One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs and his extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro here with a short article about this years Cities tournaments.  It seems like I just got back from Regionals, but yet Cities will be starting this week!  Besides having no time to prepare for Cities, there are new cards in the format.  So let’s slow things down a little bit and look at what’s going on in the format.

Before we get going, I should announce that onehitko.com has a new sponsor, www.propokemon.com.

Someone actually is giving you money to promote their site? 

It appears that way.

So you’re like a whore now, you pimp yourself out for money? 

I thought we already established that.

Oh yeah, forgot about that.  I smell a part of the article where you are about to sell your soul to the man and give them a cheesy commercial, so go ahead. 

Alright.  www.propokemon.com Is a great place to get deck lists and different tricks and tips for the format.  They always have some cool free articles, but, they are now changing the game by offering you premium articles from the best players on a  per article basis.  So you no longer have to subscribe with a monthly fee to every premium article, you can just pick and choose the ones you want for a very low fee.

Sounds smart to me.  Plus. people get to read articles from someone who is actually good.

That always helps.  So make sure to go over there and check out the site, and then check back for all the latest strategies.  Well there Pedro, we did the commercial.

Did a little bit of you die inside?

Yes.  Though nothing against propokemon, I actually do love the site and I read articles there all the time.  I’m just not used to selling out to the man.  I kinda feel dirty.

Well, I could say something about the “dirty part”, but our sponsors may not like it. 

Do you mean we have to watch our language now?  No more penis jokes?

No. Well, maybe just a few. 

Can I tell the story about a man from Nantucket?

That might be going too far.  Plus we are going way off topic, just get on to talking about Cities. 

Cities Overview. 

Okay, let’s talk about Cities by revisiting what happened at Regionals. Here are the breakdown of how many decks made it to the top 4:

• Reshiram-8
• Primetime-7 
• Zekrom-5
• Stage 1 Variants-4
• The Truth-2

So that kind of gives us a look at the format.  Reshiram, Zekrom, and Primetime seem to be the best around.  With Stage 1 and a couple other decks peeking their heads in and doing a decent job.  So with those three decks in mind, let’s continue by looking at what Noble Victories adds us.

Changes from Noble Victories

We will begin our look at NV by listing the popular cards from that set, and then state what decks they will help or hurt.

• Kyurem– Kyurem may or may not be decent in a deck of its own, but will see a lot of play in other decks.  Expect Donphan and Dragons, Zekrom, The Truth (Ross Deck), and Gothitelle to play this card to counter Donphan Prime and Reshiram.  Kyurem being played will hurt Donphan and Dragons, and could make it unplayable if it gets a lot of play.  It will also hurt Reshiram decks, but it certainly won’t kill the deck, just make games closer.
• Vanilluxe/Chandelure– You might see some play of these Pokemon in Ross Decks.  The play won’t be significant nationwide, but very well could be in your local metagame.
•   Durant– Watch out for the milling Durant.  Of course it won’t be splashable in any deck, and won’t be a top tier deck itself.  But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look out for it.  Players of Stage 1 decks might wanna tech in a card like Victini #15, because they will have a hard time doing enough damage to consistently knock out Durant without a fire Pokemon.
• The Musketter Trio– Well, the duo anyway, nobody will be playing Virizion.  The other two might see some play in stage 1 tool box decks.  Cobalion might see even see some play in its own deck.  Terrakion could be a decent Donphan replacement in a stage 1 deck for people who are worried about Donphan’s water weakness.  Cobalion could see its own deck as it has the “Iron Breaker” attack which does not let your opponent attack next turn.  Perhaps it could be paired with Electrode Prime.
• Rocky Helmet– I am not really sold on this card, but expect to see a little of it anyway.  It doesn’t really seem to benefit one deck, so expect it everywhere, expect in Ross Deck and Mewlock.
• N– I also am not sold on how N impacts the format.  I think it is a good card, but it is not a great card.  Regardless of what I think of it, it will be played simply because it is a cool card.  Remember when Seeker came out in Triumphant?  Everybody played that for a couple of months, before we realized that it’s crap.  The same might happen with N, but that doesn’t matter because the fact is that people will play N.  As for impacting individual decks, it will give a huge lategame advantage to Magnezone Prime decks.  Since they can use “Magnetic Draw” to recover from a late game N, they will have a huge advantage if N gets as much play as expected.  It doesn’t really seem to effect the other good decks in the format, just the rogue ones like Lost World and Durant.
• Eviolite- I have saved the best for last.  Eviolite will make a huge impact on Cities.  It will be used by any Pokemon that is basic.  So that means Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Tornadus, Durant, Druddigon, and others will receieve a huge boost.  This gives basic decks a huge advantage over others.  It may not impact Primtime too much.  Yes it will make Yanmega much less useful, but 150-20 is still 130 and a knockout for Magnezone Prime’s “Lost Burn” attack.  Look for basic decks to reach new heights at cities. 

Well that’s it for the list.  After all that, I think we can say that Zekrom should be the winner of the Noble Victories release.  Although Reshiram also gains from the release of Eviolite, Zekrom does not have to worry about Kyurem “Outraging” for weakness.  Although saying that, the balance beam won’t fall too much towards Zekrom, Primetime and Reshiram still have a great shot.  And Gothitelle and Ross Deck will still be around.  So the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Tips for Cities

Cities is always my least favorite tournament season.  They usually are scheduled during holidays or during big snow storms.  Yet, people might be able to get out to a couple of them, so let’s look at some tips and tricks for winning Cities.

1. It’s a small tournament, so your decks can be riskier.  At regionals you needed a deck that could win 10 times in a row, not so here.  Just winning 5-6 times might be enough to win.  So you can try running riskier decks like Sharpedo, and hope you get lucky.  Though consistency is never a good thing to lose, you might need to take a risk to get a win.
2. I’m liking Magnezone.  Even though Eviolite makes basic decks a lot better, Magnezone is still a good card.  The reason I like it now more than ever is because of N.  A lot of people will be playing it and Magnezone has a built in N recovery system.  “Magnetic Draw” will help you make you recover from an N better than any other deck.
3. Basics are the safest bet.  With Eviolite it is impossible to go wrong by choosing Reshiram and Zekrom decks.  Although you may not be lucky enough to win, you should do well with these decks.  Just be aware that you will see more rogue out there than usual, so be prepared.

Okay Pedro, I’m done.  What do you have for us today?  

Well, today is Black Friday.  Have you done your holiday shopping Pikkdogs?

Oh of course, I’ve been spending all that www.propokemon.com money.  I’ve got so many commercials going I’m like the Shamwow guy of Pokemon.

So you’re rolling in the cash?

Well, I’m supposed to say so.  But I’m actually still the same homeless guy that Ed picked off the street and lured into writing for the promise of chicken.

So you’re lying to me and you didn’t do any Christmas shopping?

Not really, I’m still waiting for the chicken from Ed. Did you do any Black Friday shopping?

Well, I wouldn’t call it shopping.  I just went to a busy shop and waited for a popular item to be almost gone, and then when someone picks up the last item I would punch them. 

That’s not very nice.

No, but its fun.  Good night everybody. 

Category: City Championships | Tags: