Archive for October, 2012

Stupid Deck Idea: Stoutland

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

Hey OHKO people, I decided it was time to get a new article out, and since I haven’t tested quite that much of Boundaries Crossed, I thought the category Pikkdogs oftenly used, “Stupid Deck Idea” would suit this better than “Deck Analysis”. Stoutland is probably going to be Tier 2-3, but I felt that a deck review for a deck that I am liking would be a good thing to do.

I have only played a couple games with Stoutland, so the deck might not be perfect, but I’m just going to post a deck I have been testing so you guys can get an overview of the deck and an option for something to play at a Cities if you opt

to.

Stoutland revolves around locking your opponent’s Supporters via Stoutland’s Ability, Watchdog, which, well, shuts off Supporters so long as Stoutland is active. On top of that, it attacks your opponent with “Wild Tackle” (Not sure about the English name of this attack, so for my proxies I just put in cool sounding names, such as “The All-Mighty Stoutland Attack”), which does 90 and has a possibility of hitting Stoutland for 20.

The problem with this strategy is …

Continue reading "Stupid Deck Idea: Stoutland"

Boundaries Crossed Set (P)review

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

Hey OneHitKO, it’s me, coolestman22 again. After a fairly good Regionals run (I posted a report on the SixPrizes forums, if you want to check that out), I felt like I needed to write another article. Since I wanted to test the Boundaries Crossed metagame before I write an article about any of those decks, I may as well do an article similar to my first ever OneHitKO article, but for Boundaries Crossed.

One thing I want to say before I start this article is that I am very, very disappointed in TPCi for cutting Bike, Ether, and

Escape Rope from Boundaries Crossed. Virbank isn’t so important to me, as the only decks that would play it would be Tier 3 stuff like Scolipede/Celebi EX and Amoongus NXD decks. Escape Rope I wasn’t expecting to see too much play either, mostly because a lot of decks liked to Catcher-stall and it would force you to play your Escape Rope before your Catcher for plays to KO a bench-sitter. There would be some decks that played it, but most of the time it would take a back seat to Catcher. I was only testing it in one deck, and that deck …

Continue reading "Boundaries Crossed Set (P)review"

Regionals Preview

Friday, October 12th, 2012

Hey OHKO people, it’s me, coolestman22 again. I wanted to get something out before Regionals, so I thought I’d do something like the Battle Roads preview I did back in May or something like that. I think what I’ll do is review the dominant decks from Autumn Battle Roads and then give you guys lists or something like that, so, without further ado, let’s get started.

Before I review any decks, I’ll post some results of Battle Roads. The results of the Battle Roads that The Top Cut has followed are the following (To save time I’m only doing the decks I’m covering):

Eels: 25 wins, 21 2nd, 45 3rd-4th.

Hydreigon: 24 wins, 26 2nd, 34 3rd-4th.

Ho-oh: 7 wins, 6 2nd, 4 3rd-4th.

Hydreigon

In my opinion, Hydreigon has proven itself to be the BDIF of this format. Why I never got the deck to work is beyond me, Darkrai must just not like me. Even though the numbers show Eels as the top deck, Eels also has two different variants, and Hydreigon has only one.

The basic strategy of the deck is to use Darkrai EX to attack and use Hydreigon DRX 97 to move energy from one …

Continue reading "Regionals Preview"

Okemos 1st Place Battle Road Report and Ho-oh EX Deck Analysis

Monday, October 8th, 2012

Hello everyone at OneHitKO! Today I’ve got a tournament report for you with none other than Ho-oh EX, which has been seeing some success at this season’s Battle Roads and is a very fun deck to play.

That’s me, Jared, with the “Michigan Pokemon” shirt.

Before that, my name is Jared Weiss and I play out of Michigan. I started playing last summer, after a friend and I jokingly picked up a theme deck. I learned about the big mid-season rotation that had happened the previous season, so I was glad to start fresh into the HGSS-on format. I’d like to thank Josh, as he was one of the first people I met playing the game, so it’s sad that he won’t be around much anymore, but I’m glad to be writing for the site. Besides Pokémon though, I’m a college student and competitive figure skater which I’ve been doing for 10 years, and have been a national competitor among many other accomplishments in the sport.

Anyways last season I had started out playing Reshiram/Typhlosion, a great beginner’s deck, and netted me my first top cut. From there, I proceeded to play strictly Tier 1 decks that I knew were doing well like ZPST, CMT, and a Darkrai/Terrakion variant through nationals, which gave me a 6-3 record at nationals (after going 6-1 and then having to face some brutal trainer lock decks).

However, since this would be my second season, I wanted to branch out a bit more and be more creative with deck choice. Of course that went right on the afterburner when I started testing Darkrai/Hydreigon at the rotation to BW-on, and instantly loved it. It’s what I would end playing for my first couple BR’s of season, having a 4-1 bubble at the first, and then 4-2 for a top 8 and championship points finish at the second. Even though I still loved the deck, but I was very curious to try Ho-oh EX after some friend’s success and losing to it in the last round of the previous BR’s. So I threw it together and tested it a bit with fellow OHKO writer Joel the week of, and had a blast playing it (I mean, how can’t you with a deck that has every single energy type)! Here’s the list I took to the tournament:

Continue reading "Okemos 1st Place Battle Road Report and Ho-oh EX Deck Analysis"

Team High Tables and Why I Love the Game

Friday, October 5th, 2012

There are many leagues and teams out there and many have cool yells and chants. Many have cool shirts and mascots. Some even do very well at premiere events. My league; Summit City Pokémon doesn’t have those things and some of us do pretty well at premiere events. What we do have though is an unofficial, sub-league team and I am its undisputed president: “Team High Tables.”

If you go to any premiere event; you will find my reserved table.  Just look for the highest numbered table and that’s where you will most likely find me. Stop by some time on your way to the lower numbers and say hello! If I am not there, wait a round, I’ll get there soon enough. Our unofficial sub-league team membership varies but I appear to be the solid foundation. You can give me the exact same deck that is destroying any event, and I will find a way to make it not work, misplay and have EVERY needed card prized. I am a horrible deck builder, a mediocre player yet I LOVE THE GAME.

Why on earth would I still play this game if I am that bad? Well, I can’t say …

Continue reading "Team High Tables and Why I Love the Game"