TCG Thinkpiece - The Genius of ATM Rock

    In Spring 2004 (the Expedition - EX Team Magma and Team Aqua format), evolution decks ruled the meta. Decks like Gardevoir, Blaziken, and Swampert all had 3-stage evolutionary lines with powerful ex Pokémon and their baby counterparts that accelerated energy. The most common engine for decks at this time was the reliable Delcatty/Magneton (Cattyton) draw engine, in which the energy cards discarded as an effect of Delcatty RS’s Poké-Power, Energy Draw, could be recovered by Magneton DR’s Poké-Power, Magnetic Field. The big basic era of the TCG from 1999 had long since past, and stage 1 and 2 Pokémon comprised the bulk of attackers and support Pokémon in the meta. To get these Pokémon into play, aside from the standard method of putting a Pokémon in play, waiting a turn, then evolving, one card allowed the evolution rules to be broken: Rare Candy. With Rare Candy, a basic Pokémon can evolve into its first or second stage instantly, without having to wait a turn to evolve it. This card offered decks more opportunities to evolve their Pokémon and set their strategy in motion faster. The only inconvenience with this method was that it required both the stage 2 Pokémon and Rare Candy to be in hand at the same time. But really, there were no repercussions to this seemingly flat-out superior method of evolving Pokémon. This would change in June 2004, when the EX Hidden Legends expansion debuted.

Rare Candy as it debuted in EX Sandstorm.

                                                                                                   

Technical Machines, a Pokémon Tool sub-category that debuted with the VS series in Japan and Expedition in the US, weren’t used very often in competitive play. They offered single-use attacks that were discarded after the player’s turn, and most times these attacks were of such little use that they rarely warranted a valuable deck spot. Aquapolis’s TMs were type-specific and lackluster, and Skyridge’s Miracle Sphere and Mystery Plate cards had expensive costs. They failed to prove themselves worthy of spots in most players’ decks.

Cool effect but... what the hell?

            Enter Ancient Technical Machine Rock. Hidden Legends’s set theme was centered on the Ancient trio from the Ruby/Sapphire games of Regice, Regirock, and Registeel. Each of these Pokémon received Pokémon-ex cards, and 3 new tool cards were introduced under the motif of “Ancient Technical Machine”, named after the Regis' respective types of Ice, Rock, and Steel. The real draw of this set of TMs was ATM Rock. For C, the player could take the highest stage evolution card from each of their opponent’s Pokémon and return them to their opponent’s hand. The possibilities of this one card were enormous. Although devolution effects were no stranger to the game, this card was different. ATM Rock was an easily accessible, low-cost attack that could change the tide of an entire game, and its exclusivity to evolved, non-ex Pokémon ensured the card stayed balanced. ATM Rock could be utilized in several different ways.

                              

                                ATM Steel and Ice's effects were interesting, but not all that useful.

The game-changer.

        Evolved Pokémon with enough damage counters on them that matched or exceeded their previous stage could be KO'd with a well-timed ATM Rock. This worked especially well when an opponent evolved their stage 2 Pokémon with a Rare Candy, making the KO threshold lower and making numbers even easier to hit. ATM Rock could be utilized in multiple ways even if it wasn’t going for straight KOs. Double Rainbow energies attached to the opponent's evolved Pokémon could be discarded after Stone Generator devolved those Pokémon into basics. An opponent’s board filled with stage 2 Pokémon that evolved via Rare Candy could be decimated, leaving the stage 2s as dead cards in an opponent’s hand since the Rare Candies used to evolve them had been discarded. It had appeared that Rare Candy finally got the counterplay it needed.

The looming threat of an incoming ATM Rock made deckbuilding more varied. Players had to ask themselves questions such as; “Should I play more stage 1s and cut consistency or tech cards? Should I play the higher HP versions of basic or stage 1 cards so the opponent has more difficult numbers to hit? Should I make space in my deck for ATM Rock?” With just one card, a whole new element was added to the game. But ATM Rock wasn’t a perfect counter to Rare Candy. As previously mentioned, only non-ex evolved pokemon could use Stone Generator. This way, a player couldn’t just play a basic down, attach an energy and Stone Generator immediately. ATM Rock was also balanced in a sense that every deck had access to it. All competitive decks in 2004 run energy of some kind, so there’s no reason why any deck that runs non-ex evolved Pokémon couldn’t find a space for this card somewhere. It’s ironic how a card that targets evolved Pokémon, could only be used by evolved pokemon.

Hidden Legends was released at the perfect time. Being the last set to join the Worlds 2004 lineup and the first set in the Worlds 2006 lineup, its cards had many opportunities to see play, which also means ATM Rock threatened three straight formats. While top decks in the Worlds 2005 and 2006 formats wouldn’t entirely be composed of evolved Pokémon, there was still a large enough share of them in the meta that Rare Candy (reprinted in EX Emerald) continued to be relevant, so ATM Rock would still be an ever-present threat.

The 3rd Place deck from the Seniors' Division played 1 copy of ATM Rock.

The 4th Place deck from the Seniors' Division played 1 copy of ATM Rock.

The 2nd Place deck from the Juniors' Division played 1 copy of ATM Rock. This deck was chosen to be reprinted as one of the Worlds 2004 Championship decks.

ATM Rock is very much a product of its era. Evolution decks in the present era largely fold to big basic decks and Technical Machine cards are almost non-existent. So, it’s nice to look back at unique cards like this that brought a new element to how players built decks, enriching the game with even more strategy and depth.