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Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
Interesting! What was fun about it? Was it your first prerelease? Were the prebuilt decks more balanced than some times? Did you draft good cards? Did other people drafting ex’s not hurt the gameplay as much as drafting V’s? Were more of your friends there? I’m curious to know, because I’ve never been to a prerelease, and you seem very excited about it.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
In order:
- I find lower power level formats significantly more fun both from a deckbuilding and playing perspective, as it broadens the pool of playable cards and combos significantly. the big pushed multiprizers mostly being evolutions again also really helps, as you can't just load up on one large basic and a ton of energy like you used to be able to.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
- This was my first prerelease since I was much younger, and consequently my first time using a build & battle box for its intended purpose.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
- Three of the four prebuilt decks seemed very good and about the same level as each other. I got the Revavroom one, which gives you access to several Tatsugiri/Dondozo as while as format breaker Vivillon, while the Pawmot and Quaquaval ones are slower, but very self-contained and playable out of the box. The Hawlucha one is somewhat of a dud, though.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
- I actually pulled very well, netting a holo Dondozo, Magnezone ex, and full art Miriam (which I played in my deck and then sold for $80 to somebody really desperate), and played the Dondozo and Miriam in my deck. I ended up playing Vivillon/Tatsugiri/Dondozo, which is probably the best deck you can play with no ultra rares.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
- The fact that the exes are all evolutions really helps. I could not play the Magnezone ex I pulled, for example. Great Tusk and Iron Treads are both very bad, and Koraidon and Miraidon are serviceable but not format ruining, which was a very nice feeling.
- I largely attend events by myself.

Apologies for the many messages, I didn't know there was a character limit when I started typing all of this.
Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
Interesting. Sounds like a very fun meta. Interesting matchups, viable options for every promo, no Pokémon V encroaching on the prize trade, and a nice variety of effects. I wouldn’t call Hawlucha a dud, though. The decks are created from one prerelease promo and two groups of cards (comprised mainly of Pokémon) that are each associated with one of the Prerelease Promos (one of which is the one in the box.
Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
According to JustInBasil, your box contained the Revavaroom Promo, the Revavaroom Group, and the Hawlucha group. The Revaroom group had 3 Tatsugiri, 2 Dondozo, 1 Varoom, and 1 Revavaroom (which ironically meant you’d have to draft a second Varoom to play a 2-2 line). The Hawlucha group had only a 3-2-1 Vivillon line. No fighting types! Not even a Hawlucha!
Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
Therefore, it’s not surprising that many players didn’t associate the discreet Vivillon with the Hawlucha Promo that seemed to be making the fewest waves in the event. Yet it sounds like Vivillon itself made a fairly large impact.
https://www.justinbasil.com/guide/appendix5/
(By the way, I get the comment about multiple posts. I’ve experienced the same difficulty myself. I’m even experiencing it now.)
Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
Funny, I never pictured modern single prizers as being on their own power level, since they’re significantly stronger than their past counterparts, even from the Sun & Moon era. I’ve goldfished with a couple of Gym Leader Challenge decks, but I always assumed that format would be dominated by One Hit KOs.
Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
Yet it makes sense, now that I think about it. Even if you win the game in six attacks (or four), that’s still about as long as you could ever expect a (non-control) game of standard to last, and it is still possible to tank attacks in single-prize formats (even prerelease, such as in the case of Dondozo, for instance). How you attack becomes more important than how early you attack.
Charmaster:)
Charmaster:)
I’m sure the Paldea Evolved Prerelease will be slightly rockier, with greater synergy between basic ex’s and likely promo candidates (such as the sword treasure of ruin and Baxcalibur), but now I’m curious about playing a prerelease myself. I wonder if anyone has interest in using the preconstructed decks after the events, online or otherwise. This meta sounds particularly interesting.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
Interesting. I never would have known that the decks worked that way. This is a fascinating article, although the Vivillon numbers are slightly incorrect (mine contained a 3-2-2 Vivillon line, as while as a Heracross). What is Goldfished? I've never heard the term before.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
I would highly recommend going to a prerelease if there are still some in your area!
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