Hey guys! It’s Dane again, and here I am with a sequel to my last article, as people gave me many more ideas that I feel that I should’ve included. So without further ado, let’s get started! :D
Strengthened Cards
I’d like to start off with a rusty piece of metal that we like to call Junk Arm. Last format, Junk Arm was used quite often, and was even a staple in Gyarados. But back then, we only really used 1 or 2 as a tech in your deck (sans G-Dos). But now, we all need a boost in consistency in our decks, so Trainers are used often.
Junk Arm let’s you reuse those Trainers, as well as getting rid of useless cards. Junk Arm is now a 3-or-4-of staple in almost every deck. Junk Arm has had a tremendous boost in power and popularity, and it deserves to be noticed.
Another strengthened card is Potion. With the text change, this card is much more useful. It’s still not very good, but it is now even more useful in Healix than it once was, and can even be added into metagame decks such as Zekrom, Reshiboar, Magneboar, DonChamp, and much, much more. It’s still not a staple in any deck, but Potion is now a card that can actually help.
A third card to add to our list is Stantler. With a much slower format, getting your Basics is even more important, as you want to set up as fast as possible. Stantler helps because his attack, Call for Family, costs a single energy and searches your deck for up to two basic Pokemon and place them on your bench. It is basically Call Energy; it even ends your turn like Call did. Last format, Stantler wasn’t used because there were much better options to start with (i.e. Smeargle, Sableye, etc). Nowadays, Stantler helps tremendously in setting up, so it definitely deserves to be here.
Sage’s Training. When I first saw it, I thought it was horrible. What if there are THREE or more cards that you need from the top of your deck. This card is pretty much USELESS. Well, I now stand corrected. Though it is not good enough to become a staple, it certainly helps now.
Part of the reason Junk Arm has been strengthened is because Turn 1 Trainer Lock is gone and because of Sage’s Training. You get the two un-retrievable cards that you need, and then get the other cards you need with Junk Arm, Revive, etc. It is SO much more useful than it once was.
Lastly, I’d like to mention Pokemon Reversal. It was such an amazing card when it originally came out in Expedition, and was amazing all the way through HeartGold & SoulSilver. But no one really used it when it came out in HS. Luxray GL LV.X‘s Bright Look was much better, as it didn’t require a coin flip.
It was somewhat popular in Regionals 2011, but only in G-Dos. Now, pulling up high-retreat or low-HP is more important than ever. Of course Switch as rose in popularity, as I spoke about in my last article, but still, Reversal can completely destroy some decks. It is particularly useful in DonChamp and other Donphan variants.
Weakened Cards
Copycat is our first weakened card. It was useful when it originally came out, but now we have smaller hand sizes as Uxie is gone, Claydol is gone, Pokedex Handy910is is gone, and many other draw cards are gone. The fact that more decks this season are Trainer-based also hurts this card, as people will be able to burn through their decks.
The only deck (it hasn’t proven Top Tier, though) that could use Copycat as a staple is Misplume (Mismagius/Vileplume), because it will lock your opponent’s many Trainers, and therefore making their hand large. It’s still a viable card, but it is much less useful than it once was.
One of last format’s popular starters has now fallen under then weakened category: Smeargle. In the HS-On format, there are two starters that people are talking about: Smeargle, and Cleffa. In the original Card Comebacks article, I put Cleffa under the Strengthened category, as it is the most popular.
Smeargle, as you can see, is put under the Weakened category.Why? Because Professor Oak Juniper was released, Smeargle could possibly put you into a horrible start. Although it still could possibly help you by grabbing a Collector or Elm’s, the threat of Juniper is dangerous, and therefore putting Cleffa as a higher rank starter.
Well, those are my strengthened and weakened cards for today. If you have any other cards you felt like I should include, comment below and I’ll put it into my 3rd article in the mini-series. Thanks for readin’, and I’ll see ya next time. Bye!!!
Check out my website at http://dcdane.webs.com/ !!!!
