June 2012

Pikkdogs Okemos Battle Roads Report and Quad Entei List

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a tournament report and a decklist for you.

If you read my last report you would have seen that I went to a BR a couple weeks ago with a Kyurem EX deck, and didn’t do very well.  I thought the deck held its own, it just needed a little more pop.  So, I thought I should change the deck up, and I decided that I should use the same basic concept but with Entei EX.

When I first did testing on this deck it was basically my other deck, but with fire energies and Entei EX.  Than, I started to talk to Ed and we made some good changes to the list.  After changing the list to make it more mainstream, I did some testing and came up with something that had some promise.  I knew that I wouldn’t have a great shot to win, but hopefully this deck would play well and I could keep polishing it until Nationals.

Instead of my last deck which was entirley based on healing, I changed it so that the healing is still there but the deck is more versatile.  I knew that I should have a decent match-up against most decks.  I just need to make sure that I don’t get a bad start and that I keep up with my opponent. 

The goal of this deck is simple.  Get 3 energies on an Entei quickly, and then get another Entei on the bench.  With the “Grand Flame” attack you can do 90 damage and attach a discarded fire energy to the bench.   Then you use healing trainers to keep your guys alive while doing damage and getting other attackers going. 

 Here is the list that I ran:

Pokemon-4

  • Entei EX-4

Energy-13

  • Fire-13

Trainers-43

  • 4-Potion
  • 3-Moomoo Milk
  • 4-Life Herb
  • 2-Max Potion
  • 4-Junk Arm
  • 4-Pokemon Catcher
  • 4-Eviolite
  • 2-Random Receiver
  • 4-PONT
  • 4-Professor Juniper
  • 2-N
  • 1-Sage’s Training
  • 2-Ultra Ball
  • 1-Heavy Ball
  • 2-Switch

So there is the list.  No its not perfect, but its not quite Nationals, so I wasn’t too focused on actually winning this tourney.   It is actually a pretty cool deck.  I like the fact that it is kind of rogue, that is always cool.  It never seems to completely fall apart, unless it gets a really bad start or finds a water deck.  It also is fairly cheap, so if you want a decent nationals deck for a decent price, this could be a good deck for ya.

The Report

This tournament was i n Okemos, Mi, just outside of Lansing.  This venue, or one just next door, has held Pokemon tourneys for as long as I have been in the game, so it felt good to be in a familiar place.

Registration started at 11:00 AM, and its a little more than an hour and a half drive for me.  So I did get a decent sleep, but it could be better.  I woke up and watched an episode of Dr. Who before hitting the road.  The drive was not that bad even though there is road construction almost everywhere these days.  I got to the venue just after 11, and found a bunch of ladies scrap-booking.  While I am not against scrap-booking, I was kind of set on Pokemon.  I had thought that I must have read the schedule wrong, but then a Pokemon friend walked in the door and said that the tourney got moved next door for some reason.  So after finally finding the venue, I walked in and said hi to some friends and filled out a decklist.  There were not a lot of players there, but we at least had enough for 5 rounds.

Rd 1 JW with Some kind of Eelish thing

                I was not excited to see that I was playing JW in the first round.  Even though JW is a newcomer to Pokemon, he has sure hit the ground running.  He has Top Cut in all of his Spring Battle Roads so far, in fact he even ended up winning this tournament.  I have never met JW before, at least not formally, but he seemed like  a really nice guy, and I hope I found a new Poke-Buddy.  He sure has the stuff to challenge for the #1 spot in Michigan next year.  Anyway, enough of that stuff, let’s get down to the match. 

                The bad thing about this game is not only is JW a great player, he told me that he has had a lot of experience playing an Entei EX deck, so I knew that he would know how to beat me in an efficient way.  But, this is not my first time to the Rodeo either; I still have a good shot at beating him.  

                I get a good start and hit all the energy drops I need to get Entei loaded up fast and to get a second Entei going.  JW starts with an active Tynamo and a benched something, I can’t quite remember.  At first I thought I needed to focus on getting rid of the Eelektriks, but then when JW grabs a couple Mewtwo EX and my priorities change.   I know that if he gets a ton of energies on Mewtwo EX that it could ruin my day.  I begin to Catcher up the Mewtwo and start pounding it.  But, he is able to Eviolite both Mewtwo EXs and this makes my job tougher.  As soon as I get a Mewtwo in to knockout range, he uses a Max Potion to get rid of the damage counters.  This is a big turning point in the game.  Meanwhile, on my side of the field I am using a lot of my healing trainers to keep damage off Enteis.  There was a time when I forgot to use Moomoo Milk and that cost me 2 prizes, woops. 

                The game keeps on going for multiple turns until JW gets a ton of energy on both Mewtwo EXs and is able to OHKO Entei, at this point the game is over.  When you have a million energies on Mewtwo EX, there is not really anything that I can do. 

0 – 1 The game was very close until the end, and both I and JW thought that the momentum could swing the other way at anytime.  Congrats to JW on a good and close game, he really is one heck of a player. 

Round 2 Claire with Tyrantitar Prime/Darkrai EX/Dark Bisharp

                It’s nice to play a girl this round, complimenting JW so much made me feel quiet strange, hopefully all the man-love is over.  Claire is of course a long time Poke-Player, I have enjoyed chatting with Claire and her husband Ryan ever since I joined the game.    Clair was sitting right next to me during the first round, so I knew that she was playing a rogue dark deck. 

                She started with 2 Pupitars and a Pawniard, and I started first and gave us an N.  I thought that this may give Clair a big advantage since she had a lot of Pokemon in play and a brand new hand, but apparently she had some bad luck.  While I began to hit every energy drop and setup two Enteis, she was missing Supporters and energies.  She did end up getting 2 Tyranitars, but without the right energies she could only do 20 damage to me.  I do a steady 90 damage to whatever she can put out there, and she has trouble getting energies at the right time.  This ends up being a one-sided game and I end up sweeping this thing six prizes to zero. 

1 – 1 I am very glad to get a win with this deck, but I do know that Claire would have put up a better fight if she would have had better luck. 

Round 3 Preston with Durant

                I haven’t met Preston before today, he must be a new guy.  But I did kind of meet and trade with him before the pairings were posted and he seems like a good guy.  When I first found out that he was playing Durant I was very scared.  I knew that I haven’t really tested this match-up, and if he can pull out a bunch of Crushing Hammers he could easily win.  The problem for Preston was that he revealed to me that he only plays 1 Crushing Hammer. 

                The bad match-up that I thought I had just turned into an Auto-Win.  I start the game making all my energy drops and I took a prize on my 2nd turn.  I went on to attach an energy each time he tried to remove it, and ended up taking 6 prizes in 7 turns.  I actually finished the game with a deck that was bigger than the deck that I usually finish with. 

2 – 1 Sorry Preston, you just ran into a bad match-up.  I am going into round 4 thinking my deck is running very soundly and consistently. 

Round 4 Darkrai EX/Tornadus EX

                I apologize to my opponent for this round, I just can’t seem to remember your name.  I usually take notes, but this game was so good that I forgot all about the notes.  I was excited for this game because this is the deck that everyone says has gone to Tier 1, and is possibly the BDIF.  I never played against this particular version so I was excited to see how it goes. 

                My opponent starts with Tornadus EX and attaches a DCE and hits me for 30.  I get a good start and am able to use a Potion to get rid of that damage.  In the next couple turns I am able to make all the energy drops I need to set-up.  I start to target Tornadus EX because he can do the most damage to me, but I come up 10 damage away from getting the KO before my opponent brings Darkrai EX in and hides Tornadus on the bench.  I get confused here because I don’t know if I should target the easy prize, or if I should target the thing that is trying to attack me.  My job gets harder because is it at this point where he begins to use a million Crushing Hammers.  I started off with one Entei with 3 energy and one with just 1.  I ended his turn with 1 energy on each of them.  I was able to recover (Thanks Ed for suggesting more energy) but losing energy did send me back a couple of turns.  He started the game hitting a lot of those Crushing Hammer flips, but he ends up getting a lot of tails at the end of the game. 

                As I start getting energy back on to the field, my opponent is chopping away at my HP with Darkrai EX.  I am able to get a lot of good flips with my healing cards and am able to keep a lot of the damage counters away from my field.  There was one point deep into the game when the game was still up for grabs where I had a damaged Entei active and a fully powered up Entei on the bench.  Even though I had no energy or supporter in my hand, I decided to retreat the active and use a Max Potion to clear damage counters from the field.  My opponent could not Catcher up the Entei with one energy and decided to scoop because he ran out of resources and cards in his deck. 

3 – 1  My first two wins were not that impressive, but this game seemed to be a legit win.  It was a really close game that could have gone either way right down to the end.  Good game man. 

Round 5 Bohdan with Kyurems and Mewtwo EX

                Who plays Kyurem?  This game is very bad for me because he can hit me for weakness, and my healing trainers don’t do any good to a knocked out Pokemon.  I knew that I had to be really lucky to win this game.

                Bohdan starts with the normal Kyurem and passes.  I again get a good set-up and start executing the crucial energy drops.  Bohdan plays a Pokemon Collector and gets 2 Kyurem EX and another regular Kyurem.  He seesm set-up, but he is missing some energy.  But, after a couple turns Bohdan does find a lot of energy off of an N and is able to use Kyurem EX to hit me for 240 damage and the win. 

3 – 2 I really was hoping to win this game and have a chance at getting Top Cut, but it wasn’t meant to be.  I just ran into a bad match-up, and that is never a good thing.  But, if I have to get slaughtered by someone, it isn’t a bad thing that it is to my favorite Ukrainian friend. 

                Overall I think my deck ran well.  I seemed to set-up well each time and got a lot of consistency early game.  I did have a couple of times when I wanted for supporters, but I’m sure that happens to everybody once in a while.  All things considered I am happy with this deck.  I do have to do a lot more polishing if I want to play it for Nationals, but I may be on my way.  I may or may not play this deck in Indy, but at least I did learn more about the format and what it takes to win. 

                A big thanks to all my opponents, you were all great.  Thanks also goes to the judges and Derek for being great.  I also want to thank Ed for helping me get my deck on the right track.  And also a thanks to Billie Piper, your hotness  make David Tennants Dr. Who watchable.

So Long and Thanks for all the fish.

Budget Zoroark: Cheap Tournament Pokemon Deck Undefeated (For Real This Time)

Here’s my quick tourney report from Outpost 2000 yesterday. Ava had a birthday party to attend at a waterpark sort of place, so she didn’t join us. I got Petra to play, though. Apart from that, the big news was that another fellow joined us. Some of you may remember the days when this site was named www.TeamOmar.com. Well, the team’s namesake, Omar, graced us with his presence. I handed him my Quad Terrakion deck (for which he had to scrounge 4 Terrakion).

Petra ran Ava’s Donphan deck. It’s a pretty simplified deck, and I simplified it even further for Petra. Essentially, it runs 4 Virizion as a starter. On turn 1, you attach an energy there and Double Draw. On turn 2, you bring up Donphan and start attacking. Yeah, there’s more to do that that, but not a whole lot more.

I ran the “Budget Zoroark” deck. The list I ran can be found in the Cheapest Pokemon Deck article.

Round 1: Guy From Saint Cloud with Tornadus EX, Regigigas EX, and Beartic (Petra Vs. Paul) Read More

Budget Zoroark: Cheapest Pokemon Deck At $35

It says $70. I say $35.
I don’t know where I get these titles. I’m sure you can make a cheaper deck, but this will beat it (unless it’s Fighting type). Also, $35 is just the Troll ‘n’ Toad price divided by 2. I dunno if you can get the cards for that price, but I’m pretty sure you could get close.

I’ve been working on this deck lately, and I think this is the best route to take it. I have now added 4 Rescue Energy. They really help the deck recover, and the deck just has to be doing 120+ damage every turn. If you miss a turn of damage, you’re on track to lose.

To assist with this recovery, I experimented with DCE, but it just doesn’t cut it. The problem is that the deck usually needs a 1st turn Ascension. Ascension requires darkness energy. If you have 4 Rescue and 4 DCE, you’re diluting the dark energy pool too much. Sometimes you can get away without the Ascension, like if you draw into Zoroark right away, but it’s usually key.

After adding the 4 Rescue, I also ended up dropping the Special Dark energy. The deck started life running 4 Special Dark and 4 Plus Power (on top of the Dark Claw). This early build could often do 150+ damage right off the bat. Well, if you can do 120 damage, you can still usually 2shot anything even Eviolited. It is a bit sad that you will now miss the OHKOs on Eviolited 130HP basics, but the deck just has to have a semi-consistent way of getting 2 energy in a turn. I already discussed why I think DCE can’t make the list, so Dark Patch is our alternative. To fuel Dark Patch, you need basic dark, and you have to discard them early to make it work.
Read More

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Professor Cup Special: Seismitoad, Zebstrika ND, and Archaeops

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a special edition of Pikkdogs Pikks Three.  This time we will be taking a look at three cards that will be good for the professor cup format this year at Nationals. Before we talk about to much we gotta do a disclaimer.

NOTE: EVERYTHING IN THIS ARTICLE IS NOT ABOUT THE MODIFIED FORMAT, IT IS ABOUT THE PROFESSOR CUP WHICH HAS SPECIAL RULES.

The rules for the professor cup are always a little bit different, this year we have rules that are very different.  The first rule is that the format is Call of Legends on, only CL and Black and White set cards can be used.  The second rule is that basic Pokemon are illegal.  The third rule is that Stage 1’s are treated as basics and Stage 2’s are treated as Stage 1’s.  That means you can start with a stage 1, and then evolve once into a stage 2.  These rules make the format different and it should be a lot of fun.  Before we talk about some cards for the format, let us say hi to my sidekick Pedro. Hey Pedro.

Hey Pikkdogs.

Do you have any news for us Pedro?

Well, it seems that it has finally come upon us.

What?  Nationals?

No, the Zombie Apcolaypse.  It seems that many newstories lately are linking up to hint that Zombies are already on the loose.  First, a weekend or so ago a man in Miami was arrested for eating a man’s face, and would not stop eating even though the police shot him.  A second zombie sighting did happen in Florida a week or so ago when a doctor was arrested by police officers.  Apparently they could not restrain him with regular methods and he began spitting blood at the officers.  A third story comes from New Jersey where a man is accused of throwing his own intestines at police officers.  There is actually a fourth story.  The Center for Disease Control released a pamphlett that contains survival tips if a Zombie Apocalypse did happen.  Some are speculating that radioactive tuna found off the coast of California is the source for the current Zombie sightings.  Do you think the Zombie Apocalypse is upon us Pikkdogs?

Of course not.  All these instances can be explained.  The story in New Jersey is not a zombie, because we know from watching Jersey Shore that all people from Jersey behave that way.  The CDC was not insinuating that there could be a zombie event, they were trying to use it as a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for other disasters.

Well, then what about the face eating guy in Miami?

He was just hungry.  Face is traditinally a good tasting part of the animal.

Well, I guess.  Maybe the Zombie Apocalypse isn’t upon us.  Did you see any Zombies the last time you went to Florida?

Nope.

Do you like it down there?

Yes……………..and I also like Florida.

I see what you did there.  Do you like the Zombies?

Zombies are pretty cool.  At least Zombies are always evil and badass, not like what modern people have done to Vampires.  I haven’t heard about a Zombie love story yet.

True.  We should get you an inter-dimensional porthold sometime so we could visit a dimension that is overun by zombies.  Its a good summer vacation.

Sure.

Should we do it tomorrow?

No, busy.

Day after?

Gotta work.

Feasel day?

No, that’s when we take the children to see the feasels.

Why are we acting out a Cosby show sketch?

I guess we’re board, let’s just move onto another article.

 

Card #1 Seismitoad

Description– Seismitoad is perhaps the most hyped attacker in the Professor Cup format.  In this format he is a stage 1 with 140 HP, a grass weakness, and a 3 retreat cost.  The attack that everyone is talking about is “Round”, which does 30 damage times the amount of attackers that have the “Round” attack that you have in play.

Analysis– Let’s look at the stats here.  140 HP is very good in this EX-less format.  The grass weakness will be no problem, and the three retreat cost is not great but it is workable attack in a deck that has many one energy card attackers.

Seismitoad will be in a deck that is all about the “Round” attack.  I know something about being round, and it is a good thing.  There are 2 other attackers that also have the “Round” attack, and in this format they are all basics.  Since most of your attackers have CC attacks, you will be able to setup fast and attack fast.  All of the bad things about the “Round” deck in the Modified Format are now gone in the Professor Cup format.  Seismitoad should be a great attacker in this format, and it is well deserving of all the hype.

The operation of this deck should be fairly simple.  This deck should have a bunch of Dual Balls and Pokemon Collectors to get you a bunch of “Round” attackers on turn 1.  You might wanna start with Wigglytuff because he can attack on turn 1 without any energy acceleration.  On turn 2 you can evolve into Seismitoad and start doing a lot of damage.  The 140 HP is very good in this format and should be able to keep you alive in the format for a while.

There are some bad things about Seismitoad.  The first is that Archeops is almost broken in this format, and Archeops can stop Seismitoad from hitting the board.  Even though the “Round” deck is not dead without evolutions, it does hurt the deck.  The 3 energy retreat cost is also fairly bad for Seismitoad.  However, there is room enough in the “Round” deck to fit in some Switches, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

Final Rating8.5/10-The Seismitoad “Round” deck will probably be the most popular deck during the Professor Cup.  Although Archeops can hurt the deck, it is still one of the most solid decks in the format.

Card #2 Zebstrika ND

Description– The current format doesn’t really have a good deck that contains trainer lock, but the Professor Cup format does.  Zebstrika ND has 90 HP, a fighting weakness, and a free retreat cost.  It is a basic Pokemon in this format.  It has two attacks.  The first one is “Disconnect” and does 40 damage for LC and stops your opponent from playing trainer cards during his/her next turn.  The second attack is called “Lightning Crash” and let’s you snipe for 80 for LLC while discarding all energy attached to Zebstrika.

Analysis– Zebstrika does not seem like a great Pokemon, but if you can deny your opponent the use of trainers for the entire game, you have a large advantage.  Let’s start this analysis by looking at the basics.

90 HP is bad, but workable on what is now a basic.  The fighting weakness is actually not bad in the Professor Cup format, so no problem there.  The retreat cost is great, so that’s always a plus.  So the stats are very workable.

Most people are thinking of pairing Zebstrika with Eelektrik.  With a little help, the now basic Eelektrik can power up a Zebstrika on turn 1 and get the trainer lock going.  Sniping for 80 is not a great thing, but if you do run evolutions, it could be a good way to take away Archeops.  Discarding energy is not a big deal, because you can just use a bunch of Dual Balls for two Eelektriks and a Zebstrika, attach an energy to the Zebstrika and attach 2 more from the discard pile, and you are back to possibly doing 80 damage again.  So these Pokemon do work well together.

It would be nice if there were a third Pokemon that could work in this deck to hit harder, but it  may be able to work without another attacker.  It is a great deck that is very fast and consistent, it should be able to work very well at the Professor Cup.  The nice thing about this deck is that there is room for your own personal touch in it, so you can adjust it to your playstyle.

The bad thing about Zebstrika is the low 90 HP.  It can now take advantage of Eviolite, but that still doesn’t do a lot of damage.  The other bad part of this deck is that it can be a little challenging to get a lightning energy in the discard pile on turn 1, but if you make your deck for this purpose, you should be able to accomplish the task.

Final Rating8/10–  This may not be a deck that has all the answers just yet, but it has a solid foundation.  If you were to come up with some cool ideas and test it a lot, you could go deep into the Top Cut rounds.

Card #3- Archeops

Description– It is almost a crime that Archeops is a basic in this format.  Archeops is a 130 HP basic Pokemon with a  2 retreat cost and a grass weakness.  Its attack is called “Rock Slide” and does 60 damage for FFC and let’s you snipe two Pokemon for 10 each.  The Pokemon is being hyped right now because of the Ability.  It is called “Ancient Power” and does not let either player use Evolutions.

Analysis– Archeops is great at what it does, but it also leaves some questions for whoever plays it.  Unlike the other two cards in this article, Archeops is not something to build your deck around.  It is more of a tech against any stage 1 that you might come across.  We don’t really know what kind of crazy decks you will see at the Professor Cup, but Archeops is sure to help protect you from most of them.

Archeops is cool because it is very splashable.  Most people think of Archeops as a stage 2 in modified format, because that is what he would have been last year in Modified.  But, now the fossil mechanics are different, while these rules changes have not affected the modified format whatsoever, they are now effecting the Professor Cup.   Because we are by-passing the fossil mechanic because Archen no longer exists in the Professor Cup format, Archeops can be searched with cards like Dual Ball and Pokemon Collectors.  That means you can easily get rid of all evolutions with just a basic Pokemon.

I am not sure what kind of decks Archeops is best in, but I do know that if I played a deck that did not contain one evolution, I would run Archeops without a second thought.  It is just too good of a card not to run.  It seems to protect you against almost every deck out there, all those good Stage 1s (Stage 2s) that are easy to get out now will be of no concern to you.  He should be good in most decks.

There are some bad things about Archeops.  The worst thing is his retreat cost.  For some reason a bird Pokemon has a 2 retreat cost.  This makes it very hard to retreat Archeops if your deck does not run DCE.  You can run Skyarrow Bridge to turn the retreat cost to one, but that may take up more spots than you want to.  The other bad thing about Archeops is that the attack is fairly poor.  You are not going to want to spend the time of loading three energies on Archeops just go 60 damage.  It would be nice if this guy could attack, but he is not here as an attacker anyway, so he can still be very playable.

Final Rating8.75/10– A very splashable versatile tech that can be very helpful.  Yes the retreat cost sucks and it will hurt the deck if you start with this card, but overall it is a great card.  It may not be in every deck in the Professor Cup, but it will be played a lot.  As long as you don’t play any evolutions, you pretty much have to play this card.

Conclusion

Although I am not a professor and will not play in the Professor Cup, I still think the format is pretty cool.  I kind of wish that I was able to play in this format, it should be really fun for all you professors.  The cup will also be cool because you can win some cool prizes and stuff that is not available up to us normal players.  Just one more hint, if you play in the cup but are not a professor, don’t tell everybody on Six Prizes that you aren’t.  It didn’t work out too well for the last guy that did that.

Well, that’s all I got to say about these cards.  Why don’t you wrap up the article Pedro?

Okay.  Justin Bieber has been in the news lately.  First, over the Memorial Day weekend he was brought to an L.A. police station for questioning because a paparazi accused Bieber of punching him.  Then just a couple days later the Biebs left the country and headed to Norway.  The Norweigian military was brought in to deal with the crowds of people effected with Bieber-Fever.  So many people descended on the Scandanavian country that they could barely contain the crowds. 

I think this reflects poorly on Norway.  If you can’t contain a bunch of teenage girls, you shouldn’t be in the armed forces.

But these aren’t just any teenage girls, these are Bieber fans.  You know that Bieber fans are a rowdy bunch of girls.  They are of course known for starting many bar fights, and beating up the cops and stuff like that. 

I think I could take a couple Bieber fans.

But then they’d probably have to take you to jail for rape.

I guess, there is that.  Good Night everybody!

Budget Zoroark: Undefeated

Yeah, you read that title right.  This deck was undefeated.  You might think that means I won a Victory Cup, but the operative word in the sentence is “WAS.”

So, if you’re following along, I built this deck for my daughter.  Then, I decided it would be a good OneHitKO.com Budget Challenge deck.  She wasn’t ready to play it, so I slightly tweaked it for myself and decided to take it to Battle Roads.

Here’s the list I ran.  I’ll go over my matches, and then discuss how the deck can be improved.
Read More

James H. and Pikkdogs Discuss Pay to Read Pokemon Sites

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs and James here with a different kind of article.  People have done CO-Op articles before, but they are usually interviews or debates.  This article will be more like a discussion.  Who knows if this format will work or if it will fall apart, but we decided that we wanted to try something new.

The topic of discussion today is pay-to-read Pokemon sites.  This phenomenon started a couple years ago when our buddy Adam of www.sixprizes.com started the Underground.  There are now pay-to-read articles on some other Pokemon sites as well.  While the Underground has been around for a while and has been considered a success, some still question whether it is a worthwhile service, and if the pay-to-read writers really give readers their best advice.  These and other topics shall be addressed, since this article does not lend itself to pictures I will put in pictures of Garden Gnomes, Read More