May 2011

Baby Sitting- A Review of the HGSS Baby Pokemon

Pikkdogs May 29, 2011 5 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a kind of card review article. This article will give a special review of the Baby Pokemon from the HGSS sets.

When they first were released, most players were not very happy about a lot of the Baby Pokemon being rare cards. They were viewed as “crap rares” and most people did not want them. The only exceptions were possibly Pichu and Mime Jr, who did receive some hype, but little play. Now that the format will soon be HGSS-on, a lot of great players are talking about using Baby Pokemon. This article will tell you everything you need to know about Baby Pokemon.

What Are They

Baby Pokemon were introduced along with the Gold and Silver Game Boy Games. They are Basic Pokemon that are somehow un-evolved versions of other Basic Pokemon, I know it makes no sense. In the TCG, they are usually known for there low HP, bad attacks, but wacky effects of an attack. Both Cleffa and Tyrogue have been playable cards in the past.

All Baby Pokemon of this generation have 5 things in common. First, they all have the lowest HP ever seen in Pokemon, 30. Second, they all have attacks that put them to sleep. Third, they all have the “Sweet Sleeping Face” Read More

Pikks Three

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

Pikkdogs May 26, 2011 1 Comment

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

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

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

The Staple- Donphan Prime Read More

Deck Discussion

Deck Analysis: Can You do the Fandango? Reshiram and Emboar (Reshiboar).

Pikkdogs May 24, 2011 10 Comments

Ok, this is just another Reshiboar deck, but I think the Reshiboar name is, well, a little Reshi-boring. The Queen Reference is much better.

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another deck analysis. This deck is one of the most popular in the new format. In this article I will analyze the deck and share my list.

The Goal of the Deck?

Well the goal is obvious, you have a 130 HP Pokemon in Reshiram, and it can do 120 damage a turn, the goal of this deck is to get Reshiram out as fast as possible and keep him hitting for 120 for as long as possible. Reshiram does discard 2 fire energies a turn with his “Blue Flame “attack. To replace those fire energies this deck uses Emboar BW. Emboar has the “Inferno Fandango” Ability, which lets you attach as many fire energies as you want to whatever Pokemon you want. The strategy of this deck is simple. Get an Emboar quickly to load up Reshiram. Then keep using the fire energies to replace the ones that Reshiram that discarded.

If Reshiram has absorbed a hit, there is no need to attach more than 2 energies to him, because his “Outrage” attack does 20 damage plus the amount of damage that is on Reshiram. So if your opponent only does 90 damage to Reshiram, next turn Reshiram can do 110 damage for only 2 energies! It may not seem like that great of an attack, but from my testing the “Outrage” attack is probably the best thing about this deck. Most decks only run Reshiram as an attacker, there is really no need for a secondary attacker.

Some people like to play this deck with a draw engine. One of the more popular draw engines is Ninetails HGSS. Ninetails has the “Roast Reveal” Poke-Power which lets you discard a fire energy and draw 3 cards. This is a good draw engine because drawing 3 cards is always a good thing, and you are already running cards that let you get fire energies from the discard pile. The problem with Ninetails is that it is hard to get a stage 1 Pokemon out, and you need those fire energies to load up Reshiram. Another draw engine that is used in this deck is the Shuckle Promo. Whenever you attach an energy to Shuckle, you may draw a card thanks to his “Fermented Liquid” Poke-Body. Some people try to use Super Scoop Ups and Seekers to keep on drawing cards. Personally, I do not like to use any draw engine in this deck. I feel that Ninetails hurts consistency too much, and that the deck is too slow to have Shuckle. It seems like if you are lucky enough to draw a fire energy, you need to attach it to Reshiram.

How to Play It.

A lot of people like to start the game with a starting Pokemon like Cleffa HGSS, Stantler Ud, or Smeargle Cl. Since it will take a long time for you to get a Reshiram fully powered, it is nice to get a Pokemon that will help you setup. You can either use Stantler to get more Basic Pokemon, or get Smeargle or Cleffa to help refresh your hand. I prefer to use Cleffa because it is more consistent than Smeargle.

After using your starter for a couple turns, it is now time to start loading up Reshiram. It is also very important to get Emboar going. If you can get a quick Emboar, you have a really good chance of winning. The worst part of the Reshiboar deck is the fact that it could be inconsistent in getting Emboar out. If you are able to get Emboar out you will be in the catbird seat.

Why Its So Good.

Reshiram is not a fast deck, it has some struggles with consistency, and it is more high maintenance than Paris Hilton, but its still probably the best deck. This is because it is very hard to OHKO Reshiram. Imagine this scenario, Reshiram probably got a knock out the last turn, and if you cannot knock it out this turn, it will just use “Outrage” to knock out another Pokemon. This means that Reshiram basically takes 2 prizes for every prize the opponent take. The large HP and damage output makes sure that it will be one of the best decks in the next format.

The Future of “Can You do the Fandango”.

As I mentioned, this deck will be one of the best decks in the HGSS-on format. Unless you can OHKO Reshiram or lock it in some way, you will not be able to beat this deck. It is a deck that hits really hard and will be able to run over most other decks. It should be one of the better decks going into Nationals, if the rotation is announced on June 1st. In my testing, the only deck that has a real chance against it are water decks and Lost Zone decks. It seems pretty certain that you can count on this deck being great for a while.

How to Play Against It.

There are two ways to play against this deck: OHKO Reshiram or lock it in some way. We will first look at ways to knock out Reshiram in one hit.

The easiest way to knock out Reshiram is to do 70 damage to it with a water Pokemon. There are not a lot of good water Pokemon around these days. As far as attackers go, the only one that is being talked about is Blastoise UD. Blastoise can snipe for 100 damage for 4 energies, and you have to return 2 energies to your hand. This doesn’t really work against Reshiram too well. One Pokemon that nobody is talking about, but I like, is Alomomola BW. Its attack “Hydro Pump” does 40 damage for CCC, but it does 10 more damage for each water energy attached. So, if you attach 3 water energies to him (you can use Feraligatr Prime), you can do 70 damage (140 to Reshiram).

You can also use Pokemon that can attack for more than 130 to get a knock out. Mismagius CL can do 30 damage for each trainer your opponent has in his/her hand. That means that your opponent needs 7 trainers/supporters/stadiums for a knock out. Reshiram, Raichu Prime, Jumpluff, and Zoroark can do 120 damage each, so you will just need a Plus Power to get a knock out. Rayquaza/Deoxys Legend can do 150 damage for 4 energies, so that is a decent option. Lugia Legend can do 200 damage, but you need to discard 3 energies. There are a couple more like Magmortar, but those are the big ones.

You can also try to lock Reshiboar down in someway. One way that I have tried is to use Slowking Cl to try to control your opponent’s top decks. If you block your opponent’s ability to get energy, you will be able to slow down Reshiboar. If you can disrupt your opponent so they can’t get cards like Fisherman or Energy Retrieval, they will not be able to consistently attack. You could also try to find someway to make a card like Shuckle or Ninetails active. There is yet no real way to do this, but Im sure something will come up in later sets, like Pokemon Catcher. There is also a chance for early disruption before your oppoenent can get Emboar out. If you could make a post-rotation version of Sablelock, it will be very effective. The trouble is almost 100% of the Sablelock deck will soon rotate out.

Deck List

I will now give you guys a decklist for this list. i must warn you that this list is far from perfect, it is just a jumping off point for your testing. Again, if you think I have screwed up on this decklist, I agree, this is not my nationals decklist, it is just a rough list.

Pokemon-14

2- Emboar #20
2-Pignite #19 (I prefer #19, if you like the other one it wouldn’t be a bad play)
2-Tepig
4-Cleffa
4-Reshiram

Trainers-31

2-Energy Retrieval
2-Fisherman
2-Interviewers Questions
4-Juniper
3-Twins (To take advantage when Cleffa gets knocked out)
2-Elms
3-Pont
4-Pokemon Collector
2-Revive
4-Pokemon Communication
3-Plus Power

Energy-15

Fire-15

Final Impressions

I think that this deck could be a real powerhouse in the coming format, at least until Pokemon Catcher is released anyway. I think there is a good chance it will be the most popular deck at Nationals. Im not sure it will dominate as much as Luxchomp has, but you will need to know how to play against it.

So what do you guys think of this deck? Is it as good as I have hyped it up as? How would you play against it? Please leave your thoughts about this deck in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

PokeClass

PokeClass Episode 27 – What to Expect at UK Nationals

PokemanDan May 23, 2011 No Comments

[youtube width=”640″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw57SJOXFhw[/youtube]

Hey OneHitKO-ers! Not sure how many International players (MD-CoL format) visit this site, but if you are one of them then this is the video for you!

This week is all about what you should be anticipating coming up to UK Nationals! I cover almost every deck you will come across so that nothing will take you by surprise on the day. I also cover how to deal with random decks that may catch you off guard when it comes to the tournament!

Even if you aren’t an International competitor, this video will still give you some vital info on meta decks for events like Battle Roads that are still left for the season.

Enjoy!

Dan
Read More

Tourney Report

Pikkdogs Spring Battle Road Report- Tecumseh, Mi

Pikkdogs May 22, 2011 5 Comments

Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a tournament report. This Sunday I was fortunate enough to head to a Spring Battle Road in Tecumseh. I like going to Tecumseh because it is a smaller town that takes me away from the urban sprawl of Detroit. The tournaments there used to be held at a boy scout cabin, they are now held at a Masonic Temple. It is a pretty cool place, nice and big, it even overlooks a lake. The turnout this day was not very good, there was only around 20 masters. Because of the stale format a lot of players decided not to come today. This led to only 5 rounds, and a top cut of 4. Anyway, lets get to the good stuff.

I wasn’t really into this format so I didn’t prepare for the tournament very much. Instead, I spent most of my time with the HGSS-on format. Before the new rules came into effect I played Uxie Donk. I loved playing Uxie Donk because it is a deck that requires a lot of skill and experience, and has a good matchup against SP decks. But because of the rule changes regarding Plus Power, Uxie Donk is no longer playable. Instead of using Uxie Donk I decided to play Sabledonk. It is not the same deck, but it is similar. It has a higher donking ability, but is worse later in the game. I wanted to play another deck like Gyarados, but there wasn’t any deck that I tried that could consistently beat Sabledonk. I knew that with some luck, Sabledonk could get me a Victory Medal. Read More

Deck Discussion

Deck Analysis: Miss Plume- Mismagius Cl and Vileplume Ud

Pikkdogs May 20, 2011 7 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a deck analysis. This is a deck I tried out last weekend and I have grown to kind of like it. It is a natural evolution of the Vilegar Trainerlock of the last format. Of course, this deck is for the HGSS-on format.

Strategy

The goal of this deck is to disrupt your opponent by locking trainers, and then using the trainers in their hand to hurt them with Mismagius’s “Poltergeist” Attack. Thanks to the rotation, Spiritomb Ar is no longer in the format, so trainerlocking the entire game is no longer possible. This makes it impossible for trainerlocking to disrupt an early setup. Even though Vileplume is not as disruptive as it could be, trainerlocking is still effective. It is hard for any deck to recover without using cards like Pokemon Communication and Rare Candy.

Your main attacker in this deck is Mismagius Cl. This card has the “Poltergeist” attack that Gengar SF had. In the past format Gengar was a better attacker because the Level X could counter Dialga G Lv. X. Now that Dialga G is gone there is no need for a counter to it. And since Regice and Regirock are gone, and Junk Arm is not playable under trainerlock; it is very hard to discard trainers from your hand. These facts make Mismagius a pretty good card.

I also run Noctowl HGSS in this deck. Since the Mismagius and Vileplume lines only add up to 14 Pokemon, you will have some room to have Pokemon that add consistency. I find that the best Pokemon to fit into this deck is Noctowl. He lets you draw 1 card during your turn with the “Night Sight” Poke-Power, the power does stack. Drawing 1 card is not an amazing power, but it does add a considerable amount of consistency. I feel that it is a good play for this deck.

The Setup

This deck uses Stantler as a starting Pokemon. Its “Call for Family” attack lets you grab 2 basics from your Pokemon and put it on your bench. It is the best starter for this deck. It lets you get Hoothoots, Misdreavuses, or Oddishes; and setup very quickly. Misdreavus is also a decent starting Pokemon. It’s “Dual Draw” attack forces each player to draw 3 cards, it lets you setup and puts more trainers in your opponents hand.

Your first goal in setting up is getting a Vileplume. Even if you have to sacrifice a couple Pokemon, getting a Vileplume is worth it. Next, it should be easy to get a Mismagius and load two energies on him. You might lose a couple Mismagiuses, but hopefully you will be able to catch them with a stale hand full of trainers, and you can easily bring up more Mismagiuses.

The Drawbacks

The biggest problem with this deck is that it is a little slow. Setting up a stage 2 along with a stage 1 takes a lot of time. If you are going against a deck that can setup by turn 2, you might find yourself too far down by the time you actually setup. Another drawback is the fact that you won’t be locking trainers until at least turn 3. This leaves them plenty of time to setup.

The Good

What I like about this deck is that it is something that most people aren’t planning to go against. Most people are worried about Zekrom or Reshiram, if they are thinking about anything else it is Donphan, Cincinno, or Gengar Prime. Nobody is thinking about trainerlock right now. If you run this deck you will be surprising a lot of people. This deck is easy to counter, but if nobody is expecting it, nobody can counter it. I think it could be a good deck for the next format. It may be a little slow, but I do know that it works well.

The List

Like most my lists I don’t have this list tweaked to perfection. This is just a rough basic list that I 4-5 times. I originally ran 4 Rare Candies in this list, but I never could seem to use the Candies, so I took them out.

Pokemon-24

2- Vileplume
2-Gloom
2-Oddish
4-Misdreavus
4-Mismagius
4-Stantler
1-Mr. Mime Cl- His “Trick Reveal” Poke-Power lets you see the hand of your opponent. With this guy you can see if you will get a knockout on “Poltergeist.”
1-Spritiomb Tm- Is used for refreshing your opponents hand, if he/she is able to get the trainers out.
2-Hoothoot
2-Noctowl

Trainers-23

4-Professor Elms Trainer Method- Lots of Evolutions in this deck, getting an early Vileplume is crucial, and this helps.
2- Twins- possibly the best supporter in this format, 2 is standard in any of my decks.
4- Pokemon Collector
4- Professor Oak’s New Theory- I prefer PONT to Juniper in this deck because of the fact that I run so many evolutions.
1- Flower Shop Lady
2- Copy Cat- your opponent will have a big hand, you might as well benefit from it.
2- Sages Training
4- Pokemon Communication

Energy-13

10- Psychic
2- Rescue
1-DCE- can be used to retreat Vileplume or to attack with Noctowl.

Its not the best list ever, but its enough for you to go on and test this deck for yourself. Its a pretty basic list that you can tweak yourself by changing cards like Sages Training and Noctowl for other cards that you want to play.

Closing Remarks

I think this deck may be a little slow, but I think it is a good solid idea. When Gothitelle comes to the format, Vileplume may fall out of favor, but for right now it is a decent play. I didn’t analyze any matchups in this article because I feel that this deck doesn’t differ in most matchups. I encourage you guys to give this deck a chance and see if you like it.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Deck Discussion

Lost World Deck HGSS-On- Mew Prime, Mime Jr. and Gengar Prime.

Pikkdogs May 18, 2011 8 Comments

As you can see I got really creative with the name of this deck.

Hello all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a deck idea for the HGSS-on format. I spent most of last weekend working on some HGSS-on decks. I tried a lot of good decks, one deck that was unexpectedly good was my lost world deck.

Before we talk about the deck, we have to mention that Battle Roads start this weekend! This is the time where you can go and prove that the Md-BW format is pretty terrible. Although most people are not excited about the format, it could be just the time for you to go and steal a Victory Medal. So go and have fun with your Pokemon friends, and hopefully you can pull down a medal.

How the Deck Works

Anyway, lets go back to the deck. Like all Lost World decks, this decks only purpose is to get 6 of your opponent’s Pokemon in the Lost Zone. Unlike the popular Lostgar deck, this deck has no way to grab 6 prizes if needed, but thats not really something you need to do.

The main way you will get Pokemon in the Lost Zone is by using Gengar Prime’s “Hurl Into Darkness” attack. But you will never have an active Gengar Prime, instead, you will throw Gengar Prime into your Lost Zone and then make Mew Prime use “Hurl”. Mew Prime can use any attack of any Pokemon in the Lost Zone thanks to his “Lost Link” Poke-Body”. You put Gengar in the Lost Zone either with Mew Prime or with Relincanth Cl. You will also put your opponent’s Pokemon in the Lost Zone with Mime Jr. Cl.

Mime Jr. is a very useful card in this deck. His attack “Sleepy Lost” sends the top card of your opponent’s deck into the Lost Zone. To make sure you will send a Pokemon to the Lost Zone with this attack, this deck uses Slowking Cl to arrange your opponent’s deck. His Poke-Power “Second Sight” lets you arrange the top 3 card of either of the decks. This power can be used to either help you setup, try to give your opponent a bad draw, or to setup “Sleepy Lost.” When I first made this deck, I thought I would only use Slowking to help with “Sleepy Lost.” But, I soon found out that if you can get Slowking setup before your opponent sets up, you can delay their setup for a long time.

How Do You Setup?

This deck has an abundant amount of good starting Pokemon. This deck runs 4 Mew Prime, 2 Relincanth Cl, and 2 Slowpoke (Rambunctious Party). Either would be decent to start with. Ideally you would want to start with Mew Prime or Relincanth and Gengar Prime in your hand, and you would be able to get Gengar Prime in the Lost Zone on the first turn. If not you should be able to setup with Slowpoke or draw cards with Relincanth.

After you have tried to get Gengar Prime in the Lost Zone, your next job is to setup a Slowking. Hopefully you started with a Pokemon Collector or some Dual Balls. After you use these cards you should have at least 1 Slowpoke, Mew Prime, and Mime Jr. Eventually try to get multiple copies of each card in your hand, and a Mr. Mime. Next, use a Pokemon Communication to snag a Slowking.

Once you got your Slowking, you need to decide which attacker is the best to use. First use Mr. Mime’s “Trick Reveal” to see if the opponent has any Pokemon in their hand. Next use “Second Sight” to see what is at the top of their deck. If you can take 2 Pokemon with Mew, than do it. But if you can only take 1 and you have Pokemon both at the top of the deck and in the hand, then you can choose which one you will want to put in the Lost Zone. Ideally you would want to put the most important one in the Lost Zone, but most of the time any Pokemon will do.

Now that you got your first Pokemon in there just keep on using “Second Sight” and “Sleepy Lost”, as well as Seeker with “Hurl Into Darkness”. You should know within the first few turns if you can win the game. If you can put 2 in the Lost Zone before they can take a prize, you should have an easy win. If they setup as fast as you did, your probably not going to win. This is why an early Slowking is important. If you can use Slowking to slow down the opponent for even a turn than you have a better chance at winning.

Matchups

Of course a deck is only as good as its matchups, so lets see if this format will be kind to this deck.

Reshiboar–70/30 Reshiboar is probably the best deck in the format, but it has a hard time attacking if you can limit the amount of energy it receives. Because Reshiram requires a discard, if you can use “Second Sight” to keep the Fishermen and energy out of their hands, you should be faster than them. Good players will probably try to attack with Emboar, to get around the discard, but a lot of people will not know to do that.
Stage 1 decks (Cincinno, Donphan Prime etc….)- 50/50– It all depends on if you setup first. This is a fast deck, so it is a 50/50 chance that you will setup first. If you can get that early Slowking, you should be good.
Zekrom- 40/60-I haven’t tested this matchup, but this should be a tough matchup for this deck. Since Zekrom is really fast it has a decent chance of out speeding the Lost World Deck.
Stage 2 Decks– 60/40– Even though this category is very broad, Stage 2 decks take at least 3 turns to setup. Hopefully, you should be lost zoning by turn 2. So if you see an Oshawott and a Totodile on the first turn, take a big sigh of relief.

The List

This is just my list of the deck. I only made it a couple days ago, so it is far from perfect. So feel free to experiment with it and make it better.

Pokemon-17

3- Mime Jr.
1- Mr. Mime cl
4- Mew Prime
2- Slowpoke(Rambunctious Party)
2- Slowking CL
2- Gengar Prime
2- Relincanth Cl
1- Spiritiomb Tm- For forcing my opponent to refresh his/her hand.

Trainers- 32

4- Seeker- A sure-fire way to get a Pokemon with “Hurl into Darkness”
4- Professor Juniper- the best hand refresh for a deck that doesn’t evolve a lot
4- Twins- You will never take a prize, so you will be able to use Twins a lot
4- Pokemon Collector- You have so many basics that you can’t afford not to run this card.
2- PONT
1- Flowershop Lady- This card has quietly become a staple in any deck.
3- Revive- an easy way to get Mime Jr. and Mew back without wasting your supporter for the turn. Helpful mid to late game.
3- Dual Ball- a way to get basics without using a supporter
4- Communication- you need this to get an early Slowking
3- Lost World- You can run 2, some might run 4.

Energy-11

Psychic-11-You might wanna add another energy or two, because you could burn some on Relincanth or Slowpoke. But, I only run 11 because Twins makes it easy to get energy when you need it.

Closing Remarks

Well there is the list. Its not the best list but it is a good place to start if you wanna test this deck. You could possibly take away some Dual Balls and a revive or two for another Slowking line or some Lost Removers.

When I tested this deck I realized that it can really work, but I still can’t help but think that this deck is just a turn too slow to work. It will depend on the Metagame, but I think this could be a good deck.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Pikks Three

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

Pikkdogs May 15, 2011 3 Comments

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

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

Now lets get to the article:

Card #1 Ditto Triumphant Read More

Uncategorized

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Cleffa HGSS, Stantler Unleashed, and Shuckle Promo

Pikkdogs May 13, 2011 9 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another Pikk three article. Before I get into the article I would like to congratulate Ed and all the other writers on the site. We have now reached 200 published posts on teamomar/onehitko.com. 200 articles is a cool feat, and I hope we can do at least 200 more.

This article will review three cards that are being talked about as good tech cards in the new format. These tech cards either help you setup or they help you draw cards. With the eminent rotation of cards like Uxie La, Sableye Sf, and Spiritomb Ar; the format will lose the best draw and support Pokemon.

The only other Pokemon that fits this bill in the current format is Smeragle Ud. Smeargle Ud will be better after the rotation because of the fact that other people will play more supporters, which means that it will be easier to copy a supporter with “Portrait”. Although Smeargle will have to be used differently because of the loss of Unown Q. Smeragle will now be used as a starter, instead of a tech card used in the recovery process

But, this article is not about Smeargle, it is about three other Pokemon that has seen no play, but will probably see a lot more rotation after the rotation.

Card #1 Cleffa HGSS Read More

Uncategorized

Preview of U.S. Spring Battle Roads

Pikkdogs May 11, 2011 2 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs with a preview to the upcoming spring Battle Roads. The Battle Roads this year will be very different this year, than all other tournaments. This is because we are using new rules, such as those that allow you to use trainers on the first turn. The format will be MD-BW, meaning that we expect a lot of donk decks that feature Sableye Sf. A couple of weeks ago Play Pokemon announced that there will possibly be a rotation after Battle Roads, this news over shadowed Battle Roads, and a lot of people have only been thinking about the HGSS-on format. So to get you guys ready, here is your Spring Battle Roads preview.

I admit, that like other people I have been thinking more about the new format than the one in Battle Roads. Because of this, we could see record low numbers of people at the event. We could also see a lot of bad decks that aren’t tested well against the donk decks that will be successful. So be ready for not a lot of people, and for some people that aren’t really ready to compete.

The Main Decks

The main deck at this years Battle Roads will be Sabledonk. Which is basically an Uxiedonk deck that exchanges 4 Plus Powers for 4 Sableye SFs, and Cyclone Energy for Special Darkness Energy. Because of the extra Pokemon, Sabledonk is not quite as consistent as Uxie donk. But, because Sabledonk now can use trainers on the first turn, it does not have to be as effective. As long as the deck starts Sableye, it will go first and probably only have to knockout/Seeker about 2 Pokemon. In short, Sabledonk will be able to knock out just about everthing on turn 1.

Another deck that will see action is Gyarados. It also relies on Sableye Sf for a good start and will hope to be doing 80-110 damage on turn 1. It is a very fast deck that can do a lot really quickly. But, the question is, “is it better than Sabledonk?” Through my testings I have learned that Sabledonk is more consistent than Gyarados, and the fact that Gyarados has 130 HP is not really relevant. It seems that Sabledonk can got Gyarados almost every time, while Gyarados can only donk Sabledonk sometimes. Gyarados will be a great deck but it will not consistently beat Sabledonk. The fact that it has a lot of 30 HP Pokemon, does not help the Sabledonk matchup. Even though this deck is not the best, it will be played a lot because a lot of people will not want to play Sabeldonk.

There will also be some rogue decks. A lot of people will not want to play Donk decks, and will play inferior decks knowing that they will probably lose. So plan to see some weird decks. A lot of these rogue decks will have Sableye Sf to get a good start, kind of like Gyarados. Other decks will have Spiritiomb Ar, to try to combat Sableye. One example is the deck I made, “Who Let The Dogs Out.” This is a deck that runs 4 Spiritomb and then 2 copies each of the Legendary Dog Pokemon. I dont think that a lot of people will netdeck that deck, but you will still need to look out for Spiritomb.

How to Prepare

Never has a format been so secretive. Most people who are talking about Pokemon, are talking about the HGSS-BW format. What they are taking to the Battle Road tournaments, are pretty secret. I would not be surprised if everyone plays Sabledonk or Gyarados, or there could be a lot of rogue decks out there. Since nobody is talking about Battle Roads, it is very hard to know exactly what they are playing. To prepare for Battle Roads I would seek out the top players in my area and see what they think about Battle Roads. I would ask if they are planning on going to them, and what they are testing for the tournaments. The players will probably not tip their entire hand, but they will give you an idea of what they are expecting for the tournament. That way you should be able to find out what the metagame will be like.

Your testing should focus on how to beat Sabledonk. If you play Sabledonk, you will want to see if you can put any thing to help in the mirror. So far, I have not found anything that is helpful in the mirror, but it will be up to you to try to make your deck as consistent as possible but at the same time let you have more than a 50-50 shot at the mirror. All of your other testing sessions should either focus on Gyarados, and how you will react to an unexpected rogue deck.

The Prediction

For the first time in over a year, Luxchomp decks probably will be winless in these tournaments. I just don’t see how they can stand up to the speed that the other decks have. I am very confident in predicting that Sabledonk will win most of the tournaments. It can consistently beat any deck that I have seen (except Who Let The Dogs Out, but that has a very bad matchup against any other deck) and is fast enough to donk anything in its way. In area’s where the best players want to mix it up a little, Gyarados will probably win a couple tournaments. I also think that some rogue decks will come in and take a small number of tournaments.

Conclusion

I think that Spring Battle Roads will be very interesting. Most players are only thinking about Nationals, but there are a lot of valuable Victory Medals up for grabs very soon. Spring Battle Roads could be a format that has only one or two decks, or it could be a very diverse format. I am not sure exactly what will happen, but I know that the best decks will need to know either how to donk or to survive the donks. Its time for you guys to do your homework and your testing on your metagame and see if you can’t steal a couple Victory Medals while everyone else has their eyes on Indianapolis.

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