The Hawk’s Nest: A Rough Look Ahead

Hello 6P amigos. I am here to talk Next Destinies. My Cities season was very short. I only attended one event. Life got in the way for pretty much all of the other events. I did, however, make the cut with tyRam. I ran a 1-1 Ninetales HS and the lines of three that I have come to love.

Let’s talk about those lines of three. What are they you might ask? Well, I got very frustrated with my deck lists being so clogged up. So a while ago (basically right before Autumn Battle Roads) I decided to see what it would be like to not run 4 Junk Arm in almost every deck. So, I moved it down to three and realized that I did not miss the 4th at all.

In the end, I have been running a lot of the utility Trainers (Junk Arm, PlusPower, Eviolite, Rocky Helmet, Catcher, etc) in multiples of three instead of the more traditional four. It has been great and a great way to conserve some space. Well, enough for that rant, moving on…

As mentioned earlier, I will be focusing on our State’s format for this article. Let me be real up front with you guys: the deck lists in this article are in a very rough state. They are supposed to be more like guidelines for you all to take and test, like spring boards for your deck building needs (that is if you are stumped). This is not to say that I have not been testing these decks, I have. They are just not at a tournament level yet. I will be back in the future with more polished lists, especially as States get closer.

Before we jump right into the decks, I want to talk generally about some things (cards, decisions, etc) that Next Destinies will force us to  consider.

Deck Building 101: Pokémon Search

If you have been playing with any type of respectable deck list have been running 4 Pokémon Collector. (I know that is a slight exaggeration. There is also Dual Ball and Twins, etc.) Also, most deck lists run 4 Pokémon Communication, unless you are running an all Basic deck like ZPST or 6C. Basically, this eliminated 8 decisions from our deck building process. This was the core of almost every good list.

Now, some people (myself included) has been advocating a 3/1 Communication/Professor Elm’s Training Method split to help a lot of decks with the Trainer lock match up, but this was never widespread. Because of this uniformity, some skill in deck building had been removed from the game.

Next Destinies changes that paradigm. We are getting three cards (most likely) that all search out Pokémon and can run as their own engine.

Level Ball: This card lets you search your deck and retrieve one Pokémon with 90 or less HP.

Heavy Ball: This card lets you search you deck and retrieve one Pokémon with a three or more retreat cost.

Ultra Ball: This card lets you discard two cards from your hand to search and retrieve any one Pokémon from the deck.

(OK, so I thought Ultra Ball was going to be in the set for sure, but the boys at TTC are skeptical. Regardless, we still have some interesting decisions to make without it. However, if it is not in NXD, just take this little section, file it in the back of your mind, and come back to it at the beginning of the summer.)

Dual Ball: We already have this card, but it completes the usable “ball engine” (as many are calling it). This lets you flip two coins and for each heads search your deck for a Basic Pokémon and put it in your hand.

So, now we have choices for our Pokémon search slots. Obviously certain decks will utilize different cards, but the choice will be up to you. This is a great thing for the game. Anytime that you reintroduce skill into the game, the game is better off. You might not think that these 8 slots are that big of a deal, but the choices can make or break a deck in the coming format.

The Dragons, Genies, and Musketeers

The recent format has been relatively controlled, or at least heavily influenced, by what have been called the “big basics.” The question is, are these cards playable in the era of the EXs?

In my opinion, the short answer is, yes. Well, at least some of them. Let’s take a look (brief look) at these cards.

Virizion NVI: Can the preferred starter to 6C hold up? Maybe. This really depends on which versions of other decks stay prevalent. This one is very dependent on how the format develops. If there are plenty of set up Pokémon to pick on (Celebi Prime, Tynamo, Cyndaquil, Solosis, Oddish ,etc), then Virizon could still be useful.

Terrakion NVI: This one also depends on how the meta shapes up. The only reason why it is good now, is because of Magnezone Prime and Zekrom BLW. So, if Magnezone, Zekrom, and Zekrom EX stay popular, then Terrakion will have a space to operate.

Cobalion NVI: This is the one to stock up on. Cobalion is the one musketeer that can stand on its own. It resists Mewtwo EX. It locks your opponents out of attacking, or at least forces them into retreating. With all EXs having two or more retreat and other things like Magnezone having high costs, having to retreat a lot is rough. In addition, this can still increase its effective HP to very substantial levels with Eviolite and Special Metal.

Tornadus EPO: See Virizion. If there are plenty of little things to pick off, then it still has a place. If not, this will see a decline in play.

Thundurus EPO/Landorus NVI: In my opinion, both of these will not survive. They have too small amount of health. They also do not hit consistently hard enough to have staying power.

Kyurem NVI: I think that the reign of Kyurem is coming to a close. Heck, by the end of Cities, it was already coming to an end as it was being replaced with Fighting types in the Electrode decks. Thirty spread to EXs is just not enough. Also, 30 damage might not be enough to soften up the big boys for KOs later in the game. You would need to get two or three Glaciates off to do any type of significant damage built up. If there are a lot of set up Pokémon, then maybe it has a place.

Zekrom BLW: I see this in one or two decks, but it struggles to stand on its own. Zekrom does 2HKO any EX. That is the good news. The bad news is that it hurts itself. Its recoil is a lot. It also has 3 Energy sitting on it, so Mewtwo EX will only need DCE to score the KO, maybe one more Energy if the Zekrom has Eviolite.

Reshiram BLW: This is the Dragon that has a shot. It already does not struggle to stream Reshiram. Also, the Energy discard on Blue Flare is advantageous. This is because you effectively take off 40 damage from the board for Mewtwo EX. So, Mewtwo (assuming 1 Afterburner damage on the first Reshiram) would need three Energy to use Psycho Drive to score the OHKO, or you would need 4 Energy on Mewtwo EX to use X-Ball for a OHKO.

Now, this quickly becomes very energy extensive for Mewtwo EX to keep scoring OHKOs, so it could have a chance. If you play Reshiram correctly you will be able to orchestrate these 1 for 1 trades with Mewtwo EX at least twice a game and possibly take 2 for 1 trades to finish the game off.

The Stadiums

Skyarrow Bridge: This card reduces the retreat cost of any Basic Pokémon by C. This will be a huge deal for a lot of decks. Just expect to see this card played often.

Pokémon Center: This card could see some play in a couple ways.

1. It could be a counter stadium to Skyarrow Bridge for non-Basic decks. It would be a way to remove that advantage for the Basics.

2. It can help to conserve Pokémon in the prize exchange. If you are playing a Typhlosion deck, you could use Afterburner to the bench. Then use Pokémon Center to heal the damage off. Then you retreat/Switch into the active to attack. This could save you from a OHKO several times.

In the alternative you could use this to conserve stuff like Magnezone. You could attack with Magnezone. Then Magnezone would take damage from your opponent’s attack. Assuming Magnezone lives, you could send it to the bench to heal for a couple turns. Of course your opponent could decided to catcher it back out, but then you have forced them to attack a relatively weak threat (at that moment) and ignore a different attacker.

Cards of Interest

Prism Energy

Stock up on this card.

There has been some confusion about its translation. It will most likely, as reported to date, be just like Rainbow Energy, except it will work on Basics and it will not inflict damage. With all the big EXs being Basics and the current 6C components, this card will be seen a lot.

Shaymin EX

This card is also very controversial among the general population. Some think that it is too big of a risk. If you start with it, you will likely be down two prizes early. Also, you cannot use it in the mid-game or else you will lose it, and the two prizes with it. However, if your opponent is down to 1 prize, it becomes very good. If you have planned it well, you can N, then maybe use something like lost Lost Remover, then get Shaymin EX rolling.

If you hit that combo you have likely wrecked your opponent’s board state and his hand. Often times this will get you back into the game and ready to swing for 180 per turn as long as your opponent is hand locked. I really think that a lot of decks could use Shaymin EX.

Electrode Prime

In my opinion, Electrode actually becomes more viable as an Energy accelerator. If you are playing with EXs you effectively don’t fall behind. They still have to take out 3 EX Pokémon to take the last prize. If you don’t use Electrode, they still only have to KO 3 EX Pokémon. So, either way you are ok. Also, Electrode just makes N and Shaymin EX better. I don’t have a deck fleshed out for it, yet, but I think there is potential.

Musharna NXD

Ah, a slightly less good Uxie LV.X. For those of you who don’t know, Musharna lets you look at the top two cards of your deck and put one into your hand. It only has 100 HP, a three retreat, and Psychic weakness. Most people have written this off as too big of a Catcher target.

However, in the era of EXs and big time attackers, can you really afford to take out the support and ignore the attackers? Therefore, I think that this card will see play in some decks. I specifically think this card will see play in Vileplume UD decks.

Random Receiver

This is just another great consistency card coming out in Next Destinies. The card reads: “Reveal cards from your deck until you reach a Supporter card. Put that card in your hand, and shuffle the cards you revealed into your deck.”

We saw how good Pokegear 3.0 was after people figured out how to use it. Random Receiver might force you to rethink the support lines in your deck to maximize this card.

EXP Share

This card is going to be a 61st card. It works for virtually every deck. But, there are just too many other things that our decks need. This card allows you to move an Energy from your active Pokémon to the Pokémon EXP Share is attached to, when the active is KO’d. This is a great option, I just don’t think it will warrant a spot over other things.

Mewtwo EX

I’ll keep this very simple. Do I think Mewtwo EX is as good as people are saying? No. Do I think that almost every deck will run one copy? Yes. Mewtwo EX is very good. However, there are plenty of things that give Mewtwo EX problems. However, the most efficient counter to Mewtwo EX is to drop a Mewtwo EX + DCE of your own and take the KO.

Zekrom EX

This is the second best EX in the set. The thing is a monster. It has a massive 180 HP. It hits for 150 and a double discard. It actually counters Mewtwo EX pretty well. The only problem is that there are plenty of capable Fighting Types in the format to counter Zekrom EX.

Lost Remover

Let’s say hello to a potential MVP of the format. We will have DCE, Special Dark, Special Metal, Rainbow, Prism, and Rescue Energy in the format. The EX decks and big Basic decks will likely run 4 Rainbow and 4 Prism. Many other decks will run 2-ish Rescue Energy for recovery. This little card could become almost as disruptive as Catcher in this format.

Decks on Deck

Well, enough rambling on about specific cards. Let’s move onto decks. As I said earlier, these are just some of the ideas I am toying around with right now. They are not in tournament ready stages. Obviously, we do not even have Next Destinies yet. So, I am offering these ideas (and some lists) as a starting point for your (and my) deck building and testing purposes.

Furthermore, these decks are divided into three categories: competitive, semi-competitive, and fun decks. These breakdowns reflect what I think of the potential of each deck. However, within each division there is no particular order to the decks. So, just because a deck is listed first, I do not necessarily think that is the best deck, etc.

Also, I have Ultra Ball in some of these decks. For the most part you can just take out the Ultra Balls and put in Communications if we do not get UB in this set.

Competitive Decks

tyRam 2.0

Pokemon – 16 4 Cyndaquil HS 2 Quilava HS 4 Typhlosion Prime 3 Reshiram BLW 1 Cleffa HS/CL 1 Reshiram EX 1 Mewtwo EX

Trainers – 33 4 Pokémon Collector 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 3 N 2 Professor Juniper 3 Rare Candy 3 Rocky Helmet 3 Junk Arm 2 PlusPower 3 Pokemon Catcher 2 Ultra Ball (or Pokemon Communication) 2 Pokémon Communication 2 Random Receiver

Energy – 11 11 Fire

By in large this is just a standard tyRam list. I honestly believe that this is one of the current decks that will not need a huge remake to survive in the post-NXD metagame. This deck did have at least some success in a Next Destinies meta according to Esa. Let me explain why I think this:

1. Reshiram is actually pretty solid against Mewtwo EX. Reshiram discards two Energy after using Blue Flare. So, Mewtwo EX has to use its second attack or use between 4 and 5 Energy to get the OHKO on Reshiram with X-Ball.

Now, since a lot of the time Mewtwo EX will be using non-Psychic Energies to pay for its attack, Reshiram will not have to fear Psycho Drive very often. This essentially enables Reshiram to orchestrate 1 or 2 one for one exchanges with Mewtwo EX during a game, a two prize card advantage.

2. The deck is still very consistent and self-sustaining. With EXs in the format, N is going to become more powerful. tyRam loves N.

3. After your orchestrate the trade in point one, you can use Mewtwo EX or Reshiram EX to take the last two prizes.

4. Even against Zekrom EX (the second best EX), you can often orchestrate 2 for 1 trades often; that is if Zekrom can manage to continuously stream those Strong Volt attacks.

However, Zekrom EX’s Energy manipulation is Eelektrik. The Eel struggles to facilitate a stream of attacks when the active is discarding Energy. (The Thunderdome can use Energy from anywhere on the field with Lost Burn. That allows the Thunderdome to stream attacks.)

5. Energy denial is going to be a big thing in the coming format. Specifically, denying DCE is going to be a HUGE deal (and the other special Energy to an extent). So, if you just got attacked by Zekrom EX and it discarded two Lightning Energy, you simply attack with Typhlosion Prime and remove the DCE to strand the Zekrom EX.

Ultra Ball is extremely strong in this deck because you need to discard Fire Energy. I do not think it is strong enough to play a full play set because this deck also burns through cards.

Anyway, a few things I would consider doing to this deck is:

• Incorporate Lost Remover somewhere.
• Possibly not run Reshiram EX and run either 4 Reshiram or 2 Mewtwo EX.
• You might even run Zekrom EX and either Lightning or Prism Energy instead of Mewtwo EX and Double Colorless Energy.

The Thunderdome

Pokemon – 19 2 Tynamo NVI 38 1 Tynamo NVI 39 3 Eelektrik NVI 4 Magnemite TM 2 Magneton TM 3 Magnezone Prime 1 Cleffa HS/CL 1 Zekrom BLW 1 Zekrom EX 1 Mewtwo EX

Trainers – 27 4 Pokémon Collector 4 N 2 Sage’s Training 2 PONT 4 Rare Candy 4 Ultra Ball (or Pokemon Communication) 3 Junk Arm 2 Switch 2 Pokemon Catcher

Energy – 14 12 Lightning 2 Double Colorless

“The Thunderdome will be the best deck at States” - Pram, TTC Episode 21, 0:56:09

Well, there you have it. One very prominent player is calling this the best deck at States 2012. Is he right? In short, I don’t think he is wrong. Let’s talk about what makes The Thunderdome so strong:

1. You have non-EX main attackers. Zekrom can often take easy prizes on non-EX Pokémon and apply early game pressure. Then, Magnezone can OHKO any EX Pokémon with 4 Energy.  That is two prizes for 4 energy. That is a HUGE deal.
2. The deck has internal consistency with Magnezone.
3. The deck has access to the two best EX Pokémon we will have.

I think this list is fairly self-explanatory. Here are a few things I would consider:

• Does the Eelektrik line need to be thicker? If you lose an early Tynamo and the other is prized, this deck falls apart.
• This deck needs some type of recovery. The most obvious place would be one Pokémon for a super rod. Possibly a Magnemite could be cut.

I fully expect to see this deck get a lot of play in at least the first weekend of States.

ZPST + Mewtwo EX

Pokemon – 12 3 Tornadus EPO 2 Mewtwo EX 3 Zekrom BLW 2 Shaymin UL 2 Pachirisu CL

Trainers – 37 4 Professor Juniper 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 2 Pokémon Collector 4 Energy Search 3 Dual Ball 3 Junk Arm 3 Pokemon Catcher 3 Eviolite 3 Random Receiver 2 Lost Remover 2 Energy Exchanger 2 Super Scoop Up 2 Skyarrow Bridge

Energy – 11 8 Lightning 3 Double Colorless

Here is a simple ZPST list. I’m not going to go into too much depth with it. ZPST aims to hit for a lot of damage on T1 with Zekrom or Tornadus. Then you score the turn two KO on whatever you damaged turn 1. If it was an EX you just took a two prize lead. Then you just hang on for dear life.

Big Basics

There will be a 6C type of deck with the new EXs. The deck will have Cobalion and Mewtwo EX. The rest will be just filler. I expect to see the deck run 4 Rainbow and 4 Prism. It will also run Terrakion to deal with Magnezone and Zekrom EX and Zekrom.

Durant

Pokemon – 5 4 Durant NVI 1 Rotom UD

Trainers – 43 4 Pokémon Collector 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 4 N 2 Twins   4 Junk Arm 4 Level Ball (these have replaced Dual ball) 4 Lost Remover 3 Random Receiver 3 Eviolite 3 Crushing Hammer 3 Revive 3 Pokemon Catcher 1 Super Rod   1 Skyarrow Bridge

Energy – 12 6 Basic Metal 4 Special Metal 2 Prism

Ah, the little ant that could. Even if the new Heatmor (which OHKOs Durant for 1 Colorless Energy) is released in Next Destinies this deck will be played and it will do well. People want to talk about Heatmor killing the deck, well here’s what I have to say about that:

1. A single copy of Heatmor can easily be prized.
2. Heatmor could easily be milled.
3. Good Durant players already expect to lose a Durant per turn. So, this is not really anything new.

Now that we have talked about Heatmor, let’s talk about the EXs:

1. Durant resists Mewtwo EX, uses SP Metal, and uses Eviolite. So, it will take either a Psycho Drive or a 5 energy X-Ball to score the OHKO.
2. Durant has a ton of room to tech it out. This means that you get to use a high Lost Remover count. That alone can possibly win a game against the EX field.
3. The other EXs are slow to set up.

Overall, the list above is pretty consistent. The big difference between that list and most others is the inclusion of Level Ball over Dual Ball. Dual Ball can get you more Pokémon, but Level Ball is a guaranteed Pokémon.  I will take the guaranteed one over possible two almost every time.

Durant will be a player in the next meta. It is both competitive and cheap.

The Truth

I am not as sold on the truth as others are, but I see the potential with Regigigas EX, Mewtwo EX, and Reshiram EX + Victini. I’m sure others will devote more time to fleshing this out.

I do think that The Truth will get better once Kyurem EX is released.

Celebi Prime/Mewtwo EX

Pokemon – 12 4 Celebi Prime 4 Mewtwo EX 1 Shaymin EX 3 Alternative attacker

Trainers – 36 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 4 N 3 Professor Juniper 3 Pokémon Collector   4 Dual Ball 4 Junk Arm 3 Pokemon Catcher 3 Eviolite 2 Random Receiver 2 Lost Remover 2 PlusPower   2 Skyarrow Bridge

Energy – 12 8 Grass 4 Double Colorless

This is the hype deck of the next format. People have been talking about this deck since it was on Esa’s site.

The basic idea is to use Skyarrow bridge and Celebi’s Power to accelerate energy onto Mewtwo EX.

However, I am not so sold on this. Here’s why:

1. Celebi is too easy to kill.

2. Mewtwo EX is very dangerous to play as the main attacker. It is OHKO too easily by too many things. Furthermore, it struggles to OHKO too much stuff without massive energy commitments.

So, that is why we have three slots committed to alternative attackers. We need something that can attack for Colorless Energy or Grass Energy. It needs to be able to hit for at least 80 or 90 damage. It would be nice if it was not an EX Pokémon.

The list of candidate are: Tornadus, Regigigas EX, Druddigon NVI, etc. I will let you all sort through this.

In all, I am not a big fan of this deck. I think that it will be solid, but I think that there are much better uses for Mewtwo EX.

Purple Lighting

So, I got bored of calling this Zekrom/Eelektrik/blah, blah, blah. Thus, Purple Lightning.

Pokemon – 13 2 Tynamo NVI 38 1 Tynamo NVI 39 3 Eelektrik NVI 2 Zekrom EX 3 Alternative attacker 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Cleffa HS/CL

Trainers – 34 4 Pokemon Collector 4 Professor Juniper 4 Sage’s Training   3 Random Receiver 3 Ultra Ball (or Pokemon Communicaiton) 3 Junk Arm 3 Pokemon Catcher 3 Rocky Helmet (or Eviolite) 3 PlusPower 2 Switch 1 Lost Remover 1 Super Rod

Energy – 13 10 Lightning 3 Double Colorless

For those of you familiar with this deck, it ran Zekrom/Eeletrik/Tornadus this past season. I know that a several people thought that this deck never saw its potential realized. However, it is a new day.

This deck basically runs like the Thunderdome, just with less internal consistency because of no Magneonze Prime. However, now the deck has access to Zekrom EX and Mewtwo EX to deal a lot of damage where Zekrom came up shot last season.

I clearly prefer an aggressive build with this deck, opting to run Rocky Helmet over Eviolite. However, many people will be advocates of Eviolite. There is nothing wrong with that. I would rather orchestrate return OHKOs with Rocky Helmet and PlusPower than tank with Eviolite.

Obviously we need to have another attacker and that is where this deck is flexible. You can run Tornadus for early game pressure or Zekrom for more damage in the early game. I think that I would run Zekrom.

If you decided to run Zekrom, the decision to run Rocky Helmet becomes even more controversial. I would argue that the 20 kick back from Zekrom, with Eviolite, is enough to get Zekrom KOd. So, you might as well play Rocky Helmet and do more damage to your opponent’s Pokémon while being KOd. In the end, this is just an experimental list and you need to test it out yourself.

Semi-Competitive (or Decks with Potential)

VVV

Pokemon – 23 3 Oddish UD 1 Gloom UD 2 Vileplume UD 4 Vanillite NVI 4 Vanillish NVI 4 Vanilluxe NVI 1 Cleffa HS/CL 1 Pichu HS 2 Victini NVI 14 1 Shaymin EX

Trainers – 26 4 Pokémon Collector 4 Twins 4 N 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 2 Professor Elm’s Training Method 1 Flower Shop Lady   4 Rare Candy 3 Pokémon Communication

Energy – 11 8 Water 3 Grass

This deck received quite a bit of hype and never really lived up to it. However, it was a solid deck. In the Next Destinies meta, it will remain right where it was.

If you keep the game within 3 prizes early, you have a good shot at winning. You will be able to attack with Vanilluxe for KOs. If these KOs are against EX Pokémon, you will get two prizes. Then they will OHKO your Vanilluxe for one prize. You might be able to orchestrate this trade a couple times. Then when they have only one prize left, you can drop the N and Shaymin EX to swing for 180 damage per turn and hopefully stage the comeback.

That situation is a rather complicated one to bring about, but it gives you a fighting shot.

MagneBoar

Pokemon – 20 3 Tepig BLW Promo BW07 1 Pignite BLW 17 2 Emboar BLW 20 3 Magnemite TM 1 Magneton TM 3 Magnezone Prime 2-2 RDL 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Cleffa HS/CL 1 Reshiram BLW

Trainers – 27 4 Pokémon Collector 3 Twins 3 N 3 Professor Oak’s New Theory   4 Pokémon Communication 4 Rare Candy 3 Junk Arm 2 Pokemon Catcher 1 Super Rod

Energy – 13 9 Fire 4 Lightning

You can bet your bottom dollar that people will be trying to break RDL in the next format. With Ozone Buster you get three prizes from KOing a single Mewtwo EX. If they make the mistake of dropping two Mewtwo EX, you can use Catcher and take another three prizes. That is INSANE.

Furthermore, I think the best deck to utilize RDL in is MagneBoar. You have plenty of alterative attackers that can deal with the EXs. Magnezone can OHKO any of them. Reshiram can trade once or twice with EXs. You also have Mewtwo EX to play against the EXs along with Inferno Fandango to hit huge amounts of power with X-Ball.

Mewtwo EX/Gardy

I do not have a list for this. However, some people are giving this deck considerable hype. In my opinion, this is not going to be a great deck unless you come up with a non-Psychic attacker. If you don’t get that, Gardy has only 110 HP. It is a lot of work to set up for a very fragile supporter. Also, you have the same problem with Mewtwo EX being very energy extensive and too easily KOd.

This deck will be played, but I’m not entirely sold on how good it will be.

Scizor Prime/Skarmory UD/Something

This deck could have some success, but it will be highly dependent on how the meta game turns out. If the meta s filled with Mewtwo EX and Special Energies, then Scizor will be in excellent shape. If the meta is filled with Magnezone Prime, Scizor will struggle.

Skarmory is a great starter because it can pull Energy out of the deck for a turn or two and pull it on Scizor. Then you can use Metal Scizors to 2HKO anything in the format and have protection for Special Energy. There is some potential there in the EX meta.

Fun Decks (Pet Decks)

So, now I have two decks that I want to toss in for free. These two decks are near and dear to my heart. If the meta in your area is just right, these might be able to deliver you to a .500 record or better.

Leafeon UD/Espeon Prime/Amoonguss NXD

Pokemon – 17 4 Eevee UD 48 3 Espeon Prime 2 Leafeon UD 3 Foongus NVI 3 Amoonguss NXD 1 Shaymin EX 1 Cleffa HS/CL

Trainers – 33 4 Pokemon Collector 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 4 N 4 Pokemon Communication 3 Junk Arm 3 Pokemon Catcher 3 Lost Remover 4 Random Receiver 3 Super Scoop Up 1 Super Rod

Energy – 10 5 Psychic 5 Grass

Why could this deck be good? Well, let’s talk about that:

1. EXs do not like status conditions. Ammongus inflicts both Poison and Confusion the turn it hits the board. The previous incarnation of this deck used Roserade UL to accomplish those conditions. However, Amoonguss is better because it does not eat your Energy attachment.

2. Espeon Prime devastates Mewtwo EX. For one energy you do 200 damage with Espeon to Mewtwo EX. You accomplish this through dropping Amoonguss, then using Miasma Wind from Leafeon through Espeon’s Ability.

3. You are still dealing 110 damage to any other Pokémon in the format and forcing them to either retreat, evolve, or risk taking more damage with confusion. Furthermore, with more and more disruption cards in the format you can really mess with your opponent’s hand and board position.

The main reason why this deck will struggle is because everything gets OHKOd by a lot of attackers.

Sharpedo/Victini/Slowking/Attackers

I wrote an article about this fun deck here. This thing can be a very good deck. Strip Bare is the most devastating attack in the game, period. That is, if you hit the double heads. Let’s look at a list.

Pokemon – 18 3 Carvanha TM 3 Sharpedo TM 2 Slowpoke HS/CL 2 Slowking HS/CL 2 Victini NVI 14 2 Mewtwo EX 2 Shaymin EX 1 Cleffa HS/CL 1 Pichu HS

Trainers – 32 4 Pokémon Collector 4 Professor Oak’s New Theory 4 N   4 Pokémon Communication 3 Random Receiver 3 Junk Arm 3 Pokemon Catcher 3 Lost Remover 2 Crushing Hammer 2 Switch

Energy – 10 4 Double Colorless 4 Darkness 2 Grass

This list has focused on getting the turn two Strip Bare attempt. Then it focuses on hitting a turn 3 Mewtwo EX to put pressure of their field.

You notice that I put in a 2/2 Mewtwo EX, Shaymin EX line for the attackers. The deck could cut 2 Mewtwo EX and one Shaymin EX to utilize a different attacker. For example, you could also cut the Pichu and make room for a Cinccino BLW line.

However, the Skaymin EX must stay in the deck. I have talked a lot about a late game N + Shaymin EX combo. This deck’s glimmering hope is its ability to abuse Shaymin EX’s comeback potential. In the past, if you whiffed the early game (first three turns) Stripe Bare, you usually failed to compete in the game.

Now, you can go down five prizes and still have a shot in the game. You have a chance because Slowking is the best partner for N. You can play N and then dictate what your opponent draws for the rest of the game. So, as long as the single card your opponent draws off N is not another Supporter, you can literally lock your opponent out of the game by dictating the top decks. That is a spectacular thing.

Furthermore, you can use Lost Remover and Crushing Hammer to destroy their board position. So, with the top deck locked and poor board position you created for your opponent, you can safely  play Shaymin EX to sweep the game. This is a very intricate situation to develop, but when you do hit it, it is priceless.

Conclusion

So, basically I think that the EXs will have a significant impact on the meta. I do think that new decks will emerge. However, I really feel that (at least at the first weekend) decks which can utilize non-EX attacks successfully will have the advantage.