One Hit KO

Pokemon TCG Decklists and Articles

2012

Opinion State Championships

A Three Pack of Mini Articles: Your Favorite Card Art of 2011, How EXs Effect States, and Ask Pikkdogs?

Pikkdogs 11 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a 3 pack of mini articles.  First, we have some old business to catch up on with, the award for best artwork in 2011.  Then, we have a new www.propokemon.com premium content article from Alex Fields, and I will bring you an exclusive look at that article. Finally, I have an idea for an article or two that I might want to do, I will run it past you guys, and we will see how it goes.  So, let’s get on to the article. 

Section 1: The Award for Best Overall Card Art.

If you have read the article about card art a couple weeks ago, you will remember that I did an award show type article that celebrated the best in card art.  I gave awards in many categories like: Best Full Art, Best Aerial Scene, and Cutest Card Art.  But, I let you guys pick your favorite overall card art.  Before we give away the last award, I just gotta say that I really liked doing the article this year.  This type of article is always very tough and labor intensive, it is not an easy article to do.  It also is not easy to pick a winner out of a pool of some really good art.  But, at the end I really enjoyed doing the article and hearing your responses.  I really think that card art is something that connects the casual 7 year-old player to the competitive 24 year-old player.  It brings everybody together because everybody can appreciate card art. 

Okay, so without any more ramblings on, let’s crown your winner for best overall card art.  In tallying the votes, I was not happy with how many overall votes we recieved.  But, that could have been because the comment section of our website crashed for the first couple days this article was up, so that was not a good thing.  But, all that aside we do have a winner, and it is………………….

That’s right, the first ever overall Favorite Card Art award goes to Full Art Victini from Noble Victories.  It won even though it was a write-in choice. 

Nobody cared to tell us why they liked it, so I will just guess.  First, Victini is a very popular Pokemon.  It is the star of two Pokemon movies.  Also, this Pokemon is very cute.  Victini does succedde in rivaling Pikachu in the cuteness department.  Just being cute will land you a lot of fans, I should know.  Next, we can look at the card art itself and we see a very nice closeup of Victini’s entire body.  He seems to be in the middle of a fight or something and he has his fangs peeking out of his cute little mouth.  His body appears to be summoning the power of some kind of fire.  Finally, what really stands out here are his baby blue eyes.  They really grab you and get your attention.  Victini does have the eyes to rival old blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.  But, Victini is better than Frank Sinatra because he doesn’t have any ties to the Mob, not so far anyway.  Add all these things together and you get a really cool piece of card art that is really cute. 

Thanks to you all that read the article and voted for your favorite card art. 

Section 2: www.propokemon.com Premium Article by Alex Fields, “How the Return of EXs will Effect the State Championships.

Our friends at www.propokemon.com have a new premium article out.  As always we will give you an exclusive sneak peek at the article that you can only find here, for free.  If you want to be ready for states, just follow this link, and you will have an oppurtunity to read the whole article and get yourself up to date on your Pokemon knowledge.

This article is all about EXs and how they will influence play at States.  The author takes the time to look at every EX individually and discusses decks where they will see play.  It just isn’t a rehash of the stuff you hear on this site and others, it does bring new stuff to the discussion.  It really is a pretty cool article.  It gives a pretty good decklist and it gets your mind in gear for play in the new format. 

Here is a sneak peek at the article. In this part of the article, Alex is giving you tips for States.

”

– Be prepared to play against a lot of decks that manipulate energy, whether through Eelektrik, Typhlosion, Emboar, or Celebi. Echo what I said above about what to do if your deck can’t beat them. Energy manipulation is a key part of this format, and most of the successful decks running Evolutions at this point are in this category.

– Be prepared for N. The presence of EXs makes this card potentially more disruptive early on, and it remains, as always, the ultimate comeback card.

– Durant is not only still a very solid deck, it is practically the go-to deck for a.) casual players and b.) players who don’t have access to Mewtwo and/or other expensive EXs/Primes/etc.. When I say this, I am not being derogatory toward either group a. or b.—I’m just giving an honest observation. It is favored by a lot of casual and limited-resource players because of how cheap it is to build, and how simple it is to run (playing the deck masterfully isn’t that easy, but you know what I mean—it isn’t hard to grasp the “Devour all game” strategy). Be prepared for it as well.

”

Those are just a fraction of some of the tips, there are others in the article, and also a lot of other good info.  To get your hands on the full article, just click here.  

Section 3: Ask Pikkdogs

I know that I am just asking for trouble here, but I will go against my better judgements and again ask for your help in an article.  I know that we have a lot of very attractive readers, but your participation rate has always been fairly low.  Well, I’m hoping that we can buck that trend and that will have good participation in this new article idea. 

The new article will be called, “Ask Pikkdogs.”  As the name suggessts, this article will be all about the benefits of adding chicken to a pizza.  Well, actually it won’t at all.  It will actaully be about me answering questions from you guys.  You will leave your questions in the comment box, and I will try to answer them. 

You can ask my opinion on anything.  Some good sample questions could be:

  • What deck should I play at states?
  • What decks can I play if I don’t have a lot of cash to throw around?
  • Do you follow the theories of Karl Jung, over the theories of Sigmund Freud?
  • What is the best way to start collecting cards from each set?
  • What type of fuel should I put in my 2002 Ford Taurus?
  • What is your favorite Wagner Opera?
  • Here is my decklist, can you help me make it better?

Those are just a sample of some good questions to ask.  As you can see I am up to talking about anything, even something silly, it’s always fun to let yourself hang a little loose and not to take yourself too seriously.  Personal  questions and questions about things like Pedro are also encouraged.  As I mentioned, you can post your question in the comment box of this article, you can also always email me questions at pikkdogs@yahoo.com, try to put something like “Ask Pikkdogs” in the subject.   I know I am not as much of an expert on the game as some people are, but I think it would be cool to answer some questions that people have.  Also, since I’m hoping that half of the questions include stuff about people like Geoffery Chaucer, it may not go too deep into Pokemon.  Hopefully we can get a lot of user particpation to make this a fun article. 

So that’s, 1…..2……and 3.  Three things completed in one article, I’m all done.  Hopefully we can get some cool questions for “Ask Pikkdogs,” so please don’t be shy, “Ask Pikkdogs” today!

Deck Discussion

One Ant to Rule Them All, One Ant to Find Them, One Ant to Bring Them in, and in the Darkness Mill Them.

Pikkdogs 16 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs with kind of  a deck profile of Durant.  All of the Pokemon writers right now are concentrating on Mewtwo EX and all the other EXs that just came out last week in Next Destinies.  But, a comment on my last article made me think that we are doing all this wrong.  At the end of the Cities season there was one deck that dominated all other decks, and yet we are not talking about it.  So let’s talk about it, let’s talk about Durant.

History and Basics

Durant is a milling deck.  Milling is a term that comes from Magic the Gathering.  There used to be a card named Millstone, and Millstone made your opponent put two cards from their library, or deck, into their graveyard, or discard pile.  Ever since this card came out, the act of discarding cards from the top of your deck has been called “milling.”

Durant came out in the Noble Victories set.  At first not many people recognized how good it was.  They dismissed it as a deck that had a good premise, but they thought that it couldn’t mill enough cards quickly.  I had made an article on it, and a couple people have tried the deck, but it still didn’t catch on.  Then about halfway through Cities season, near the Chicago Marathons, a lot more people started playing the deck.  People realized that the deck could be very disruptive and could stand up and mill 30 cards before 6 prizes were taken. On the last couple weekends of Cities, Durant decks ruled the top tables.  It was very hard to beat a Durant deck later on in Cities season, and they began to take over almost all of the top spots in the Top Cut.

The decklist that was ran after the  Chicago Marathon was very disruptive and could adapt to any type of deck.  Unless Durant was going against a deck that had a really fast start or a quick fire deck, the deck could beat just about any deck.  It was also a very inexpensive deck, so a lot of people could make the deck.  It was very versatile and very disruptive, some people also thought it was very too good, and some called it a “mindless” deck.  A lot of Durant hate started going on, and anyone who played the deck in my area was shamed.  I’m not sure if all this hate was deserved or not, but a lot of anti-Durant feelings have been stirred up since later in the Cities season.

If you would like to see a Durant decklist, everybody’s favorite Reshiphlosion enthusiast, Airhawk, has written an article on it on Six Prizes, you can read it right here.

Durant v.s. Mewtwo EX

Durant is no doubt the hottest deck coming out of Cities Season, and it is poised to get into a head on collision with the most hyped deck from Next Destinies, Mewtwo.  A little about Mewtwo before we get going.

Mewtwo EX has made itself a fast deck with a lot of energy acceleration that can attack quickly.  It uses cards like Eviolite, Skyarrow Bridge, and Tornadus to help Mewtwo EX do its job.  Its attack, “X-Ball” does 20 damage times the amount of energy attached to it and the defending Pokemon.

All of these things makes Mewtwo EX a great matchup for Durant.  Here is a kind of neat list that notes the reason that Durant should have a good shot against Mewtwo

  1. It is resistant to Mewtwo EX.  Durant has the psychic resistance, which is very important in the Durant matchup.  To win, the Durant player is going to have to make the game a couple turns longer than it would be if your opponent got OHKOs all the time.  Using cards like Defender and Eviolite, Durant can thwart a couple KOs and be able to mill all of the cards that are left in the deck.  Now with Mewtwo EX being popular, Durant has a built in Eviolite with the resistance.  It will be very hard for Mewtwo to get a lot of KOs early on because of the resistance.
  2. Durant can remove energies.  Besides milling and playing defense, the next best thing that Durant does is remove energies.  It uses Lost Remover and Crushing Hammer very well to remove energies.  And since Mewtwo relies on a lot of energies to get an OHKO on Durant, Durant will always have a lot of targets in its energy removal.  Even if the Durant player gets some bad Crushing Hammer flips, they should be able to remove enough energies so that Mewtwo will not be able to do an ungodly amount of damage.
  3. Durant can attack with one energy.  Even though in the past it has been nice to load Durant up with Special Metal Energies, it can attack with just 1 energy.  Since Mewtwo does rely on the opponent to attach a couple energies to attack for a lot of damage, Durant will only attach one energy and hence, make Mewtwo not do as much damage as it could.
  4. Durant is disruptive, and will stop energy attachments.  Durant can mill 4 cards a turn, that might not sound like a lot, but it does add up very quickly.  Not only is every energy milled one card closer to a loss, but it is one card that you cannot attach to your active Mewtwo Ex.  As mentioned, the Mewtwo player is going to need a lot of energy on Mewtwo, maybe around 5 or 6, and if you don’t get those energies on Mewtwo, you will not be able to get the 6 prizes you need fast enough.

For that reason, I think that Durant has a good Mewtwo matchup.  Of course it is far from an auto-win, and the match-up is susceptible to those weird Durant starts, but I think Durant does have a small advantage.    Durant should be able to stop enough KOs that it can win this matchup most times.  So now that we know something about one of the most important matchups for States, let’s look at how this deck has changed since we last saw it at Cities. 

What it Gained from Next Destinies.

Durant did not gain a whole heck of a lot from ND.  I say that because the deck did not gain any more facets to its character.  It still is the same disruptive deck that it always was.  It did gain a little consistency with cards like Level Ball, but not really any change in the goal of the deck.  Some people say that it may have gotten a deck engine with Battle City, but if that does make its way onto the deck, it will be more for disruption rather than anything that will be a reliable engine.  Here are some of the things that are in ND that you might find in a Durant Deck. 

  1. Prism Energy-Prism Energy is kind of like Rainbow Energy but you don’t have the damage counter and it only works for Basic Pokemon.  Although Special Metal and regular Metal energies are best for this deck, some players like to include this card so they can use Rotom to attack.  I don’t really like the idea of having Rotom attack, but it is always nice to have the option.  Will this addition make the deck better?  Probably not.  Having an extra damage counter on Rotom wouldn’t be that bad, but Prism energy is no doubt better in this situation, even though it is not by that much. 
  2. Level Ball– Level Ball is in this deck because it is a better alternative to Dual Ball.  Most Durant decks played a couple Dual Balls just in case that they didn’t get a Pokemon Collector right away.  Level Ball is a lot better because it guarantees you one Pokemon, instead of maybe getting 1 or 2 Pokemon.  Level Ball also works because it gets every Pokemon that is normally ran in Durant, unless you run Cobalion.  It will not make a huge impact on the deck, but it will increase consistency by a little bit.  And it is always very good to increase consistency.
  3. Skyarrow Bridge-Some people have been talking about playing Skyarrow Bridge in Durant.  It will give Durant and Rotom free retreat.  This is very nice because a lot of people try to counter Durant by Pokemon Catchering a benched Durant or Rotom with no energy.  Skyarrow Bridge would stop this strategy cold.  It would give free retreat to all the Pokemon that you have, except maybe Cobalion if you run him.  Do I think that it will make a big difference?  Probably not that big of a deal.  Since Rotom and Durant only have a 1 energy retreat cost, it is not that big of a deal to burn an energy.  If you want to run this card than it will help you, if you don’t run this card it won’t hurt you that much.  You might also be able to use this card as long as your opponent runs it, like most Mewtwo EX decks do. 
  4. Battle City– This is a promo card that comes in the Mewtwo Ex Box.  Which is a good name for the box, because it does not contain a Mewtwo EX.  Thanks Nintendo!   Anyway, this card is like the old Lucky Stadium card from Neo Destiny.  It let’s you flip a coin and if heads, you can draw a card.  That makes it kind of like Speed Stadium from Diamond and Pearl, though it is different from that card.    Speed Stadium really didn’t have any use in the format, so let’s see if Durant can change the game with Battle City.  The Battle City supporters say that Durant can use this card for disruption.  If your opponent is using Skyarrow Bridge for energy acceleration, you can play this card and stop the free retreat of Celebi Prime.  Will this card work for disruption?  I guess theoretically it could work, but it will have to be proved in gameplay to make me a believer.  It just seems that you need so many things to happen before it works as disruption.  Is it nice as a stadium card to use?  Well, being able to draw another card is nice, but you could use the space in your decklist for other cards.  It is not a terrible card to run, but I don’t really like this card.  Instead of stadium disruption, you can probably use the room in your deck for more energy removal, defense, and consistency. 

Conclusion and Predictions for States 2012

So there is my take on Durant in the current format.  It was really hot coming out of Cities, and it doesn’t really lose any steam.  Mewtwo EX is so far the best deck that other people are talking about, and it should have a favorable matchup against it.  Reshiphlosion and Reshiboar will be played a lot, which is not good for Durant.  So there will be a lot of success and some challenges for Durant.  Overall, I think that Durant will be very successful at States.  I don’t think that it will win every State, Province, and Territory that there is, but I will go out on a limb and say it will be the most successful deck.

What do you guys think of Durant for States?

 

So long and thanks for all the fish

Deck Discussion

Deck Ideas from Next Destinies

Pikkdogs 6 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with an article about decks from Next Destinies.  There is no question that Next Destinies will be an impactful set.  The set is chock full of cards that will make it into decks right away.   This article will kind of overview some of these decks and explain what they are all about.  Of course I can’t cover every deck, so this will be just the major changes.

New Deck(s)

Mewtwo

The card that has literally been the poster boy of Next Destinies is Mewtwo EX.  He is also probably the focal point of the only great new deck that will come out of Next Destinies.  There is no doubt that ND cards will be in a lot of decks, but the Mewtwo deck is the only one that is really new to the format.

Since you can only play 4 Mewtwo EX cards in one deck, that will leave you  with at most 56 cards to work with.  If you add in cards like Eviolite and DCE, that still gives you about 50 cards to work with.  If you add in the staples and some more energy, you still have about 25 cards to play with.  That leaves a lot of options.  Cards that have been mentioned are energy accelerators and manipulators like Pachirisu, Emboar, and Gardevoir.  But, the one deck idea that has been suggested the most has been Celebi Prime.

Celebi Prime has a Poke-Power, called “Forrest Breath”, that lets you attach an extra Grass Energy on the field when Celebi is active.  Many people have suggested that this deck add cards like Skyarrow Bridge to it.  This would give Celebi free retreat, and would give Mewtwo some energy acceleration while not giving up the ability to attack each turn.

Most of these deck variants also have a secondary attacker.  Tornadus, Terrakion NV, and Cobalion NV are the most talked about secondary attackers.  A secondary attacker is needed in this deck so that a good Mewtwo counter will not be able to take control of the game.  For example, Mew Prime will be able to dominate Mewtwo EX very easily, but if you only use your secondary attacker, Mew Prime will not be so dominate.

This deck sets up fairly quickly and easily.  You are going to want to start with Celebi Prime, though, a  Mewtwo start isn’t the end of the world.  If you do start with Celebi Prime, you are going to want to use Pokemon Collector or Pokemon Communication for Mewtwo EX.  You are going to then want to use Celebi’s Poke-Power to attach energy to Mewtwo.  You can attack on turn 1 possibly, if you want and have Skyarrow Bridge in play.  From then on it will be a matter of getting energy on the field, and trying to keep it there.  Here is a basic skeleton list, you can fill in the rest of the cards from there.

Pokemon- 12-16

  • 3-4 Celebi Prime
  • 3 Mewtwo Ex
  • 2-4 Secondary Attackers (like Tornadus, Terrakion NV, or Cobalion NV)

Trainers-28-32

  • 10- Draw or Hand Refresh Supporters
  • 4-Pokemon Collector
  • 3-4 Pokemon Catcher
  • 3-4 Junk Arm
  • 2-3 Switch
  • 3-4 Skyarrow Bridge
  • 3-Eviolite

Energy-15

  • 4-DCE
  • 8-11-Grass
  • 0-3 Rescue Energy or Prism Energy

That will give you about 5 spaces to work with.  So it’s a decent skeleton, just fill it in, mess around with it, change it up, and you might have a decent deck.

Current Decks that Will be Effected

Not only will there be new decks, but a lot of current decks will be radically changed by some new cards.  Here are some of those decks.

Chandelure

What’s being added– There is no debate on Chandelure ND, it is not a great card, and does not deserve a deck of its own.  However, since it is a Fire Pokemon, it will be of interest for Chandelure players to play 1 of the new Chandelure to get a type advantage on some decks.  Chandelure has always been too slow to counter Durant, plus, Durant had the type advantage.  So an easy to fit in fire Pokemon is really nice.  What will be added to this deck is basically 1 Chandelure ND, to give it more versatility.  I could also see this deck playing Cilans, since it now needs to run some different types of energies.

How it will change–  This deck can work with only 3 of the psychic Chandelures, since you probably will only want to setup 2 or 3 all game.  So, having to take out the 4th Chandelure for this fire one, will not hurt your consistency.  It will probably only give your deck better matchups.  The Cilan will also help this deck, making it a little quicker.  This deck always had a hard time finding energy at the right time, Cilan will help with that.  These changes will make the deck better, I am not sure if it will take it to another level, or even keep it from falling, but these changes will help the deck.

Reshiphlosion

What’s being added– The deck that won’t die away just got another big help.  Reshiram EX can now be played in your Reshiphlosion deck.  Although it only adds 30 more damage to your maximum damage output, that could be helpful in certain situations.  So, most decks will probably only add 1 or 2 copies of Reshiram EX, I do not see a lot of other new cards being added to this deck.  Although, 1 copy of Mewtwo EX may be added as a tech.

How it will change– These changes will probably not affect the deck too much.  The deck will continue to work the same as it always does, it will just have a bigger attacker when needed.  I think the ND set does more to hurt Reshphloson than it does to help it.  “Blue Flare”, maybe with a Plus Power or two,  used to be enough to take down most playable Pokemon.  Now, we have a bunch of very playable 180 HP and 170 HP Pokemon.  This means that you are going to have to use “Blue Flare” more times than you normally do.  This could put a lot of strain on your deck, and could hurt your consistency.

That being said, the deck still is a very consistent deck and can still do really well.  Even though a lot of other decks around Reshiphlosion got more than it did, the deck will still be played.

Reshiboar

What’s being added– The bacon is back.  Next Destinies brought us many things, one of those things is a return of your favorite fire-pig, Emboar.  Since it has been so long since we have seen this card, let’s get a little history lesson.  Reshiboar was the first Reshiram BLW deck that was played.  It was set to be a very good deck at U.S. Nationals last year, but Reshiphlosion came out of absolutely nowhere and became the fire deck to play.  Reshiboar kind of stayed afloat with the addition of Magnezone Prime into the deck.  The deck now was a merger of Reshiboar and Magneboar.  It saw a little play at Worlds last year, and continued to see a little play at Battle Roads and Cities.  But, for the most part Reshiphlosion was the favorite fire deck.

So, let’s go back and get on topic here.  What is being added to this deck is 1 or 2 copies of Reshiram EX.  Like in Reshiphlosion, this will give it more pop, but it will not be that great.  The major card that is added here is Cilan.  Being able to get 3 energies into your hand will be amazing for this deck.  This means that you can easily power-up your attackers on one turn.  This is something that Typhlosion Prime cannot even do.

How it will change– The war for the best fire deck is back on.  Reshiboar now has Magnezone Prime and it can say that it is faster and more consistent than Reshiphlosion.  There will be some problems with getting energy from the discard pile, but this could be a reason why Reshiram EX could be better.  Perhaps Victini will make an appearance in this deck to make sure that Reshiram EX does not end up damaging itself.  It is hard to say what will happen at states, but from what I see, I think that Reshiboar could overthrow Reshiphlosion as the best fire deck.  And, this is very important with Durant being so good.

Zekrom

What’s being added– At first, I was kind of cool on Zekrom EX, but now I am not sure.  I was not happy about being forced to discard 2 energies, this forced you to run both heavy Pachirisu and Shaymin lines, as well as Eelektrik lines.  Then, I noticed you could also discard the DCE.  This means that as long as you don’t rely on this attack too much, you won’t have to get too much back from the discard pile.

Of course, Zekrom EX will be added to this deck.  Probably somewhere around 2 copies of this card.  Zekrom BLW and Torandus will still be in this deck, but Zekrom EX will be a bigger attacker.  Another card that will be added is Cilan.  Cilan works perfectly with Pachirisu, and will make it a lot easier to more quickly load up your attackers.  Skyarrow Bridge will also be in this deck.  It will make it harder for your opponent to stall by Pokemon Catchering a benched Pokemon.  Since you only have basic  Pokemon with fairly low retreat costs, this card is a no brainer for this deck.

How it will change– Zekrom was hands down the best deck during Battle Roads.  But, it did run out of steam later in the Cities season.  Something that will make this deck hit harder with more consistency was desperately needed, and now it is here.  This deck should have what it takes to stand up to Mewtwo EX.  I really like this deck because Zekrom EX gets rid of 2 energy after he attacks, this means that there are 2 less energies to power-up Mewtwo EX’s attack.  Zekrom should be poised to make it to a lot of the top tables at states.  It is hard to say how good the deck will be, but it should be really good.

Ross Deck (the Truth)

What’s being added– Time for another history lesson.  The Ross Deck was coincidentally invented by a guy named Ross, what are the chances of that?  Ross Cawthon brought it to Worlds and went fairly deep into the top cut with a deck based around Donphan Prime, Vileplume, and Reuniclus BLW.  It was the talk of Nationals, and it caught on around the country for Battle Roads.  It did fairly well there, and it even saw a little play during Cities.  However, the novelty of the deck has worn off, and its play has dropped off.

Now the big EXs are here and they stand to reinvigorate Ross Deck.  Ross Deck was good because it could take a hit and then redistribute it among the bench.  Now not only do you have a couple 180 HP Pokemon to use to keep damage counters on, but you can use one of them to take a hit.   It will now be almost impossible to beat Ross Deck once it sets up.  It will still be a slow deck that is vulnerable to a bad start in an increasingly fast format, but the deck did get a lot better, and here is how.

The deck will get a lot of great 180 HP Pokemon, like Regigigas EX, Reshiram EX, Kyurem EX, and Zekrom EX.  I think the best Pokemon to use in this deck is Kyurem and Regigigas.  I think that instead of Donphan, Machamp, or Steelix; you can just use Kyurem.  Kyurem can sit there, hit for 120, and take a hit, while Ross deck does what it does best.  You also have Regigigas that can be used in the right situation for a knockout.  I can see a person running 3 Kyurem EXs and 1 Regiggas.  The stadium Pokemon Center is also a perfect fit for this deck.  This will make it even easier to get rid of damage.

How it will change– Sure Kyurem is slower than Donphan, but it requires less deck space and can hit a lot harder.  Unless you play a deck with Steelix Prime, Scizor Prime, or Conalion Nv you will probably never lose a Kyurem.  It is very hard to get rid of a Kyurem EX without using weakness.  The deck might get even a little slower, but it will also hit harder and become even more defensive.  The weak point of this deck has always been the setup, and this set does nothing to help that, but it does maximize the deck in a lot other areas.  I am not exactly sure if ND will make Ross Deck the best around, but it should make it appear on a couple of top tables around states time.  Players of this deck will need to address the Durant problem, but if they can handle that it should be smooth sailing for this deck.

Well that is all I got, good luck to you for all your state testings.

So Long and Thanks for all the fish!

Stupid Deck Idea

Stupid Deck Idea: Amoongus and Leafeon

Pikkdogs 4 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a Stupid Deck Idea.  I must admit that I haven’t tested many new cards right now, but one rogue idea has inspired me.  That is the idea of pairing Amoongus and Leafeon.  I know its not a good deck, but it is a fun deck.  So we are going to be talking about that soon.

First, I just want to make an announcement.  I feel that my articles are becoming a little stale and that I should change things up, so I think that I am going to give Pedro a break.  Maybe Pedro will come back after a while. Maybe I will find a different format and change things up, but right now I shall go it alone. Chances are that Pedro will just take a week or so off, but we will see.

Amoongus and Leafeon

The Basics

There was  rogue deck going on in the Battle Roads season that featured Roserade and Leafeon.  The decks aim was to do damage for one energy with Leafeon while Roserade sits on the bench.  If you attach an energy to Roserade you can give  a special condition to the defending Pokemon.  Amoongus is pretty much like Roserade except for a couple things.  1.  It can only gives special conditions upon evolution.  2.  You don’t need to attach energies to Amoongus.  And 3.  Amoongus always casts 2 special conditions.

Let’s take a closer look at these cards.  Amoongus has the “Sporprise” ability, it confuses and poisons the defending Pokemon upon evolution.  Leafeon has the “Miasma Wind”  attack, which does 50 damage for each special condition on the defending Pokemon.  If you are able to do a Sporprise on each turn, you can then do 100 damage for 1 energy and inflict 2 special conditions.  Since Poison and Confusion do not heal themselves between turns, they will still be there next turn if you do not get the OHKO.   There are some Pokemon that can help these two Pokemon be a good deck.

One of these Pokemon is Sunflora.  His Poke-Power, “Sunshine Grace” will let you take a Grass Pokemon from your deck and put it into your hand.  This is really handy with all the grass Pokemon that we got in the format.  The second Pokemon that will help Amoongus and Leafeon is Vileplume.  Vileplume will take away items from both players, this is nice because it will stop your opponent from healing special conditions by using a card like Switch.  The third Pokemon that I will talk about is Espeon Prime.  Espeon has the “Evolution Memories” Poke-Body.  This Poke-Body will let Espeon use any attack of an Eeveelution that you have in play.  So if your opponent has Mewtwo EX active with 2 special conditions, you have Espeon Prime active with Leafeon on the bench,  you can use “Miasma Wind” for 200 damage and the OHKO.

These Pokemon all come together to form a cool deck: Leafeon and Amoongus pack a punch, Sunflora helps you set up, Vileplume provides a lock, and Espoen is a good tech.  It may not be a great deck, but it could be a fun rogue.  Let’s look at it a little closer to see how good the deck can be.

 

Decklist

Just another note before I share the list.  I did not test this list, this is just a thing I came up with quickly.  You can use it to test, but by sharing it I am not saying that it is any good.

Pokemon-26

  • 4- Foonfus
  • 3-Amoongus
  • 4-Eevee
  • 3-Leafeon
  • 1-Espeon Prime
  • 3-Oddish
  • 1-Gloom
  • 2-Vileplume
  • 2-Sunkern
  • 2-Sunflora
  • 1-Magby

Trainers-25

  • 4-Pokemon Collector
  • 2-Level Ball
  • 3-Rare Candy
  • 4-Professor Oak’s New Theory
  • 4-Seeker
  • 3-Twins
  • 3-Juniper
  • 1-Flowershop Lady
  • 2-Pokemon Communication or Elms.

Energy-8

  • 4-Rescue Energy
  • 4-Double Colorless Energy

Shortcomings

Since this is more of a fun deck, let’s take a look at why it is not a great deck.  One thing is bench space avaliable.   You are going to want to have about 2-3 spaces avaliable for Amoongus, because you are going to need to evolve him 4-6 times a game at least.  You are going to want at least 1 space for a backup attacker, Leafeon of course.  You also need at least 1 space for Sunflora, and probably around 2 for Vileplume.  That means, that at best you will be short at least 1 bench space.  So benching is a problem here, Seeker is your best friend here, but its not going to be a cure-all.  Another shortcoming is the damage output.  100 damage and special conditions actually is pretty good in this format, but it will be hard to keep that up for 6 times in one game.  The final shortcoming that I will talk about is the HP.  Leafeon only has 90 HP, Espeon Prime can bump that up to 100, but that is nothing in a format where people are doing 150 damage.  You are going to have to rely on Confusion to stop a lot of their attacks, or you are going to need to be great in recovery.

Future Help

Could this deck get a big help from somebody with ties to Luxray Gl Lv.X?  In a word, yes.  There was just a new Ninetales that was unveiled in Japan.  That Ninetales had an attack very similar to Leafeon’s, and it has Luxray Gl Lv. X’s “Bright Look” ability.  So will the release of this card make the deck better?  Well it will have many effects on this deck.  It will replace Leafeon and Espeon, this could mean that you can get rid of Sunflora, since you don’t run as many grass Pokemon.  This will help with the bench space problem.  Plus, it gives the deck a Pokemon Catcher effect while under a trainer lock.  This is really nice and will make the deck better.  Will it make it playable?  Probably not, but it could help.

Is the Deck Playable?

So does this thing have any kind of chance of working?  I don’t know cause I haven’t tried it, but I would say it is much more closer to a fun deck than a real deck.  The odds are that I would never take this to a tournament, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a cool rogue deck.  It might be better than I think it is, that is up for the people who actually go and play this to decide.

A Little About Matchups

This deck probably isn’t good enough to list all the matchups out, but let’s look at matchups as a whole.  The Black and White Dragons would be a fairly bad matchup, you would need them to get a couple bad Confusion flips for it to work.  The EXs of course would be a tough matchup, but there are a lot of good reasons why special conditions would help screw with the EXs.  Of course it would be a tough matchup, but it is not a terrible matchup.  You should have a pretty good matchup against Chandelure.  You should be faster than them, and you might be able to control the game with a couple early prizes.

Conclusion

So, its not a great deck, just a fun rogue deck.  Make it if you have some time it should be pretty fun!

Opinion

The Second Annual Pikkes- Awards to Celebrate Pokemon Card Art

Pikkdogs 10 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  Last year I had an idea around awards-show time to give awards to the best card art in the format.  This year I decided to keep the tradition up, and name it after one of the best people I know, me.  Pikke (Pick-e) was my nickname in school, so I decided to call the awards the Pikkes.  No  matter what attractive chap the awards are named after, the Pikkes are all about greatness in card art.  And what a better time to have an award show, with the Oscars coming up around the corner.

A lot of Pokemon writers don’t mention card art, and only talk about playability.  But, card art is something that connects to the card collector and the serious player.  We all can appreciate a good piece of card art.  Not all of us can appreciate Mewtwo EX, but we all can appreciate how beautiful a Full Art card is.  I think its nice to take a step back from competitive play now and then and just appreciate something as simple as card art.   So let’s take a look at how we are going to give out the Pikkes.

I will choose most of the award winners in a variety of categories.  Cards that are eligible to win awards have been released since the last award show, that means Black and White and up.  Categories  include things like: Cutest Art, Scariest Art, Best Full Art, best Aerial Scene, best Nauctical scene, Best Supporting Actor in Card Art, and best Trainer.  There will be a new wrinkle in the way things are judge this year.  This is because there will be a best card art category.  In this category I will nominate 5 cards, and you guys can vote on the one you like the best.  All you have to do to vote is just put it in a comment, the winner will then be crowned in a later article.  It would be nice if you could also share some of your feelings on the card art that came out this year, and maybe we can work that into the next article.

So we have nothing else to do but start handing out the awards.  I must confess before I do this that I know nothing about art.  I didn’t take an art class in school, and don’t have any classical knowledge about art.  But, the nice thing about Pokemon is you don’t need any of that stuff.  You can just appreciate it the way you are, so that’s what I will try to do.

Cutest Art

One thing that Pokemon is being known for is for being cute.  Pikachu has always been a spokesman for the brand because he is cute.  Not every piece of Pokemon Art has to do with cuteness, but it is what Pokemon is probably best known for.  A lot of people call Pokemon a game for kids, whether it is or not is irrelevant, and the card art sure does lend itself to that assumption.  So, let us go and take a look at the best of Cuteness for this past year.

The Nominees for Cutest Art are:

  • Tropical Beach:  You gotta love the art of this Worlds Promo.  Most people talked about this card because it was good and had a high price tag, but the cuteness of this card was not all lost.  There is nothing that is not cute about this card; the Snivy sun bathing, Tepig caught in the lifesaver, Psyduck floating in the water, and Oshawott have a seizure, or whatever he is doing.
  • Gold Victory Cup:  The next nominee is another promo.  This card went to the winner of Battle Roads.  This art features the three starters jumping up and down in celebration among confetti, while Reshiram and Zekrom lurk in the background, and Victini is sitting in a loving cup.  It is a really cute card with a lot of nice flashy colors.
  • Darumaka Promo: What’s with the promo’s so far?  I guess the promotional cards are just the cutest cards of all.  This Darumaka card came with a mini binder.  This art shows Darumaka balancing on one foot with a platter full of fruit on his head.  There is some delicious looking grapes and pears falling off the platter, it all looks really cool and really tasty.

The winner is………………………………………

 

You can’t go wrong with Tropical Beach.  The other two cards are both very cute, but this is like 2 packages of cuteness packed into a one cute container.  There are so many Pokemon here that you can point at for being cute.   The colors here are very vibrant and you can almost feel the sun shining.  It all contributes to a bright, cool, and cute card.

Scariest Art

Unlike being cute, being scary is something you don’t normally associate with Pokemon.  But, there are a lot of different Pokemon out there.  Some are spooky ghosts, towering dragons, and others are creepy carnivores.  Most people out there find that being scared is a pleasant experience, just look at how much money slasher movies make.  Since Pokemon card art does include the scary variety, let’s take a look at the scariest art of this year.

  1. Hyrdreigon Nd–  If there is anything scarier than a three headed dragon, it is a three headed dragon that is colored green.  In this card art it seems that you have a mad three headed dragon coming after you.  It is very frightening, and not an experience that I would like to be in.  The card art is very cool with the green dragon and the colors popping out of space.  You just gotta love this art, it is beautiful……………and scary.
  2. Terrakion Full Art NV–  When I first made this article, I was sure that Terrakion was going to win, but now I’m not so sure.  It is not for the fault of Terrakion.  This Full Art has some very awesome artwork.  The art shows a close up picture of Terrakion, and he looks very mad.  I’m not sure how to describe his eyes, haunting maybe might work.  It is hard to put into words the deep fear that this card compels you to feel.  Terrakion is not a Pokemon you fool with, he seems very strong and ready to strike.
  3. Zoroark Promo #19–  I was about to give the last nomination away to the Zekrom that came with the Zekrom box, but another Promo caught my eye.  Proving that Nintendo sometimes saves the best art for the promo cards, Zoroark looks as ferocious as ever.  Zoroark looks very angry, he has his mouth open with his sharp teeth pointing out.  Then we gotta talk about the background, he seems to be standing in-front of some kind of vortex or black hole type thing.  It all contributes to a very cool looking card.

The winner of this very tough category is………………………………………………….

 

It was very hard not to give this award to Terrakion FA, it is a shame that it will not win this category.  But, when I saw this card I just knew that it had to win best scary art.  The colors and everything work so well together, and that green dragon is very scary.  Hydreigon is the giant killer, for a regular card to take down a full art it has to be really good, and that’s what this card is.

 Best Full Art

There is no doubt that this has been one of the best years for art, and that is because of the Full Arts.  The Full Art cards have all been amazingly good looking, the artists really have outdone themselves on these cards.  To crown a best Full Art is really a shame, they all are good enough to get a prize.  But, only one will win, and only 3 will even get nominated.  At this time, let us all look at the nominees.

  1. Terrakion NV–  Terrakion didn’t win scariest art, but its day is not over.  It is no doubt one of the best looking Full Arts in the set, and as scary as heck.  When I look at this card, all I can think about is fear.  Terrakkion looks like it is angry and is about to stick it to somebody.  It is just a really cool and scary card.
  2. Regigigas ND-  Regigigas is known as the Colossal Pokemon, but he could be known as the rainbow warrior.  This card art just pops with a lot of colors, it looks like a big wall of candy is moving towards you.  Gigas is also quite intimidating, you gotta be afraid this mammoth Pokemon walking towards you.  The card art really is intimidating, and is everything you could really want from card art.
  3. Mewtwo ND–  Everybody has been talking about this card for a while, but when I first saw it all I thought was, “awww that’s purrtty.”  If you like the color purple, not the Oprah movie, you will love this card.  So many shades of purple are popping out at you with this card.  Mewtwo seems to be conjuring some kind of psychic power, and all of this summoning is causing a beautiful blue and purple swirling background.  It is not really scary, but comes off as super saccharine and colorful.

And the Pikke goes to………………………………….

 

This was again a hard one to award.  It could have gone to either Terrakion or Mewtwo, but since Terrakion got shafted in the last category I thought I would give it the tie breaker.  It just is a really scary card and a beautiful one.  Big props to whoever drew this card.

Best Aerial Scene

Last year this category went to Latios, we will now see who dominates the skies this year.  Man has always dreamed of flying, so there is no doubt that we need a category for Pokemon that capture the dream every day.  While I can’t fly, I can still take pleasure in seeing Zapdos fly over a power plant.  What is critical about a flying scene is the background.  I am looking for a great background that shows off the beautiful sky and a downward look of the world.  So, Let’s look at the best in aviation this year.

  1. Manibuzz BW– The Bone Vulture Pokemon is the first nominee for this award.  This card could have easily been in the “Scariest Card Art” category.  While not as scary as a three headed dragon, this vulture is pretty scary as it has its wings extended in flight.  The card easily shows off the impressive body of Mandibuzz.  It has some very sharp looking spikes around its waist, and it has a bone in its hair.  It is a beast that is not to be messed with.  In the background are the peaks of some mountain along with the clouds covering up a blue sky.  It feels as if the clouds are blocking some pretty strong rays of the sun.  The sun and cloud effects of this card art are very cool.
  2. Braviary–  Braviary itself is quite a cool Pokemon.  It has a lot of colors that seem to pop right out of the card.  Its who body is a beautiful dark blue, and it has red, yellow, and light blue on the feathers.  The feathers by its face seem to come together to make a star.  The talons of this Pokemon are spread out in a fearful gesture.  The background of this art is just as good as that of the bird.  The background depicts a sea of trees that a cloudy blue sky.  Light is not used quite as well as it is on the other card, but the view of the earth sure is breathtaking.
  3. Moltres ND– Moltres, one of the first legendary Pokemon, is back in the Black and White era, and has come with some cool art.  This card art shows Moltres at flight, and the fire in this art is treated very well.  You gotta admire how his body seems to be engulfed in the fire, and the body seems to be the fire.  It is also cool how the fire seems to waft off of him as he fly’s by. The background is not that great in this card, but for the depiction of Moltres himself, you gotta put this card as one of the best of the year.

And the winner is………………………..

We did not have a lot of good aerial card this year, but that doesn’t take anything away from the winner.  The effect of contrasting colors is done early well in this card, and it works well with the aerial scenery.

Best Nautical scene

Golduck won this category last year, but there is no Golduck card left to win the title, so there will be a new winner this year.  Nautical and Aquatic scenes are very cool things to depict in art.  A good aquatic scene has a lot of bubbles and waves, while showing the sun and light from the sky.  There are many ferocious sea creatures in the Pokemon world, so let’s see who wins this year.

  1. Jellicent NV– I could have easily chosen Jillicent ND for this spot, but I thought I would go for card art that goes deep underwater.  This card art depicts two Jellicent swimming at the bottom of the ocean.  In the background there are marine plants, cool bubbles and waves, and the depiction of the sun.  It is cool to look at the sun through that view, because most of us don’t get that far under the water too often.  The Jellicent also look cool in this card, one is right near the picture and seems to be staring at you.  Just a really cool aquatic scene.
  2. Beartic ND–  I don’t really think of Beartic as a water Pokemon, although he is one in the TCG, in the VG he is more of an Ice Pokemon.  This card depicts him as going fully underwater.  He seems to be on the hunt, or maybe taking a bath.  The paws and claws of Beartic are up close in this art, and it is kind of a scary feeling.  It is cool to see the waves and bubbles in the water.  But, the best thing about this card is the fur.  The fur on Beartic is depicted as being long and it just looks very wet.  That may seem like a weird thing to say, but if you look at the art, you will see that the artist does an amazing job of drawing the fur in the water.
  3. Lapras ND #25– Lapras has always been one of my favorite Pokemon, and he has some great card art in ND.  In this art, Lapras is swimming under a bridge.  He seems to be smiling at people as he moves along the body of water.  The water is drawn really well here.  I love the waves, and there seems to be a mist coming off the water.  I also love the sun shining through the clouds.  It seems like a very happy scene, and it is a cool card.

The Pikke for Best Nautical Art goes to…………………………………

 

I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to draw this card.  It is very hard to draw a Pokemon in the water, but it is harder to draw the water when a bear is moving through it.  The  artist really outdid himself on this one.  You can see every movement, and not to mention how the hair looks.

Best Supporting Actor in Card Art

This category rewards people or Pokemon that have snuck onto a card.  For example, Piplup had  a great cameo on the art for Super Scoop Up in Majestic Dawn.  The winner of this category should have a Pokemon or Person that doesn’t really belong in the art, but seems to steal away all the attention from the thing that should have been the center of the card.  Let’s look at the nominees.

  1. Psyduck in Tropical Beach– Tropical Beach has already won 1 Pikke tonight and it just might take home one or two more.  In this category we are looking at Psyduck.  The art depicts the three Unova starters on the beach, but the scene is stolen by Psyduck floating by on a life saver.  It looks like Psyduck is waving to us and the three starters on the beach.  It all makes for a really cool and cute scene.  Psyduck is a real scene stealer in this one.
  2. Victini in the Silver Victory Cup– It seems like the Unova starters can’t get a break.  They are again in a card art together, this time they are hovering around a 2nd place trophy.  But, Victini steals the scene again.  This time Victini seems to have fallen in the trophy and is waving at you with one hand, while it hangs on by the other.  The card art is cool in itself with a spotlight shining and confetti flying in the air.
  3. The Red Stripped Basculin in Basculin ND– This is supposed to be a card about the Blue Striped Basculin, everybody’s favorite “Super Bass”, but a school of Red Stripped Basculin have came into the shot.  It looks like the Red ones might gang up on the blue one.  Maybe both colors of Basculin are out doing some hunting, who knows, but the red ones are sure looking hungry.  Overall, the card art is really cool.  With a lot of cool water and wave effects, and the light that shines through the water is drawn very well.

And the winner is……………………………………………..

For my buddies in Team Victini in Ann Arbor, the winner is Victini in 2nd place Victory Cup.  I love how he seems to be falling into the cup, and how he awkwardly waves.  Just a really cool card to be given out as a prize for a BR, I think that it was a great idea to give out a card like Victory Cup to the winner.  I know that a lot of people didn’t like this decision, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Best Trainer

The last category that I will award is the Best Trainer.  As a whole, trainer cards have sucked art work wise in Black and White.  What has happened to the cool artwork in the Super Scoop Ups, Poketurns, and Bubble Coats of the past sets?  The modern art works are really simple and don’t have a lot of flavor to them.  That being said, there are still some cool art out there, just not as cool as the past.  What I usually look for in a trainer card art is a good profile of whatever the trainer is, and then a cool and funny scene in the background.  Pokemon acting a fool is always fun to see in art like this.  So, let’s look at what modern trainer artwork is like.

  1. Cilan– This is one of my favorite pieces of art on a trainer this year.  Cilan seems to be standing in front of some hotel or something, and it has big gold Pokeball Statues next to it.  The hotel thing really works with Cilan, since he always seems to dress like a waiter.  The card art is nothing special, but I do like the architecture in the Hotel building.
  2. N – This is a really cool picture of the man they call Natural Harmonia Gropius.  He is standing against a forest backdrop, and he seems to have his arms wide open like he is about to hug somebody.  His jewelry and accessories are highlighted, as are his hat and his long flowing green hair.  All this contributes to some great card art, however, the thing that steals the show is the Ferris Wheel in the background.  The seats seem to be made to resemble Pokeballs.  The forest and the Ferris Wheel come together to make a very cool backdrop, and really cool card art.  Certainly it is nothing you are used to seeing about the bad guy of the video games.
  3. Full Art N–  It has been a while since a trainer has gotten the Ultra Rare treatment, but it happened again this year.  Full Arts have really been awesome for Pokemon artwork, and this card is no different.  Just the fact that this is a full art makes it award worthy.  This Full Art was one of the most coveted card in the NV set.  Just to be the guy who has a full art trainer makes you pretty cool.  The art itself is a lot different than the regular N.  This is a closeup of Natural and he seems to be Tebowing or something like that.

And the Pikke goes to ………………………………………………………..

Even though the Full Art N is cooler than the regular N, the regular N has better art.  The art on the full art N is cool, but it seems to be kind of messed up.  The regular N has one of the coolest backgrounds, and Natural Harmonia Gropius seems to be happy.  I think N is a very cool character, and it is nice to see this side of N.  N seems to be a character that has more than just 1 side, and is certainly not the cookie cutter characters that Team Rocket are.  This card art shows off a different side of N, and when a card adds to a character’s personality, well that is just awesome.

So that is all the Pikkes that I am going to give away, however there is one more left.

Best Overall Art

This category is all up to you guys.  So while you guys comment and tell me how I got all the other awards wrong, and please do so, don’t forget to leave a comment and vote for the best overall art of the year.  All you have to do is type the name of a nominee you want to vote for (or vote for a write-in candidate) in the comment box.  I will nominate 5 cards, but you can vote for any card that came out in the last year, just indicate that it is a write-in choice. Here are the nominees.  When you vote, don’t forget to tell us why you like the card.  Also, make sure to give your opinions on the other award winners, its always nice to talk about this stuff.  Here are the nominees.



So long and thanks for all the fish!

10 Impactful Cards

Pikkdogs Presents: The Top 10 Most Impactful Cards from Next Destinies

Pikkdogs 6 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with my quarterly review of the next set.  I usually review the set by taking a look at the top 10 cards that will have an impact on the current format, and this set is no different.

This set is a very impactful one.  This set givs us a card that might dominate the format, and a bunch of other cards that are really good.  We even got some trainers, stadium cards, and special energies.  This set will shape what will be played at the top tables at States, though, it may not be to the extent that we currently think.  Before we start the countdown, let us welcome Pedro to the conversation.  How’s Pedro doing today?

Doing well.

Do you got any news for us today?

Well, not too much going on. February 8th is when you can start buying Next Destinies packs from the stores.  February 8th is also a holiday, it is National Kite Flying Day. 

So if you don’t pull a Mewtwo EX, you can go fly a kite. Read More

ProPokemon

Teaser: “Next Destinies: How it Will Impact the Game”

Ed 7 Comments

Hey guys.  I just got done reading Jak Armstead’s latest article over at ProPokemon.  I think it covers a lot of good points about how the new cards will impact the tournament scene.  He presents new possibilities as well as the impact on current popular decks, and each time he presents a decklist.  I just did a quick count, and it looks like there’s at least 10 decklists in there.

First, he discusses Mewtwo EX which can’t be ignored.  Everyone is discussing it, but he’s got some very good points.  Here’s an excerpt in which he’s discussing a new deck that could be built around Mewtwo EX.

Mewtwo decks are going to form an important part of the metagame for State Championships, and learning how to play against them, and how to play with them, is going to be a major test for players. The two Prize mechanic will lead to the kind of intense strategic encounters not seen since the days of Gardevoir/Gallade decks back in 2008. Then, as now, the taking of Prizes will need to be carefully planned. Taking the initial KO with a Mewtwo-EX will generally be something to avoid, as all it will take is for the opponent to drop their own Mewtwo, a Double Colourless Energy, and a PlusPower and then you will find yourself down on Prizes. Learning to master the ‘Mewtwo Wars’ is essential for anyone with aspirations to win in the upcoming format.

Click here to see the full article at ProPokemon.

Later, after that discussion, his 6133 word article gets into how the new cards effect current established archetype decks.  Here’s one example where he’s discussing the current reigning City’s Champion, Magnezone/Eelektrik. Read More

Tourney Report

Pikkdogs Went to a Pre-Release

Pikkdogs 5 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a Pre-Release tournament report.  I usually wouldn’t write you a PR report, but it could provide a nice break for me while I write my next article, which may take a little while.  Why don’t we take this time to welcome my extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro.  How was your weekend Pedro?

Pretty good, a nice sports weekend.  We had the Pro Bowl, the NHL All Star Game, the finals of the Australian Open, the Royal Rumble, and even some Free UFC on Fox. 

I watched that UFC on Saturday.  There is no doubt that it takes a man much tougher than me to step into the Octagon, but on Saturday it seemed like UFC is just an excuse for two dudes to cuddle in the corner of a cage.

Those are big men, I wouldn’t be calling them gay. 

I didn’t call them gay, I implied it.  Plus, they always wear those bright T-shirts, you can’t wear that many pastel colors without some questions.  Let’s get onto the article before I say more things that I will regret.

 

The Introduction

I did not plan on going to my Next Destinies Pre-Release on Sunday.  I wanted to, but I just didn’t have the money.    That all changed on Saturday.  I came back to my apartment after going out for lunch, and I found a strange package at my door.

Oh, somebody gave you their package?

Yes, I guess you could say that.

Was it a big package?  A long package?

No, it wasn’t that big.

Oh, so somebody gave you their small package.

Will you stop with the penis jokes, they aren’t working.  Anyway, the mailman left me a pack!. A box, the mailman left me a box.   In the box was a gift from my sister and her two kids.  They had given me a box of chocolates and 25 bucks.  I’m not sure why they did that; perhaps just to be nice, or a late Christimas present, or perhaps an early Valentine’s Day gift.  My first thought was, “sweet!. a Pre-Release, and chocolate.”

So I was able to head to the Pre-Release Sunday.  It was held at a venue about an hour away from me.  It was snowing a little bit on that day, so the roads weren’t that good, but I’m from the U.P. and a little snow  doesn’t scare a Yooper.  So, after a longer drive than usual, I made it to the venue.

I was expecting maybe about 40-50 people at the event, but we ended up having 80!  They even had to turn people away.  I never heard of anybody getting turned away from a PR before.  So things were cramped to say the least.  I did see a lot of cool people there.  Some of the members of Team Warp Point were there, like Frank S. and Bohdan.  I also saw some people from Lansing like my buddy Andrew, and some people from Ann Arbor’s Team Victini.  So, after saying hi to people and finally finding a chair, I saw down to open my packs.

Of course, like everybody else, I was here for a chance at a Mewtwo EX.  I was also looking for all the other EXs, and maybe cards like Musharna and Cilan.  And, of course I was looking for as many Growlithe cards as possible, the chick in the background of that card is pretty hot.

So, I got my 6 packs and I actually pulled fairly well.  In my second pack I pulled a Full Art Shaymin EX!  That was always good, and for the tournament I got a cool card in Zekrom.  I know that Reshiram and Zekrom are good cards, but when will it stop being fun for Nintendo to print those cards?Seriously there are more Reshiram and Zekrom cards than are legal to play!   I also got some pretty good PR cards, like Starmie, Hippowdon, Luxray, Simisage, Mienfoo, and Level Ball.  I didn’t  get Mewtwo EX or Musharna, but it’s not right to complain about a Full Art.

The tournament was only 3 rounds today, but I suppose that’s enough for it starting as late as it did.  I quickly made my deck with Shaymin, Zekrom, Mienfoo, Basculin, Simisage, and Hippowdon.  I didn’t get a lot of the consistency cards that are in the set, but I did get some decent cards that are quick, so I knew I had a little chance.

Round 1

This game was against Evan, a player from Lansing.  He didn’t get a good start, he had a lot of energies in his hand and not many Pokemon.  I started with an active Basculin, and I had a Hippowdon and a Level Ball in my hand.  I started attacking with Basculin, and started setting up the Hippowdon.  He started with Riolu and a bunch of Kricketots.  I ended up getting the knock with Basculin, and got 3 energies on Hippowdon.  He eventually did find a Zekrom, but that didn’t help him when I had Hippowdon running this hot.

1-0.  So an easy win because of the tank that is Hippowdon.

Round 2

I don’t know exactly who this guy is, but I think he might be a friend of a Warp Pointer.  He sat right next to me when we were making our decks.   I got a good start with a 2nd turn Mienfoo   But, he got about as good of a start as I did.  He did start with Basculin and had a Lapras on the bench.  He got the KO on my active, and then I returned it with Pansage. He then was able to return it with Lapras.  But, then I got a Hippotas going and returned his KO.  The prize I took that time was Hippowdon, and the game was over from there.  He could not match the tank that is Hippowdon.

2-0.  Chalk another one up for Hippowdon.  I know PRs don’t mean anything, but it would be nice to leave undefeated.

Round 3

This game was against a member of Team Victini, he is a really nice guy, so It was nice to play him.  It was too bad that he started terribly.  He had a Moltres active and a bunch of stage 1’s in his hand.  I started with the super bass, Basculin, and was able to take advantage of weakness.  My opponent had three turns to top deck a basic, but he never did.  So I was able to get the KO with Basculin and he had no basics to promote.

3-0.   I know it doesn’t matter, but whenever you leave undefeated it is not a bad  feeling.  We did not play enough rounds to crown a true winner, but sharing 1st place with around 4 other guys is still 1st place.  It doesn’t mean much, but it could give me a little momentum and confidence as we progress into States.  And if it is one thing that I need after my disastrous Cities season, it is confidence.

So, a big thanks goes out to the Judges and Derek, the TO.  You guys make all this possible.  Another thanks to everyone that attended, you guys made the day that much better.  It seemed kind of weird that I won all my games, but never really used my two best cards, Zekrom and Shaymin EX.  That just shows you how weird PR’s can be.  Sometimes they go by the book, and other times they are unpredictable. 

Conclusion.

So you are bragging about winning a PR? PR’s don’t mean anything.

                I didn’t brag, I just reported what happened.  Instead of picking on me, why don’t you wrap things up.

Alright, today. January 30th, is the anniversary of the first presidential assassination attempt.  Richard Lawrence, a house painter, fired two single shot revolvers at point blank rage at Andrew Jackson, and both guns misfired.  Jackson then proceded to beat Lawrence’s ass with his cane.  Jackson thought that Lawrence might have been hired by the Whig party to kill him, so that he would not be able to shut down the Bank of the United States.  Do you like the Andrew Jackson Pikkdogs?

I love the Andrew Jackson, probably my favorite president.  Shutting down the bank of the United States was probably one of the best things a president ever did.  You also gotta love the fact that he won the battle of New Orleans,  that he had a strict interpretation of the constitution, and he advocated for states rights. 

But, he helped slavery expand and forcefully relocated thousands of Native Americans away from their homes.

Ahhhhhhh, well………………… good night everybody. 

 

 

Prerelease

Pikkdogs Guide to Winnning your Next Destinies Pre-Release

Pikkdogs 8 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with your ticket to winning your Next Destinies Pre-Release.  ND PR’s start this weekend!!  So if you can, try to go out and hit some PRs.  They are great because they help support your TO, and they give you the best chance to get some great cards.  You not only get 8 packs, but you get a chance to do some trading with everyone else at the event.  Most people don’t go to a Pre-Release to win, but if you do win, it could give you some good momentum going into states.  Plus, it is always good to win.  Some places give the winner an extra pack, while others just give the winner bragging rights.  Here is what you need to know to win the NV pre-release.

Basic Pre-Release Tips

If you never played at a tourney before, here is what happens at a normal Pre-Release.  You sit down at a table, and a judge will come over and hand you 6 packs.  You open all of your packs, and then build a 40 card deck consisting of only the cards that you have pulled, and basic energy cards that are provided to you by the TO.  If you pulled any special energy cards you can play them, but they will not be provided to you.

When building your deck, the most important thing to focus on is consistency.  Most modified format decks have cards like Professor Juniper and Pokemon Communication that greatly increase consistency, you don’t have these in your pre-release.  So it will be harder to get Evolution cards out. and other cards that you only have 1 card of.  What you need to do is run cards that increase consistency, for example you can run Simisear. He has the “Collect” attack that let’s you draw 3 cards for just 1 energy.  Or you can run Lapras #25, he let’s you search your deck for 2 basic Pokemon and put them onto your bench.  But, consistency usually means running a lot of trainers.  In this set, we do not have a lot of search or draw trainers.  We do have Level Ball and Heavy Ball.  Level Ball lets you search out a Pokemon with 90 HP or less, while Heavy Ball does the same with a Pokemon that has 3 or more in their retreat cost.  Energy counts in a PR deck usually run around 14.  If you pull a Cilan or 2, you will be able to run about 12 or 13.  Along the same lines, make sure to not run too many energy types.  Cilan will help you with energy consistency, but try to run at the most 3 types of energy. Read More

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Kyurem NV, Jumpluff HGSS, and Pokemon Center

Pikkdogs 19 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a Pikk Three article for you.  I don’t expect to hear anything about the next set until Thursday or Friday, so while we wait for all the card scans and the official list, let’s do a Pikk Three article.  This time it will be an old school Pikk Three, with one card that is used a lot, one card that I feel is under-rated, and one card is from a new or yet to be released set.  But first, I must introduce my extra-dimensionary sidekick, Pedro.  Hey Pedro?

Yo.

I was thinking-

That’s a first.

Will you let me talk for one moment.  Geez, extra-dimensionary sidekicks ya can’t live with em, ya can’t destroy their interdimensionary portholes.  As I was saying, I was thinking that since you have been with me on my articles for so long, there are probably new readers who don’t know much about you. 

Could be.

So, why don’t you re-introduce yourself so that new readers will know who you are, and it won’t be so weird. 

I think the ship has sailed on the weird thing, but I’ll go along with it.  I am a half human/ half alien humanoid from a different dimension.  I sometimes write articles with Pikkdogs to help him out.  Things are a lot funnier when I’m around, and I can be here to knock him down once he starts to get proud or boastful. 

True.  But, what it all comes down to is that you are my sidekick.  You assist me as I write articles.  You are the Ed McMahon to my Johnny Carson.

Or, the Lamar Odom to your Khloe Kardashian.

I guess, but I thnk it’s more like the Robin to my Batman.

I see it more as the Ava Braun to your Hitler. 

Hey! How come in my examples I am Batman and Johnny Carson, and in yours I am a Kardashian and Hitler?

Hey, I just go with what I know man.  I don’t  look that good either.  I get to be an old guy that is known for giving away money, a little above average basketball player who is married to the big Kardashian , and  a young guy who always wears spandex.  Come to think of it, I could get used to the Spandex.

I’m sure you could,but, I don’t wanna hear it. Let’s just do the article. 

The Staple-Kyurem

Description– Kyurem is the long lost brother to the Unova Dragons, Reshiram and Zekrom.  His card is just about the same as the other dragons.  He has 130 HP, he has a 2 retreat cost, and he has the “Outrage” attack.  Unlike the other dragons, Kyurem is a Water Pokemon, is weak to metal, and has the “Glaciate” attack.  “Glaciate” spreads 30 damage for WWC. 

Analysis– Reshiram and Zekrom have had so much success so far that is always great to have a little more of the Unova dragons.  If a little is good, more is better. 

This card has seen a lot of play despite the fact that it has only been in the format for the City Championship season.  It saw play in three different decks.  It first saw play in a Donphan and Dragons deck.  This deck already used the other 2 dragons to soak up damage counters and reflect them onto the opponent, so Kyurem was a logical fit here.  It gave the user a lot better matchup against fire decks, such as Reshiphlosion.  It could really maximize the potential of “Outrage” without needing to rely on the fickle “Glaciate” attack.  Next, the card saw play in the CaKE deck.  This deck used Electrode Prime to bring together Kyurem and Cobalion NV.  The deck was versatile and maximized the potential of both Kyurem and Cobalion.  The problem was that it wasn’t as consistent as some other decks, and didn’t have the best matchups ever.  It survives today as a good deck, just not the best one.  The third deck it saw play in was the Six Corners deck.  This is a very strange deck that uses the Unova Dragons and Virizion NV as the basics for a deck that is able to take advantage of weakness on nearly every deck that it plays against.  In this deck, Kyurem again served as more of an “Outrage” attacker, and only used “Glaciate” when absolutley neccessary.  I do not see much of a future for Six Corners because the format is becoming smaller and less diverse. 

The stats of this card are very similar to the other dragons.  Of course, 130 HP and the “Outrage” attack are a deadly combo.  This card is weak to metal, which is good, but not as good as it was without Cobalion NV in the format.  With just the “Outrage” attack, Kyurem was destined to see some play.  But the key to it seeing long lasting play is “Glaciate”.  I never liked this attack.  Sure if you can get this attack off 4 times you probably have just won the game, but it rarely is that simple.  Some decks have healing or damage counter moving abilities that would mess with this strategy.  Other decks would take away Kyurem before it could attack more than once or twice.  Because the attack takes three energies, it will be hard to get more than 1 or 2 powered up in one game.  You could use Pokemon like Feraligatr Prime for energy acceleration, but that just leads to more problems than it solves.  I never really liked this card for more than the “Outrage” effect. 

The bad things about Kyurem are as follows.  Firstly, Cobalion can hit it for weakness, this is not a huge problem, unless Cobalion becomes a widely played  anti-Mewtwo EX tech.  The last negative about Kyurem is the “Glaciate” attack.  I just don’t think it is on the same level as “Blue Flare” and “Bolt Strike”.  The spread has been dead for a long time, and this card does nothing to bring it back. 

Final Rating– 7.75/10– Although “Glaciate” is a dissapointment, “Outrage” is still perhaps the best attack in the game,  It can always fill a roll for hitting fire Pokemon for weakness, even though it is not the main attacker that Reshiram and Zekrom are. 

The Underdog-Jumpluff HGSS

Description– It’s hard to believe that Jumpluff has never been in a Pikk Three.  It has been in the format forever and seems to be the elder statesman of the card pool.  It is a stage 2 Grass Pokemon with 90 HP, a weakness to fire, and a free retreat cost.  It has two attacks that both cost one grass energy.  The  second one, “Leaf Guard”, does 30 damage and reduces damage done to him next turn by 30.  The first attack, “Mass Attack”, does 10 damage for every Pokemon in play. 

Analysis– Jumpluff has been in the game a long time and has an impressive resume.  When it first came out,it had its own deck.  The Jumpluff deck was one of the best decks around, it ran lots of Claydol GE and Uxie LA.  It had draw power that is light years ahead of anything that we currently have in the format.  It was a fast deck, and needed to be,, since it needed to replace a Jumpluff each turn.  Because it only had 90 HP, the Jumpluff player knew that he/she might be in a prize race.  So, the goal was to always have a Jumpluff on the bench waiting for next turn, because both players could take 6 prizes in around 7-8 turns.  It was a really good deck, but it left the format once Claydol GE was rotated out.  The next deck for Jumpluff was in a rogue Vileplume deck after Unleashed came out.  It didn’t do that well, and was only a weird rogue play.  Then, during this season the card saw play in a Mew Prime deck.  It gave the deck the attacking power that it was missing.  It was a good deck for a while, but never won anything of note.  It left the format as quickly as it came.  So, Jumpluff stands here today waiting to possibly recapture its former glory.  The question is, can it be done in a Mewtwo EX dominated format?

Before we answer that question, let’s look at the stats.  Of course, 90 HP is terrible for a stage 2.  The fire weakness is not good with Reshiram around.  All Reshiram needs to do is have 3 damge counters on it, and it can OHKO Jumpluff for a DCE.  However, Jumpluff makes up for being fraile by the fact that he attacks very quickly.  Jumpluff will be ready with just 1 energy, and can do up to 120 damage!  He may be fragile, but he can sure attack quickly and hard when needed. 

I really think that Jumpluff needs some more hype in the upcoming format.  Although he has been around for a long time and his playability has been low for over a year, he might have a second wind when Mewtwo EX comes out.  I don’t think that Jumpluff will ever see itself in a deck like it did in a Claydol format, but I do think it can still win with Mew Prime.  If you put Jumpluff in the Lost Zone, Mew Prime can use “Mass Attack” and hit Mewtwo EX for weakness.  That means that there only needs to be a total of 9 Pokemon in play to OHKO Mewtwo EX, or less if you factor in Plus Powers.  Since you only need to knock out Mewtwo EX 2 or 3 times to win, Mew Prime and Jumpluff seem like a great Tag Team to get rid of Mewtwo EX. 

This combo is not perfect, you do need a first turn “See Off” to get Jumpluff in the Lost Zone in time. Mew Prime is also very fragile, and is vulnerable to any attack that Mewtwo can throw at it.   What is also unknown, is what this combo will do when it goes against non-Mewtwo EX decks.  Will it be able to “See Off” something else?  Will it need something like Donphan Prime to keep it in the game?  There are still loads of questions to be answered. 

haha, loads

Final Rating–8/10– It has yet to be proven if this combo can work on Mewtwo EX, or the format as a whole.  But, it does show a lot of promise.  Remember, you don’t need to match Mewtwo EX blow for blow, you just need to get 2 or 3 good attacks off on him.  Right now nothing is sure about the coming format, but if it is Mewtwo EX dominate, Mew and Jumpluff could become fast friends. 

The Young Gun- Pokemon Center

Description– Pokemon Center is a stadium card that will probably be released in the set after Next Destinies, though it still could come out in ND.  Don’t get this card mixed up with the Base Set trainer card of the same name, that card did something like Blissey Prime’s Poke-Power.  This card is different, it is a stadium card.  The effect of the card is that once during your turn you can choose one of your benched Pokemon and remove 2 damage counters from it. 

Analysis– The format is low on healing right now, especially quick and consistent healing.  It is also very low on Stadium cards, so it is possible that this card is just what the format needs. 

Healing 20 from your Pokemon is always a good thing, and you get to do it each turn for only the use of 1 Stadium card.  It is very good for Pokemon like Donphan, because Donphan Prime damages its own bench.  It also would be good for Ross Decks, because they have the problem of damage counters that pile up.  Even if you don’t have a deck made  for healing you almost always will want to get rid of damage counters when possible.

One thing about this card that makes it possibly not as playable, is the fact that you cannot heal your active Pokemon.  If you want to do so, you would need to use a card like Switch, use the effect of the stadium card, and then retreat for the attacker.  It is a complicated process that probably won’t consistently work. 

Another bad thing about this deck is that both sides can play it.  This means that your opponent could get just as much help from it as you will.  It is possible that this card may help you more than your opponent, but it always have the potential of doing the opposite. 

I do like this card and I think it will have its use.  It may never be a staple, but I think I could see a couple decks using this card.  I love when new mechanics are added to the game, like healing and milling, so I am happy to see this card see some play.  It also is nice to see a stadium card out there, after no stadium card has made a real impact since Broken Time Space.   

Final Rating–7.25/10– Not a great card that everyone will use, but it will see play and it will be a really fun card. 

Well, that’s all I got for today, why don’t you close out the article Pedro?

Okay, today we have a news topic to discuss before we leave.  In the world of entertainment, the American Bus Association, one of my favorite orgainizations, has asked Priceline.com to pull a commercial that shows spokeman William Shatner dying in an exploding bus.  I say that it will take more than a bus explosion to kill Captain Kirk.  Is he your favorite Star Trek captain Pikkdogs?

Nope.

So you’re a Picard guy then?

Well I do love Picard, and Archer and Kirk are great, but I gotta go with Captain Pike as my favorite. 

Pike?  He was in like one episode. 

Well, two actually.  But, he was still a cool captain.  Known for being very brave. 

Sure he was, but so were the other three.  You are crazy to like Pike, nobody likes Pike. 

Didn’t we know that already? 

I guess so.   What is your favorite Star Trek series. 

I of course have to go with The Next Generation, but I do like the others.  I didn’t get to see much of Deep Space Nine, but let me tell ya, Voyegar is pretty under-rated.

Voyager.  That’s not a good series.  The only thing it had going for it was Jerri Ryan in a one piece outift.

So, what’s your point?  Jerri Ryan in a tight suit is more than enough to sustain a series. 

I guess.  Good night everybody. 

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

Freeplaytech

New Handheld Retro Video Game System For You Pokemon Fans

Trouble With Robots

iOS/Android Collectible Card Game, Trouble With Robots

Trouble With Robots

New Card Game – Trouble With Robots – iOS/Android

OneHitKO.com Budget Challenge

OHKO Budget Challenge: Round Two (Fight!)