The switch over to this new format has been an interesting one. One thing that stands out is how similar it is to the prior one. The number of cards which rotated was at an alltime low: Only 4 sets worth. The number of those which were actually seeing play at the end of last season belong to an even smaller list. Due to the continual power creep of cards, cards from Diamond and Pearl ( released in mid-2007 ) simply fell behind the more recent releases. Most of the cards that were played were the support cards.
The most pronounced loss was Claydol, from Great Encounters. Some people cherish its rotation, others are going to miss it. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. I feel that cards which offer a boost in consistancy to decks over the course of the whole game are good. Claydol fell in line rather similiarly to Pidgeot in the 2005-2006 seasons, only on a stage 1. It was handicapped with a 2 retreat cost, and only 80 hit points. It enabled a good number of interesting deck combinations. It was the primary deck “engine” of the past few formats. Now, with it being rotated, there remains a bit of an imbalance.
