The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket's latest expansion, Space Time Smackdown, released on January 30, has stirred a whirlwind of emotions among players, particularly due to the artwork on the Weavile ex card. This expansion, themed around Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, brings familiar faces like Weavile, Mamoswine, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina into the spotlight. With a total of 207 cards, Space Time Smackdown is smaller than its predecessor, Genetic Apex, which boasted 286 cards. However, it includes a higher percentage of rare cards, with 52 alternate art, Star, and Crown rarity cards compared to Genetic Apex's 60.
The controversy centers around the 2 Star full art Weavile ex card, which depicts a chilling scene of a group of Weavile lurking in the treetops, claws poised, ready to attack an unsuspecting Swinub. This graphic portrayal has led to an outpouring of shock and heartbreak from the Pokémon community. A Reddit post titled "NO! SWINUB LOOK UP!! LOOK UP!!" featuring the card's artwork garnered nearly 10,000 upvotes, highlighting the fans' dismay. Comments like "Always got to be one card per set that shows Pokémon in the process of straight up killing each other" and "Leave the lil guy alone" reflect the community's sentiment.
NO ! SWINUB LOOK UP !! LOOK UP !!
byu/RegularTemporary2707 inPTCGP
The discussion also touched on the broader implications of Pokémon's ecology. One fan remarked, "The ecology of Pokémon is always so crazy to imagine. Like these are still animals, some smarter than others. Just they have the ability to fire laser beams."
In a hopeful twist, some fans have found solace in the full art Mamoswine card, Swinub's final evolution. The artwork shows Mamoswine looking upwards, seemingly protecting a group of Swinub. Fans have clung to this image as a possible happy ending, with comments like "Hey, Mamoswine protected his baby. Don't worry. He most definitely saw those Weaviles" and "The Mamoswine alt card already looks above. He saw them. He saw..." offering a glimmer of hope amidst the controversy.
Gone, but not forgotten.
byu/AshesMemeFolder inPTCGP
Despite the uproar, Creatures Inc., the developer behind the game, has remained silent on the matter. The day before the expansion's release, a controversial trading update was introduced, but the company has not addressed the fan backlash. The only acknowledgment from Creatures Inc. came in the form of a "Trade Feature Celebration Gift," which included 500 Trade Tokens and 120 Trade Hourglasses, sufficient for trading a single ex Pokémon. However, the developer has not responded to IGN's request for comment, leaving fans to continue their discussions and debates on social media.
