The recent release of Mask of Change [SV6] brought with it several key buffs to various decks. Among the decks which got a major boost was the Gardevoir ex deck—thanks to the introduction of this Munkidori card. As was expected, the retooled Gardevoir ex deck has been achieving impressive results in Pokémon TCG tournaments across Japan; success in tournaments abroad is likely to follow.

The main reason why Munkidori fits so well in a Gardevoir ex deck is due to its Ability of Adrena-Brain. As long as there’s at least one Dark Energy card attached to Munkidori, Adrena-Brain allows the player to move three damage counters from one of the player’s Pokémon to one of the opponent’s Pokémon once per turn.

This makes it a perfect follow-up after the titular card from Scarlet ex [SV1S] uses its own Ability, Psychic Embrace. Psychic Embrace allows the player to attach a Psychic Energy card from the discard pile to any of the player’s Psychic-type Pokémon, then place two damage counters on that Pokémon. By pairing Psychic Embrace with Adrena-Brain as well as Moonglow Reverse, an attack that Cresselia from Time Gazer [S10D] has which inflicts a similar effect, the self-damaging aspect of Psychic Embrace can instead be turned into a weapon.

From a collector’s perspective, this card comes in an Art Rare (AR) version depicting the Poison/Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon on a tree trunk. The spectrum-like holofoil as well as the contrasting color scheme using both dimmer and brighter colors in the background adds to the card’s visual appeal. There’s also a novelty factor in play as this is the first-ever Munkidori card in the history of the Pokémon TCG.

While there is an English version of this card, its AR form is only available in Japanese.

The price of a Munkidori (Mask of Change [SV6] 107/101) card of AR rarity isn’t that high—just 1,000 JPY (~US$6.40).

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