One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This  will be a special edition of the Pikk Three article.  It will actually be a Pikk Four, and it will feature 4 supporters that have fallen out of favor in the format.  Maybe we can drum up support for these cards and they will see some play.

This is where I usually introduce Pedro and we talk about boobies and stuff.  But, not today.  Today there will be no boobie talk or fart jokes.  I just found out that the older brother of my best friend during high school has died from an overdose.  He, Jeremiah, had always struggled with substance abuse problems, but he was a nice guy.

I just don’t feel like making fart jokes today.  I don’t feel bad for Jeremiah, he knew what he got himself into.  But, he left his 3 year-old daughter without a father, and he forced his parents to bury him, that’s who I feel sorry for.  So instead of making jokes today, I just want to tell everyone out there to be careful.  I know that college students make up a lot of our reader-base, and I know that there is a lot of drug use among college students.  So, I just want to tell you to be careful, and to think of how your decisions effect other people.

A man died, my friend died, and a beautiful three year-old girl will never know her father.  There is nothing funny about that, and so that’s why I have no comedy in my heart today.  Pedro will be back later this week, but I just hope that at least one of our readers can learn from this terrible story.  Feel free to share your similar stories in the comment section. 

Card #1 Engineer’s Adjustments

Description– Engineer’s Adjustments is a drawing supporter card.  It has a simple effect, you can discard one energy and then draw four cards.  It is kind of like a colorless energy version of Ninetales HGSS’s “Roast Reveal.”

Analysis– Engineer’s Adjustements has always been a card that I have liked, but it has never received too much play.  The most competitive play that this card has seen was when Steelix Prime was a playable deck.  Since he had an attack, “Energy Stream”, that let you attach energies from the discard pile, this card worked well.  But, when Steelix Prime fell because of the rise of Blaziken FB, Engineer’s Adjustments has fallen out of favor.

Like I said before, I really love this card.  There are a couple reasons why you want energy in the discard, and this card can do it while letting you draw 4 cards.  Although it is not the best drawing card in the format, it does 2 things fairly well.  This makes it versatile and really good for some decks.  I really like this card with Eelektrik, since he needs energy in the discard pile to be useful.  I especially like this card in Magnezone/Eels, because Magnezone almost never puts energy in the discard pile.  So, there would be no reason to use Eelektrik, unless you use Engineer’s and get energy in the discard pile quickly to power up attacks.  It also works well with Typholosion Prime, since that card too can attach energies from the discard pile. Even though Reshiram does discard energy by himself, it never hurts to put a copy or 2 of this card in a Reshiphlosion deck, it can only make the card more consistent in the early game.

 Without Eelektrik and Typhlosion, I probably wouldn’t use this card.  I would probably go more for a hand refresh card like Professor Oak’s New Theory.  Drawing 4 cards is great, but people do not usually have an abundance of energy in their deck, and this card is not worth playing more energy. 

Final Rating– 7.75/10– I love this card in the format right now.  It has a lot of decks that it can sneak into and do well.  It is not a great card, but it is a really good card that works well with a lot of decks out there. 

Card #2 Seeker

Description– This is a supporter card that forces each player to pick up one of their benched Pokemon. 

Analysis– This card was used a lot when it first came out, and then it slowly fell out of favor.  It first saw play in almost all decks when it came out.  It was used to disrupt your opponent, and to re-use Uxie.  A lot of donk decks were playing it for the ability  to take one Pokemon out of the game.  When Lost World came out, Seeker was used in conjunction with Gengar Prime to get Pokemon in the Lost Zone.  But, Gengar Prime is not played anymore, Uxie has rotated out, and Donk Decks are a thing of the past.  So Seeker is a very rogue card right now.

I do like this card, it is very versatile.  You can use it for disruption or to accomplish a goal in your deck.  It can be very damaging to unexpectantly have to pick up one of your benched Pokemon.  You can lose evolutions and energy very easily.  I think it would work very well against the Terrakion deck, since it does not traditionally have a lot of benched Pokemon. 

There doesn’t seems to be a great use for Seeker right now.  It is a powerful card, but there just isn’t a deck that it works well in.  The only deck I have seen it played in is a disruption deck with Weavile.  If you collectored for 2 Sneasels last turn, you can evolve into Weavile, use “Claw Swipe”, pick up Weavile with Seeker, and then evolve the other Sneasel so you can “Claw Swipe” again.

There is nothing about Seeker that makes it bad.  It is a good card that works in a lot of ways.  The only bad thing is that there are not a lot of Pokemon to go with it.  Uxie and a lot of good coming into play Poke-Powers are all gone, so there is less of a reason to use Seeker.   

Final Rating– 6.5/10– A good card that just needs a good reason for someone to use it.  It is an under-rated card that can  help some decks out there, a lot of people should consider running 1 copy of this card in their decks. 

Card #3- Fisherman

Description– This card let’s you take up to 4 basic energy cards from your discard pile, and put them into your hand. 

Analysis– This is probably the best energy recovery card in the format.  Getting 4 cards in your hand is amazing.  It works really well with Emboar, this card means that you do not skip a beat when you lose a Pokemon.  You just attach the energies back onto another Pokemon and go from there. 

This card has not seen a lot of play in the past, the most play has been with Emboar in Reshiboar.  It was really easy to recover from a couple “Blue Flare’s”, and it was easier to load up RDL for a two prize knock-out.  This card made the deck work.  However, when Typhlosion Prime replaced Emboar, the card fell out of use. 

It is still seen in some rogue decks.  If you see any Blastoise decks, or maybe sopme Rehiboar’s, you will almost always see Fisherman.  It is good in some rogue decks, but it does not have a lot of use in Meta decks right now. 

I do like the card.  4 energies to your hand gives you a lot of  choices on what you want to do next.  That will set you up on energies for 4 turns, or you can use it with another card like Engineer’s Adjustment or Ninetales HGSS for draw power. 

The bad thing about Fisherman is that the discard pile seems like a good place for energies right now.  A lot of decks have Eelektrik and Typhlosion Prime to attach energies from the discard pile.  So you don’t really want the energies in your hand. Another bad thing is that draw power is very supporter heavy right now.  You always want to use your supporter for drawing, so you won’t have time to use Fisherman.  There are a lot of bad things about this card, but it is still cool and fun to use. 

Final Rating–6/10– It is a nice card, it just doesn’t fit that great with the format right now.  It will see some rogue play, just not that much. 

Card #4- Copycat

Description-Copycat is a supporter that let’s you match the handsize of your opponent.  You shuffle in your hand and draw the same number of cards that they have. 

Analysis– Copycat has been in the format since HGSS and has a long history.  When it first came out people were not sold on it being a great card.  It did seem like a lot of the better players did like the card, but it didn’t really catch on to the greater playing community.  That is until Yanmega Prime came out.  Yanmega Prime’s “Insight” Poke-Body let you attack for free as long as you can match your opponent’s hand size.  After Yanmega Prime became super popular, Copycat became a staple.  It was used a lot and saw a ton of play.  But, all good things must come to an end, and that was how it was with Copycat.  Once Reshiram and Zekrom became more popular, Yamega Prime fell out of favor, and so did Copycat. 

Copycat is an old card that is still around and is still good.  There is no longer a reason to want to match hand size, but you can always use the card just for hand refreshing and draw power.  You should be able to get a decent number of cards each time, and this card has the oppurtunity to get you more cards than even Juniper can give you. 

Of course, it also could give you 2 or 3 cards.  You never know how many cards you will get with Copycat, it might be just a couple.  Pokemon is all about consistnecy, and in a day when the average hand size is small, around 5 cards, it doesn’t make sense to rely on this card for draw power.  You can’t be losing  a game just because your opponent has a small hand, so there might be better supporters out there. 

Right now, I think I would use this card as a general supporter.  It really doesn’t have a good partner anymore, because Yanmega Prime is no longer played.  So, it should be used as a general supporter.  Decks that have Ninetales and Magnezone Prime in them usually have large hand size, so Copycat works well against opponents who play those cards. 

Final Rating–6.75– This is no longer a great card like it used to be, but it is still a nice rogue choice.  You don’t need to play this card, but this card probably deserves more love than it is currently getting.

That’s it.

 

Rest In Peace Buddy.  This ones for you.

Category: Pikks Three | Tags: Copycat, Engineer's Adjustments, Fisherman, Seeker