the water!