Somehow, Zoroark Returned — A Look At The New N Archetype

[PMJ]

Hello everyone! We’re just past the first Regional Championships of the new format, with Atlanta last weekend, followed by Regionals in Europe and Latin America shortly afterward. It will certainly be interesting to see which of the new archetypes from Journey Together are able to have the most success.
Already on PokeBeach we’ve gone over a few of them, including Tera Box, Feraligatr , and Milotic ex, though funnily enough we have not actually mentioned any of the Trainer’s Pokemon archetypes that are the main theme of Journey Together. This article will end that streak, as I’ll be going over my favorite of those archetypes, the N deck, led by N’s Zoroark ex...

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[TheLegend]

I have heard N is Zoroark and Zoroark is N

 

[dantemorius]

I have heard N is Zoroark and Zoroark is N

So, N is N and Zoroark ate same time

 

[Dairebt_Lagorve]

Return of the king

 

[Nuclear]

“why so serious?” ahh attack

 

[TheNidoKing]

The ability here is the same as Zoroark-GX. Why not copy+paste the wording?

 

[Grim Thoughts]

“It could still see play in that capacity, ala Cinccino, but I don’t see any deck that would necessarily want that at the moment.”

Meanwhile, in Atlanta last weekend:

 

[ChrisKing]

Last podcast episode just hits different. When you're a single dad like me... anyway I won't get into that here. Thank you.

 

[TheNidoKing]

Return of the king

No Nido. Not The King.

 

[Swaxe]

The ability here is the same as Zoroark-GX. Why not copy+paste the wording?

The wording on GX let you discard cards with an empty deck, which was unintended. The new wording doesn’t let you do that

 

[TheNidoKing]

The wording on GX let you discard cards with an empty deck, which was unintended. The new wording doesn’t let you do that

Ah…that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[Myself :}]

The wording on GX let you discard cards with an empty deck, which was unintended. The new wording doesn’t let you do that

How does it do that?

 

[Swaxe]

How does it do that?

The gx says you can discard a card, and then you draw 2. The drawing is not necessary to discard a card.

The ex says you can draw 2 if and only if you discard a card, drawing is not optional to discard a card

 

[Dairebt_Lagorve]

I am FIENING for a new Pokebeach post

 

[piyuv]

The gx says you can discard a card, and then you draw 2. The drawing is not necessary to discard a card.

The ex says you can draw 2 if and only if you discard a card, drawing is not optional to discard a card

But the ex says “you may draw” so you can discard and choose not to draw?

 

[Swaxe]

But the ex says “you may draw” so you can discard and choose not to draw?

No, the ex says that you may draw (but only if you discard a card first). Both discarding and drawing are necessary. Think about it like ultraball. You cant use ultraball to discard 2 cards with an empty deck, because searching a pokemon is the main action, discarding is just the requirement.

Gx on the other hand, had discarding a card be the main action, drawing being an aftereffect of that. It’s like if ultra ball said “when you play this card, discard 2 other cards. If you do, you may search your deck for a Pokemon”, wheras the real one says to search your deck for a pokemon, but if you cant discard 2, dont do it

 

[piyuv]

No, the ex says that you may draw (but only if you discard a card first). Both discarding and drawing are necessary. Think about it like ultraball. You cant use ultraball to discard 2 cards with an empty deck, because searching a pokemon is the main action, discarding is just the requirement.

Gx on the other hand, had discarding a card be the main action, drawing being an aftereffect of that. It’s like if ultra ball said “when you play this card, discard 2 other cards. If you do, you may search your deck for a Pokemon”, wheras the real one says to search your deck for a pokemon, but if you cant discard 2, dont do it

Ah thank you, this is great. The usage of “may” confuses me though. It’s clear from your explanation that you can’t use the ability if your deck is empty (hence you can’t draw). But can you use the ability (by discarding a card from hand) and choose not to draw if your deck isn’t empty?

 

[Swaxe]

Ah thank you, this is great. The usage of “may” confuses me though. It’s clear from your explanation that you can’t use the ability if your deck is empty (hence you can’t draw). But can you use the ability (by discarding a card from hand) and choose not to draw if your deck isn’t empty?

Essentially, you can take an action that leads to an impossible aftereffect (for example, you can use dodrio 151’s ability with an empty deck. The action is the damage counter, the aftereffect is the card draw)

But you can’t take an impossible action just because the requirement is possible.

Zoroark ex’s action is drawing, the requirement is discarding, like ultra ball. You “may” draw two cards is the same as fez’s ability. It’s just saying that using the ability as a whole is optional. I 100% get how that could trip you up tho. Just think of it like ultra ball.

Gx’s action is discarding, with draw as an optional aftereffect