Hello 6P – it has been a while since I wrote an article. I find I don’t write anything unless I really have something to say, which can sometimes be nothing or a lot. I began writing an in-depth guide to every Trainer/Supporter/Stadium in modified format, but had already written five pages (single-spaced) before I even finished the HGSS set. I would love to finish this, however, I feel it may be outdated before I actually finish every set.

Anyway, enough distraction. I felt it better to move to a COTD (seems like we have had a slowdown of these – perhaps I can pick up the pace a little bit) which I was amazed to find had never been written. This is for Kyurem – the “other” dragon.

(NOTE: This COTD focuses on Kyurem in the slot of his own focus, in other words, CaKE and LaKE decks rather than just as a tech or slotted into something else running a count of one. This analysis also focuses more specifically on individual cards rather than matchups against decklists since our meta is and will be shifting with Next Destinies. Finally, as not everything is still confirmed yet for ND, there is some speculation involved in here.)

HP

Although the standard damage output will be shifting a little as move into EX territory (150 damage becoming a more realistic threat), as of right now generally 120 is still the magic number as far as what we can expect from an attack by the likes of Reshiram/Zekrom and thus a PlusPower is in order for a OHKO. Eviolite abuse boosts this even further, and thus we find that Kyurem can and will stick around for a little while in a game.

This past Cities I played CaKE myself and realized I could have dropped one of my Kyurem as well as a Revive and still have been fine with a 3/2 Kyurem/Cobalion line. While the looming 150 damage from an EX will come into play in ND, we must remember that Zekrom and Reshiram EX both require a 3 Energy drop (2 Basics and a DCE) to pull this off.

The more immediate threat comes from a Mewtwo EX who can drop a DCE in one turn and pull off any Energy Ball against you – since Kyurem needs to hit 3 Energy for his magic Glaciate, this can result in a dead T2 Energymited Kyurem. Yuck!

Type/Weakness

TyRam is declining in popularity, and while Reshiram EX will see play, the Water type is not as important as it once was (certainly more worthwhile than the likes of Grass, however, Psychic and Fighting are quite savory at this point in time in our meta with Mewtwo EX, EelZone, and Zekrom in all his various forms). Thank goodness Kyurem’s weakness is Metal, however, and not Lightning.

While Cobalion does OHKO Kyurem, Kyurem pairs with the little guy well and drama can be avoided rather easily in a CaKE deck (and even more so in something like 6-Corners. Only a deck inherently dependent on Kyurem with nothing else would automatically fold to a Metal-type. And hopefully this is just not the case with your deck).

It is also my theory that CaKE will see less play with EX running about, Glaciate being not quite so poignant against 170/180 HP basics and thus Cobalion may take a small dip there (more on this later). Still, the dragon can be expected amongst the ranks of 6-Corners, however, or many different rouges for the type threat and early offensive or late-game clincher.

Retreat

With Skyarrow Bridge being announced in the next set, Kyurem is looking at a nice one retreat when the card is in play (the Stadium also boosts his already favorable match-up to Vileplume decks like Chandelure that run Tropical Beach as it throws their expensive card out the window until replaced, negating their use while boosting your maneuverability).

This is truly fantastic – one of the falls of Kyurem I found in CaKE was the trouble you could find yourself in after Energymiting your active Kyurem only to have a naked Kyurem (that you suddenly realized should not have been placed when you started the match) pulled up, delaying you by a very precious Glaciate turn.

Attacks

The typical Outrage is ever so pleasant to have on a 130 HP basic. Not too much needs to be said here with the abuse of DCE. Glaciate, however, we shall break down:

The attack loses a lot of power once a game hits its mid-point and moves onward to late-game. While of course there may be exceptions (you run a rogue list or 6-Corners with a lone Kyurem and are facing a Ross variant who has tons of damage on his bench and close to KO), generally you need to be up and Glaciating by T2 or T3 (thus Electrode Prime finally found his home in securing a T2 Energy acceleration method for the dragon – Level Ball is good news for this smiley dude as well).

This onslaught is mindlessly effective – if you pull it off and are not disrupted (Catcher/Cobalion), very rarely is there much an opponent can do to stop you. Therein lies why consistently getting a T2 Glaciate is so important – if you fail to do this, your opponent sets up without any pressure for a few turns and the tables quickly turn against you (EelZone being a great example of this).

At this point, say you begin Glaciating by T5, it doesn’t really matter as your Kyurem will die in one or two swift strokes by their setup and now you find yourself scrambling to secure another three Energy to another Kyurem or Cobalion or Landorus. In a soft manner, the likes of Cobalion can help delay a game, as can a Cleffa sleep-walling, if you find yourself not pulling off the early Glaciate, however, these are by no means always going to pull you through a slump.

To recap and sum this attack up: Glaciate is a very powerful spread attack if it comes early and does not stop – in other words, Kyurem does not die until another is ready to go for a relentless flow of 30 damage hence the T2 push. This is why Kyurem has such favorable matchups against slow decks or decks with a high bench count.

On the flip side, however, if your opponent can consistently disrupt you, you start Glaciating too late, or your opponent has a small bench of very high HP Pokemon (EX!), you can encounter problems. This stratagem is based around decks in which Kyurem is the focus – CaKE/LaKE being examples of this.

As a tech, a mix-in in 6-Corners, or whatever various rogue Kyurem may find himself in, this of course is not entirely the case. As mentioned before, Glaciate can be very helpful in pushing a benched Pokémon with a lot of damage on it just over the edge or putting extra pressure on your opponent who thought their benched Pokémon were fine due to Vileplume being active.

So! While of course you can use Outrage to help this damage output (assuming you avoid that OHKO) – what sort of numbers are we facing as far as Glaciate goes?

To KO the following of popular Pokémon in our current and upcoming format right now, you need X number of Glaciates:

• Zekrom BLW: If active, 4 (and PlusPower) otherwise 5
• Reshiram BLW: If active 2 (and PlusPower) otherwise 3, and on bench, 5
• Magnezone Prime: 5
• Zekrom/Mewtwo EX: 6
• Reshiram EX: If active 3, on bench 6
• Mew Prime (I think will see a jump in play with Mewtwo EX out): 2
• Cobalion NVI: 4 (nasty counter)
• Virizion NVI: If active 11, on bench 4 (nasty counter)
• Terrakion NVI: 5
• Landorus NVI: If active 2, on bench 4
• Tornadus EPO/Thundurus EPO: 4

So! Obviously these are rather high counts. I list primarily Basics here as ND will simply ensure their dominance for some time (Skyarrow Bridge/Prism Energy). Let us also not forget that Eviolite causes Kyurem some trouble as well – thankfully people seem content without ever maxing out this card, but it is still scary. While this does mean EX will pose a greater threat to Kyurem, it also boosts our lovely Kyurem as well.

Skyarrow Bridge pairs very nicely with the likes of Landorus for a LaKE deck – since you blow up Electrode Prime, this would leave you probably with a Landorus out, and with the stadium out Landorus has free retreat (as do Virizion/Tornadus/Thundurus) thus cards like Catcher, Carnavine TM, and Lampent NVI do not pose as great a threat.

On top of that, with Prism Energy you can now throw in 4 Rainbow and 4 Prism to ensure even more flexible Energy draws. Yay! On top of that, Landorus with Kyurem both respectfully counter Zekrom/Zekrom EX and Reshiram/Reshiram EX.

But, enough of me promoting LaKE – the future is rocky enough for Kyurem without any hype – essentially in the form of Pokémon Center (all the more reason to run a nice solid count of Skyarrow Bridge to push all other Stadiums out the window since you are dealing low, steady spread damage – Bronzong maybe? Ack! Too much theorymon!).

Going back to the physical count of Glaciate it takes to KO a Pokémon, we also must remember not to be too daunted by these numbers if you actually are consistently pulling off a Glaciate by T2 or T3 since 6 turns would actually net you the game, not just KO a single Pokémon.

The problem is, against the likes of something like Mewtwo EX, how do you continuously pull this off? Hard to say. I don’t want to pull away too much theorymon in this analysis and this is already beginning to look more like an article rather than a COTD.

Hope this helped shine a little more light on Kyurem or at least made you think a little more about the watery dragon. If there is anything you totally disagree with, please post away and let me know!

Kyurem (Noble Victories NVI 34) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Such a monster came out in card form in the Noble Victories expansion. As awesome as such a Pokémon sounds, its impact on the metagame has been, well, lackluster. Since this card evolves from another Pokémon, though, let’s look at that first.

Frillish NVI has an excellent 80 HP, but a mediocre Retreat of 2. Weakness to Lightning may hurt it as Zekrom’s Outrage becomes a 2HKO, and a single-Energy Lost Burn becomes an OHKO. Frillish’s only attack costs two Energy and does a measly 20 damage. Even if Frillish also had the standard 1 for 10 attack, the damage output wouldn’t be anything extraordinary. Overall, the sheer bulk of Frillish is a great asset to its later Evolution, since Frillish will likely stick around long enough to evolve.

Evolving Frillish boosts HP by 30, but also gives it 1 more Retreat. Lightning Weakness is also pretty bad, though 110 HP barely avoids a single-Energy Lost Burn OHKO. These are sub-par stats for a Stage 1 Rare, but other redeeming qualities might be found in its attack and Ability.

Cursed Body is pretty decent as it makes your opponent carefully consider attacking. Confusion is a very annoying Special Condition, though it is not the best due to flippiness. Hydro Pump supplements the Ability, a decent attack that allows Jellicent to tank, kind of.

But let’s go back to Cursed Body. This Ability inflicts the Confused Special Condition, which can be very powerful if luck is on your side. In comparison, Paralysis, a deadly Special Condition, simply prevents your opponent from attacking; if your opponent fails the Confusion flip, not only will the attack be unsuccessful, but the Pokémon will also take 30 damage.

However, there is also the chance that Confusion will have no effect at all. Because it is luck-based, Confusion is generally more of an annoyance than a threat, especially since Retreating eliminates the Special Condition. Since it is unreliable and can be shed, Confusion is isn’t the best thing to base a strategy around.

Everything about Jellicent makes it seem like a tank, except for its HP. Unfortunately, Jellicent’s sub-par HP is its greatest weakness. In a format where 120 damage can be dealt on turn one, Jellicent will not last long. Maybe if Jellicent had 30-40 more HP, it could be very powerful.

As is, however, Cursed Body’s Confusion status isn’t strong enough to give the card a place in the metagame, and its attack, while decent, is largely outclassed. Finally, Lightning Weakness in a format with multiple powerful Lightning types hinders Jellicent’s tanking abilities.

Samurott BLW 32, though a Stage 2, tanks far better than Jellicent, since it has more HP, a more useful Ability, and a more powerful attack. Here’s a chart so you can see the difference between their attacks:

Jellicent overtakes Samurott at 6 Water Energy. However, this is an impractical amount of Energy to have on Jellicent due to its poor defensive capabilities. Jellicent’s attack is less useful than it could be.

Does all of this mean that Jellicent is condemned to the binder? Not necessarily. Jellicent has a few options that might be fun to play, if bad in the metagame.

Since Jellicent easily inflicts Confusion, Leafeon UD’s Miasma Wind could work with this card. However, there is the problem of the 3 Retreat Cost, as well as the fact that Jellicent must be attacked for the Ability to take effect. In this respect, Hypno HS, Houndoom Prime, and especially Roserade UL more easily inflict Special Conditions.

Another use for Jellicent could be in Water decks looking for a (very) soft counter to Magnezone Prime. If your opponent KOes Jellicent with Magnezone, not only will that Pokémon Lost Burn two Energy (giving you a chance to catch up a little) but the Confusion status can be devastating in three ways.

First, they can’t use Magnetic Draw with that Magnezone. Second, if you get lucky on Confusion flips, it will lock the metal monstrosity out of attacking. Third, the high Retreat means that manually switching Magnezone would be a tricky task. Still, if they hit a Switch, it’s pretty much all over, and you give up a Prize Card anyway.

Overall, Jellicent’s uses are few and far between. It may have a rather unique Ability, but poor stats and a mediocre attack aren’t helping things. Overall, I’d give it a 5/10 Mediocre.

Anyway, have a good day (or afternoon, depends on when you’re reading this). And stay away from man-eating jellyfish!

Jellicent (Noble Victories NVI 31) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Much like Lilligant, each set contains one Petilil. All three are Grass type, are weak to Fire, resist Water, and have one retreat cost. BW and EP Petilil have 50 HP, while NV has 60. These stats are pretty standard for a Basic, and it’s possible that the Fire weakness won’t hurt as badly as it used to. Resistance doesn’t mean much on an Basic that hasn’t fully evolved unless you predict you’ll often run into Petilil vs Squirtle for more than two turns, but with Vanilluxe and Kyurem being the most predominant Water-types around, it doesn’t matter too much. (Vanilluxe may or may not OHKO it, but you need to evolve out of that Paralysis quickly; it stands no chance against Kyurem unless it evolves.) And as is said in almost every article that mentions a Basic, one retreat cost is average.

Already gave their HP. BW = 50, EP = 50, NV = 60. On the first stat that all don’t share equally, NV is in the lead. If it remains on the bench, that 10 HP difference won’t save it as it’s a 2HKO from Kyurem, an OHKO from Mandibuzz BW, and an OHKO from most anything that would Catcher it up as an easy prize. If it’s an early active, it’s possible that the extra 10 may save you a turn or two.

Before we go any further, let’s look back at what we’re preparing ourselves for. No deck but Green Tornado would ever play Petilil without Lilligant, and we know to never follow the construction patterns of theme decks. (Conclusion: Stop playing Professor Juniper, Pokémon Communication, and Durant NV, because the theme decks liked them.) Lilligant BW and NV have 80 HP, while the EP one has 90. Neither stat is remarkable and should not affect the Petilil discussion at all.

Lilligant BW’s first attack costs only one Grass Energy: flip three coins, and for each heads, it does 30 damage. This would be okay, but afterward, Lilligant is confused. This is terrible and will not be brought up again, as it shouldn’t be played. (Not to mention this is shaping up to be pretty long and I’d rather not lose your interest.) EP has arguably the best Lilligant of the three: again for one Grass, it only does 20 damage, but it guarantees a Status Condition.

On another coin flip, if heads, the Defending Pokémon if Paralyzed and Poisoned, but if tails, it’s Confused. For GCC, it does a vanilla 60, so this attack will likely never be used. NV is neat, but not considered usable so far. For one Grass Energy (noticing a pattern?), you heal all damage from one of your Benched Pokémon. For GC, it does 30 damage, and Lilligant is switched out of the Active spot.

So far, Lilligant has shaped up to be possibly fun, but mediocre. But more importantly for this, we have the Petilil. From BW, we get one attack with a cost of one Grass Energy. It does 10 damage, and if you flip heads on a coin flip, it does 10 more damage and heals 10 from itself. In the first few turns, an attack that heals damage from yourself is a valuable asset as long as you aren’t facing Reshiram, Cobalion, or anything else stronger than the average Basic. But unfortunately for this card, these are common now, so it’s not a great bonus anymore.

Of note, if you’re using the EP Lilligant, it’s a good idea to play Fliptini. With this combination, Petilil has a 75% chance of doing 20 damage and healing 10 from itself. If you’re playing in a game where your opponent’s deck equals yours in strength, things are looking up for this little guy. When paired with the NV Lilligant, this might be enough to keep it alive longer, but not a guarantee now that it’s a 50% chance.

Our second Petilil, EP, also has a first attack that costs one Grass Energy. I think I’ve just about run out of ways to say that. It does no damage, but on yet another coin flip (another phrase I can no longer say in a different way), your opponent is Paralyzed if you get heads. The second attack is GC for a vanilla 20, your average Basic’s second attack.

Remembering from above that Lilligant EP should use Fliptini, this is a 75% chance that you can Paralyze your opponent. And since the card is already inflicting Status like an anthrax outbreak, it goes together rather well, possibly an intentional move on Nintendo’s part. As for NV Lilligant, unless you can stall on that 50% chance, it doesn’t seem to cut it.

Our last showcase is Petilil NV, the star with 60 HP and the most bland first attack of all. Finally we get one with a single Colorless cost, but it does a vanilla 10. Nothing to say about it other than “standard.” Its second attack costs GC and also does only 10 damage, but now you can heal 10 damage from it. Hopefully it won’t be on the field long enough to have to use that, but it’s a secure backup.

Lilligant EP gains almost no use from this card, except maybe the 10 extra HP as a tiny insurance boost.  However, NV likes the both the extra HP and the boost from the second attack, not to mention it costing the same as its only attack that does any damage.

Based on the above, it looks like if you want to play Lilligant NV and not place chances of survival on a 50/50 coin flip, Petilil NV is a solid play. For Lilligant NV, your best bet is to decide between BW and EP and whether healing yourself or Paralyzing your opponent is more appealing, unless you 100% think you need that extra HP boost. (My preference lies in Petilil EP for the sake of this.) Surprise, surprise, it just may be true that the best Basic form for each Lilligant lies in its own set.

Petilil (BLW 9, EPO 13, and NVI 4) – Cards of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

…after the pre-evolutions. Timburr BLW 59 has a very standard 1 for 10 and 2 for 20 attack set. Timburr gets a nice 70 HP, but also a poor Retreat of 2. The other Timburr from Black & White (Timburr BLW 58) exchanges -1 Retreat for -10 HP. It also has only one attack, which requires two Fighting Energy. Normally, requiring two of the same type of Energy as opposed to a colored Energy and a Colorless Energy is annoying, but if you’re just running Fighting Energy, it doesn’t matter that much.

The attack does 10 more damage than the other Timburr’s Pound. Finally, we have Timburr NV, which has the worse of the other two (only one attack, 60 HP, and a Retreat of 2); however, its attack could do 20 damage for a single Energy.

Overall, I’d go with Timburr BW 59, since the extra 10 HP makes it a little tougher and less susceptible to Cursed Shadow and Glaciate KOs. You can also attack from turn one if you have to, and you can do 20 more damage if you whiff on an evolution T1 and T2. Also, the Retreat of 2 isn’t crippling, since this card will most likely be your main attacker.

Two Gurdurr have come out, one from Black & White, and one from Noble Victories. Gurdurr BLW has a slightly low 80 HP and a meh 2 Retreat. Bulk Up is so-so. While essentially 40 damage is nice, it is only 20 damage if you evolve into Conkeldurr next turn. Pound does a vanilla 60 damage for three Energy, but cannot use DCE.

Gurdurr NVI shares the slightly low 80 HP, but also has a bad Retreat of 3. Strength is only okay, as it is the same attack as Timburr BW 58. Pummel may work with DCE, but there is a chance it will do 20 less damage than the other Gurdurr’s Pound.

Neither Gurdurr is too great, but I’d prefer Gurdurr BLW. Pound is far better than Pummel, mainly since you most likely won’t be using DCE in a Conkeldurr deck. I’d say that Bulk Up and Strength are about as good, though. Finally, I’ll take the 2 Retreat over the 3 Retreat.

Now for the clown-nosed beast himself. 140 HP is nice, though only 10 more than the dragons’ HP. Discarding four Energy in order to Retreat is very annoying, but only if you have to Retreat him. Psychic Weakness, in my opinion, is the biggest downside to the card, or at least, it will be as I will explain soon (hold your Rapidash).

Top Down is pretty good. It does an okay 80 damage, but could also discard multiple cards from your opponent’s deck. This with Fliptini might do okay as there would be a 75% chance you will discard one card. However, the odds get worse if you try to discard multiple cards.

Craftmanship is the focal point of this card. You can boost Conkeldurr’s HP to very high levels. If you have four Fighting Energy attached (enough to fuel Top Down), this guy has 220 HP. You can tank in a way that would make Wailord proud. Four more Fighting Energy = 300 HP. Slap a Rocky Helmet on, and it’ll be a chore to get rid of Conkeldurr.

However, there are downsides to this Pokémon. First, this card is very slow to set up, as it needs 4 Energy to attack and is a Stage 2. Even with just this downside, the card is only occasionally played.

Just as important is the downside that comes in a few months. That’s right: Mewtwo EX. Weakness to Psychic, coupled with the way the card works, makes Mewtwo EX this card’s worst nightmare. If Conkeldurr has at least three Fighting Energy attached, X-Ball is an OHKO. If Conkeldurr has fewer than six Fighting Energy attached, Psydrive is an OHKO. Additionally, even if Mewtwo EX doesn’t become the BDIF, there is a high probability that it will become a tech in for several decks. It’s easy to see the problem here.

One deck that some have used is Conkeldurr/Electrode Prime. This deck uses Electrode Prime to load Conkeldurr with Fighting Energy, allowing him to tank. It’s pretty cool, but it seems to fit into the Rogue category.

Even though Conkeldurr/Electrode Prime decks are somewhat effective now, Mewtwo EX will put a stop to this “merger.” However, unlike AT&T’s attempt to buy T-Mobile, this event will not promote creativity, but hinder it. With powerful Basics around, only one or two decks based around the plethora of cool new Evolved Pokémon are viable. The way it works right now, Conkeldurr/Electrode Prime is not one of them.

Perhaps if there is some sort of new draw engine or other new effect that boosts Stage 2s, such decks would be viable. As is, Conkeldurr is a very risky play. With Mewtwo EX around, Conkeldurr may be a bad play even with Stage 2 support.

Perhaps at League or something with a “no-EX” or “no big Basics” rule, this card would be fun, but in the current format:

7.5/10 Quite Good – Just falls short of being a decent play

5.5/10 Okay (with Mewtwo-EX) – Bad play, in general

Thoughts, questions, or anything else? Feel free to add a comment.

Conkeldurr (Noble Victories NVI 64) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

+1 for the adorable art

This is Innocent_Shine, and today we’re trying something possibly new with a Pokémon card analysis. We all know Gyarados, Magnezone, and Emboar; three power-house Pokémon. But they all had to come from somewhere small, as not every Basic can be Zekrom or Mewtwo. Despite the earlier stages hopefully seeing one turn of play maximum, we still worry about them because we don’t want just anything going in our decks.

Eelektrik NVI has been seeing quite a bit of play, and is a rare case of a Stage 1 being a focus where the Stage 2 is useless and thus ignored entirely. A perfect start to a discussion about early stages, don’t you think? It’s used for its Ability, Dynamotor, which allows you to take a Lightning Energy from your discard pile and attach it to any of your benched Pokémon without repercussion. It’s rather similar to Typhlosion Prime without the damage, but it lacks the flexibility to attach to the active.

This line has one very useful Eelektrik, one very ignorable Eelektross NVI, and two Tynamo - #38 and #39 – which is our focus. To decide between the two, there are several deciding factors. Its retreat cost, HP, and attack costs are the three most important. It’s rare for two Pokémon with the same name to have a different Weakness or Resistance from the other, in the current format.

The first thing that most people look at would be the HP. #38 has 40 HP, while #39 has 30. Both are far below ideal and are frustratingly easy targets to OHKO early on. However, despite both being so low, that 10 HP is a huge difference. Both are knocked out by almost everything, most notably Yanmega Prime. But the big difference is that Kyurem NVI and Tyrogue HS can take out #39 without assistance from PlusPower or any other cards that add damage. This is a definite point in #38’s direction.

When considering the attack costs, you want to think about whether you have Energy of that Pokémon’s type. A supporting Pokémon that remains on the bench all game will not always be compatible unless it’s meant for Energy acceleration. In this case, you should have a deck packed with Lightning Energy and be able to attack with both Tynamo. #39 has a single Colorless cost for vanilla 10 damage, pretty standard. #38, for one Lightning, does 10 also, but with a Paralysis flip.

More than likely you will only have Lightning Energy in this deck (maybe Rescue or DCE, but nothing that you would waste to do 10 damage with Tynamo), so #38 is still better here.

One last thing to cover, and that’s the retreat cost. #38 has your average cost of one. #39 is special here, having free retreat. In most cases, the positive would go to #39 here, but recall Eelektrik’s Ability. It takes Lightning Energy from the discard pile. And where does Energy go after you use it to retreat? Yep.

Now, that doesn’t automatically make Tynamo #38’s retreat cost as good or better, as you still have to have it in your hand. This is where opinion hits its peak between these two. You can get that Energy out of the discard soon after with Eelektrik, but it makes retreating Tynamo and attacking with a new Pokémon on the first turn impossible. This is an example of the evolution changing the circumstances on what statistics may make a card better.

Other options to consider, specifically on the retreat cost here, is what else might be in your deck, and maybe even what’s in your meta. Since there are many different Eelektrik decks and many different metas, this can’t be generalized. But does your list run Cleffa? Tyrogue? Maybe an Emolga tech, or anything else that has free reteat? You may not need #39’s little boost. Or maybe your deck has no other free retreaters, but half the decks at local tournaments are Kyurem spread and you need that 40 HP to survive. A common mix in tournaments has been two or three of #38 with only one #39.

My opinion? I like #38 and will choose it every time in a deck that takes Lightning Energy out of the discard. Several Card of the Days have been bringing ratings back, yeah? Well, being basics that evolve into something stronger, these are hard to rate. I have to say #38 is ranked just above Oddish, while #39 is about even with Solosis. What do you think? Feel free to say what you think about Tynamo and this type of CotD in the comments.

Tynamos (Noble Victories NVI 38 + 39) – Cards of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

First things first – stats. 80 HP is pretty strong. It may not be quite as much as the legendary dragons or genies, but it’s much better than the average 60 for a basic. One retreat cost is OK, and Metal Weakness is not a bad one to have. Overall, its stats are fairly good.

Cryogonal has two attacks, the first of which is called Icy Wind. For one Water Energy, it does no damage but makes the Defending Pokemon Asleep. Could this attack be viable?

Not in my opinion. Sleep is probably the weakest of the five status conditions. There’s a 50% chance that it will have no effect on your opponent at all, and since the attack doesn’t do damage either, you’re not likely to make any dent in the opponent’s Pokemon or their strategy.

So, Cryogonal’s first attack falls short of playable. How does the second, Ice Shard, measure up?

Ice Shard has a manageable WC cost and hits for 30 damage – a pretty low energy-to-damage ratio. However, it does an additional 40 damage if the Defending Pokemon is Fighting type. That mean that any Fighting Pokemon with Weakness to Water will be hit for an insane 140 damage (30+40 times two for Weakness).

140 just happens to be the magic number for OHKOing the most popular Fighting type in our format, Donphan Prime. With its 120 HP plus the Exoskeleton Poke-Body, it becomes really tough to one-shot in most circumstances. But Cryogonal does just enough damage to be a serious threat to any elephants your opponent has on the board.

Snowflake > Elephant every time.

Cryogonal can outspeed any Donphans it’s faced with. It requires a 3-card combo (Cryogonal and two energy) and is easily searchable with Pokemon Collector. On the other hand, Donphan has to evolve from Phanpy first, and needs three energy to OHKO Cryogonal – a 5-card combination in all.

Cryogonal is, without a doubt, the quickest, most efficient hard counter to Donphan in the HS-NV format. However, its playability depends entirely on the amount of Donphan in the metagame. Donphan’s use was declining until Regionals, when The Truth and Donphan & Dragons saw decent success.

But now Cities are upon us, and we’ll just have to see how everything plays out. Maybe Donphan variants will increase in numbers and top cut appearances. If so, Cryogonal may become the go-to tech in any decks running Water or Rainbow energy.

Because of its dependability on the presence of a certain elephant, Cryogonal is mostly just a meta call, and it earns a 6/10 (Decent).

That’s all for today. Have you had any success with Cryogonal in testing? Does it have a chance in the Cities metagame? Remember to rate and comment below. I hope you enjoyed my review, and as always, thanks for reading!

Cryogonal (Noble Victories NV 32) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

The two Axew promos share several traits:

• 50 HP, which is a bit low, and makes them subject to donking.
• No weakness or resistance, which doesn’t matter too much, as its low HP means it’ll likely be KO’d regardless of any modification of damage.
• One retreat cost, which is about average.
• Colorless typing, which is nice as it makes them DCE compatible, though they won’t be hitting for weakness on much.
• A single attack that costs two Colorless energy, or a DCE.

So they’re very much alike. But at a glance, the first of the two cards (henceforth referred to as Axew 16) is more appealing because of the big 50 on the right hand side.

That’s right. Dragon Rage does 50 damage for just a DCE. And he’s a Basic too! OMG! Have we discovered the next great donk Pokemon?

Oh, wait. There’s small text. That ain’t ever good.

Unfortunately, the extra text makes Axew much less playable. It states, “Flip 2 coins. If either of them is tails, this attack does nothing.” That means that the attack will only work 1/4 of the time. In other words, he has a 75% chance of failure, which makes it likely that he’ll be KO’d before he gets to attack. That’s basically handing your opponent an easy prize as well as wasting one of your DCE’s.

Even with the release of Fliptini, Axew 16 will still be pretty bad. Sure, it lets you re-flip for Dragon Rage, boosting your success rate. But you’ll still only be attacking 43.75% of the time, which is not good enough in my opinion. If you want a donk Pokemon in the vein of this Axew, go with Victini NV 43 (which, coincidentally, is one of the subjects of my last review!). It does 120 damage with the same success rate, meaning it’ll OHKO a much wider range of Pokemon than Axew can.

Overall, Axew 16 is not worth playing because of its low HP and low success rate. He falls short of “playable,” meriting just 4/10 (Subpar).

But I'm cuter than a spider!

The next Axew has a slightly different attack, for the same CC cost. It’s called Big Bite, and does a fairly overpriced 20 damage. The card also says that “The Defending Pokemon can’t retreat during your opponent’s next turn.”

Does Big Bite’s effect remind you of any card in particular? Yep, it’s the same as Spinarak HS’s Spider Web attack. Spinarak provides a fun locking option in any Vileplume deck. You can drag up bulky bench sitters with a card like Bellsprout TM, then keep them from retreating with your Spinarak.  Spider Web can also be utilized to lock a Pokemon that can’t do damage, like Cleffa HS.

However, Axew’s attack has the added bonus of doing 20 damage, whereas Spinarak does no damage at all. This can be good, but at the same time means the lock will eventually be broken when the Defending Pokemon gets knocked out.

I’d personally use Spinarak over Axew because it keeps the lock in place indefinitely. In addition, it’s a Grass type, so it’s searchable with Sunflora HS, which is used in some Vileplume decks. The CC cost also means that you’ll either spend a valuable DCE on Axew or have to power him up in two attachments, neither of which is optimal.

So, in the end, Axew is outclassed by another, better card in the format, and it, like its rage-filled cousin, is Subpar (4/10).

Both these cards aren’t that great, and I’d only consider using them if I, for some strange reason, decided to make a deck with Haxorus. The Axews are cute, and that’s about it.

That’s all for today! Remember to rate and comment below. Thanks for reading!

Axew (Black & White Promo BW16 & BW26) – Card(s) of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Today I’m going to be reviewing the newly released Durant from Noble Victories.

So what do we have with Durant? Durant is a Basic Metal-type Pokémon with 70 HP, no Ability, a Retreat of 1, Weakness to Fire, Resistance to Psychic, and 2 attacks. His first attack is Devour which for 1 Metal Energy allows you to discard cards from the top of your opponent’s deck equal to the number Durant you have in play. Meaning, with all of your Durants in play, you can discard 4 cards a turn for just 1 Metal Energy. Durant’s second attack, for Double Colorless, allows you to use Vice Grip for 30 damage.

Since the scans of Noble Victories where posted, Durant has generated a lot of hype. But, why is this? Obviously it isn’t for Vice Grip, as there are far better uses for Double Colorless Energy. So, it has to be for Devour. An attack that can potentially eat away at your opponent’s resources.

As I noted above, with 4 Durant in play you can mill the top 4 cards of your opponent’s deck each turn. At first doesn’t sound like a lot, but turn after turn it soon causes a problem as more and more resources hit the discard pile and the options to counter get fewer.

How quick can Durant mill? Well, every deck contains 60 cards. Removing 13 for set-up leaves 47. Ideally, Durant should be milling 4 a turn in addition to your opponent’s draw at the start of their turn. So, each turn your opponent looses 5 cards from their deck, not including any search or draw cards they might use. 47 divided by 5 = 9 remainder 2. After 9 turns your opponent will have 2 cards in their deck at most (excluding the use of cards like Flower Shop Lady) if your Durant count is continually at four.

From above you can see that the deck is pretty fast. Of course there is the question of how to get 4 Durant in play turn 1, but it’s not that big of a deal. It’s simply a case of running as many Basic search cards as possible. There’s Pokémon Collector, which is run at 4 of in most decks already. There’s also the option of using Dual Ball. Being a Trainer Item, Dual Ball can be used more than once a turn (but, of course, it involves luck).

Dual Ball isn’t bad, though. You’ll want it to increase your chances of drawing into a card that can grab a basic or 2 from your deck. However, I wouldn’t put my money on it being the card that makes or breaks this deck. Which does raise another question though: What if I don’t get a turn 1 Collector?

Well, while we do have Dual Ball, I’d also like to suggest Pokégear 3.0. If you have no Collector in hand, and potentially 4 still remaining in your deck, there is a decent chance that a Collector will be hiding within the next 7 cards.

What other obstacles could impede Durant’s set-up? Personally, I see Durant’s biggest problem is having one or more Durants Prized. How do we fix this? The best way that I’ve come up with is to use Alph Lithograph 4 from Triumphant and Rotom from Undaunted.

Using the above combination, not only can you see if there are any Durants in your prizes, but you’re able to arrange your Prizes so that you know where they are. Next, you can then use Rotom to swap the prized Durant with the top card of your deck. Assuming you’ve managed to set-up the rest of your Durants, then swapping your top card should be a safe move as you won’t be swapping 1 Durant for another.

Now that we’ve covered Durant’s setup, we have to make sure that we can keep milling our opponents deck. There are a couple of aspects which need to be taken into consideration when trying to maintain the decks setup, but most of them are easily covered.

The first aspect we need to cover is recovery. If a Durant is knocked out then the milling capability of the remaining Durants becomes limited. So, we need to make sure that if a Durant is knocked out that we can get it back onto the field as quickly as possible. There are 2 cards that easily allow us to recover Durants and take advantage of the fact they are basics, those cards are Revive and Rescue Energy.

Both of these cards pair perfectly with Durant being a basic. Revive can place him straight onto the bench and Rescue Energy returns him to your hand so you can play him back onto the bench during your turn. Some people will say that you shouldn’t play both, but I’d advise that both be found in your list simply for the sheer fact that they cover each others drawbacks. Revive is instantaneous, but useless against Trainer Lock. Rescue requires you to use an energy attachment, but gets around Trainer Lock with no difficulty.

The second aspect is trying to prevent your opponent from knocking out Durants in the first place. The easiest method for this is to play Catcher and drag out anything that wont be able to attack, buying a turn or 2. Or you can run a tech for the sake of stalling your opponent. The most popular techs at the moment are Roserade from Unleashed and Hypno from HeartGold & SoulSilver.

Both of these techs hold merit in their own regard and which 1 you play is entirely up to your own playstyle and preference. Both are used for their Poké-Powers. Roserade’s ”Energy Signal” can be used of you trade out some of the decks Metal Energy for Rainbow Energy allowing you to inflict both Poison and Confusion onto the opponent’s active.

The advantage of this is the fact that your opponent now has to flip to attack, and will even take damage if they flip tails. The downside is that the opponent’s active can retreat out of Confusion and using the ability does take away an Energy attachment that could be used to ready a second Durant or to place Rescue on the active.

On the other side of things though we have Hypno’s ”Sleep Pendulum”. Which, on a coin toss, can put the opponent’s active Pokémon to sleep. While asleep the opponent’s active canot attack or retreat. The downside with Hypno is the chance of the opponent’s Pokémon falling and staying asleep is only 25%.

Personally, I’d choose Hypno over Roserade because sleep is a better status to inflict while we have free retreat Pokémon like Yanmega in format.

So what are your opinions on Durant? Is it worth the hype? Or will it fall short? Feel free to comment below on your thoughts about Durant and any suggestions you might have on how to play it.

I’m also still taking requests for future reviews on cards that aren’t yet in format. Feel free to drop me a line here or on my new fanpage.

Signing off for now,

RattataJoey

Durant (Noble Victories NVI 83) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

I’m sure if you looked at a different card game, you wouldn’t find a creature that looks like it came from an ice cream vendor.

Meet Vanilluxe.

Actually, let’s meet his pre-evolutions first. Vanillite has a slightly shaky 50 HP, and a mediocre retreat of 1. Icicle Barb isn’t terrible for a Common NFE (Not Fully Evolved), as it could do 20 for 1 energy. If you are running this with FlipTini (more on that later), and you already have a Victini out, you are more likely to do that 20 damage, which is nice for this Commoner. Vanillish, the next step in the evolution line, has a slightly bad 80 HP and an annoying retreat of 2. What is interesting is that this Pokémon basically has weaker versions of Vanilluxe’s attacks.

Now for the 130-pound ice cream thing himself. 130 HP is merely average for a Stage 2. The requirement for retreating this Pokémon isn’t too bad, considering it is a Stage 2 with average HP. Metal weakness is currently pretty good in the metagame, as ReshiPlosion seems to be keeping Cobalion at bay…for now. Water typing is excellent in this metagame, due to all of the Fire types being played.

Double Freeze is the main reason that this card is getting some hype. It allows you to flip two coins, doing 40 damage for each heads. If you get lucky, you are doing 80 damage for two energy, which is great, but not incredible. Additionally, however, if you just get one of the coin flips heads, the Defending Pokémon is stuck in the Active position (unless your opponent plays a Switch or Full Heal) and cannot attack.

With FlipTini, who allows you to re-flip coins from attacks, it is actually quite likely that you will hit one heads, and you may occasionally hit two. Essentially, you are flipping four coins, and if any of them are heads, the Defending Pokémon becomes Paralyzed and takes at least 40 damage. Frost Breath is actually a nifty companion to this attack, as it allows you to deal consistent damage if you don’t have FlipTini out or need to hit for 60 more than you need to Paralyze. The low damage output doesn’t matter too much since you are probably Paralyzing the Defending Pokémon anyway.

However, 40 damage still isn’t much, and your opponent may be able to set up a lot during that time. Vileplume may actually be a good partner for this card, in that case. Additionally, Vileplume can make it virtually impossible for your opponent to switch out their active Pokémon when it is Paralyzed. Nevertheless, remember that there is always the chance that Double Freeze will completely fail, which can leave you in a very bad situation.

The 130 HP means that your opponent will need to pull many strings to get the revenge KO. However, if Vanilluxe is already damaged, watch out. Generally, though, you should have time to charge up another Vanilluxe before your Active one is KOed.

To sum it up:

Pros

- Vanillite works with FlipTini (and the average Vanilluxe deck’s strategy)

- Pretty good attacks

- Good typing

- Good Weakness

- Has something that other Pokémon can’t do better

Cons

- Cannot stand on its own very well

- Relies on coin flips

- Can OHKO almost nothing

I honestly don’t know why they made a Pokémon that looks like its owner would be more likely to eat it than raise it, but they made that Pokémon reasonably powerful. Out of the cards that rely on coin flips, this is one of the better ones. I’m going to give it a 7.5/10 or Quite Good. This card may be reasonably popular in rogue decks. Some of you may rank this card 1 or 2 more/less points.

I’m not sure if others do the ratings differently, but here are cards that are roughly comparable to their ratings alongside a statement for each rating, in accordance with my rating system:

1/10 – Hitmontop HS (This card is simply a joke, and it is also disgusting – you may not even want to keep it in a binder with your other cards, or even in the same room as your other cards)

The editors, however, decided to put Hitmontop in the same article as Vanilluxe and Victini.

2/10 – Wave Splash Alomomola BW 38 (This card is so awful, it might stain your other cards if you put it in your deck)

3/10 – Musharna BW (You may not even have heard of this card)

4/10 – Galvantula BW (A bad card that n00bs might play at League)

5/10 – Noctowl HS (This card is never really used)

6/10 – Ampharos CL (This card is good, but it has a major weakness or doesn’t fit into the metagame, and thus is still never used)

7/10 – Manaphy UL (This card is used sometimes, though not that often)

8/10 – Ability Samurott BW (This is a great card that is kinda common)

9/10 – Professor Oak’s New Theory (An amazing card that is either a staple or played in powerful deck(s))

10/10 – AbiliBoar AKA Emboar BW (This card is one of the best in the format)

11/10 – Pokémon Catcher (BROKEN – this card unbalances the metagame)

Anyhow, have a good day, and feel free to post a comment! :)

Vanilluxe (Noble Victories NVI 29) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Victini is obviously the star of the set. It has three (technically four) cards in NV, it’s on the pack art, and, well, the set is named Noble Victories. Victini is the Victory Pokemon. So…yeah. Victini gets lots of love. Let’s get to the reviews!

Victini 14 & 98 – “Fliptini”

First off we have a card that’s received tons of hype – not necessarily extreme hype like Beartic, but people have been theorymon-ing and providing huge lists of combos for it ever since it was revealed in Japan. Fliptini (as I’ll refer to it from now on) is obviously special, ’cause it’s the one that gets the awesome-looking FA version.

As always, let’s check out the stats first. Fliptini has an average 60 HP, which is OK for a basic, but considering it does not evolve into a stronger form, having a permanently fragile Pokemon like that can be a liability.

Fliptini’s Water weakness could be bad with Water types like Kyurem becoming popular, but it will (hopefully) always be on the bench, meaning weakness and resistance won’t be applied to it. Its one retreat cost is just average.

Well, Fliptini’s attack is nothing special. For a RC cost, Stored Power does an overpriced 30 damage, and you must move all energy on it to one of your benched Pokemon. Hopefully you’ll never have to use this attack in a game, as it’s ineffective and can’t even be used on consecutive turns without energy acceleration.

So, why is Fliptini so special, and how did it get its name? The answer is in its Ability, Victory Star. If your active Pokemon uses an attack that requires flipping coins, you may choose to re-flip those coins once. This is a game-changing ability; it makes any card that was previously useless because it was unreliable suddenly very good.

Victini likes Ice Cream.

So many Pokemon have been glanced at and shelved because their flippiness has made them subpar. But Fliptini is a simple answer: you already have the tools (Pokemon Collector) to get it out, and it’s not a slow evolved Pokemon so it doesn’t require lots of time or resources to set up. Of course, the fact already remains that it’s an easy Catcher prize, but often its usefulness outweighs its downsides.

I’m not going to elaborate too much on Fliptini’s uses in certain decks – go on any Pokemon TCG forum and you’ll find plenty of threads and decklists pairing it with cards like:

Sharpedo TM
Magmortar TM
Lilligant EP
Vanilluxe NV

You get the idea. NV has just come out, but come Cities Fliptini will have a chance to prove its worth. Tons of possible combinations=tons of potential, and that potential leads me to rate Fliptini at 7.5/10 (Good/Very Good).

Victini 15 – “Benchtini” or “V-create-tini”

Next up we have another Fire-type Victini. This one, though, has 10 more HP, which helps, if only the slightest bit. “Benchtini” does not have an Ability, but does have one attack.

“V-create,” for RC, does 100 damage – quite impressive for two energy, and on a Basic Pokemon. However, V-create fails if you don’t have a full bench.

This is very similar to “Do the Wave” on Cinccino BW. Cinccino is great because it’s DCE compatible, meaning it can be charged up with just one energy, and it has 20 more HP than Victini.

In addition, Cinccino is actually able to attack with a smaller bench. So even if you can’t fill your bench on turn two, Cinccino can still attack, if only for 60 or 80 damage. On the other hand, Victini is stuck unable to do anything unless you have all 5 bench spots full.

Sure, Victini is a basic Pokemon, which makes it easier to set up, but it isn’t any quicker, since it requires two energy attachments instead of one. And one of those energy must be Fire, which can be troublesome. Cinccino is good in part because it’s so splashable – it only requires a DCE, a card that’s already played in many decks. Victini, on the other hand, isn’t worth adding to any deck without Fire energy.

I guess this Victini could be used if you wanted to create some sort of “cute and mildly powerful” league deck, but otherwise, Cinccino outclasses it. “Benchtini” gets a 6/10 – Decent.

Victini 43

Last up is Victini NV #43, which was also the prerelease promo. This Victini, unlike its two other pals, is a Psychic type. This means it’s weak to other Psychics like Mew Prime and Gothitelle; however, these two would likely OHKO it anyway. It also has the average 60 HP and manageable one retreat cost.

Victini 43 has a single attack, V-blast. For one Psychic energy, it does an incredible 120 damage. However, it requires its user to flip two coins. If even one of them is tails, the attack does nothing.

This Victini is the epitome of flippiness. But if that drawback did not exist, the card would break the format. As is, he’ll only do damage 1 in every 4 tries, meaning your opponent will probably score a KO before you can make a dent in one of their Pokemon.

So this little dude may not be the BDIF. But that doesn’t mean you can’t play with him for fun! He pairs very well with its cousin, Fliptini. With a turn one Collector or Dual Ball, it’s not hard to get a Victini 43 active with one Psychic energy and a Fliptini on the bench.

Having the ability to re-flip vastly increases your chances of being able to do damage. While the probability is a bit under 50% (I haven’t done the exact math), it’s better than 25%, and could make for an interesting league deck.

So, to sum up, Victini 43 is too flippy to really work, but can combo with Fliptini for a fun deck. Like Victini 15, it is another card that’s good but not great, and also like the other Victini, I think it’s Decent – 6/10.

That’s all, folks! How did you like my triple feature? At over 1100 words, it’s more of a mini-article than a Card of the Day, but…well…all it does is review cards, so it still falls under that category. As a whole, the Victinis aren’t too shabby, with an average rating of 6.5 (Decent/Good).

Fliptini especially has the potential to become part of a new archetype. Cities gives us several medium-sized tournaments that provide some Championship Points while also offering a fairly low-key environment in which to test out new decks. It is during Cities, I think, that the best partner for Fliptini is likely to be found. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

Feel free to comment below on any uses you’ve found for any of the three Victinis! As always, thanks for reading!

Victini (Noble Victories NV 14 & 98, 15, & 43) – Card(s) of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.