States:
I attended 2 different State Tournaments this year, where I went 4-2 (12th place or so) and 5-2 (5th place) both with Jumpluff. Out of my 4 losses, I can attribute all of them to bad luck/lack of practice, where as my 9 wins were mostly all games where I got the usual Turn 1/2/3 Jumpluff and was simply way ahead when my opponent’s had something set up. I didn’t do better than Top 8 in the last one due to my own fault. Here’s how the Best of 3 match went:

I was facing a Garchomp/Metagross (Magnetic Reversal) deck. Game 1 I started way ahead as usual, but when I played down Giratina PL to shuffle our respective hands and what I thought would ‘seal’ the game in my favour, actually turned out counterproductive and that is where the game turned around. He managed to build up a Garchomp as his ONLY Pokemon in play, so while I could at best 2HKO, he could OHKO anything I had in play.

By the time this happened, we were 2-1 in prizes in my favour, BUT I had run out Jumpluff’s. In this 2 turns I was not able to find a Multi Energy or my Night Maintenance to build up another Jumpluff or attack with Luxray GL Lv.X and so I lost a game I should’ve easily dominated. Game 2 went the exact same way and I struggled to build a 5th Jumpluff but when I did I won, and finally in Game 3 in Sudden Death I lost due to a crappy starting hand against his god start.

In my best days, I would’ve never let myself lose Game 1 the way I did. I think what differentiates a good Pokemon player from a great one, is the ability to be able to plan ahead for most of the possible scenarios until the game ends. I obviously am far from my top skill level, as throughout Game 1 I must have drawn into Night Maintenance a lot of times but I never figured I’d need more than the 4 Jumpluff’s since I was dominating the game so badly. I got cocky and never planned ahead more than the turn I was currently in, so it cost me a trophy and a better showing at States where in previous years I had won them back to back.

I think planning ahead and anticipating your opponent’s moves is one of the most important skills a Pokemon player needs to be really successful in Pokemon. Always planning from start to finish, how to beat your opponent, what will he be doing during his turn and how you can counteract that, and keep re-evaluating your strategy to ensure you will win no matter what.

Now as far as Jumpluff, I chose to use this deck because I figured it’d be the best ‘autopilot’ deck for me as I hadn’t practiced at all in a really long time. I was sorely mistaken though, because in game decisions of whether to use Mass Attack or Leaf Guard, or who to Bright Look with Luxray GL definitely require a lot of thinking and game state analysis. I realized that my idea of ‘autopilot’ was not applicable here.

The deck is so versatile and Luxray gives it so much depth and threat capabilities that I consider it (from my very limited testing and opinions from other people) the best deck in the format right now. It’s not heavily power reliant, there is no deck out there right now that can really function properly without a sizable bench, with a consistent build can have Jumpluff attacking at max power since Turn 1, amongst other factors. The only downside I see for Jumpluff is the fact that is has so little HP for a Stage 2, but its speed and OHKO potential really compensate for this.

Before States I wanted to really convince myself I was making the right choice with Jumpluff but since it was too late to do some actual testing, I decide to start keeping track of initial hands and how often Jumpluff would be out and ready to attack by Turn 1/2/3. Here below is an image of the Excel file I used and the results obtained:

So with all of this in mind I have set myself the goal to improve using this deck to its maximum capabilities and hopefully do well enough with it at Nationals to earn me the trip, as it’s my only shot at going to Hawaii. If I miss it’ll be the first World Championship I do not qualify for out of the 6 that have been held so far.
Hope you enjoyed reading, and I’d love to hear all the feedback on Jumpluff from the 6p community!

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I decided to use Palkia Lock w/Luxray, because it was a deck I definately felt comfortable with it and it’s adaptability to the different scenarios that come up during a game and knew I could outplay a lot of my opponent’s solely based on their misplays against such a complex deck. Another huge factor is the natural inconsistency in a lot of decks, relying heavily on Claydol GE and Uxie LA to get going, and negating either or both can be a huge edge over your opponent. With all this in mind I chose Palkia Lock w/Luxray and here is the list I used at the tournament:

Round 1 vs Shuppet DONK

I went first and saw a Shuppet, so I knew early game is crucial to survive the onslaught of damage. Fortunately for me I started with a Palkia G and a Call Energy in hand going first. I got a bit set up and went down 3 prizes to 6 but after that, the Azelf MT came into play and him needing to attach 2 energy’s to Shuppet made it clear Luxray bait. Azelf MT coupled with well timed Mesprit’s and Spray’s handed me the match. 1-0

Round 2 vs Blastoise / Delcatty

An early Luxray KO on his Baltoy sealed the game as he was left topdecking and his Blastoise, Delcatty and Metang followed soon after that. He also got no help from “Dig Well” either as he discarded vital Trainers and Pokemon both times he used it. 2-0

Round 3 vs Salamence

I managed to win this game in 4 turns:

• Turn 1: Call Energy with Palkia G for Luxray GL and a 2nd Palkia G.
• Turn 2: Cyrus for a Water Energy, TGI Energy Gain and another Cyrus and KO Bagon.
• Turn 3: Attach to benched Palkia G and KO another Bagon.
• Turn 4: KO the last Pokemon in play (Baltoy) for the game. 3-0

Round 4 vs Machamp / Gengar (current Mexican National Champion)

I had a very nice hand this game, which managed to compensate against his Turn 1 Machamp KO on my active Palkia G. I responded with an Unown G’d Uxie for 50, with the Lv.X in hand. He thankfully rolled 1/4 heads and so I was able to get rid of the Machamp decently early. I blocked a few of his Uxies and his draw eventually died down and he had to rely on topdecking to keep going. I went ahead and was able to grab my last prize against a Machamp with Mismagius and Lucario GL. 4-0

Round 5 vs Flygon / Machamp

I knew it was Flygon because he was sitting next to me the last Round. He got a bad start, and I had a debate between KOing Baltoy or Machop on Turn 2 with Luxray GL Lv.X. I ended up picking Baltoy after planning ahead in case he managed to get out Machamp but turns out he had neither Machamp nor Claydol in his hand and after 4 Turns the game was done. 5-0

Round 6 vs Gengar / Nidoqueen / Ampharos

We were both secured a Top 8 placing but I still wanted to win for the rating points. I started off strong and got ahead, and after his Claydol was down, his deck died down and he conceded when I had 2 prizes left. 6-0

Going 6-0 after a disappointing BR’s run earlier in the season was a pretty nice confidence booster, but seeing the field of the Top 8 against my deck, I knew I was in for a hard time as the Top 8 consisted of the following decks:

• Palkia Lock w/Luxray
• Gengar / Machamp
• Gengar / Machamp
• Flygon / Machamp
• Dialga G / Garchomp C
• Gyarados / Palkia Lv.X
• Blaziken FB / Luxray GL / Garchomp C
• Rampardos

As you can see the field was FAR from favourable for me, and my bracket ended up being the worst one as you will read now.

Top 8 vs Machamp / Gengar (current Mexican National Champion)

Same matchup, same person, and now in a best of 3 scenario which I thought would make it harder for me. Game 1 started off pretty badly for him I believe, and I got up and running and had responses to his threats in the form of Unown G’d Pokemon, Poke Turn + Crobat to avoid Fainting Spell and OHKO’s against the Machamps as he got average flips with Hurricane Punch. Game 2 he got off to a worse start and I was far too ahead for him to cope at the end. 7-0

Top 4 vs Machamp / Gengar

Another one of these, but the games played out the same way as before. Against decks like these is where Palkia Lock truly shines, exploiting a lack of raw draw power aside from Claydol. I had an awkward start but after I kept the Power Lock going he couldn’t cope with it and ended up scooping Game 1. We were only 4 or 5 turns in of Game 2 when time was called and we were still tied at 6 prizes, so I took the game. The scenario at the time was his bench of 5 Basics and his about to be KO’d Claydol against my decent set up, so things were looking bright for me that game as well. 8-0

Top 2 vs Gengar / Nidoqueen / Ampharos

Finally after bad matchups for Top 8 and Top 4, I’m paired against a favourable one. I know as long as I can avoid Fainting Spells I’m good to go against this deck. Game 1 went standard as the others and I was way ahead towards the end and he ended up scooping. Game 2 he started off strong against my first real bad start of the day. He used “Poltergeist” Turn 2 against an Uxie with me holding 4 TSS’s. I had a hard time coping there but I managed to tie the game at 3-3 at one point. Time was then called and I won, but I think if the game had gone on, his lack of Claydol would’ve given me a narrow win in the end. 9-0

And so I finish the tournament truly undefeated, and expecting around 75+ points for this performance in my rating. I started out at 1603.75, pretty much null, so I should’ve won 8 points or better most likely during Swiss, and almost 8 points or so in each of the Top 8 matches.

I feel Palkia Lock is a very strong choice of a deck if Dialga G isn’t showing it’s ugly face around your area (but even Blaziken FB Lv.X could find its way into the deck to deal with it). Early game it has disruptive advantage over every single deck out there and so it can pretty much seal the deal early game. Dealing with enemy Claydol’s has been very important since last season and this deck is one of the best ways to deal with it.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading this, and with Winter break starting on Tuesday, I will hopefully bring you tons more new articles featuring CC reports, deck analysis and other interesting tidbits. Thanks for reading!

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Hello guys! I’ve been busy this past couple of weeks and hence why the usual volume of content has been low. I definately want to make up for that, and I am eager to get cranking on typing out all the crazy ideas I have involving the next set, and hence why I want to request to our fellow readers who got some of the new cards from the prereleases to scan some for me so my articles can look more professional ;).

Here’s a list of cards we could use help with, and of coure you’ll be given credit once the article involving that card gets published!

• Charizard – AR 1
• Luxray – AR 5
• Salamence – AR 8
• Tangrowth – AR 10
• Expert Belt – AR 87
• Salamence Lv.X – AR 98
• All the Arceus cards, regular holo’s and the Lv. X

Please email the scans to both of the following adresses: adam@sixprizes.com & pablo@sixprizes.com

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Grass type Pokemon have always been utility based. They always cause lots of Special Conditions but when it comes to getting clear KO’s, very few cards stand out aside from the current Beedrill GE + Beedrill RR combination. Supreme Victors though seems to have changed that, and has made available a new combo that can prove deadly when it gets set up and running.

Yanmega SV’s “Wind Return” combines perfectly with Shaymin Lv.X’s “Seed Flare” as you can keep recycling Grass energies back and forth by alternating both attacks, and if your deck is consistent and reliable enough, you will surely be able to gather enough energy cards in your hand or in play to keep a steady flow of OHKO’s throughout the game after you have fully set up. “Thankfulness” gives Yanmega an extra +40 HP, bringing his total to 140 HP and so your energies will always be safe on the bench as hardly any card will be able to snipe and KO a Yanmega sitting on the bench just waiting to KO the opposing Pokemon.

The problem I have found when trying to build a deck for these cards, is you can’t use Claydol GE to aid you in setting up, because a lot of the time your hand will have 15 cards, and thus you won’t be drawing anything with “Cosmic Power”. I think there are two possible options to replace Claydol GE in this deck. The first one is Dodrio SV, which simply allows you to draw an extra card for the turn. It’s not a huge advantage, but it’s better than nothing. The other is running a heavy Bronzong support line, combining both Bronzong SF and Bronzong MT. One allows you to get extra energy for Shaymin Lv.X PL to power up its attack, while the other one helps to draw extra cards and the discarded energies can be easily recovered with Yanmega SV’s “Speed Boost”.

I’d like to get help from the community in coming up with a deck list to try out for this deck. Here are some pointers I have come up with myself that I believe are essential when trying to come up a list for the deck:

• Shaymin PL 15 – “Growth” helps speed up the deck, and this is your ideal starter for it.
• Great Ball – To help improve consistency in the early game.
• Bronzong SF + MT – To aid with midgame situations, probably use a 4-2/2 supporting line.
• Some way to ensure a benched Shaymin PL is ready to replace the active one with enough energy attached to it in case the active one dies.
• Azelf LA – A prizes Shaymin Lv.X would make it quite hard to accomplish your strategy successfully.

So can we all combine thoughts and come up with a deck list worth testing and perfecting? I think so!

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Many of you probably remember myself reporting such a deck winning the first Autumn Battle Road in Mexico with an undefeated record. Now I was never able to get the winning list, but I also have a few ideas of my own on how to improve it, which I will share with you guys right now.

First off is the concept of taking easy prizes. This has become a popular game-winning strategy, as cards such as Luxray GL Lv.X RR, Garchomp C Lv.X SV or the Gengar SF / Metagross SV deck allow you to nab easy prizes to get ahead and disrupt your opponent. This is how you combine Gyarados SF and Palkia Lv.X GE. You disrupt your opponent while you stock up on TGI Poke Turn’s to OHKO the big guys.

I have always been a fan of Warp Energy, ever since the old Blaziken / Slaking days. I was hard pressed to find a deck in which these type of energy’s would work, as attaching the energy in the correct places has never been so important in my opinion. This energies though can function with Gyarados SF 100% guaranteed, given how it takes zero energy to attack with, hence attaching energy becomes a non issue. Now here is the list I have come up with, after seeing the deck in action, and some thought and testing of my own.

+1 Broken Time-Space / Claydol GE / Uxie LA / Premier Ball

Using 4 Warp Energy and 4 Switch, allows Palkia Lv.X GE abuse to the maximum, and being able to control who you deal damage to almost every single turn is sure to disrupt your opponent’s strategy.

I use a 2-2 line of Palkia Lv.X GE as it becomes an integral part of the deck, and with 8 Switching cards available to you, you will very easily access one when you need it.

Another advantage of using Warp Energy is that after attaching them the energy stays, so eventually something like Claydol GE could have 2 energy attached already and so you wouldn’t have to waste a Switch or Warp Energy to retreat it.

So what do you think? Is Palkia Lv.X GE a better option than Infernape 4 Lv.X RR or 4 Warp Point / 4 Cyclone energy? How important is board control for this deck?

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This is a deck I’ve been working on for a few weeks, ever since I came across the idea of combining Metagross SV and Gengar SF. “Gravitation” is a very unique Poke-Body, which pretty much acts as +20 damage for every single attack, both for yourself and your opponent. Now how does Gengar take advantage of this unique Poke-Body? Well most of the support Pokemon being used in today’s metagame, normally have 80 or 70 HP, namely Uxie LA, Mesprit LA, Azelf LA, Crobat G PL and Claydol GE. Reducing the HP of all these Pokemon by 20, allows Gengar to target them with “Shadow Room” and get immediate OHKO’s. Not only this, but now 50 HP Basic Pokemon are also OHKO’d, and 60 HP Basic Pokemon are too with a single Crobat G’s “Flash Bite”.

The main strategy I have developed for the deck so far is to target all the support Pokemon your opponent is using, and let the laws of probability with “Fainting Spell” handle the Active Pokemon that threatens to KO Gengar SF.

Now you may be thinking a single Unown G ruins your plans for this main strategy, but Platinum: Supreme victors also provided Gengar SF with a new weapon to get by them. Relicanth SV is a huge asset to Gengar SF, as 2 Unown G’s in play means Relicanth SV can do the same damage as “Shadow Room” on Pokemon such as Claydol GE, which are probably one of the Pokemon that have an Unown G GE attached to them. With all of this in mind, I now present to you the list that I will continue to improve upon on Apprentice and most likely at my next autumn Battle Road.

The list is very straightforward and focuses on consistency, what I consider the most important aspect when building a deck. Unfortunately at my Battle Road, I did not do as well as I expected. Unown G’s where everywhere, I think some decks were even running 3, but I always had bad luck when trying to use Relicanth SV effectively, due to bench issues or not having a Fighting Energy or Multi Energy in my hand. The list I used at the Battle Road only had a single Fighting Energy, and now I have added a second one, as Relicanth SV is a very vital support Pokemon in this deck.

Also going against this deck was the heavy use of both Nidoqueen RR and Palkia Lv.X GE. Nidoqueen RR proved to be a problem as if I didn’t OHKO Pokemon on the bench; both “Shadow Room” and “Poltergeist” become relatively weak attacks as your opponent can easily manage the damage output from both attacks. Palkia Lv.X GE really made this deck cringe, as both Metagross SV and Claydol GE have heavy retreat costs, and aside from the 2 Switch (previously 2 Warp Points) means after using them both, it will be very hard to retreat either of them and will grant your opponent’s a lot of free turns.

I still really like the deck, and my testing has shown it is a very clear favorite over any and all Gyarados SF decks so far, and another plus for pairing Gengar SF with Metagross SV is that it may ruin plans your opponent has to get around “Fainting Spell” by making your own Gengar’s more vulnerable and easy to KO with less powerful attacks.

So what do you think? Can this deck be a dominant force or is Gengar SF better being paired with Machamp SF as its main companion? Let me know what you think of this deck!

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I used the exact list that I had previously analyzed in the Flygon Lock article, except I used a 1-1 Machamp line instead of the Mewtwo Lv.X, only because I do not own one.

The tournament was filled with alot of tried and true decks, and both Garchomp C and Blaziken FB made up a very small portion of the 60+ players field from what I saw. Beedrill I believe was the most predominant deck, along with a lot of Machamp variants including Gengar / Machamp and Machamp / Dusknoir.

The Top 4 of the first Autumn Battle Road in Mexico were the following decks:

• 1st – Gyarados SF / Palkia Lv.X
• 2nd – Machamp SF / Rampardos PL
• 3rd – Beedrill RR & GE / Shaymin Lv.X (Land Forme)
• 4th – Dusknoir DP & SF / Machamp SF / Mewtwo Lv.X LA

I consider the Gyarados SF deck the most interesting one, as it used a total of ONE Basic Dark energy. Palkia Lv.X was a very interesting addition, and goes along the lines of Adam’s idea of using 4 Cyclone Energy and 4 Warp Point to make sure you KO stuff every turn, but with Palkia Lv.X you can control what Pokemon you take a prize against and even target your opponent’s Claydol to slow him down.

Machamp SF paired with Rampardos PL is not a very common sight, but the deck seemed to add a lot of early game pressure against any deck, and Rampardos definitely serves as a nice big hitter to use as back up against Pokemon that have an Unown G attached.

Beedrill was of course to be expected, but from the ones I saw played, all of them were using either Shaymin Lv.X Land Forme or Sky Forme. Both have their perks, and I faced two of them during the rounds that were using the Land Form Shaymin, and killing even Weedles was hard as they had 90 HP. I managed to deck one of those Beedrills, but the one that beat me on time, the guy played slow all game, which I guess doesn’t count as stalling, but he knew the type of deck I was playing, and he looked at his discard pile every single turn which was lame but oh well, it’s good this was a Battle Road and not a bigger event.

The final deck in the Top 4, was another very interesting choice, and the smartest one for the day in my opinion. It combined three Pokemon that countered the low energy attacks and basic Pokemon filled metagame very good, but maybe it was trying to accomplish too much at the same time. Dusknoir SF definitely has potential in this format due to the favored low energy attacks. The player managed to slow down alot of decks by using Dusknoir SF’s “Night Spin” to mess with the energy drops of the opponent’s Pokemon, but since it requires 3 total energy to attack makes it hard to use effectively, as you can’t abuse Upper Energy with it either due to the 2 Psychic Energy cost in the attack.

I definitely think I could’ve beat any of those decks in 1 hour timed matches in the Top Cut by decking them, but alas I ended up with a 4-2 record and 9th place.

Finally after the tournament, I played 2 friendly matches against one of my buddies using Palkia Lock with Staraptor FB Lv.X and let me tell you the Staraptor FB really made a difference in the games we played. Despite me beating him 2-0, both games were definitely close and Flint’s Willpower caught me off guard in the first game, specially the 2nd one as he pulled off two consecutive Hydro Shots, but in the end decking got to him.

I will post lists of what I remember of each deck from the tournament if people are interested in the general aspects of the lists. I’m not sure what I will be playing for next weekend, but I’m thinking I’m going to give a merry go round to Beedrill or Gengar with a twist, which I will also hopefully write about later on.

If you have any questions on the decks or why I chose Flygon Lock, don’t be afraid to ask. Thanks for reading!

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Flygon Lock

Palkia Lock

Luxray GL / Honchkrow G

Gyarados

Machamp / Gengar

Flygon / Machamp

Luxray GL / Infernape 4

Kingdra

Beedrill / Luxray GL

Blaziken FB

Now that the different decks intricacies have been analyzed and discussed, we should consider which decks have the most expected popularity and thus pose the biggest threat.  I will now list them in order of what I consider will be the most popular decks.

#1 Blaziken FB – New cards are always hyped, and Blaziken FB is no exception. The first few weeks of Battle roads will be the real test for the deck, to see how it measures up against the already established decks. With all the hype surrounding it I expect a lot of players to be trying out this new Pokemon card in the relatively unimportant Battle Roads.

#2 Beedrill / Luxray GL – Steven Silvestro’s deck, proven to be worthy of a World Championship. This deck is easy to build, as the only difficult card to get is Luxray GL Lv.X., and so variants of this deck should see a lot of play during Battle Roads since people will realize it’s a relatively easy way to guarantee doing well at the tournaments.

#3 Flygon / Machamp – Second only to Beedrill, this deck has a heavy hitter in Flygon, disruption with Flygon Lv.X and a safe way to deal with SP Pokemon with Machamp. Depending on SP Pokemon popularity in your area, this deck could be a more popular choice over Beedrill.

#4 Machamp / Gengar – The ever popular combo, with the addition of Relicanth SV, this deck now has a reliable answer to Unown G and makes your opponent have second thoughts on playing down all their Pokemon tools to power down Poltergeist.

#5 Gyarados – What most people consider the rogue deck of last season, many people were fascinated by it, and since it is a relatively cheap and easy to build deck, I expect a lot of people to be trying this out due to the novelty factor accompanied by it. If people haven’t seen our video analysis on it, or were at Worlds to see it first hand, it will most likely take a few people by surprise who underestimate the deck.

#6 Kingdra – A fast paced, straight forward deck. Although the popularity of Nidoqueen made this deck a lot less effective, Metagross SV could possibly be the card to help put this deck back on the map as a real contender by giving Kingdra an easier time to OHKO basics on the bench or reduce the numbr of turns it takes to KO a Claydol sitting on the bench.

#7 Palkia Lock, Luxray GL / Infernape 4, Luxray GL / Honchkrow G and Flygon Lock – The first 3 decks are considered outdated and outclassed by the new SP Pokemon released in Platinum: Supreme Victors, and Flygon Lock is a deck that needs faster turns and relies on an unconventional way to win a match. All of these reasons will put these decks on the shelf during Battle Roads.

There will certainly be other decks present, but I don’t think they will be popular enough to warrant any teching against such decks. For example Honchkrow SV could see play, but my testing has shown it is nothing more than a gimmick and will not win out many games in the long run.

One card to always have in mind though is Mewtwo Lv.X, specially if you’ll be using the new SP Pokemon, always make sure you have a response to it, or else you will be scooping to a lot of decks.

So are you guys ready for the Pokemon TCG Battle Roads? I sure am, and I look forward to playing a variety of decks in the 4 or 5 Battle Roads I’ll be going to. Hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and feel free to discuss any decks I may have forgotten to list.

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But there comes a point where your Claydol GE line is as big as your deck/bench space will allow, and you already maxed out Bebe’s Search and Roseanne’s Research. This is when deckbuilders must consider other options such as Cynthia’s Feelings, which is effective but very situational.

Next in line usually are Looker’s Investigation, Professor Oak’s Visit, Volkner’s Philosophy or even Buck’s Training. People will usually overlook Underground Expedition, and I did too before I saw that most Japanese players used this card in their decks. I started to ponder on the reasoning behind this and I have come to the conclusion that I will present to you now.

Underground Expedition excels above the cards I mentioned above because it is not situational. Looker’s Investigation could be a dead card if you have a good hand already, or if your opponent is drawing dead. Professor Oak’s Visit and Volkner’s Philosophy have you get rid of a card, which you sometimes can’t afford, and finally you will be hard-pressed to use Buck’s Training if you need to save that extra 10 damage for later on. Underground Expedition let’s you pick 2 cards freely, without any drawbacks or conditions previous to or after playing it down as your Supporter card for the turn.

Underground Expedition also offers another great thing that the others don’t, and that is choice. Being able to choose between cards is amazing, as there are no restrictions on the cards you may choose from the 4 you get to see. You may argue: ‘but Prof. Oak’s Visit gets you one more card!’. Well that is true, but the net gain of both cards is +2, as Professor Oak’s Visit forces you to return a card to the bottom of your deck, but it might be the option to be able to choose from a 4th card that defines a game.

Finally, the bottom vs top argument is futile, as if your deck is sufficiently randomized and you have no previous knowledge on how it is currently stacked, then either the top or the bottom offer the same probabilities of the card or cards you need being there for you to take. And this also combos with Uxie LA, as you could potentially get it back and reuse it to fetch even more cards. I personally will be using this card a lot more in my decks.

So what do you think of Underground Expedition? Had you considered it before as an option in your decks? Is it a good combo card with Uxie LA?

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First consider what this card can accomplish: fetch you ANY Pokemon card you need, with a 50% chance of success.

To really make my point, I have to illustrate a common scenario in which you could find yourself during a game, where the use of this card could come up. Consider the following:

It is only Turn 3 of the game. You went first and you did have a Basic Pokemon card in your starting hand, so you lay down your prizes. That means so far you have gone through 14 cards of your deck, leaving it with 46 cards left: 7 from your starting hand, 6 prizes and drawing 1 card for your turn.

On Turn 2 you draw your card for the turn, and play a Roseanne’s Research, getting a Baltoy GE and a Basic Energy card, meaning your deck is now 3 cards thinner at 43 cards.

On turn 3 you draw your card and lo and behold it is ‘x’, where ‘x’ can be any of the following cards and you need a Claydol GE (of which you run 2 and neither is prized) to evolve your Baltoy GE this turn because your hand is dead otherwise:

• Dusk Ball
• Quick Ball
• Poke Ball

Usually the other 2 cards are used instead of Poke Ball as they do not involve flipping and therefore ‘should be better than Poke Ball. Here is where I prove you wrong.

First consider Dusk Ball. You take the bottom 7 cards in your deck in order to try and find one of your 2 Claydols. Only finding a Claydol GE there will help you out, that means only 2 out of 43 cards left in your deck are helpful, or 5%. And since you only take a look at 7, or 16% of your deck, combining these 2 conditions, we are left with a less than 1% chance of true success, i.e. finding a Claydol GE as you could consider success as finding any Pokemon card, but this does not hold true for the situation at hand, which is a very likely scenario during a game.

Secondly we consider Quick Ball. You are pretty much always guaranteed success with this card, but here we don’t even get a choice. You have to keep the first Pokemon card that pops up, and thus the chances come down to either of your 2 Claydols being at the top of your deck. Since you assume your deck is sufficiently randomized, and that you run an average of 24 Pokemon, this means you have around an 8% chance of finding one of your Claydols first than any of your other Pokemon cards.

Finally consider Poke Ball. No need to touch your deck before hand or depend on its randomization. You have a 50% chance of success, as it allows you to search your entier deck, unlike the limitations imposed by Dusk Ball’s 7 bottom cards or Quick Ball’s ‘first come first keep’. Now I don’t think one need to be a maths expert to realize how much greater are the odds of getting the Pokemon you need with Poke Ball compared to the other 2, even if the other 2 are able to get other less useful Pokemon for the situation at hand.

Most players will have a hard time even finding the space to use these types of cards in their decks, but if you do, it is always good to know all your options available and which one is the best choice for you. Quick Ball’s success rate is significantly better if you play a very low amount of Pokemon, and becomes comparable or even higher than Poke Ball’s in certain decks, but for the average Stage 2 or SP based deck, Poke Ball offers the best chance for you to get the Pokemon you need, exactly when you need it. Some people will never grasp the fact that it requires a flip, but if you take a less biased look at the cards, you’ll soon realize Poke Ball is one of the best non-Supporter search cards this game has to offer.

Do you guys agree? Did you ever consider the math revolving around these cards, instead of just looking at the ‘flippy’ side of things? Have you ever used Poke Ball with success before?[ad#adsenseBoxL]

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