Pikkdogs

Donkphan Deck : Donphan + Mr. Mime Decklist and Report

Pikkdogs June 15, 2010 5 Comments

Hey, it’s Pikkdogs again, and I’m back this time with a Donphan deck article and a mini tournament report. Recently Omar, Ed, and I were throwing around deck ideas. Ed and Omar began talking about Adam’s SixPrizes article discussing Mr. Mime and Dunsparce tech. The idea was to use a Donkphan (or speed Donphan Prime) list and add Mr. Mime MT and Dunsprace GS to it. These tech cards would both allow the player to stall and to improve Donphan’s otherwise bad matchups against decks like Gyarados, Kingdra, and Jumpluff.

Ed, Omar, and I came up with some good ideas of what should be in the deck. Then I went home and used the input to build my own version of the deck. Here’s what I came up with:
Read More

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Regice LA, Magmortar UL, and Legend Box

Pikkdogs June 8, 2010 19 Comments

Hey Guys, Im back to “Pikk” three cards for you guys to look over and discuss. As always one will be a staple card, one will be a card I think is under-rated, and one will be a card from a new or un-released set.

I hope your Spring Battle Roads season is going well. Unfortunately I had a bad showing at the first battle roads in my area, and I wasn’t able to make it to the other ones, so its hasn’t been a great season for me. Thats alright though, there will be more tournaments in my future.

Up until this post I had been reviewing Unleashed cards for my third category. But now since the new set, Undaunted, has been announced I can go ahead and start looking at some new cards. Of course the set list hasn’t been announced and only a few cards have been confirmed, but by process of elimination I know what other cards will appear in the set. So its time to look ahead.

The Staple: Regice LA

Description- Regice’s stats are average at best. It has a decent 90 HP, a weakness to Metal, and a horrid three retreat cost. Its Poke-Power is called “Regi Move,” this Power lets you discard two cards from your hand and switch your opponents basic Pokemon out. It also has one attack called “Ice Reflect.” For WWC you can do 50 damage and paralyze the defending Pokemon if Regice was attacked last turn.

Analysis- Regice is one my favorite cards in the current format. Discarding cards from you hand doesn’t seem that important, but when you think about it, what other cards can discard cards from your hand? There is Felecities Drawings (which will be rotating out soon) and Engineers Adjustment, but those are both supporters. So Regice will let you free your hand of some unwanted cards and provide some disruption.

Regice is used mostly in Gyarados decks to discard Magikarps, and in Jumpluff decks to get rid of Mr.Mime Mt. But it can be used in other decks to make room in your hand for Claydol GE’s “Cosmic Power” or Uxie LA’s “Set Up.”

But Regice can also be a liability. It has a very high retreat cost, this can be quite the problem when most decks only run 1 Warp Point. It’s attack is situational to say the best.

But even with these problems, I still think Regice is amazing. 8.5/10

The Underdog: Magmortar Ul

Description- Magmortar is one Pokemon that currently has a lot of versions in the format. But I think one of the best ones is from the Unleashed set. It has 110 HP (decent for a stage 1), a 2 retreat cost, and a weakness to Water. It has two attacks, the first is called “Hard Crush.” To use the attack you must discard three cards from the top of your decks and then do fifty damage for each energy card you discard, it costs FCC. Its second attack is called “Mantle Bazooka,” which does 100 damage for FFCC and you must discard FF.

Analysis– Magmortar is every-ones favorite creepy fat fire clown Pokemon. It was one of the cards from the Unleashed Set that creeped by unnoticed. While everyone was talking about Crobat Prime (who nobody plays) Magmortar was dropped to “Crap Rare” status. But I think this card deserves a second look.

Its first attack is poorly named, but has a lot of potential. It does 50 damage times the amount of energy in the top 3 cards of your deck. Of course it wouldn’t be smart to just hope that you find energy at the top of your deck, so lets look at other cards that increase your chances.

The most obvious is Delcatty Pt. Its Poke-Power “Power Circulation” lets your bring two energy cards from your discard pile to the top of your deck. Another combo is Ninetails HGSS. Its Poke-Power “Roast Reveal” lets you discard a fire energy and draw three cards. If you set up Ninetails and Delcatty on the bench, you are sure to get 2 energy cards at the top of your deck each turn. Another combo is Dialga Pt #5. It has the “Reverse Time” Poke-Power which lets you bring three energy or Pokemon cards from your discard pile to the top of your deck once you lay him down.

7.5/10– I think this Magmortar/Delcatty/Ninetails deck could be a decent deck. I dont know if its any better than the Charizard deck, but its not much worse. It can use DCE but it does take 3 stage 1’s to set up, so it might be a little slow.

The Young Gun: Legend Box

Description: Legend Box is a trainer card that is expected to be released in the upcoming Undaunted set. It has a simple effect, look at the top 10 cards of your deck and if there are two halves of the same Legend card there, you can put it onto your bench and attach any energy cards that were also in the top 10 cards that you revealed.

Anlaysis– Legend Box was one of the most anticipated cards from the Unleashed set, but it never made it for that set, so it will be even more anticipated when it is released in the Undaunted set.

A lot of people say that it will change the format and make Legend cards playable. While I hope that is so, I dont know if this card is consistent enough to make it in next years format. The fact that Claydol will be gone will hurt this card because your deck won’t be as thin then as it is now. So there is less of a chance that those 2 legend cards will be there.

Using this card is a big risk, I know when people use this card they will reveal only 1 legend piece, or maybe no pieces, or maybe 2 of the same pieces. So this cards effectiveness will be determined on how fast you can thin your deck and how lucky you are.

This card can be useless if there are no good Legend cards to play. Right now the legend cards are not very flashy. A lot of them have the dreaded lightning weakness, and all of them have high energy requirements. Entei/Raikou Legend has seen a little play so far, and it will only get better once people use more Uxies. Lugia Legend could also be a good card if you are lucky enough to reveal enough energy with Legend Box. And this set will bring three new legend cards, perhaps one will be a good attacker.

6.5/10- It is hard to predict how well a new card will be, but Im looking at this card with pessimism. How good this card will be will be determined on how lucky you are, and how good the new legend cards will be. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t like my deck to be based on luck. It can be a great card if your lucky, but if not it will be best to use Bebes Search and Pokemon Communication.

Well thats all I have to say about these cards, I hope you all will leave comments and tell us how good you think the cards are. Also let me know if you have a card you would like me to “Pikk” next week.

Deck Workshop

Deck Workshop: Arceus

Pikkdogs June 2, 2010 8 Comments

Hey Guys

Its me, Pikkdogs. I just stopped by for some deck help. Recently I have decided to try to make an Arceus deck, and see how good the deck could be.

I have never liked this deck. It is much too slow and doesn’t hit hard enough. But, because I’ve been wondering what the game might be like next year I thought Arceus might be a viable deck. I also made it because its just a fun deck to play.

In case you don’t know the strategy of this deck, I will do a quick run through. The purpose of the deck is to take advantage of your opponenet’s weakness. To do this the player uses the attack “ripple swell” which attaches 1 energy to each of your Arceus’s in play, as long as you have 6 different types of them. So obviously the player will try to fill their bench on turn 1 or 2 and then use “ripple swell.” Arceus is a somewhat complex deck that can be very difficult to master, and difficult to play against. It hasn’t seen much serious play, but it did take top 4 in Michigan’s states.
Read More

Uncategorized

Ten Steps in Joining the Pokemon TCG Community.

Pikkdogs May 29, 2010 3 Comments

A big howdy to all members of Omar nation, this is your friend Pikkdogs. A month or so ago I wrote a “Ten Step” article about trading Pokemon cards online. This month I will follow that up with another “Ten Step” article, this one is about starting the Pokemon TCG.

I am a huge follower of the POJO message boards, and at least once every few days we have people posting questions about how start playing the game. So this article is for all you newbies out there. Hopefully you’ll be able to take something away from this article and be another step closer to top cutting at worlds. So without further ado here are my ten steps in joining the Pokemon TCG community.

1. Decide what you want to do.

This may sound like a vague step, but it is very important. First you must decide what you want to get out of the Pokemon game. You may just want to build a couple of fun decks to play with your friends a couple of times a month. If that is all you want out of the game, there is no point in spending countless hours pouring over cards and websites. If so, just pick up a couple of themes decks and once in a while buy a couple of packs and have fun. But, if you want to become a competitive player you should be prepared to do some hard studying, and spend some money.

2. Find People to Play With.

No matter how serious you want to be with the game, it always helps to have friends who are in the game. Hopefully you and a friend can join together, so you can each push each other to be better players. If not I would reccomend going to a local league. Most leagues have freindly players and judges who would love to help you join the game. You can find a league near you by going to

http://www.pokemon.com/us/organized-play/leagues/.

3. Learn the Rules of the Game

It may seem simple, but one of the first steps in joining the game is simply learning the rules. Rule books are included in every theme deck or are avaliable on the official Pokemon website. For more advanced rules I would use a “Ask the Masters” forum on a Pokemon discussion board.

4. Surf That Internet

Most Pokemon players spend a lot of time on Pokemon websites looking at other decks and researching cards. When you are just starting out it is important to spend extra time searching the net for ideas. You don’t have to spend all day on the computer, just take a look at what other people are playing and how the decks work. At the end of the article I will provide some links to some vital sites.

Beginers always seem to want to know what the best decks are and where they can find decklists of them. Well, in Pokemon people don’t always want to share their decklists. So that makes it harder for the begineer. But, most of the great decks now (like Luxchomp and Cursegar) are very advanced and require expierenced players to play them. My advice to you is to not want to get a really good deck right away, just look around the net at different decks and find one that suits you the best. Once you get more accustomed to the game you can move up and play the best decks.

5. Begin your Collection.

All Pokemon players have some type of card collection. Some people have a complete collection of every Pokemon card made in the last 5-10 years, while others just have one deck and a handful of other cards. It doesn’t matter how many cards you have, its just important to have the cards you need for a deck you want to play. But. I will admit that it is easier to play the game if you have a lot of cards. This game can get expensive so be prepared to spend some money.

When I restarted this game (about a year and a half ago) I started my collection by buying several tins, some theme decks, and loose packs off EBAY. I got them for a decent price, so that is always a decent way to start. Some people prefer buying boxes of cards, thats a good way too, but can get pretty expensive. If you can find a box at a good price (usually 70 or under) it could be worth your money to buy a box of a good set (like Platinum, or Rising Rivals). Or you could just find a deck you want to play and buy singles off the internet to complete the deck. Either choice is fine.

6. Select Your First Deck

One of the most important choices you will make is the choice of a deck. There are two ways to choose a deck, either copy a list off the internet (and make minor adjustments) or make your own list. The latter option is a risky choice for a first deck, but it will get your career off to an adventerous start. In order to make your own deck I would suggest going to www.pokegym.net/tower and looking over some of the cards in the format. Then pick 1 or 2 of the cards you like and make a deck that features them. If you are netdecking (taking a list from off the internet) it would help to ask people online advice on how to play the deck.

Since you are new to the game try to keep your deck idea simple. Dont worry about a lot of techs, just find a deck that lets you attach low amounts of energy and do lots of damage. I wrote an article about a good, cheap, fast deck that is excellent for beginers. You can find it here

http://www.sixprizes.com/deck-analysis/deck-spotlight-scizor-cherrim-beatdown/

7. Adjust Your Deck.

The Wright Brothers smacked into the ground many times before they soared along with the birds, so your new deck will need some tweaking as well. After you play the deck a couple of times you will see where your deck can improve. Go back to the drawing board and improve your deck, look at cards online and see what cards can help your deck succedde more often.

8. Grow Your Collection/ Learn the Lingo

Now that you have a decent deck and a small collection, it is time to grow the collection. Take that small collection and make it larger. Through trading with friends, buying packs and singles, and online trading; you can start to have a respectable collection. A bigger collection means that you can run bigger and better decks.

I have a problem, I have an extra step that I want to talk about. So Im going to add this step in with the previous step. This step is called “Learn the Lingo”. TCG players have a weird set of words they use to describe the games they play, and it is important for a newbie to learn them, so I have included a small list here.

Tech– A card used in the deck that differs from the other cards in the deck. For example, Mewtwo Lv.X is a tech that can be put in a lot of decks to give it an advanatage against Basic Pokemon that the deck did not have in the first place.

Staple– a card that is so good that it is included in most decks. For people starting the game right now, the current staples are: Claydol GE, Uxie La, Warp Point, Night Maintenance and many others.

Set/ SP names You will always here people talk about “Gengar SF”, “Snorlax RR”, and “Garchomp C.” So what are those letters after the names of Pokemon. Well some of them are set names, SF means the set “Diamond and Pearl: StormFront”, and RR means the set “Platinum: Rising Rivals.” Other lettters signify Pokemon SP, which are just SPecial forms of certain Pokemon. C means “Champion” G means “Galactic” and GL means “Gym Leader.” There are other sets and initials so make sure you ge them all down.

Donk– a Donk is a win that happens very quickly, usually on the first, second, or third turns.

Metagame– Metagame is a broad term refering to the game in a certain place or the game as a whole. For example, if every player in the state of Tennesse would run water decks you could say that Tennesse’s Metagame is heavy on water. Currently, it is possible to say that the Metagame is very fast, so your decks will need to be very fast to have a shot at winning.

There are lot of other terms, but those are the major terms. If you learn those you will be off to a good start.

9. Practice, Pratice, Practice.

Perhaps the most important step in learning the game is to practice your heart out. It may not sound like a big deal, but practicing is the number 1 way in which you can improve your deck and your skills. It doesn’t matter if you play online (with the help of the Apprentice, or Redshark software), with your friends, of by yourself; you must practice the game to get a leg up on your competition.

10. Just Have Fun!

This step cannot be understated, Pokemon is a GAME, so have fun with it. It would be nice if you could become one of the best players around, but no matter how serious you are never lose sight of the fact that Pokemon is for fun. Some people play only to win, those are the kids that are crying after they miss top cut at a tournament. No matter if your deck is steam rolling your opponents or is getting blown over, just maintain a positive outlook and have fun.

Now here is a short list of important websites.

www.pojo.com– This is the site I turn to most. It has a “Card of the Day” section where you can get the opinions of some of the most expierenced players. But its main draw is the forum where you can trade cards, get deck advice, and ask questions.

www.teamomar.com– No need to go anywhere else. TO has deck workshops, and a card of the day like article written by a handsome and smart guy named Pikkdogs.

www.sixprizes.com– In the past couple months 6P has grown very large. It has a lot of deck articles, tournament reports, and strategy advice. It is ran by a nice guy from Philly named Adam. Adam will keep you informed on the game and will even give you the oppurtunity to write an article or two for him once in a while.

www.pokegym.net– Still one of the best Pokemon sites. It has an awesome message board, and its researching tower is essential.

www.pokemon.com– This is the official Pokemon website. Here you can serach for leagues in your area and chech your official rankings. It is a little unorgainized and one part of it always seems to be down, but it is the only official site and that means that it can do things that others can’t.

www.pokebeach.com– This website is designed more for Pokemon news. If you want to learn about the new promos that just came out, this is the site for you. It is also a great site if you just want to look for over English translations of cards not released yet.

TheJwittzs Youtube Show– Just like 6P.com this youtube show came out of nowhere to be a really helpful Pokemon resource. It is ran by a nice chap from Illinois named Jwittz, and he is always happy to be giving people advice. This is a link to his YouTube page.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJWittz

Thats all for now. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions. I know that it is hard and intimidating to be joining the Pokemon TCG, it seems like everyone is so much better than you. But if you talk to most players they will be more than happy to give you some advice.

Make sure to come back next week when I again will write my normal “Pikk Three” article.

And above all let me be the first to say, “welcome to the game.”

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Expert Belt AR, Snorlax Lv.X RR, and Kingdra Prime UL.

Pikkdogs May 21, 2010 4 Comments

Greetings to the members of Omar Nation. Pikkdogs is back to “Pikk” three cards to review. As always; one will be a staple card, one will be a card that I think is underrated, and one from a new or unreleased set.

I had a talk with the producers of “Pikkdogs Pikks Three” and concluded that this will probably be the last article that has UL cards in the “Young Gun” segment. I think its time to move on and look at some of the cards that have been released in Japan and are on their way across the Pacific (or Atlantic, depending which side of the country your on and which way the plane is flying). But thats to look forward in the future, and this is now.

The Staple- Expert Belt

Description– Expert Belt is a trainer from the Arceus expansion. If you are a newcomer it is a card you will see a lot, and you must learn how to use wisely to win. It is very easy to just play this card Willy Nilly whenever you draw into it and attach it to your main attacker. But, to win consistently you must know when to attach it and when to hold it in your hand.

It is a simple Pokemon Tool Card that can be attached to a Pokemon. When it is, it gives the Pokemon it is attached to an extra 20 HP and its attack to an extra 20 damage to the defending Pokemon. The catch is that when the Pokemon Expert Belt is attached to is knocked out, your opponent may take an extra prize card.

Analysis– As mentioned earlier, this card in not one to be played just for fun, it takes strategy. For example, in a Jumpluff deck if you attach it when you don’t need it for a knock out, and your opponent KO’s you the next turn, you may have just lost the game. It should only be used when it lets you knock out a Pokemon this turn, allows you to not be Knocked Out next turn, and lets you knock out another Pokemon the turn after that. Of course to know this you must know what your opponent is doing and plan 3-5 turns ahead.

There are some cards that can help Expert Belt work better. The most common are Poketurn and Super Scoop Up. These cards allow you to pick up your Pokemon. If you would use it on an Expert Belted Pokemon a turn before it would be Knocked Out, you would save yourself from losing two prizes. Another Combo is with Mismagius GL X. Mismagius has the Poke-Power “Magical Return,” which allows the user to return a Pokemon Tool Card to their hand. This could save the user from losing an extra prize when that Pokemon is knocked out. Eventhough this Poke-Power is really useful, Mismagius is not worth playing in this format because it is almost impossible to establish a benched Lv.X.

Rating-8.5/10 It makes a lot of Pokemon playable (like Kingdra) and makes others more playable (Jumpluff, Gyarados, etc…). It does require an expierenced player to use well, but if you are able to use it wisely you have a big advantage against your opponent.

The Underdog- Snorlax Lv.X RR

Description- Snorlax Lv.X has a respectable 130 HP, a fighting weakness, and a horrid 4 retreat cost. It has a Poke-Power called” Big Appetite”. which allows you to draw six cards and put Snorlax asleep if Snorlax is active. It has one attack named “Exercise.” It costs CCCC does 80 damage and allows you to discard energy cards from your hand, then you may remove damage counters up to how many energy cards you have discarded.

Analysis– I know when people next see me they will say, “Pikkdogs why did you pick such a bad card for your ‘Pikk Three’ article, and why aren’t you wearing any pants?” Well the answer to the first question is that I am looking ahead to a time when Claydol and Uxie have rotated from the format and people are looking for alternate draw power. Snorlax does have the ability to draw cards by itself, and then be a decent attacker. It will be able to use Double Colorless Energy to make attacking easier. It will also be able to use the Ninetails HGSS draw engine because it doesn’t require any specific type of energy. So between Ninetails and “Big Appetite” a Snorlax deck will have lots of draw power and lots of room for another attacker.

Though saying that, still Snorlax will not be a great card after the format. Its attacking is slow and a little underpowered, even though it will have superior draw power. It does have some advanatages though, the regular Snorlax (#81 RR) has an attack that does 50 damage for CC that can be used when it is asleep. It also has a Poke-Body that does not allow the user to retreat when Snorlax is asleep, take that SP decks.

Rating- 6.5/10-As of right now its not a great card. It can be paired with Wigglytuff GE to put your opponent asleep and keep Snorlax awake, but it still comes short. But I think it is underrated because of its potential to be a decent card in the format. In a couple months it could be a decent deck with lots of draw power, but then again who knows if Father time will be good to Snorlax or not.

The Young Gun- Kindra Prime

Description- Kingdra Prime has some questionable stats; 130 HP, lightning weakness, and a 1 retreat cost. Which aren’t that bad but you would expect a little better for a Prime. It has a Poke-Power called “Spray Splash.” It is a great Poke-Power that allows you to put 1 damage counter on 1 of your opponents Pokemon each turn. The power is also stackable meaning that if you have 3 Kingdra Primes in play you can knock out a Hoppip just by using the Poke-Power. It also has one attack called “Dragon Steam”, which does 60 damage (if your opponent has no Fire Pokemon in play, in which case it only does 20) for only one water energy.

Analysis– This has been by far the most hyped card in the set. And by its attacks and stats it looks like many Kingdra cards we are used to. A low energy attack, a 1 retreat, and a weakness to lightning. Its “Dragon Steam” attack can be enhanced with Expert Belt to do 80 damage, which along with its Poke-Power, can make Kingdra Prime a pretty intimidating card. It can be paired with the Kingdra from LA to spread damage to the bench which goes well with Kingdra Primes Poke-Power.

Rating– 6.75/10-Im not drinking the Kingdra Prime Kool-Aid like other people are. Yes it can do a respectable 80 damage with one energy and an Expert Belt, and does have one of the best Poke-Powers in the format. But, Kingdra Prime is similar to the LA Kingdra, and that deck isn’t doing all that great right now. One of the reasons is that Luxray GL is prowling all around the format and can OHKO Kingdra Prime. Another reason is the fact that Kingdra Prime will live and die by how it does in the new format, and the fact is that Ninetails will be very popular. Of course Ninetails is a fire Pokemon and will reduce the damage that Kingdra dishes out. So in close, its a good quick card, but Kingdra will autoloss against any deck that is playing even 1 Fire Pokemon.

So thanks for reading another one of articles, and feel free to leave your comments and reviews of these cards in the comments box.

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Uxie La, Handy 910s Pokedex Pt, and Ursaring Prime UL.

Pikkdogs May 16, 2010 6 Comments

Greetings to Omar Nation, once again I am Pikkdogs, and I am here to “Pikk” and review three card; one being a staple, one being an underrated card, and one being a card from a new or unreleased set. As always, feel free to comment on the reviewed cards and let others know what you think of them.

On a side note, just a reminder for everyone out there that the Spring Battle Road season starts very soon. So start finalizing your battle road decks and get ready for some fun tournament action. I love Battle Roads because they are fun informal tournaments where the pressure is off. So I hope you all have fun at your local BRs.

The Staple: Uxie La.

Description- Uxie is a very useful and a very versatile card, but let’s start the analysis by looking at Uxie’s stats. It’s a basic Pokemon with 70 HP, a +20 weakness to Psychic,and a 1 retreat cost. Its Poke-Power is awesome; it’s called “Setup” and lets you draw cards until you have 7 cards in your hand when you play him. Its attack is also decent; its called “Psychic Restore” and it does 20 damage for C, and gives you the option of putting it and all cards attached to it on the bottom of your deck.

Analysis– Wow, this card is one of the best in the current format. One of the reasons why it is so good is that it can be used in many ways. It can be used as a draw engine, for alternate draw power, or as a main attacker. Some decks like Shuppet decks use Uxie as their main draw engine. The user lays down Uxie to draw a lot of cards, then they can use Super Scoop Up to pick him up and use it again. Other decks like SP decks use Uxie as an alternate draw engine. SP decks use the Cyrus’s Conspiracy draw engine and use Uxie to help draw cards when the player is in a bind. Other decks that use Claydol also use Uxie to get a fast setup. It can also be used as a main attacker in a donk deck. The player could add an expert belt to Uxie, attach any energy card (including Cyclone), and as many plus powers as you want, then put them all on the bottom of the deck and get ready to draw them again next turn. It is also a staple card in an AMU deck.

Rating– 9/10- it is very versatile and very useful. Almost every deck can use Uxie to make their deck better. It also have a very helpful Lv.X card that any deck could use. So whether he is your main attacker, your draw engine, or a mixture of both, most players love their Uxie for a good reason.

The Underdog- Handy 910s Pokedex

Description– Handy 910’s Pokedex is a simple trainer card. It allows you to look at the top 2 cards of your deck and choose 1 to put in your hand, then put the other on the bottom of your deck. It is similar to Uxie Lv.X’s Poke-Power “Trade-Off.”

Analysis– Pokedex is a card that not many people talk about, and only a few people play it seriously. But it is a good card and should be used more often. It is mostly played in speed decks like Shuppet Donk. It allows the user to go through their deck pretty fast and get a card that they want without using a supporter. But it can be used in almost every other deck to increase speed. The downsides of the card are that you never know what card you are going to reveal with the top cards of your deck, so it’s a bit of a risky card. There are cards that can help you re-arrange your deck to your liking like Ralts Pt, but they aren’t really worth it.

Rating– 6.5/10- It’s a good card that can be used in any deck. It is indispensible in a speed deck, like Shuppet, and helps the deck work. Even though it can work in almost any deck, I would only run it if I have speed issues or have open deck room. But when it is used, it can be a very good0 card.

The Young Gun: Ursaring Prime UL.

Description- Ursaring Prime is one of the new Primes from the Unleashed set. It has 110 HP, a Fighting weakness, and a three retreat cost. Its Poke-Body “Berserk” adds an extra 60 damage to any of its attacks when it has at least 1 damage counter on it. Its first attack, “Hammer Arm” does thirty damage for CCC and lets you mill one card from your opponents deck. Its second attack, “Megaton Lariat” does 60 damage for CCCC. Ursaring’s attacks aren’t very flashy, but when combined with its Poke-Body its attacks are dangerous.

Analysis– As mentioned Ursaring needs at least 1 damage counter on it to be dangerous, and it has a high energy requirement, so it will need some support to work well. But, Unown P and DCE are in the format and could come into a deck to help Ursaring. Unown P has a Poke-Power called “Put” that allows you to place a damage counter on one of your Pokemon. This will help to make the most out of Ursaring’s attacks. Double Colorless energy is also a great card that can support Ursaring. It provides CC instead of just C, making it possible to have Ursaring hitting for 120 by turn 2. Another thing about Ursaring Prime is that since it does not need any specific energy cards, it will be able to utilize the Ninetails HGSS draw engine. That means if Claydol and Uxie are bounced from the format, Ursaring can just use Ninetails and not miss a step. I also love the “Hammer Arm” attack because it mills a card from your opponents deck. The milling may not have a huge effect on the game, but then again if you mill the right card you might be able to change the game around. If you love this attack as much as I do, you might feel like adding Chatot G as a combo, for its Poke-Power “Disrupting Spy”, so you will almost always mill something good.

Rating– 7.5/10. It does have high energy attacks and a fairly low 110 HP, but I think Ursaring can be playable after the rotation kicks in. Even before the rotation, it is still a decent card, and can be used to supplement a lot of other cards in the format.

Card Discussion

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Dusknoir DP, Poke-Radar, Judge UL

Pikkdogs May 7, 2010 8 Comments

Hello to the Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs again, and I am once again Pikking three cards. One card that is a staple, one card that I feel is underrated, and another from a new or unreleased set.

Sorry for the lateness of this post. Final exams mixed with an illness and my moving to forced me to miss a post last week. But, this week I am back to give you a little insight into the Pokemon TCG. As always, feel free to post your thoughts, comments, or reviews of the cards in the comment box.

The Staple- Dusknoir Diamond and Pearl

Description-Dusknoir of course is a stage 2 Pokemon, it has 120 HP, a 3 retreat cost, a +30 weakness to Dark, and a -20 resistance to Normal. These stats aren’t too impressive, but aren’t that bad either. 120 HP is decent and the resistance helps against Flygon and Garchomp C But that retreat cost is pretty high. It has 1 attack called “Hard Feelings.” This attack for PPC places five damage counters on the defending Pokemon and one more for each prize your opponent has taken. “Hard Feelings” is nothing special, its damage output will only average around 70, it is very expensive, and the attack can be nullified if your opponent attaches an Unown g to the defending Pokemon. So the stats can only be described as decent and the attack is only useable as a desperation attack, so why is it so good? The answer is that this Pokemon has a game changing Poke-Power. Its called “Dark Palm.” If your opponent has more than 4 benched Pokemon, this Poke-Power lets you choose one of them and all cards attached to it and have your opponent shuffle it in your opponent’s deck.

Comments– Dusknoir DP has been some what of a staple since it was released about three years ago. Two years ago all the best decks were playing Dusknoir to disrupt the opponent. It has lost some of its momentum in the last year as the format has become faster, but it is still a prevalent card in a lot of decks.

Today a lot of decks like Jumpluff, Gengar, and Gyarados rely on a large bench. Dusknoir DP can be used as a tech to deal with these decks and slow them down. It can be debilitating to lose your Claydol or primary attacker midway through the game. “Dark Palm” can be just what you need to turn the game around.

8/10- Its a great tech card, but it can be hard to establish a benched stage 2 Pokemon. Some decks like LuxChomp can also play around this card by limiting their bench.

The Underdog- Poke-Radar LA

Description– Poke-Radar is a simple trainer. All the user does is plays the card, then looks at the top five cards of his/her decks, and chooses as many Pokemon there as he/she wants and put it into his/her hand.

Comments– I love Poke-Radar. Some people hate it and group it with Potion and Switch as unplayable cards. But, I contend that every deck should have room for one Poke-Radar. It lets you grab a hand full of Pokemon and it’s a trainer so you can still use a Supporter that turn. Yes sometimes you will not reveal any Pokemon in the top 5, but more times than not, multiple Pokemon appear.

There are a couple of drawbacks of this card. Some decks, like SP decks, don’t run a lot of Pokemon and use other trainers and supporters to get the Pokemon they need. Also the card is not as useful in the first turn or two, and is very useless late game when you are all set up.

8.5/10- Like I said before I just love this card. Most of the times that I have used it in games I have revealed useful cards.

The Young Gun- Judge

Description– Judge is a supporter card from the new Unleashed set that instructs both players to shuffle their hands into their deck and draw 4 cards. In this way it is a supporter version of Giratina’s Poke-Power “Let-Loose.”

Comments– This card is the latest in the long line of hand disrupting Supporter cards. Other similar cards include Team Galactics Mars, Team Galactics Wager, Cyrus’s Initiative, and Lookers Investigation. This card is unlike the others in the fact that it makes both players shuffle their entire hand into their deck and only draw 4 cards. It can be used to kill your opponents set up, but at times it could help your opponenet. It can be especially efficient in SP decks, because Cyrus’s Conspiracy can search out a Supporter from your deck.

But, as I mentioned before this effect can be used by playing Giratina Pt, and saving your supporter for something else. It is more advantageous to use “Let Loose” and then use a card like Cyrus’s Initiative or Team Galatics Mars. But, Judge can be used later in the game when you have filled your bench, while “Let Loose” can not. Im sure that the really good players will find room in their deck for this card. This card can also fit into a Sablelock or an Empoleon Deck rather easily.

6.5/10- Giratina does this effect a little better, but this card should fit into the popular Sablelock deck pretty easily. It also is an excellent card to upset Judges at a tournament. Just say the name of the card loud when you play it and you’ll have 2 or 3 judges scrambling to your table for no reason, haha.

Well thanks for listening to my ramblings, and I look forward to your reactions.

Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Cyrus’s Conspiracy, Bench Shield, Blastoise Unleashed

Pikkdogs April 24, 2010 4 Comments

Hello to all the Team Omar readers. This is your buddy Pikkdogs with what I hope will become a new column here at teamomar.com.

A couple of weeks ago I asked Ed if I could start writing more on Team Omar and he said sure. After a little bit of discussion we came up with this article. If you guys like these articles, each week or so I will pick three cards and run a review of these cards. The first card will be a staple card (catering to the new player), the second will be a card that I think is under-rated, and the third card will be a card from an upcoming set. Hopefully you guys will like this article, and write your own mini-reviews of these cards. So lets start the reviewing.

Card #1– Cyrus’s Conspiracy PT

Card Description– The first card I will be reviewing is the staple card, “Cyrus’s Conspiracy.” This card was released in the first Platinum set, and the metagame was never the same. “Cyrus’s Conspiracy” is a supporter card that allows you to search your deck for another supporter card, a basic energy card, and a trainer card that has Team Galactics Invention” in its name. It has seen great success in the SP deck “LuxChomp” that has dominated the States and Regional Tournaments.

Explanation-SP decks have some of the worst draw power in the format (only using 2 uxies and no Claydols), but because of Cyrus’s Conspiracy, SP decks are one of the fastest decks around. Most people use this card to grab another “Cyrus’s Conspiracy”, a basic energy card that they need to attack, and a tool card like “SP Radar” or “Energy Gain.” In one action they are now ready to attack.

Final Rating- 9.5/10. This card is amazing and makes SP decks the best in format. The card is not quite broken, but the format would not be the same without it.

Card #2-Bench Shield AR

Card Description– One of the most underrated cards in the format is “Bench Shield” from the Arceus set. The card is a tool, and when it is attached to a benched Pokemon that Pokemon cannot be damaged by attacks. A Pokemon with a Bench Shield equipped can still be effected by attacks that place damage counters, like Gengar SFs “Shadown Room.”

Card Explanation-I include this card in all most all of my decks to give me a better matchup against Garchomp C. In the popular LuxChomp deck, the LuxChomp player will use Garchomp C’s attack “Dragon Rush” to knock out a benched Claydol or Uxie in one hit. But, if you attach a”Bench Shield” to your Claydol, Garchomp C will not be able to knock out your Claydol, and you will be able to use Claydol to set your deck up. This card is also helpful against other decks, like Blastcatty or the so called “secret” sablelock deck.

Rating– 7.5. The card has tremendous upside, but if you are not able to draw into it early it may become a dead card later on. It also is useless in certain matchups, such as against Gyarados, Donphan, Jumpluff, and Shuppet.

Card #3- Blastoise Unleashed

Card Description– Blastoise will be the card that everyone receives as a pre-release card at the upcoming Pre-Release Tournaments. I think this is the best pre-release card that we have seen in recent times. Blastoise has 130 HP, is a water pokemon, is weak to lightning, and has a retreat cost of three. Those stats aren’t that good, but his attack makes up for it. “Hydro-Launcher” has a cost of WWCC and does 100 damage to any of your opponent’s Pokemon. It also has a Poke-Power called “Wash Out.” This allows you to move any number of water energy cards from your bench Pokemon to your active.

Card Explanation– As mentioned early, the basic stats of this card are rather poor. A lightning weakness will allow Luxray Gl Lv.x to knockout Blastoise in one hit, and a high retreat cost is never good. Likewise, “Wash Out” seems to be rather useless, I am sure that it could be effective in certain situations, but it is not likely. But where this card shines is its attack “Hydro Launcher.” This attack will do 100 damage to any of your opponent’s Pokemon. This means you can knock out almost any Pokemon on your opponents bench, including Claydol. Blastoise Unleashed has a perfect partner in Feraligatr Prime. Feraligatr Prime has the “Raindance” Poke-Body that allows you to attach as many Water energies as you would like to your Water Pokemon. If you would to get both a Blastoise and a Feraligatr prime by turn 2 or 3 you could load up Blastoise that same turn, and be attacking for 100 to any Pokemon. Raindance” lets you load up Blastoise very quickly and reattach the energies you just returned to your hand. This Blastoise would also be a good tech in the Blastcatty tech.

Rating– 7.5-As mentioned this card has some terrible stats, but a good attack and some good cards to pair with it. It is by no means a game changing card, but it could spawn some decent tier 2 or 3 decks.

Trading

Ten Steps to Effective Online Pokemon Card Trading

Pikkdogs April 16, 2010 5 Comments

Hello all, it’s Pikkdogs here with an article for TeamOmar.com. Many of you Pokemon players are at regionals now, or will go there soon, or have just gotten back from one. I love big Pokemon tournaments. You get to show off your skills, meet new people, and most importantly get to trade cards. Trading is important for growing a card collection, it would be a lot more expensive to get a lot of cards if you could only buy packs and singles. Now what if I told you that you could trade like it was regionals every day. You can, by trading online. This article will profile my ten steps for successful online trading. Even though I’m not the best online trader, I have been trading for over a year and have learned many things that will help beginners.

The Ten Steps

Asses your goods. My first step for effective online trading is to assess your collection. I recommend that you go to your binders or card box and make a list of all the cards you have that people might want. You can do this step gradually, taking a small inventory the first time you sit down, and then add more cards to your list later. When you are making your list make sure to make a list of the imperfections that each of your cards have, such as that scratch on the corner of your Dialga G. Then add to the list any other things you have of value. This includes other trading card games, video games, and especially money. Many people will trade video games for cards, and every trader loves to receive money.

Deck Spotlight: Flyperior (Flygon and Rhyperior Lock and Mill)

Pikkdogs March 26, 2010 25 Comments

Hello to all members of Team Omar. My name is Pikkdogs, or Josh, and I am pleased to present you with my first post. I first started following Team Omar a few months ago when Omar referenced one of my articles from SixPrizes.com. From then on I have enjoyed reading some of the things included on this site. Now, I am proud to present my first article.

This article will be about the deck that I just took to the Michigan State Championships. I call it the Flyperior Lock and Mill deck. Usually Flygon is paired with either Machamp or Donphan Prime, my deck forsakes all those fighting Pokemon for another one, Rhyperior DP. The decks strategy is to use Flygon Lv.x RR and Rhyperior to lock in a weak opponent and then mill them, or discard cards from their deck.

The Basics

There are certain steps that allow the user to do this. The first step is to establish a Flygon Lv.x, with a Trapnich Sw underneath it, and a Memory Berry attached to it. With Memory Berry, Flygon can now use the attacks “Inviting Trap” and “Sand Tomb.” First the user would use “Inviting Trap” to select a weak Pokemon such as Claydol GE or Mr. Mime MT. Preferably the Pokemon you choose with this attack will have a high retreat cost and in ineffective attack. Then after you have the Pokemon you want in your opponent’s active position the user then uses the attack “Sand Tomb.” This attack does ten damage and does not allow the defending Pokemon to retreat next turn.

Once you have your trap set up, then the milling starts. With Flygon Lv.x’s Poke Body “Wind Erosion” you may discard the top card in your opponent’s deck between turns. Then, on the bench, the user can set up a Rhyperior DP. It’s Poke Power “Earth Fissure” lets the user discard the top three cards of the opponents deck. Then the user would make sure they have a Broken Time Space in play, and then use the card Super Scoop Up to pick up Rhyperior, and then lay the Pokemon back down and use “Earth Fissure” again. Then the user repeats this strategy until the opponent decks out.

My Decklist

This is the decklist that I used for states. It is not a perfect decklist, but it worked well for me. If anyone has any comments on it, I would love to hear them.

Pokemon

2-1 Palkia Lv.X – Used to bring up a benched Pokemon with his Poke Power “Restructure.” I use Platinum Palkia, but any Palkia can be used.

3-3 Claydol GE – A 3-3 Claydol line makes it easy to set up fast, it also helps feed Flygon’s “Power Swing” attack.

4 Trapinch SW – Believe it or not Trapinch has the attacks that the user will use most often. He is the back bone of this deck

2 Vibrava RR – A Blah Pokemon just used to evolve to Flygon can use the SW version if you want.

3 Flygon RR – He gives you the HP you need to make Trapinch’s attack works. His Poke Body rainbow float also lets you use Palkia Lv.x many times. His attack “Power Swing” can also be devastating.

1 Flygon Lv. X – Used because of “Wind Erosion.”

1-1-1 Rhyperior DP – Essential for the “Earth Fissure” Poke Power.

2 Unown G GE

1 Azelf LA

1 Relincanth SV – If your opponent starts getting smart and uses Unown g to negate Trapinch’s attacks, then use Relincanth to vanquish your opponent.

Trainers

2 Rare Candy

4 Bebes Search – Even though Claydol’s come easy to this deck, you still need lots of searching power for the Rhyperior Line.

3 Roseanne’s Research

1 Team Galactics Wager – Just a fun card.

3 Memory Berry – Three are essential

4 Super Scoop Up – Four are essential

1 Poke Radar – A staple of any deck I make.

2 Warp Point – Useful for getting a benched Palkia Lv.x

2 Broken Time Space

1 Luxury Ball

1 Night Maintenance

Energy

5 Fighting Energy

2 Water Energy – Just to give Palkia free retreat, he could also be used to attack if need be.

2 Double Colorless Energy – This is what you use if the trap situation is not working. This energy helps Flygon use the moves “Extreme Attack” and “Power Swing.”

Possible Techs

Rhyperior Sv-It is possible to extend the Rhyperior line and involve Rhyperior SV to finish off a Pokemon that you sand tombed, in order to mill more cards. The attack â€˜Deep Scrap” is pricey, but if you are able to power it up and combo it with sand tomb, you will hopefully mill some important cards.

Dugtrio Pt- This would cause you to change your strategy up a little. But Dugtrio’s Poke Body “Sink Hole” puts 2 damage counters on a Pokemon each time your opponent retreats them. If a user constantly attacked with inviting trap, you would force the opponent to either leave the Pokemon in the active position or put 2 damage counters on it.

Wobbufet promo- The new Wobbufet promo has a Poke Body named “Tenacious Bind.” This body would increase the retreat cost of your opponent’s Pokemon by 2. If for some reason the Flygon that your were trapping with has been knocked out, you can bring up Wobbufet and the defending Pokemon will still not be able to retreat because of the Poke Body. Allowing the user to buy time and set up another Flygon.

Pokemon Communication- This trainer is nice because it is like a Bebe’s search, it would help the user bring a Rhyperior out a turn or two earlier.

Flygon SW- Pokemon like dunsparce and Garchomp C can be an issue for this deck because of weakness. So if you run a Flygon SW (which is a fighting type) you will be able to set up a trap without running into a weakness problem. You can then put the level x on it when you are ready.

Match Ups

I have not tested this deck out against every deck out there, but I know a little bit about the match ups.

Gengar

Gengar is actually a pretty easy matchup for this deck. The Poke Body “Fainting Spell” won’t affect you because you will not be knocking out many Gengars. Just grab their Claydol and trap it. Eventually they probably will find a Gengar Lv.x. If they do, you must use “Extreme Attack” to get rid of it before “Level Down” affects the game too much.

SP Decks

I want to test more against SP’s, but it seems like most SP decks give this deck a run for its money. If the opposing player is running Mesprit or Claydol, just lock down that Pokemon. If not then wait till they use their Poke Turns up and then try to lock a Lucario GL, or Bronzong G. If that doesn’t work then hopefully use “Extreme Attack” to knock out Garchomp C. Lv.x and other Lv.x’s.

Rogue Decks

Rogue decks like Scizor/Cherrim, Arceus and others can pose a problem. They usually don’t run a Claydol, so the strategy is different. If possible find something to lock, for example I locked a Water Arceus in the recent States tournament. If locking doesn’t work then start using “Power Swing” and hopefully you can out power them.

Gyarados

I haven’t actually tested against Gyarados yet, but I will soon. I would imagine that Gyarados can be quite a problem here. But none the less, just bring up Regice and lock him up. And Hopefully they will roll tails enough times on their Super Scoop Up attempts.

Uxie/Shuppet/other Donk Deck

Donk Decks are a problem for this deck. Trapinch and Baltoy only have 50 HP, so if you don’t have a Palkia start, this could be a short game. But if the user is able to withstand the first couple turns and get a couple “Cosmic Power”s off, you should be in good shape. The opponent will use a lot of trainers to go through their deck very fast, this is in your advantage. Once they use a lot of cards, milling their deck is much easier. Make sure you have an active Flygon when they first attack with Uxie or Shuppet. They will probably retreat to Mr. Mime. Then you just need to lock Mr. Mime in his place. Then your opponent will flip for Super Scoop Up, if they aren’t able to hit a couple of heads, you will be able to mill most of their deck away.

Closing Thoughts

This is a nice fun deck. It will never be a super popular deck, but it can win (my top 8 at States proves that). Unfortunately it is a pretty expensive deck, so I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. I thought of this deck when I heard a player ask if this game had any concept of mill. I said it didn’t but that didn’t mean that you can’t introduce it. I always liked Rhyperior DP and wanted a partner for him, and that partner was Flygon with Trapinch SW. Even though I came up with this deck idea by myself, I didn’t do it first. I learned that this combo was used before, but not to much success, and of course the Flygon trap strategy had been around for a long time I ever made this deck. If anyone has any suggestions to make the deck better, please let me know.

And thanks to Ed and Omar for letting me post on their site.

Peace.

Donkphan Deck : Donphan + Mr. Mime Decklist and Report

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Regice LA, Magmortar UL, and Legend Box

Deck Workshop: Arceus

Ten Steps in Joining the Pokemon TCG Community.

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Expert Belt AR, Snorlax Lv.X RR, and Kingdra Prime UL.

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Uxie La, Handy 910s Pokedex Pt, and Ursaring Prime UL.

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Dusknoir DP, Poke-Radar, Judge UL

Pikkdogs Pikks Three: Cyrus’s Conspiracy, Bench Shield, Blastoise Unleashed

Ten Steps to Effective Online Pokemon Card Trading

Deck Spotlight: Flyperior (Flygon and Rhyperior Lock and Mill)

You Missed

New Handheld Retro Video Game System For You Pokemon Fans

iOS/Android Collectible Card Game, Trouble With Robots

New Card Game – Trouble With Robots – iOS/Android

OHKO Budget Challenge: Round Two (Fight!)