One Hit KO

A  big hello to all members of Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with my quarterly “Top 10 Impactful Cards” article.  This article counts down the top 10 cards that will be impactful on the game.  Not all these cards will make an impact now, some will not show up in a deck for about a year, but I think all these cards have a great chance of impacting the game.

I was able to head north to a pre-release this past Sunday.  After I attended church service with my Brother, I took the 30 minute drive north to Brighton, Mi.  I ended up going 0-3 and not getting a lot of trades done, but I did pull some decent cards.  Regardless, I had a pretty fun time with all the players and judges in Brighton, Mi.  I also met up with a cool Poke-Dad, I’m bad with names but I think his name was Dave.  He was a big Team Omar fan, so it was nice hanging out with him.  So shout out to Dave and his son!

The Pre-Release was very fun because it was fun to open the new Black and White cards.  With cards like Emboar, Samurott, Pikachu, Zekrom, and Reshiram being valued so high, it was like Christmas all over again.  There are some great cards in this set, so lets see how these cards will effect the format.  Since the format is up in the air right now, it will be very hard to tell, but I guess if it was easy anyone could write this article.

10. Pokedex-

There are not a lot of good trainers in this set.  When people think of trainers in this set, most people only think of one trainer, Professor Juniper, but Pokedex might change all that.   Pokedex lets you arrange the top 5 cards of your deck in any order.  But, with the lack of draw power in the coming formats, the ability to control your top decks is awesome.  The format may not let players play this deck, because of the lack of deck space, but if there is room this card is great.  It is a very versatile card that can be played in any deck (except a Vileplume deck).  Before the rotation, this card works well with Uxie La.  It also works well with Nineatils HGSS.

9. Reuniclus–

Perhaps I am over valuing Reuniclus just because I like the card, but I think his potential should put him on this list.  He is a stage 2 Pokemon with a meager 90 HP and no decent attack, so those things aren’t good.  The best thing about him is the “Damage Swap” ability, which lets you move damage counters around on your side of the board at will.  This card is only good as a bench sitter, and it is very hard to get a Stage 2 Pokemon out (especially if Spiritomb leaves the format).   The ideal deck with Reuniclus will be a deck that has a Basic Pokemon with a high HP and low energy costs.  You could try to pair him up with Emboar for energy acceleration on a Colorless or Fire Pokemon, but 2 Stage 2’s are very hard to get out.  This card has a lot of potential, but its hard to guess how valuable this card will be in upcoming formats.

8. Mandibuzz-

Mandibuzz is a Stage 1 Darkness Pokemon that has 90 HP and a 1 retreat cost.  For just 1 Darkness energy you can snipe for 50 damage to any thing with a damage counter on it with his “Blindside” attack.  His second attack, “Punishment”, does 40 damage for DCC.  If the defending Pokemon is a Stage 2 Pokemon, this attack does 60 more damage.  100 damage for 3 isn’t bad, since it can use Special Darkness Energy and Double Colorless Energy.  You can pair Mandibuzz with Crobat G or Kingdra Prime.  Crobat’s “Flash Bite” Poke-Power will place one damage counter on any Pokemon, as will Kingdra’s “Sea Spray” power.   If you are able to “Flash Bite” twice and use “Blindside”, you can knock out Pokemon like Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit.  The playability of Mandibuzz will rely on how strong Stage 2 Pokemon are.  If people are playing a lot of Stage 2’s, Mandibuzz may not be a bad play.  This card seems to have a decent future.

7.   Zoroark-     

Zoroark is a Pokemon that has received a lot of hype, but is the hype just because of the Movie or because of the good card?   It is a stage 1  dark Pokemon with 100 HP and a 1 retreat cost.  For one Darkness Energy you can search your deck for any 1 card and put it into your hand, with his “Nasty Plot” attack.  For two colorless energies you can use “Foul Play” and copy one of the attacks on the defending Pokemon.  Zoroark is an interesting card, on one hand it will let you setup with “Nasty Plot.”  On the other hand it may not be a good early game Pokemon because of the fact that it doesn’t have a reliable attack of its own.  For that reason, it may not be a reliable early attacker.  But you will be able to copy the attack of the defending Pokemon without paying for that attack other than the double colorless energies.  “Foul Play” seems to make Zoroark a card that could be put into any deck to counter almost everything.  The downside is that Zoroark is an evolved Pokemon so he may be slower to get out.  All things considered, I think Zoroark is worth the hype.

6. Zekrom-

In recent Pokemon TCG history we have not seen anything like Zekrom.  The ability to do 120 damage on the first turn is amazing.  All you need to do to deal out 120 damage on the first turn is to start with a Pokemon Collector and 3 lightning energies.  Use the collector to grab Zekrom, Shaymin UD, and Pachirisu Cl.  First put down Zekrom, attach a lightning, and then promote Zekrom.  Use Pachirisu’s “Self Generation” Poke-Power to attach 2 energies to Pachirisu.  Then put Shaymin down and use “Celebration Wind” to move those two energies to Zekrom.  Then, you can use Zekrom’s “Bolt Strike” to do 120 damage.  Besides being a fierce attacker, Zekrom is a basic Pokemon with a strong 130 HP. The downside is that “Bolt Strike” does 40 damage to Zekrom, so there is a good chance that Zekrom won’t be around next turn.  Zekrom’s future is uncertain, but I think ZPS (Zekrom, Pachirisu, Shaymin) should be a decent deck, even though it may struggle later in the game.   

5. Reshiram-

Just like Zekrom, Reshiram is a heavy weight with 130 HP.  Reshiram is a great friend to Emboar, who can attach fire energies with his “Inferno Fandango” (what the crap is a fandango?).  That means that once you get an Emboar setup, you can keep on attaching energies to Reshiram.  Reshiram can also do 120 damage, but he has to discard 2 fire energies when he uses the “Blue Flame” attack.  If the format allows one to use a Stage 2, I think Reshiram/Emboar will be a great deck.

4. Samurott #32-

Samurott puts the “Samu” in the Samugatr deck you have been hearing about.  Samurott is a stage 2 Pokemon with 140 HP with a lightning weakness, and a 2 retreat cost.  He has an ability called “Shell Armor” that lessens all damage done to him by the defending Pokemon by 20 damage.  This ability makes Samurott a stage 2 harder hitting version of Donphan Prime.  His attack is called “Hydro Pump” and does 70 damage plus 10 for every water energy attached to Samurott.  This means that if you only run water energies, the attack will do 100 damage for 3 energies.  To speed up the attack, players are talking about adding Feraligatr Prime to attach more energies thanks to his “Rain Dance” Poke-Power.  If the format is fairly slow, Samugatr should be a great deck.

3. Emboar #20- 

I mentioned this guy before, Emboar is a good card that is being talked about in a lot of different decks.  Just about any attacker that can hit hard and uses fire or colorless energies, is a good friend for Emboar.  Emboar is a Stage 2 fire Pokemon with 150 HP, a water weakness, and a 4 retreat cost.  Emboar is not a great attacker, only being able to do 80 for 4 energies.  But, this doesn’t matter since Emboar will be a bench sitter, since you will only use his ability to attach energies.  #3 is fairly high to put a card in as a bench sitter, but his versatility makes him very valuable. The downside is that we don’t know if the format will allow you to setup a benched stage 2 Pokemon.

2. Professor Juniper-

It took a while, but we finally got to the second trainer on the list.  With the format slowing down a lot, any kind of draw power is nice.  Old people like myself will recognize Juniper as a reprinted base set Professor Oak.  The card lets you discard your whole hand, and then draw 7 cards.  This is great not only for draw power, but for decks that like to discard certain cards, like Gyarados and Regigigas.  There are not a lot of cards that will let you draw 7 cards, so Juniper will be a staple in all decks.

1.  Cinccino-

There is no surprise to what card is #1.  Cinccino can do 100 damage for just two colorless energies, that is the essence of a great attacker.  However, there are some strikes against Cinccino, it is a stage 1 and only has 90 HP.  It also has a fighting weakness and a 1 retreat cost.  Its second attack, “Do the Wave” does 20 damage for every Pokemon you have on the bench.  So as long as you run 4 DCE and 4 Collectors, you should have a pretty good deck.  Because you are using DCE’s, you have a lot of room to put in other Pokemon and energies.  For this reason, not only could Cinccino have its own deck, but it could be splashed into most other decks.  I think most decks will run Cinccino at the start of next season because it is just too good and too easy to run.  If you decide to run Cinccino by itself, I would run it with the rare Boufallant and Zoroark.  Both of the supporting Pokemon are good late game. 

Honorable mention- Boufallant #91-

The ability to do 90 damage for CC after your opponent got a knock out is great.  His “Revenge Attack” combined with Double Colorless Energy can make you easily make up for last turn’s knock out.  Also the 100 HP is really nice.  His retreat cost is also pretty good, he can retreat for those 2 energies that you used for “Revenge Attack.”  He can also do a guaranteed 80 damage for just 2 more energies, with his “Head Charge” attack.  It is a very versatile card that should probably be used in any deck that runs DCE. If Cinccino becomes played as much as I think it will, Boufallant will be a staple in most decks.  The text for his “Revenge Attack” attack should read, “if you just got “Cinccino’ed, Cinccino is now knocked out.”  If everything pans out the way I think it will, Boufallant will be a great card.

So thats what I think about this set.  Please let me know if you think I am crazy because of this list, or if you think I hit it spot on.  You can leave those thoughts in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Category: Card Discussion | Tags: best cards in Black and White, Pokemon Black and White