August 2010

The Truth About Trainer Lock

Pikkdogs August 27, 2010 67 Comments

Hey everyone in Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with an informative strategy article.

As we know, after this month’s Worlds tournament, SP decks have become even more popular. But since then the new Vileplume card has come out, some people think this will change the format. The interweb has been abuzz lately with players talking about trainer lock. There is two distinct camps, one saying that SP decks will endure past trainer locks easily, and others who have tested the matchup and don’t see a way for SP decks to continue.

While I don’t think I am qualified enough to settle the debate today, I will write an article for beginners about all aspects of trainer lock. At the end of the article, I will add a little of what I have learned. So without further interuption lets talk about trainer lock and highlight some of the cards that have started this controversy.

How does it work?

So what is trainer lock? Well that is a very easy question, it involves not letting your opponent use any trainers. That seems simple right, but it is something very important. If you can maintain a trainer lock all game, you can possibly shut down all SP decks, Gyarados decks, and all speed decks that require trainers. Trainer lock is nothing new to this format, Dialga G and Gastly Sf have been doing it for a year, but now with some new cards the trainer lock can be applied the entire game. A new trainer lock deck that maintains a lock all game will usually start with Spiritomb Ar, and then set up Vileplume Ud.

Vileplume UD

This card is the card that makes trainer lock a real possibility. This isn’t a card review, but I will break down some basic stats of the card. It has 120 HP, is a stage 2 Grass Pokemon, with a 2 retreat. Its Poke-Body, “Allergy Flower,” prevents both players from playing any trainer card from his/her hand.

So whats good about it? A trainer lock that works from the bench. Whats bad about it? It is a stage 2 so it will take a while to set up, it has a 2 retreat cost, and a bad attack.

Spiritomb Ar

Spiritomb Ar is a great card that lets you start a trainer lock from turn 1. If Spirtomb is your active Pokemon, his Poke-Body “Keystone Seal” kicks in and no player can play any trainers. It also has a good attack called “Darkness Grace” that lets you search your deck that directly evolves from a Pokemon on your bench and put it onto that card.

So whats good about it? It lets you apply a trainer lock early and helps you set up. Whats bad about it? Its body only works from the active spot, it has a 1 retreat cost, has only 60 HP, you have to run 4 of them to have a decent chance of starting with it, and it can be “Chatterlocked” (locked into place with Chatot Md’s attack “Chatter”.)

Gastly-Haunter-Gengar SF

This Pokemon line has often been combined with both Spiritomb Ar and Vileplume Ud to complete a trainer lock deck. Gastly has an attack called “Pitch Dark” that doesn’t allow your opponent to play any trainers during his/her next turn. So if you don’t start with Spirtomb, then Gastly is second best. Haunter has an attacked called “Hoodwink” with does 30 damage for 1 Psychic Energy, and lets you put 3 trainer, stadium, or supporter cards from your opponents discard pile to their hand. This attack powers up Gengar, who for PC can do 30 damage for each trainer, stadium, or supporter card in their hand. This is important because you can take advantage of all the trainer cards that are clogging up your opponent’s hand.

So whats good about the Gengar Sf line? It has synergy with the Viletomb combo and is a good heavy hitter in this deck. So whats the drawback about the Genar line? It takes up a lot of space because you are incapable of running any Rare Candies.

Dialga G Lv.X

Dialga G is going to see a lot of play early this year, that is because the Lv.X has the “Time Crystal” Poke-Body that turns off all non SP Poke-Bodies. But it can also lock trainers itself with its “Deafen” attack. But here we will talk about Dialga G Lv.X as a counter to the Viletomb trainer lock. His Pokebody will turn all Poke-Bodies off, including those of Vileplume and Spiritomb. So if Viletomb decks do not have a Dialga G X counter they will lose.

So whats good about Dialga G X. As mentioned the Poke-Body shuts down this deck, and can fit into almost any SP deck, and other normal decks. So whats the catch? A Gengar Viletomb deck can use Gengar Lv.X’s Poke Power “Level Down” to get rid of Dialga G’s Lv.x. Making a matchup between these two decks very exciting.

That takes care of the big names in the Trainer Lock debate, but here are some other names that I have used in this matchup

Gengar VileTomb Techs

The tech that I have tried in this deck the most is Crobat Prime. Crobat Prime has an attack that can poison the defending Pokemon for 4 damage counters between turns, for just 1 psychic energies. This makes it an ideal counter for Dialga G, since it has a Psychic resistance and a high retreat cost. Another tech that I have yet to test, but am sure it will work, is Kingdra Prime. In this deck I would not run any water energies to allow Kingdra to attack, but instead just his Poke-Power “Sea Spray.” This power lets you place on damage counter on one of your opponents Pokemon each turn. This means that with “Sea-Spray” Gengar can KO any Uxie, Mesprit, or Azelf in just one attack with “Shadow Room”.

Anti-VileTomb Techs

One anti-VileTomb tech that I think has potential is Muk Ud. Muk has an attack that lets you switch your opponent’s active Pokemon with one of their bench, the new Pokemon is now poisoned and burned. His second attack costs PCC and does 50 damage plus 30 more if the defending Pokemon is effected by a special condition. This is a good tech because if you Muk’s first attack on Vileplume, and your opponent is unable to retreat Vileplume, you will be able to knockout Vileplume for just 1 more DCE. Other techs for SP decks include an extra Bebe’s Search, to get Dialga G LV.X back after he was leveled down, and a 2-2 Dialga G Lv.x Line. But be careful in teching your list out too much, or it will lose to other decks.

My Thoughts

So those are the basics of Trainer lock and the counter to it. Most decks in this format run a lot of trainers, so locking them can be key. The Gengar VileTomb deck can change the game by locking all other decks down. But then again, perhaps Luchomp decks can counter them with just a simple 1-1 Dialga G Lv.x line. This is what I found:

Just a disclaimer before I tell you about my testing, I did build an anti VileTomb Luxchomp deck, but I consider myself a bad SP player so this fact can skew the results.

Well in all my testings I have found that the Gengar VileTomb deck is one of the best in the current format. No deck that I can think of can effectively counter the trainer lock. Sp decks can snipe VileTomb, but it will take a long time thanks to the lack of Energy Gain. SP decks can also use “Bright Look” and “Luring Flame” from Luxray Gl and Blaziken Fb (respectively) to bring Vileplume active. But the Vileplume player can just attach an unown Q, attach an energy, then retreat for Gengar. Dialga G Lv.X can also possibly cause Vileplume problems by turning off “Allergy Flower.” In response the VileTlume player can just use Judge or Lookers Investigation (to get rid of Power Sprays) and then use “Level Down”.

To me it seems like trainer lock decks will be very good, I don’t really see a way around them. I don’t consider myself a great player so I am probably wrong, but thats what all my testing has proven. This conclusion is just my opionion, feel free to test the matchup and draw your own.

The only way that we will know the truth about the trainer lock debate is when the new season starts up again.

Besides Gengar, other trainer lock decks can use Mismagius Ud Bellossom LA or other Pokemon as main attackers.

So what do you guys think, can trainer lock decks really rule the format? Or will Luxchomp still rule the day?

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Luxray Gl Lv.x, Regirock La, and Energy Exchanger UD.

Pikkdogs August 21, 2010 1 Comment

Hell to all members of Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here, ready to “Pikk” 3. Like always I will review three cards; one which is a popular card, the second is an underused card, and the third is a card coming from a new or un-released set.

But before I do that I want to kind of apologize for the lack of new updates on the site lately. I’ve been busy with work and stuff, Ed and his family are crawling around caves somewhere in Utah, and Omar for some reason hasn’t been writing much anymore. But hopefully if Ed makes his way out of the caves we will be up and running with more articles soon.

Card #1-The Staple-Luxray Gl X.

Description– Here is the card that everyone wants, the money maker, Luxray Gl Lv.X. Of course we will start out by looking at the cards basic stats. It is a basic Lv.X lightning Pokemon with 110 HP, has free retreat, a x2 weakness to fighting, and a -20 resistance to metal. It has one Poke-Power named “Bright Look.” “Bright Look” lets you switch the defending Pokemon with any of your opponents benched Pokemon, but the power can only be used when you first lay the Lv.X on the basic Luxray Gl. It has one attacked called “Flash Impact,” it does 60 damage for LC and does 30 damage to one of your benched Pokemon.

Analysis– Luxray Gl Lv.x is the most expensive card in Pokemon today for a reason, it is good. It’s stats don’t look too impressive, only 110 HP and the potential to only do 70 damage with a 3 energy requirement and a discard. But when combined with the Team Galactic Trainers, Luxray Gl X. is deadly. It can be set up in only two turns and can use Energy Gain and Double Colorless Energy to make it quicker. You can also use Poke-Turn to use “Bright Look” again.

When used correctly you should be able to take a prize every time you use “Bright Look.” He is most often paired with Garchomp C, and when he is, what results is a deck that quickly and methodically takes six prizes. He can also be paired with other SP Pokemon like Dialga G, and can be paired with non-SP Pokemon like Kingdra La.

But things aren’t all sunshine and flowers for Luxray Gl. The most important thing in using a Luxchomp deck right now is winning the mirror matchup, and Luxray Gl does little in the mirror, except for the ability to get a cheap kill on a Crobat G.

One of the most important things in the game today is to have a good Luxray Gl counter. One of the better counters is Power-Spray, if your deck uses SP Pokemon a well timed Power-Spray on “Bright Look” could be very important. If you want to kill the Luxray Gl Lv.x in one hit after it has took a prize against you, you have two options Promocroak and Mankey SV. Promocroak (or Toxicroak G-promo) lets you do 60 damage for PC after your opponent has taken a prize last turn. Mankey SV has an attack called “Extra Punch” which for F you do 10 damage and 50 more if your opponent has an active Lv.X. With Luxray’s weakness all of these Pokemon can OHKO Luxray Gl X.

Final Rating–9.5/10-Despite lacking pop in the mirror match up, Luxray Gl Lv.X is still one of the best cards in the format. It is format changing, once again making Lightning Pokemon cool. There are a handful or cards that aren’t playable now because they have lightning weaknesses, there aren’t many other cards that can stop other cards from being played. Cards don’t get too much better then Luxray Gl.

Card #2 The Underdog- Regirock La

Description– In the spring the hot card was Regice La, being used in some great Gyarados and Jumpluff decks. It has since faded, but its brother Regirock is still around and can be used effectively at times. It is a basic fighting Pokemon with 90 HP, a x2 water weakness, and a 3 retreat cost. Its Poke-Power “Regi Cycle” lets you discard 2 cards from your hand and attach a fighting energy from your discard pile to Regirock. Its attack is called “Stones Edge” and does 40 damage for FFC and lets you flip a coin if heads you do 30 more damage.

Analysis-Okay, it is pretty obvious the Regirock will not be your main attacker. He only can do 40-70 damage for three energies and if you add that to the fact that he has a bad weakness and a horrid retreat cost will have you running to your binder.

But his Poke-Power might wanna make you wait before you put this card out of your mind. If you use “Regi Cycle” you can attach a fighting energy from your discard pile to Regi Rock and then use the stadium card Stark Mountain to transfer that card to your fighting type main attacker, like Donphan Prime and Machamp.

It may not be a game changing Poke-Power, but it will help you charge up a fighting Pokemon fairly quickly. If you have a Donphan or Machamp deck I would seriously consider this tech.

Besides the fact that Regirock can’t attack, another weakness he has that if your opponent is able to make him active you will have a hard time retreating him. So be prepared to include some warp points in your deck list.

Final Rating– 6.5/10– This is an okay tech for a fighting deck, it may not be anything great but if you are able to use it right it can be just what you need to tilt the scales in your favor.

Card #3 The Young Gun- Energy Exchanger

Description– Energy Exchanger is a trainer from the new HS: Undaunted expansion. It has a simple effect; you take an energy card from your hand, put it on the top of your deck, and then take another energy card from your deck and put it into your hand.

Analysis– It may be a simple card, but it also may be very important. If you are running a card that runs two or more types of energy, this card may be important. I use it in my Dialgachomp deck to get special metal energies or Double Colorless Energies easier. It can also be used to get Special Dark energies in a Sabledonk deck, or a psychic or fighting energy if you are running a Gengchamp deck.

The drawback of this card is that it takes up space without giving a great effect, and it can be trainer locked.

Final Rating– 7.5/10– I think this card will almost reach staple status in some decks. It is sure to see some play soon.

Well that’s all three, so I’m done, now its your turn to tell me what you think of these cards in the comment box. Also if you have an idea for an article or would like to write your own article for the site, please put that in the comment box.

This is Pikkdogs signing off saying So long and thanks for all the fish.

Pokemon Education Uncategorized

Strategy Article: Harnessing (or Repelling) the Power of Power Spray

Pikkdogs August 14, 2010 8 Comments

A big hello to all members of Omar-Nation, your buddy Pikkdogs is here to bring you a quick strategy article.

We all know that most decks in the upcoming format will rely on Uxie LA for draw power. Just by putting him on your bench you can draw until you have 7 cards in your hand. A lot of decks will be counting on getting good draws with Uxie for their deck to work.

But we also know what the counter to Uxie La is, Power Spray. As long as you have 3 Pokemon SP in play you can play this card on your opponents turn and cancel out the effects of your opponent’s Poke-Power. And without drawing those extra cards, most decks are locked down.

So Power-Spraying Uxie is good, but what are the best ways to use Power Spray, and what ways can you get around Power Spray? Here are a list of ways to use Power Spray effectively and how to play against it effectively.

Ways to use Power-Spray

1. Use it Early– The most effective Power Sprays come early in the game before your opponent can fully setup. You might want to run Call Energy or 4 Pokemon Collectors in your SP deck to get a lot of basics out quickly, which allow you to Power Spray. These things should help you have enough basics so you are able to Power Spray an Uxie.

2. Run 4 in your Deck– Power Spray is a good card and should occupy 4 slots in a normal SP deck. There are some situations in which I only run a couple, but most SP decks should run 4 so you have a good chance at starting the game with it. Drawing into the card is also key to keeping the surprise factor, as opposed to showing it to your opponent as a part of Cyrus’s Conspiracy.

3. Keep it a Surprise– This goes with the last step, if at all possible don’t show Power Spray to your opponent. If your opponent knows you have a Power Spray in your hand he/she will either play around it or use a card like Judge or Looker’s Investigation to send your Power Spray away.

4. Think it Through– Just because your opponent is using a Poke-Power and you have a Power Spray in your hand doesn’t mean that you have to spray it. Save your sprays for something you really don’t want your opponent to do, don’t let your opponent play you like a fiddle.

5. Don’t Sleep on the Spray– Your opponent may take a long time on his/her turn, but don’t zone out. Keep close watch on what he/she is doing and the minute they try to use a Power that you don’t want them to, drop that spray. This also goes back to the fact that before a tournament you should get enough rest and a good breakfast, so you don’t lose focus (yes, the Frosted Mini-Wheat commercial is right “Keeps em full, Keeps em focused.)

Ways to Avoid the Spray

1. Know Your Opponent– Before the tournament do some studying and find out what decks run Power Spray and what decks don’t. And if you think your opponent runs Power Spray then be aware when your opponent gets the card.

2. Decide when to use a Poke Power– So what do you do if you need to use Uxie La, but you know your opponent has a spray? You can try to use it quickly if you think your opponent is sleeping, but that doesn’t work against good players. You first can try to use a Poke Power that you don’t really need and see if the opponent will spray that instead. SP decks can drop extra “Flash Bites” or normal decks can include a Pokemon that has a sole purpose of using up opponent’s Power Sprays (the new Smeargle comes to mind). If all those options don’t work you can use Uxie anyway to make your opponent burn the Power Spray or choose to use your resources so you can try to run your deck without Uxie. It may be worthwhile to play Uxie just to evolve into Uxie Lv.X.

3. Get Rid of the Sprays– It may be helpful to include a lot of Judges or Looker’s in your deck to get rid of your opponent’s Power Spray. But also make sure to include a lot of Pokemon Communications and Uxies in order to get an Uxie after to use Judge.

4. Lock em up– One of the best ways to protect against Power Spray is to make sure that they can’t use the card. If you have an active Spiritomb Ar or a benched Vileplume UD, your opponent cannot play any trainers, so they can’t play Power-Spray. Spiritomb makes an excellent shield for you to drop as many Uxies as you want, then use Unown Q’s power, “Quick”, to retreat Spiritomb and then attack with your main attacker. Vileplume may be a little slower then Spiritomb, but it will be very hard for an SP deck to get the win over any deck that gets Vileplume out in the first several turns.

So that’s what I learned about using and playing against Power Spray. I encourage you guys to share your stories about playing and playing against this card. My favorite moment was when I was playing against a BlazeRay deck. I had a Claydol out and I knew my opponent had a Spray in his hand. I only had one card in my hand, which was a Level X that I wanted to play next turn. So Power Spray or not, I didn’t want to use “Cosmic Power” this turn because that would take away my Level X. But since I knew he had a spray in his hand, I used “Cosmic Power” anyway, he sprayed it, I laughed, and next turn I used “Cosmic Power” for the cards I needed.

Thats all for today, once again this is Pikkdogs signing off saying So long and thanks for all the fish.

Website

Pokemon TCG Chat For Everyone

Ed August 11, 2010 8 Comments

TeamOmar’s Pokemon Chat

Adam over at 6P had this bright idea to get some webmasters to add chat capability to their sites. His plan was to link the chats up such that anyone using any one of the participating sites will be chatting live with everyone from all the sites.

I believe that the list of sites using it will be:

I already chatted with J-Wittz using TeamOmar.com’s chat client this morning. He’s working on getting his set up. Adam already has the Six Prizes one running.

If you want to join the conversation, head over to TeamOmar’s Chat Page.

Tourney Report Uncategorized

A Day of Tickling and Beating Up: Pikkdogs Undaunted Pre-release report.

Pikkdogs August 9, 2010 1 Comment

Hey all members of Omar-Nation, as you can see by the fact that I’m writing a Pre-Release tournament report, I don’t have much to write about. But I had fun at the local Pre-Release and learned some stuff about the new set. I will share my account of the day, then talk about some of the cards in the set.

This tournament report starts the way all Pokemon reports start, with the sentence: “I woke up early the morning of the tournament not having slept very much the night before. ” Seriously does any Pokemon player sleep before a tournament?

Well I got my day off to a groggy start and chugged down a couple of glasses of water, got changed into my Team Omar uniform, then went to Burger King for a quick breakfast. The breakfast turned out to be not so quick, and left me about 10 minutes late. Then I was 10 minutes later when I ran into a traffic jam. Anyway, I make it to the card shop just when the organizer was about to hand out the decks.

After paying for the two tournaments (sealed theme deck and sealed booster) I sit down by the only familiar face in the rather small crowd, Card Selling Ed. We both pick the same theme deck and then get a couple packs to try to improve the theme deck. As we go we both look at the cards and see a couple we like. I start with the Espeon deck and pull Flareons and an Umbreon Prime, so I make an Eeveelution deck. Pairings are announced and I face the guy sitting across from me, Card Selling Ed

Theme Deck Tournament Round 1- Card Selling Ed.

Not much to talk about here, I start with 2 basics and can’t draw into much. He, on the other hand, starts rather well and was able to beat me in about 3 or 4 turns. We play again just for fun and I beat him just the way he beat me.

0-1.

Theme Deck Tournament Round 2- Some Junior

My round 2 starting hand was just as bad as my round 1 hand. But this time I am able to keep in the game for longer. He sets up with a metang, while I get an Umbreon Prime out. He is able to use Metang’s attack to knock out my Umbreon before I get him loaded up. He finishes me up when he finds his Metagross.

0-2

Theme Deck Tournament Round 3- Peggy

This day was the first day I met Peggy, she is a Poke-Mom who has a son who is still very young, but is extremely knowledgeable about the game. He really impressed me with how well we understood the game. Peggy told me that they went to Indy for the Nationals and her son just missed Top Cut. But anyway back to the game. I again don’t start very well, but start better than the last two times. She gets a muk out fast and starts knocking out three of my Pokemon, while I load up an Eevee on the bench. It only has 1 energy on it when Eevee is forced to become active, I draw and attach an energy then use the attack “Tickle.” Now this is a bland attack that does 10 damage and lets you flip a coin, and if heads paralyze the defending Pokemon. But, it was one of the funniest and uncomfortable things to tell a middle-age Woman that, “I’m going to tickle you.” Well I did tickle her and I paralyzed her twice, which prevented me from being Knocked Out. The next turn starts and I draw, and I top deck the Flareon that I need. I knock out her active Muk, then I knock out the Bellossom that she brings up. Then I knock out two more Pokemon and win the game.

1-2.

This is the end of the theme deck tournament, I put the cards away and then I get ready for the sealed booster event. I get my six packs and start opening them. For the tournament I am hoping to pull a stage 1 prime and/or some Sneazels. But for collecting purposes, I really want a Vileplume or the Smeargle. I end up getting 3 Sneaszls and a houndoom prime, but fail to pull any useful trainers. As I make my deck I keep on talking to Peggy and her son, the deck building was interrupted when a kid tried to go out the fire door, that woke everyone up. The alarm was seriously on for 2 to 3 minutes, I should sue that kid for damage to my hearing.

Sealed Booster Tournament- Round 1- Peggy

I again get to play the person I sat next to while building the decks. This game wasn’t half as exciting as our last one. It was basically over once I looked at my starting hand, I had a Houndoor, a Houndoom prime, a Special Darkness Energy, and a Darkness Energy. I just set up Houndoom Prime and it takes me 4 turns from there to end it.

1-0

Sealed Booster Tournament- Round 2-Card Selling Ed.

I again play my buddy Card Selling Ed. I again start with a Houndoom Prime, but can not find the Houndours. I do find a Sneazel early and load it up and use “Beat Up” to knock out a couple Pokemon. By the time he knocks out my Sneazel I only have 1 prize card left and he has several damage counters on his Pokemon. I bring out a Hondour and end the game with “Sharp Fang.”

2-0.

Sealed Booster Tournament-Round 3- Some League Guy.

Im sorry, but I forgot this guys name. He is a guy that plays at League at this shop, but isn’t really a tournament guy. As we both reveal our starting Pokemon I notice that, depending on the energy situation, the winner of this match will be the one who goes first. Going first is usually bad in this game, but we both had Sneazel starts. So that means who ever could attach two energies first would probably win. I ended up winning the coin flip and attach and use “Fury Swipes.” He attaches and does the same thing, then I attach and use “Beat Up.” We end up knocking each others Sneazel out, but by this time I only had 1 prize left, so I brought up a charged up Sneazel and ended the game with “Beat Up.”

3-0

I inform the judge of who has won, and she gives me the 2 packs we get for playing and 1 pack for finishing with the best record. I then open the packs, and make some trades. I end up getting two Vileplumes (just what I wanted), but people wanted to hang on to their Smeargles (boo). I then stay later and orgainize my cards. As I leave the tournament and head for work, I realize that i just won my first Premier Event. Eventhough it didn’t mean anything, its still nice to win.

Okay so thats its for a pointless tournament report, lets get to some cards. I won’t go too far indepth here, I will just tell you what I saw. The reason is that I want to cover some of these more in my Pikk 3 article.

Before I touch on some cards I will say a little bit about making a good pre-release deck. In this limited format you must play a little slower than you do in the Modified format. Here it is important to use trainers and supporters, so use everyone that you pull. Also it is important to use a higher percent of energies then you normally use, but don’t go overboard use about 14-15. Also starting Pokemon are nice, so if there is a Pokemon that has a low energy attack that lets you draw cards, put it in the deck.

First for those going to a Pre-Release soon, here are some good combos. Eevee decks are always great for Pre-Releases. So if you can pull a Prime and some Flareons or Jolteons, I would use those. Sneazel is a great card that lets you do 20 damage times the number of heads, for each Pokemon you have in play. It won me this tournament, so if you get them, play them. Of course, if you pull a stage 1 prime I would play it along with 4 or 5 of the Pokemon it evolves from. Houndoom Prime is good in this format, as is Umbreon Prime, and the dreaded Slowking Prime (trade him as soon as the tournament is over though.) The non primes of Scizor and Houndoom are also good cards.

Now for some cards that might see some play in the modified format. Vileplume is a card that I don’t think anyone was able to get out in the tournament, but it will be awesome in the next format. If you can trade for any of these, do so, it will be a valuable card. Smeargle from this set is amazing. I can’t remember what his Poke-Power is called, but it lets you look at your opponents hand and use a Supporter card they have and use it as the effect of this power. This card had the potential to be a staple. Energy Exchanger seems like a junk trainer, but I think it could see some play. It is basically a Pokemon Communication, for energies. You take an energy from your hand, place it on the top of your deck and search your deck for any energy card (even special energies!) I could see this card being used in some decks that use Double Colorless Energy or Special Metal or Darkness Energies. Rotom is also a good tech card that could see some play. And if your a rogue, the new Magcargo can be used with Typhlosion Prime for some fun knockouts.

Well thats all for this time, this is Pikkdogs signing off saying, so long and thanks for all the fish.

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Gengar SF, Shedinja SV, Umbreon Prime.

Pikkdogs August 6, 2010 5 Comments

Hello to all members of Omar Nation. This is your buddy Pikkdogs here to review three cards in a segment I call, “Pikkdogs Pikks Three.” As always the first card I review will be a popular card, the second will be one that I feel is under-rated, and the third will be a card that is from a new or unreleased set.

Before we get started I want to remind you guys to check with your local tournament organizers because Pre-releases will soon be under-way for the Undaunted set. These tournaments are always a blast because you get to play some fun games with people from your area, you get a lot of cards, and you can trade for the cards you need. Just a heads up for you guys, if your local tournament organizers offer a sealed theme deck event I would recommend going to that too. TPCI has changed the format for theme decks this year so that there are less energies in the deck, more rares (5!), and each deck comes with a pack of Undaunted cards. Add all those extras to the 4 packs you get just for being in the tournament and thats 5 packs, 60 cards, and a deck box for 25 bucks!

Oh I would also like to wish whoever is headed to Worlds good luck!

…..Well what time is it geeky sidekick?

Geeky Sidekick: “Its time to Pikk Three!”

Ok, lets do that!
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Deck Discussion

Sablock Deck List (aka Sablelock Decklist)

Ed August 6, 2010 7 Comments

I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while now. The Sablock (aka Sablelock, Sableye Lock, SPionage, Sabledonk, etc.) deck was gaining in popularity, and now that it won US Nationals, it’s becoming the deck to play (or at least know how to play against). Lots of people want a good list for this deck, and rightfully so.

Way back when the deck was first starting to come to the forefront (right after it made some impressive showings in certain State Championships), we covered it. At that time, TeamOmar.com ran a Sablelock Deck Workshop in which we discussed how the deck worked and, with reader help, built a workable list for it.

At the time, some considered it a secret deck, but now it’s a known top-tier headache (for its opponents, of course). It is so well known now that even POP (aka PP) has even posted a decklist for it. So, let’s take a look at it.

Sablelock Deck List courtesy of http://www.pokemon.com/us/news/op_nationals10_analysis-2010-07-28/:

Pokemon: 19
4 Sableye (Diamond & Pearlâ€”Stormfront, 48/100)
2 Uxie (Diamond & Pearlâ€”Legends Awakened, 43/146)
1 Uxie LV.X (Legends Awakened, 146/146)
2 Garchomp Champion (Platinumâ€”Supreme Victors, 60/147)
2 Garchomp Champion LV.X (Supreme Victors, 145/147)
1 Unown Q (Diamond & Pearlâ€”Majestic Dawn, 49/100)
1 Azelf (Legends Awakened, 19/146)
1 Murkrow (Diamond & Pearlâ€”Secret Wonders, 95/132)
1 Honchkrow (Supreme Victors, 29/147)
1 Honchkrow [G] (Platinum, 77/127)
1 Toxicroak [G] (Platinum, 40/127)
2 Crobat [G] (Platinum, 47/127)
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Card Discussion

Prognosis Negative!

Pikkdogs August 5, 2010 3 Comments

We at Team Omar have just heard some disturbing news from TPCI. It seems like one of our most beloved Pokemon, Claydol has taken a turn for the worse. He was rushed from his Malibu estate to the Pokemon center late last night.

In an official statement released earlier today, Nurse Joy stated that Claydol is suffering from “severe exhaustion.”

It seems that trainers have been asking him to use “Cosmic Power” so many times over the last three years that they have worn the Clay Doll Pokemon out. Many trainers are gathering at the Lost Tower to pray for Claydol’s quick recovery.

As we all know, Claydol was formed thousands of years ago when clay statues were exposed to cosmic rays. Although he has been around for a long time, Claydol’s popularity shot up in February of 2008 after perfecting his Cosmic Power technique. Since then, he has had little rest. Witnesses claim to have seen him use Spinning Attack, but even then, it was usually proceeded by Cosmic Power.

Claydol, now resting in an undisclosed Pokemon Center, still vows to make the upcoming trip to Hawaii in two weeks to be available for the 2010 Pokemon TCG World Championships. Baltoy, a close friend of Claydol’s, has confided that, if Claydol survives the tournament, he will promptly retire and leave the Pokemon TCG forever. “It’s his one last chance to go out on his own terms,” explained his Clay Doll counterpart.
Read More

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Prognosis Negative!

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