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Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX card art from Unbroken Bonds set

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Overview

Within the Unbroken Bonds expansion, a distinctive TAG TEAM-GX card brings together two Ultra Beasts, Pheromosa and Buzzwole, on a single card. This dual-Pokémon design showcases the synergy between their individual strengths, presenting a formidable presence in matches that accommodate Tag Team GX cards. The card embodies the era’s emphasis on high-damage, high-HP TAG TEAM units capable of swinging Prize counts through powerful attacks and the GX mechanic.

As a Grass-type TAG TEAM-GX with substantial HP, it sits at a unique intersection of offense and durability. Its attacks require careful energy management, as well as strategic timing for its GX move, which could shift the course of a game by altering prize distribution. The combination of two recognizable Ultra Beasts on one card also highlights the broader storytelling approach of Pokémon TCG sets, where inter-pokémon relationships are expressed through hybrid cards that function as single, cohesive units during play.

Card Information

Name: Pheromosa & Buzzwole GX
Type: Grass
HP: 260
Rarity: Ultra Rare
Set: Unbroken Bonds (SM10)
Card Number: sm10-1
Dex IDs: 794, 795
Stage: TAG TEAM-GX
Illustrator: Mitsuhiro Arita
Weakness: Fire ×2
Retreat Cost: 2
Legal Format: Expanded legal; not legal in Standard
Illustrative variants: Normal, Holo, Reverse (not first edition)
Official imagery and data source: Unbroken Bonds set data and card database

The card’s art and design are attributed to Mitsuhiro Arita, a prolific illustrator behind numerous classic Pokémon cards. The TAG TEAM-GX designation indicates that two Pokémon share one card and a single, shared HP total, along with coordinated attacks. This particular card uses a Grass energy symbol theme and leverages the dual-Pokémon concept to present a robust archetype for players seeking high-damage output with a durable baseline.

Attacks and Abilities

The card line-up includes multiple attacks, with one notable GX move that influences prize distribution. The listed attacks are described below with their energy costs and effects as printed in the card data:

Jet Punch — Cost: Grass. Damage: 30. Effect: This attack deals 30 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. Do not apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.
Elegant Sole — Cost: Grass, Grass, Colorless. Damage: 190. Effect: During your next turn, this Pokémon’s Elegant Sole attack’s base damage is 60.
Beast Game GX — Cost: Grass. Damage: 50. Effect: If your opponent’s Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, take 1 more Prize card. If this Pokémon has at least 7 extra Energy attached to it (in addition to this attack’s cost), take 3 more Prize cards instead. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)
Unnamed Attack — Cost: Grass. Damage: 50. Note: A fourth attack appears in the card data with the same Grass cost and 50 damage but no official name or listed effect in the provided dataset.

Jet Punch provides early reach to off-board targets, while Elegant Sole becomes a powerful finisher when the opponent is positioned for a high-damage knockout next turn. Beast Game GX functions as a high-stakes GX attack, capable of dramatically accelerating prize collection, subject to the GX usage constraint that only one GX attack can be used per game. The lesser, unnamed attack in the dataset adds another layer of baseline damage potential, though its lack of a defined name or effect makes it less central to typical play patterns documented for this card.

Gameplay and Strategy

As a TAG TEAM-GX card, this pairing embodies the era’s design intention: pairing two Pokémon to create a single, more formidable threat with a tall HP pool and multi-faceted offense. In practice, players typically deploy this card as a late-game power spike due to its high HP and the capability to deliver devastating blows with Elegant Sole and the GX attack. To maximize value from Elegant Sole, players often plan ahead to ensure the next turn can land the 60-base-damage boost, allowing for a knockout with subsequent draws and energy acceleration.

Key strategic considerations include:

Energy management: The Elegant Sole requirement (Grass, Grass, Colorless) demands a balanced energy acceleration plan. Decks leveraging Grass energies and energy-dish synergies (such as theorycraft around search or acceleration) will be more capable of reliably executing the three-attack sequence that culminates in a knockout.
GX timing: Beast Game GX provides a potential to swing multiple extra Prizes but is limited to once per game. Players must assess the board state to determine whether an immediate prize swing justifies expending the GX attack early or saving it for a late-game knockout.
Target selection: Jet Punch’s ability to damage benched Pokémon offers a way to apply pressure without triggering immediate weaknesses. This can wear down the opponent’s bench and set up clean knockouts with Elegant Sole or the GX attack.
Weakness considerations: Fire-type weaknesses ×2 mean that any opposing Fire-type threats may be favored in certain matchups, and deck builders may adjust card lines to mitigate this exposure where possible.

Overall, the card encourages a tempo where energy is invested to access high-damage capabilities on the second or third turn of engagement, followed by strategic GX usage to maximize prize differential while managing the risk of giving up an additional prize if the opponent responds efficiently.

Collector and Market Information

The card is classified as Ultra Rare, reflecting its status as a sought-after TAG TEAM-GX card within the Unbroken Bonds set. Variant printing includes normal, holo, and reverse holo forms, with first edition versions not indicated in the provided data. In practice, holo variants of TAG TEAM-GX cards tend to command higher prices among collectors and players seeking pristine copies for display or investment purposes.

Pricing overview (as of the provided data):

CardMarket (EUR): avg €7.01; low €1.50; trend €3.15; average holo market value not listed in the dataset.
TCGPlayer (USD): holofoil market price around $11.17 on average (marketPrice), with a directLow around $9.52; lower-end listings around $9, while higher listings can approach or exceed $99.69 for highly sought after copies depending on market conditions and condition grade.

Collectors should consider the card’s expanded-format legality when evaluating play value and potential price movements. Pricing data from third-party marketplaces reflects typical fluctuations based on condition, edition, and demand, and can vary over time. For buyers and sellers, monitoring the five-price bands across markets provides a comprehensive view of current value.

Art and Lore

The artwork by Mitsuhiro Arita presents the two Ultra Beasts in a dynamic composition that emphasizes speed, power, and synergy. Arita’s contribution to the Pokémon TCG spans decades, with a characteristic sharp linework, bold color contrasts, and a sense of motion that captures the dual-natured strength of two Pokémon fused into a single card concept. The Unbroken Bonds set, through this illustration, contributes to the broader narrative of who these two creatures are when united—an embodiment of combined might rather than individual strength—reflecting the synergy that TAG TEAM-GX cards were designed to showcase during that generation of the game.

From a lore perspective, Pheromosa and Buzzwole derive from the Ultra Beasts’s extradimensional origin, a theme that recurs across the Pokémon TCG and the broader Pokémon universe. The tag-team pairing on a single card underscores the thematic concept of collaboration between strong but distinct beings, aligning with in-game mechanics that reward coordinated offense and shared HP pools. The art thus reinforces both strategic considerations and fan interest in these two popular Ultra Beasts.

Trivia

One of the early TAG TEAM-GX cards from Unbroken Bonds, highlighting two Ultra Beasts on a single card with a shared HP total.
The GX attack, Beast Game GX, includes an option to take additional Prize cards based on energy investment, offering a dramatic swing in prize allocation but limited by the universal GX restriction (one GX attack per game).
The card’s HP value is notably high at 260, reflecting its role as a durable, high-impact option within Expanded formats.
Illustrator Mitsuhiro Arita has a long-running legacy in the Pokémon TCG, and this card is part of a broader lineage of his iconic artwork across multiple sets.
As a non-Standard-legal card in the provided data, its play patterns are primarily observed in Expanded or older-format tournaments, where Tag Team GX cards historically remained viable options.

📘 Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX