Pokemon TCG Director Regrets This Card's Release

Atsushi Nagashima of Creatures Inc regrets the impact of Seismitoad EX on the Pokemon TCG.

By Christian Hoffer

The director of Creatures Inc. disliked an infamous card from the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Earlier this week, ComicBook.com had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Creatures Inc., one of the co-owners of The Pokemon Company and the maker of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. During the visit, we had the opportunity to speak with Atsushi Nagashima, Game Director of Creatures Inc. about the development of the Pokemon TCG and the playing environment surrounding the game as part of a group interview. Many of the questions in the interview concerned the metagame and whether the directors of the game understood the direction the game would go when new sets are released. 

"I know where the meta is going to go," Nagashima said via a translator when asked by 3DReyes about the direction of the meta. "I will predict that and it will follow that. But these days there's many players and there could be some things that I do not think about. So it could be a variety based on the players too. But in general I do see. I do foresee the meta." 

When asked by ComicBook.com about an example of a card that had a surprising impact on the metagame, Nagashima called out the Mega Audino-EX card, which won the 2016 World Championships due to its ability to counter the Night March deck archetype that was prominent at the time. "In general the outcome is expected...Mega Audino, was a rare one that pops into my mind," Nagashima said. "This was not expected at all." 

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Nagashima also has cards that he regrets releasing as well. When asked by The Gamer if there was a specific card he wished weren't released because of the impact they had on the metagame, Nagashima said "There's so many that I can't even tell you," but proceeded to specifically call out Seismitoad EX, a card from the 2014 expansion Furious Fists as one card he specifically regrets. Seismitoad EX's Quaking Punch card prevented an opponent from using Items on their next turn, which had a crippling effect on many decks. When paired with a Garbador card that prevented abilities and the Hypersonic Laser card that poisoned and confused opponent Pokemon, the combination could basically brick an opponent's deck while slowly whittling their Pokemon down. 

Expect to hear more from our visit to Creatures Inc. in the coming days.  

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