One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a special edition of Pikkdogs Pikks Three.  This time we will be taking a look at three cards that will be good for the professor cup format this year at Nationals. Before we talk about to much we gotta do a disclaimer.

NOTE: EVERYTHING IN THIS ARTICLE IS NOT ABOUT THE MODIFIED FORMAT, IT IS ABOUT THE PROFESSOR CUP WHICH HAS SPECIAL RULES.

The rules for the professor cup are always a little bit different, this year we have rules that are very different.  The first rule is that the format is Call of Legends on, only CL and Black and White set cards can be used.  The second rule is that basic Pokemon are illegal.  The third rule is that Stage 1’s are treated as basics and Stage 2’s are treated as Stage 1’s.  That means you can start with a stage 1, and then evolve once into a stage 2.  These rules make the format different and it should be a lot of fun.  Before we talk about some cards for the format, let us say hi to my sidekick Pedro. Hey Pedro.

Hey Pikkdogs.

Do you have any news for us Pedro?

Well, it seems that it has finally come upon us.

What?  Nationals?

No, the Zombie Apcolaypse.  It seems that many newstories lately are linking up to hint that Zombies are already on the loose.  First, a weekend or so ago a man in Miami was arrested for eating a man’s face, and would not stop eating even though the police shot him.  A second zombie sighting did happen in Florida a week or so ago when a doctor was arrested by police officers.  Apparently they could not restrain him with regular methods and he began spitting blood at the officers.  A third story comes from New Jersey where a man is accused of throwing his own intestines at police officers.  There is actually a fourth story.  The Center for Disease Control released a pamphlett that contains survival tips if a Zombie Apocalypse did happen.  Some are speculating that radioactive tuna found off the coast of California is the source for the current Zombie sightings.  Do you think the Zombie Apocalypse is upon us Pikkdogs?

Of course not.  All these instances can be explained.  The story in New Jersey is not a zombie, because we know from watching Jersey Shore that all people from Jersey behave that way.  The CDC was not insinuating that there could be a zombie event, they were trying to use it as a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for other disasters.

Well, then what about the face eating guy in Miami?

He was just hungry.  Face is traditinally a good tasting part of the animal.

Well, I guess.  Maybe the Zombie Apocalypse isn’t upon us.  Did you see any Zombies the last time you went to Florida?

Nope.

Do you like it down there?

Yes……………..and I also like Florida.

I see what you did there.  Do you like the Zombies?

Zombies are pretty cool.  At least Zombies are always evil and badass, not like what modern people have done to Vampires.  I haven’t heard about a Zombie love story yet.

True.  We should get you an inter-dimensional porthold sometime so we could visit a dimension that is overun by zombies.  Its a good summer vacation.

Sure.

Should we do it tomorrow?

No, busy.

Day after?

Gotta work.

Feasel day?

No, that’s when we take the children to see the feasels.

Why are we acting out a Cosby show sketch?

I guess we’re board, let’s just move onto another article.

 

Card #1 Seismitoad

Description– Seismitoad is perhaps the most hyped attacker in the Professor Cup format.  In this format he is a stage 1 with 140 HP, a grass weakness, and a 3 retreat cost.  The attack that everyone is talking about is “Round”, which does 30 damage times the amount of attackers that have the “Round” attack that you have in play.

Analysis– Let’s look at the stats here.  140 HP is very good in this EX-less format.  The grass weakness will be no problem, and the three retreat cost is not great but it is workable attack in a deck that has many one energy card attackers.

Seismitoad will be in a deck that is all about the “Round” attack.  I know something about being round, and it is a good thing.  There are 2 other attackers that also have the “Round” attack, and in this format they are all basics.  Since most of your attackers have CC attacks, you will be able to setup fast and attack fast.  All of the bad things about the “Round” deck in the Modified Format are now gone in the Professor Cup format.  Seismitoad should be a great attacker in this format, and it is well deserving of all the hype.

The operation of this deck should be fairly simple.  This deck should have a bunch of Dual Balls and Pokemon Collectors to get you a bunch of “Round” attackers on turn 1.  You might wanna start with Wigglytuff because he can attack on turn 1 without any energy acceleration.  On turn 2 you can evolve into Seismitoad and start doing a lot of damage.  The 140 HP is very good in this format and should be able to keep you alive in the format for a while.

There are some bad things about Seismitoad.  The first is that Archeops is almost broken in this format, and Archeops can stop Seismitoad from hitting the board.  Even though the “Round” deck is not dead without evolutions, it does hurt the deck.  The 3 energy retreat cost is also fairly bad for Seismitoad.  However, there is room enough in the “Round” deck to fit in some Switches, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

Final Rating–8.5/10-The Seismitoad “Round” deck will probably be the most popular deck during the Professor Cup.  Although Archeops can hurt the deck, it is still one of the most solid decks in the format.

Card #2 Zebstrika ND

Description– The current format doesn’t really have a good deck that contains trainer lock, but the Professor Cup format does.  Zebstrika ND has 90 HP, a fighting weakness, and a free retreat cost.  It is a basic Pokemon in this format.  It has two attacks.  The first one is “Disconnect” and does 40 damage for LC and stops your opponent from playing trainer cards during his/her next turn.  The second attack is called “Lightning Crash” and let’s you snipe for 80 for LLC while discarding all energy attached to Zebstrika.

Analysis– Zebstrika does not seem like a great Pokemon, but if you can deny your opponent the use of trainers for the entire game, you have a large advantage.  Let’s start this analysis by looking at the basics.

90 HP is bad, but workable on what is now a basic.  The fighting weakness is actually not bad in the Professor Cup format, so no problem there.  The retreat cost is great, so that’s always a plus.  So the stats are very workable.

Most people are thinking of pairing Zebstrika with Eelektrik.  With a little help, the now basic Eelektrik can power up a Zebstrika on turn 1 and get the trainer lock going.  Sniping for 80 is not a great thing, but if you do run evolutions, it could be a good way to take away Archeops.  Discarding energy is not a big deal, because you can just use a bunch of Dual Balls for two Eelektriks and a Zebstrika, attach an energy to the Zebstrika and attach 2 more from the discard pile, and you are back to possibly doing 80 damage again.  So these Pokemon do work well together.

It would be nice if there were a third Pokemon that could work in this deck to hit harder, but it  may be able to work without another attacker.  It is a great deck that is very fast and consistent, it should be able to work very well at the Professor Cup.  The nice thing about this deck is that there is room for your own personal touch in it, so you can adjust it to your playstyle.

The bad thing about Zebstrika is the low 90 HP.  It can now take advantage of Eviolite, but that still doesn’t do a lot of damage.  The other bad part of this deck is that it can be a little challenging to get a lightning energy in the discard pile on turn 1, but if you make your deck for this purpose, you should be able to accomplish the task.

Final Rating– 8/10-  This may not be a deck that has all the answers just yet, but it has a solid foundation.  If you were to come up with some cool ideas and test it a lot, you could go deep into the Top Cut rounds.

Card #3- Archeops

Description– It is almost a crime that Archeops is a basic in this format.  Archeops is a 130 HP basic Pokemon with a  2 retreat cost and a grass weakness.  Its attack is called “Rock Slide” and does 60 damage for FFC and let’s you snipe two Pokemon for 10 each.  The Pokemon is being hyped right now because of the Ability.  It is called “Ancient Power” and does not let either player use Evolutions.

Analysis– Archeops is great at what it does, but it also leaves some questions for whoever plays it.  Unlike the other two cards in this article, Archeops is not something to build your deck around.  It is more of a tech against any stage 1 that you might come across.  We don’t really know what kind of crazy decks you will see at the Professor Cup, but Archeops is sure to help protect you from most of them.

Archeops is cool because it is very splashable.  Most people think of Archeops as a stage 2 in modified format, because that is what he would have been last year in Modified.  But, now the fossil mechanics are different, while these rules changes have not affected the modified format whatsoever, they are now effecting the Professor Cup.   Because we are by-passing the fossil mechanic because Archen no longer exists in the Professor Cup format, Archeops can be searched with cards like Dual Ball and Pokemon Collectors.  That means you can easily get rid of all evolutions with just a basic Pokemon.

I am not sure what kind of decks Archeops is best in, but I do know that if I played a deck that did not contain one evolution, I would run Archeops without a second thought.  It is just too good of a card not to run.  It seems to protect you against almost every deck out there, all those good Stage 1s (Stage 2s) that are easy to get out now will be of no concern to you.  He should be good in most decks.

There are some bad things about Archeops.  The worst thing is his retreat cost.  For some reason a bird Pokemon has a 2 retreat cost.  This makes it very hard to retreat Archeops if your deck does not run DCE.  You can run Skyarrow Bridge to turn the retreat cost to one, but that may take up more spots than you want to.  The other bad thing about Archeops is that the attack is fairly poor.  You are not going to want to spend the time of loading three energies on Archeops just go 60 damage.  It would be nice if this guy could attack, but he is not here as an attacker anyway, so he can still be very playable.

Final Rating– 8.75/10– A very splashable versatile tech that can be very helpful.  Yes the retreat cost sucks and it will hurt the deck if you start with this card, but overall it is a great card.  It may not be in every deck in the Professor Cup, but it will be played a lot.  As long as you don’t play any evolutions, you pretty much have to play this card.

Conclusion

Although I am not a professor and will not play in the Professor Cup, I still think the format is pretty cool.  I kind of wish that I was able to play in this format, it should be really fun for all you professors.  The cup will also be cool because you can win some cool prizes and stuff that is not available up to us normal players.  Just one more hint, if you play in the cup but are not a professor, don’t tell everybody on Six Prizes that you aren’t.  It didn’t work out too well for the last guy that did that.

Well, that’s all I got to say about these cards.  Why don’t you wrap up the article Pedro?

Okay.  Justin Bieber has been in the news lately.  First, over the Memorial Day weekend he was brought to an L.A. police station for questioning because a paparazi accused Bieber of punching him.  Then just a couple days later the Biebs left the country and headed to Norway.  The Norweigian military was brought in to deal with the crowds of people effected with Bieber-Fever.  So many people descended on the Scandanavian country that they could barely contain the crowds. 

I think this reflects poorly on Norway.  If you can’t contain a bunch of teenage girls, you shouldn’t be in the armed forces.

But these aren’t just any teenage girls, these are Bieber fans.  You know that Bieber fans are a rowdy bunch of girls.  They are of course known for starting many bar fights, and beating up the cops and stuff like that. 

I think I could take a couple Bieber fans.

But then they’d probably have to take you to jail for rape.

I guess, there is that.  Good Night everybody!

Category: Pikks Three, Professor Cup | Tags: Professor Cup 2012