2011

OneHitKO.com Challenge: Ember Spark

In an attempt to “spark” your interest, I’m going to announce the preconstructed theme deck I plan to add to the card pool. My daughter, Ava, has offered to let us use her Ember Spark deck. Please understand that I do not want to base a deck around this. It’s not meant to be a basis for the deck I play.

Please don’t look at this and think, “He needs this Fire/Lightning Pokemon to go with that list.” If you want to send fire/lightning types, great, however I’d rather just trash all these Pokemon listed here and build something entirely from what you provide. I also need to make sure I have a tourney legal deck, and that’s the reason I’m adding this theme deck to the card pool. I have no allegiance to red or yellow at this point. It’s ultimately the donation-based card pool that will dictate which Pokemon will make the cut. If you want to help out with that send an email to challenge@onehitko.com or fill out the form over here.

When I discuss these cards in the OneHitKO.com Challenge, I will have a different perspective than I’d normally use for discussing tournament-viable cards. One main difference is that, in a tourney-ready deck, you would not choose a card that had an obvious “better.” For example, you wouldn’t play Pokemon Reversal over Pokemon Catcher. Catcher is clearly better. Most similar cards are less obvious, but players get into a consensus leader sort of mentality. For example, for draw supporters, most people would use PONT or Juniper over Bianca.

Who Wouldn't Pick Peyton? But Eli's not bad.
The point is that this does not make Reversal, Bianca, or any other cards with a better “bigger brother” bad cards. It just means that there’s generally a better choice available.

Well, when there’s not a better choice available, then the “not bad” choice becomes, well, not bad. It may even the best available.

That’s the way I will have to evaluate the cards in the OneHitKO.com Challenge. No longer are cards rated against the overall modified-legal pool. They’ll have to be evaluated on their general usefulness. Once the card pool is further along, then the cards can be weighed against each other.

So, let’s look at the cards in the “Ember Spark” deck. I can’t rightfully compare these against each other, but I can comment on their general usefulness in a yet-to-be-built deck.

Here’s the card list.
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An Introduction to Cities 2011-2012.

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs and his extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro here with a short article about this years Cities tournaments.  It seems like I just got back from Regionals, but yet Cities will be starting this week!  Besides having no time to prepare for Cities, there are new cards in the format.  So let’s slow things down a little bit and look at what’s going on in the format.

Before we get going, I should announce that onehitko.com has a new sponsor, www.propokemon.com.

Someone actually is giving you money to promote their site? 

It appears that way.

So you’re like a whore now, you pimp yourself out for money? 

I thought we already established that.

Oh yeah, forgot about that.  I smell a part of the article where you are about to sell your soul to the man and give them a cheesy commercial, so go ahead. 

Alright.  www.propokemon.com Is a great place to get deck lists and different tricks and tips for the format.  They always have some cool free articles, but, they are now changing the game by offering you premium articles from the best players on a  per article basis.  So you no longer have to subscribe with a monthly fee to every premium article, you can just pick and choose the ones you want for a very low fee.

Sounds smart to me.  Plus. people get to read articles from someone who is actually good.

That always helps.  So make sure to go over there and check out the site, and then check back for all the latest strategies.  Well there Pedro, we did the commercial.

Did a little bit of you die inside?

Yes.  Though nothing against propokemon, I actually do love the site and I read articles there all the time.  I’m just not used to selling out to the man.  I kinda feel dirty.

Well, I could say something about the “dirty part”, but our sponsors may not like it. 

Do you mean we have to watch our language now?  No more penis jokes?

No. Well, maybe just a few. 

Can I tell the story about a man from Nantucket?

That might be going too far.  Plus we are going way off topic, just get on to talking about Cities. 

Cities Overview. 

Okay, let’s talk about Cities by revisiting what happened at Regionals. Here are the breakdown of how many decks made it to the top 4:

  • Reshiram-8
  • Primetime-7 
  • Zekrom-5
  • Stage 1 Variants-4
  • The Truth-2

So that kind of gives us a look at the format.  Reshiram, Zekrom, and Primetime seem to be the best around.  With Stage 1 and a couple other decks peeking their heads in and doing a decent job.  So with those three decks in mind, let’s continue by looking at what Noble Victories adds us.

Changes from Noble Victories

We will begin our look at NV by listing the popular cards from that set, and then state what decks they will help or hurt.

  • Kyurem– Kyurem may or may not be decent in a deck of its own, but will see a lot of play in other decks.  Expect Donphan and Dragons, Zekrom, The Truth (Ross Deck), and Gothitelle to play this card to counter Donphan Prime and Reshiram.  Kyurem being played will hurt Donphan and Dragons, and could make it unplayable if it gets a lot of play.  It will also hurt Reshiram decks, but it certainly won’t kill the deck, just make games closer.
  • Vanilluxe/Chandelure– You might see some play of these Pokemon in Ross Decks.  The play won’t be significant nationwide, but very well could be in your local metagame.
  •   Durant– Watch out for the milling Durant.  Of course it won’t be splashable in any deck, and won’t be a top tier deck itself.  But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look out for it.  Players of Stage 1 decks might wanna tech in a card like Victini #15, because they will have a hard time doing enough damage to consistently knock out Durant without a fire Pokemon.
  • The Musketter Trio– Well, the duo anyway, nobody will be playing Virizion.  The other two might see some play in stage 1 tool box decks.  Cobalion might see even see some play in its own deck.  Terrakion could be a decent Donphan replacement in a stage 1 deck for people who are worried about Donphan’s water weakness.  Cobalion could see its own deck as it has the “Iron Breaker” attack which does not let your opponent attack next turn.  Perhaps it could be paired with Electrode Prime.
  • Rocky Helmet– I am not really sold on this card, but expect to see a little of it anyway.  It doesn’t really seem to benefit one deck, so expect it everywhere, expect in Ross Deck and Mewlock.
  • N– I also am not sold on how N impacts the format.  I think it is a good card, but it is not a great card.  Regardless of what I think of it, it will be played simply because it is a cool card.  Remember when Seeker came out in Triumphant?  Everybody played that for a couple of months, before we realized that it’s crap.  The same might happen with N, but that doesn’t matter because the fact is that people will play N.  As for impacting individual decks, it will give a huge lategame advantage to Magnezone Prime decks.  Since they can use “Magnetic Draw” to recover from a late game N, they will have a huge advantage if N gets as much play as expected.  It doesn’t really seem to effect the other good decks in the format, just the rogue ones like Lost World and Durant.
  • Eviolite- I have saved the best for last.  Eviolite will make a huge impact on Cities.  It will be used by any Pokemon that is basic.  So that means Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Tornadus, Durant, Druddigon, and others will receieve a huge boost.  This gives basic decks a huge advantage over others.  It may not impact Primtime too much.  Yes it will make Yanmega much less useful, but 150-20 is still 130 and a knockout for Magnezone Prime’s “Lost Burn” attack.  Look for basic decks to reach new heights at cities. 

Well that’s it for the list.  After all that, I think we can say that Zekrom should be the winner of the Noble Victories release.  Although Reshiram also gains from the release of Eviolite, Zekrom does not have to worry about Kyurem “Outraging” for weakness.  Although saying that, the balance beam won’t fall too much towards Zekrom, Primetime and Reshiram still have a great shot.  And Gothitelle and Ross Deck will still be around.  So the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Tips for Cities

Cities is always my least favorite tournament season.  They usually are scheduled during holidays or during big snow storms.  Yet, people might be able to get out to a couple of them, so let’s look at some tips and tricks for winning Cities.

  1. It’s a small tournament, so your decks can be riskier.  At regionals you needed a deck that could win 10 times in a row, not so here.  Just winning 5-6 times might be enough to win.  So you can try running riskier decks like Sharpedo, and hope you get lucky.  Though consistency is never a good thing to lose, you might need to take a risk to get a win.
  2. I’m liking Magnezone.  Even though Eviolite makes basic decks a lot better, Magnezone is still a good card.  The reason I like it now more than ever is because of N.  A lot of people will be playing it and Magnezone has a built in N recovery system.  “Magnetic Draw” will help you make you recover from an N better than any other deck.
  3. Basics are the safest bet.  With Eviolite it is impossible to go wrong by choosing Reshiram and Zekrom decks.  Although you may not be lucky enough to win, you should do well with these decks.  Just be aware that you will see more rogue out there than usual, so be prepared.

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

Well, today is Black Friday.  Have you done your holiday shopping Pikkdogs?

Oh of course, I’ve been spending all that www.propokemon.com money.  I’ve got so many commercials going I’m like the Shamwow guy of Pokemon.

So you’re rolling in the cash?

Well, I’m supposed to say so.  But I’m actually still the same homeless guy that Ed picked off the street and lured into writing for the promise of chicken.

So you’re lying to me and you didn’t do any Christmas shopping?

Not really, I’m still waiting for the chicken from Ed. Did you do any Black Friday shopping?

Well, I wouldn’t call it shopping.  I just went to a busy shop and waited for a popular item to be almost gone, and then when someone picks up the last item I would punch them. 

That’s not very nice.

No, but its fun.  Good night everybody. 

Deck Analysis and Testing Results: The Durantula

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a deck analysis.  I am only joined by my extra-dimesnionary sidekick, Pedro.

Before we begin the article Pikkdogs, I gotta stop you and wish you a 25th Birthday. 

Well, Thank You Pedro.

Oh you’re welcome, we gotta celebrate your birthday, 25 years is a big milestone for a guy as big as you.

You mean penis wise?

No, I don’t.  I mean a 300 Lb guy doesn’t get too many birthdays, we could be looking at the halfway point for you. 

Well, Thank You Pedro I appreciate the care you show.

You’re welcome, now finish up the article before your heart fails. 

Strategy

The Durant deck has one main Pokemon, any one care to guess?

Jigglypuff?
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Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Pachirisu Cl, Electrode Prime, and Eviolite

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with another Pikk Three article for you. This Pikk Three article will be a normal article, but it will be about cards that will be impactful at Cities.  Of course, today I am joined by my extra-dimensionary sidekick, Pedro. Pedro, what’s going on today? .

Hey Pikkdogs, well today I don’t have any news for you but I can bring you what happened this day in history.  On this day, November 18, 1886, former U.S. President Chester Alan Arthur died of Bright’s disease. 

Sounds like a cheery way to die.

It does, but I doubt it was that fun.  Say Pikkdogs, Arthur was one of our more obscure Presidents, who is your favorite obscure President?

I guess I would say William Howard Taft.  As a fat guy, I gotta support my fellow portly gentlemen.

Did you know he was so fat that he got stuck in his bath tub? 

I did.

You’re over 300 pounds, have you gotten stuck in your bathtub yet?

I can’t say that I have.  I would think it would be hard to get stuck in the bathtub, since you can always water yourself down and get your fat moist enough to slip out.

This is all getting very disguisting.  Can we just stop talking about your fat and get onto the article?

Okay.

The Staple-Pachirisu Call of Legends

This cities themed Pikk Three will start with a card that has been great since Nationals, it is Pachirisu Cl.

Description– Pachirisu is a 60 HP basic lightning Pokemon from Call of Legends, it has a fighting weakness, a metal resistance, and a one retreat cost.  Its one attack, “Shocking Bolt”, is good for an early game donk, it does 50 damage for LL.  The reason why Pachirisu is good is because of the “Self Regeneration” Poke-Power.  When you play Pachirisu down, you are allowed to attach up to 2 energies to Pachirisu.

Analysis– When Pachirisu was first released we knew it was going to be good at something, we just didn’t know what.  We knew that anything that can bring 2 energies into play is good, but there really was no need for it.  Remember this was still the SP format.  People were talking about using him with Raichu Prime, which was a good use, but Raichu never became playable.  So it stayed into our binders until around Nationals when we paired it with Zekrom.  Zekrom was a good deck but it got tossed around  by Donphan Prime a lot.  Then Tornadus came out and Donphan wasn’t as big of a threat.  So this means that Zekrom and Pachirisu became one of the better decks and cards in the format.

Let’s look at the stats.  60 HP is very low, so it is a Pokemon Catcher prize waiting to happen.  The fighting weakness would be bad, but its HP is so low that it doesn’t really matter.  It is always nice to have a resistance, but nobody plays Metal Pokemon right now.  The 1 retreat cost is great, sure free would be nice, but we can’t always get free things.

Unless you have boobs.

I have man boobs, do I get anything free for that.

Yes, heart disease. 

Oh, that’s not good.  Anyway, let’s talk about the attack next.  Usually 50 damage for 2 and a 2 discard (or Lost Zone) is not good, but this is different.  Because Pachi can bring 2 energies onto the field on the first turn easily, his first attack is actually good.  You should be able to donk almost any basic Pokemon with a Plus Power including but not limited to: Cleffa, Gothita, Reuniclus, Tepig, Cyndaquil, Tornadus, Yanma, Zorua, and Mincinno.  The attack is really good early game, but almost useless later in the game.

And that will bring us to the reason we are all here, “Self Regeneration.”  Being able to add an extra 2 energies onto the field out of nowhere is great.  They can be moved over to another attack with Shaymin Ud, moved with a Poke-Power such as Raichu Prime, or be used on Pachirisu with an attack like that of Magnezone Prime’s “Lost Burn.”  There are not many basic Pokemon out there that can provide a great energy accelration like that, so Pachirisu is very useful.

I kind of mentioned it already, but Pachirisu is mostly used in decks like Zekrom and Magnezone.  He is a staple in most decks that feature these Pokemon as their main attacker.  Pachirisu is also vital in these decks, they couldn’t do it without him.  Pachirisu is why Zekrom is the best deck around.

Rating– 8/10- Energy acceleration and 2 great decks to use them in is great.  Sure it is a free Pokemon Catcher prize, but not everything is perfect-

Except Stacey Keibler.

Of course, nobody is perfect except Stacey Keibler.  Pachirisu is a great card and has a great use in the format.  No wonder that most people sell it for 30 bucks, it is that good.

I bet it was hard finding a picture of Stacey Keibler to use?

Well it took me like a half an hour, because I was actually being kid friendly for once and trying to get one where she is covered up.

Where’s the fun in that?

I think the fun is looking at all the ones that are not covered up first.

Gotcha. 

The Underdog-Electrode Prime

The next card will be a card that you will probably see very often in a deck with Cobalion and possibly other BBP (BIg Basic Pokemon), Electrode Prime.  Electrode Prime was always the worst rare in a set of great Primes.  Whenever someone opened a Triumphant pack they dreamed of pulling a Magnezone Prime, Yanmega Prime, or Mew Prime; and they almost ripped the card up when they instead saw an Electrode Prime.  Let’s look at the card in this format to see if anything has changed.

Description– Electrode is a 90 HP stage 1 electric Pokemon with a fighting weakness, a metal resistance, and a one retreat cost.  He has on attack called “Gigashock”.  For LC it does 30 damage and snipes twice for 10.  But the stats of Electrode are not as important as the Poke-Power, “Energymite.”

This Poke-Power has four steps.  First you reveal the top 7 cards of your deck.  Next, you attach any energy cards you find there to any Pokemon you have in play in any way you like.  Then,  you discard the non-energy cards that you revealed.  Finally, you put Electrode in the discard pile and your opponent takes a prize.    Quite an interesting Pokemon, its stats are bad; has a crappy attack, you have to discard a lot of cards from your own deck, and you have to give up a prize.  But, yet a lot of people are seriously thinking of playing this card in a tournament.    Let’s look a little deeper to see if these people are crazy or not.

Analysis– Well, as mentioned the stats are very crappy.  If it ever sees the field on your opponents turn it will almost always be a prize for your opponent with Pokemon Catcher.  The attack is perhaps the worst that has ever appeared on a super rare.  But yet, all of this doesn’t matter because Electrode will probably be knocked out a couple seconds after he is evolved.

Electrode isn’t used to attack or to wall, it is used for energy acceleration.  If you have a really focused deck Electrode can be a great way of loading a lot of energies on one attacker very quickly.  There are of course a lot of positives and negatives of this Pokemon.

On the plus side there is not really anyone who can do what he can.  Electrode can load a lot of any type of energies on any Pokemon.  He also works well with a lot of good Pokemon who have a lot of potential, but have a high energy cost.  Pokemon like Cobalion and Terrakion could be really good, but Electrode is needed to get them going by turn 2.  Even though Electrode forces you to give a lot of things up, the energy acceleration he provides is amazing and unmatched.

However there are a lot of things on the negative side.  The first thing is that you need a very focused deck for Electrode is to work.  He is not a splashable Pokemon.  You can’t just throw him into a deck with a stage 2 and a stage 1 and expect him to work.  You will be running a lot of cards and the cards you discard with “Energymite” will be crippling to your deck.  Electrode can only consistently work with a basic Pokemon or a stage 1.  Another negative thing about Electrode is that you will have a hard time winning a prize race with him in your deck.  Don’t expect to run Electrode and then be able to go blow for blow with another deck.  Because he gets knocked out and you give your opponent a prize, you will need to run a deck that doesn’t give your opponent a chance to go toe to toe with you.  Audino donk works because it hits the opponent before he or she can really setup.  Cobalion will probably work because “Iron Breaker” will not allow your opponent to attack next turn.  So Electrode doesn’t work with every deck, but when it does have a place in the deck I think that it can work.

Rating8/10– I expect big things for Electrode in the coming months, it should go from obscurity to the top tables.  Expect Audino, Cobalion, and Kyurem to be a lot better for it.

The Young Gun- Eviolite. 

The final card today will be a trainer from Noble Victories that should single the reign of the BBP, Eviolite.

Description– – Eviolite is a new card from Noble Victories that is ready to break the format.  It is a Pokemon Tool card that can be attached to any basic Pokemon.  When it is attached it reduces any damage done from an opponent’s attack by 20.  So it basically makes every basic Pokemon like Donphan Prime.

Analysis

Ever since Black and White came out we have been moving to the era of Big Basic Pokemon.  You don’t need to evolve any more to do a lot of damage from a high HP Pokemon.  It is no longer just Reshiram and Zekrom; Kyurem, Coballion NV, and Terrakion NV are all playable.  Eviolite only makes them better.

The best use for Eviolite is probably on the energy trio (Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem).  This is because they have the “Outrage” attack.  “Outrage” makes these Pokemon very powerful for only one Double Colorless Energy.  “Outrage” is best used when these Pokemon take a big hit and are still alive and kicking, ready to return that big hit.  Eviolite will almost make sure that no Pokemon (without using weakness) can OHKO one of the energy trio.

Even if you are not playing one of the energy trio, Eviolite will still be very valuable to the BBP.  Terrakion NV has 130 HP and is weak to grass, it will be very very hard for your opponent to match up against a Terrakion that gets a lot of energy on him fast.  Cobalion EP has 120 HP and can utilize Special Metal energies.  Getting an OHKO on Cobalion with Special Metals and Eviolites will be very hard indeed.

I think the sky is the limit for Eviolite.  It will help make sure that the age of BBP will never go away as long as it is around.  I think the release of Eviolite with the BBP can be compared to the release of Double Colorless Energy with Garchomp C Lv. X.  It could be that dominate.

Rating–  9/10– We are in the age of BBP and I don’t know if anything will be able to consistently beat the BBP.

Well, that’s all I got say, I guess we can wrap this article up.  Say Pedro, I notice you again missed an article early in the week, what happened this time?

I kind of got into some legal trouble, I can’t really talk about it right now. 

Legal trouble like domestic violence? or legal trouble like insurance fraud?

I got arrested for assault with a battery.

Don’t you mean assault and battery?

No, I hit somebody with a Duracell.

Oh I see, that’s not really nice of you.  Assault with a battery is a new low, although “Hooker Urn” might have been lower.

I liked the Hooker Urn joke.

Of course, what’s not to like about a hooker joke.  Anyway, we gotta go before Ed notices that we said “hooker” a bunch of times.  Have a good night.

 

 

 

OneHitKO.com Challenge: The Plan

Pokemon ReversalThe Motivation: Okay, so maybe announcing the idea without discussing the plan wasn’t the best. I know that some people are very skeptical, but I’m hoping that you stick with me and hear me out. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you might want to read the OneHitKO.com Challenge: Announcement before continuing.

Before I go further, let me dispel some obvious (as in I understand why you’d make them) misunderstandings. I’m not expecting people to build me a top-tier deck. I’m not doing this to save time, and I’m definitely not doing this to save money. I’m doing this as an experiment to build community around something new that I hope will be exciting and enjoyable for all participants.

I keep using the word “experiment,” because I feel very unsure about all of this. At times, I’m very excited about trying something new and crazy. At other times, like now, I feel fairly down, because I wonder if anyone will care to become part of this thing I’m hoping we can create together.

The main problem is that it’s a crazy idea, and I don’t know anything like this that has been attempted before. I’m hoping that makes it unique and intriguing, but only time will tell. I really want to find people that are willing to help me create something new and build a community that works together to make something out of nothing. I hope that is enough motivation for some to take the initial leap. Then maybe others will see how it’s working and join in later.
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OneHitKO.com Challenge: Announcement

Prologue: This is not a charity. This is a community-building experiment. I have plenty of cards, and I’m not poor. I’m not begging for handouts. I’m hoping that we can team up and work together to build something new and exciting.

Me, Pedro (dressed as Pikachu), and Pikkdogs

Intro: I woke up one Saturday morning a few weeks back, and instead of getting out of bed right away, I had an unusual chance to hang out and be lazy for a bit.  While I was slowly waking up, I had an idea.  I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and I think it’s finally time to start implementing it.  I’m excited to try it.  Once you get what’s going on, I hope you will be too, because it heavily involves you.

Before we get into the idea itself, I want to give a bit of background.  I feel that this is important to add credibility to my part in all of this, so here’s a quick overview of my Pokemon experience.

Background: When the game first came out, I got into it quite a bit.  I mainly just played at one shop named Mirkwood, but I attended many of the weekly tournaments there.  I also helped run their Pokemon league, and I was appointed as the gym trainer for a while.  Well, that lasted until just after Fossil came out.  I won some tourneys back then, but I kinda feel like they don’t count.

I re-entered the game around this time 2 years ago.  I started with the City Championships, attended 4 in the area, and didn’t do particularly well.  Leading up to States, I decided to build a real top-tier deck.  At that tourney, my first States, I dropped after Swiss.  I didn’t really think much of dropping, as Pokemon wasn’t a huge thing to me at the time.  In retrospect, it seems a bit crazy.  Had I stayed, I was 5th going into top cut. Read More

Pikkdogs Great Lakes Regionals Report.

A big hello to all you OHKOERS out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a tournament report from the 2011 Fall Great Lakes Regionals.  Just a note for you guys, we have been having a lot technical problems with our server lately.  So we apologize for that stuff, Ed is trying to figure out what the problem is and if it will be fixed soon.  We ask that you bear with us with the delays, this article was delayed two days, so we are sorry for the delays.

Intro

                After Zekrom ended the Battle Road season very strong, I was not very excited about the format.  So I did not get a lot of practice in, in fact, I did not decide on my deck choice until about half an hour before the tournament started.  So when I decided to go to regionals, I knew very well that I was never going to cut.  The night before, I decided to make a Gothitelle deck because I thought it would be fun to play.  I didn’t get much chance to play-test it, but the testing I did do did not turn out well.  I could set Gothitelle up, but then my deck would stall.  So I needed to switch to something else or fix Gothitelle.  Before the tournament started, I decided to go back to my Donphan and Dragons deck, which is more of a Donphan/Tornadus/Zekrom deck.  If you guys want a list you can request one in the comment box.

I decided to go to the regionals in Fort Wayne, Indiana with my buddy and fellow onehitko writer, Mark.  I woke up early at 4:30 A.M. and warmed up some rolls for breakfast.  Then I watched a little tv and went to pick up Mark.  We ended up making very good time and made it to Fort Wayne in less than 3 hours.  The tournament ended up having about 220 masters, including people from Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and the magical land of Canada.  It was really nice to see most of my friends from the area.  Almost all of my Team Warp Point buddies were there, James and the Fort Wayne players showed up to defend their turf, and my buddy Andy drove with a bunch of some of the cool Minnesota players; it was nice seeing all of those guys again.  I also got to meet some new people, I finally got to meet The Top Cut’s Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich.  I didn’t get to talk to him too much, but he seemed like a nice guy and it was nice to finally meet him in person.

Another cool part of the day was that I decided to where my Halloween costume.  I had decided to dress up as my buddy Frank S. for Halloween night at The two Franksthe league that Team Warp Point runs.  But, I was not able to make it to the event, so I wore it to regionals.  Frank always wears his Sonic shirt but for some reason he decided to make me mad and wear something else, oh well, at least the hat and the snake were right.  You can see the pictures to the right.  Anyway, that is enough distractions for the moment, let’s go to the tourney report.

Tournament Report

Round 1 against Reshiboar

`               My first round was against a new comer from Michigan with the last name of Moncreif.  I loved that because I am a big fan of the play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” and there is a character in that play with the same name.  Unfortunately, the game was not as exciting as his name.  He started with a Reshiram and a Tepig, and I started with  a Phanpy and a Tornadus.  I go first and attach to Phanpy and pass.  On his turn he doesn’t do much, and passes to me.  On my turn I evolve to Donphan Prime and use a Pokemon Catcher and Plus Power to knock out the Tepig.  On his turn he uses a Professor Oak’s New Theory, but can’t come up with any more Pokemon, and passes again.  It takes me two more turns to knock out the Reshiram after he whiffed on another supporter and  I got another Plus Power.

1 – 0.   didn’t expect to do too much today, but I had a good start. 

Round 2 against Zekrom

My opponent was a guy named James who was from Columbus, Ohio.  We had the Michigan/Ohio State rivalry going in full force.  I happened to be playing with blue sleeves, and he had red sleeves.  Even though I knew I wasn’t doing well today, I knew that I had to beat this guy for Michigan.  This game was pretty much like the first.  He started first with Zekrom and I had Tornadus.  I had a bad hand with 3 Donphan Primes and a Professor Juniper, luckily he decided to Judge it away on the first turn.  I didn’t end up with a great hand, but it was good enough to get a Phanpy on the field.  On his next turn he used another supporter like PONT, but he was not able to find another basic, he did get to knock out my Tornadus.  On my turn I used a Sage’s Training to get both a Plus Power and a Donphan Prime for the win.

  2 – 0.   Another good win, but I know that there was still a lot more tournament to be played.

Round 3 against Zekrom/Magnezone/Vileplume

This game was against Moncriefs’ friend J.W.  The game started off pretty poorly as I had to mulligan 3 times to get a basic.  But it improved as I got two Donphan Primes by my second turn.  I then was able to use Supporters to draw into Pokemon Catchers.  With those Catchers I was able to knock out an Oddish and 2 Mangemites.  Eventually he was able to setup Vileplume and Magnezone, but I was down to 2 prizes left at this time.

Troll and Toad was at Regionals too.

 

3 – 0 Well I did get another win and I was happy to be undefeated at the lunch break.  Mark and I were able to drive on over to Five Guys Burgers and Fries and got a couple of crazy good burgers.  This was actually Marks first time to 5 guys, so it was nice to introduce him to the one of the happiest places on earth.

 

Round 4 against Gothitelle.

This round was against Sarah, she is known throughout the area as the best Gothitelle player around.  This ticked me off because my deck does not have a single Gothitelle tech in it.  The only way I can win this game is if I am able to take control of the game early with Pokemon Catchers, and knock out all of the Gothitas.  This did not happen in this game.  I started with a Zekrom and she started with a Gothita.  I attached a DCE, but was not able to get a Phanpy going until the next turn.  Sarah was not having a good time  in setting up either, but I knew she had Twins in her hand just waiting for a chance to use them.  I decided that I had to eventually take a prize, so I knocked out one of the Gothitas.  As expected, she used Twins about 3 times in a row to get setup.  My only hope now was that she had prized her Blissey Prime or something, but she was able to control the game and do whatever she wanted.  She used Blissey once, and then a couple turns later she used Seeker and “Mad Kinesis” for the win.

My buddy Matt K. (right) in action.

3 – 1 Good job Sarah, she played the deck well.  I just had no counters against it, so she was able to control the game easily.  I was not very mad at this game, I knew I had no chance against decks like this.

Round 5 against Ross Deck

As I mentioned, I have a bad Gothitelle matchup.  I also have a bad Ross Deck matchup.  I need to knock out the Oddishes and Solosi before they can evolve.  At first I was doing really well. I started with Phanpy and was able to get Donphan with an energy on turn 2.  I used Pokemon Catcher to knock out an Oddish on turn 2.  On his next turn he used Twins to get a Suicine/Entei Legend out.  I decided that SEL was a big threat because it could hit Donphan for weakness, so I used Pokemon Catcher to attack it for 90.  He was able to knock out my Donphan on his next turn, but I used Tornadus to get the revenge knock out for 2 prizes.  On his next turn he again used Twins, but was not able to get much going.  On my turn I used Pokemon Catcher to knock out a Phanpy, and then got another knock out next turn.  But before I could take my 6th prize, he setup Vileplume and Reuniclus.  After this he was able to make sure his Donphan Prime kept free of damage counters.  And was able to slowly knock out 6 Pokemon for the win.

 

3 – 2. I never expected to do well at this tournament, and here was my wakeup call.  I knew I had to win out from here on to top cut.

Round 6 against Donphan and Dragons

This game was against another Donphan player, this guy was from Fort Wayne and is a league member with my buddy James.  I have talked to him several times about the deck, and we have talked a little about the game before so it was nice to finally meet him in battle. 

I can’t recall too much about the specifics of this game, but I think he had a tough time setting up.  I think I had a Phanpy start and a fairly easy Donphan Prime.  I used Pokemon Catchers to take out his bench, so that left him with only one Donphan Prime to contend with.  I was able to use Donphan Prime and Tornadus to finish off the last Donphan and get the win.  Hopefully we have more interesting battles in the future. 

4 – 2. I kept my hope alive here with a win.  It’s nice to at least be in the hunt at this point.

 

Round 7 versus Primetime.

I had a really poor start in this match.  I probably should have won the game, but I just had some bad luck that prevented me from going on.  I started with a Zekrom, I eventually got a turn 2 or 3 Donphan, but had a hard time of getting it going.  On about his 5th turn he was able to respond to a knockout with my Donphan with an attack by Magnezone Prime.  I was able to get back going with the help of Tornadus and a couple Donphan Primes, but he had started taking prizes way before I did.  I ended the game by having 1 prize left as he took his last.

Andy W. (left) is also in action.

4 – 3.  I knew my small hopes of top cutting were over, so I started looking at the side events to see when a new 8 man tournament would start.  But there was not one until after the next round, so I decided to stay and play.

Round 8 versus Ross Deck

Ross Deck and Gothitelle were my two worst matchups, and I managed to play them three times.  This game was against Abraham from Wisconsin.  I think he was one of Pooka’s friends.  He seemed like a really nice guy and we talked about Wisconsin before the match started, since I was born in that state.  In my last Ross Deck game I was able to get 5 prizes before he setup, this time was much worse.  I did start with a Phanpy, but so did he.  I did knock out an Oddish with Pokemon Catcher, but he used Pokemon Collector to get a lot more basics out.  By his 4th or 5th turn he got all setup and I just decided to scoop.  I was fairly tired from a long day of Pokemon, and didn’t want to fight another losing battle.

The Aftermath

So I fizzled out to 4-4 after a 3-0 start, but my buddy Mark had better luck.  I will not tell you too much about how he did since Mark will probably write an article himself.  But I will say that he did Top Cut and eventually made top 16.  Since I had to wait around for Mark I decided to play in a side event with my friend James.  In my first game I played a Reshiphlosion deck and beat it in a long game.  In my second match I played James who was playing my Gothitelle deck.  Of course I again lost to a stupid Reuniclus deck.   One funny part was that during my first match I noticed that my buddy Andrew was walking by so I looked at him.  While I was distracted, Bruce the judge tried to throw a pack to the person who was sitting right next to me.  But instead of throwing to him, Bruce hit me right in the mouth with it.  The really bad part was that I didn’t even get to keep the pack.

 

After the side tournament Mark and I added Cody B. to our group after he also made top 16.  We were going to get a motel, but I wasn’t happy about having to pay for a room when I wanted to go home.  Luckily my buddy James stepped in and said we could stay with him for the night.  Dustin Z. from Indiana also joined us and we stopped at Arby’s before we got to James’ apartment.  After ordering, we got lucky and the Arby’s people gave us some free chicken, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks.  So  big thanks to Arby’s, that was really good.  Then we went to James and just about collapsed as we walked in, and woke up just in time for top 16 the next morning.  I won’t spoil the story of what happened to Mark, so let’s skip to the ride home.  We ended up stopping at a McDonalds and talked about cartoons and other television shows (Anime sucks by the way), and then we listened to “Family Guy: Live in Las Vegas” until we got home.

 

It ended up being a really fun trip.  I didn’t win, but I didn’t expect to, so that’s okay.  A big thanks to James for saving us and putting us up for the night.  Cities starts in only two weeks, so good luck to everybody who will be trying to get a hold of the new cards and make new decks.

 

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Possible Decks From Noble Victories

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with an article about decks that can come from the Noble Victories set.  I also have my extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro here with me.  Sorry for this article coming out late.  Again the server crashed on me when the article was almost finished.  So that pushed the article back a day or so.  But let’s move on, What’s on your mind tonight Pedro?

Well I got no news to report or anything like that.  I can remind our readers that if they leave right now they can avoid reading another article on this site, there is still time. 

Pedro, I’m trying to draw people to the site.  I don’t want to drive them away, no matter how beneficial it will be to them.  Sure we aren’t as good as a normal website with a sponsor, paid writers, and servers that don’t crash every half an hour; but I still do my best to put out sub par articles with lots of spelling errors.

Well if you wanna torture these good people, I guess you can continue on.  Let’s look at possible decks from the cards from Noble Victories. 

Deck Ideas for Noble Victories. 

After a long Battle Road season and an upcoming regionals in the same tired format, I am excited for a set that might bring us some new deck choices.  I will separate deck ideas into 3 categories: Top Tier Decks, Rogue Decks, and Fun Decks.

Top Tier Decks

Cobalion

Right now I can only see one good deck coming from NV, and that is Cobalion.  Now the Cobalion decks will not be a good deck for Cities, but it will be a good deck from here on out.  That is because Mewtwo EX will be a great card, and Coballion is a great counter to it.  So give it a little time and Cobalion will be a part of a top tier deck.

Card Description– Cobalion is a 120 HP basic metal Pokemon with a weakness to fire and a resistance to psychic.  Its first attack, “Energy Press”, costs MC and does 20 damage plus 20 more for every energy attached to the defending Pokemon.  The second attack is kind of like Beartic’s attack.  “Iron Breaker,” costs MMC and does 80 damage while not letting the defending Pokemon attack next turn.

The Goal of the Deck– There will be two main goals of this deck.  The first goal of the deck would be counter Mewtwo EX decks.  Mewtwo has not been released yet, but we know it will have an attack that does basically the same thing as “Energy Press.”  Well, Cobalion can do that too plus he has resistance against Mewtwo.  So he should be good against Mewtwo.

The second goal of the deck will be to do attack with “Iron Breaker” as fast as possible and then hope your opponent cannot get a knockout against Cobalion.  If you have an Eviolite and Special Metal energies on Cobalion it will be hard to get an OHKO on him.  To load energies on Cobalion quickly the best way might be Electrode Prime.  His “Energy Mite” Poke-Power will let you attach energy from your deck to Cobalion.

Using an Electrode build, you would want to get a Pokemon Collector on the first turn and make sure you have 2 Voltorbs on the field on the first turn.  Then on the second turn you can evolve to Electrode Prime, do “Energy Mite” and you should be ready to “Iron Breaker” a lot for the rest of the game.

How to Make the Deck– I would run a 3-2 line of Electrode and 4 Cobalions.  I would also run about 2 Cleffas so I could get a hand refresh on the first turn.  I would run about 10-11 Hand Refresh cards like Professor Juniper. I’m not sure about how much energy you would want, maybe around 15 including 4 Special Metals and a couple Rescue Energies.

Rogue Decks

Victini

Now Victini is not really a main attacker in this deck, but it will be a very important part.

Card Description– Victini’s “Victory Star” Ability lets you re-flip after your attack is over if you flipped coins for your attack. The stats on Victini are very poor, so he will be an easy prize with Pokemon Catcher.  So make sure you have a plan to get him from the discard pile.

The Goal of the Deck– Well the goal of the deck will depend on what main attacker you choose.  Some of the main attackers that have been talked about are Sharpedo, Audino EP, and Lilligant EP.  But no matter which of these Pokemon you choose, there will be a basic goal of your deck.  You are going to want to attack very quickly, probably turn 2.  You will want to get a Pokemon Collector on turn 1 and get 2 basic forms of your main attacker, and a Victini.  If you already have a Victini in play you can play the other one down, but if you don’t you might wanna hold it until turn 2 and hope it doesn’t get Judged away.  On your second turn you can evolve your main attacker, put down Victini, and then attack.  Make sure you have recovery cards like Super Rod and Revive so you can get back Victini when it gets knocked out.

How to Make the Deck– I would probably run 2 or 3 Victinis and 1 Revive and 1 Super Rod.  I would probably run 4-4 of your main attacker.  Then depending on what deck you are running, you can fill out your list with trainers and energy.

Durant

Card Description– Durant is a basic metal Pokemon that is weak to fire and resistant to Psychic.  Its main attack is called “Devour” and it lets you mill 1 card for every Durant in play.  The key here is to understand that Durant is feeble and you will want 4 out at all times.

The Goal of the Deck– The goal is just what I said, to mill while having 4 Durants in play at once.  You hopefully will mill enough cards from your opponents deck that they will eventually not have a card to draw at the beginning of their turn.  You will want to make sure that you have a lot of recovery cards in your deck so you can always have 4 Durants in play.  It is always nice to have cards like Special Metal energies and Eviolite to see if Durant can withstand an attack. If Durant can withstand 2 attacks, then you should be able to mill their entire deck.

How to Make the DeckOf course I would play 4 Durants.  I would also play about 3 Revives and 4 Junk Arms.  As for other Pokemon, I would play 1 Mime Jr. and one Rotom to try to find a prized Durant.  Of course it would be nice to have 4 Pokemon Collectors and a couple Dual Balls so you can have 4 Durants out on the first turn.  I would also run 4 N’s.  Since you are never taking prizes you will always draw 6 cards, and your opponent will draw less most of the time.  This deck is a little bit cheaper because you probably will only run 1 Pokemon Catcher if you run one at all. 

Vanilluxe

Card Description– Vanilluxe is  a stage 2 Water Pokemon with 130 HP, a 2 retreat cost, and a weakness to metal.  Its second attack, “Frost Breath” does 60 damage for WW, which is good, but its not the reason we are here.  The first attack, “Double Freeze” lets you flip 2 coins.  If you get 1 heads you do 40 damage and paralyze the defending Pokemon.  If you get 2 heads you do 80 damage and paralyze.

The Goal of the Deck– Obviously the goal of this deck will be to get a turn 2 or 3 Vanlliuxe and paralyze the defending Pokemon while slowly chipping away at the HP.  It can be more consistent with the addition of Victini.

How to Make the Deck– I would probably run a 4-2-4 line of Vanilluxe.  I would probably run 2-3 Victinis and at least 1 Super Rod.  I would also run about 2 Cleffas for early game hand refresh.  You might want to run Twins to come back from a slow start.  You probably would not need a lot of energy for this deck, probably 8-9 water energies and 2-3 Rescue Energies.  The trainer lines will be pretty standard.  10-12 hand refresh, 4 Pokemon Catcher, 4 Junk Arm, and 4 Pokemon Communication.

Accelgor

I was struggling on whether this should be a rogue deck or a fun deck, but I thought I would put it here cause I don’t really care where it goes.

Card Description– Accelgor is known as being a bad Donphan Prime.  Well, Donphan Prime is a good card in this format, will there be any room for a bad Donphan?  Its stats are not that good.  It has 90 HP, a weakness to fire, but it does have free retreat.  For one grass energy, “Slashing Strike” does 60 damage, but can’t be used next turn.  The other attack is called, “Acid Spray”, and it does 20 with a flip to remove and energy attached to the defending Pokemon.

The Goal of the Deck– I could see Accelgor being used in 2 possible ways.  The first way is to use him as a Donphan replacement in a stage 1 deck.  There are a lot of Donphan counters out now, so Accelgor will have a space to slip in to.  It can do the 60 damage and then retreat for something else next turn.  It is a very fast way to get an easy 60 damage.  The drawback is nobody is weak to grass.  The second build with Accelgor that I can think of is basically in a Mewlock deck, but without Mew.  You would have a Vileplume line to disrupt, Sunflora to get all your Pokemon out, and Yanmega Prime as a secondary attacker.

How to Make the Deck- Well the build that of Accelgor that you choose will vary the structure of the deck greatly.  For the Stage 1 Build, just take your Donphan out and replace the fighting energies with Grass Energies.  You could also just add 4 Rainbow Energies to a deck  without fighting energies.  After that replacement you should be fine.  For the 2nd build you will need a 3-1-2 Vileplume line, 2-2 or 3-3 Sunflora, and 3-3 Yanmega Prime.  Your supporter lines will probably max out on both Judge and PONT, with a good showing of Sage’s Training. You will not need a lot of energies, probably about 7 Grass will be enough.

Fun Decks

Archeops

Archeops will be a fun deck for people that want to use the new fossil mechanics.

Card Description–  Archeops is not only really cool because of the fossil, but because of it’s Ability.  “Ancient Power” will not let anyone evolve Pokemon from their hand.  They can still be evolved through ways like Leavannay EP, but most people will no tech a 1-1-1 line of that in.  Archeops does have an attack, for FFC “Rock Slide” does 60 damage to the defending Pokemon and snipes 2 Pokemon for 10.  The stats of Archeops aren’t that great, it is a stage 2 Fighting Pokemon that has 130 HP, and a grass weakness.

The Goal of the Deck– The goal of this deck would be to get Archeops out as fast as possible so you can stop your opponent from evolving.  While you are disrupting your opponent’s setup, you can evolve with basic Pokemon.  You might want to run some basics like Terrakion EP, since he can use the same fighting energy as Archeops.  If you can get Archeops out fast and attack with other basic Pokemon, you should be able to beat any deck that evolves.  The problem is most damage is being done by basic Pokemon, but that is why this is a fun deck.

How to Make the Deck– I would probably run 4 Plume Fossils, 4 Archens, and 4 Archeops.  You could use Research Record to get Archens on the bottom of your deck, and then you can play Archen to your bench with Plume Fossil.  I would probably run 4-6 of some basic attackers.  Depending on the attackers that you choose, I would run about 12-14 energies.  Then you can fill out your list with trainers.  The trainer list should be fairly normal, just with 4 Plume Fossils and some Research Records.  Make sure you leave yourself enough room for at least 10 hand refresh and draw supporters.

Chandelure

Card Description– Chandelure is a stage 2 psychic Pokemon with 130 HP, a weakness to Dark, and a 2 retreat cost.  Its attack, “Eerie Glow” does 50 damage and burns and confuses for PPC.  It has the “Cursed Shadow” Ability that drops 3 damage counters on your opponent’s Pokemon if Chandelure is active.  The main problem with Chandlure is that it takes 3 energies to attack, but that does not mean that it can’t still be a cool fun deck.

The Goal of the Deck– The goal of the deck will be to get an active Chandelure and just fool with damage counters.  I would run a  4-2-4 Chandelure line with 3 Rare Candies.  To make use of the 3 damage counter drops a turn, I would run a 2-2 line of Darkrai/Cressalia Legend.  DCL will be able to move damage counters around and knock out a bunch of Pokemon.  Through spreading and confusing and burning the defending, you should be able to cause a lot of confusion.

Was the pun intended there?

Nope.

How to Make the Deck– As mentioned, 4-2-4 Chandelure and 2-2 DCL.  I can’t think of any good spreading Pokemon that work with Psychic energies, but if you can work a spreader on sniper in here, that might work.  Perhaps Yanmega Prime would work because of the sniping ability.  I would also add a couple Cleffas, and probably play Tropical Beach.  Your energy line should probably be around 13 psychic energies.  Your trainer lines should be fairly standard.  Just make sure to run a couple Switches if you play Yanmega Prime,.

Well that’s all we got here. Let’s end the article Pedro.

Already, why so early?

Well since the server crashed again, I had to hurry this article out and I need to go home to get my deck ready for tomorrow.

So no lame jokes or anything like that?

Nope.

Please?

No.

Well you are screwing with your own format.  I must protest. 

I will note your objection in the logs.

Bonus Article: An Interview with a Pikkdogs, 150 Articles Later

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.   This is Pikkdogs here with a special article.  Today I am putting out a bonus article to celebrate my 150th article. 

It seems like just a month ago I celebrated my 100th article, but now I have 150 articles already.  A big thanks to all you readers out there, I never expected to write 50 article, nonetheless 150.  I must say that I really enjoy writing article and interacting with you guys out there.  To celebrate my 150th article, I will be sharing with you a part of my upcoming interview in the Pokemon issue of Pokerface Magazine.  Enjoy the sneak peak of the interview.

Thanks for coming to the interview Pikkdogs, we have all been enjoying the articles you have been churning out lately.  What do you think separates you from the other article writers and Pokemon commentators out there?

Well, thanks for having me.  I think the difference between me and most of the big time personalities out there is that I don’t pretend to be anything that I am not.  If you look at the first article or video of any author or Pokemon personality, you will see them listing their accomplishments.  They do this to establish themselves as someone who is trustworthy, but it ends up as painting them as a little cocky.  But, when you look at my articles I never once established myself as a good player.  I think although it’s nice to get advice from the pros, it is also great to get advice from somebody who is just another guy, and that is what I have always provided.  In fact I spend most of my time making fun of myself, and that really lightens the mood.

Speaking of making fun of yourself, tell us about Pedro and how he came about. 

Pedro is just one of the changes that I have made in the last 50 articles or so.  Along with me realizing that I am a different writer than everybody else out there, I realized that I needed to change my writing style.  I don’t have the skill or knowledge that other writers like Jwittz and Jay H. do, so I had to add something that made me stand out, and that was comedy.  While I am not a comedian, I knew I could add something to articles that were not out there before.

Geoff Peterson

I took inspiration for my recent articles from the late night talk shows.  I love the late night talk show hosts like Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon; they are just really good and what they do and are funny with or without a show.  So I decided I would model my articles on them.  And Pedro was ripped right from that.  Of course Johnny Carson had Ed McMahon,   Conan has Andy Richter, Jay Leno has that black guy who plays the guitar and has a creepy laugh, and Craig Ferguson has Geoff Peterson.  I would say Geoff is probably the biggest influence on Pedro.  If you haven’t seen Geoff you have to look him up on the Youtube, Craig and Geoff are just hilarious together.  Up until Geoff came out, sidekicks were just stooges that laughed at the right time.  Geoff is different, he is not afraid to go against the grain and make fun of the host.  I can see a lot of Geoff in Pedro.   I also like the ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, and Pedro kind of acts like some of his dummies. Besides those influences, I had already used someone I called a “Geeky Sidekick” in my articles.  And Pedro was just an evolution from the geeky sidekick, it was just making him more deep.  So that’s how Pedro got started.

One more Pedro question, can you give us an actual biography for him? 

Well Pedro has always been guarded about revealing his past.  Is that because he is ashamed of it?  Or is it because he wants you to buy his auto-biography when it goes on sale?  I don’t know, but I can compile a list of what was already revealed about him.  Of course he is from a different dimension, and he lives on earth.  So he lives on earth like most of us do, he just lives in a slightly different earth.   Pedro has also revealed that he is half alien.  We can assume from his name listed in the Onehitko.com profile that his father is an alien, but his mother is human.  He can not travel to this dimension, but he uses a machine to communicate with us.   The rest of his life is a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a tortilla.

Along with the comedy has come some controversy for bringing more adult language into what has traditionally been a kids card game.  Don’t you think that you shouldn’t cuss on a kids site. 

No, I need to cuss more.  Pokemon has always played to the lowest common denominator, the kids.   I think that tradition is really hurtful for growing the game.  The best players are at least college aged and we don’t all watch the Teletubbies.  We listen to rap and hardrock music and we watch shows that are not kid friendly, so why should we have to be PG when we communicate about the game.  I wish the game did not have to have Juniors and Seniors to survive, but the young kids are here to stay.  That does not mean that us adults have to like or go along with it.  We can be who we are no matter where we are.  Once at a tournament I received a bye and walked over to the bar next door and had a Miller Lite.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m sure Pokemon would not want to associate Pokemon with anything adult like that.  I don’t think a bunch of adults should change our ways for a couple of kids, so I expect to read Pokemon articles like I would anything that is for adults.  Make no mistake Pokemon is for adults, name me one great player that is ten years old.  Pokemon is a game for college aged people or older, so let’s not bring things down to the lowest common denominator anymore.

On an un-related note, do you subscribe to the Freudian or Jungian schools of Psychology. 

I’m  more of a Freudian.  One because it makes sense, and two because he says the word “penis” a lot.

At Nationals J-Wittz gets people following him like he’s Justin Bieber, do you get any sort of attention at tournaments?

Well I don’t get that much attention.  J-Wittz is a good player and has made some good videos in his time, so he deserves attention like that.  I don’t want or deserve that kind of attention.  For the most part at local tournaments I am just one of the guys, not many people bring up the website.  But at tournaments where there are a high percentage of newer players, I do get a lot of people saying how much they like the site, and Pedro.  I love talking to readers and giving help to newer players, so I do like to get recognized and talk about the site and the game.  At the same time I always feel weird when I get recognized.  When I first entered the game I didn’t know anyone and I was just the fat guy who sat in the corner and looked creepy.  Now as Pedro would say, I’m still fat and creepy but I just talk to a couple people.

Speaking of Justin Bieber, do you think that really is his baby, baby, baby  ohhhhhh?

No, he has an album out right now.  He just wants to promote himself.  His guys probably hired that girl.  Plus I don’t know if Bieber is old enough for coitis.

How long do you think you and Pedro will keep writing articles? 

Well Pedro will last as long as I want him to.  At first people called for Pedro’s death, and now people have started complimenting him.  That all doesn’t matter, he’s my sidekick and when I get tired of him he will go.  I kind of look forward to the day when I think about a new format and do something different.  I don’t know if he will last forever, but I think he should be out here for a little more.

As far as for how long I will do this, I don’t know.  I never asked to do what I currently am doing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t last forever.  I currently am looking for a different job, so if I move to a smaller town (like I want to), I probably won’t be playing anymore (if nobody else is playing in that area).  Also, right now the format is not making me happy.  If the next couple sets don’t make the format more exciting I might have to drop out, but all that is just speculation. And for a final thing, I couldn’t do this site without Ed, so if he ever gives up on the site, I would too.

Any last words?

A big thanks to Ed.  I have done some pretty risky things in the past couple months, and Ed has just sat back and let me do them.  He gave me all the creative control I needed.  I don’t think a lot of people out there would sit back and let me cuss and do stuff like that.  He gave me enough rope, it was my turn to either wrangle up some cattle or hang myself with it.  While I’m not ruling out that I might eventually say something racist or homophobic and sink the whole site, so far I have avoided hanging myself.  Whether I make 150 more articles or screw up and only write 2 more, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I sometimes make fun of the site of how we have no paid writers and no sponsors, but I don’t think I would ever want to live up to the expectations of a sponsor or something like that.  Something low key like this site is great with me, because I get to do whatever I want to do and nobody can tell me not to.  So here’s to fighting the man!!.while writing articles about Charizard.

So Long and Thanks for 150 articles worth of fish everybody!

 

 

Pikkdogs Stupid Deck Idea: Hydreigon

A big Hello to all you OHKOers out here, this is Pikkdogs here with a Stupid Deck Idea.  I am also bringing with me my extra-dimensionary sidekick, Pedro.   A Stupid Deck Idea is an article that spotlights a deck that either is more of a fun deck, or a deck that was not tested very much.  This deck will be one that has not been tested.  In this article I will just be giving out a  list for a Hydreigon deck, I have not tested them yet so I will leave those for you.

How lazy of you.

Well that is what I am, Lazy.  Do we have any news for the good folks Pedro?

Yes, lots of news.  Our first bit of news is that Yanmega Prime will soon be coming out in a promo box with 2 packs, and evolution line, and one theme deck.  It is called the “Prime Challenge” box.   The price has not been announced yet, but I would assume it would be about 25 bucks.  The box will also be coming out with Machamp, Umbreon, and Espeon Primes.  What do you think of that Pikkdogs?

Well, I do not like the decision.  It is great for beginners, but it is a big slap in the face for us who have been collecting the card.  We had value in our cards, and we might have spent a lot of money in getting cards like Yanmega Prime.  It is overall not a good thing for the good players who already had the card.  I like what Adam from www.sixprizes.com said about this piece of news.  He said that if they want to give out good cards as promos, they should do it when the card first comes out.  This would keep the price even and keep the young players and the older plays just as happy.  Any other news Pedro?

Well, the Prague Challenge Cup was held this weekend.

Where?

I’m assuming Prague. 

Gotcha.  And what happened there.

All three winners were French, and all three winners played Zekrom.  The second most successful deck was Primetime.  That leaves those two decks poised to do very well at regionals.

Thanks, Pedro.  Well I don’t want to sound like a doubter about this format, but man I can’t wait till Regionals is over and we can use Noble Victories cards. Enough complaining, let’s just go on to the article.

Deck Strategy

Hydreigon is a really fun card.  It has 150 HP, a resistance to psychic, and has an ability that let’s you count all energy on Hydreigon as dark.  It’s attack costs DDDD, and does 60 damage to the active and then 40 to two benched Pokemon.

The strategy of a Hydreigon deck would be to get Hydreigon up as fast as possible using something to load energies on Hyrdeigon.  It doesn’t matter what kind of energies since his Ability turns them all dark.  Then you would be ready to hit for 60 damage and then snipe twice for 40.  Depending on the deck you are facing, it could be  a very challenging deck to play against.

There are five major forms of energy acceleration in the format.  The first is Pachirisu Cl.  It let’s you attach two lightning energies to Pachirisu as you play him to your bench.  Those energies could then be moved around by something like Shaymin Ul.  The second form of energy acceleration is Floatzel.  Floatzel let’s you attach one water energy to him per turn.  You would then need something like Shaymin to move them over to Hydreigon.  The third energy acceleration Pokemon also uses water energies, it is Feraligatr Prime.  His ability let’s you attach as many water energies to water Pokemon as you wish, you would again need something like Shaymin to move them over.  The fourth Pokemon is similar to Feraligatr, but can be attached directly to Hyrdreigon, I am talking about Emboar Bw.  The last Pokemon is Electrode Prime.  He has an ability which let’s you look at the top 7 cards of your deck and attach them to any Pokemon.  The drawback being Electrode is then knocked out.

So what is the best way of the five.  Pachirisu is nice, but only works once and requires Shaymin.  Floatzel is also good, but requires a lot of stage 1 Pokemon.  Feraligatr Prime is nice, but Emboar can do the same thing without needing Shaymin.  Emboar is great, but it is stage 2 and a Pokemon Catcher liability.  Electrode is useful, but it gives up prizes and you will need to run a very focused build with a lot of energies.  I think the best two Pokemon to use would be Pachirisu and Emboar.  But, Pachirisu may be the best.

So now we got two energy accelerators, let’s look at the positives and negatives of this deck.

Positives

  • Deck is Really Fun Unique.  No other card can really do what Hydreigon can do.  It is a really unqiue deck that nobody has seen before.  It is also a really cool Pokemon.  A dragon with three heads is pretty cool, cooler than a dragon with two heads I think.
  • Great Gothitelle Matchup.  No Gothitelle is not the deck to beat right now, but it is a popular build.  So it is a good thing that this deck can handle most Gothitelle decks.  It will be very hard to keep all of their Pokemon alive when you are taking advantage of them spreading damage around.
  • Solid Idea with Only One Weakness.  Hydreigon is a simple deck that is not that complicated. It is based on one idea that should be fairly easy to operate.  The only drawback is that it has a fighting weakness, and almost all Pokemon has a weakness.

Negatives

  • Well, Donphan.  Donphan Prime can make quick work of Hyrdreigon, so that will always be a bad matchup.
  • Energy Acceleration.  No matter how good an energy accelrator is, it still will be a liability.  They make the deck clunkier than it should be.  Especially with Pokemon Catcher in the format.
  • The 4 Energy Attack.  Even though you can use DCE and energy accelerators, 4 energies is still tough to get out.  It iwill slow the deck down.

The List

This is just a list that I drew up without testing it, so it will not be a great list.  You will have to make it yourself and test it.  It could be close to being a decent deck or it could be a crappy deck that never works, I am not sure.  Here is  a rough list that I made up for testing purposes.

Pokemon-18

  • 4-Deino
  • 2-Zweillous
  • 4-Hydreigon
  • 2-Pachirisu
  • 2-Shaymin
  • 2-Cleffa
  • 2-Tornadus-Gives you a better Donphan Matchup and more donking ability.

Trainers-32

  • 4-Junk Arm
  • 2-Energy Search
  • 4- Pokemon Catcher
  • 2-Switch
  • 4-Professor Oaks New Theory
  • 3-Professor Juniper
  • 2-Sage’s Training
  • 2-Cheren
  • 1-Super Scoop Up
  • 3-Rare Candy
  • 1-Super Rod
  • 4-Pokemon Communication

Energy-14

  • Double Colorless Energy-4
  • Lightning Energy-10

Well that’s a rough list to get you started.  I know it is not the best deck out there, it is probably more of a fun deck than something I would take to Cities.  But, this should be a really fun deck to play, so I’m sure the deck should get a little bit of play from the rogue players.  It will not be a great deck, but it will be pretty cool.

Final Words, and Words About Matchups. 

Matchups for this deck are fairly easy to think about.  Fast decks like Stage 1 Rush will be hard to beat if they setup very quickly.  But, if you can setup at the same time, this will be quite an interesting matchup depending on what version of the deck they run.  Reshiram and Zekrom will be quite  a tough matchup because of their “Outrage” attacks.  Plus Power will probably almost even the matchups.  Gothitelle matchups will be fairly easy, and Donphan decks will be fairly hard.

So this is not the best deck, but than again it is a “Stupid Deck Idea.”  But this deck will be really fun to play.  It is a unique deck, so it should keep you interested for a while.  So what do you got for us now Pedro?  I’m all done.

Well we already talked about the Pokemon news.  We can tell the boys and girls that regionals are this weekend and that they should remember to leave their Noble Victories cards at home, they are not legal for this tournament.  So what are you playing for regionals Pikkdogs?

Well, I don’t know.  Should probably find that out soon.  I keep thinking of ideas with NV card, than realize that I can’t play them.  I think this condition is driving me crazy, I’ve even been thinking of making a deck with Accelgor.

Well, that will all go away when you win Regionals………………..Hahahahahahahaha.  Just kidding, you’re probably going to lose really bad. 

Thank’s for the confidence Pedro.  Good night everybody!