At Adam’s request, and because I was already in the process of playtesting the format, I’ve decided I would write up some in depth analysis of the format being used for the Professor Cup this year. Long before P!P decided to offer up the potential for a HGSS On Nationals, they announced they would be running the Professor Cup under such limitations…with a catch!
First and foremost, we are stuck with two major restrictions. Well, I guess one is a restriction, and the other is a perk. We are stuck with two major “alterations” may be a bit more fitting then. The first of these is that our entire deck is limited by one type.
The second alteration is that we get to choose our starting Pokemon every game, taking the variance of what we open with out of the format. Let’s address these two changes right off the bat before we go into what cards and decks look to be front runners in this format.
By restricting deck construction to all Pokemon of one type, we take away the ability to hand craft fun interactions between many of the different Pokemon. No more Magnezone Emboar, or a diversified Stage 1 deck featuring the likes of Donphan Prime, Cinccino, and Zoroark. The real deck choices are pretty much hand picked for us as the creative options are restricted quite a bit.
One of the criticisms that Pokemon faces is the rock paper scissors nature provided by the use of different “types” and their respective weakness/resistances. This has always been less of a real issue in the past because decks could diversify and end up covering their weaknesses, and thus a complex and enjoyable checks and balances since was in place.
The new format removes a good deal of that, and it actually winds up playing a key factor in what decks are going to be most viable.
A number of evolution lines are not going to be legal at all. Let’s address a few of them:
- Tyranitar Prime: Larvitar and Pupitar are Fighting
- Eeveelutions: Eevee is Colorless
- Steelix Prime: Onix is Fighting
- Scizor Prime: Scyther is Grass
- Slowking Prime: No legal psychic type Slowpokes
Now, not all of these “matter” that much, but some of them are otherwise interesting options. Scizor Prime is a really good card in this format, as is Steelix. Tyranitar is clearly a good card as well. The two most interesting facts to take out of this observation though, are that Metal and Dark types are extremely restricted in terms of what they are able to use.
As a result, it is safe to say that Pokemon with a Metal or Dark weakness are pretty good choices, as they don’t have anything to really try and answer them that can also hope up against anything else in the format.
Slowking Prime is an awful card. Yet it is reliable draw power in a format where types can’t run their Cleffas, or other supplement draw/back up Pokemon, so in a Psychic deck, it might have actually gotten some use. Well, if it could be used, that is.
Let’s actually break the types down one by one and look at what the initial standout cards appear to be.
Water
Feraligatr Prime
The most obvious card to look at in Water is Ferligatr Prime. It is fantastic energy manipulation, and has a fairly respectable attack as well. Built into the line is also the other Ferligatr whose Spinning Tail attack is respectable and makes a pretty nice addition to the deck.
Any time I can get two good Pokemon out of one line, I’m pretty content. Gatr is the engine of a deck, and a good secondary attacker, but it does need to get paired with something else to really carry the weight of the decks offense.
Samurott
Samurott is a great choice because not only is it really beefy, packing 140 hit points and a built in two Metal Energy, but it also comes packing an unlimited damage output. Now, admittedly, tanking the guy with 7 Water Energy to do 140 damage isn’t exactly “efficient” but with Gatr Prime, it isn’t unrealistic either.
This is a trend I’m going to continue to address, but Samurott is also weak to Lightning. Feraligatr is weak to Grass. By mixing and matching weaknesses, the deck is able to avoid being completely hosed by facing a deck of the type it has issues with.
This is one of the good things about playing Water: There is a good mix of Water and Grass weaknesses, which give it an inherent edge over types such as Fire, who are forced to pretty much bear the brunt of their monotonous Water weakness.
