Gusting and Repulsion
List of Important Gusting and Repulsion Cards
Gusting
Supporter
☆ Serena SIT 164
☆ Boss's Orders PAL 172
Item
Pokémon Catcher SVI 187
Prime Catcher TEF 157
Pokémon
Leafeon VSTAR PR-SW 195
Mawile VSTAR SIT 71
Repulsion
Tornadus BRS 126
Iron Bundle PAR 56
Gusting
Gusting—or switching the opponent’s Active Pokémon with a Benched Pokémon of your choosing—is a critical part of any deck that intends to take knockouts. Often, it won’t be possible to knock out our opponent’s Pokémon in a single hit and our opponent can take advantage of the situation by hiding their damaged Pokémon on the bench. Damaged Pokémon and otherwise vulnerable Pokémon are prime targets for gusting and can make an opponent think twice before unnecessarily benching a new Pokémon.
The gusting effect takes its name from the original gusting card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game—Gust of Wind BS 93.
Supporters
☆ COMMON INCLUSION
Serena works well because of the huge flexibility it offers. Although not especially strong as a draw card, it does still offer a means of drawing cards when other, stronger options aren’t available to you. Whereas Boss’s Orders is a card that can’t draw you cards in an otherwise dead hand, Serena can. And like Boss’s Orders, Serena offers the option to gust one of your opponent’s benched Pokémon. However, Serena’s gusting power is limited to benched Pokémon V (including VSTAR, VMAX, and V-UNION.) Single prize Pokémon and Pokémon ex aren’t possible gusting targets for Serena.
Decks that often find themselves gusting Pokémon that aren’t Pokémon V won’t find a lot of use for Serena. However, many decks will run 1-2 copies of the card.
☆ COMMON INCLUSION
In terms of its utility, Boss’s Orders is unmatched in the Standard format. Its effect offers gusting against any benched Pokémon, opening up the opportunity to knock out any vulnerable target.
Nearly every deck runs 1-4 copies of Boss’s Orders.
Items
Pokémon Catcher is largely inadequate as a gusting card. Although like Boss’s Orders it offers a means of gusting any target Pokémon from the opponent’s bench, it does so only if you flip heads. Instead of a having a guaranteed gust, you have a 50% chance to successfully gust. This means that a tails can literally end up being the difference between winning and losing a game.
Pokémon Catcher should basically only be considered as a budget alternative to Boss’s Orders or as an additional gusting option in addition to 4 copies of Boss’s Orders.
Prime Catcher offers a single card gust-and-switch combo effect, but one that takes the ACE SPEC slot in your deck. However, as Prime Catcher doesn’t use up your Supporter for the turn, some decks may find Prime Catcher to be an ideal gusting option and may include it in addition to several copies of Boss’s Orders.
Decks that run Prime Catcher can only include a single copy of the card, because it is an ACE SPEC.
Pokémon
Leafeon VSTAR PR-SW 195 is a gusting option that has a VSTAR Power—Ivy Star—that can be used when it is needed. It is, in effect, a Boss’s Orders but without the need to use it as your Supporter card for the turn.
Decks that can make use of Leafeon VSTAR’s Ivy Star as a gusting option can find themselves able to gust and use another Supporter card—like a draw Supporter—on the same turn, buying them valuable resources to follow up with further knockouts on subsequent turns.
Mawile VSTAR SIT 71 is a gusting option that has a VSTAR Power—Star Rondo—that can be used when it is needed. It is, in effect, a Guzma but without the need to use it as your Supporter card for the turn. You choose your opponent’s new Active Pokémon from among their Benched Pokémon and the Mawile that used Star Rondo moves to your Active Spot.
Decks that can make use of Mawile VSTAR’s Star Rondo as a gusting option can find themselves able to gust and use another Supporter card—like a draw Supporter—on the same turn, buying them valuable resources to follow up with further knockouts on subsequent turns.
If you find yourself unsure of which cards above are the best fit for your deck, try the General Gusting Set below. Once you’ve gotten familiar with your deck, you can come back to your gusting choices and tweak them so that they work even better for you and your strategy.
| General Gusting Set |
| 3 Boss's Orders RCL 154 |
Repulsion
Repulsion, like gusting, can be a helpful addition to your deck. In some cases, it doesn’t matter what the new Active Pokémon is—just that it is a different Active Pokémon. Repulsion is an effect that forces your opponent to switch their Active Pokémon with one of their benched Pokémon—unlike gusting, it is your opponent who chooses the new Active Pokémon instead of you. Repulsion takes its name from item Repel in the video games and from the card that came to represent it in the Trading Card Game, Repel SUM 130.
Tornadus’s Sudden Cyclone ability kicks your opponent’s Active Pokémon from the Active Spot in favor of some other Pokémon from their bench. Although you don’t get the choice of which Pokémon becomes the new Active Pokémon as you would with a gusting effect, Tornadus’ Sudden Cyclone does mean that if your opponent’s Active Pokémon has a walling effect on it, you have a way around it without needing to burn your Supporter card for the turn on a Boss’s Orders.
Decks don’t often include Tornadus, but a deck that would include Tornadus would most likely include just a single copy.
Iron Bundle’s Hyper Blower is a useful option to force your opponent to switch their Active Pokémon. By discarding Iron Bundle with the effect of Hyper Blower, Iron Bundle removes hostile Pokémon (and its effect) from your opponent’s Active Spot—Pokémon like Klefki SVI 96 or Flutter Mane TEF 78 are now forced to your opponent’s bench, and they must choose a new Pokémon to put into the Active Spot.
Decks that include Iron Bundle tend to include just 1 copy.