One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with your ticket to winning your Next Destinies Pre-Release.  ND PR’s start this weekend!!  So if you can, try to go out and hit some PRs.  They are great because they help support your TO, and they give you the best chance to get some great cards.  You not only get 8 packs, but you get a chance to do some trading with everyone else at the event.  Most people don’t go to a Pre-Release to win, but if you do win, it could give you some good momentum going into states.  Plus, it is always good to win.  Some places give the winner an extra pack, while others just give the winner bragging rights.  Here is what you need to know to win the NV pre-release.

Basic Pre-Release Tips

If you never played at a tourney before, here is what happens at a normal Pre-Release.  You sit down at a table, and a judge will come over and hand you 6 packs.  You open all of your packs, and then build a 40 card deck consisting of only the cards that you have pulled, and basic energy cards that are provided to you by the TO.  If you pulled any special energy cards you can play them, but they will not be provided to you.

When building your deck, the most important thing to focus on is consistency.  Most modified format decks have cards like Professor Juniper and Pokemon Communication that greatly increase consistency, you don’t have these in your pre-release.  So it will be harder to get Evolution cards out. and other cards that you only have 1 card of.  What you need to do is run cards that increase consistency, for example you can run Simisear. He has the “Collect” attack that let’s you draw 3 cards for just 1 energy.  Or you can run Lapras #25, he let’s you search your deck for 2 basic Pokemon and put them onto your bench.  But, consistency usually means running a lot of trainers.  In this set, we do not have a lot of search or draw trainers.  We do have Level Ball and Heavy Ball.  Level Ball lets you search out a Pokemon with 90 HP or less, while Heavy Ball does the same with a Pokemon that has 3 or more in their retreat cost.  Energy counts in a PR deck usually run around 14.  If you pull a Cilan or 2, you will be able to run about 12 or 13.  Along the same lines, make sure to not run too many energy types.  Cilan will help you with energy consistency, but try to run at the most 3 types of energy.

The basic rule for trainers is that you should play as many as you pull.  I call this the cigarette principle, because you should smoke em if you got em.   If you pull 4 Pokemon Centers, well obviously only play 2 or maybe three, but for the most part you should run every trainer you pull. 

An Over View of the Format

At first glimpse this set seems to be full of BBP (Big Basic Pokemon).  They are great for Pre-Releases, since you only have to draw into one card, instead of 3 cards with a Stage 2 Pokemon.  The best Pokemon are once again Reshiram and Zekrom.  These Pokemon are re-prints from the original Black and White set, and have that great “Outrage” attack.  Most Pokemon will not be able to do 130 HP for an OHKO, so “Outrage” will always work very well.  There are some BBP that can do the 130 HP, and those are the EX Pokemon.  If you are lucky enough to pull an EX, than by all means play it.  They may have high energy costs, but things go by slower in a PR and you should be able to charge one up.  Once you charge one of these babies up, it might not fall for the rest of the game.  All most all of the EXs are great tanks for a PR, except Shaymin who will be more of a setup Pokemon.  The moral of a story here is that if you pull a BBP, than play it.

Let’s take a short look at the Stage 1’s in this format.

• The Simi’s are good for setup.  They have the Collect attack that will let you draw 3 cards.  Not great attackers, but good enough to play if you pull 2 of any one.
• Aracanine #12 is a good Pokemon that will work with Heavy Ball.  He can do 100 damage for FFC, and causes a burn whenever he is attacked.  A good play if you pull at least of of him and at least of of #13.
• Starmie does 50 for just 1 energy.  That is really good in this format.  He also works well with Level Ball.
• Raichu has some amazing art and has an attack that does 80 damage for each heads off 2 flips.  The attack costs LCC, and can make use of the DCE that you hopefully pulled.
• Musharna has “Forewarn”, which is basically Uxie X’s “Trade Off”.  This is an amazing pull for a PR, and you should smoke him if you got him.  It should give you an amazing advantage for the rest of the game.
• Darnmanitan has the “DanMAXitan” attack that lets you flip a coin for each energy attached and does 50 damage for each heads.  This works really well with DCE, and has a chance at knocking out an EX with just 1 hit.
• Hippowdon is decent if you pull some DCE, if not, the attacks might just cost too much.
• Cincinno also is cool if you have some DCE.  If not, it is your choice to play or not to play.  The Ability is pretty cool and he runs with colorless energy, so that is always good in a PR.

Now let’s look at the few stage 2’s that we have.  Usually it is not a great idea to run a stage 2 unless you are sure that you can get it out consistently.

• Chandelure is nice because you only need 2 energies to attack.
• Vanilluxe, Gardevoir, Luxray, and the rest are decent.  If you have nothing else like an EX, than you can run these and hope you are able to get these guys out.

There are not many consistency Pokemon in this set.  As mentioned, the Simi Pokemon are decent and Lapras can help you get basic Pokemon out.  Miniccino can also do something similar, however, he only gets 1 Pokmeon.  So if you pull these guys it would be nice to play them, but these Pokemon are not as good as the ones in other sets like Call of Legends.

Recap

So that is a quick look at the pre-release format for this quarter.  Sorry if this article isn’t that interesting or if it doesn’t make a lot of sense, I had to get this article out quick so you can use them this weekend at a PR.  That is also why Pedro isn’t here, but never fear, he will be back making ore fart jokes next article when I review the set for the modified format.

This set looks decent for a PR.  There are not a lot of consistency cards.  The set does lack draw power, but it does have some search power.  It does have a lot of BBP, so those Pokemon will determine a lot of the games.  If you pull a Reshiram or Zekrom you will be pretty much set.  Of course, the EX’s are great in this set, so if you can pull of these make sure to play  Minccino or Lapras so you have a good shot at getting the EXs out each game.  Besides those tips, just have fun and get some good trades.  If you pull a Mewtwo EX, I would run out of the building and lock it up in your car, just so nobody will take that thing from you.  It will be a very valuable card that you might be able to sell for as much as 80 bucks!

Well have fun everybody.

 

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Category: Prerelease | Tags: How to win a pre release, Next Destinies Pre-Release