One Hit KO

A big hello to all members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here, and I am counting down the top 10 cards that were released in 2010.  I will rank them based on their current playability, their past usage, and my predicitons on how the card will fair in the future.                 

But before we get to that we have a couple of announcements to talk about.  There is still time to register for the Team Omar 1st Anniversary contest, but you must get your answer into us before midnight on the 31st of December.  That means that if its 2011, you will be too late.  There have not been a lot of entries, so if you hurry up and enter, you have a decent chance at winning a prize.  Also, all of us at the website would like to wish you guys a Happy Newyear.  Hopefully you guys will have fun on New Years Eve, but remember to be safe.                                         

Okay onto the rankings, there have been 4 sets released in 2010.  All of these sets belong to the HS block, the individual sets are: HGSS, HS: Unleashed, HS: Undaunted, and HS: Triumphant. The first two sets of 2010 were playable in the 09-10 format, while the last two were not.  This year is the first year without Lv.X cards, we have gotten Prime and Legend cards instead.  Some of the Prime cards have been playable, while the Legend cards have seen a minimal impact on the format. So with those thoughts out of the way, lets rank the cards of 2010. 

10.  Gengar Prime

The list starts off with Gengar Prime.  This Gengar was released in the Triumphant set and has not had a significant impact on the format yet.  It has seen some play in Trainerlock decks with Gengar SF.  It is mostly used to send Pokemon in your opponents hand to the Lost Zone.  This is mostly effective against Gyarados decks.  If you can send a Magikarp to the lost zone, you will have a huge advanatge in the game.  But as I said this card has not made a huge impact on the format.  It has made it on my list because of its potential.  If the U.S. ever gets the card Lost World, Gengar Prime will become a lot more important.  This is because Lost World is a stadium card that lets you win the game if your opponent has 5 or more Pokemon in the lost zone, and Gengar Prime can easily put Pokemon in the lost zone.  So the future looks bright for Gengar Prime.

9.  Seeker

Seeker is one of the most versatile cards in the format right now.  I have written an entire article on the card, so I will not talk about what it does or how to use it.  But it is a great card that has and will impact the format.  Besides fitting into current Sablelock, Gyarados, and Trainerlock decks; Seeker has brought back one deck from the grave.  Uxie Donk has seen some play in City Championships this year because of the addition of Seeker.  This deck is full of trainers and cards that let you drop a lot of damage counters in one turn.  It usually consists of Crobat G and many cards that let you re-use the “Flash Bite” Poke-Power.  After damage counters have knocked out several Pokemon, the user can use Seeker to have your opponent pick up one of their benched Pokemon, and then end the game with Uxie’s “”Psychic Restore” attack that is powered by and expert belt and 4 plus powers.  It is not a great deck, but Seeker makes it playable.                                                                                                                            

8. Smeargle Ud

From the most versatile card in the format, to a Pokemon that knows something about versatility, Smeargle Ud.  Smeragle has a Poke-Power called “Portrait” that lets you look at your opponets hand and use a supporter that you find there as the effect of this power.  Smeargle can be usedin just about any deck, and has seen significant play in SP decks and trainerlock decks.  It can be used by almost any deck to speed it up by using your opponents supporters.  It is also helpful because it lets you look at your opponents hand, this could be very helpful if your are playing a deck that includes Gengar SF.  But you must be careful in how you use this card.  If you have a card that you want to use this turn, and you use “Portrait” first, you may only find a Professor Oaks New Theory or Copycat, and be forced to shuffle the cardyou want to use back in your deck.  Smeargle makes this list because it is a good card for the current format, and will be very useful in the future even though it will soon lose Unown Q. 

7.  Judge

Judge is a card that came out in the Unleashed set and had a big impact ever since.  It makes each player shuffle his/her hand in their deck and draw 4 new cards.  It is a card that simutaneously provides disruption and hand refreshment.  Judge came out when the Sablelock deck was rising to power, and they both joined to make a great combo.  In todays game, it is beneficial to use Seeker when you have an active sableye sf, and then “Impersonate” for a Judge to shuffle the Pokemon your opponent picked up back in the deck.  Judge made the list because it does many things well, can make decks better, and can be added to any deck for a little disruption.  It has seen play in a lot of decks that run four copies of it.  Because of its popularity. it captures the 7th spot.

6.  Jumpluff HGSS                                                                                           

Jumpluff HGSS was one of the most hyped cards in the HGSS set.  When it first came out people were anxious to try it out.  What players found was a great fast deck that can do a lot of damage.  When it was released it was immediatly comboed with Claydol Ge and Uxie la to make a great deck that can hit hard and win the prize race.  Before its release, not many decks could win in a prize race versus a good SP deck, but Jumpluff changed all that.  It quickly became a popular card making it into a lot of the top tables in State, Regionals, and National Championships; even seeing play at Worlds.  But, with the loss of Claydol Ge during the rotation, Jumpluff saw a lot less play.  It just wasn’t as fast, and could not recover as well.  These days some people still play it with Vileplume, or Slowking, or a myriad of grass techs; but it is not what it once was.  But, because it was a great card in the 09-10 format  it takes the 6 spot on my list.  No one knows the future, perhaps Jumpluff will rise again.

5.  Professor Oaks New Theory

Professor Oaks New Theory or PONT, as we call it, is a great hand refreshing card.  It lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 cards.  Hand refreshing has been very important in a lot of decks since the loss of Claydol Ge, and PONT has somewhat taken the place of “Cosmic Power.”  But PONT had a great effect before the rotation.  The 2010 Worlds Winner used 4 PONT in his Luxchomp deck, and was able to keep his hand fresh and defeat all comers.  After Worlds was over, PONT became a staple in all SP decks.  PONT makes the list because it is a versatile card that can be used in any deck, but that was used in a Luxchomp deck to win worlds.  It is a nice versatile card that has greatly impacted the format. 

4.  Junk Arm

Junk Arm is a very interesting and impactful card.  It is so interesting because it has two very good effects.  One effect is to discard two cards from your hand, this is effective in decks like Gyarados and Regigas where you need specific cards in the discard pile.  Another effect is that you can take a trainer from your discard pile and put it into your hand, this is very useful in most decks, who wouldn’t want an extra Luxury Ball or Poketurn.    While being able to re-use a trainer card is awesome, this card is so impactful because it allows you an easy way to discard cards.  This effect of the card has almost singlehandedly brought back the Gyarados deck, that had lost its playability after the lose of Claydol GE and Felecities Drawings.  This card makes it to #4 on my list because of how it brought back Gyarados and how the card can easily go in almost any deck and make an impact.

3.  Vileplume UD                                                                                                                                                                

The most impactful Pokemon this year has been Vileplume from the Unduanted set.  Vileplume doesn’t have a great retreat cost, doesn’t have a great HP, and doesn’t have any good attacks.  But, it does have an awesome Poke-Body called “Allergy Flower.”  This body makes it impossible for any player to play any trainers from his/her hand.  This card saw a lot of play with Gengar SF, and also some play with Jumpluff HGSS and Tyranitar Sf/Prime.   Vileplume has seen a lot of success in shutting down trainer heavy decks like SP variants and speed decks.  Though it does have its drawbacks, some players have had some success with making it active or using Dialga G Lv.X to shut off “Allergy Flower.”  Vileplume has taken the #3 spot because it helped create another Tier 1 or 2 deck.  Vileplume had a lot of hype when it first came out, now that we can look back at the card, we can see that it did indeed deserve it.

2.  Double Colorless Energy

Its hard to think of DCE as coming out this year, it seems like it has just about always been in the format, it is hard to conceptualize an SP deck without it.  But, DCE did indeed come out in 2010 and it has had a big impact.  The first impact on the metagame was the increased playability of cards like the Porygon-Z promo, Flygon RR, Garchomp SV, and Gardevoir/Gallade SW.  DCE helped to speed up those decks by allowing them to attack with one less energy card.  Some of these decks have made an impact at State and Regional Championships.  The second, and probably most important impact, was that it made Garchomp C Lv.X a lot more dangerous.  Now with DCE Garchomp C only needed 1 energy and 1 energy gain to snipe for 80 damage.  Because using “Dragon Rush” is so easy it has changed SP decks.  SP decks used to look at each Poketurn as one prize card (with a Luxray Gl Lv.X “Bright Look”), but now they view each DCE as a prize card.  This has made the Luxchomp and Dialgachomp decks even more disruptive and dangerous.  For its ability to stregthen SP decks and make some stage 2 decks playable, Double Colorless energy has earned the #2 spot on mylist. 

1.  Pokemon Collector                                                                  

The most impactful card released in 2010 was an easy card to choose, of course it could only be Pokemon Collector.  This card may not be the sexiest or most exciting pick, but it has made the most impact on the format.  Pokemon Collector is a supporter that allows you to grab 3 basic Pokemon from your deck.  This card single handidly replaced Roseanne’s Research and allowed most decks to function the same or better as as they would have with Rosseanne’s.  Most decks out  there today rely on getting an early collector, if you are not able to get a Pokemon Collector turn 2 or 3, you are in danger of getting donked or falling behind on your setup.  Pokemon Collector gets the #1 spot on my list because it is the staple of all staples right now.  Every deck runs at least 2 of it, and most decks run 3 or 4.  It is a very important card for almost all of the decks that are currently played.  I have no problem making this my most impactful card that was released in 2010.

Honarable Mentions

11. Donphan Prime– A 1 energy attack that can do 80 damage when belted, and a Poke-Body that reduces all damage done to him; thats what I call an impactful card.  It had more playability before the rotation, but it is still a good card and could possibly see more play in the future.

12.  Pokemon Communication– This card is like a trainer version of  Bebe’s Search, except the card you put on top must be a Pokemon.  This card is good, but is more suited to decks that run a lot of Pokemon, and since most decks don’t run a lot of Pokemon, this card is not as impactful as it could be.  It will still be a good card in any format though.

13.  Entei/Raikou Legend– This card is like the Flame Thrower of Pokemon.  During World War I Germany used the Flame Thrower as a weapon.  It was not very deadly, but it was the scariest and most intimidating weapon out there.  This is similar to ERL, it can do 80 damage to any Pokemon with Poke-Powers for just 2 energy with its attack “Thunder Fall”.  This means that you can possibly take over 6 prizes in one turn.  While this is rarely done, it can be a scary thing to think of your opponent possibly using this move against you.  ERL saw play in some SP and Donpahn decks, and has great synergy with the Magnezones that are in the format.  I don’t think that ERL will ever be a great card, but it will always have the potential to be played. 

So that is what I thought of the cards released in 2010, what do you guys think?  Did I get it right, or did I miss a couple cards?  What is your top 10 list?  Feel free to let me know in the comment box.

This is Pikkdogs saying so long and thanks for all the fish.

Category: Card Discussion | Tags: top 10 cards of 2010