Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: What Would Happen? Lass, Pidgeot FRLG, and Broken Ground Stadium

Pikkdogs August 5, 2011 No Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a special edition of Pikk Three. This round of card reviews will be different, and frankly a little weird. All three of the cards I am reviewing are cards that are not in the format, but I will review them as if they were.

I decided to do this because for the last couple sets, TPCI have been giving us a lot of re-prints of older cards. Now in the format we have cards like Bill, Double Colorless Energy, and Pokemon Reversal. We also have Pokemon cards that have qualities that are similar to earlier cards like Feraligatr Prime, Reuniclus, and the upcoming Archeops card. TPCI has been giving us a lot of cards that we have seen before, so I thought what would happen if we get some of the more interesting cards from the past.

Before we get into the card reviews I have a reminder for you. This coming Monday, Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich starts off Guest Writer Week at www.onehitko.com. That means that for the next week we will have new authors writing articles for the site. It will be a great week of great writers giving us a lot of different ideas. Guest Writer week will lead us into our Worlds Reactions, which will lead us into our Emerging Powers coverage. So the dog days of summer are over, and the www.onehitko.com coverage is just heating up.

Remember for these reviews I will assume that these cards will be entering the format, however THESE CARDS ARE NOT LEGAL. I’m just reviewing them for fun.

Card #1 Lass from Base Set

Description– Lass was a trainer from the base set that let each player reveal their hand, and force each player to shuffle their trainers back in to their hand. The challenge with this card coming in to the current format, if it ever does, would be the difference between items and supporters. Back in the base set days there was no such thing as supporters, items were just a little stronger. If this card did come to the format, there would have to be errata or a compendium update to rule whether Lass would require you to shuffle just item cards in your deck, or if it would also take away supporters.

Review– Of course the playability of this card depends on if it takes away supporters our not. If it does, it would be an awesome card. The perfect pair for Lass would be Slowking Cl. You could make sure that your opponent had no supporters or items in his/her hand, and then make sure they don’t draw any with Slowking’s “Second Sight” Poke-Power. It would be a great disruption card, as good or better than Judge.

The card would be incredibly disruptive since nearly all decks rely on supporters for draw. The best card in the game today is perhaps Professor Juniper, while PONT and Judge are widely played. Without these cards, only decks with Ninetales would be able to draw. Yanmega Prime decks would also be out of luck because it will be very hard to equal your hand size without Junk Arm, Judge, and Copycat.

If this card would not shuffle in Supporters, the card would still be semi-playable, but not nearly as good. It would still be very disruptive, taking away cards like Junk Arm, Pokemon Catcher, and Switch; but not as great as it would be if it would take away supporters.

Rating–9/10 if it would take away Supporters, 7/10 if it only took away Items. This card has the potential to be a staple in the format if it did come out. It is so disruptive that this card would help usher in some of the best disruption decks we have seen in a while.

Card #2 Pidgeot from Fire Red and Leaf Green

Description– Pidgeot was a 100 HP stage 2 Pokemon. It had free retreat and a weakness to lightning. It’s attack, “Clutch” did 40 damage for CC and prevented retreat on the following turn. It’s Poke-Power, “Quick Search” let you search your deck for 1 card and then shuffle your deck after. You could only use one “Quick Search” Power each turn.

Review– There is no need to say that Pidgeot was a great card back in the day, and was used in a lot of the best decks. The ability to get any card from your deck is amazing in any format. It would probably be a staple in any format it was stuck in to.

The current format does not have Broken Time Space or a favorable Rare Candy rule, but this card would still be awesome. It is well worth a 2-1-2 line in every deck with 2 rare candies. The ability to get any card you need would give you an awesome edge over a deck that did not have Pidgeot. Plus, Pidgeot has free retreat, which is great in a format with Pokemon Catcher.

The free retreat means that your opponent cannot bring up Pidgeot and stall. They could still pull it up and knock it out, 100 HP is not a lot. If this card was not a straight re-print, and instead had the “Quick Search” power on a different card, the HP would probably be around 120, which isn’t terrible but still OHKO able by Reshiram and Zekrom. So there are drawbacks to this card, but the Poke-Power is so good that you can live with them.

Rating–9.5/10- It is tough to get a stage 2 out, but this card is worth it. If it did ever get re-printed, I would be all for it.

Card #3-Broken Ground Gym from Neo Destiny

Description– This was a stadium card. Remember kids back in the day when we had stadium cards, you know those trainer type things that always stayed in play? I jest, but stadium cards today stink compared to what they were previously. This specific card added one to the retreat cost of each basic and baby Pokemon.

Review– This card doesn’t seem that great, but it would be a good counter to the current format. Starters like Cleffa, Manaphy, and Stantler will be much worse with this card in play. This card would hurt the consistency of a lot of decks if it could eliminate starters. It could also hurt decks like Zekrom, Reshiram, and any more basic Pokemon that are used as main attackers. It would not kill these decks, but it sure would not help them.

Rating–7.5/10– It would be hard to get this card early in the game when you need it, but if you can lock your opponent’s starter in place it would be worth a couple slots in most decks.

So what do you guys think of this type of article? I don’t want to make this article a regular occurrence cause it could be confusing, but I think it could be fun looking at some older cards. Please leave your thoughts about these cards and this type of article in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Zekrom, Metapod HGSS, and Recycle

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a Pikk Three article. Of course this article like all the other Pikk Three articles, it will review three cards. One card will be a card that is played a lot, another will be a card that I think is under-rated, and the third is from a new or yet-unreleased set.

Before we get to the article, I have an announcement to make. The announcement is that there will soon be a big announcement about the site. I know some of you might know about it, but I will wait until this coming week to make the announcement. The only thing I will tell you is that the announcement is big and will make the site really cool and really fun. Stay tuned for more details.

Card #1 The Staple: Zekrom Black and White

Description– Zekrom is a basic Lightning Pokemon with 130 HP and a 2 retreat cost. He is weak to fighting. His first attack, “Outrage”, does 20 damage (for CC) plus 10 for every damage counter on this Zekrom. His second attack, “Bolt Strike”, does 120 damage for LLC and does 40 damage to Zekrom.

Analysis– Zekrom was used a lot since it was released, and saw some decent play in the North American nationals. It even won Canadian and Mexican nationals. But, Zekrom got thrown around in U.S. Nationals and was no where to be found later in the tournament.

The 130 Hp is amazing for a basic and works great with “Outrage.” The 120 attack is also good, but it can be hard to get the lightning energies on him fast. The downside of Zekrom’s attack is that he damages himself making him more OHKOable. This effect can be stopped by using Defender. Defender lets you stop 20 of the damage that Zekrom does to it self, and 20 more damage that your opponent does to you, this adds up to the 40 that Zekrom does to itself. In the future, it looks like there will be a tool version of Defender, so that will make Zekrom even more playable.

Zekrom is lucky that it has weakness against Yanmega. Yanmega Prime will be very popular next season and Zekrom can OHKO Yanmega with his Outrage attack if he has 4 damage counters on him, or with “Bolt Strike.” So I am pretty sure that Zekrom will be around in the format for a long time. Zekrom is mainly paired with Pachirisu and Shaymin. Pachirisu lets you lay down 2 lightning energies with Pachirisu, and Shaymin lets you move those to Zekrom.

Final Rating– 8.5/10- Not a big fan of Zekrom since its hard to power up Bolt Strike and I don’t wanna damage myself. But I can’t deny that ZPS is a great deck and will be popular for a while.

Card #2 The Underdog- Metapod HGSS

Description-Metapod is a stage 1 80 HP Grass Pokemon. Metapod is weak to fire and has a 2 retreat cost. It has a Poke-Body called “Green Shield”. This body gives all Grass Pokemon no weakness. Metapod’s attack is “sharpen”, which does 20 for CC.

Analysis– Well this is another one of the grass tech cards. Its stats are horrible and cannot attack at all, but his Poke-Body could be very useful with Yanmega Prime.

If you were to pair Metapod with Yanmega you might have to give up some other techs, but you would be able to conquer Zekrom and Mangezone Prime, 2 Pokemon that are keeping Yanmega down. The good thing about Metapod is that you probably will only need a 1-1 line of it to be effective.

The bad part of Metapod is that Pokemon Catcher will soon be out, and it will not be hard to take out bench sitters. Even if the opponent cannot knock out Metapod, just having it active with that 2 retreat cost could be destructive to your chances of winning.

Of course you don’t need to play it with Yanmega. You could also try it with Tangrowth, Serperior, and Jumpluff. It is a very versatile card that is splashable into any deck with a grass Pokemon.

Final Rating–6/10– I really like the idea of adding it to a Yanmega deck, and it almost seems mandatory in a Serperior deck, but nobody has proved that it is a great card yet. I would have rated it higher, if Pokemon Catcher wasn’t coming out. Now that it is, you can still play Metapod, you just have to be more selective when you do.

Card #3 The Young Gun- Recycle

Description– Recycle is a trainer that was in the Japanese Black Set. It is expected to be released in English with the Emerging Powers Set. This card kind of reminds me of Good Rod, but it is better. It is a trainer card that lets you flip a coin, if heads you can take a card out of the discard pile and put it on the top of your deck.

Analysis– Right now we don’t have a trainer that can consistently return a Pokemon or Supporter to your hand or deck. This card could change all that. I think it has the potential to be a staple, although its hard to say how much playability a card like this will have next year. All signs point to this being a pretty good card late game. Although it is flippy, the ability to get a Professor Juniper back from your discard pile could be really amazing.

One way to deal with the flippiness is to use it with Junk Arm. If you flip tails, odds are that most of the time you will flip heads the second time if you Junk Arm it back to your hand. But we all know how flips go.

Noctowl pairs beautifully with this card. Notice that if you flip heads, the card goes to the top of your deck, not your hand. To get it into our hand, you can use Noctowl’s “Night Sight” to draw that card.

The downside of this card is obvious. Why would you want to waste precious space in your deck for a card that might work if you by chance need it? It is situational, but we won’t know how good it is tell we get it in our packs and we test it.

Final Rating– 6.5/10– As I mentioned, this card could be a staple or it could be as useful as a card like Pokeball. We don’t know if this card has a great future, it certainly has not been hyped at all. I am not sure what will happen to this card, but if I had to ebat I would say that this card could be pretty good…maybe.

Thats all for today kiddies. Please make sure to leave you thoughts and ratings of these cards in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Magnezone Prime, Bellsprout, and Max Restore

Pikkdogs July 23, 2011 No Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. Its Pikkdogs here for another Pikk Three article. Because there is not a lot of news going on right now, I have decided to do a couple Pikk Three article. I have just started my testing for Pokemon catcher, and I think I have a really cool deck to share with you soon, so look out for that in the next week. Also look out for the announcement of the contest winners either Monday or Tuesday. If you still have not entered, than you have until the end of the day on Sunday June 24th.

If ya guys forgot, a Pikk Three article is like a big card review article. One card is a card that is used a lot, another is a card that I feel is under-rated, and the third is from a new or yet un-released set. So lets get on to the article.

Card #1 The Staple: Magnezone Prime

Description– Magnezone is a Stage 2, 140 HP Lightning Pokemon. It has a fighting weakness, metal resistance, and a 3 retreat cost. It’s Poke-Power, “Magnetic Draw,” lets you draw until you have 6 cards in your hand. It’s attack does 50 damage times the number of energy from all of your Pokemon that you put in the Lost Zone, the attack costs LC.

Review– Magnezone has been used in a lot of ways since its release. When we first saw it, everyone thought that this was going to be the successor to Claydol that we are all waiting for. Well, the stage 2 part of it made sure that it was not the next Claydol. After its release the card was summarily pushed to the side until the European Cup. In Europe a player paired Magnezone with Regirock and that deck began a good run in States and Regional tournaments. After the rotation it was paired with Emboar to make it the OHKO machine it is today. But, it was a little slow, so some players added Magnezone as a last minute attacker in a Yanmega Prime deck.

First, lets look at the basics. The 3 retreat hurts it, as well as the fighting weakness. The attack is really cool, but its not something that you can just splash into any deck. The power is also good, but again, its not splashable.

Everyone thought that Magneboar was going to be one of the best decks at Nationals. It received a lot of play, but was pushed around by Donphan and other really good consistent decks. Its the kind of deck that seems awesome in testing, but when you are staring right at one of the best players in the country, your deck kind of folds up on itself.

One of the best current decks is Yanmega/Magnezone. It did well at Nationals because it was fast and disruptive. I would give Magnezone a good forecast for the rest of the season if it wasn’t for Pokemon Catcher. With only 50 HP, Magnemite will not stand up to well if it is dragged up to the active spot. Also, if Yanmega is attacking you, just bring up the Magnezone with no energy and you will get an easy knock out.

Rating–7/10– It is hard to not rate this card very high, but at the same time, Catcher has the potential to bury this card. If Catcher was not coming out, I would give this card probably and 8 or 8.5.

Card #2 The Underdog: Bellsprout

Description-Bellsprout is a 40 HP basic Grass Pokemon with a weakness to fire, and a 1 retreat cost. His first attack, “Inviting Scent,” lets you choose one of your opponent’s benched Pokemon and switch it with their active.

Review– Well of course, 40 HP is just a prize for Yanmega Prime, so if you play it be prepared to loss a prize sometimes in the game. The retreat cost is not so great, but understandable.

Usually I do not review un-evolved Pokemon, but Bellsprout is an awesome card that saw a little play at Nationals. It’s attack is like a gust of wind, its really good in a lot of decks to bring a bench sitter that can’t attack, and then snipe around it. Its a good tech that could work in some decks.

The problem that it is only a good card until the end of August, when Pokemon Catcher is released. After that there is no reason to bring a Pokemon to do a trainers job. It is possible that it could still be played, if Vileplume or Gohtitelle are played.

Rating– 4.5/10-for right now it would get a 6.5, but because of catcher, this card may never see the light of day again. But, overall, not a terrible card.

Card #3 The Young Gun: Max Restore

Description– This is a simple trainer card that will come out in the emerging powers set. It lets you pick one of your Pokemon, discard all energy from it , and remove all damage counters.

Review– I did not engineer this to be the “What to use or not use with Pokemon Catcher article” but it seems like it is anyway, maybe that tells us how impactful that card will be.

This card is great with Pokemon Catcher. All you gotta do is get a turn 2 Donphan Prime and attach an energy. Then use Pokemon Catcher to bring up something weak and important, and then you knock it out for 1 energy. Next turn your opponent will promote something and probably do less than 140 damage. On your turn you just gotta use Max Restore and attach an energy, and Donphan is brought back to what he was, and you can use Pokemon Catcher again. This strategy could be used with Yanmega Prime and others, but it seems to work best with Donphan. Though, if you play it with Yanmega, you will likely never have to discard energy, but make sure not to run Rescue Energy then.

The bad part of this card is two fold, the energy discarding and the fact that it is a trainer. The discarding can be remedied by using low energy attackers or energy accelerators like Floatzel, Feraligatr Prime, Typhloshion Prime, and Emboar BW. If your opponent can setup a trainer lock, not only will that stop this card, it also stops Pokemon Catcher. If you can setup a Vileplume next format, look for it to be a really important card.

Rating–8/10– Yes an 8, I think its that good. People do not run decks that use high energy attackers without energy accelerators anyway. Most decks can fit this in and help keep their Pokemon alive longer. This card will only cement that this is a format determined by the OHKO.

Well, thats all 3 of em. Please tell OHKO nation what you think of these cards by leaving your thoughts in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Yanmega Prime, Pidgeot Tm, and Beartic EP

Pikkdogs July 21, 2011 13 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with another Pikk Three article. I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I’ll explain some stuff. These articles are like a big card review. One card is a card that is used a lot, one is a card I feel is under-rated, and and another one is a card that is from a new or yet un-released set.

Before we get to the article, just wanna let you know the contest is still going on. I have explained the contest in the last couple articles, so go to the last couple articles and read up on what it takes to enter. The contest will end at the start of the day on Monday, so the time you have to enter is slowly passing away.

The Staple- Yanmega Prime

Description: Yanmega Prime is a 110 HP Stage 1 Grass Pokemon. It has free retreat, a lightning weakness, and a resistance to fighting. It’s Poke-Body”Insight” lets you ignore the cost of all attacks if you have the same hand size as your opponent. It’s first attack, “Linear Attack”, does 40 damage to any of your opponent’s Pokemon. Its second attack. “Sonic Boom”, does 70 damage and you don’t factor in weakness or resistance.

Review: Yanmega was a great card for a fun deck a couple of months ago. But now hand sizes are easy to equalize and sniping for free is an amazing ability.

When Uxie left the format, people decided to go for a better setup with Cleffa. Yanmega is good because it can kill a Cleffa no matter if it is active or not, and if Cleffa is asleep, Yanmega can just hit something else for 40. The emphasis on Supporter based draw has also given Yanmega a boost. Yanmega has turned into a very fast disruptive card.

The one drawback for Yanmega is that it cannot hit hard. 70 just doesn’t cut it any more its not 1999, we kinda want to get to around 110 damage. That is why Yanmega is usually paired with the hard hitting Magnezone Prime. Yanmega Prime is also paired with Kingdra Prime to maximize Sniping damage. Another knock on this card is that the format is changing because of Pokemon Catcher. It is likely that the baby Pokemon will not be as useful. Because of this there will be less things to snipe and to snipe around. Yanmega once owned the Indiana Convention Center at U.S. Nationals, I think it will continue to be a great card in the Catcher era, I just don’t think it will be quite as good.

Rating: 8.5/10– Yanmega Prime is an average card that just happens to fit the format perfectly. It will be great with Pokemon Catcher, and have enjoyed a great run in the past month or so.

The Underdog: Pidgeot Tm

Description: Pidgeot is a 120 HP Stage 2 Pokemon. He has a free retreat cost, a lightning weakness, and a resistance to fighting. His first attack, “Headwind,” does 20 damage and increases the energy cost of any of your opponent’s Pokemon by CC. His second attack, “Quick Attack,” does 40 damage for CCC and you may flip a coin, if it is heads you can do 30 more damage.

Review: This card was brought to my attention by an article of sixprizes.com, and I’ve been in love with it ever since. No its not an over powering card, but it is very interesting. The ability to add CC to an attack cost is pretty crazy, it would even drive a Reshiboar deck crazy. It is a great walling Pokemon and can stand up to Donphan very easily. I could see this in a disruption deck.

The bad things about this card are easy to pick out. It’s a stage 2 that doesn’t really jump out at you. It can’t hit hard and can be easily shot out of the sky by Magnezone, Zekrom, and Reshiram.

Rating: 7/10– This card kinda reminds me of a mix of Yanmega Prime and our next card, Beartic. It’s like Yanmega because at first glance it looks like an average card, but when used right it can be a great card. It’s like Beartic because it makes attacking next turn difficult for your opponent. I think this card is very under-rated and could be great soon.

The Young Gun- Beartic EP

Description: Beartic is a stage 1 130 HP Water Pokemon. It is weak to metal and has a 3 retreat cost. Its first attack, “Sheer Cold,” does 50 damage for WCC and prevents the defending Pokemon from attacking next turn. Its second attack, “Icicle Crash,” does 80 damage for WWCC.

Review: The stats are great for a Stage 1. 130 HP is great, and can hit for weakness on Reshiram and Emboar without being weak to Zekrom and Magnezone. Having the ability to stop a Pokemon from attacking next turn is really great. If your opponent is running a tanking deck, they would have to use a switch and have another tank ready to go.

This card has had a lot of hype, but I’m just not drinking the Kool-Aid. If you want to delay the Pokemon from attacking, I think Pidgeot works a little better. For a tanking Pokemon like Beartic, he just does not push out a lot of damage for the amount of energy he requires. He can be used with Floatzel/Shaymin and Feraligatr Prime, but bench sitters will be all but eliminated with Pokemon Catcher.

Rating: 7/10– A lot of potential and a lot of hype here, so people will try to make it work. But, I think I might want Pidgeot in my deck a little more than Beartic.

So there is the first Pikk Three article I have done in a while. Please tell me your thoughts on these cards by leaving a comment.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Reshiram BW, Noctowl HGSS, and Chandelure

Pikkdogs June 1, 2011 4 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another Pikk Three article. First, I have to apologize for not posting an article in a couple days. I am just getting over a double ear infection that has had me in constant pain for about 5 days now. I seem to be getting over it, but man those things hurt like the dickens.

Before I get into the Pikk Three article, I want to congratulate one of our www.onehitko.com readers for winning a Battle Roads with one of the deck lists on this website! The reader (who has not revealed his name) won a BR this past weekend with the deck I made called, “Who Let The Dogs Out.” A big congrats goes out to him. If you would care to see the article and decklist, you can check it out here.

Now lets time to review three cards: one that is a well known card, one that I feel is under-rated, and one from a new or un-released set.

The Staple- Reshiram BW

Description– Reshiram is a basic Fire Pokemon with 130 HP, a water weakness, and a 2 retreat cost. Its first attack is called “Outrage”, and for CC it does 20 damage plus 10 more damage for each damage counter on Reshiram. Its second attack is called “Blue Flare”, and for FFC it does 120 damage and you must discard two fire energies attached to Reshiram. Read More

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three- Donphan Prime, Weavile Ud, and Victini

Pikkdogs May 26, 2011 1 Comment

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a true Pikk three article. In this article we will look at three Pokemon cards. One that is a popular card, one that I feel is under-rated, and one from a new or yet un-released set.

I hope your first weekend of BR’s went well, and you are ready for week 2. It is possible that last weekend’s BR might be my last. This weekend we don’t have much going on because our tournament orgainizer Derek is whimping out cause his wife just had twins. Its not like they had eight kids or something, that would be a good reason (just kidding Derek, all your Michigan players love ya and are thinking and praying for your two new additions!). Then the weekend after that I am being forced to “volunteer” at a graduation ceremony at the seminary that I work at. I might still be able to make something on Sunday of that week, but I probably will be really tired. If you do not have a victory medal, I would encourage you to hit all BR’s possible. A lot of people are refusing to play with the current format, so you have a good chance at getting a medal.

Anyway, back to the Pikk Three. The reviews in this article will assume that we are playing under a HGSS-on format. Lets jump right into the article.

The Staple- Donphan Prime Read More

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Ditto Triumphant, Plus Power, and Relicanth Cl

Pikkdogs May 15, 2011 3 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another special Pikk Three article. This special edition of “Pikk Three” will feature Pokemon that were not used in the previous format but could be great in the HGSS-on format. The upcoming rotation will drastically change the face of the game. Not only will we see new decks, some cards from previous sets that were not very good will now be really important. Here are some cards that could possibly fit this category.

Before we get into the article, I would like to go a little bit of a P.S.A. If you guys hit up Pokegym.net, you will have seen that there is an article about a young girl who plays Pokemon, who was just diagnosed with Leukemia. Friends from her Pokemon league are calling on all Pokemon players to come together to donate some Eevee cards and merchandise (Eevee is her favorite Pokemon). Even though Eevee cards are not very valueable, I think it would be a cool thing if we could show our support by sending her a couple thousand Eevee cards. It would be cool because she would know there are a lot of people out there who are praying for her and supporting her. To donate Eevee cards and merchandise to her, follow the instructions in the original Pokegym article that you can find at this link: http://pokegym.net/forums/private.php?do=showpm&pmid=1555548

Now lets get to the article:

Card #1 Ditto Triumphant Read More

Pikks Three

Pikkdog’s Pikks Three: Gyarados Sf, Defender, and Cinccino

Pikkdogs April 7, 2011 2 Comments

A big hello to all members of Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here with another Pikk Three article. Two Pikk Three articles in one week? There must not be much going on in the Pokemon world. Actually, there are a couple things going on, lets look at a couple of news stories.

The first news story is that the Black and White Theme decks are now out! You can get a little taste of the new set by picking up a Black and White theme deck. There are three decks released, each featuring the last evolution form of the three Black and White starters. Unfortunately, the featured cards in these decks are not the ones in the Black and White Japanese sets. For example, if you pick up the Emboar theme deck does not come with the Emboar that lets you attack Fire energies, it comes with a different one. But, the good part of the deck is that you can play with the deck you purchase on www.pokemontcgonline.com. You don’t even need to type in a code. The website has a cool feature where you just need to hold a card that comes with the theme deck up to your webcam, and the website will scan a barcode and unlock the deck online for you.

The second news story is probably one you have already heard. Based on an insert from the Theme decks, the U.S. will receive the rule changes that Japan got. However, no mention was made of a rotation. This could be horrible for the game, if every game was decided by a Sableye start and a lot of trainers. But, we do not have an actual rulebook so we do not yet know if there is no rotation.

The last bit of news has to do with regionals. It is only about a week away! So make sure to get your testing done fairly soon, regionals is just around the corner.

Okay, so lets move onto the Pikk Three article. As always,, we will review three cards. One card that is commonly played, one card that I feel is under played, and one card from a new or yet un released set.

Card #1- The Staple- Gyarados Sf

Description– Its a wonder why I haven’t yet reviewed this card. Gyarados is a Stage 1 water Pokemon with 130 HP, a 3 retreat cost, a resistance to fighting, and a +30 weakness to lightning. Its stats are solid for a stage 1 Pokemon, but the weakness can be a bit pesky. It’s main attack is “Tail Revenge”, which does 30 damage times the number of Magikarp in the discard pile. It does have two other attacks, but to my knowledge no one has ever used them in competitive play.

Analysis– The use of Gyarados goes back to the Worlds tournament two years ago. A couple of French players merged it with Regice for a quick consistent deck. For the next year Gyarados was a very popular deck. After rotation this past year, the loss of Claydol and Felicity’s Drawings curtailed its play. That was until Junk Arm, Seeker, and Rescue Energy came out in the Triumphant set and brought more consistency to the deck. So now we know a little bit of history, lets look at the card.

130 HP is really nice for a stage 1 Pokemon. The fighting resistance comes in handy, but the weakness can be compounded by the Poke-Body of Lucario Gl, making Luxray Gl a real threat. The retreat cost of this Pokemon is also annoying, but this deck usually runs Warp Energy for this reason.

The Gyarados deck is quite the nice deck. It is fast and very consistent. Of course, the strategy with this deck is to discard 3 Magikarps within 1-2 turns, and then hit for a lot of damage while placing damage counters with Crobat G’s “Flash Bite” Poke-Power. Gyarados’s high HP makes it hard to OHKO, and it can deal a lot of damage without any energy. If ran with a high trainer line, this deck can out speed SP decks, and have a real advantage against them. Or, if you are leery of trainerlock, you can run it with Sableye Sf and Volkner’s Philosophy to get a good matchup against trainerlock decks.

Final Rating– 9/10-Gyarados is a great card and a great deck. You either have to run it, or know how to play against it.

Card #2- The Underdog- Defender

Description– Defender is a trainer card released in the Undaunted set. When attached to a Pokemon, this card reduces each attack done to that Pokemon by 20 damage. Defender is discarded after you opponent’s next turn.

Analysis– Defender is a card that never got a second look by most players. But, I cannot help but wonder why. In a format that is so reliant on one hit knock outs, why would people not want to play cards that prevent a Pokemon from being knocked out?

It is also a very versatile card, being useful in a deck that has both low HP and high HP attackers. But, it is most useful when it is used to stop a OHKO.

An interesting aspect of Defender is that it can be played on a bench Pokemon. If you are playing Luxchomp, and have an important Pokemon that has 90 HP on the bench, without Defender most players will be able to use one “Flash Bite”, and then finish the job with Garchomp C’s “Dragon Rush.” But, with Defender that player would now need to find 3 “Flash Bites”. A feat that is not impossible, but highly unlikely.

Final Rating– 7/10– This card can make a big impact on any deck, but it can be played around. There are many ways to change the opponent’s active Pokemon, so that Defender would not be taken into effect. But, regardless I think Defender is not getting as much play as it should.

Card #3- The Young Gun- Cinccino Black and White

Description– Cinccino is a stage 1 Normal Pokemon, with 90 HP, a 1 retreat cost, a fighting weakness, and a name that’s hard to pronounce. It has one relevant attack, “Do the Wave”, which has got to be one of the worst names for an attack. For two colorless energies you can do 20 damage for each Pokemon you have on your bench.

Analysis– 90 HP is not very impressive. It is a lot easier to OHKO Cinccino then it is to pronounce it’s name. But, it does have some good damage output. If you have 5 benched Pokemon you can do 100 damage for just one Double Colorless Energy. That makes this card fast and powerful.

Add a lot of Pokemon Collectors and Dual Balls to your deck, and you will be doing a lot of damage really fast. Make sure to add Broken Time Space to your deck, because of the new Rare Candy rules. I think with some help, a Cinccino deck can do really well. Most people compare this card to Jumpluff, because of the similar HP and attack. The only difference is that this card is a stage 1, but needs a DCE instead of a basic energy card (which could slow up the deck a little).

Final Rating-8/5/10– It is hard to guess how good the Black and White cards will be, but this card seems like its pretty good. It can even hit Garchomp C for weakness. All signs point to this card being pretty good, so make sure to test it out when the card comes out.

So thats all for this edition of Pikk Three. Make sure to comment on this article and give us your ratings for these cards. We love to hear from you.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

–

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Crush Hammer, Musharna, and Reuniclus

Pikkdogs April 3, 2011 9 Comments

Hey all members of Omar-Nation. Welcome to a special edition of Pikkdogs Pikks three. Usually I provide you a review of three cards; one that is commonly used, one that I feel is under-rated, and one that is from a new or yet un-released yet. But this edition of Pikk Three is special. This edition mixes up the former two categories. This a review of three cards from the Black and White cards that are good, but not many people are talking about them. So now that you know whats coming at you, lets start the party!

Card Number 1, Crush Hammer

Description- The first card on our list is Crush Hammer, which is basically a re-printed Energy Removal 2. It is a trainer card that allows you to flip a coin, and if heads you can discard an energy attached to one of your opponent’s Pokemon.

Analysis– The ability to discard an energy is not really something that we have in the current format. That means that it is something that you can’t really get with other cards. The ability to discard an energy is fairly useful. If your opponent is trying to tank against you, you can discard a key energy card. You can also use Junk Arm to use it again later in the game. It is also a card that is useful no matter what deck you play against, this makes it fairly flexible.

However, this card is not talked about much for a good reason, it isn’t format changing. It can be useful, but it can also be locked from use. With the expected popularity of Vileplume and the Gothitelle deck, you may not be able to use this card very much. The success of this card is also dependent on the format. Right now discarding energy would not be very popular, because the format emphasizes one hit knock outs. But, if OHKO’s are not very realistic in the next format, this card could be more popular.

Final Rating– 6/10– It is a good card that does thing that not a lot of other cards can do. But, the uncertainty of the format make this card unpredictable.

Card Number 2, Musharna

Description– Musharna is a stage 1 Pokemon Psychic Pokemon with 90 HP and a 2 retreat cost. Its first attack does 20 damage and puts the defending Pokemon to sleep for one Psychic energy. Its second attack, “Dream Eater”, does 90 damage for PC if the defending Pokemon is asleep.

Analysis– 90 damage for 2 energies is pretty good. This card won’t make the best deck ever, but it could be pretty decent. With 90 damage for two energies and the ability to use Pokemon Catcher (Gust of Wind), you have a lot of options. The catch is that you need to get your defending Pokemon asleep. A lot of Pokemon can put other Pokemon to sleep through attacks, but the chance that the Pokemon will still be asleep on your next turn is very low. So, you will need something that can put your defending Pokemon to sleep from a Poke-Power.

If there is no rotation, you can use Vileplume La, which fits will into a trainerlock build. If you attach a grass energy to Vileplume, you can put the defending Pokemon to sleep with his “Energy Reaction” Poke-Power. But, another Stage 2 Pokemon and the necessity to attach an energy to him is a lot. So you can also use Hypno HGSS. For a coin flip you can put the defending Pokemon to sleep with his “Sleep Pendulum” Poke-Power. Hypno is only a stage 1 Pokemon that will only sit on your bench, so its not too much of a hassle to setup. The problem is the coin flip, the good thing is that you can use multiple “Sleep Pendulums” per turn, if you have multiple Hypnos.

So is 2 for 90 with “Sleep Pendulum” good enough? Well it is good, but unless you can get multiple Hypnos out, it will not be very consistent. But, if you can get multiple Hypnos out, then watch out because 90 damage will be able to knock out most of your opponent’s bench. Which makes Musharna a great combo with Pokemon Catcher.

Final Rating– 6/10- Has great potential, but unless you can swarm with Hypnos or find another consistent way to put the defending Pokemon asleep, the deck is a little too inconsistent.

Card Number 3, Reuniclus

Description– Reuniclus is a stage 2 Psychic Pokemon with 90 HP and a 2 retreat cost. It’s attack, “Psywave”, does 30 damage plus 10 for every energy on the defending Pokemon, for three Psychic energies. Its ability “Damage Swap” lets you move one damage counter from one of your Pokemon to another, as many times as you want per turn.

Analysis– The first thing you think about with Reuniclus is, “what’s up with that name?” The second thing you think about is, “30 damage for 3 energies?” But, then the third thing you realize is that “moving damage counters around is awesome.”

So the attack is lackluster at best, but the ability is pretty cool, it is pretty similar to the power of the base set Alakazam. You can move as many damage counters as you want from one Pokemon to another. This means that you can put up one tanking Pokemon and then move all damage counters off of him, and hide the damage counters on another Pokemon. Even if you have to knock out a benched Pokemon, it is better than losing your main attacker and all his energies.

The bad part of this strategy is that it has never worked in the past. In the base set days Alakazam was just too slow. And, today Alakazam 4 Lv. X does not work thanks to a lack of good tanking SP Pokemon and the existence of Garchomp C LV.X. These two similar Pokemon never panned out, and I fear that Reuniclus could share the same fate. With Pokemon Cather released, it seems like Reuniclus’s basic form will be knocked out before you can even evolve it.

Final Rating– 7/10– Even though it is slow, I think that it is a great card. If Spiritomb stays in the format, you might be able to get this Pokemon out and ready to support a tanking Pokemon.

Well thats what I think of some of the better cards in the Black and White set that aren’t being talked about. As you can see from the ratings, I don’t think a lot of these cards will be great, but I do think they have potential. So be sure to take notice of these seldom talked about cards. And, if you would be so kind to share your ratings on these cards we would love you to put them in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three. Azelf La, Bubble Coat, and Lucario Cl.

Pikkdogs February 10, 2011 No Comments

A big hello to everyone in Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here ready to give you another Pikk Three article. Of course, the Pikk three articles contain three reviews; one for a popular card, one for an underused card, and one for a card from a new or unreleased set.

I hope you all got to go to at least 1 Pre-Release event. Even though the Call of Legends Set was not the best, the Pre-Release tournament for this set was amazing. So now that we have that set in the books, we can start getting our deck choices narrowed down for State/Province/Territory Championships.

#1 The Staple-Azelf La

Description-Azelf La has been a widely played card for a while now. It has been used in most decks since they came out. It may not be needed for all decks, but its a must play for all decks that run 1 copy of something, like SP decks do.

Azelf has a meager 70 HP, a +20 Psychic Weakness, and a 1 retreat cost. It has an attack “Lock Up” that does 20 damage for 1 Psychic energy and does not let your opponent retreat next turn. Its Poke-Power is called, “Time Walk”, and lets you look at your prizes, replace a card from your hand with a Pokemon in the prizes, and re-arrange the prize cards.

Analysis-Azelf does not have great stats. The retreat isn’t bad, but everything else isn’t that great. Since it is weak to Psychic, Uxie La can OHKO it with an Expert Bel and 1 “Flash Bite” from Crobat G. But we don’t use this card for its basic stats.

It’s attack isn’t that great. It is sometimes useful, but nobody will ever build a deck around this attack, it just isn’t consistent enough. But we don’t play this card for the attack either.

We play this card for “Time Walk”. This is a power that lets you do what no other card lets you do, look at your prize cards, get a Pokemon, and re-arrange them. If you prized a key Pokemon, just use Azelf to get him out. If you prized 3 of your Cyrus’s Conspiracy just use “Time Walk” and find out where they are, then take it with your next prize. This card has been around for a while, but its never been stronger then it has been in this format.

This is because now you are allowed to write down where your prize cards are. So, if you “Time Walk” you can write down on a notepad where all the cards are, then when it is time you can take the prize you want.

This card is great in almost any deck, but I have discovered a great combo card. If you first play “Time Walk”, you can then play down Rotom Ud and use his Poke-Power to grab the prize card that you need. Rotom lets you switch the top card of your deck with any prize card, and you can do this once per turn. It is not a perfect system, but because of this combo all of your prize cards are now open for use.

There are two major drawbacks to this card. The first is the poor stats, it can be knocked out easily or brought active without an easy way to retreat it. The second is that “Time Walk” can be Power Sprayed, and once that happens you are unable to use it again.

Final Rating– 10/10– An irreplaceable card that lets you run less cards so you can increase consistency.

#2 The Underdog- Bubble Coat

Description– Bubble Coat is a Pokemon Tool Card. When you attach it to your Active Pokemon, it negates the effect of Weakness. Bubble Coat gets discarded once the Pokemon it is attached to is damaged.

Analysis– Bubble Coat is an interesting card that is not played too much. In fact, I have never seen it in a competitive deck, though it does have a lot of uses.

Especially because all new cards now have x2 weakness, Bubble Coat is more needed then ever. Luxchomp is a deck that can hit for weakness on a lot of different Pokemon. If you attach Bubble Coat, it may prevent them from taking a prize for one turn, giving you an advantage in a prize race. It could be used in a lot of decks, like Gyarados, Steelix, and Kingdra. It is also a trainer card, which means you can get it back to your hand with Junk Arm.

One drawback to this card is that it is a tool card. Since you cannot have more then 1 tool card attached, you cannot use Bubble Coat and Expert Belt or Energy Gain.

Final Rating– 6/10-This card is easily played around, but gives you a great advantage. It probably should not be a staple, but it should not be ignored.

#3 The Young Gun Lucario CL

Description– Lucario is a stage 1 Pokemon with 90 HP, a psychic weakness, and 1 retreat cost. Its first attack. “Dimensional Sphere” does 30 damage plus 20 more for every Pokemon you have in the lost zone for just CC. Its second attack, “Sky Uppercut”, does 70 damage for FFC.

Analysis– 90 HP is only decent for a Stage 1. The psychic weakness is terrible against the likes of Gengar and Uxie. This makes Lucario easy to knock out. But lucky Lucario can be decent in the attacking department. For just 1 DCE, you can do the magic number of 110 damage if you have 4 Pokemon in the Lost Zone. It also is a fighting type, which means it can hit Luxray Gl Lv.X for weakness.

The easiest way to get Pokemon in the Lost Zone is to use Palkia G Lv. X. You can combine Palkia G and Lucario with a lot of Pokemon that have good coming into play Poke-Powers like Uxie, Chatot G, Azelf, Mesprit, and Giratina Pt. You can use Palkia G Lv.X’s “Lost Cyclone” Poke-Power to put 2 of these Pokemon in the Lost Zone. This way you can use coming into play Poke-Powers, free up your bench, and fuel Lucario’s attack at the same time. Lucario can also cover Palkia G’s weakness.

The drawback of this Pokemon is that if your Pokemon is playing Lost World, you are making his job very easy. It also can take a couple of turns to setup Lucario and your Lost Zone.

Final Rating– 6.5/10-Lucario is not a great attacker, but he does okay. If this card works it will because someone out there can make a good list with Palkia G and Mesprits. Because of its Fighting Type, Lucario may be just what Palkia G needs to give Palkia Lock the comeback it needs.

Well, thats it for this edition of Pikkdogs Pikks Three. We invite you to put your own reviews in the comment box, to tell us what you think of these cards.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: What Would Happen? Lass, Pidgeot FRLG, and Broken Ground Stadium

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Zekrom, Metapod HGSS, and Recycle

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Magnezone Prime, Bellsprout, and Max Restore

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Yanmega Prime, Pidgeot Tm, and Beartic EP

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Reshiram BW, Noctowl HGSS, and Chandelure

Pikkdogs Pikks Three- Donphan Prime, Weavile Ud, and Victini

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Ditto Triumphant, Plus Power, and Relicanth Cl

Pikkdog’s Pikks Three: Gyarados Sf, Defender, and Cinccino

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Crush Hammer, Musharna, and Reuniclus

Pikkdogs Pikks Three. Azelf La, Bubble Coat, and Lucario Cl.

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