Ancient Origins Player's Guide (TCG)

The Ancient Origins Player's Guide is a booklet included within the detailing the expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The booklet is written by Wolfgang Baur and was published by The Pokémon Company International in 2015. The content features strategy for the new cards introduced within the Ancient Origins expansion as well as a complete checklist for the expansion.
==Contents==
===Welcome to the Pokémon TCG: XY—Ancient Origins Elite Trainer Box!===
The first section gives a brief introduction of the Ancient Origins expansion, detailing the what the Elite Box contains, as well as a short overview of what is covered in the expansion.
===A Cut Above: Superstar Pokémon!===
While there are plenty of Mega Evolution Pokemon and Pokémon-EX in the XY—Ancient Origins expansion, there are amazing Pokémon from Basic to Stage 2 as well! Out in front is the superstar Unbound form of Hoopa-EX (36/98 and 89/98), but there are lots of other great contenders for the crown of most impressive Pokémon in this expansion. Who's ready for battle?
====Hoopa-EX (36/98 and 89/98)====
There's been a lot of Hoopa hype, all of it totally justified. This card is great from the word "go," starting with the art (look at those teeth!) and moving on to its Scoundrel Ring Ability. When you play Hoopa-EX from your hand to your Bench, you get to search your deck for up to 3 Pokémon-EX (any you like, except for another Hoopa-EX). You reveal them to your opponent, then put them into your hand. Shuffle your deck, then proceed to hammer your opponent with a flurry of Pokémon-EX until you declare victory.
If this card doesn't show up in championship decks this year, we'll be amazed, gobsmacked, and dumbfounded. It's really quite, quite good.
====Mega Tyranitar-EX (43/98 and 92/98)====
GRRAAAAH, the Destroyer King is here! Yes, Mega Tyranitar-EX is a complete whirlwind of mayhem and destruction, and the Destroyer King attack is why. For , you can do 110 damage plus 60 more damage for each damage counter already on your opponent's Active Pokémon. If that Pokémon already has 5 counters on it, Mega Tyranitar-EX does a mind-blowing 410 damage. It's a steamroller that can knock whole city blocks flat!
====Mega Sceptile-EX (8/98 and 85/98)====
Like all Mega Evolution Pokémon, Mega Sceptile has big HP and a big attack. Jagged Saber is great for both offense and defense, because while it cuts opposing Pokémon for 100 damage, it also lets you attach up to two Energy to your Benched Pokémon—and heal all damage from those Pokémon, too! Mega Sceptile-EX is like a coach, getting your biggest sluggers ready to go back into battle all fired up!
====Meowth (61/98)====
Hey, you don't have to be a Mega Evolution Pokémon to be a star, as Meowth proves! This tough guy has always been full of tricks, and this version is extra awesome, with an Act Tough attack that does 10 damage for or 30 for —yes, 30 damage for 1 Energy! This isn't a game-changer, but it is a good bit of fun. Who doesn't love Meowth?
====Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon (22/98, 26/98, 13/98)====
What's your type? it just might change with these three Eevee Evolutions!
Vaporeon's Ability, Aqua Effect, means that any Stage 1 Pokémon you have in play is a type, in addition to any other types it might have. Flareon's similar Flare Effect Ability adds the type, and Jolteon's Electric Effect Ability adds . What's more, these effects "stack", meaning they all apply at once—so if you have all three of these Pokémon in play, each of your Stage 1 Pokémon is a Pokémon, plus whatever type it was before!
That's cool, but what can you do with it? Well, for starters, the options to add types means you might be able to target an opposing Pokémon's Weakness for a nice big hit. In addition, there are cards that grant a power or trigger an Ability for Pokémon of a certain type! Give these a look and see what combos you discover!
====Regirock, Regice, and Registeel (40/98, 24/98, 51/98)====
These three Legendary Pokémon all have attacks that punish Pokémon-EX. Regice has the Resistance Blizzard that requires and hits for 70 damage—but the real icy treat is that during your opponent's next turn, Regice ignores all affects of attacks from Pokémon-EX, including damage! That's right: Regice can't be Knocked Out by a Pokémon-EX as long as it keeps that Resistance Blizzard going!
The other two in this trio are pretty great as well! Regirock hits Pokémon-EX for 120 damage for with its Unyielding Rock attack. Registeel's Forbidden Iron Hammer does 70 damage on its own and, if it hits a Pokémon-EX, also knocks off an Energy! Nice heavy hitters all around!
====Giratina-EX (57/98 and 93/98)====
Giratina-EX is a favorite and dangerous Pokémon—and now you'll find it in a regular and rare Ultra version, both with the Renegade Pulse Ability that prevents all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Giratina-EX by your opponent's Mega Evolution Pokémon. That's right: it's totally immune to attacks by any Mega Evolution! As if that wasn't enough, Giratina-EX also has the Chaos Wheel attack, which requires , which delivers 100 damage, and prevents your opponent from playing Tools, Special Energy, or Stadium cards on the next turn. Denied!
====Lugia-EX (68/98)====
This card looks great and plays well too! Lugia-EX can use Aero Ball to do 20 damage times the amount of Energy attached to both Active Pokémon (often 100 or more damage in the late game), and attaching Double Colorless Energy works extremely well for Lugia (since you can attack immediately). As a bonus it has the Deep Hurricane attack for , which does 150 damage if there is a Stadium card in play. And of course there's Lugia-EX's secret edge: it's a Colorless-type Pokémon, so it works well in any deck!
===Ancient Traits: θ Double, θ Stop, and θ Max===
Ancient Traits, which first appeared in the XY—Primal Clash expansion, are similar to Abilities, but they appear in a special colored box near the top of the artwork. Each such Ancient Trait is the same whenever it appears: more than one Pokémon might have the same Ancient Trait, and XY—Ancient Origins introduces three more of these. Here are the latest, Elite Trainer style!
====θ Double Ancient Trait for Mega Tyranitar-EX (43/98 and 92/98), Metagross (50/98), Gyarados (21/98), and Others====
Do you wish our Pokémon could hold two Tools to pull off a killer combo—or just for extra options? It's easy for Pokémon with the θ Double Ancient Trait! You can use these Pokémon to grab an extra Tool and start making a few small repairs in the battle arena! Get ready for some wild combos coming with the θ Double Ancient Trait!
====θ Stop Ancient Trait for Volcarona (18/98), Baltoy (32/98), Golurk (35/98), and Others====
What does θ Stop do? It's not a traffic sign! Instead, it prevents your opponent's Abilities from affecting the Pokémon that has this Ancient Trait. Whether those Abilities aim to do damage, switch your position, change your type, or apply a Special Condition, your Pokémon with θ Stop can just stop worrying about them!
====θ Max Ancient Trait for Shiny Mega Rayquaza-EX (98/98), Primal Groudon-EX (97/98), and Primal Kyogre-EX (96/98)!====
The θ Max Ancient Trait helps the Shiny versions of Mega Rayquaza-EX (98/98), Primal Groudon-EX (97/98), and Primal Kyogre-EX (96/98) stay in the game. When one of your Pokémon becomes a Pokémon with this Ancient Trait, you get to heal all damage from it. That's right: your Rayquaza-EX could be down to just 10 HP one minute, and then be at 220 HP as soon as it evolves! That's some great comeback power, and of course you're denying your opponent a Prize card as well. Max out that Trainer advantage with θ Max—it's so shiny!
===Top Trainer Cards and Combos===
With all the excitement about Ancient Traits and Pokémon-EX, sometimes it's easy to forget that Pokémon with new Abilities can provide a fun twist or a huge boost, depending on what you are looking to do in the game. Here are some of the cards to watch for in the Pokémon TCG: XY—Ancient Origins expansion!
====The Poison Pair: Machamp-EX and Ariados!====
Check this cool combo! Start out with Machamp-EX (37/98 and 90/98) and make sure you have Ariados (6/98) on your Bench. Ariados has the Poisonous Nest Ability, which you can use once per turn to leave both Active Pokémon Poisoned. Normally, poisoning your own guy is a bad thing...but Machamp-EX has the Crazy Hammer attack, which does 80 extra damage when Machamp-EX has a Special Condition—like, say, Poisoned. That's a total of 160 damage for !
Even better, Machamp-EX won't take the poison damage because Crazy Hammer also removes the Special Condition during your turn. Crazy good, we call it!
====Lucky Helmet====
Do you own a lucky cap? How about a Lucky Helmet (77/98)? This one is sure to win a few games for you, because whenever the Pokémon it is attached to is damaged by an opponent's attack, you draw two cards. In other words, if your opponent is attacking every turn, you are drawing 3 cards a turn instead of 1. Pretty strong! And if your Pokémon has the θ Double Ancient Trait, you can attach two of these Tools and draw even more cards!
====Dangerously Flashy Special Energy====
These two Special Energy cards are worth your while if you play or decks! Dangerous Energy (82/98) means opposing Pokémon-EX take 20 damage whenever they attack and damage a Pokémon that has this Energy attached. It only works for Pokémon—other Pokémon seem to prefer slightly safer Energy!
Flash Energy (83/98) is exciting too, at least for Pokémon, because the Pokémon it is attached to has no Weakness. Yes, bring on the Fighting-type Pokémon...it's not a problem if you're moving like a flash!
====Ace Trainer====
Sometimes things don't quite go your way in a game, and these are the times when you are very happy to see an Ace Trainer (69/88). It's an instant bit of catchup, especially when your opponent has a fistful of cards, because you both shuffle the cards you're holding into your deck and then draw more—except you draw 6 cards and your opponent only draws 3! This Supporter only works when you have more Prize cards left than your opponent, but it is oh so good!
====Steven====
You know, sometimes you can spend so much time thinking about the text of a Pokémon TCG card that you forget how great it looks. This full-art version of Steven (95/98) is a a definite upgrade over the regular Steven from XY—Roaring Skies, and he still lets you grab a Supporter card and a basic Energy card out of your deck! 
===Pokémon TCG: XY-Ancient Origins Card List===
This section lists out the 98 cards of the XY—Ancient Origins expansion, and their rarities.
===Credits===
====Original Japanese Game====
* Executive Producer
* Producer
* Original Game Design
* Game Development
* Game Director
* Art Director
* Special Thanks	
* Tsunekazu Ishihara
* Yuji Kitano
* Tsunekazu Ishihara, Kouichi Ooyama, and Takumi Akabane
* Creatures Inc.
* Atsushi Nagashima
* Kenshi Koga
* Satoshi Tajiri, Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda, Takao Unno, GAME FREAK inc., and Milky Isobe
====English-Language Version====
The Pokémon Company International
* Producer
* Director of Production
* Director of Product Development
* Production Coordination
* Project Coordination
* Translation
* Theme Deck Development
* Rulebook Writing
* Elite Trainer Box Booklet Writing
* Editing
* Design Direction
* Graphic Design
* Card Typesetting
* Booster Pack Illustrations
* Theme Deck Illustrations
* XY—Ancient Origins Logo
* Special Thanks To:	
* Kenji Okubo
* Richard Simpson
* Yasuhiro Usui
* Russ Foster, Jay Moon, and Doug Storms
* Junko Takaba
* Ben Regal
* Mike Fitzgerald
* TPCi Editing Staff and Dylan "ExoByte" Mayo
* Wolfgang Baur
* Hollie Beg and Wolfgang Baur
* Eric Medalle
* Kumi Okada, Doug Wohlfeil, Adam Law, and Matt Freund
* Ginny Baldwin
* Ryota Murayama
* TOKIYA 
* Doug Wohfeil
* Creatures Inc., The Pokémon Company, and The Pokémon Company International
===Pokémon TCG: XY-Ancient Origins Showcase===
This final section details the two : and . 
Category:Pokémon Trading Card Game publications