See ya later alligator!
It’s been a while since we’ve had the announcement that we may be undergoing a mid-season rotation into HGSS onward. So amidst that excitement, I finally got around to actually logging some games with the new format, and made a couple of observations.
Now, I don’t think anyone is going to claim they fully grasp the new format expertly, and if anyone does, they are likely to be lying, because the format offers a pretty hefty change to things. For a lot of players who have just recently gotten into the game, the changes will be pretty radical compared to the past 3 years.
As someone who has played this game for a long time, it’s been a welcome challenge to revert back to deck building concepts that the speed of more recent formats have pretty much rendered irrelevant.
The biggest change comes from the removal of Uxie. It has been 4 years since we’ve had a format that has not contained either Uxie or Claydol. This means that we can’t rely on Pokemon based draw power as readily as before. As a result, emphasis is re-placed on Supporter/Trainer based draw. Let’s look at some of the choices we have available in the format right now, and how their uses may have changed.
Pokemon Collector
This card is still likely to remain a 4 of in decks. Yet its value has actually dropped off compared to last format. This card lets you get access to all of the basic Pokemon cards you need, and is probably the best turn one play available still.
Unfortunately, the cards strength is still much lower than it has been in a while. It used to be that a Collector would effectively net an entire set up. You could generally empty enough cards that Uxie, grabbed by Collector, would allow you to “Set Up” into enough to stay going. The removal of Uxie is going to make it so that you still need other cards in hand to make your deck do what it wants to do.
This change alone is likely to force decks to run more Supporters. Gone are the days of running 10 or so draw cards. This “low count” was offset by the strength of Uxie. The biggest change last year was the removal of Roseanne’s Research, with it being replaced in all decks by Pokemon Collector.
This forced decks to up their energy count fairly drastically. Going back to Uxie, you’ll notice that its loss will be a defining point address throughout this article because it is going to take a lot of getting used to when adjusting how we build decks.
Professor Elm’s Training Method
Another lesser noticed change has been the removal of Bebe’s Search. In its place, we do have PETM as a means by which to grab evolutions. The card has played alright, and I originally tried running it as a 4 of, effectively replacing Bebe’s Search. Since then, I’ve reduced the count to 1-2 in certain decks.
The inability to also get matching basics has really hurt the value of this card. One of the decks I have been testing has been Emboar Magnezone, and with a deck using two evolution lines, and the card has increased value in positions like that. It competes with both Pokemon Collector and the next card on our list as well…
Pokemon Communication
This card is going to be a 4 of in every deck now. With Bebe’s Search and Luxury Ball gone, there are no competing spots. Last format, the card was often shaved in favor of Bebe’s due to the fact that you wanted playable cards vs decks such as Vilegar that abused trainer lock.
It also saw less play because, to be honest, most decks were SP decks, and they had SP Radar (coupled with Cyrus’s) and Collector to get most of their basics. Premier Ball covered the Level X cards, while also doubling as a recovery card.
As a result, Pokemon Communication saw less play, but that is actually a bit misleading because the card is extremely good, and is a blind 4 of in every deck for the foreseeable future. Not only have we lost most of the viable replacements, but the cards that decreased its value before (Spiritomb mainly) have rotated.
Judge
Judge is an interesting card. Decks are now more weak than every against this card, and disruption in general. The loss of Uxie, again, being a major reason. Decks are more fragile now, so Judge is going to do more damage. Good recovery cards, like Chatot, have also rotated, so its harder to protect against this card.
On the other hand, it is harder to abuse as well, because it is a double-edged sword. As a result, it can easily backfire. The strength of this card is likely to depend on what sort of draw engines end up being played and how fast/consistent the fully fleshed out engines end up being.
If decks wind up complex, and a bit fickle, then this card is going to be a true beating versus them. If decks such as the turbo Zekrom deck define the format, such disruption will hurt them less, although a deck like Zekrom may end up being able to abuse it.
Copycat
This was the default “go to” card last format for shuffle draw. This is a format where there is a higher demand for shuffle draw cards to replenish hand size since Uxie is gone. Unfortunately, since Uxie is gone, average hand sizes drop off as well.
Before, “Set Up” and Cyrus’s Conspiracy kept hand sizes high, and Copycat’s value was at a high we haven’t seen since a format where Steven’s Advice was played in (2004 in particular comes to mind).
I wanted this card to maintain its value, but sadly, it seems like this isn’t going to be the case. As hand sizes drop below 6 quite regularly, I’d rather just run Professor Oak’s New Theory or Professor Juniper. I ragged on PONT last format because it was functionally worse than Copycat, but now, things have changed in PONT’s favor.
Professor Oak’s New Theory
I pretty much addressed this by discussing Copycat, but this card has gained value as a good default shuffle-draw effect. The debate is now whether this card is better or worse than Professor Juniper.
