Card Discussion

Bring in the Tanks: Tanking Pokemon in the TCG.

Pikkdogs March 4, 2011 4 Comments

Hey Everyone. This is Pikkdogs here to talk about Tanks in the Pokemon TCG. In military terms, a tank refers to a heavily armored, slow moving, and hard hitting vehicle. In reference to the Pokemon TCG, a tank is a Pokemon card that has high HP, is usually slow to setup, and can deal a lot of damage. This article is all about tanking Pokemon.

Tanking Pokemon are pretty cool. They can absorb a lot of damage and deal it right back to your opponent. The problem is the fact that they are fairly slow and hard to evolve.

So what are some of the strategies that you can use with tanks? Well, each tanking card is different, but for the most part you would want to get the tank out as fast as possible and then heal the tank. Healing can be done with cards like Pokehealer +, MooMoo Milk, and Blissey Pt.

Currently in the game there are a lot of Pokemon who can be considered tanks. Here is a profile of some of the more interesting ones.

Tank #1- Dialga G Lv. X

Description– Dialga G Lv. X is possibly the smallest yet most played tank. It is a basic Lv. X, with 120 HP, a 2 retreat cost, a fire weakness, and a psychic resistance. Its Poke-Body is called “Time Crystal” and it has the effect of turning off all non SP Poke-Bodies. Its “Remove Lost” attack does 80 damage for MMCC and has a chance of putting energy attached to your oppoent’s Pokemon in the Lost Zone.

Although 120 HP is not usually enough to reach tank status in today’s game, the way this card is played makes it a tank. First, players attach Special Metal energies to Dialga G. For every Special Metal energy attached to Dialga G any attack done to Dialga G is reduced by 10. These energies help Dialga G stay around longer, and when the damage counters pile up you just bring in Garchomp C Lv. X and use “Healing Breath” to heal all damage counters. These things can make Dialga G quite a powerful tank.

Should it see play?– Oh yeah, Dialga G is a great card. It combines disruption and tanking to make a good combo. It is mostly used in SP decks like Dialgachomp, though has seen some play as a tech in Luxchomp and Gyarados. With the SP engine it is perhaps the fastest tank out there, which makes it the most playable tank.

Tank #2- Wailord SV or TM.

Description– When I think of tanks, I think of Wailord. Ever since its first appearance in EX Ruby and Sapphire, Wailord has had the biggest HP in the format. Having the best HP has never translated into being the best Pokemon, but it has made it one interesting card. In the Great Encounters set Wailord had an amazing 200 HP. But, in the Supreme Victors and Triumphant set Wailord only had 180 HP. Each of the two cards in the current format have 1 attack that heals Wailord, and the other that can do some major damage. They both has a 4 retreat cost and a x2 lightning weakness.

The SV Wailord can heal 4 damage counters for CC with its “Rest” attack. Its second attack is “Giant Wave” which does 100 damage for WWWCC. The TM Wailord has the “Underwater Dive” attack which lets you flip 2 coins and heal 3 damage counters for each heads. It’s “Swallow Up” attack does 50 damage for WWWC and can do 50 more if Wailord has more HP.

Both cards are fairly similar, but not that great. To make them better you can add Feraligatr Prime, which has the “Raindance” Poke-Power, which lets you attach as many water energies to any water Pokemon that you like. This means that you can do either “Giant Wave” or “Under Water Dive” faster.

Should it see play?– Although I love Wailord, I just can’t recommend playing either of these cards right now. Wailord is just too slow and its lightning weakness is just too hard to overcome. But, the 180 HP is too nice to look over. For right now keep Wailord in the back of your mind, maybe a good combo will come out in the new Black and White set.

Tank #3-Torterra Ul

Description– Around Nationals last year Torterra Ul was making some noise in Europe. Torterra was used in conjunction with the Lv. X and Flygon Lv. X. Flash forward a year later and the Lv. X is gone, Flygon is all but un-usable thanks to Garchomp C, and the Claydol Ge engine that the deck used is rotated. But, its still a good card, so lets look at it.

It has 140 HP, a fire weakness, and a 4 retreat cost. Its best attack is called “Giga Drain” and does 40 damage and you get to remove an equal amount of damage counters that you did to the defending Pokemon. That means the more damage you do, the more you heal. And since doing a lot of damage and healing is great, there are techs you can use to increase both damage and healing.

Cherrim SF’s “Sunny Day” Poke-Body increases the amount of damage done to the defending Pokemon by 10 for each Cherrim you have in play. If you have an expert belt and 4 Cherrims in play, you can to do 100 damage with “Giga Drain,” and then heal 10 damage counters. You could also use Shaymin Lv.X Ground Forme and give Torterra 40 more HP thanks to its “Thankfullness” Pokebody. That means with a belt, Shaymin, and 4 Cherrims you have 200 HP and are attacking and healing 100 HP each turn.

Should it see play?– Although there are lots of techs that can help it, Torterra is just too slow in the current format. If properly setup this deck is unstoppable, but it is very hard to setup. This tank is just not fast enough. But, keep this card in the back of your mind, it could get a good tech card in the Black and White set to make it playable again.

Tank #4-Nidoking Tm

Description– Nidoking is a card that can become an unstoppable tank, but needs a lot of help. He is another tank that seems just a little too slow for the format. But his potential is so great that it can’t be ignored.

He is of course a stage 2 Fighting Pokemon with 140 HP, a 3 retreat cost, a water weakness, and a lightning resistance. He has a Poke-Body called “Pheremone Stamina” which increases his HP by 20 for every Nidoqueen you have in play. He has one attack, and its called “Venomous Horn.” This attack does 80 damage and poisons the defending Pokemon for FFCC.

Nidoking’s resistant is awesome, but he has a tough weakness for the current format. “Pheremone Stamina” works excellently with Nidoquen RR’s “Maternal Comfort” Poke-Body, which heals away 1 damage counter between turns. This means if you are able to get 3 Nidoquens’s on the bench, Nidoking will have 220 HP (with an expert belt) and will be healing 1 damage counter between turns. The problem here is getting 4 stage 2 Pokemon in play. Right now, its hard to get even 1 in play, 4 is un-thinkable.

Should it see play?– As mentioned, it is way too hard to get a lot of Stage 2 Pokemon in play. It is just too slow to see any play. But, just like Torterra and Wailord, this card is good enough that we should all keep it in mind. Plus, Nidoking is a beloved Pokemon and will always be a fan favorite.

Tank #5- Steelix Prime

Description– Steelix Prime is one of the better tanks in the current format. It first got attention at World’s last year when the Steelix deck made top cut and did a great job at the tourney.

Steelix is a stage 1 Steel Pokemon, with 140 HP, a fire weakness, a psychic weakness, and a 4 retreat cost. It has the “Perfect Metal” Poke-Body which prevents him from being effected by a special condition. Its first attack is called “Energy Stream” and can do 30 damage for CC, it also lets you attach an energy card and attach it to Steelix. Its second attack is called “Gaia Crush” and does 100 damage for MMCCC, it also lets you discard any Stadium card in play if you choose.

The Steelix deck is actually a pretty good deck. It isn’t Tier 1, but it might be tier 2. It has a good shot at beating SP decks (as long as they don’t have Blaziken FB in the deck.) If you can get a Steelix turn 2 and use “Energy Stream” to attach an energy, you could possibly be in line to “Gaia Crush” next turn. One thing that is needed in this deck is an early expert belt. It will give you more HP so you will be able to survive a big hit. And, this deck is all about surviving a big hit. If you can keep Steelix alive you can heal him next turn. Most decks use Poke Healer + and Blissey Pt to heal a lot of damage counters on one turn.

Should it see play?– If you haven’t tried this deck, what are you waiting for? It is a really fun deck that does work. It is probably the best pure Tank in this list. It has high HP and can hit for a lot. It also can help get itself more energy. This deck may not be the best, but it is good. Unless there is a lot of fire in your metagame, this wouldn’t be a bad choice for States, if you still haven’t chosen a deck.

So there it is, a profile of some of the better tanks in the format. There are many other tanks out there, and some good pseudo-tanks (like Ursaring Prime) but this a list of some of the most interesting ones. If you can think of some good tanks, please list them in the comment section so we can have a little discussion about them.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Card Discussion Uncategorized

You Can’t Touch This: Walls in the Pokemon TCG

Pikkdogs February 25, 2011 5 Comments

Hey everyone in Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here with a strategy article. This article is all about Pokemon that act like walls in the Pokemon TCG. Wall Pokemon are Pokemon that are defensive in nature and either prevent your opponent from attacking you or getting a knockout on one of your Pokemon. Walls are on of my favorite aspects of a TCG. I think its great when you can give your opponent a situation in which they can’t hurt you. It feels deliciously evil.

Before we get started we have some news to deal with first. Ed and I are happy to announce that we have a new member to the teamomar.com family. Renae from the “Renae Collects” Youtube show will soon be joining our team. I think its great that we are getting some more views from collectors, rather then only competitive players. So expect some collection videos from her in the future. If you can’t wait for the first video or article, check out her archive of videos on youtube at this link:

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

Okay, so anyway back to the article. Just a refresher, we are talking about walls.

You might ask ,”Pikkdogs, Why might one want to run a wall Pokemon? And why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

Well the answer to the first question is that you might need to put up a wall to buy your deck some time to setup, or you might want to try to attack your opponent and then switch your opponent right after you attack (as you can with some Pokemon like Gengar Ar, Magnezone Sf, and Uxie La). Having an effective wall will frustrate your opponent and hopefully buy you enough time to get you a good prize lead.

Here are a couple of the most used Walls in the current format, listed in no particular order.

Shedinja Sv

The Basics– Shedinja is possibly my favorite wall. It is a stage 1 Pokemon with 60 HP,a +20 Fire weakness, and a 1 retreat cost. Those stats are less than stellar, but this card is here for its Poke-Body, called “Marvel Shell.” This body states that Shedinja cannot be effected by any effects of an attack if it has a Poke-Body or Poke-Power. It also has an attack called “Spike Wound” that does 30 damage for 1 energy to any of your opponent’s Pokemon, if it already has at least one damage counter on it. This attack isn’t great, but combined with Crobat G it can be an okay attack if you need to attack with it.

When to use it– Shedinja does have its use in the current metagame. Although it has below average stats and attacks and has to be evolved, it still works well for what it is. It also can be played around by using Crobat G “Flash Bite” drops, is unaffected by some Pokemon like Gyarados, and by sniping around Shedinja. It is mostly used in a Shuppet/Dunsparce decks as a wall. But, it can be used in other hit and run decks like Gengar Ar, Quagsire Gl, and Magnezone Sf.

Unfortunately these decks aren’t very successful right now, but as long as you don’t expect to win states you can take a deck like this to States and do fairly well.

Umbreon Cl and Ud

The Basics– Umbreon is a Stage 1 Pokemon with 90 HP, a 1 retreat cost, a fighting weakness, and a -20 resistance to Psychic. It has two attacks for DC “Quick Blow” (do the TPCI people stay up and night trying to come up with names that have sexual connotations?) will do 30 damage and a chance to hit for 60 if you flip heads on one coin flip. Its other attack “Moonlight Fang” will do 30 damage for D and not allow you to be effected by any effects of an attack next turn by Pokemon with Poke-Bodies or Poke-Powers. So its basically like an attack that does the same thing as Shedinja’s Pokebody but with 30 damage.

When to Use– A lot of people love the Eevelutions, so they love to play Umbreon. Me, I’m not so sold on this card, because it can also be played around. Also it only does 30 damage, which is not substantial. Yes, more damage can be added with Special Darkness Energy and an Expert Belt, but those things can be harder to setup.

It is mostly used in Machamp Decks. Why do they use it in Machamp decks? Well the play really doesn’t make much sense, but it does cover Machamp’s Weakness. It also can be used in certain decks as a tech to give it an advantage against a certain deck. For example, if you are running a Gyarados deck and are getting run over by Luxray Gl you can try to add in Umbreon to make sure he or Luxray Gl does not bother your active Pokemon. I don’t think this is a great option, but it’s a card to keep in mind if you ever need a Dark Pokemon that can stall.

Scizor Prime

The Basics– Scizor Prime is a Stage 1 Metal Pokemon with 100 HP, a x2 weakness to Fire, a-20 resistance to Psychic, and a 2 retreat cost. These stats aren’t great, the HP is only average and the weakness is tough to go against. Its attack is called “Metal Scissors” and does 30 damage for MC plus 20 more damage for each Metal energy attached to Scizor. This attack isn’t great, but if you can make Scizor Prime a tank with a lot of Special Metal energies you can create quite an effective tank. Its Poke-Body is called “Red Armor” and prevents damage done to Scizor by any Pokemon with Special Energies. This means that if your opponent is using Special Energies, they cannot attack Scizor. And, every time they choose not to attack Scizor you can attach another energy that makes Scizor hit harder.

When to Use– Scizor can be an effective wall. It is the only wall in the game that can actually hit for a decent amount. If you are able to get 4 Special Metal energies on him you will be doing the magic number of 110 damage, and will be making it hard to hit Scizor. Scizor can be used in his own deck, or as a tech in other decks that run Metal energies.

The problem with Scizor is that he can be easily played around. Although he will stop some decks did in the water, like Steelix Prime, most decks have other options then relying on special energies. If you play a LuxChomp deck, they will either snipe around you or drag up other Pokemon, you will not have enough time to attach a lot of energies to Scizor. Scizor can also be burned and poisoned by an effect of an attack, so your opponent could slowly wear down Scizor if they wanted to. Although it isn’t the best deck around, Scizor Prime can be an effective tech, and may be a good card in the future.

Mamoswine Gl

The Basics– Mamoswine Gl is a basic water type Pokemon with 100 HP, a Metal Weakness, and a resistance to Lightning. It also has an attack that you will never want to pay for and a retreat cost that you will never pay, but that does not matter. Mamoswine does have a good solid HP for a basic and a good weakness and resistance. It will help you in the SP matchup and since there are not many Metal attackers around, the weakness will only hurt you against Dialga G, Steelix Prime, and Scizor Prime. It has a Poke-Body called “Icy Aura” that puts 1 damage counter on each Pokemon during turns that is not a Water type. This is a good body because it provides a Poison like effect every turn that he is active.

When to Use- So why is this Pokemon a wall? It does not block certain effects of an attack or damage. But, it does have a high HP and can be used with PokeTurn. So If you are using a Shuppet/Dunsparce or Mamoswine Gl deck, you can attack and then promote Mamoswine Gl. Hopefully Mamoswine will be able to survive any attack that your opponent throws at you, and you can PokeTurn it next turn and heal all damage. And, because of “Icy Aura” you will be able to add in a damage counter between turns.

The problem with this wall is the problem that is wrong with the other walls, it can be easily played around. If you can do 110+ damage you can just run over Mamoswine, or you can snipe around it. This wall also requires a free Poke-turn which is not easy to come by in Shuppet/Dunsparce decks. So its not a great card, but it is a decent wall so keep it in mind.

So when it all comes down to it, walls aren’t all that effective in the current format. Because of how versatile SP cards are, it can be hard to slow down your opponent. But, I like the idea of walls, and think that after the next rotation comes into effect they could be better. So keep an eye on these walls they might be effective in the next format.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Card Discussion

Top 5 Impactful Cards of Call of Legends.

Pikkdogs February 1, 2011 12 Comments

Hey all members of Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with a set review and the top 5 cards of Call of Legends.

If you look on any Pokemon site now a days, you will find no shortage of people bashing this set. A lot of people are calling it the worst set ever, and are just mad at it. It only has a handful of playable cards, and most cards are reprints of so-so cards from the last couple sets. Most players call this set a total blunder for Play Pokemon. The poster child for this so called blunder is Phanpy. Phanpy has a Poke-Body that twice misspells its names. The card just sums up what a lot of people think Play Pokemon did with this set.

But, there are people who think that this set is pretty good, we call these people collectors. These collectors love challenges, and this set features 11 shiny Pokemon, that is what I call a challenge. There is sure to be value in these Shiny Pokemon if you pull any from the pack, a lot of collectors will be happy to find the rare cards of this set.

Besides being a good set for collectors, this set does still have some luster in it. Of course this set has one big giant card, Lost World. This card is what players have been waiting for for months. In addition to Lost World, there are still some good playable cards here, so lets look at some of the best cards of the set.

5. Tangrowth

One of the cards that nobody has talked about is Tangrowth. It may not seem like a great card to look at, and it honestly never seems great, but it is a good combo with Tangrowth Lv.X. Well lets look at the card.

It has 110 HP, a 4 retreat cost, a weakness to fire, and a resistance to water. The HP is decent for a stage 1 and the resistance is good with Gyarados running around, but the retreat cost and weakness are terrible. It has one good attack, its called “Grind”, which does 20 damage times the amount of energy attached to it. Besides being able to use DCE, it works great with its Level X. Besides adding 20 HP, the Level X adds an attack that will let you attach as many grass energy cards from you discard pile as you like to any of your Pokemon. If you were able to discard a lot of Grass Energies, you can then use “Big Growth” to attach energies, and then attack with Grind for a lot of damage. The Level X also adds healing, which is always good for a tank.

This combo is a little slow and isn’t the best, but is worth a look. It will be a good fun deck, but it won’t ever be Tier 1.

4. Mr. Mime

Mr. Mime has 70 HP, a 1 retreat cost, and a psychic weakness. These stats aren’t very good, but they aren’t what we are here for.

We are here for the Poke-Power. “Trick Reveal” forces each player to reveal their hand to one another, and Mr. Mime can use this power each turn, and he does not need to be active. It is all in all a great power, it would be nice to not have to show your hand, but the only thing Mr. Mime will cost you is a bench spot.

The most common combo for this card is Gengar Sf, since you will be able to see if your opponent has enough trainers in his/her hand for a knock-out. It should find a home in any Trainerlock deck right away. This would be a great use for Mr. Mime, and I’m sure you could find other combinations for it.

3. The Reprints

In this category I am grouping a lot of different varied cards. There are a lot of decent cards that got a re-print in this set. Some of the good ones are Smeargle, Slowking, Professor Oaks New Theory, Copycat, Umbreon, Ninetails, Dual Ball, Interviewer’s Question, and the Reverse Holo Energies.

These cards are all playable and the reprint will let you get a lot of copies of these cool cards. Also if a card got new artwork in this set, its usually pretty sweet (except Eevee, I think this Eevee was inbred or something).

2. Lost Remover

Lost Remover is a trainer card that lets you put one special energy card that is attached to one of your opponent’s Pokemon, and stick it in the lost zone.

Right now this is not good enough to be a staple, but I think it soon will. Once the SP engine rotates out I think Special Energies will be more popular, and this card will stop them. Even now you can use it to combat Tyranitar Prime and Steelix Prime. Putting a Special Metal card attached to Steelix in the Lost Zone would be devastating. So its not a great card, but it is a card that I believe will be good soon.

1. Lost World-

This is the grand-daddy of them all, Lost World. This is what makes this set worth it, a game changing card.

It lets anyone win the game, if their opponent has 6 Pokemon in their Lost Zone.

It is format changing because it makes cards like Gengar Prime, Palkia G, Absol G, and others playable. It will probably make at least 1 or 2 first or second tier decks. Now people will be trying to get Pokemon cards in the Lost Zone, when the Lost Zone was once ignored.

It will cause a lot of things to be changed, because each deck and player will have to adjust to fight this new way to win a game. Only time will tell how impactful this will be, but for right now it seems like this card will be extremely impactful.

I don’t get a lot of people who bash this set, it is a decent set that will get you a lot of playable cards. Nobody seems to like this set, but I bet everyone would love to get another Smeargle, RH energy, or PONT. Despite what everyone says, it is a decent set that has some good cards in it. I highly recommend that everyone go to the next pre-release that its in your area. For some reason these pre-releases are very fun to go to. And of course, these events are always great to trade at.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Card Discussion

Pikkdogs top 10 Cards of 2010

Pikkdogs December 30, 2010 6 Comments

A big hello to all members of Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here, and I am counting down the top 10 cards that were released in 2010. I will rank them based on their current playability, their past usage, and my predicitons on how the card will fair in the future.

But before we get to that we have a couple of announcements to talk about. There is still time to register for the Team Omar 1st Anniversary contest, but you must get your answer into us before midnight on the 31st of December. That means that if its 2011, you will be too late. There have not been a lot of entries, so if you hurry up and enter, you have a decent chance at winning a prize. Also, all of us at the website would like to wish you guys a Happy Newyear. Hopefully you guys will have fun on New Years Eve, but remember to be safe.

Okay onto the rankings, there have been 4 sets released in 2010. All of these sets belong to the HS block, the individual sets are: HGSS, HS: Unleashed, HS: Undaunted, and HS: Triumphant. The first two sets of 2010 were playable in the 09-10 format, while the last two were not. This year is the first year without Lv.X cards, we have gotten Prime and Legend cards instead. Some of the Prime cards have been playable, while the Legend cards have seen a minimal impact on the format. So with those thoughts out of the way, lets rank the cards of 2010.

10. Gengar Prime

The list starts off with Gengar Prime. This Gengar was released in the Triumphant set and has not had a significant impact on the format yet. It has seen some play in Trainerlock decks with Gengar SF. It is mostly used to send Pokemon in your opponents hand to the Lost Zone. This is mostly effective against Gyarados decks. If you can send a Magikarp to the lost zone, you will have a huge advanatge in the game. But as I said this card has not made a huge impact on the format. It has made it on my list because of its potential. If the U.S. ever gets the card Lost World, Gengar Prime will become a lot more important. This is because Lost World is a stadium card that lets you win the game if your opponent has 5 or more Pokemon in the lost zone, and Gengar Prime can easily put Pokemon in the lost zone. So the future looks bright for Gengar Prime.
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Card Discussion

Return of the Base Set?

Pikkdogs December 21, 2010 9 Comments

Hey all members of Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here. Over the weekend our freinds at pokebeach.com posted scans of the cards from the new Black and White Collection set in Japan. There was a theme in this release and the cards will be very impactful on next years format, so I thought I would post some of my reviews of the cards here.

But of course since these are Japanese cards, I have to issue a disclaimer. I do not read Japanese and am not sure that the person who translated these cards can read it properly either. So there are possibily translation errors, and it is likely that wording on cards will change as they reach America, so don’t take this wording as the final wording. Also, it is a personal rule of mine to not believe that a single Pokemon card that was released in Japan will be released in the U.S. until I actually pull it from the pack. Japan does get a lot of different cards that we don’t, so there is a chance that we will not get some of these cards.

So with that out of the way we will look at some of the imactful cards that are coming out of the Japanese Black and White Set, these are listed in no particular order.

1. Enbuoh– This Pokemon is a Stage 2 Fire Pokemon. He has 150 HP and a 4 retreat cost. His Poke-Power, Fervant Dance, allows you to attach a Fire Energy from your hand to any Pokemon, you can do this as many times as you like during your turn. His attack, Heat Stamp, does 80 damage for RRCC. Well this Pokemon is a bit of a tank, 150 HP is great and the ability to do 80 isn’t bad, but its his Poke-Power that really brings him playability. With Fervant Dance you can attach as many fire energies as you want, this makes a lot of cards playable. Enbuoh seems to be the new version of the old Rain-Dance Blastoise.

2. Ranculus– This Pokemon is also a stage 2 Pokemon. He was 90HP and a 2 retreat cost. His Poke-Power, Damage Swap, lets you move one damage counter from one Pokemon to another, you can do this as many times as you like during your turn. His attack is not as impressive, it does 30 damage for PPP and an extra 10 for each energy your opponent has attached to the active. Well, the attack is terrible, but the power is game changing. The ability to move damage counters is great, and can be used in a lot of decks. Ranculus seems to be like the Base Set Alakazam.

3. Gothruzelle– This Pokemon is a stage 2 Pokemon with 130 HP and a 2 retreat cost. It has a Poke-Body, Magic Room, that does not allow your opponent to play any trainer cards, Its attack does 30 damage plus 20 for every psychic energy you have attached to Gothruzelle. Its attack may not be stellar, but the ability to put a trainer lock on your opponent wihtout putting it on yourself is amazing. This card is like Vileplume EX.

4. Max Restore. Max Restore is a trainer card that allows you to heal all damage counters off of a Pokemon and then discard all energy attached to that Pokemon. I think this could be an impactful card. The ability to heal damage counters is very nice, and there are some decks that can work around the discard the energy part. It is similar to Blissey Prime’s Poke-Power.

There are also some trainer reprints

Crash Hammer is a reprinted Energy Removal 2. It lets you discard your opponents energy with a coin flip.
Pokemon Communicator is basically Pokemon Communication.
Professor Araragi is a reprinted Professoar Oak from the Base Set.
Revive is a reprinted Pokemon Rescue, but it only works on Basic Pokemon
Pokemon Catcher is a reprinted Gust of Wind.

As you can see it seems like Pokemon is taking a big turn in the future. The new cards that are being printed are more like the older cards we had. It seems like the innovation is over, no more Pokemon SP or Level X, its back to the evolution lines and trainers. The reprint of Gust of Wind is going to be very impactful, it is a very good effect. Most of the other cards that I did not list in this article, are also kind of similar to the base-set days. The HPs are similar to modern Pokemon, but the damage output they deliver is just not on par with cards from the Diamond and Pearl and HGSS sets. The damage output is bigger then that in Base Set days, but not many of them reach past 70 or 80.

So what do you guys think? Do you like the return to some old principals? Or did you like how things were going before?

Personally I think Pokemon needed to change something. The SP Pokemon are just way to powerful now, and Pokemon needs to do something to shake up the format.

This is Pikkdogs signing off and saying So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

Card Discussion

How to use Seeker

Pikkdogs December 13, 2010 3 Comments

A big Hello to all members of Omar Nation. This is Pikkdogs here with a strategy article. As you can see, this article will be about the card Seeker.

Well to start out, Seeker has a simple effect. Both players pick up a Pokemon from their bench, the person who plays it chooses first.

It may be a simple effect, but the many ways that it can be used make it a card that is complicated to use. It also is a pivotal card, that can easily change the fate of the game. That being said, it is important that every player know how to play the card. First we must look at how this card is played.

The first way that this card is used is to heal a benched Pokemon. This is fairly simple, just setup two main attackers, when one is damaged beyond repair, you retreat or warp it out and then use Seeker and throw those damage counters away. This use makes it useable for almost any deck. If you use this strategy, be sure to have Broken Time Space in play, so you can lay down the Pokemon back down again.
Another way to use this card is to use it to re-use a coming into play Poke-Power. For example, if you only have Seeker in your hand, you can play Seeker and pick up your Uxie La, and then use “Set-Up” again for 7 cards. This card is also useful for cards like Crobat G, Mespirt La, and Azelf La.

MRDIF: Gyarados

Bittyboy72 November 29, 2010 18 Comments

What is MRDIF?

I am sure you all have heard of the new popular acronym (at least new to me) BDIF, witch stands for Best Deck In Format. Well I decided instead of writing an article about the Best Deck in Format I would write an article about the Most Ridiculous Deck in Format, or MRDIF. For this article I chose to write about Gyarados as the MRDIF because I feel it really is!

How Do You Play Gyarados?

I realize that a lot of people already know how to play Gyarados but for those of you who don’t I’ll go over it briefly for you. Basically the goal of Gyarados is to discard Magikarp using cards like Regice and Junk Arm. You may ask “why would I want to get rid of your basics?” Well that’s because Gyarados’s “Tail Revenge” attack does 30 damage times the number of Magikarp in your discard pile for no energy. There are some cases where you do need to use cards like Pokemon Rescue to recover a Magikarp because Gyarados got KOed but you mostly rely on Rescue Energy now to recover Gyarados.

Ways to Play Gyarados!

In all of my experimenting with Gyarados I have found a couple of effect ways to play Gyarados and it is actually quiet versatile now. I have found that the best ways to play it are with Warp Energy and Seeker, just plain Gyarados with Sableye (similar to the original), playing it with heavy Warp Point and Cyclone Energy lines, and also with Giratina and Mesprit.

Warp Energy With Seeker:

I have tested Warp Energy and Seeker the most and I love it! Even though I love it so much it lacks something! I played it at a local City’s and I didn’t do so well (mostly because I played 3 Vilegars) but I still love the deck. Just in case you don’t know how Warp-Seeker Works I’ll explain it a bit it’s pretty self explanatory. The idea is to tank with Gyarados and then heal it instead of recovering Gyarados like usual. You heal by attaching a Warp Energy to Gyarados to force it to the bench then you bring up something with free retreat. After you get a damaged Gyarados to the bench you use Seeker and pick Gyarados back up and lay it back down if you have Broken-Time Space (witch you should) and then retreat your active and continue to attack with Gyarados. This version usually runs less Rescue Energy because of the healing factor but a couple Rescue Energy isn’t a bad idea.

Original:

I have found a lot of people just run Gyarados like it was originally. By “run it originally” I mean like how the original Gyarados ran where you used Sableye to do a bit of discarding. As you probably know there is no more Felicity’s Drawing so in place of it they use Volker’s Philosophy to discard one then draw cards till there 6 in their hand. Although I don’t really like this method and think that the other ways are more effective, this is still a good way to play the deck. Besides most of the Gyarados lists I looked at played 2 Volker’s Philosophy anyway. This version usually plays a couple Warp Points and has plenty more room for techs if you would rather have a more teched out list.

Heavy Warp Point and Cyclone Energy Lines:

Another version I like a lot is Gyarados with heavy lines of Warp Point and Cyclone Energy. This is a very effective deck and a great way to play Gyarados. The idea of this is that Gyarados is to take a prize a turn. If there is a tank in your way you Warp Point of Cyclone for something you can easily kill to take a prize. Most of the time this deck runs extremely heavy Crobat G lines and Poke Turns to ensure a KO (or possibly a KOs turn 1) or even a quick DONK. This version of Gyarados tends to do very well and you should definitely watch out for it.

Mesprit and Giratina:

Last but not least we have Gyarados with Mesprit (LA) and Giratina(PL). I really have no idea how to recommend lines for this because a guy at one of our City’s won with this deck and I have no idea what his lines are. If I had to guess I would say 1 Giratina and 2 Mesprits. Please remember that is just my guess but I haven’t got to do any testing with it but I plan to. Sorry about not being able to explain this version but at least you get an idea! Another more common version of Gyarados is Gyarados with just Mesprit (as in no Giratina) and I believe these list tend to do pretty well in tournaments and I believe there was one of these Gyarados at worlds last year.

Deck Staples:

Gyarados has a lot of staples as well. In case you don’t know what a staple is, it is a card that is essential to a deck. Here is a list of some staples:

-4 Magicarp (SF)

-3 Gyarados (SF)

-2-4 Sableye (SF I say 2 depending if you run another starter or not)

-1 Unown Q (MD)

-1 Regice (LA)

-2 Uxie (LA)

-1 Azelf (LA)

– 3 Pokemon Collector (HS)

-1 Bebe’s Search (RR)

-2 Pokemon Rescue (PL)

-2 Rescue Energy (Triumphant)

-3 Broken-Time Space (PL)

-1 Combee (SF)

*NOTE: Please remember that this is a list of what every Gyarados list should run, however the number of each card you play may change depending on what version of Gyarados you choose to play.

Possible Techs:

As I said before Gyarados is a very versatile deck now and can be played many different ways. I went over each version and a couple of the techs above so I may repeat a few below more in deaf.

Seeker:

Seeker is a great tech for Gyarados weather you run Warp Energy or not (although I would highly recommend you do) because it improves your matchup against decks that trainer lock because you can reuse cards like Uxie. Seeker is also a great card now because Gyarados has a huge DONK potential and Seeker could help ensure your DONK by making them pick up their last bench and being stuck with a lone active. Seeker is definitely a tech you should consider!

Dialga G LV.X:

Dialga G LV.X is a card that I don’t tech in a lot but everybody tells me it’s great in Gyarados so I thought I should still say something about it. Basically the idea of Dialga is to break yourself out of sticky situations like a Vilegar match where you are trainer locked because Dialgs’s”Time Crystal” Poke-body blocks Spiritomb’s “Keystone Seal” Poke-body as well as Vileplume’s “Allergy Flower” Poke-body, witch both prevent you from playing trainer cards. Please note that Dialga doesn’t really work well without Warp Energy in the deck as well. You could get away with playing Warp Point in this case though because you are blocking their Poke-body that prevents you from playing trainers. Overall Dialga is a decent tech I just thinks it’s more of a personal thing.

Mesprit:

Mesprit is a very good card to play in Gyarados because of it’s “Psychic Bind” Poke-Power witch prevents your opponent from using any Poke-powers during their next turn. I did talk about Mesprit above because it is a good card but I would be extremely worried about if you have the bench room to actually play Mesprit on the bench. If you run Mesprit I would definitely run Seeker to help keep your bench from clogging. This is a really great tech for Gyarados though, and in many other decks as well!

Warp Energy:

Warp energy is an extremely good card in Gyarados. This can be used in a lot of situations such as a quick retreat or getting rid of a Regice you starting with. It is also great for if Regice or a high retreat Pokemon gets drug active. Like I said a couple times now if you play Seeker you should probably run 2 or 3 Warp Energy and if you run Warp Energy you should run Seeker as well!

Smeargle:

This is a tech that a lot of people find odd in Gyarados. There are 3 main uses for Smeargle in Gyarados mainly because he is a great starter. Another reason Smeargle is good is it gives you some recover late game. You bring Smeargle active and use 2 Supporters a turn to hopefully recover Gyarados. The last reason Smeargle is good is because if you play Warp Energy you can attach a Warp Energy to Gyarados and bring Smeargle active the play Seeker heal and possible use another Supporter or if your opponent uses Seeker in there deck you could use Smeargles “Portrait” Poke-power to use their Seeker. Also if you choose to run Smeargle you should consider playing a second Unown Q.

There are a lot more techs I could go on about but these are the main techs you should consider. On this short list I tried to name ones that would fit into all of the different versions but things like Mesprit won’t fit into every version of Gyarados. Don’t be afraid to try out your own tech ideas either, or tech ideas I haven’t listed.

Conclusion:

Gyarados is definitely the Most Ridiculous Deck in Format (MRDIF) by a long shot! I believe Gyarados is mainly so ridiculous because it can be played in so many different ways, shapes, and forms and is definitely a competitive deck. I have also found that Gyarados has very few bad matchups, even Luxchomp is a decent matchup depending on what version of Gyarados you run. Well I hope everyone enjoyed ready my long article about Gyarados and I would love to read any comments and answer any questions you have so be sure to leave a comment bellow!

-Bitty-

Card Discussion

The Top 10 Impactful Cards of HS: Triumphant.

Pikkdogs October 28, 2010 8 Comments

Hello to all members of Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here bringing you the top 10 cards of the new Triumphant set. I have ranked them from 10 to 1, but these ranking aren’t that official. It is really hard to rank cards that aren’t released yet, so the rankings are just a fun thing and aren’t very official. So, now we got that away, lets get into the list.

#10- Nidoking

Coming in at #10 is Nidoking. This card has a lot of upside, but may be a little slow for this format.

It has 140 HP, a lightning resistance, and the “Pheromone Stamina” Poke-Body that gives it an extra 20 HP for every Nidoqueen you have in play. When you combine Nidoking with Nidoqueen RR, you not only get +20 HP but you heal 1 damage counter each turn because of NidoQueen’s “Maternal Comfort” Poke-Body. If you add an expert belt and have 3 NidoQueens in play, Nidoking would have 220 HP. It’s attack also isnt bad, for FFCC “Venomous Horn” does 80 damage and poisons the defending Pokemon. The high HP and lightning resistance will make it hard for any LuxChomp deck to knock out a Nidoking.

But as mentioned, it can be a little slow. It’s attack costs 4 energies (or 3 if one is Double Colorless) which is possible to load up on Nidoking, but it might cause you to sacrifice some prizes. And in this quick 30 +3 format, it could be hard to make a comeback within the time limit. Also, with out Claydol Ge, it will be hard to get out a Nidoking and have a bench full of NidoQueens. It also has a x2 water weakness, which could be problematic with Gyarados SF is as popular as some experts say it will be. And finally, Dialga G Lv.X can shut off all Pokebodies, making Nidoking a lot less intimidating.

This deck could be good if the deck gets some new draw power, but until then it can be hard to get the deck fully set up.

#9- Victreebel
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Card Discussion

Itty Bitty Cards of The Day: Possible SP Techs?

Bittyboy72 September 2, 2010 18 Comments

Hello Team Omar fans! It’s Bittyboy you probably know me from Sixprizes, I am now proud to be writing for Team Omar! Now to the article!

I wanted to talk about some cards from Unleashed that actually caught my attention! Just to forewarn you this is an article geared towards SP’s. The two cards that caught my attention were Drifblim and Muk believe it or not.

I’ll start with Drifblim. Drifblim is good for two reasons: one he is a good counter to Mewtwo X, and two as a Machamp counter, it could also be used as a quick/cheap way to end the game if need be. Driblims first attack “Balloon Tackle” for one Psychic energy and one Colorless energy lets you do 60 and 20 in recoil, but with Mewtwo’s X2 Weakness to Pschic it gets OHKOed making it worth the 20 in recoil damage. Also if you have Lucario GL in play and you can use Crobat G’s Poke Power “Flash Bite”, you can the OHKO Machamp. Then we get to Drifblims second attack, “Take Away” lets you shuffle Drifblim and the defending Pokemon back into each players deck. This could easily be a game ender as I said above, but could also be a deadly compo with Luxray GL X up and you it’s “Bright Look” power to drag up something loaded on the bench or a tech and then retreat for Drifblim and just Take Away into the wind.

Now onto Muk, Muk has a lot of positive things going for him in my opinion. Muks first attack “Sludge Drag” lets you drag up any of your opponents benched Pokemon active then poison is and confuse it. This could be used to stall, gust up techs (Ninetals, Regice, ect), or even Drag up Mewtwo Before it levels up. Muk’s second attack “Pester” does 50 damage plus 30 more for each special condition on the defending Pokemon. This could go either way, good or bad. If you bring Muk out after Mewtwo levels you only do 100 to it and you need to drop two Crobat G’s to finish it off, or if you drag it then in levels you only need one Muk requires more resources to use but I think it is a better choice in the long run, because of it’s similarity to Luxray GL X, also you can use the attack to drag up Vileplume and hopefully kill it, breaking a trainer lock that hurts SP a lot!

I know there are tons of Mewtwo counter and Champ counters out there but I think these two are actually some of the better ones in my opinion. Another thing I like about these two is that they can be used for either Machamp or Mewtwo, whereas some counters (such as Dialga G X) can only be used for one. I hope you liked my article, and I look forward to writing more in the future! Sorry this one is kind of short I am just getting back into school and have a lot of work.

Card Discussion

Prognosis Negative!

Pikkdogs August 5, 2010 3 Comments

We at Team Omar have just heard some disturbing news from TPCI. It seems like one of our most beloved Pokemon, Claydol has taken a turn for the worse. He was rushed from his Malibu estate to the Pokemon center late last night.

In an official statement released earlier today, Nurse Joy stated that Claydol is suffering from “severe exhaustion.”

It seems that trainers have been asking him to use “Cosmic Power” so many times over the last three years that they have worn the Clay Doll Pokemon out. Many trainers are gathering at the Lost Tower to pray for Claydol’s quick recovery.

As we all know, Claydol was formed thousands of years ago when clay statues were exposed to cosmic rays. Although he has been around for a long time, Claydol’s popularity shot up in February of 2008 after perfecting his Cosmic Power technique. Since then, he has had little rest. Witnesses claim to have seen him use Spinning Attack, but even then, it was usually proceeded by Cosmic Power.

Claydol, now resting in an undisclosed Pokemon Center, still vows to make the upcoming trip to Hawaii in two weeks to be available for the 2010 Pokemon TCG World Championships. Baltoy, a close friend of Claydol’s, has confided that, if Claydol survives the tournament, he will promptly retire and leave the Pokemon TCG forever. “It’s his one last chance to go out on his own terms,” explained his Clay Doll counterpart.
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Card Discussion

Bring in the Tanks: Tanking Pokemon in the TCG.

You Can’t Touch This: Walls in the Pokemon TCG

Top 5 Impactful Cards of Call of Legends.

Pikkdogs top 10 Cards of 2010

Return of the Base Set?

How to use Seeker

MRDIF: Gyarados

The Top 10 Impactful Cards of HS: Triumphant.

Itty Bitty Cards of The Day: Possible SP Techs?

Prognosis Negative!

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