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Post-Pokemon Catcher impressions and a Mew Prime/Yanmega Decklist

Pikkdogs 7 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another article for you guys.  For the top 40 players in North America and the players in Southern California all eyes are on World Championships.  All these people are thinking about is either countering the format or making a deck that will be consistent enough to grind into the main event.  But, for the rest of us, we have our eyes on Battle Roads and the new season.  And the new season means dealing with Pokemon Catcher.

Pokemon Catcher is a trainer card that lets you pick a Pokemon on your opponent’s bench and switch it with the active.  The last time this card was released, as a card named Gust of Wind, it was the best card in the format.  It ushered in an era of dominance for a very fast deck with all basic Pokemon.  The question was will Pokemon Catcher have the same format changing effect as Gust of Wind did?  To answer these questions I decided to test multiple decks in the PC (Post Catcher) format.  The testing yielded some surprising results.  To start this article off I will begin by running a “Mythbusters” type list about statements people made about Pokemon Catcher.

Mythbusters- Pokemon Catcher

1.  Myth-Kenny Wisdom in his Sixprizes article said that some decks will be unplayable because they get destroyed by Pokemon Catcher.  It would make sense that decks that rely on bench sitters would no longer be playable.

Verdict–Plausible.  I have not tested a deck with a bench sitter like Reuniclus and Vileplume, but I would assume that it will be hard to setup 2 bench sitting stage 2s.  But, if you need a bench sitter, it would be best to have either Gothitelle active or Vileplume on the bench.

2.  Myth: On the SixPrizes forum, a user named Johnny Blaze wrote that all Stage 2 decks will be horrible because you can just catcher up the basic first.

Verdict– Busted.  Stage 2 decks are still  very playable.  In fact one stage 2 Pokemon named Vileplume could become one of the most important cards in the format.  Since everyone will be playing trainer heavy decks, the ability to take away the trainers will be amazing.  Also, decks with 4 Pokemon Catcher don’t always get one when they need it, and they can’t always knock out a basic or stage 1 if they do find a Catcher.  I think what is worse off than Stage 2’s are bench sitting stage 1’s like Weavile.  If you don’t also have Vileplume in play, those quick stage 1’s become a problem because anytime the opponent draws a Catcher, they can then stall by bringing up a bench sitting stage 1.  But when it comes to stage 2’s, it will be harder to get them out, but I would say they are still very viable.

3. Myth: Pokegym User Mew723 wrote that Emboar will be unplayable in the next format.  If you think about it, catchering up a Tepig or Pignite would be hard to deal with.

Verdict– Busted.  I have tested an Emboar deck, and while it is no longer quite as consistent as it once was. it is not unplayable.  The same principle works in the PC era as it did in the BC (before catcher) era.  You might have to alter the decklist a little, but for the most part you can still run a Reshiboar deck about as good as you could before.

4. Myth:  This myth will address some of the comments made on my Pokemon Catcher article.  The comments are: Cincinno will be big, Zekrom is good, babies won’t be as effective.

Verdict– Plausible. Cincinno is now a much more effective Pokemon than he was before.  He can attack fast and is almost on par with Donphan and Yanmega in some respects.  Zekrom was always good, he might be a little better now thanks to Yanmega being that good.  Babies will not be as popular as they once were.  Its just really easy to Catcher them up when you need, or to Catcher around them when they are asleep.  But, a lot of decks will run at least 1 Cleffa to help as a hand refresher.

Pokemon Catcher does change the format, but you know what they say about change.  The more things change the more they stay the same.  While some decks will be gone because of Pokmeon Catcher, the format will still come down to Donphan, Yanmega, Reshiram, Zekrom and other Pokemon that are currently popular.  Decks that run benched Pokemon can still win, players just need to change their decklist a little to adjust.  From my testing, it looks like all of those who say that Pokemon Catcher will ruin the format will be wrong.  So thats all for the Mythbusters episode, lets go to the list I promised you.

Mew/Yanmega: The Other Prime Time. 

I gotta give the credit for this deck idea to Radu C. from Minnesota.  I heard Radu was running this crazy good deck during Nats.  It had Mew Prime, Yanmega Prime, Spinorak, Muk, and Jumpluff.  The deck was like a tool box, it could lock, snipe, stall, or do lots of damage; it was a really cool deck.  After I had my rest after Nationals, I came home and made my own version of the deck.  It was not a polished list that was even near where Radu’s actual deck was, it was just a rough version of the deck.  My deck did okay, but nothing special.

Then I updated the deck to deal with Pokemon Catcher.  I took out Muk, because Pokemon Catcher does what he does, and I added Pidgeot instead.  Pidgeot is great for stalling against Pokemon like Reshiram, Zekrom, and Donphan.  Its “Headwind” attack adds an extra CC to each attack cost on the defending Pokemon.  If you first were able to Catcher up the Typhlosion or Emboar, Reshiram will be stuck active for a long time.

Goal of the Deck

The goal of this deck is to attack with Jumpluff’s attack or Yanmega while setting up a Trainerlock.  What you want to do first is to get Mew Prime active with a Psychic energy attached, and have him put Jumpluff and Pidgeot in the Lost Zone.  While doing this, get Oddish on the bench and try to evolve him to Vileplume.  If they catcher up an Oddish, wait until you have stalled with “Headwind” and then try a second time to get Vileplume up.  If they are able to catcher up 2 Oddishes, don’t worry.  This deck works better with Vileplume but it does not need it.  Sometimes getting the opponent to look at Oddish when your setting up Yanmega and Mew will be worth the loss of Trainerlock.  You should also try to get Yanmega going.  Once Yanmega is evolved and you have 2 Pokemon in the Lost Zone,  you just need to judge what attack is best to use.

Good Things About the Deck: 

  • It is so versatile that it can work against almost any deck, so far it has been the deck that has worked the best in my testing.
  • It is disruptive.  The ability to lock trainers is HUGE since almost all decks will be trainer based.  Judges also work well in this deck.

Bad things about the deck:

  • If you don’t get an early Mew Prime you will be behind the Eight Ball all  game.
  • This deck does not feature Stantler, which means  it can be hard to setup Vileplume.  The deck is not as good without Vileplume, but it is possible to get it evolved later in the game after a Judge.

The List.

Okay here is the list.  This is still a very early list, so don’t beat me up on this list.  I don’t think its polished at all, I am only posting it so that you can copy it and start testing.

Pokemon-17

  • 2-Oddish
  • 1-Gloom
  • 2-Vileplume
  • 4-Mew Prime-Your starter and main attacker, can use Pidgeot or Jumpluffs attack.
  • 2-Pidgeot CL or TM
  • 2-Jumpluff HGSS- Has the attack that you will use the most.
  • 2-Yanma
  • 2-Yanmega Prime-Great for Sniping and a backup attacker incase you can’t get Pokemon in the Lost Zone.

    Mew as seen by Ava

Trainers-30

  • 2-Professor Juniper-The best Supporter in the format.
  • 3-Copy Cat-A supporter that works with Yanmega
  • 4-Judge- Disruption and working with Yanmega
  • 3-Professor Elms Training Method- If you trainerlock yourself, here is how you get Yanmega, or this is how you get a Vileplume setup.
  • 4-Collector
  • 1-Flower Shop Lady
  • 1-Seeker- Can Seeker up Vileplume, use trainers, then Rare Candy on a 2nd Oddish to get the lock setup again.
  • 3-Rare Candy
  • 3-Communication
  • 3-Pokemon Catcher
  • 1-Dual Ball
  • 2-Junk Arm

Energy-13

  • 4-Rainbow
  • 4-Psychic- needed for an early “See Off”
  • 3-DCE-For Pidgeot’s attack and works well if your run Bouffallant
  • 2-Grass

I admit this is a weird list, but its just something to test around and fix yourself.  It is weird to have so many trainers in a trainerlock deck, but this is the one trainerlock deck that is not really reliant on the trainerlock deck.  It doesn’t matter if your opponent either  uses his/her  resources to knock out an Oddish or 2 while you setup with Mew, or they get trainer locked; either way you have an advantage.  Whether you lock them up, or you lure them into a false sense of security, it does not matter.  This deck can work with or without trainerlock. 

Techs

Here are some possible cards to fit into your list.

  • A hand refresher: Something  like Cleffa or Manaphy, either one helps consistency.
  • Boufallant:  If you are thinking people will still play RDL, then you will need Boufallant.  Though, Pidgeot’s attack will pretty much stop RDL from attacking anytime soon.
  • 1-1 Yanmega:  I originally built this deck with 3-3 Yanmega and I felt it a little overkill.  If you like Yanmega and know how to use it well, 3-3 might be the better play.
  • 1 Oddish– If you want a better chance to evolve into Vileplume early, here is a better shot.
  • 1 Spinorak– The list originally had a Spinorak in it.  The idea is to trap a starter, with it’s “Spider Web” attack, until the end of the game when you can retreat for Yanmega and kill that starter.  I’m just not that good at that strategy.
  • 2-2 Cincinno:  This deck si great for Yanmega, but if just cannot afford Yanmega’s, Cincinno may be able to appropriately replace Yanmega.

So that’s all I gotta say about this deck.  Expect more PC decklists coming soon.  Feel free to tell us all what you think about this decklist by leaving your thoughts in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Card Discussion

Introducing Pokemon Catcher

Pikkdogs 10 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a discussion about the card Pokemon Catcher.  This card will come out in the Black and White: Emerging Powers set.  Its effect is simple, switch one of your opponent’s benched Pokemon with the active.  This makes it like Gust of Wind from the base set.  This article will tell you what this card means for the format.  This article will also speculate what the format will be like for this card, and what type of counter the new high HP Pokemon will be to Pokemon Catcher.

Before we start the article, just a little reminder about the contest.  The contest that celebrates my 100 articles is still going on.  All you have to do to enter is send an email to “pikkdogs@teamomar.com.”  In the email just tell us something you like or don’t like about the site.  When you enter you will be in the running to win one of two official www.onehitko.com t-shirts.  To see the complete rules, just read my 100th article celebration post here.  Okay, back to the article about Pokemon Catcher

What it does

Pokemon Catcher allows you to do 2 strategic things.  The most obvious thing it does is to bring an un-evolved Pokemon active.  Once that Pokemon is active you will be able to knock it out before it evolves to a scary stage 2 like Emboar, Tyranitar, or Magnezone.  The other thing you can do is to pull up a bench sitting Pokemon and then either knock it out, snipe around it, mill your opponent’s deck, or put Pokemon in the Lost Zone.  This card is very powerful, so lets talk about what happened last time it came out.

What Happened Last Time: Gust of Wind.

Gust of Wind was a card in the base set that did the same thing as Pokemon Catcher.  When it came to competitive play, Gust of Wind forced a deck called Haymaker to become the best in the format.  Haymaker was a deck with base set cards like Hitmonchan, Scyther, and Elektabuzz.  It was a fast deck that used Gust of Wind to bring up basic Pokemon and do damage for not a lot of energy.  Haymaker was not the only deck that saw play, but it was the winning-est deck of its time by far.

It worked by pulling up anything that was a threat and knocking it out before it could get going.  Haymaker was a powerful deck that had only one enemy, the first rotation.  Now, Gust of Wind is coming back and most Pokemon players are afraid of what it could do in today’s format.  The format is different from base set.  Back then, doing 40 damage for 2 energies was really good, now a 100 HP basic Pokemon is not hard to find.  Who knows what will happen when the wind changes and we get that some old gust coming back into the format.  Some people say the format will be very similar just a little more disruptive.  While most people are predicting the end of stage 2’s in the format, but could that be?

What do you mean I can’t evolve on the same turn?

About a year ago, the return of Gust of Wind would not be a huge problem.  You could just play a Rare Candy, or evolve through Broken Time Space.  Now you have to leave a Basic on the bench for one turn.  Unless you are able to play 2 copies of the same basic on one turn, it will be unlikely that you will be able to evolve on the upcoming turn.  To evolve to a stage 1 or 2 Pokemon you will need to be very speedy or very disruptive.

How to Combat Catcher

As mentioned,you can either try to keep Pokemon Catcher away from the opponent, find a way to evolve before they can disrupt the evolution, or don’t play any basics down that you don’t want in the active spot.

To keep catcher away from the opponent you can try to get an early Judge.  Pokemon like Weavile and Ambipom can disrupt your opponent’s hand so that they cannot setup.  If you get an early disruption on your opponent, he/she will not be to get the Pokemon Catcher that they need to disrupt you.  You can also make Pokemon Catcher useless by setting up a trainer lock with either Gothitelle or Vileplume.  However, these Pokemon are stage 2’s and can be disrupted by Pokemon Catcher.  So, in order to evolve them you will have to be quick about it.

One way of negating the effect of catcher is putting down 2 of the same basics at once, so they can knock out 1, and you can evolve the other.  This is where cards like Pokemon Collector, Revive, and Stantler come in really big.  After the big Cleffa donfest that was U.S. Nationals 2011, Stantler is a good Pokemon to use as a starter.  He will not be donked, and he can search out 2 basics and put them on the bench.  All you need on the next turn is  a Rare Candy and a Stage 2.  Look for 4 Rare Candies to be a staple in the next format.  Another way to go around Pokemon Catcher is to start fast.  If you start with a basic, there is a good chance there will probably be time to evolve the Pokemon before Catcher gets played.

If you don’t want your opponent to Catcher in a Pokemon, then don’t play it down.  With the number of big basic HP POkemon that can do damage, you don’t really need evolved Pokemon.  In the next couple sets there will be about 10 100+ HP Pokemon coming into the format.  The question is whether these Pokemon will be able to knock out Pokemon that are used with Pokemon Catcher, like Donphan Prime and Yanmega Prime.  Only time will tell whether these Pokemon will be good enough to stop the good stage 1’s.

The Big HP Pokemon

As mentioned, there are a lot of big HP Pokemon coming out, so lets look at them, since they are not very afraid of being made active by Pokemon Catcher.

1. Virizion

Japanese Set-  Battle Strength Deck                 English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 100 HP, 1 Retreat, Weak to Fire, Resistance to Water.

Attack 1- Giga Drain.  For GC you do 30 and heal from Virizion the amount of damage that you do to the defending Pokemon.

Attack 2-Sacred Sword.  For GGC you can do 100 damage, it can’t be used twice in a row.

2. Virizion

Japanese Set- Red Collection                    English Set- Probably the 3rd BW set

Basics- 100 HP, 1 retreat, weak to fire, resistant to water.

Attack 1- Dual Draw. For one energy you can draw 2 cards.

Attack 2-Leaf Slugger.  For GC you can do 40 damage. If you used this attack last turn, the attack does 80.

3. Terrakion 

Japanese Set- Battle Strength Deck                    English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 120 HP, 4 retreat, weakness to grass.

Attack 1- Boulder Crash.  For FC it does 40 damage.

Attack 2-Sacred Sword.  For FFC it does 100 damage and cannot be used next turn.

4. Terrakion

Japanese Set- Red Collection                    English Set- Probably 3rd BW set

Basics- 130 HP, 4 retreat, weakness to Grass.

Attack 1- Vengance.  Does 30 damage for FC.  Will do 90 damage if you lost a Pokemon last turn.

Attack 2- Land Crush.  For FFC it does 90 damage.

5. Coballion

Japanese Set-Battle Strength Deck                    English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 110 HP, 2 retreat, weak to fire, resistant to Psychic.

Attack 1- Metal Sword.  For MC you can do 30 damage and have your opponent switch the defending Pokemon.

Attack 2- Sacred Sword.  For MMC you can do 100 damage, and you can’t use this attack twice in a row.

6. Coballion

Japanese Set- Red Collection                    English Set- Probably the 3rd BW set.

Basics- 120 HP, 2 retreat, weak to Fire, resistant to Psychic.

Attack 1- Energy Breath.  For MC it does 20 damage times the number of energy attached to the defending.

Attack 2- For MMC you can do 80 damage and prevent the defending Pokemon from attacking next turn.

7. Landorus

Japanese Set-Red Collection                    English Set-?????? I would guess Emerging Powers, but it could be the 3rd Black and White Set.

Basics- 110 HP, 1 retreat, and weak to water.

Attack 1- Harvest.  For 1 energy you can attach an energy card from the discard pile to this Pokemon.

Attack 2- Gaia Hammer.  For FFC you can do 80 damage and spread 10 to everyone’s bench.

8. Volteros

Japanese Set- Black and White                    English Set-Emerging Powers

Basics- 110 HP, 1 retreat, weak to fighting

Attack 1- Recharge.  For 1 energy you can search your deck for a lightning energy and attack it to this Pokemon.

Attack 2- Discharge. For LLC you can do 80 damage and discard an energy card.

9. Torneros

Japanese Set- Black and White                   English Set- Emerging Powers

Basics- 110 HP, 1 retreat, weak to lightning, resistant to fighting.

Attack 1- Energy Well.  For 1 energy you move one energy from your bench to the active.

Attack 2-Gale Force. For CCC you can do 80 damage and move 1 energy card to the bench.

10. Kyurem

Japanese Set- Red Collection                   English Set- Probably the 3rd Black and White Set

Basics- 130 HP, 2 retreat, and weak to Metal.

Attack 1- Outrage.  For CC it does 20 damage plus 10 for every damage counter on this Pokemon.

Attack 2- Glaciate.  For WWC it spreads 30 damage to all of your Opponent’s Pokemon.

So those are the 10 big Pokemon that are coming out.  Most of these Pokemon will not be easy to knock out by Yanmega or Donphan, so they will be great counters to Pokemon Catcher.  The problem will be just coming up with other cards that can help make these cards attack faster.  None of these Pokemon seem like great Pokemon right now, but I think given the right situation, these cards could help to make a good deck.

Sot there is a look at Pokemon Catcher.  The card will sure change the format, maybe it will only change a little, or it may change it a lot.  I hope I gave you some ideas of how you can plan to play against this card in the fall.  Be sure to check on this website for more strategy articles about this impactful card.  So, what do you guys think of this card.  How will you play it and play against it?  Please leave your thoughts in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Card Discussion

A Second Look at Each Set: Call of Legends and Promos

Pikkdogs No Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a second look at the Call of Legends set and the HS  promos. The purpose of this series of articles is to review the playable cards, and take a look at promising cards, to see if they might be playable.  I will not tell you if these cards are playable, for that you must judge yourself.  Its up to you to see if you can make a great deck out of some cards that are under the radar.

Before we get there I just want to remind you guys that unless you guys say you want me to, I will not be doing this with the Black and White set, since it is fresh in our minds.  So that means this is the last of this series of articles………….you guys in Minnesota can stop clapping now.

Call of Legends

There are two schools of thought with Call of Legends.  One school is that it is the worst set ever.  The other school is that it contains a lot of good value cards.  The set was released as a filler set between the HGSS and BW blocks.  It contained cards from the Lost Link mini set, and some cards from the Clash at Summit set.  It also contained many re-prints from other HGSS sets, including 2 versions of a lot of the popular legendary Pokemon.  Like all of these articles, I will not review the baby Pokemon.  Also, I will not review any card that I have reviewed in other articles.  This explains the very short article we have.   So lets see if we can find any  good cards among this small pool.
Read More

Card Discussion

A Second Look at Each Set: Triumphant

Pikkdogs No Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is another continuation in my “Second Look at Each Set” series.  In these articles I go through the playable cards (the ones known and unknown) in each set, and make a case to play them, and a case not to play them.  Hopefully doing this will let you have a greater understanding of the limited card pool that the current modified format offers.

I apologize if these articles seem hurried or are a little messy.  Each article in this series takes a lot of time to put together, so I try to cut a few corners in order to get these articles out fairly quickly.  If you don”t understand something please leave it in the comment box and I will be happy to explain it to you.

Two housekeeping issues to take care of before we start the article.  The first is to tell you guys to watch the site in about a week or so.  I will be starting a raffle fairly soon and have an awesome grand prize to give away.  So stay tuned to hear the details of the contest.  The 2nd item is that I have decided that this series will have just one more article in it, an article looking at the cards in Call of Legends and the Promos that are currently legal.   I decided against doing a Black and White review because its still fresh in our minds.  If you guys would like to see me do a Black and White review, I can do that, just tell me so in the comment box. If we get a couple people who want to see it, then I will do it.    Anyway, on to the article.

I just want to reiterate something that I thought I made clear before, but I guess it Read More

Card Discussion

A Second Look at Each Set: Undaunted

Pikkdogs 8 Comments

Hey all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here continuing my series of reviewing the best cards and hidden gems on each set in the format.  I am already about halfway through the HGSS block, we are now on Undaunted. 

It seems like some people are confused of the aim of this article.  Just because I talk about a card here, does not mean that I think it will win Nationals.  I am just going over the cards in the set that might be playable in the right deck if everything goes right for the deck.  It’s about finding rogues and different ideas.  Yes Reshiram and Magnezone will clean up at this years Nats, but if I talked about them all day, it would be pretty boring.  So this is out to find some fresh new ideas.

Unduanted

Undaunted was released in the U.S. in August of 2010.  It was made up of cards from the previous Japanese set and many different kinds of Japanese decks that were released.  It also featured legend cards from the newest Japanese set.  Like Unleashed, Undaunted was not known as a  very powerful set at the time.  Just a few cards were hyped from the set, and nobody seemed to be in love with the set.

The Most Played Cards Read More

Card Discussion

A Second Look at Each Set: Unleashed

Pikkdogs 12 Comments

Welcome to the second part of this series of articles.  These articles look at each set and take a look at both the most played and mBlastoise - ULost overlooked cards of each set.  We are now on the HS: Unleashed set.  The hope is that by looking at the best cards of each set, we will be able to find some new techs or new deck ideas.

Before the article we have a bit of news.  Last week it was announced that the next English set will be called “Emerging Powers.”  The weird thing about the announcement is that it was announced that the set would include over 90 cards including 25 Pokemon that were never printed before.  Since our Black and White set did not have about 25 Pokemon cards that were not in the Japanese Black and White sets, this means that we probably will not be getting any cards from the Red Collection (the second Japanese Set).  Whats even stranger is the fact that we are getting some cards like Krookodile and Scolipede that have not been released in Japan.  So does that mean that we are getting a lot of new cards that Japan hasn’t received yet?  Anyway, it does seem that the next set will contain a lot of unreleased cards from the Black and White sets and cards from the Coballion, Virizion, and Terrakion decks.  Anyway, lets get on to the article.

The Top Cards

These are the top cards that have been talked about and played already.  You should be aware of these guys. Read More

Card Discussion

A Second Look at Each Set: Heart Gold Soul Silver

Pikkdogs 9 Comments

Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another article for you.  With the upcoming rotation on July 1st, all of the old decks will be replaced by new ones.  And we know which decks will see a lot of play, a lot of people are talking about decks like Reshiboar, Magneboar, Donphan, Feraligatr Prime, Gengar Prime, Donchamp, ZPS, etc… .  But, is that it?  Are those the only decks that will be popular at nationals, or have we missed something?

To make sure that we don’t miss a single card that can help us at Nationals, I will look at each set one by one, and try to find the most playable cards of each set.  Now I know these articles won’t be perfect, but I will try to leave no stone unturned in the search for the hidden gems of the HGSS-on format. I will not be reviewing any Baby Pokemon (except Cleffa) because I did an entire article them.

Set Introduction

Just to be wacky I will start with the oldest set in the format, Heart Gold and Soul Silver, hmmm…… that doesn’t seem very wacky, well okay so maybe its not wacky, but it does make sense.  HGSS is of course the base set in the HGSS series, it was released as a dual set in Japan, one was named “Heart Gold”, and the other “Soul Silver.”  But, us Westerners got the two sets combined as one, minus a couple of the cards.  HGSS is known as the set with some good trainers, and as the set that has some good Primes.  But, lets take a look at it to see what other treasures are inside, and if this set doesn’t have the card that will win you Nationals.

Been There, Done That

In this section we will profile commonly used Pokemon cards from the HGSS Set.

  1. Ninetales

What it does-It is a draw engine.  Discard 1 fire energy a turn, and draw 3 cards.  Its attack does 60 for 3 energies.

Why to play it– Helps consistency in any fire deck.  And with Emboar making fire decks popular, there are a lot of decks that can use this card.  Everyone likes a draw engine, it rarely is a bad thing.

Why not to play it–  Its not really needed.  Since BTS is gone and Rare Candy is weakened, you probably won’t be able to setup Ninetales until you are setup anyway, so its not needed.

2. Noctowl

What it does– Another draw engine, its Poke-Power lets you draw 1 card each turn.  Its attack does 40 damage for CCC, 80 if you and your opponent have an equal number of cards in hand.

Why to play it– Always nice to draw 1 card.  If you have extra room in your deck, Noctowl can always help consistency.

Why not to play it– As with Ninetails, you won’t be able to use Noctowl to help you setup anyway, so its not always needed.  Plus, 1 card is not a lot, you would like to draw a couple more.

3.  Slowking.

What it does– His Poke-Power “Second-Sight” lets you re-arrange the top 3 cards of either deck.  His attack does 30 for PC.

Why to play it– You could either play it just to be mean and disrupt your opponent, or you can run it in conjunction with Mime Jr.  Mime Jr. lets you put the top card of your opponent’s deck in the Lost Zone, and if the top card is a Pokemon, it will help decks that run Lost World.  It is a must play in a disruption or Lost World deck.

Why not to play it–  Lost World decks aren’t the best, and disruption decks don’t have the speed they used to.

4. Cleffa

What it does– Its a starter.  Its attack “eeeeek” lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 cards and puts Cleffa to sleep.  Its Poke-Body protects Cleffa from damage when asleep.

Why to play it–  Its a really good starter, and its Poke-Body may help you stall for a turn or two.  If you do not play a lot of eveolutions in your deck, this is probably the best starter around.  Free retreat is always a great thing.

Why not to play it– It only has 30 HP and the whole sleep thing makes Cleffa inconsistent.  It also does not pair well with Donphan Prime.

5. Donphan Prime

What it is– A tanking main attacker.  You can hit 60 for 1 fighting energy, or 90 for 3 fighting energy.  All damage done to Donphan by attacks is also reduced by 20 thanks to his Poke-Body.

Why to play it- A tank that can hit for 1 energy is pretty great.  It is really hard to take down, and can hit for decent damage.  All that adds up to being a great main attacker.  Just pair him with the right partners and I don’t know why you shouldn’t win nats.

Why not to play it–  It can get OHKOed by most water Pokemon thanks to his weakness, and he has a high retreat cost.  Donphan also damages your own bench.

6. Feraligatr Prime    

What it is–  An energy accelerator.  You can attach water energies at will to any water Pokemon thanks to his “Rain Dance” Poke-Power.  He also has an attack that does 60 for 4 water energies, with the ability to do more damaged based on the  number of damage counters on the defending Pokemon.

Why to play it– Right now, you don’t play a water deck without Feraligatr Prime.  The ability to attach energies is pretty good.  He has a decent attack, but what is better is his weakness is to grass.

Why not to play it–  There is not really a great water attacker right now, besides possibly Samurott, which means playing 2 stage 2’s.  It is a good Pokemon, but there is not really a good list out there right now.

7.  Jumpluff

What it is– A main attacker that can do 10 damage for every Pokemon that is in play, for just 1 grass energy.  It has 90 HP and a free retreat cost.

Why to play it– It can attack for a lot of damage for just 1 energy.  It is a fun deck that can be paired with Mew Prime for a faster attack.

Why not to play it–  The deck is a little slow, and 90 HP is a little frail.  It seems like Jumpluff is like the guy who is like 35 years old, and all he cares about is drinking and thinking about the good times he had in high school and college.  All Jumpluff is thinking about is the good ole days with Claydol and Uxie.  Well, Claydol and Uxie are gone and Jumpluff needs to make due with draw engines that are not as good.

#8 Typhlosion Prime

What it is– Kind of an energy accelerator.  It puts 1 fire energy from the discard pile to one of your in play Pokemon.  It can attack for 70 for three energies, with both Pokemon discarding an energy.

Why to play it– If you play Ninetails, you might as well play Typhlosion instead of Emboar.  It preserves space in your deck for other cards, since you don’t have to run as many energy recovery cards.

Why not to play it– Emboar is flashier, and who doesn’t like something that sparkles.  Also, Ninetails isn’t played as much anymore.

Hidden Gems

This section will talk about Pokemon cards that are not talked about as much, but could just be the card you are looking for to give you the advantage at Nationals.

1.  Arcanine

What it is– A secondary attacker.  It can do 90 damage for 4 energies.  Its 110 HP is nice.

Why to play it– There are a lot of Emboar’s running around, so it won’t be hard to load up Arcanine.  90 damage is always nice.

Why not to play it– Most Emboar decks don’t need a secondary attacker.  If one is needed in desperation, Emboar can do 80 for 4, so there really is not the need for it right now.   

2. Azumarill

What is it– A stage 1 water Pokemon that can do 60 damage for WCC, it also paralyzes the defending Pokemon.

Why to play it–  It could be a Donphan and Reshiram counter.  You need 1 Plus Power to OHKO Reshiram and Donphan.

Why not to play it– It is a stage 1 Pokemon, so it takes a little while to setup.  And you need Plus Powers to get OHKOs. It is also vulnerable to revenge knock outs with just 60 HP.

3. Hitmontop

What it is– A basic fighting Pokemon with 60 HP. It can do 60 damage for FCC.

Why to play it– It is a good Zekrom counter if you run either fighting energies or Double Colorless Energies.  You just need 1 Plus Power to OHKO Zekrom and Magnezone Prime.  It doesn’t seem very hard to plug this into your deck to give you a better match-up against Zekrom and Magnezone.

Why not to play it–  Just like Azumaril, this card is Plus Power reliant.  If you don’t run already run Plus Powers, its hard to recommend this card.

4. Raichu

What it is– A secondary attacker.  It can do 100 damage for two electric energies.  It also has 90 HP and a free retreat.

Why to play it– Everyone loves Pikachu and Raichu, and everyone loves free retreat.  It also fits well into the ZPS deck, once Zekrom slows down, you can still be doing 100 with Raichu.

Why not to play it– Its a stage 1 and it only has 90 HP.  Even-though 100 damage is nice, its not something you can build around.

5. Exeggutor   

What it is– Either a main or secondary attacker.  A stage 1 Psychic Pokemon with 90 HP and a free retreat cost.  Its attack costs 1 psychic energy, and lets you flip a card for each energy attached to Exeggutor.

Why to play it– This seems like a good combo with Emboar.  Just load up a bunch of energies on Exeggutor, pray that you flip well, and hopefully do about 120 damage.

Why not to play it–  It is not consistent.  It relies on flipping coins, which is never a good thing.  The 90 HP also is not the best thing in the world.

6. Farfetch’d

What it is– A starter.  It has two attacks that require 1 energy.  The first lets you draw 2 cards, the send lets you do 20 damage and switch out Farfetch’d.

Why to play it– A decent starter, that can draw OHKO any baby Pokemon with just 1 Plus Power.  There may be other Pokemon that can be a good starter, or can OHKO babies, but this guy can do both.

Why not to play it– It relies on Plus Power for the knockout, and there are Pokemon like Relicanth that lets you draw 3 cards instead of 2.

7.   Feraligatr

What it is– A secondary attacker in a deck that already runs Feraligatr Prime. It can spread 20 damage for WCC, or 80 damage for WWCC.

Why to play it– If you play a deck with Feraligatr and want a decent attacker that is not weak to lightning, this guy is for you.  It is easy to splash into any Feraligatr Prime deck, so why not?

Why not to play it–  I’ll tell you why not, it doesn’t really add too much to the deck.  The Prime is already a decent secondary attacker, and is not weak to lightning.

8. Lapras

What it is– Lapras is a baby killer. For two water energies you can snipe for 30 HP.  This means that if your opponent has a Baby Pokemon on the bench, you can take it out, for an easy prize.

Why to play it– For some reason Lapras is weak to Steel Pokemon, that means that hitting for weakness is not likely.

Why not to play it– If you don’t play Feraligatr Prime, this card is pretty much worthless.  Also, it is worthless if your opponent does not play Babies, or did not drop it on the bench.  Its not a consistent prize, and it stinks to start with it.

9.  Hypno  

What it is– A Poke-Power that puts the defending Pokemon to sleep for a coin flip.  An attack that does 30 damage and snipes for 10 for PCC.

Why to play it– Really no reason right now, unless you wanna use Musharna, which I don’t know why you would.

Why not to play it–  Right now there is every reason in the world not to play it, but its a cool card so keep it in mind.

10. Sunflora

What it is– It has a Poke-Power that is like Poke-Ball, but it only works on Grass Pokemon.  The attack is really crappy and does 40 damage for GGC.

Why to play it– It is good for a Jumpluff deck or a Yanmega deck.  The ability to get a free Pokemon each turn is pretty good. If you run grass Pokemon, you must take a look at Sunflora.

Why not to play it– Cause nobody plays Grass, duh.

11.  Typhlosion

What it is– Its like a Stage 2 Reshiram.  Except instead of having the “Outrage” attack, it has an attack that does 50 for a fire energy and a colorless.

Why to play it– It is a really hard hitting card that can easily fit into any deck that runs Typhlosion Prime.  A really ferocious fire attacker.

Why not to play it– Do you really want a stage 2 Reshiram?  A basic one is better.

12. Delibird

What it is– Kind of a weird starter, that could be a recovery Pokemon.  Its attack called “Snowy Present” lets you draw 1 card for every water energy you have on the field, the attack costs 1 water energy.

Why to play it– Im not sure, Relicanth is a better water starter.  I guess Delibird only has a 1 retreat and is weak to Metal.  If during the middle of the game you have a lot of energy attached, but no main attacker, it would be very handy.  

Why not to play it–  Right now, Delibird is too situational to play.

13. Mantine

What it is– A starter for Water deck.  “Group Swim” is not what happens when all the old people get into the pool, its an attack that costs 1 water energy and lets you look for any water Pokemon in your deck and put it into your hand.

Why to play it– A very overlooked starter.  If you are playing a Water deck, especially one with Kyogre/Groudon Legend, this card could be very helpful.    I would test it in my deck if I had a water deck.

Why not to play it–  Relicanth might be your preferred starter because he lets you draw cards.

14. Metapod

What it is– A grass tech that gives all Grass Pokemon no weakness.

Why to play it–  If you are having trouble with Fire decks, which I would assume you would, Metapod is a quick fix.  It is something every grass deck should consider.

Why not to play it–  There is still nobody who plays grass.

15. The Unown’s    

What are they– Two Pokemon with two different Poke-Powers.  “Return” lets you return all energy cards from one Pokemon to your hand.  “Flash” lets you rearrange the top 5 cards of your deck.

Why to play it– Return is nice because it works well with Emboar and the Shuckle Promo, talk about a draw engine tha’ts twice as nice.  I’m sure you will find a combo for “Flash” eventually, right now I can’t think of one.

Why not to play it– If you start with them, you gotta waste  a Seeker on them to use them.  They are also unique to one or two decks.

16. Girafarig

What it is– It is starter that is a gopher for energies. His attack, “Show Off” lets you search for any 2 basic energies from your deck and put it in your hand, for just 1 energy.

Why to play it– If you don’t have the first turn Zekrom attack, then why not setup for it next turn with Girafarig?  It could work well in a ZPS deck or any deck that needs lots of energy fast.

Why not to play it– You are just basically using your attack and at least 1 spot in your deck for the ability to trade 1 energy for 2.  It may not be worth it.

17. Ampharos Prime   

What it is– An anti Emboar and Feraligatr card.  It puts 1 damage counter for each energy attached.  Its attack does 40 damage for LCC and lets you flip a coin.  If heads you do an extra 40, if tails you discard an energy attached to the active.

Why to play it–  It is a perfect counter to the meta.  Shuckle won’t last more than a turn or two with this guy around.  There is another Ampharos in this set that can do 80 damage for LCC, so at least you can have a decent attacker with an Ampharos line.  Ampharos will at least give Emboar trouble, if it can’t beat Emboar.

Why not to play it–  A low damage output and a weakness to Donphan are not the best things to have.  Even though it is a counter to Emboar, do you really wanna play every game with this card?

18. Blissey Prime

What it is– A healer.  “Blissful Nurse” lets you remove all damage counters on all of your Pokemon, you must also remove all energy cards attached to those Pokemon that were healed.  Its attack does 60 damage for CCC.

Why  to play it–  If you have a 1 energy attacker, just run Energy Retrieval, and you are set.  It makes 2HKOing something very hard to do.  If your attacker can take a hit, its nice to be able to heal him and have him take another hit.

Why not to play it-It only seems to pair up well with one Pokemon (Donphan Prime).  Chansey is not fun to start with.

19. HO-OH Legend

What it is– A secondary fire attacker.  For 4 fire energies you can do 100 damage.  It also has a Poke-Body that turns all energy attached to HO-OH to fire.

Why to play it–  It could work out well in a fire deck, if you play it the right way.  It also could be a fire attacker in a non fire deck, if you ever find a way to put 4 energies on it.   It also is one of only 2 Legend cards that do not give your opponent 2 prizes when its knocked out.

Why not to play it–  Three letters: R-D-L.

20. Lugia Legend  

What it is– I don’t know, maybe a primary attacker?  It can do an amazing 200 damage for FLE- but you must discard the energy required for the attack.  It has a Poke-Power that lets you attach any energy in the top 5 cards of your deck, when you lay Lugia down.

Why to play it– 200 damage aint too shabby.  If you can find a way to get three energies on the top of your deck by turn 3, I suggest you play Lugia Legend in your deck.  It can be a devastating Pokemon.

Why not to play it–  Its good for 1 knockout maybe.  Theoretically this Pokemon is amazing, in reality this card is like a piece of fine art, its pretty but what can you do with it?

Trainer Cards

Here is a look at the trainer cards from this set that aren’t talked about a lot.

1.  Copycat

What it is– Shuffle your hand into your deck and draw the same number of cards as your opponent currently has in his/her hand.

Why to play it– Works well with Yanmega Prime or Vileplume.  Its a pretty good hand refresher that does not deserve to get overlooked.  The best players seem to play this card.

Why not to play it– Its a little inconsistent for play in all decks.  It seems to only work well in a few decks.

Closing Remarks on HGSS

Wow that was a tough article to write.  This was a long article, but I hope it brought you up to speed on this set.  You should be prepared now to start thinking about some rogue decks.

Battle Video Card Discussion Deck Discussion

Battle Video Series With Deck Analysis. Donphan/Machamp v.s. Reshiram/Typhlosion

Misnos 10 Comments

[youtube width=”494″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQN-e_3DP8A[/youtube]

An Introduction:

Hey everyone, for the past month or so, my brother and I have been posting videos on YouTube so we can watch them as replays and share them with whoever may be interested. Over the past month we have learned a tremendous amount by reviewing our videos and watching for misplays or foregone opportunities that may have altered the course of a match. Some of our videos have gotten a little attention, and this surprised us both. But to make a not-so-long story even shorter, we now have the opportunity to compose written commentary in the form of articles here at OneHitKO.com. We are very grateful for this prospect as we sense that we, along with our viewers can benefit more from an in-depth look at each game, rather than just a recap in video form. Combining both mediums will allow us to gain ultimate insight and offer a more well rounded look into each match. Machamp Prime

Misnos, as a moniker actually represents both of us (Kurt and Kyle) and while these articles may come from a first person point of view we are writing together, always interacting and debating amongst ourselves in order to supply the best product. A little about us first, I (Kurt) am an economics major and will be graduating within the next month, from there I will continue my education and attend law school, although where is not known yet. I have played Pokémon from base set, but first started collecting. I successfully collected Base through Neo Genesis. When I finally got serious about playing the TCG it was August of 2001, in September the tragedy of 9/11 occurred and I was not allowed to participate in the tournament I was going to attend, and lost interest from there. I never let my cards go, and always retained an affinity for Pokémon in general so it has been very easy for me to pick up where I left off so long ago, this time as a competitive player. I (Kyle) started playing Pokémon when I was about 4 years old, I learned to read from the cards my brother was collecting, and on the Game Boy games. I have grown up around the TCG, video games, and T.V show, Pokémon is part of my life. I am 17 years old and will be graduating high-school within the next few months. I plan to attend university and hope to become a M.D. I began playing Pokémon competitively one month before states this year. At the time I had no current cards and after reading online I built a Jumpluff deck due to its low cost. With little time to prepare and even less experience I went 5-3 at Florida states coming in 23 out of 157. After states, despite my relative success I chose to completely abandon Jumpluff and created a Donphan/Yanmega deck for Regionals and failed horribly. I dropped after I realized I could not top cut with such strong competition and went back to the drawing board. With the announcement of the new format, we both have a clean slate and have high hopes for the coming season.
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Card Discussion PokeClass

PokemanDan’s PokeClass Episode 26 – Time for Change!

PokemanDan No Comments

[youtube width=”640″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nivsaS3g3rQ[/youtube]

After a short break I’m back with the newest episode of PokeClass!
In this episode I talk about the news of rotation and how it’s going to affect us now and in the future. There’s big things happening and they are very exciting for the game.
The next few weeks of episodes will be all about the Nationals build up which we should all be excited about! Lots of work to be done :)
Hope you enjoy the episode, Dan Read More

Card Discussion

Top 10 Impactful Cards for Black and White

Pikkdogs 12 Comments

A  big hello to all members of Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with my quarterly “Top 10 Impactful Cards” article.  This article counts down the top 10 cards that will be impactful on the game.  Not all these cards will make an impact now, some will not show up in a deck for about a year, but I think all these cards have a great chance of impacting the game.

I was able to head north to a pre-release this past Sunday.  After I attended church service with my Brother, I took the 30 minute drive north to Brighton, Mi.  I ended up going 0-3 and not getting a lot of trades done, but I did pull some decent cards.  Regardless, I had a pretty fun time with all the players and judges in Brighton, Mi.  I also met up with a cool Poke-Dad, I’m bad with names but I think his name was Dave.  He was a big Team Omar fan, so it was nice hanging out with him.  So shout out to Dave and his son!

The Pre-Release was very fun because it was fun to open the new Black and White cards.  With cards like Emboar, Samurott, Pikachu, Zekrom, and Reshiram being valued so high, it was like Christmas all over again.  There are some great cards in this set, so lets see how these cards will effect the format.  Since the format is up in the air right now, it will be very hard to tell, but I guess if it was easy anyone could write this article.

10. Pokedex-

There are not a lot of good trainers in this set.  When people think of trainers in this set, most people only think of one trainer, Professor Juniper, but Pokedex might change all that.   Pokedex lets you arrange the top 5 cards of your deck in any order.  But, with the lack of draw power in the coming formats, the ability to control your top decks is awesome.  The format may not let players play this deck, because of the lack of deck space, but if there is room this card is great.  It is a very versatile card that can be played in any deck (except a Vileplume deck).  Before the rotation, this card works well with Uxie La.  It also works well with Nineatils HGSS.
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