Is Azuki’s Displace like pushing the Active Pokémon to the Bench in Pokémon?
PartlyPartly. Both push a front-row unit into the back row without knocking it out, though Benched Pokémon cure Special Conditions and keep attached cards while displaced Azuki entities re-enter with Cooldown and, by our read of the rule that weapons can’t be attached in the Alley, lose their weapons.
Displace in the Azuki TCG
Displace moves an entity from the Garden to its owner’s Alley, and its card effects do not activate. Weapons can’t be attached to cards in the Alley, so our read, pending a ruling, is that a displaced entity’s weapons go to the discard pile. Because only one entity per turn can portal back through the Gate — entering the Garden with Cooldown — Displace clears Defenders and slows wide boards without putting cards back in hand.
The same
- The unit stays on the board rather than going to the hand or discard pile.
Different
- Pokémon’s Active spot holds one Pokémon, so another Benched Pokémon must move up immediately. An Azuki Garden holds up to five entities, and Tidal Wave can send every one costing 3 or less to the Alley at once.
- Moving to the Pokémon Bench removes Special Conditions while keeping attached Energy and Tools, and Trainer cards like Switch can bring it back and attack the same turn (manual Retreat is once per turn and costs Energy). Weapons can’t be attached in the Alley, so by our read Displace sends attached weapons to the discard pile (Azuki hasn’t ruled on it directly), and portaling back through the Gate costs 0 IKZ, is strictly once per turn, and gives Cooldown unless the entity has Charge.
Pokémon TCG: checked against the Pokémon TCG rulebook. Azuki TCG: printed card text and the rules.
