Before we progress any further into this article, let me introduce four “lists” to you:
List #1: Four Cyrus’s Conspiracy
List #2: Four Spiritomb
List #3: Mix of Sableye and/or Smeargle
List #4: A combination of the above
Odds are, this is how you played decks last format. Even before the threat of Black-and-White rules, if you did not play your deck with any of the above, then the overwhelming odds suggested that you would lose your tournament. And badly.
For this reason alone, we should be greatly pleased about this prospective format rotation. Put simply, it not only saved us from having to cope with SP over and over again, or obnoxious “Item” lock via Vilegar, or from sickeningly broken zero energy, 110 damage attacks; it saved us from ourselves.
Yes, the absurd brokenness of the format, coupled with our nearly insatiable appetite to win helped create one of the game’s stalest formats in history, as well as the greatest barrier to rogue entry in ages. So yes, this is most certainly cause for celebration.
However, the only problem about recovering from a stale format so soon is that the player base has to exercise while on stiff muscles. And since we’ve been leading a shockingly sedentary lifestyle for the past two and a half years, it’s going to take a lot more to get the blood flowing than just sit leisurely walks, gut lifts, and Dance Dance Revolution.
Yes, my friends…It’s going to take some work.
In this article, I have a few pretty basic goals in mind: to analyze and describe all of your newest consistency tools not named “Cyrus”; to walk you through the construction of a deck using the resources listed above (or not); and then to close out with a couple finished products.
So let’s get into this brave new world of ours, and discover what it has to offer.
The Tools of the Trade
By now, I’m sure you guys have been hearing hype about all sorts of emergent decks: Zekrom, Tyranitar, Reshiram, Cinccino, and Donphan are just some of the names being thrown around.
This article isn’t necessarily about any of those; instead, we’re going to be talking about the wide array of options you’ll have to choose from to build _any_ deck this format.
Also, we won’t be talking too much about the merits of Potion, or whether or not to run PlusPower in a deck . The chief concern you should have when building a brand new deck is consistency.
Can you get it out in time? Can you keep it going from start to finish? Can you recover from a bad hand, or from a disruption of your hand?
That is my purpose in writing this article: helping you guys test this unprecedented format.
So given all that, let’s take a look…
Pokémon: What to Do (or Not!)
Unlike the Majestic Dawn-on format, which placed almost no emphasis on using Pokémon to set up your field, this format is likely going to place a great deal of importance on which Pokémon – if any – you use.
Listed below are three types of setup Pokémon: “starters,” “partners,” and “crutches.” All of these names are intuitive, but let’s just review what all these cards do. Are you going to see some things you would have never expected? Maybe, but that’s just part of exploring all options.
Starters: Your preferred Basic Pokémon to open with (definitively, this is always a Basic Pokémon). Usually run in a quantity of four; occasionally run with one or two of another card to supplement its effect.
Classic examples: Cleffa (Neo Genesis), Dunsparce (Sandstorm), Jirachi (Deoxys), Holon’s Castform (Holon Phantoms), Sableye (Stormfront), Spiritomb (Arceus)
Partners: Pokémon that are capable of setting you up in the early game, and maintaining your game throughout.
Classic Examples: Delcatty (Ruby/Sapphire), Pidgeot (Fire Red/Leaf Green), Magcargo (Deoxys), Nidoqueen Delta (Dragon Frontiers)
Crutches: Helps iron out weak hands, or helps strong hands grab that one card to become “perfect.” Usually Basic Pokémon, and usually played in tech quantities (1-of).
Classic Examples: Any of the above-listed “starters,” Chatot (Majestic Dawn), Aipom (Deoxys) with Magcargo (Deoxys), Smeargle (Undaunted)
Now that we’ve had a reminder of what purposes non-attacking Pokémon may serve for your deck building purposes, let’s take a look at almost every possible option this format has to offer!
Ninetales (#7 HGSS – Partner): Anyone who’s played Charizard is very familiar with this card, but with the advent of the new format, everybody else may be in for a bit of a shock. With the ability to draw three for the cost of a single Fire Energy, Ninetales gives Fire decks a strong edge in the upcoming format, and is one of the most obvious options to boost consistency.
With its raw draw power, I would highly recommend this card (and any good deck capable of abusing it) for the new format. However, do be aware that Ninetales’s type limits its uses to mainly just Fire, Colorless, and (maybe) Lightning deck options.
Noctowl (#8 HGSS – Partner): I’ve seen limited use of this card so far, and I hope that it stays that way. Although the right to draw one extra card per turn is unconditional (i.e., you don’t have to do anything for it other than put Noctowl into play), this is – in most decks – a horrible option. I would wholeheartedly recommend running something with more “oomf” over this guy, such as Magnezone Prime.
Cleffa (HeartGold/SoulSilver + Call of Legends – Crutch): A major reason why few players were caught dead running “Baby” Pokémon during DP-on and MD-on is because they have horrifyingly-low HP. And in any format where quick wins are prevalent, you’re essentially giving up a free prize to every single competitive deck.
Well, one surprising consequence of an early format rotation is that these cards, once held down by Crobat G and others, will now suddenly gain much greater strength, both as starters and as crutches.
Although you can play this card as a full-blown starter, its 30 HP is still cause for concern, so I would suggest that you only run a copy of one. That way, it can help shore up consistency in a pinch.
Pichu (HeartGold/SoulSilver – Starter): Like Cleffa, Pichu benefits from the would-be rotation of Crobat G/Poke Turn.
Due to the huge edge “Let’s Play!” gives your opponent in a setup-based format, I am very uneasy about recommending this card. Nevertheless, I could certainly see it working decently in a Jumpluff or Cinccino deck.
Plus, if your opponent has already played a Pokémon Collector on his or her first turn, then you’re really not giving them much of an advantage via “Let’s Play!” anyways.
