One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a weird article for you today.  Well, all my articles are weird, I have a talking extra-dimensional sidekick for crying out loud, but this one is weird in a different way.  This article will be all about cards that are in the sets Black and White through the set Dark Explorers.  We all know how these cards did during the previous format, but how will the rotation effect the cards currently in the format and how they do in the future?  To know that we will play a little bit of “Stock Up and Stock Down.”  If I think a card will be played more than it has I will give it a “Stock Up” grade, and if I think it will lose playability it will get a “Stock Down” grade.  Sounds simple enough, so let’s get to it…………after we say hello to Pedro.

Hey Pedro, do you have a news article for us today?

Hello Pikkdogs,  I sure do.  Today’s news comes from Foxnews.com.  They are reporting that a private U.S. company is raising money to complete a project called the “Deepflight Super Falcon”.  If completed, the project will create a submarine that is capable of maneuvering in the water similar to the way a plane does in a dog fight.  This is great news, because the Super Falcon sets us up for some cool underwater dogfights. Are you excited for this Pikkdogs?

Oh hell yeah.  That would be a cool thing to see in a James Bond movie, can’t wait to see those dogfights.

Though the name seems kind of weird, Deepflight Super Falcon.  Seems like an old Super Nintendo game or something.

Plus, falcons don’t fly in the water.  It should be something like Deepflight Super Finding Nemo.

Finding Nemo isn’t the name of a fish.

But, it does have a certain ring to it.

Did you enjoy the movie Finding Nemo Pikkdogs? 

Ahhh, it was okay.  I’m not gaga over it.  I did like when they made fun of the clown fish.

It was a good life lesson to all the kids out there.  Make fun of clowns and things will be okay.

Yep, let’s get onto the article though, it’s getting late.

Stock Up or Stock Down? 

Mewtwo EX

Stock: Unchanged

I know, I wrote a whole paragraph about putting all these cards in stock up or stock down categories, and then I start the article with a Stock Unchanged, which frankly doesn’t make any sense. But, I do believe that Mewtwo EX will be just as popular as it once was.

The conventional wisdom is that Mewtwo EX will drop a little bit in playability since it no longer has a deck of its own.  But, I think that Mewtwo EX is such a good card that it doesn’t need its own deck to be good.  I think it can be used in almost any deck in the next format and still be good.  Eelektrik and Emboar will both be playable in the next format, and these decks are perfect for Mewtwo.

There are just so many decks that Mewtwo EX is good against that I couldn’t see it not being played in almost any deck.  Plus, there is the fact that Mewtwo EX will soon be a tin promo, so everybody will be able to play it without cost being a factor.  Mewtwo is just so power and versatile that I don’t know if he will never not be a staple.

Terrakion

Stock: Down

The format has changed a lot since Quad Terrakion first made its mark on the format.  Back then most decks had electric Pokemon in them and Terrakion could just say, “I’m a fighting type, give me the win.”  Things are different now, Terrakion does not just get to win because it is a fighting type.  Sure, Electric and Dark decks will still be around, but there will be so many other things.

The format will still be favoring the Big Basic Pokemon, but there will also be stage 2 Pokemon in the format.  Most of these Stage 2 Pokemon cannot be OHKOed with 90 damage, and they can match Terrakion blow for blow.  Take for instance the Reshiboar deck. If you do 90 damage to Reshiram, he will just do 110 to you next turn.  And if you do 90 damage to Emboar, he will still have 60 HP left, well out of the Plus Power range.

The more diverse the format gets, the less valuable Terrakion will get.  Sure, I could still see Terrakion surviving in a tool box deck, or maybe some people will still play a mono-fighitng deck, but the format will not be at Terrakion’s feet any more.  His stock has gone down in the last month or so.

Tornadus and Tornadus EX

Stock: Unchanged

Tornadus was a great Pokemon early in the season last year and into mid-season.  It kind of petered out late in the season, but it is still a good card.

Tornadus started out the year on a great winning streak.  It did well in the ZPST deck where it was fast and could knock out a lot of things very early in the game.  Later in the season Tornadus helped cover the weakness of electric Pokemon against Terrakion.  Then later in the season, Tornadus EX came out and caused a split in the player base of Tornadus.  It was a good Pokemon with Darkari, but didn’t get too much player after that.

Without Junk Arm Darkrai and Tornadus will probably not be a great deck anymore.  Eelektrik decks will still be around, but it is not clear as to if they will still play Tornadi.  The Troll deck also may not be around.  So it is unclear if Tornadus will be as playable as it is now.

But, an attack for CCC that does 80 from a basic will always be good.  And CCC for 100 isn’t bad from an EX either.  Those attacks will always be good to have around, and with the prominence of DCE it will always be easy to use this card.  So kind of like Mewtwo EX, there will not be a lot of Tornadi decks around, but there will be a lot of decks with the Tornadi in there.

Klingklang

 Stock: Unchanged

Klingklang was a crap rare until a few guys like our own TAndrewT and National Champion John Roberts II came up with a cool Klingklang deck that moved energy around.  It went from being rogue to being the BDIF in just a few short months, and it is sure to have an impact in Worlds this weekend.

So why is it gonna be good in the next format?  I think that all of the talk that Hydreigon is going to replace Klingklang is a bunch of hokum.  The reason I don’t believe that Klingklang will be replaced is that Blend Energy kind of screws up the playability of Darkness energy with other energy types.  The Blend Energy that works with Darkness energy only also works with Grass Energy, Psychic Energy, and Fire Energy.  The only good Pokemon that would work well in  Klingklang like deck is Darkrai EX, everything else is with the other Blend Energy card.  That means that Klingklang can use cards like Kyorge EX and Groudon EX, while Hydriegon can’t (at least not as easily).  Even though Klingklang does lose Darkrai and its Ability to easily retreat, that doesn’t mean all is lost.  You can still load up your deck with Switches and stuff like that to make up for the difference.

Klingklang does lose a little from the rotation, but it does not lose enough to kill the deck or take it away from the 1 or 2 tiers.  I think it should still be a decent choice entering Battle Roads.

Bianca and Cheren

Stock: Up

I don’t know if any card on this list has risen faster than these two.  With PONT and Sage’s Training now out of the format, it is up to Biance and Cheren to save things.  It doesn’t really matter if these cards aren’t as good as PONT and Sage’s, these cards are the only draw power we have left to take over the empty spots.

I did have some success with Bianca, if you pair it with cards that discard like Ultra Ball, it isn’t a terrible card.  Cheren will never be great, but if you need something that let’s you always draw 3 cards, this will do it.  They are both cards that will see a lot more play now.  Maybe N and Juniper will be your favorite draw cards, but games will be won and lost depending on how things go with Bianca and Cheren.

Pokemon Communication

Stock: Down

Pokemon Communication is not the card that it once was.  It once was a 3 or 4 of staple card in every deck.  Later in the season last year it turned out to be more of a rogue card than a staple as the format started to favor BBP.  Now we have almost no cards that can actually search out Pokemon, so you can’t really count on having one in your hand to switch for one you want.  The playability of this card will be down from last season, but I don’t necessarily think it is done.

I still like Pokemon Communication in evolution decks.  Some decks in the next season will run almost 20 Pokemon, if you do Pokemon Communication will still be good.  If you run anywhere near 15 Pokemon, Pokemon Communication will be a good card to support other cards like Level Ball and Ultra Ball.  I can see this card still being a really good card.  That being said, a lot of decks will still run on the principles of BBP, which go against those of Pokemon Communication.  It will never be the staple it once was, but it will be very playable.

Rare Candy

Stock: Up

Rare Candy is a card that seems like it has been in the format forever.  It also seems like it always has been a staple.  Last season it was not a staple.  Most people would laugh at you if you played a stage 2 deck, until it won Worlds of course.  Now we have a format is more conducive for stage 2s.

Stage 2 Pokemon first started declining during the reign of SP Pokemon.  Garchomp C LV. X could snipe out any basic or stage 1 very easily.  Then when SPs stopped, Pokemon Catcher came and could take out basics and Stage 1 whenever it wanted.  Although we still have Pokemon Catcher, there is no longer Junk Arm, which almost doubled the playability of Pokemon Catcher.  So although Pokemon Catcher is still a problem, its not that much of a problem, you should be able to get Stage 2’s out now.

Since we have playable stage 2s now, we should be able to use Rare Candy.  It should effect the format in a big way, no more will BBP be the only play, we will have some variety in the format.  I can see Rare Candy being around in a lot of decks and stage 2s not being just for rogues any more.  It could soon be more of a staple, than a rogue.

Empoleon

Stock: Up

As I mentioned in the previous section, Stage 2s will become more playable.  Empoleon was kind of playable at the end of last season, it was more of a rogue, but people still played it.  It was often paired with Terrakion in a decent deck, but it never really won anything.  Now that stage 2s are playable and the format is a little slower, Empoleon is ripe for the playing.

We have lost some draw power with the rotation.  PONT and Sage’s Training were good supporters, but now they are gone in favor of supporters that are not that good.  And we still don’t have any draw Pokemon to replace Uxie and Claydol, so the format is kind of open for a faster deck to take over.  Empoleon has built in draw power which is amazing in this slow format.  Even if its attack wasn’t good it could still be a good tech, but its attack is good and it can be used in a deck.  Empoleon may not be tier 1, but I think it should be tier 2.  Just having a decent amount of draw power will separate it from other decks in the format.

Who knows if this deck will be one of the best around, but I think this deck deserves a test before you hit your first battle road.  It should be a good deck for the next format.

Darkrai EX

Stock: Down

I know all the hype in the last couple weeks was that Hydreigon will make Darkrai even better, but I don’t buy it.  I tested the deck, and it was a good deck, but it is not something that is dominant.  I also think that Klingklang may be a good deck still, so people will be split between the two similar decks.  I know the deck will be played, but it will not be as popular as Darkrai was at Nationals.

Starting at Spring Battle Roads last year Darkrai EX was a dominating card. Almost all winning decks was some form of Darkrai deck.  The most popular was a deck with Tornadus EX.  These two BBP Pokemon could enlist the help of Sableye to use all of the item cards too the best of their ability.  Now the format lost the most important item card of all, Junk Arm.  No longer can BBP win just because they are BBP, the format will be a little more complex.

Darkari will need to include a stage 2 now to survive, but because it does include that stage 2 it could slow it down enough to bring other decks in the mix.  Will a slower Darkarai deck be much better than a Reshiboar deck?  I don’t know.  Two things I know for sure, one is that Darkai EX will be played, and another is that it won’t  be as dominant as it was during Spring Battle Roads.

 

Well that is all I have got to say for today.  I was going to let Pedro finish things up like I normally do, but I gotta be a little serious here for a minute.  This article was about a week late and I’m not sure when my next article will be out.  Things at work have just been really busy the last couple weeks.  I recently accepted additional work at my current job in the technology department, and last week we had the server die.  If you know anything about technology and networking, you know that having a server die is about as fun as having a root canal.  This coming week could be even a worse week at work, so I may be distracted for a while.  So the site may be a little quite in the next couple days.  If you guys want to write an article please contact me or Ed and we can get you going.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Category: Stock Up or Stock Down | Tags: Empoleon DEX, Heavy Ball, Level Ball, Mewtwo EX, Pokemon Communication, Terrakion, Tornadus, Tornadus EX