2011

Bold Statements with Pikkdogs: New Years Resolutions

Pikkdogs December 30, 2011 3 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs and my sidekick Pedro here, with another opinion article. This time the opinions won’t go in the form of statements, but instead resolutions for the new year. Pedro is finally back from his Christmas vacation, how are things going Pedro?

Pretty well. What did you get for Christmas Pikkdogs?

My mom was nice enough to replace my TV for Christmas, it had previously broke. She also bought me a Kitchen table and a bunch of soap and stuff.

Nothing more exciting than soap and a table. I thought you were boring before, but I didn’t know how bad it was.

Well what did you get for Christmas then?

Mostly just clothes, not very exciting, but better than soap.

Maybe, what clothes did you get?

Just normal stuff, like shirts, pants, and underwear.

What type of underwear do you use Pedro.

I like the tighty whities, but when I go to bed, I sleep with boxers.

I like to sleep with boxers too……………………and then I put on underwear.

Another bad joke, let’s go to your article, even though it is probably even worse.

New Years Resolution for The Pokemon Company

This year, Nintendo and TPCI should resolve to keep the format balanced without a rotation. This year we had one of the biggest rotations in Pokemon history, it made a lot of people mad because it took a lot of really good and valuable cards out of the format. The rotation was made necessary because of poor choices they made in the format, such as bringing in SP Pokemon and having Sableye SF and the first turn trainer rule in the format at the same time.

Even though it was the right decision to make and the format was better for it, the early rotation was a decision that should never have had to be made. It left us with a very small card pool, and that made the format very luck based. The very small card pool made even long time fans like me question whether I want to play this game. Although rotations are good for this game, TPCI and Nintendo should work towards a format that doesn’t use rotations to balance the format.

Pokemon SP were very powerful Pokemon that could only be stopped with a rotation, I hope that Pokemon EX do not have the same fate. They are also very strong Pokemon that can easily crush other Pokemon. It seems that we will very soon have a Mewtwo EX dominated format, more on that later, but I hope that Nintendo is working hard to make sure the EX Pokemon are not similar to SP Pokemon.

It seems that Nintendo likes to release a powerful Pokemon, and then release something more powerful to counter it later. But, if this trend keeps on going cards will just keep getting better and better without having any kind of balance. We hope that in the new year Nintendo can buck this trend and have a lot of cool balanced Pokemon in the format.

New Years Resolution for Pokemon TCG Online

This year, the people at PTCGO online should resolve to setup at least 1 premiere rated event online. I don’t think we can say that PTCGO is a success until we get our first event online.

PTCGO had a huge year this year. PTCGO wasn’t born until earlier this year, so it hasn’t been out for too long. But, they have grown a lot during this time. They went from a place where you can learn the game by playing a theme deck, to a place where you can collect all the cards n the format and have matches against players around the world. PTCGO did do great things this year and it has become one of the most promising aspects of the games as a whole.

However, PTCGO has a long way to go. There are many problems facing the service right now. First are foremost are technical problems. The game is interrupted way too much, and sometimes Pokemon just get put under other Pokemon on your bench, and are unplayable throughout the game. I also played a game where I knocked out a Chandelure and my opponent promoted Dodrio, the problems was that Chandelure was also in the active spot and he could use his Ability. The game suffers from a lot of weird glitches like that, and those are problems that need to be fixed. I know a software program will always have bugs, but let’s hope in 2012 that Caterpie is one of the only bugs in Pokemon Trading Card Game Online.

As said, we need to see an online tournament in 2012. I know that it is unrealistic to expect it within the next month or two. But, I think during the summer or fall we should see at least one tournament. It doesn’t have to be a big one, maybe like a pre-release tournament. Or maybe there can be an online Nationals or Worlds for those that cannot make the actual event. These are all events that I would love to see, and are within our reach. Magic has a lot of online tournaments, I’m sure within a year Pokemon that can get a couple tournaments going. I don’t want Nintendo to replace actual events with online ones, but it would be nice if they take the steps to creating an online competitive play atmosphere. This should be a new years resolution that they should be able to keep.

New Years Resolution for the Format

If this format was a person, it would resolve to not let Mewtwo EX rule the format. Mewtwo EX will come out in our next set, called Next Destinies, and is expected to dominate the format. Its ability to attack for just 1 DCE and use the energy of your opponent against him, has made it deadly in Japan, and there is no reason why it can’t be just as good here.

The format has had a rough year. At the beginning of the year, SP decks were dominating the format creating a major competitive imbalance. Then we get a new rule change that lets Sableye run roughshod over the format. So to fix all these problems the format was cut to only 5 sets. But, that created more problems of luck being too much of a factor. So, as more Black and White sets come out, the format is finally becoming healthy. What the format does not need is 1 card coming into the format and dominating things like SP decks and Sableye did before.

The format needs balance and a lot of decks that can do well. The release of Mewtwo EX does not necessarily mean that we have lost the balance that we have worked so hard for, but if Japan is any indication, Mewtwo EX will be very very very good. So here is to toasting to a new year where the format is balanced and fun.

New Years Resolution for Judges and Tournament Organizers

I have always said that the real heroes of this game are the judges and tournament organizers. I love this guys, these guys basically donate their time so we can play the game. Even though I do not think that they need to change much of anything, I thought I would not leave them out and give them a New Year’s Resolution too. In the New Year, Judges and T.O.’s should resolve to reevaluate where they hold tournaments.

I know this falls more on T.O.’s than Judges, but these are two groups of people that always get clumped together anyway. This game has grown a lot in the past couple of years. When Diamond and Pearl first came out, the game did not have any many participants as it does now. The game has grown a great deal lately, and the T.O.’s should evaluate how they hold tournaments to make sure things are still held in a convenient way.

I have learned this lesson when I travel to tournaments in Ohio from Michigan. Michigan does not have perfect tournaments, but they do have some great venues. Ohio does not have great venues, they mostly use small card shops. I do not have anything against card shops, they are very convenient, but most of them are fairly small. This was not a problem in days of yore, when there were not as many players, but now it is a big problem. T.O.’s should look at moving their tournaments to more spacious venues to accommodate all players. It is not fun packing in to one card shop with other card players and trying to play a tournament when you can barely move. Tournaments need to be in a large venue to accommodate all players, if not, players may leave the game and stop supporting the game we all love.

Another thing that T.O.’s can adjust has to do with who is playing the game. I do not have any hard facts on this, but it seems like less Juniors and Seniors are playing the game. It seems like Masters make up about 75 percent of the playing field, this may not be the same in all areas, but it does seem like there are less Juniors and Seniors. T.O.s should do things like reevaluate where they advertise for tournaments and adjust the time that tournaments are held. Juniors and Masters are very different, and we do things differently. If things are focused more towards masters now because of the lack of juniors, I think more masters might join the game.

Well that’s all I have for us today. Do you have anything Pedro?

Well, since you are so keen to give out resolutions for other people. I will give one for you.

New Years Resolution for Pikkdogs

Pikkdogs has had a rough 2011. He did begin the year fairly good, have an okay Nats, and a decent Battle Roads season. But, he finished the year sucking it up at Regionals and laying an egg at Cities. The New Years Resolution for Pikkdogs will be to actually win a tournament.

Pikkdogs did not win anything last year, so actually winning something this year would be a change. And for a second resolution, Pikkdogs should resolve to write better articles without so many errors.

How do you like your resolution Pikkdogs?

They seem way too unrealistic. First, we all know I stink at this game. So actually winning in a tough area like Michigan is not going to happen. And, of course we all know this website sucks. We also know that I can’t write, and Ed overworks me so much that I don’t have enough time to edit the articles.

Well we can hope anyway. Good night everybody.

Uncategorized

Pikkdogs Top 10 Cards of 2011

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a year end count down for you. Christmas Day has come and gone, Boxing Day is all boxed up, and New Years Day is well within sight. It is again time to look at my year end top 10 list. In this list I will rank the top 10 cards that were released in 2011 based on their playability this year, their predicted playability in different formats to come, and the wildcard factor. The wildcard factor is something that can’t be measured playability wise, it could encompass things like popularity, card art, and how much hype it received. You will see three scores in the ratings, and the rankings and final rating will be based on an average of the three. Since we have a reprint set in this years rankings, I need a policy for reprints. The policy for reprints will be that I will ignore them unless I judge that the reprint added significant value to the card. I will slightly discriminate against Noble Victories since it just came out and couldn’t effect the format like Black and White.

We have had four sets come out this year. The first set was Call of Legends, the reprint set that came out as the last Heart Gold Soul Silver set. The next set was Black and White, the first BW set and the first set to feature generation V Pokemon. Then we had the first expansion pack to BW, Emerging Powers. Finally, we ended the year in November with Noble Victories. Now that we know what the card pool is, let’s get on to the top 10 rankings.

Card #10: Gothitelle

Description– Gothitelle is the cool Item Lock card that came out in Emerging Powers. It saw significant play in Battle Roads and Fall Regionals. It was a fairly slow deck, but once it setup many decks could not get a knock out on it. Using Reuniclus and Blissey Prime, most decks were not able to knock out a Gothitelle once all the stage 2’s were setup. Although there is no good reason why we can’t still use Gothitelle, it has fell out of favor.

Playability Now– It had a great year and won some Battle Roads causing a lot of trouble along the way. It was never the BDIF, but it was still a very scary deck to go up against. 8.5 Read More

City Championships

Pikkdogs Does a Cities Wrap Up

Pikkdogs December 22, 2011 5 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with his extra-dimensionary sidekick, Pedro. Officially, City Championships are not over. They will still be carrying on for another week or two yet, but I’m all done playing mine, so I’ll just assume that everybody else is too. Things have changed a lot over Cities so let’s take a look at what has happened.

Pikkdogs.

Yes Pedro.

Well before we recap Cities as a whole, don’t you think you should recap your own Cities season?

No I don’t.

Oh come on, if you won’t then I guess I will have to.

How Pikkdogs Did

Pikkdogs went to 3 City Championships and went a combined 6 and 11. That means he lost almost twice as often as he won. That also means that he finishes with a very poor losing record. Not only did he not win, he never made a top cut, nor did he have a winning record, nor did he ever have a non-losing record for any single tournament. We can recap this tournament season by stating that Pikkdogs did very very bad.

Thank You Pedro for reminding me.

You are welcome.

Now, if you are through Pedro, we can go on to the actual article.

What Won, or is Winning?

The release of Noble Victories has changed the format a lot. A lot of decks that came out in NV are actually doing very well. We will start out this section by looking at the official unofficial numbers from www.pokegym.net. The numbers are not that current right now, so I won’t post actual numbers, just rankings.

Magnezone/Eelektrik
Chandelure
Zekrom
The Truth
Six Corners
CaKE
Reshiphlosion
Lanturn Eelektrik
Donphan Dragons
Durant

While we do have a list here of top winners, these numbers are not all current, and Cities have not all ended yet. What we can see from this list is that Zekrom now has friends at the top of the list. No longer is Zekrom the best deck around, there are a lot of good decks out there. Magnaeel has had a lot of success, Chandelure has been winning lately, and Mew Lock is back and stronger than ever. I don’t know if we can make a tier list right now, but its safe to say that there are a lot of good decks that are all doing really well. One way to see how the format is different is to look at Durant. Durant is in most places a crappy deck, while some Durant decks are good enough to win an entire tournament in a good area. There are a lot of variants in lists right now, and that leads to many different decks doing well. Here is a closer look at some of the newer decks

The New Decks

1. MagnaEel

Goal– To attack with either Magnezone or Zekrom to take 6 prizes.

What it uses– Eelektrik is used for recovering energies from the discard pile. N is a major source of draw and disruption. Magnezone is the draw engine and the main attacker. While Zekrom and Thundurus can be used as secondary attackers.

How it works– You start with Magnemites and Tyanmos, and slowly evolve into Magnezone and Eelektrik. Then use N to disrupt the opponent, while drawing cards with “Magnetic Draw.” You can use “Dyanmotor” to load up Zekrom, or you can use it to put energies that can be “Lost Burned” away. Every time something is knocked out the energies are recovered with “Dyanamotor”, and hopefully you will have enough energy that is not in the Lost Zone to take that last prize.

2. Chandelure

Goal– The goal of this deck is to use “Cursed Shadow” to put 3 damage counters on the field each turn and knock out some benched Pokemon. Then use the attack, “Eerie Glow”, to cause confusion and paralysis.

What it uses– Dodrio is give Chandelure free retreat and the possibility of using “Cursed Shadow” twice in one turn. Vileplume to disrupt and protect Dodrio. And, Tropical Beach to draw cards early in the game.

How it works– This deck is very slow to attack. It uses Twins to make up for the slow start. It usually takes till about turn 5 to attack, the rest of the turns are spent using Tropical Beach. It will take a while to get energies on Chandelure, but placing damage counters is almost more important than attacking anyway. Eventually you should be able to switch between a couple Chandelure, place a lot of damage counters, and then attack for a bunch of prizes.

3. Six Corners

Goal– To get six prizes by exploiting weakness and cards like Eviolite.

What it uses– Just a hodgepodge of legendary basic Pokemon that came out in Black and White sets. Kyurem, Landorus, Virizion, Cobalion, and Terrakion from NV, along with Reshiram and Zekrom from Black and White, and Tornadus from EP are most often used. It also uses Eviolite to make it hard to knock out one of the Pokemon.

How it works– It mostly uses “Outrage” to attack, and Virizion to start. But, it will try to get weakness on you after a couple of turns of using Virizion.

4. CAKE

Goal– Load a lot of energies on Kyurem and Cobalion very quickly. You can either spread damage with Kyurem, or make it hard for y9ur opponent to attack with Cobalion.

What it uses– Of course Kyurem, Cobalion, and Electrode Prime are here. Key trainers include Pokegear, Eviolite, and Twins.

How it works- On the first turn you need to have 2 Voltorbs in play. On your second turn you need to get at least 1 of each of your main attacker, and then you can use “Energy Mite” to knock out your Electorde and load energies on your attackers.

5. Durant

Goal– Mill your opponent’s deck with Durant’s “Devour” attack.

What it uses– Durant, Special Metal Energies, Defender, Eviolite, Lost Remover, and Crushing Hammer are all staples. Cobalion and Weavile are popular techs.

How it works– You need to use Pokemon Collector to get 4 Durants in play early, and then use Revive to keep the Durants in play. You can use Lost Remover and Crushing Hammer to disrupt your opponent, and hopefully Eviolite and Defender will stop some KO’s. Weavile is another tech that you can put in to add to the disruption. A lot of people put Cobalion in this deck as well, I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I think it does.

6. Mew/Unfezant/Vanilluxe

Goal– Make sure that once you setup, your opponent will never be able to attack you.

What it uses– Relincanth as the starter, Unfezant and Vanilluxe go in the Lost Zone, Mew is the main attacker, and Vileplume goes to the bench for disruption so that your opponent can’t use cards like Full Heal or Switch. Twins is used a lot, and Rainbow Energy is very important.

How it works– You can start with Relincanth and use Pokemon Communication to get Vanilluxe and Unfezant into your hand, then you can Lost Zone with Relincanth and draw 3 cards. Once you get Vileplume on the bench, you can then spread out energies on the Mews and then begin to attack. You will want to use Vanilluxe’s “Doubel Freeze” to paralyze your opponent. You can keep on using that attack until you get within 50 HP away from a knockout. Then you can use “Fly”, and then Mew will be invincible on your opponent’s next turn. Then you can just start again with “Double Freeze.” It is a really good deck that will soon see a lot of play.

Conclusion

City Championships have shown us a lot this year. The metagame has changed a lot with a lot of new decks sprouting up and doing well. We now have a lot of decks that can win, and that makes for a very exciting and spontaneous format. Pokemon is now going on a couple month hiatus until States come in March, so it will be an interesting couple months testing all these new decks and all the decks that will come with the release of the next set.

So Pedro, I’m all done. What do you have for us today?

Well, today is Christmas Eve. We would like to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas.

It sure is Pedro. We hope you all can spend time with your family, and time reflecting on the season.

Merry Christmas everybody.

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Pedro’s Tip: Get Free www.ProPokemon.com Premium Articles.

Pedro December 21, 2011 No Comments

Greetings Earthings, this is Pedro here with a cool tip for you. I will soon give you the link to get 2 free weeks of www.ProPokemon.com premium articles. I just gotta put my italics converter into my extra-dimensionary porthol, and poof, that’s better. A lot easier to read.

Now, Pikkdogs would normally give you this information, but he has gone on Christmas Vacation, so I will handle this article.

We all know Pikkdogs works hard to give you articles about decks, but let’s face it, they all stink. So if you want some good articles, you can head over to www.propokemon.com. And now these two sites are coming together to give you two weeks of free premium articles.

All you need to do to get the 2 weeks of free articles is to follow this link. Make sure you follow this link to get there, or else Ed will get mad and have to kill a cat. And we don’t want that. The free week of articles come with the launch of their new subscription service. Now you don’t need to purchase each article separately, you can pay just one VERY LOW fee each month, and you automatically get some quality articles. You can cancel anytime, so there is no long term commitment needed.

ProPokemon is a cool site to find great premium articles at a cheap price. You can still get great articles that actually give you good decklists without having to pay a lot of money. You can find a lot of cool decklists there that will give you good lists for tournaments, and will give you lists to test against so you will be ready for tournaments. The benefit of having a good list and testing experience are very large. Someone who tests against these goods lists will surely do better than those who don’t, so make sure you are prepared, and let www.propokemon.com handle some of that work for you.

So why not head over here, and get 2 free weeks of premium articles, but make sure to hurry, because this is only a limited time offer.

Well I think we better hurry up and close the article, I think my italic converter is starting to fail again. Just as well, I want to wrap up the article quickly anyway.

Hey Pedro, what are you doing here, I just came here to do the www.propokemon.com commercial.

Oops, time to go.

Pedro, get back here. Did you do the commercial without me? I needed the commercial money to buy Christmas presents, come back here Pedro!!!!!!!

Deck Discussion Tourney Report

Pikkdogs Double Tournament Report and Six Corners Deck List!

Pikkdogs December 20, 2011 4 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a tournament report that covers 2 City Championships.

This past Saturday I went down about 40 miles south of my apartment to Toledo, Oh for a City Championship.

I decided that I had enough of sucking with Donphan and Dragons, so I decided to go and suck with another deck. On the Friday before the tournament I asked my Facebook friends what I should run, and the first suggestion was 6 Corners. If you don’t know, 6 Corners is a hodgepodge deck of a bunch of Legendary Pokemon. The goal of the deck is to run a lot of different Pokemon so that you always have weakness over your opponent. It is a deck that is fairly fast and versatile enough to have a great chance against any deck in the format. After throwing it together Friday night, I decided that this wouldn’t be the worst deck choice, so I decided to run it.

Here is a list that is similar to my deck, it is not the exact list that I ran that day, but it is close and reflects more closely what a good 6 corner deck would be. I agree that it is not a great deck and that I have not had a lot of time to prefect it, but it does kind of work, so it is not a terrible list.

List

Pokemon-14

2- Virizion- The starter of the deck and an okay attacker.
2-Reshiram- mostly used for “Outrage”ing against Metal and Grass attackers.
2-Kyurem- same as Reshiram, but against Fire Pokemon.
1-Zekrom- used for “Outrage.”
1-Absol-Prime- Good for the Chandelure matchup
1-Cobalion- Good for the Beartic, Kyurem, and Vanilluxe matchup
1-Tornadus- Just an all around good attacker.
1-Unown Cure
2-Terrakion- one of the better attackers, needed for the Electric matchup.
1- Landorus- helps you re-use energy, and helps in the Electric matchup.
1-Bellsprout

Trainers-32

4- Pokemon Collector
4-Proffesor Juniper
4-Professor Oak’s New Theory
3- Sage’s Training
1-Super Rod
4-Junk Arm
3- Pokemon Catcher
2- Potion- Its’ actually a great card.
2-Switch
3- Eviolite
2-Energy Exchanger- I’m considering using Lost Remover instead.

Energy-13

4-Rainbow Energy
4-Double Colorless Energy
3-Fighting Energy
1-Water Energy
1-Darkness Energy

If you haven’t seen this deck in action, you probably think that the deck will not be very consistent. I agree that it shouldn’t work, but it kind of does. It kind of reminds me of Tim Tebow, he should suck at being a Quarterback, yet he is one of the best in the league (yes that’s right, one of the best). Let’s see how the deck served me on this day.

Round 0- Play testing with my buddy Frank with Chandelure

I wanted to get at least 1 practice game in before the tournament started, so I asked my buddy Frank for a game. He started with a Litwick and Oddish, and I started with a Virizion. He goes first and “Calls for Family” for a Doduo. I used Pokemon Collector and got my Chandelure counter, Absol Prime, out. I think I also put an energy on Tornadus. I then used Pokemon Catcher to make Oddish active, and then passed. On his turn he retreated Oddish and evolved into Dodrio and Lampet. On my turn I used Tornadus and a Pokemon Catcher to knock out Dodrio. Frank then evolved in Chandelure and put damage counters on Absol, he also used Rare Candy to get a Vileplume out. A couple of turns passed while we both used Tropical Beach a couple of times. I then got Absol ready and knocked out Chandelure. Frank was able to get another Chandelure, but he never got the energies out to attack.

So even though this game didn’t count, the win got me some nice momentum. Frank didn’t do so well, but his success last weekend proved he had a decent Chandelure deck. I hoped that I might be seeing more of this deck.

Round 1-Bohdan with Donphan and Dragons

This was quite the epic game between me and my buddy Bohdan. Bohdan eneded up doing very well on the day, but I sure gave him a great game here. He started with Reshiram and I started Virizion. He started first and used “Outrage”, and then I used a Potion and used “Double Draw.” Bohdan then tried to get a couple Donphans going, and used “Outrage” again, this time with about a million Plus Powers for the knock out. I then promoted a Terrakion and used about 4 Potions to keep him active for a long time. I was able to get a couple knock outs with Terrakion when Bohdan hit an energy drought. I think I was up 2-3 prizes when Bohdan finally hit a supporter, and then started going again. He was able to get a couple knock outs on my Terrakion and Landorus. The game was just about tied when I ran out of cards to draw from my deck.

0-1 Great game with Bohdan. I don’t like losing, but because it’s a friend I, don’t really care too much. It was about this time when whoever was playing my buddy Evan B. made a misplay and started cussing Evan out. Just because you make a misplay does not give you the right to yell at your opponent when he won’t let you take the move back. Plus, it is never a good move to yell obscenities when children are around. I know I tend to write some naughty articles, but our website isn’t for kids, it is different when you swear in front of kids. Does anyone else have a story like this? If so please leave the story in the comment box.

Round 2- Mew, Vanilluxe, and Unfezant

This game was against a guy from Ohio whom I always seem to play against. This time he has a Mew deck going, and starts with Relicanth. I start with something, but I don’t know what, maybe Tornadus. He gets a fairly good start with a couple Oddishes on the bench, and an Unfezant and a Vanilluxe in the Lost Zone by turn 3. I get a fairly good start as well, getting knockouts on some of those Oddishes. I did take about 4 prizes, but he eventually sets up. He gets Vileplume going and paralyzes whatever defending Pokemon I have. By the time they are ready for a knock out, he used “Fly” for the prize. He was flipping really good in this game, and ended up only missing one flip on Fly. I was able to take 1 more prize, but he flipped so well that I didn’t get another chance.

0-2. Another game that came down to just 1 prize. I hadn’t yet put Unown in my deck, and this game showed that I need it.

Round 3- Zekrom

This game was against a really cool Pokemom from Cleveland. After the game we ended up talking and had a nice chat. I think I started with a Zekrom, and I Pokemon Collectored for 2 Terrakions and a Landorus. She started with a Shaymin and had to pass a couple turns. I was trying to get energies on Terrakion and Landorus, so I didn’t really attack much with Zekrom. After several turns passing, I finally got the knockout on Shaymin. She started using a lot of Tornadi because of all my fighting Pokemon, but she couldn’t really do much damage. Landorus ended up doing a lot of damage, and was the MVP of the game as I got the first win.

1-2. Finally a win.

Round 4- Magnezone/Zekrom/Eelektrik

This game was against a fellow Michigander. He got a really good start with lots of Eelektriks and Magnezones. He seemed to use a great supporter each turn, and draw exactly what he needed with “Magnetic Draw.” I again used a Collector for a Landorus and 2 Terrakion, and tried to play a little defense. I had a Reshiram active and “Outraged” a couple of times on an Eelektrik. I finally got a Terrakion going, and knocked out the other Eelektrik. Though, he got a lead of a couple prizes by this time. After he used Zekrom to knock out Terrakion, I was able to return the KO with a Landorus. He still had about a one prize lead by this time, but he only had a couple card left in his deck. So I just played some more Defense using Eviolite, and was able to keep the game going longer.

2-2. Another win, this time I didn’t really out play him, he just kind of out played himself. Kind of like what I did in round 1. I think not using all your supporters is important in this format. You gotta be vigilant, or you will deck yourself out fast. Believe it or not, at this time I actually still had a chance at top cut. I looked at the top table and saw both of the people I lost to playing there, so I knew my resistance was good. I just had to do my part.

Round 5- Dave R. with Reshiphlosion

This game was against Dave R., the brother of my rival. Lately, I seem to have an edge on his brother, yet Dave always blows right past me. In this game, he was able to get whatever he wanted very early. I made two big misplays in this game, I once Potioned myself out of an”Outrage” knockout, and another time I “Outraged” so he had 120 damaged on a Reshiram. I tried to control the game with Eviolite and Kyurem, but he was able to use Kingdra to set himself up for “Blue Flare” knock outs. He got a prize lead early and never really looked back.

2-3. So my hope at Top Cut was over, but losing to a Nationals champ, even a Senior one, isn’t ever that bad.

Round 6- Mew, Vanilluxe, and Unfezant

I cringed when I found out that I had to again play a stupid Mew paralyze deck. This opponent didn’t seem to be a very experienced player, he kept on spacing out and not paying attention. He didn’t make great decisions, but without Unown Cure, I didn’t have a great shot at this deck. I started with Reshiram, and didn’t get such a great start. I was able to “Outrage” on a couple Oddishes a couple times, but I never got enough energy on a good Pokemon to really get a knock out. He kept on retreating whatever I Catchered up for Relincanth. Eventually he did get Vaniluxe and Unfezant in the Lost Zone. He ended up flipping really well and kept the lock on the entire game.

2-4. So a bad day, and a deck that could use some more polish. I am having a really poor City’s season, but at least Cities is almost over and the next few sets will drastically change the format.

A big thanks to the judges in Toledo, and thanks to all my buddies who were there.

Day 2: Tecumseh, Mi

As you can tell from the above subtitle, my weekend did not come to an end on Saturday. There was also a Cities on Sunday in Tecumseh. At first I didn’t want to go to this one, but I awoke a little earlier on Sunday and decided that I might as well go. Unfortunately, this late start did not leave me much time to get going. I put the pedal to the metal and got to the tournament just as the roster was going up. Rich and the great judges in Michigan let me sneak in just in time for the first round. Again big thanks to Rich and the guys, you guys are the best judges in the world!

It was nice being back in Michigan for a tournament, Ohio tournaments are usually in very small card shops with nowhere to move. Michigan tournaments are in spacious public spaces, so it was nice to be back in my home state. The judges were much more organized and timely in Michigan, again the judges here are world class. Every Ohio tournament I have been to, started at least 45 minutes late, and had massive delays. There were no such delays on Sunday.

I ended up playing with the same list on Sunday that I did on Saturday. I tried to make changes like an Unown Cure and a Lost Remover, but my late start did not allow me to make the changes. So I knew that I wasn’t going to do well today, I just hoped to get a couple fun games in before I leave early to watch some football. Since you already read a large tourney report, I will make these descriptions fairly short.

Round 1- Andrew with Vanilluxe.

I would have loved to have my Unown Cure in this game, but I would have to go without it. I started with Cobalion, and he started with Vanillite. I start to get Cobalion ready for a knock out on a Vanilluxe, and he gets going trying to setup Vileplumes and Vanilluxes. Unlike yesterday’s games, I don’t have to worry about “Fly” in this matchup, so I know I can a knock out after every prize he takes.

Andrew ends up flipping very well, nowhere near a quadruple tails. I am able to stall with the water resistance Virizion, and other Pokemon with Eviolite on them. I could return a knockout with Cobalion, but my other Pokemon had a harder time returning KO’s. I am able to take about 4 prizes and keep the game really close, but because he never misses a flip, he ends up winning. Even though Andrew won the game, there is no doubt that the highlight of the game was me getting a knock out with Bellsprout. He never saw it coming.

Round 2- Zekrom

This is the same nice lady from Cleveland that I played yesterday. I beat her yesterday, but today she had better luck. I was able to get 2 fighting Pokemon out early, but the other one and a Potion were prized. She gets an early 1^st turn “Bolt Strike” and takes an early lead. I am able to knock out a couple Zekroms, but she holds the prize lead with a bunch of Eviolited Tornadi. I end up putting pressure on her when I use “Glaciate” a couple times, taking a bunch of prizes, but her Zekroms came back and took the last couple prizes.

0-2 . I knew I was doing bad today, so the 0-2 start doesn’t surprise me. After the game, I again am able to have a nice conversation with my opponent. This time we talked about how I hate Anime, and how we both hate anime and comic inspired movies. I’m still mad at Arnold Schwarzenegger for massacring Mr. Freeze, he might have destroyed California’s budget, but that’s nothing compared to what he did with Mr. Freeze.

Round 3-Zekrom

This game I got paired up against my last round opponent’s husband. He was a nice guy who was playing the same basic deck that his wife played, maybe just a card or two different. Just like the last game, my opponent does get a turn 1 “Bolt Strike” for a knock out on a fighting Pokemon. But, I am able to recover and get a Landorus going fairly quickly. I end up returning a couple knockouts and tying the prize race. He responds by bringing more Eviolited Tornadi on the field, and this slows the game down. I have a slight prize lead and use Landorus and Terrakion to slowly chip away at the Tornadi. I can’t remember how this game ended, but I did win.

1-2. So I end up being 2-1 against this Zekrom build this weekend. It was a good build too, the lady top cutted in Orlando the last weekend, and the gentleman made top cut on Saturday. So I was happy to have a winning record against a good Zekrom list.

Round 4- Zekrom

This game was against a friend who attends the University of Michigan, and is a skilled competitive ice skater. He is a nice guy that I enjoy playing. This is my 3^rd straight Zekrom game, at least I don’t have to play those annoying Mew decks.

My opponent gets their 3 straight first turn “Bolt Strike” KO, and takes another early lead. I again respond with a bunch of fighting Pokemon and return the favor a couple times. They again slow the game down with Tornadus. I’ll skip towards the end. He has a prize lead and an active Tornadus, I promote an undamaged Zekrom with a DCE. I have a misplay here where I should have attached a Rainbow to Zekrom and make it so I could 2HKO a Tornadus, but I instead attach the Rainbow elsewhere. So instead of tying the game late, I lose it on time.

Round 5- Steelix Ross

I had seen this guy play my round 3 opponent during my last game, so I knew what I was up against. I knew that he couldn’t really go up against my Reshirams, so I should have an easy win. I have a good start with 2 Reshirams and a Cobalion, 2 Eviolite, a DCE, and a Professor Oaks. Darn near a perfect start. I am able to attach a Rainbow Energy to Reshiram, and use “Outrage” to knock out 2 Solosi. I get another prize on a Cleffa, and then take another one with Cobalion once he promotes a Kyurem. By the time he has a Steelix going he is down by 5 prizes, and I end up taking care of the Steelix for the win.

I end up dropping with the 2-3 record to go and watch some Football, what about that Lions comeback hey? I had a really fun weekend and liked playing with this 6 Corner variant deck.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

OneHitKO.com Challenge

OneHitKO.com Challenge: Addressing Weaknesses

Ed December 19, 2011 2 Comments

While yesterday’s tournament went better than expected, I am still left feeling that we’re lacking something. Actually, I must say that I was fairly pleased with how well the deck worked, but in some ways that just leaves me feeling like it could actually be a contender (probably not top tier) if given the chance. There are some glaring holes that need to be filled to make this a real threat.

Let’s go over the main weaknesses and discuss some ways they could be strengthened. Then I’ll list some specific cards I think would bring the deck to the next level. First, here’s the list I played. Read More

City Championships

Just call me bubbles.

Michael December 18, 2011 1 Comment

I seriously hate bubbling out. Read my last two CC reports to find out why.

It’s at the Source. Details are a little hazy, but I’ll do my best. Playing Jewgar both days.

Source: Round 1: VS Ed(playing ZPST)
Before the round even starts, Ed tells me that he’s gonna drop after the round to trade. So we’re already off to a great start. I destroy him, because he starts bad and I start broke. So I win. And…he drops. Tie breakers are already fantastic. I tell myself that I’ll have to literally go X-0 to top unless I get some better tie breakers.
1-0

(Opponent finishes: 0-1 drop at the end of the day)
Read More

OneHitKO.com Challenge

OneHitKO.com Challenge: Tourney #1 Report

Ed December 18, 2011 4 Comments

It’s the moment, I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for. The OneHitKO.com deck has finally made it’s public debut. This Sunday, we had a tourney at Outpost 2000 and Beyond. Masters had 5 rounds of Swiss, and here’s the story of how Eelektrik and Riachu got along.

Before the tourney got going, I needed to take care of 1 major issue. I still needed 4 Pokeball. I was able to get the donation I needed, so it was all systems go.

Round 1: vs Paige with Reshiram/Vulpix
I think I only ever saw Reshiram and Vulpix in this match, as she never got a supporter. She started out by burning my Pikachu with Vulpix’s Singe attack, which was annoying. Once I got Raichu, evolving healed the burn, and I started rolling. Unfortunately for her, I was able to easily KO Vulpix and she brought up a 2-energy Reshiram. I had to attack it, but I knew she’d get the return KO. I popped the Rocky Helmet down and attacked for 120. This meant that she could retreat and lose all her energy, pass (and then I would probably just KO Reshiram), or attack (which would KO her Reshiram). During this turn, I think she Communicationed for another Reshiram (just to keep herself in the game). She attacked giving us both a KO and promoting her Reshiram. I brought up Pikachu, and did a Tail Slap for 10 (even though I had Raichu in my hand). This meant that she couldn’t easily return KO with Outrage, and I could do 120 next turn. That’s what happened leaving her with a lone fire Victini, and I started the day…
1-0
Read More

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Next Destinies cards Musharna, Amoongus, and Mewtwo EX.

Pikkdogs December 16, 2011 2 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a special Pikkdogs Pikks Three article. This Pikk three article is about three cards that were just confirmed for our next set, Next Destinies. I will also be joined by my extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro. Hey Pedro, what do you think about Next Destinies.

Like it, kinda sounds like the name of a Porn.

It kind of does. Like there are people looking for another stripper named “Destiny.” After they just killed the first one.

Nintendo seems to be good at making up names that sound dirty.

Why do you think I play the game. If I can’t “Spray Splash” someone, or “Beat” them, or “Tickle” them; what’s the point?

I agree. It is fun to “Strip Bare” and use “Quick Blow.”

Ok, I think we gotta stop and get onto the article or the censors might wake up. Read More

Uncategorized

Pikkdogs Review and Criticism of Pokemon TCG Online

Pikkdogs December 14, 2011 7 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a review of the Pokemon TCG Online. My extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro is also here.

Hey Pikkdogs, hasn’t TAndrewT already done something like this?

Well, yes. And you can read it here.

Wasn’t it a good article?

It was a good article.

So why are you doing it again?

Well…………….I’m not sure, but I am doing it.

Okay, fair enough.

Did you know that TAndrewT is a doctor of Chemistry?

Like the guys on the Big Bang Theory?

Yes. Well kind of. But those guys are physicists.

One can only wonder why such an accomplished person can write on such a crappy website. We usually get dumb people who only have master’s degrees like you. So, what does Dr. T do?

Well, I looked it up, but I think I need a chemistry degree to understand it. One of his papers is titled, “Enhanced Stability and Bioconjugation of Photo-Cross-Linked Polystyrene-Shell, Au-Core Nanoparticles.” I started reading it a while ago, it’s pretty good. I will be through reading the title in about a week.

Well, if he ever moves in with a physicist, has friends who are engineers and astrophysicists, and lives right next to a hot actress; than let me know and I’ll watch the tv show.

Will do, onto the article. The first half of the article is the critique of PTCGO, while the second part is an instruction manual of how to use the program.

The Goals of PTCGO

To critique PTCGO, we must define what the goals of this service will be. Although Nintendo never really announced what the goals were, I can arbitrarily make some.

So you make up your own goals, and then criticize Nintendo for not making your arbitrary goals?

Yep. Let’s just get onto the list before people catch on.

Teach beginners the rules of the game.
Create an international community of players that we can interact with.
Help existing players become better by helping them test current decks.
Make sure everyone has fun playing the game.
Create an environment that can eventually be used for Premiere Events.

1. Teach Beginners the rules of the game.

I think that even early in the process PTCGO has accomplished this task. Just by creating the original beta version with decks like Basic Yellow, Nintendo has created an environment where beginners can come to learn the rules of the game. The game teaches you about what you can do in a turn, how to play certain cards and abilities, and how attacks work. While no system is perfect, I think we have to say that #1 is a success.

However, I do think that PTCGO does do harm to beginners by giving them unrealistic expectations. The average deck that gets played in the “Advanced” section of the site, would probably win a decent amount of games online, but would probably only win 1 or 2 games at a tournament like a City Championship. There are only a handful of guys online now that can make every deck they want to make perfectly, and everybody else is playing with a subpar deck. So if beginners do well against these subpar decks, they might think they are good when they are not. This is not really Nintendo’s fault, since they can do nothing else except give away every card for free. And this experience is no different from what they would get at most leagues around the country.

2. Create an International Community of Players

While PTCGO is not Facebook and has never tried to become it, I think PTCGO would be a failure if the players felt they were playing against artificial intelligence. It is nice to know exactly who you are playing and where they are from, so that you both can share greetings and ideas. In the free sharing of ideas we can learn more about each other, and the game in different area of the country and the world.

I think for right now this goal is not met, but is almost met. There is a nice chat room that you can join, and you can chat with your opponent while you play. However, all chat rooms never get beyond the “Hi, what’s going on?” phase. And it is great to talk to your opponent during the match, but there is not really enough time since you are playing the game.

It would be nice if you could have the equivalent of a Facebook Friend online, and keep track of how your list of friends are doing. You would know when they are online, and know what they have to trade. Being able to keep better track of a group of players would greatly improve PTCGO.

3. Help existing players become better by helping them test current decks.

This goal I think has been met by some players, but has overall been a failure. If you buy or trade for a lot of codes you will be able to eventually build a collection that will let you build whatever deck you want. However, it is very hard to build a collection that big. Most people have a limited amount of cash they can spend on the game, so most people buy singles from a card shop or online. This leaves them with no code cards, and the 8 codes you get from Pre Releases doesn’t stretch very far. So while it is possible to test online and make all the decks you need, it is not possible for everyone to right now. This will probably get better as more code cards are released.

What Nintendo can do to make this transition smoother is to release more codes. They did well in releasing those theme decks with Primes in them, although Yanmega was the only real playable card that we got. They should release more codes either online, or through retail stores. It would also be cool to see if the World Championship decks came with code cards, allowing people to grab a lot of playable cards easily. The increased revenue that Nintendo will get from more people buying these codes will help make sure that PTCGO stays around for a long time.

4. Make sure everyone is having fun playing the game.

This goal has everything to do with game play, technical issues, and user satisfaction. It was easy to say that early in the release of the beta version that game play was fun. Poke-Powers and Abilities are easy to activate and cards do what they are supposed to do by themselves. One real drag about things like Redshark was that you had to do things like Poke-Powers and Supporter cards yourself. All those things are now taken care of by the AI, this makes the game very fun to play.

Technical issues are always a problem with software programs like this. Nintendo didn’t know how many people would use the game, so servers can easily crash during peak hours of play. It is not unusual for games to be dropped halfway through, and sometimes the game fails to load. Although these issues are a concern, they just come with the territory. The servers and technical issues will get better and the game will improve. Right now the issues are a concern, but they do not cause the game to not be fun.

The third prong of this goal has to do with user satisfaction. This relates to the first two points, playability and technical issues. If those aren’t taken care of, the user will not be satisfied. Right now besides technical issues, the main issue of user satisfaction is the lack of good cards. A lot of people don’t have enough cards like Rare Candies, Pokemon Catcher, Pokemon Collector, Double Colorless Energies, and Rare and Ultra Rare cards. It is possible to trade for cards like this, but not a lot of other people have these cards to spare. The best way to get hard to find cards is to buy packs, and as anyone knows how tried to pull 4 Catchers, it is hard to pull the cards you want. This can be solved by releasing more code cards and promos. So it will get better over time.

5. Create an environment that can be used for Premiere Events

Using PTCGO online for testing is a good goal, but the better goal is to be able to attend a premiere event from your bed. Holding online events would increase the amount of online play, and would increase the number of users who would go to events as a whole.

Going to events costs a lot of money since gasoline is so expensive now a days. I know a lot of people who love to play in more events if they could attend them online. If we can play test online, we should be able to have events online. I know that the Magic game holds events online so this is not something new.

One concern about having tournaments online is the threat of hacking. Pokemon users are very computer smart, many of my friends who play the game design websites and software programs. So, it is possible that some players might learn how to hack the system and some how use it to their advantage. Although I haven’t heard of this happening, it would be nice if Nintendo could ensure us that the program is safe before this program is taken to the next level.

There are other concerns that must be heard before we take tournaments online. Such as, “How is judging being handled?” Will it be possible to appeal a ruling that the game makes, or will the AI be the judge. If so, Nintendo must be sure that they either tell us what rules the AI goes by, or make sure the AI knows all the latest compendium updates. I know there are a lot more concerns out there, perhaps you can leave some in the comment box.

Okay, so those are the goals that I think PTCGO should have, and how I think they are meeting them so far. Overall, I am happy with how they are meeting the goals. I think Nintendo has made a step forward with PTCGO, and with more tweaking this system could be very good. PTCGO is not a complete success yet, but it is on a good track. I hope it keeps on improving.

A Step by Step Guide to Playing the Game Online

Here is a step by step guide to playing PTCGO, if you already play online you can skip this section and look up more porn or something, but if you want to get playing online, hopefully I can help you. I will assume you know how to use the original functions of PTCGO that you learned in my article here.

1. Get some code cards. You don’t need code cards to play the game, but you do if you want to use the game for anything other than learning the rules.

2. Go to www.pokemontcg.com and log in. You can use the same log in information that you use to access the www.pokemon.com website to see your standings and stuff like that.

3. When you log in you will be brought to the Dashboard, think of this as the jumping off point to all the features at the site. Your next step will be to hit the “Play Online” button, you will be taken to the loading screen, and then to the lobby. Here you can choose to redeem codes, by clicking on the “redeem codes” button. Just type in you codes, and then go back to the dashboard. You can use a webcam to scan your cards, but typing it in is a more reliable system.

4. At the lobby you can choose to play a match versus another player, against the computer, build a new deck, or trade cards.

5. If you want to play against the computer, you can click on either “Single Player Versus AI” or “Single Player Trainer Challenge.” The versus AI button will let you choose your deck and then play against the computer. If you do the trainer challenge it will be against the same computer opponents that was in the original online game.

6. If you choose to play against an online opponent, you can choose either “Expert Game” or “Novice Game.” The main difference between the two modes are the opponents you will face. If you have a tournament worthy deck you can play an expert game, if you have more of a fun deck, play a novice game.

7. Let’s assume you don’t want to play, or have already played and are back. Let’s now trade. Hit the “Trading” button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. You will then be taken to a screen that shows you your collection. First things first, let’s make a trade offer. Let’s assume you don’ t have a trade partner in mind and want to have an open offer. Hit the “Select Partner” drop down menu towards the middle bottom of the screen. Next you can select “Public Offer”. Next you can look through your collection by using the arrow buttons. When you find a card you want to trade away you can click on it and drag it down to the bottom of the screen. When you are done selecting the cards to trade away, you can then select the “Getting From” tab from on the left hand bottom of your screen. Then you drag and drop cards that you want to receive. Before you hit the “create” button to submit the trade, make sure to summarize the trade in the message bar, so it will be easy for others to see what you are offering in a trade.

8. Now let’s find out how to get a good trade. On the right hand bottom of your screen you will see an “Offers” tab. Hit that, and then hit the “Public” tab that is below the tab you just clicked on. The screen will now show any public trade that has been offered. You can click on each offer to examine it more closely, and see if anything is to your liking. To accept an offer just click on it and hit the accept button. But, be careful because most of the public trades are not very far.

9. Let’s build a deck. Once you know how to trade, building a deck is fairly easy. From the trading screen, just hit the “Deck Builder” Tab. There is also a “Deck Builder” link on the screen where you went to bring yourself to the trading screen. From the deck building section, you can look at your collection until you can find a card you want in your deck. Then you can drag and drop a card from your collection to the bottom of the screen, just like you did for a trade. Once you have a card below your collection, you can click on the “+” button to add more of the same card to your deck. Continue until you have 60 cards in your deck. Once you have a 60 card deck you can click on the save button that looks like a floppy disk, and then you can name and save your deck. The next time you play you can select this deck, and you will be able to play with your new deck.

So there is a step by step way to use PTCGO more effectively. If you have any more questions about the game, please leave them in the comment box and I’m sure somebody will know the answer.

So that’s all I got, how do you wanna end the article Pedro?

Well today, December 14th, is the birthday of Stan Smith.

The guy from American Dad? I do like that show, gotta love a Russian Fish and an Alien that sounds like a gay 70s actor.

No, not that Stan Smith, the Stan Smith that was one of the U.S.A.’s best Tennis player in the 60’s and 70’s.

Oh.

Do you like the Tennis?

I do like the Tennis. I played it in high school.

Where you any good?

Well not really

How many wins did you have?

Not very many.

no.

1 .

no.

Who would have guessed.

Hey, maybe I can’t beat any good tennis players, but I can beat my brother.

In tennis?

No, but with a tennis racket. Have a good night everybody.

2011

Bold Statements with Pikkdogs: New Years Resolutions

Pikkdogs Top 10 Cards of 2011

Pikkdogs Does a Cities Wrap Up

Pedro’s Tip: Get Free www.ProPokemon.com Premium Articles.

Pikkdogs Double Tournament Report and Six Corners Deck List!

OneHitKO.com Challenge: Addressing Weaknesses

Just call me bubbles.

OneHitKO.com Challenge: Tourney #1 Report

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Next Destinies cards Musharna, Amoongus, and Mewtwo EX.

Pikkdogs Review and Criticism of Pokemon TCG Online

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