Pedro’s Preview: “Analysis of the Top Decks from the European Challenge Cup” by Jak Armstead
Pedro Hello Earthlings, this is Pedro here. While I usually help Pikkdogs with some articles, today I will give you a min
-article of my own. Pikkdogs will be back with an article tomorrow, if he doesn’t have a heart attack tonight or tomorrow, but this is a little bit that might be enough for you until that new article comes out.
Just let me slip in my italics coverter to my Inter-Dimensionary Porthole……….all better. There is a new premium article on www.propokemon.com. To read the article and subscribe you can click here. We here at onehitko like to give you an update on what the premium articles are like. This gives you a better look at the site before you subscribe, and it gives some good promotion for ProPokemon.
Like always, I will provide you an exclusive look at the article. I don’t know much about the game, but I heard from Pikkdogs that it is actually a pretty cool article. It gives you a good look at all the good decks that will be at States. It even gives a good list of each deck. So if you are tired of Pikkdogs and his crappy lists, you can go and get some good ones, here.
The portion of the article that I will share with you today is about the use of Zebstrika and Zapdos ND in a Zekrom EX deck. So here it is:
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Zapdos NEX
Zapdos brings two things to the table in a Zekrom/Eels deck. Firstly it has the ability to snipe. This can be a great way to clear your opponent’s Bench of weak evolving Basics when Catcher isn’t available, or Trainer Lock is in place. It can also KO Vileplumes if necessary and although that will take three turns, Vileplume decks are often slow enough to make this a viable strategy. Secondly, it gives you a Fighting Resistant Pokémon in a deck that is largely weak to Fighting. Although its second attack relies on coin flips, it is still solid enough with average luck and can give the deck a soft counter to something like Donphan Prime. If Vileplume/Reuniclus decks (aka ‘The Truth’) are commonly played in your metagame, then Zapdos is a strong choice for this deck. If not, I consider it of marginal use.
Zebstrika NEX
This card is often more than just a tech. In fact it can be the main focus of an Eelektrik-fuelled deck. Disconnect’s Trainer-Locking effect is brilliant against decks which rely on low HP Basics like Voltorb (in C/K/E variants) and Oddish. They can be dragged out one by one with Pokémon Catcher and then KO’d, leaving an opponent unable to evolve the remainder into Vileplume via Rare Candy, or use Level Ball/Pokémon Communication to search out an Evolution. This attack is also highly effective when it comes to Durant: a deck which is almost completely reliant on using Trainers to deny the opponent Energy and recycle KO’d Durants. Zebstrika also has a power sniping attack which can hit for 80 damage: enough to two-hit KO a Vileplume among other things. The fact that it discards Energy to do so is not a problem for a Pokémon that has free Retreat and the support of Eelektrik to get it back. A minimum of Zebstrika should be run to allow them to switch out and recharge every turn.
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The article is very long and has a lot of facets to it, this is one of the interesting parts. I really do like the article and it will put you on a good track for States, and it will give you a lot of good lists to test with. So if you haven’t already subscribe, I Pedro son of Mogar command you to. So thanks to Jak Armstead, the author of the article, and the guys at ProPokemon.
Have a good night everybody.
