2011

Contest Winners

Pikkdogs July 25, 2011 32 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a quick article to announce the winners of the contest.

First, Ed and I would like to thank all of you who entered. There were a lot more entrants this time then there were for our last contest, so thank you. Also, we love the suggestions and comments you had about the site. We have already started working on improving the site based on some of your suggestions.

Now, onto selecting the winner. The 2 winners will each receieve a www.onehitko.com t-shirt, just like Team Omar wore during Nationals this year. This is an exclusive design that was never open to the public. Read More

Pikks Three

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

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

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

Card #1 The Staple: Magnezone Prime

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

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

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

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

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

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

Card #2 The Underdog: Bellsprout

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

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

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

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

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

Card #3 The Young Gun: Max Restore

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

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

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

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

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

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

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Pikks Three

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

Pikkdogs July 21, 2011 13 Comments

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

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

The Staple- Yanmega Prime

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

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

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

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

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

The Underdog: Pidgeot Tm

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

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

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

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

The Young Gun- Beartic EP

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

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

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

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

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

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Tourney Report

Etiquette for A Pokemon Tournament.

Pikkdogs July 19, 2011 6 Comments

Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here. Today’s article is about etiquette at a Pokemon tournament. We get a lot of new players here at www.onehitko.com and tournament etiquette is one thing that isn’t easy to pick up. Some players are rude without even trying to be, so I wrote this article to help you be more freindly at your next tournament.

Before we get to the article, this is just a heads up that my 100th post celebration contest is still going on. Just write an email and send it to me at pikkdogs@teamomar.com, and tell me what you like or don’t like about the site. If you do that, you will be entered in a contest to win 1 www.onehitko.com t-shirt. There will be 2 winners, so make sure to register by the 25th of July. Now back to the article, here are some polite things to do at a tourney.

Etiquette is a french word for a small card or sign. It comes from when the French Monarchy threw big parties at the palace of Versailles. The palace guests would do rude things like run on the lawn and go into private rooms. To prevent these things, the palace staff would put out little signs that said, “hey you, don’t run on the grass.” Consider this article an etiquette, or a small sign, to tell beginning players how to act at a tournament. Following these rules will help you make more Pokemon friends and will make sure you don’t offend people.

0. What to do Before the Game?

When you get paired up, head straight to the table and find a seat. When your opponent shows up I usually introduce myself to them if I don’t already know them. Just say something like, “Hey I’m Enrique, how’s it going?” When you are about to flip over your basic and begin the game, offer your hand for a handshake and say “Good Luck.”

1. Shuffling Etiquette.

Before each game starts, each player should randomize their decks. If you have done it prior to this game, make sure to do a couple of extra shuffles while your opponent is watching, just so he/she has no reason to complain.

After you are done shuffling, place the deck in front of your opponent or on his/her playmat, and say something like “would you like to cut?” Do this until you get a basic, and then start to play the game.

When you need to shuffle your deck, shuffle it and then place it between where your deck normally goes and your opponent, and say something like “you may cut if you like.” If they cut/shuffle the deck, place it back where it normally goes and continue the game.

One last shuffle etiquette has to do with you shuffling your opponent’s deck. You can cut or shuffle your opponent’s deck after they have shuffled, if you wish, but make sure you okay the shuffling method with your opponent. For example, I always use the fan shuffling method, but some people may think that this method may damage their cards. So be sure to let your opponent know what kind of shuffling you will do, if you are going to do a shuffle technique that may bend a card. Its not in any rule book, but bending cards will not make you any friends.

2. In Game Talk

For the most part, I try to stay silent during my games. Most people don’t like to be bothered during their turn, so don’t do anything that will bug other people. But, in some cases other people like talking during games. If you want to talk, start talking while you are waiting for the game to start, and wait for a cue from your opponent. If he/she talks back, than maybe you can talk a little during the game, but if he/she keeps to him/herself, then don’t bug them. For the most part, most people don’t talk that much during games, they just try to keep their mind on the game, however, games with people I know can be a little chattier.

3. Endgame Conversation.

The sixth prize has been taken and the game is over. No matter if you win or lose, you need to say something like, “thanks for the game, good luck the rest of the day.” If you say anything else about the game, be very careful. It is probably best to just say good luck and then move on.

If you lost, don’t try to make up excuses. Nobody likes to play against the guy who keeps saying, “Man I woulda killed ya if I coulda flipped heads.” If you say anything about your luck just say something like, “Good game, too bad I had some bad luck that game, congrats on the win, see ya later.” Don’t make a big deal about your loss, the game is over, just move on.

If you won, don’t gloat or make your opponent feel bad. Running all around the building saying, “I win, I win” probably is not very nice. Also, make sure that you don’t talk about their bad luck too much, this could end up making them feel worse. If you say anything, just say something like, “good game, I just got a really good start, have a good day the rest of the tournament.”

4. Don’t be Too Shy or Too Obnoxious

When the games are not going on, it is important not to draw extra attention to yourself. Nobody likes the grumpy guy who sits in the corner. Conversely, nobody likes the guy who yells or is running all around the building.

While you are waiting for a game, start some small talk with some other players, or try to do a couple trades with other players. Try to blend in with other people, and leave all the running and yelling to the Juniors (they are really good at it).

That’s all for this article, if you have any more etiquette tips for new players please leave them in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Deck Discussion

Reshiram Emboar (ReshiBoar) Nationals Deck Analysis

Ed July 18, 2011 1 Comment

Alright, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. I did not do well at Nationals. Well, I didn’t do terribly. My record was positive (5-4). One of those “wins” was a BYE, so I was actually even on the day. If I had won my final match, I’d have been in the top cut. All that makes it sound better than I felt like I did, though. This isn’t about Nationals so much as it is about my deck, though. If you want to read more about my Nats experience, you can do that here, here, or even here.

First of all, I’d like to point out that I think that there really is (at the moment) multiple ways to build a Reshiram deck. To me, any deck that focuses on using Reshiram as the main attacker can be lumped together. The main 2 Reshiram decks now are Reshiram/Emboar and Reshiram/Typhlosion. Both decks strive to achieve the same main goal, but they go about it slightly differently.

When I built my deck, I was of the opinion that Typhlosion was unnecessary, and I was concerned that there would be many others running Reshiram, Zekrom, or Zoroark. Therefore, I did not want to put extra damage on my own Reshiram (which would make it easily OneHitKO-able by anyone that could do 120 damage). Ultimately, the Nationals field did not feature so many Reshiram or Zekrom based decks, so Typhlosion’s damage placement wasn’t as big of a concern as I first thought it might be.

Let’s jump right into the deck I ran at Nationals.
Read More

National Championships PokeClass

A Look at Two National Championships

PokemanDan July 18, 2011 1 Comment

Hey all of you at OHKO! Today, I bring you two of my episodes covering everything about the past two weeks in both Canada and the US.

Canadian Nationals Recap:

[youtube width=”640″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHut4q91Ck[/youtube]

This episode covers all of the very interesting results we received from Canada two weekends ago. We have a very nice range of decks making the Top 16 and I go over some of the most interesting ones.
Read More

Card Discussion

Introducing Pokemon Catcher

Pikkdogs July 17, 2011 10 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a discussion about the card Pokemon Catcher. This card will come out in the Black and White: Emerging Powers set. Its effect is simple, switch one of your opponent’s benched Pokemon with the active. This makes it like Gust of Wind from the base set. This article will tell you what this card means for the format. This article will also speculate what the format will be like for this card, and what type of counter the new high HP Pokemon will be to Pokemon Catcher.

Before we start the article, just a little reminder about the contest. The contest that celebrates my 100 articles is still going on. All you have to do to enter is send an email to “pikkdogs@teamomar.com.” In the email just tell us something you like or don’t like about the site. When you enter you will be in the running to win one of two official www.onehitko.com t-shirts. To see the complete rules, just read my 100th article celebration post here. Okay, back to the article about Pokemon Catcher

What it does

Pokemon Catcher allows you to do 2 strategic things. The most obvious thing it does is to bring an un-evolved Pokemon active. Once that Pokemon is active you will be able to knock it out before it evolves to a scary stage 2 like Emboar, Tyranitar, or Magnezone. The other thing you can do is to pull up a bench sitting Pokemon and then either knock it out, snipe around it, mill your opponent’s deck, or put Pokemon in the Lost Zone. This card is very powerful, so lets talk about what happened last time it came out.

What Happened Last Time: Gust of Wind.

Gust of Wind was a card in the base set that did the same thing as Pokemon Catcher. When it came to competitive play, Gust of Wind forced a deck called Haymaker to become the best in the format. Haymaker was a deck with base set cards like Hitmonchan, Scyther, and Elektabuzz. It was a fast deck that used Gust of Wind to bring up basic Pokemon and do damage for not a lot of energy. Haymaker was not the only deck that saw play, but it was the winning-est deck of its time by far.

It worked by pulling up anything that was a threat and knocking it out before it could get going. Haymaker was a powerful deck that had only one enemy, the first rotation. Now, Gust of Wind is coming back and most Pokemon players are afraid of what it could do in today’s format. The format is different from base set. Back then, doing 40 damage for 2 energies was really good, now a 100 HP basic Pokemon is not hard to find. Who knows what will happen when the wind changes and we get that some old gust coming back into the format. Some people say the format will be very similar just a little more disruptive. While most people are predicting the end of stage 2’s in the format, but could that be?

What do you mean I can’t evolve on the same turn?

About a year ago, the return of Gust of Wind would not be a huge problem. You could just play a Rare Candy, or evolve through Broken Time Space. Now you have to leave a Basic on the bench for one turn. Unless you are able to play 2 copies of the same basic on one turn, it will be unlikely that you will be able to evolve on the upcoming turn. To evolve to a stage 1 or 2 Pokemon you will need to be very speedy or very disruptive.

How to Combat Catcher

As mentioned,you can either try to keep Pokemon Catcher away from the opponent, find a way to evolve before they can disrupt the evolution, or don’t play any basics down that you don’t want in the active spot.

To keep catcher away from the opponent you can try to get an early Judge. Pokemon like Weavile and Ambipom can disrupt your opponent’s hand so that they cannot setup. If you get an early disruption on your opponent, he/she will not be to get the Pokemon Catcher that they need to disrupt you. You can also make Pokemon Catcher useless by setting up a trainer lock with either Gothitelle or Vileplume. However, these Pokemon are stage 2’s and can be disrupted by Pokemon Catcher. So, in order to evolve them you will have to be quick about it.

One way of negating the effect of catcher is putting down 2 of the same basics at once, so they can knock out 1, and you can evolve the other. This is where cards like Pokemon Collector, Revive, and Stantler come in really big. After the big Cleffa donfest that was U.S. Nationals 2011, Stantler is a good Pokemon to use as a starter. He will not be donked, and he can search out 2 basics and put them on the bench. All you need on the next turn is a Rare Candy and a Stage 2. Look for 4 Rare Candies to be a staple in the next format. Another way to go around Pokemon Catcher is to start fast. If you start with a basic, there is a good chance there will probably be time to evolve the Pokemon before Catcher gets played.

If you don’t want your opponent to Catcher in a Pokemon, then don’t play it down. With the number of big basic HP POkemon that can do damage, you don’t really need evolved Pokemon. In the next couple sets there will be about 10 100+ HP Pokemon coming into the format. The question is whether these Pokemon will be able to knock out Pokemon that are used with Pokemon Catcher, like Donphan Prime and Yanmega Prime. Only time will tell whether these Pokemon will be good enough to stop the good stage 1’s.

The Big HP Pokemon

As mentioned, there are a lot of big HP Pokemon coming out, so lets look at them, since they are not very afraid of being made active by Pokemon Catcher.

1. Virizion

Japanese Set- Battle Strength Deck English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 100 HP, 1 Retreat, Weak to Fire, Resistance to Water.

Attack 1- Giga Drain. For GC you do 30 and heal from Virizion the amount of damage that you do to the defending Pokemon.

Attack 2-Sacred Sword. For GGC you can do 100 damage, it can’t be used twice in a row.

2. Virizion

Japanese Set- Red Collection English Set- Probably the 3rd BW set

Basics- 100 HP, 1 retreat, weak to fire, resistant to water.

Attack 1- Dual Draw. For one energy you can draw 2 cards.

Attack 2-Leaf Slugger. For GC you can do 40 damage. If you used this attack last turn, the attack does 80.

3. Terrakion

Japanese Set- Battle Strength Deck English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 120 HP, 4 retreat, weakness to grass.

Attack 1- Boulder Crash. For FC it does 40 damage.

Attack 2-Sacred Sword. For FFC it does 100 damage and cannot be used next turn.

4. Terrakion

Japanese Set- Red Collection English Set- Probably 3rd BW set

Basics- 130 HP, 4 retreat, weakness to Grass.

Attack 1- Vengance. Does 30 damage for FC. Will do 90 damage if you lost a Pokemon last turn.

Attack 2- Land Crush. For FFC it does 90 damage.

5. Coballion

Japanese Set-Battle Strength Deck English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 110 HP, 2 retreat, weak to fire, resistant to Psychic.

Attack 1- Metal Sword. For MC you can do 30 damage and have your opponent switch the defending Pokemon.

Attack 2- Sacred Sword. For MMC you can do 100 damage, and you can’t use this attack twice in a row.

6. Coballion

Japanese Set- Red Collection English Set- Probably the 3rd BW set.

Basics- 120 HP, 2 retreat, weak to Fire, resistant to Psychic.

Attack 1- Energy Breath. For MC it does 20 damage times the number of energy attached to the defending.

Attack 2- For MMC you can do 80 damage and prevent the defending Pokemon from attacking next turn.

7. Landorus

Japanese Set-Red Collection English Set-?????? I would guess Emerging Powers, but it could be the 3rd Black and White Set.

Basics- 110 HP, 1 retreat, and weak to water.

Attack 1- Harvest. For 1 energy you can attach an energy card from the discard pile to this Pokemon.

Attack 2- Gaia Hammer. For FFC you can do 80 damage and spread 10 to everyone’s bench.

8. Volteros

Japanese Set- Black and White English Set-Emerging Powers

Basics- 110 HP, 1 retreat, weak to fighting

Attack 1- Recharge. For 1 energy you can search your deck for a lightning energy and attack it to this Pokemon.

Attack 2- Discharge. For LLC you can do 80 damage and discard an energy card.

9. Torneros

Japanese Set- Black and White English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 110 HP, 1 retreat, weak to lightning, resistant to fighting.

Attack 1- Energy Well. For 1 energy you move one energy from your bench to the active.

Attack 2-Gale Force. For CCC you can do 80 damage and move 1 energy card to the bench.

10. Kyurem

Japanese Set- Red Collection English Set- Probably the 3rd Black and White Set

Basics- 130 HP, 2 retreat, and weak to Metal.

Attack 1- Outrage. For CC it does 20 damage plus 10 for every damage counter on this Pokemon.

Attack 2- Glaciate. For WWC it spreads 30 damage to all of your Opponent’s Pokemon.

So those are the 10 big Pokemon that are coming out. Most of these Pokemon will not be easy to knock out by Yanmega or Donphan, so they will be great counters to Pokemon Catcher. The problem will be just coming up with other cards that can help make these cards attack faster. None of these Pokemon seem like great Pokemon right now, but I think given the right situation, these cards could help to make a good deck.

Sot there is a look at Pokemon Catcher. The card will sure change the format, maybe it will only change a little, or it may change it a lot. I hope I gave you some ideas of how you can plan to play against this card in the fall. Be sure to check on this website for more strategy articles about this impactful card. So, what do you guys think of this card. How will you play it and play against it? Please leave your thoughts in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Website

Pikkdogs Celebrates 100 Articles!

Pikkdogs July 14, 2011 8 Comments

Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here. Recently it came to my attention that I have passed the 100 article mark. I waited till now to celebrate it because I didn’t want to start this during our Nationals coverage. But now that Nationals is out of the way, we can party down.

To celebrate my 100th post, this article will be special. It contains information about a contest, short biography, an excerpt of my interview featured in the upcoming issue of The Rolling Stone, and some other fun stuff.

The Contest

Last winter we had a contest for the first anniversary of the site. That contest didn’t go so well, so I thought I would try it again. Perhaps the last contest was a little too difficult, so this contest will be easy. All you have to do is send an email to “pikkdogs@teamomar.com.” In this email we ask you to tell us something you like, or do not like about the website. Thats all you have to do. Everyone who submits a successful entry, will get their name placed into a drawing. When the contest is over, I will select two names at random. The winners will each receive one www.onehitko.com t-shirt, just like the ones that Team Omar wore at nationals. The shirt is an exclusive just for this contest, it features Zekrom on the front of the shirt, remember this is the only time we will be offering these.

Again, to win, all you have to do is send an email to “pikkdogs@teamomar.com” by midnight on Sunday July 24th. Unfortunately, because of shipping costs, we will not be able to send prizes outside of the contiguous United States. We also ask that you only send one email per person. Of cours, we reserve the right to change the contest at any time, although we do not see this situation happening.

The Bio

It recently came to my attention that when I never told you guys anything about me when I started writing on this website. So I figure after 100 articles, I can probably start the introduction.

I am a 24 year old who currently lives in the Detroit, Mi area, but was born and raised in a little town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called Wakefield. I recently graduated with a Masters in Library and Information Science, and currently work as a librarian in a Seminary in Detroit.

I started playing the game when it first came out. My friends Frank and Jerry picked up the game as well and all three of us learned how to play together. Frank and Jerry were okay players, however, I was not. They beat me in cards a couple times before they got tired of playing against me. I eventually lost touch with the game, because I didn’t really have the funds to play a TCG back then.

Then in Februrary of 2009 I was sitting at my apartment being bored. My roomate had just left for a card tournament, and I started thinking that I should start a hobby as well. At first I wanted to play Magic like them, but nasty memories of Frank and Jerry popped into my mind. So, I started thinking of other hobbies, while I was watching TV. I clicked through a couple channels until I found an old Pokemon movie on. At first I just watched the movie for a while, I started to think about the TCG and how fun it was. I decided to check if it was still around, it was.

I will leave any other biographical information for the Rolling Stone interview, but that is basically all you need to know about me. I am not a great player, my biggest accomplishments are finishing in the top 8 at Michigan States 2010 and finishing this season ranked 9th in the very competitive state of Michigan. I do not have the laundry list of accomplishments that other writers have, but I am an experienced writer who has a lot to offer beginners. I love writing on this site to help others and to connect with other players. It was nice seeing all you guys at Nats this year, and hope I can connect with more of you at other tournaments.

The Rolling Stone Excerpt

Below is an excerpt from my upcoming interview with the guys from Rolling Stone magazine.

Thanks for coming in for the interview Pikkdogs, what inspired you to write for www.onehitko.com?

Great to be here guys. Actually ever since I started playing this game I have been writing. I didn’t start writing for Ed and the guys until I was about a year into it, but I wrote from day one. I started with small stuff like “Card of the Day’s” on Pokegym. Then I honed my Pokemon skills by helping people with their decklists on www.pojo.biz. I responded to so many posts on there that it wasn’t even funny, it was time consuming but it helped me hone my skills. All of that writing led me to write my first article on www.sixprizes.com. Ed contacted me because of that article, and we could say the rest was history. But, if anyone out there wants to be a Pokemon writer I would say to start small on stuff like cards of the day, and work your way up.

You get a lot of negative feedback and some might say you don’t get the respect from a lot of other people in the community that other writers do. What is your response to that.

Well, I guess any respect I get has to be earned I don’t think I have earned respect on the top tables like people like J-Wittz has, so it just make sense that he is more respected than me. If you look at the 6P Underground they have writers with 100 times better credentials than I do. That part doesn’t bother me. As for the negative feedback, a lot of it is deserved, I’m not the best player or writer so it’s good to be put back into your place once in a while. But, a lot of the negative feedback is just haters hating, and you just gotta ignore that. I know I do good at what I do, that’s all that matters.

You have had a lot of epic matches in your 2 year career, what would you say was your best match.

Wow, there were so many good ones, that its hard to pick just one. I can say that some of my buddies like Robert Hall have given me great matches. One especially great one was against fellow writer Joel Howe and his SP deck at a BR this year. I played a Vilegar deck and narrowly took him down in the first round. But, I gotta say the match I am most proud of was my top 16 match at Michigan States 2010. I had barely squeaked into Top Cut as the 16 seed, and my real close friend Jona had skunked the competition on his way to an undefeated record. I came into the game just feeling lucky to be around when I saw Jona who was confident after his recent win at a Cities tournament. I didn’t think I would have a shot, but I was able to beat him in straight games to move on in the tournament.

What was your favorite deck to play?

I gotta say it was at that same State tournament when I played Flyperior. The object of the deck was to mill your opponent’s deck by discarding cards with Flygon X’s Poke-Body and Rhyperior DP’s Poke-Power. It was a real unique deck that was awfully fun to play. Whenever I locked someone with that deck I felt really powerful, and that’s a great feeling. I ended up having to put the deck away thanks to Garchomp C Lv. X, but still have the memories of striking fear into my opponents.

If you could change the game, how would you do it?

Great question. I think the game has gotten 100 times better in the past year, however there are always improvements to be made. It’s no secret that I don’t like having to play alongside Juniors, so getting rid of the kids would be nice, if a little too unrealistic. Aside from that, I don’t think this game is that broken right now. Pokemon Catcher scares me, but so have a lot of other things in the past, and the game has survived them. If I could change one rule, it would be about the first turn. Numerous people have suggested that the person who starts should be allowed to use Trainers and Supporters, but not attack. I think this one help balance out the luck factor a little. But, I think the system we have right now is good enough.

When it comes to the game, do you have any role models?

Well nothing comes to mind right away. I have learned a lot from a lot of people like Omar, my old roommate, and my opponents that I have played; but I wouldn’t say that they are my role model. I guess I try to model my performance on one of my sports heroes, Brett Favre. Favre was cocky and confident, but never over confident. He thought he could make every pass and used that confidence to make most of his throws. He didn’t think the play was over until the whistle was blown, and I think I try to play with the same spirit. For the most part, I don’t play meta decks, but still come to every tournament prepared to win it knowing that I will fight till my 6th prize to come out of the match victorious. I rarely get down on myself, and try to think that the game isn’t over until the judge pry’s me off of the chair. Also like Brett Favre, I like to text pictures of my genitals to women who work for the New York Jets…… okay so maybe he did not inspire me that much.

Thanks for the interview, before you go, can you tell us if you had any regrets about your Nationals performance and do you have a message for your readers/.

I didn’t win, so ya gotta regret that. Also, I still think in a way Reshiphlosion sure came out of nowhere, and man did it get to me. If I didn’t play so many of those, I’m pretty sure I would have topped no problem. I guess I didn’t test enough. Also, gotta thank my readers. If there wasn’t someone out there benefiting from these articles I would not be writing. Some of my fondest memories of the game were when someone took a deck I made up and posted here and won a Battle Roads, and when one of the readers said they got into the game partly because of me. I never thought I would have any effect on people, so I gotta give it up to the readers. Thanks for the interview guys.

You can pick up the full Rolling Stone article on news stands………ahhh…… probably never.

Top Ten Reasons Why You Lost U.S. Nationals

One last part of my 100th article celebration will be a top ten list. Yes I know I’m stealing it from Letterman and about half a dozen people who did it on Six Prizes, but I hope mine is…… well…..funny.

The Number 10 reason you did not win U.S. Nationals. Your Yanmega Prime got ran over by Omar’s Car.

Team Omar vs. Yanmega = One Hit KO

Don’t ya hate when that happens.

Number 9. Your team overslept because they stayed up too late watching re-runs of the Golden Girls.

Oh that Betty White.

Number 8. You were banned for tweeting pictures of your private parts to TPCI head David Schwimmer.

Ya don’t wanna do that.

Number 7. You were about to leave for U.S. nationals from your hotel, but you decided to stay with the waffle maker instead.

Mmmmm waffles.

Number 6. Your opponent was good.

Always tough.

Number 5. You were gonna play Magneboar, but you had to play Volbeat/Illumisile because your little brother traded your deck for a poodle.

I do like Poodles

The Number 4 reason that you didn’t win U.S. Nationals. They rotated Uxie.

Yeah, thats a problem.

Number 3. You wanted to play Primetime, but your Yanmega’s were abused by a Magnemite as Yanmas, and were totally afraid of its own bench.

Number 2. Lindsay Lohan walked away with both halves of your RDL.

Hey come back!!!

And the Number 1 reason why you didn’t win U.S. nationals. You didn’t make it to your top 64 match because you couldn’t let that big Pikachu that was walking around beat you at a league game.

Tepig maybe, but not Pikachu.

There you go. I hoped you liked this 100th article celebration. Ya probably learned a little about me, finally, and I hope ya laughed a little at the top 10 list. I wish you all good luck on the contest, and hope a lot of you guys choose to enter. Check back next time, same bat time, same bat channel, for a regular article.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

National Championships

What We Learned From 2011 U.S. Nationals

Pikkdogs July 13, 2011 11 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a wrap-up of 2011 U.S. Natioanals.

Now since the card Pokemon Catcher will come out in the Emerging Powers set, the format will totally change, but that is after Worlds, so we can still have a small discussion of this format. I myself will not be headed to San Diego for worlds, but since anyone of our readers can attempt to grind in the day before the event, I will cover the decks as if I were.

This article will mainly focus on what the format is currently like, and what decks are considered tier 1 or 2.

The Format

This first part of the article will address what I think are myths about a great format. Don’t believe all you hear about the format. A lot of people are saying that this format stinks because it is all luck based. While I admit that luck is always involved in this game, I say that it is no different than the previous few seasons. They say that the winner of the game is based on who starts first and how well your flips go on Baby Pokemon and Pokemon Reversal.

The response to the first statement is that, isn’t that what we all said last season about going 2nd. Last year, everyone said that the game was based on who went 2nd, because they could first play a supporter, they had the big advantage. Also in the MD-BW format, people said that the game was at a worse state than ever before because of Sableye and the ability that it had to go first. Having an advantage on the coin flip is nothing new to Pokemon. It has been there ever since day 1, it is no worse now than it has ever been. People who are complaining now are mostly SP players who are still mourning over the rotation. For the most part, this comment on the game is just an excuse.

The response to the second comment is that this is not a comment on the format, but on the deck the player had chosen. So you are getting tired of getting your Cleffa or Tyrogue donked, so why do you keep playing Cleffa? Sure Cleffa gives you an extra card over Mananphy, but if it gets you donked on a somewhat consistent basis, aren’t you the foolish one to play it? The same goes with Pokemon Reversal, it is a good card, but it is a very flippy card. If you average about 40% on your reversals’s, well thats about average. You cannot play a flippy deck, and then complain that the deck is too flippy. It’s a-kin to not liking Mexican food but going to a Taco Bell and then complaining to the staff that the restaurant does not have any food you like. There are good decks out there that are not flippy, if you play a flippy deck it is your own choice, so don’t complain when things don’t go your way.

If you are stating that the format is lucked based, than the results of the tournament sure are proving you wrong. Sure a lot of the good players did not top cut, but a lot of them did top cut, that is a reflection of a well balanced format. If you think Kyle Sucevich got to the finals based on luck, well then he must have been awfully lucky to get first and third in the past 2 U.S. tournaments as well. There were still a lot of great players in the top cut, so just because some good players didn’t make it, doesn’t mean that the entire format is luck based.

These comments are dragging down the perceptions of a format that I think is really good and balanced. One thing is for sure, it is a lot more balanced than when SP was in the format. Now, more than 1 deck can win. It is nice to be able to see about 3-4 deck archetypes do well. This format gives us fresh new ideas and does not rely on the luck of what tech you included into your cookie cutter SP deck.

The format proved to reward hard work. Guys like Team Warp Point’s Evan Baker spent a lot of time polishing up his decklist, and was rewarded with a top 16 finish. Yes he did play a meta deck, Reshiboar, but he included rogue things like a 2-2 Rayquaza/Deoxys Legend, 3-3 Ninetails HGSS, 4 Cheerleaders Cheer, and 3 Fisherman. I know Evan did not take a cookie cutter list, play it for a couple hours, and come up with something like 4 Cheerleaders Cheer. It took a long time to refine a deck like that and get it to where he wanted it. I liked a format that rewards hard work and does not reward someone who got lucky on changing their net decked SP list to include something like 2 Toxicroak G promo’s. This just shows you that if you plan on going to World’s and you wanna do well, you can, just practice a lot.

Another thing about this format is that weakness is a big factor. Yes, with a good consistent deck you can still beat any deck with any other deck. However, if both players setup at the same time, weakness will come into play most of the time. Players must be aware that Pokemon who are water, fire, fighting, electric, and grass (and those weak to each of these types) must becareful of weakness. Gone are the days of +30, all weaknesses (except the Pikachu promo) are x2, and can make all the difference. So when making a deck choice, make sure to take weakness into effect.

Overall, I like how this format treats rogue decks. One bad thing about rogue decks is that there are basically 5 sets in the current format, which means that there are not a lot of rogue choices. But in this format a meta deck can be turned rogue by just a couple cards. Yes Donchamp is a meta deck, but it can be made rogue by taking the Machamps out and putting in cards like Weavile Ul and Slowking Cl. The word variants is very key in this format. You can have 10 Donphan decks, and have each of them be very different. So when you are testing, make sure you take this fact into consideration.

Nationals also proved that there are certain Pokemon to watch for. Yanmega Prime appeared in over half of the top 16 decks, and all of the top 4 decks. Every deck must be ready for Yanmega, because it is a card that is played by the best and worst players. Players should be ready for Magnezone Prime. It can OHKO any Pokemon for the right amount of energy. The current most popular version is with Yanmega, which does not rely on as much energy as Reshiboar, but relies on more disruption. Of course Reshiram and Zekrom are things to look out for. Reshiram has proved to be effective with either Emboar or Typhlosion. Each deck is different, so make sure to test against both. Donphan is the last card to watch out for. It is hard to OHKO and is a real problem for Magnezone and Zekrom, make sure you have some kind of plan for Donphan. Those are the main Pokemon to watch out for, other Pokemon like Blastoise, Cincinno, Vileplume, Muk, Spinorak, Mew Prime, Tyranitar Prime, and Samurott did see their fair share of action at Nats; so make sure you are aware of them as well. This brings us into an analysis of the top decks.

The Top Decks

Here is a list of the top 16 decks at U.S. Nationals.

Donphan/Zoroark/Yanmega
Kingdra/Yanmega (3)
Magneboar
Reshiphlosion
Yanmega/Mangezone (5)
Yanmega/Zoroark/Crobat/Cincinno
Reshiboar
The real Primetime
Vileplume/Yanmega/Jumpluff/Muk
Tyranitar/Serperior
Dophan/Yanmega/Zekrom/Reshiram

We now can say there are a couple top decks. While you can find skeleton lists of all of these decks online, nationals proved that the way you polish a list make all the difference in the world. An 8-1 Reshiboar is probably just 5-7 cards away from a 2-7 Reshiboar. Just running a top deck doesn’t cut it, the deck must be polished. Here is a run down of the decks (in no particular order) that can be seen as top tier.

Yanmega/Magnezone

Also known as Primetime, this deck is very close to Magneboar, but is different. It is more disruptive than Magneboar and is more cold and calculating. It’s first big tournament was Canadian Nationals and was conceived shortly before. Yanmega is a decent counter to Donphan and Machamp, which works well to cover Mangezone’s weakness. Yanmega is there to disrupt and take easy prizes on Baby Pokemon, and to snipe around sleeping babies. Magnezone can come in and take care of the heavy hitters. It is known as one of the most consistent and best decks in the format.

Kingdra/Yanmega

This deck to me is really intriguing, and a lot of people have not explored it yet. Louis from Team Omar took this deck into top cut at U.S. Nationals, and probably should have gone a couple rounds into it, had he not screwed up his decklist. This deck has not been played a lot, but has shown a lot of promise. The ability to place damage counters with Kingdra’s “Spray Splash”, and then Snipe with Yanmega’s “Linear Attack” is a great combo. Its disruptive elements make sure that nobody on your opponent’s bench is safe. I think this could be a great deck for worlds.

Magneboar

I think this was one of the most played decks at U.S. nationals. Of course this deck uses Emboar to attach energies, and the Mangezone to draw and then lost zone those energies to get OHKOs. It is a fast deck once it sets up, and can hit for a lot. It seems that players of this deck at U.S. Nationals did not really perfect their lists very well, because for the amount of players there were, there were not a lot of decks that did great. Also, a lot of players are leaving this deck for Primetime. But it is such a force that everyone should be ready for it.

Reshiboar

Reshiboar has been a standard deck since the release of Black and White. A lot of people took cookie cutter Reshiboar decks to nationals and did not do very well. Other people took some polished decklists and made topcut. Although its hard to point out directly what a great Reshiboar deck is, it can be a great deck. It is consistent and can do a lot of damage. I think worlds players will have to do a lot to beat a good Reshiboar deck.

Reshiphlosion

Kind of like Prime Time, this deck kind of came out of no where right before nationals. If it gets 2 Typhlosions and a Ninetails by turn 2 it can be almost unbeatable. The draw power, energy attachment, and disruption of this deck is almost unparalleled. It can be a little slow, but it can be a very hard deck to match up against. If you can get a really polished list, you can do a lot of damage with this deck and get really far. Make sure to test this matchup, don’t just test Reshiboar and call it a day.

ZPS (some lists may include Yanmega)

Zekrom was a Pokemon that people have been making decks out of since even before the card was released. It is a fast and consistent deck that can be played in many forms. It did not have a lot of late success at U.S. nationals, but that fact is negated by its win north of the border.

Some decks focus on the first turn win, while others focus on winning a long game, while still others use Yanmega for disruption and a secondary attacker. The deck is versatile, powerful, and really is something to watch out for.

Donphan Variants

This Category includes a long list of Donphan decks that include Pokemon like: Weavile, Samurott, Machamp Prime, Yanmega Prime etc … . Which variant you are playing makes all the differnce in the world. Some variants rely on disruption, while others focus on heavy hitting, others focus on hitting for weakness, while still others focus on sniping. The deck is very versatile and each version is tough to play against. It has solidified itself as a deck archetype that will be around for a long while, and is something to be contended with.

So thats all I have to say about nats. This leaves us looking towards worlds, and then to Pokemon Catcher. I hope this article gives you a good look at the metagame, and a little look at the future. Please leave your thoughts on the format.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

National Championships

Reflections On My Pokemon Nationals 2011

Ed July 11, 2011 5 Comments

I’m back, and I’ve had some time to reflect. The lesson is test, and test against all the decks you think will be tier 1. In retrospect, I only did one of those things. Early on, I decided to build a Reshiram/Emboar deck. I did it in my own style, though. I wanted to see if I could build it without any of the extra baggage I thought went along with most builds. My goal was to have the deck set up and then Blue Flare six times for 6 One Hit KO’s. It could definitely do that.

I played the deck a bunch, and it did well. There were issues with it, but they weren’t insurmountable. I had problems when I faced larger Pokemon (that I couldn’t one shot), so I put in Reversals and more Plus Power to try to get strategic KOs when necessary. With the changes made to accommodate these inclusions, the deck became unreliable and very inconsistent. I put it back the way it was and decided to just run it without the Pokemon Reversal (but still had 1 Circulator).

I went on vacation just before Nationals, and I even played for a bit one day at league in Rapid City. I did very well in my matches there, so I thought things were going well. I also had built a ZPS/Yanmega deck that I had a friend play against me several times. This was actually a good deck (even though my quick build of it was suboptimal). The problem here was that Reshiram has a good matchup against Zekrom. It can usually OHKO all of the Pokemon in ZPS (including Yanmega in this case). As it happened, each time, my wins were reinforcing bad behavior.
Read More

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What We Learned From 2011 U.S. Nationals

Reflections On My Pokemon Nationals 2011

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