The Best of: HGSS Unleashed

With Unleashed now officially out I thought I would make a short list of what I think are the best cards in the set, but in those format and the next. If you have any agreements, disagreements, concerns, etc. I’d love to hear them in the comments section. I know it’s been a while since I’ve written something and I apologize for that, but I’m hoping to make this column a regular occurrence, as well as bring back Chat With The Champs very soon!

Top 5 Pokemon of HGSS: Unleashed -

5.) Shaymin

Although I don’t think it will see universal use in this format, Shaymin is a pretty neat card. When you drop it, it alllows you to move energy around however you like, which can be very effective. Of course, it’s liable to being power sprayed and the attack isn’t all that good, but I still think it’ll make a splash in a few decks.

4.) Entei/Raikou LEGEND

I had to give a shout out to this guy just because of his unmatched potential. There are plenty of arguments against him, most of which I agree with, but the ability to kill Claydol, Uxie, Azelf, etc. all in one turn is amazing. Do I think it’s the most viable thing in the world? No, of course not, especially considering by the time Legend Box hits U.S. stores most of the aforementioned targets will be rotated, but I still think it has great potential.

3.) Blastoise

I know a lot of readers are going to immediately disagree with this choice, but I honestly think that this card could be something very solid. The ability to snipe for 100 is amazing. Of course, Luxray weakness and slowness in general prevent it from being huge, but I see some great opportunities for this card to be great.

2.) Manaphy

This is a card that I don’t think really matters right now, but will become huge in the next format. I think that, with the loss of Claydol & Uxie, we’ll be leaning towards a more supporter-based draw/search, and our openings will rely on more starter Pokemon. Unless I’m wrong, I think Manaphy is the best starter we’ve got to offer, for what it does.

1.) Kingdra Prime

The #1 goes to Kingdra. Although on the surface it doesn’t seem all that amazing, when paired with Kingdra LA, it becomes a beast. I don’t think it’ll be anything format changing, but I definitely think it’ll boost Kingdra decks up to a higher level than they’ve been at this season, and allow them to be able to hold their own against most of the top tier decks. A free Crobat every turn and an extremely fast, cheap attack makes for a pretty decent card.

Honorable mentions: Steelix Prime, Ursaring Prime, Jirachi, Metagross.

The Top 5 Trainers/Supporters of HGSS: Unleashed -

5.) Pokemon Circulator

Although this card doesn’t seem like much now (although I would in-part disagree with that), it is the best way, post-rotation, to switch your opponent’s Pokemon. Luxray is of course better, but in a format without Warp Point I think this card will become a near-staple.

4.) Engineer’s Adjustments

By far the most consistent draw we have post-rotation, that’s all there really is to say about it. Discarding an energy will hurt a lot of decks, and it’ll be interesting to see how decks are changed to rely on this.

3.) PlusPower

Everyone loves PlusPower!

2.) Judge

The best pure disruption trainer in the game, in my opinion. Arguments can be made for Looker’s and Wager, but I think this gives you the best pure disruption of any card in the game, and is going to become an important part of metagames both in this format and next.

1.) Rare Candy

Okay okay, so it’s kind of a cop out, but would any other argument make sense? Perhaps the single most important non-SP trainer in the game today, reprinted just in time for everyone who started playing with HGSS to get copious amounts.

Well, that’s all I’ve got. As I said before, please feel free to comment and let me know that I’m wrong/right, etc. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this matter. Thanks for reading.