Archive for October, 2010

The Top 10 Impactful Cards of HS: Triumphant.

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Hello to all members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here bringing you the top 10 cards of the new Triumphant set.  I have ranked them from 10 to 1, but these ranking aren’t that official.  It is really hard to rank cards that aren’t released yet, so the rankings are just a fun thing and aren’t very official.  So, now we got that away, lets get into the list.

#10- Nidoking

Coming in at #10 is Nidoking.  This card has a lot of upside, but may be a little slow for this format.

It has 140 HP, a lightning resistance, and the “Pheromone Stamina” Poke-Body that gives it an extra 20 HP for every Nidoqueen you have in play.   When you combine Nidoking with Nidoqueen RR, you not only get +20 HP but you heal 1 damage counter each turn because of NidoQueen’s “Maternal Comfort” Poke-Body.  If you add an expert belt and have 3 NidoQueens in play, Nidoking would have 220 HP.  It’s attack also isnt bad, for FFCC “Venomous Horn” does 80 damage and poisons the defending Pokemon. The high HP and lightning resistance will make it hard for any LuxChomp deck to knock out a Nidoking.

But as mentioned, it can be a little slow.  It’s attack costs 4 energies (or 3 if one is Double Colorless) which is possible to load up on Nidoking, but it might cause you to sacrifice some prizes.  And  in this quick 30 +3 format, it could be hard to make a comeback within the time limit.  Also, with out Claydol Ge, it will be hard to get out a Nidoking and have a bench full of NidoQueens. It also has a x2 water weakness, which could be problematic with Gyarados SF is as popular as some experts say it will be.  And finally, Dialga G Lv.X can shut off all Pokebodies, making Nidoking a lot less intimidating.

This deck could be good if the deck gets some new draw power, but until then it can be hard to get the deck fully set up.

#9- Victreebel

Continue reading "The Top 10 Impactful Cards of HS: Triumphant."

PokemanDan’s PokeClass Episode 8 – Donphan and Its Many Decks

Monday, October 25th, 2010

This week I am analysing Donphan Prime from HeartGold & SoulSilver.
This card pairs well with an array of different Pokemon and I’m going to be showing you a few today. Maybe you’ll decide to run it in your next tournament?

Dan
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Opinion: Pikkdogs says stick to your age group.

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Hey all you members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here. I will speak to you soon about the release of the new triumphant set, but today I will talk about age divisions in Pokemon.                                                                          

Speaking of Triumphant, this weekend is the start of pre-release tournaments.  So if you can, head out to your local tournament this weekend and get involved in the tournament.  This set should be pretty impactful, even with the recent news that Lost World will not be in the set.

We all know that Pokemon is a game that is popular with younger people.  I admit that I too played the game when I was young.  But, the fact is that Juniors and Masters are different.  We run different decks and play different styles.…

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PokemanDan’s PokeClass Episode 7 – Gyarados, The Comeback!

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Ed’s Note: This is Team Omar’s 100th article! Try to imagine 100 balloons dropping from your ceiling and people blowing silly noisemakers as you read this. Anyway, I wanted to point that out and say THANKS to all you guys who read our ramblings. Well, without further ado, I’ll let you get back to your regularly scheduled PokeClass, and we’ll start working on our next 100!



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What we learned from 2010 Fall Battle Roads

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Greetings everyone.  This is Pikkdogs, here to give you a rundown of the results of the Fall Battle Roads.

This is of course the first tournament season of the new format.  There was a little amount of uncertainty coming into the season about how the loss of Claydol would effect decks.  There was also the big SP question.  Would it rule the format?  Or would trainer lock decks or Machamp decks run all over them? To answer these and other questions I will give you a list of things we learned from the Battle Road season.

Not that much has changed: SP still ruling

Based on statistics provided by Pokegym; Luxchomp decks have won 34 BR’s, and Dialgachomp decks have won 26 times.  These decks, which work similarly, have won many more times then any other deck.  The next closest deck is Gengar Viletomb with 15 wins.

Time and time again Luxchomp decks have proved to be the most consistent decks out there.  They mix in the best combination of speed and disruption to run the table.

The format has changed to make life a little tougher for SP players, so lets talk a little about that.

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TOSSED Variants Featuring Dialga G, Blaziken FB, Garchomp C, and Shuppet

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

“Dialga TOSSED” / BR #1: Sept. 18, 2010

Pokemon: 17
3 – Uxie – LA 43
1 – Uxie Lv. X – LA 146
2 – Crobat G – PL 47
1 – Shuppet – PL 92
1 – Dunsparce – HS 41
1 – Toxicroak G – DP 41
2 – Garchomp C – SV 60
2 – Garchomp C Lv. X – DP 46
1 – Unown Q – MD 49
1 – Dialga G – PL 7
1 – Dialga G Lv. X – PL 122
1 – Regice – LA 36
Trainers: 25
4 – Poke Turn
4 – Poke Drawer+
4 – Plus Power
2 – Expert Belt
1 – Luxury Ball
3 – Energy Gain
2 – SP Radar
1 – Premier Ball
1 – Power Spray
3 – Warp Point
Supporters: 10
4 – Cyrus’s Conspiracy
3 – Pokemon Collector
2 – Bebe’s Search
1 – Aaron’s Collection
Energy: 8
2 – Psychic Energy
4 – Double Colorless
1 – Metal Energy (Basic)
1 – Cyclone Energy


It turns out that I feel like this “Dialga TOSSED” build was the best running version of the TOSSED decks I’ve played.  I went undefeated in my first 3 matches.  The next two were losses, but both could have easily been won if the luck rolled slightly in my favor.  You can read the Dialga TOSSED mini report here.

Essentially, the techs here come down to getting around Vileplume and Spiritomb.  Regice can screw with your opponent’s Spiritomb, and it can work well in the SP matchup.  Dialga G Lv. X shuts off both Spiritomb and Vileplume’s traier lock.  Warp Point is essential here, because it helps you bench both Regice and Dialga when they are active (which is necessary to LvX Dialga).  Warp Point is also an offensive weapon, because most of your attacks come off the bench.  If you don’t want to attack their active, you can Cyclone Energy or Warp Point it away.

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A Season of Ups and Downs. A Report of Pikkdogs’s Fall Battle Road Season

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Hey everyone in Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here to give you a report of my entire fall Battle Road season.  I thought that instead of writing 4 BR reports, I would just write 1 big one at the end of it.  So here it is.                            

As you can tell from this article’s name, I had an up and down roller coaster ride of a Battle Road season.  It consisted of 4 BR’s, one in Angola, Indiana and three in Michigan.  I really enjoyed the season because of the time I spent playing the game i love, and hanging out with some cool people.

I started out the BR season playing Gengar Viletomb.  Gengar Viletomb is a deck that is supposed to lock trainers all the way through the game.  I won’t explain the strategy because I have talked about it in the past.  I will share my current list of my Gengar Viletomb deck, and then talk a little about it.

Pokemon- 31

  • Gastly Sf-4
  • Haunter Sf-3
  • Gengar Sf-3
  • Gengar Lv.X-1
  • Oddish La-2
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PokemanDan’s PokeClass Episode 6 – Battle Roads Report!

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

This week, I am giving you a detailed report on how we did at our Battle Roads tournament we went to, starting our road to Worlds 2011! :)
So where did I come in? Watch to find out..

PokemanDan
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Playing TOSSED (the Shuppet / Garchomp C Deck)

Friday, October 8th, 2010

For this article, I’m going to focus on the play of the “vanilla” version of TOSSED.  It was built to be a Shuppet replacement, so I play it a lot like I would play Shuppet.  You may want to read about how the deck came to be before you continue this article.  If so, head over to the “TOSSED: A Rogue Ahead” article at www.SixPrizes.com.  Before we get into the play of the deck, I’ll give you a list of what the deck might look like.

Pokemon
3 Uxie – LA 43
1 Uxie Lv. X – LA 146
2 Crobat G – PL 47
1 Shuppet – PL 92
1 Dunsparce – HS 41
1 Toxicroak G (Promo) – DP 41
2 Garchomp C – SV 60
2 Garchomp C Lv. X – DP 46
1 Ambipom G – RR 56
1 Unown Q – MD 49
Trainers
4 Poke Turn
4 Pokedex
4 Poke Drawer+
4 Plus Power
2 Expert Belt
1 Luxury Ball
2 Dual Ball
3 Energy Gain
2 SP Radar
2 Power Spray
1 Premier Ball
1 Energy Exchanger
Supporters
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
2 Pokemon Collector
1 Bebe’s Search
1 Aaron’s Collection
Energy
2 Psychic
4 DCE
1 Cyclone


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Deck Analysis: Gyarados (1st Place BR report included)

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Austino's GyaradosYes, the angry dragon/eel/fish is STILL here and kickin’ (or splashing, rather)! Over the past few weeks of going through old tournament reports and decklists, I remembered how well Gyarados has treated me every time I’ve played it. However, I had a small issue with the deck concerning the recent rotation. The exclusion of Claydol (GE), Night Maintenance, and Felicity’s Drawing were something of a hindrance to the efficiency of the deck. Sure, there are cards like Uxie and Volkner’s Philosophy that could fill in, but would it work? Some….no, MANY have completely written of Gyarados until Junk Arm and Rescue Energy are released. While I agreed with the assumptions that the deck won’t work without Felicity’s/Claydol for a while, I quickly found that the deck can not only still fully function without them, but THRIVES in a format with trainer lock where using supporters is required as well as a pokemon that can FISH (har har, puns) them out of your deck.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What are you going to do against Vileplume, scrub? Good luck winning when you can’t play SSU, Communications, Poketurns, and most importantly, your rescues, which Gyarados hinges on.” This is a very valid argument for not running the deck, but the key to victory lies in Dialga G Lv. X. Yeah, DGX as some call it gives Gyarados the edge it needs in a meta full of trainer locks whether it’s from Spiritombs or Vileplumes. I initially thought Floatzel GL Lv. X was a more solid play, not requiring me to run recovery cards, but G’dos is also about NOT being KO’d (thanks to super scoop ups), and another pokemon with Lightning weakness is no fun. When you combine the 1-1 DGX along with 3 warp energy, you can get it out relatively quickly and continue your beatdown on some of the most played decks in the format right now. While it doesn’t help the SP matchup in the slightest, you should be able to do well against them anyway, considering you OHKO them while they are typically forced to take cheap prizes around gyarados as well as the occasional Trash Bolt/Lucario OHKO. The SP matchup hasn’t really changed as much post rotation, I’d put it at an even 50-50 because so much of the matchup depends on who can keep up the stream of KO’s as well as the use of Expert Belt on G’dos’ side of the field. Regimove also plays a huge factor, allowing Gyarados to take a prize nearly every turn, barring Power Sprays.

I was also asked to discuss the relevance and efficiency of Volkner’s Philosophy as a Felicity’s Drawing substitute. Yes, Volkner is a moody guy, nowhere nearly as cheerful as Felicity, and he makes it clear that he doesn’t care that you can only discard one Magikarp with his “Philosophy”. Aside from the 1 card discard, Volkner’s can do wonders for the deck. Judge is a commonly played card right now, and getting rid of G’dos’ large hand for a measly 4 can suck, especially when holding onto those recovery cards you need. Volkner’s can not only get rid of a trash card from your hand, but also let you keep the good cards while drawing until you have 6, which is pretty good for not having claydol. The other reason it still works is because you need 3 magikarp in the discard. Regice can take care of 2 while Volkner’s drops the 3rd, still getting the same amount of discard *required* to set up, but not necessarily drawing as many cards mid-late game as Felicity’s would.

One last note before posting the list is the importance of Warp Energy. Between Bright Looks, Luring Flames, Sleep Inducers (Froslass GL), Reversals, and starting with Regice or Dialga G X, Warp Energy has saved my bacon several times. It can also be used to get out of a Status Condition such as Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Confusion, etc. It also comes in handy when getting Gyarados back to the bench so that you can Psychic Restore back into the deck for late-game Set Up. The main reason it’s so essential in the current list is really to get your DGX to the bench safely after you level up, though.
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