Our next specimen is another incredible “Ultra Beast” from the Sun & Moon TCG era: the Rampart Pokémon, Stakataka-GX. This Double Rare (RR) card features full-art, textured holographic artwork that gives it a stunning and imposing presence.
Card Details
- Pokémon Name: Stakataka-GX (ツンデツンデGX)
- Set: Super-Burst Impact (SM7)
- Year: 2018
- Card Number: 050/036
- Rarity/Edition: Double Rare (RR) – Pokémon-GX
- Artist: 5ban Graphics
- National Pokédex No.: 805
Card Text & Attacks
- Type: Metal
- HP: 180
- Ability: Ultra Wall (ウルトラウォール)
- Effect: Your Ultra Beasts take 10 less damage from your opponent’s attacks.
- Attack 1: Gigaton Stamp (ギガトンスタンプ)
- Cost: [Metal][Metal][Colourless]
- Damage: 120
- GX Attack: Assembly GX (レイGX)
- Cost: [Metal][Metal][Colourless]
- Damage: 50+
- Effect: If you have more Prize cards remaining than your opponent, this attack does 50 more damage. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)
- Weakness: Fire x2
- Resistance: Psychic -20
- Retreat Cost: [Colourless][Colourless][Colourless]
- Rule Box: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Collector’s Notes
This Stakataka-GX is a fantastic example of the “Ultra Beast” card type from the Sun & Moon era. The artwork by 5ban Graphics is exceptional, depicting the colossal, wall-like creature as if it is assembling itself from a collection of smaller blocks, all while crackling with otherworldly energy.
Stakataka is a top-tier Geological Pokémon. In the video games, it is a dual-type Rock/Steel Pokémon, a fact that is perfectly represented by its Metal typing in the TCG. Its design is a masterpiece of geological concepts:
- Living Architecture: Stakataka is not a single creature, but a colony of smaller lifeforms that have assembled themselves into what looks like a moving wall or fortress. This is a wonderful biological parallel to the geological formation of breccia, a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a fine-grained matrix.
- Structural Geology: The blocky, brick-like nature of its body is a direct reference to the joints and bedding planes that geologists study in rock outcrops. It is, in essence, a living, mobile rock wall.
This card is a magnificent representation of structural geology and the very concept of how smaller geological components can form a massive, powerful whole.
