RE: Fighting Variants (Landorus EX / Lucario EX)
Gone? Absolutely not. But it's going to have to resort to new builds and stratevies to perform well in the competitive scene. With all the Psychic support, Lucario-EX is a pretty risky play, and Landorus is weak to Seismitoad; these were the two core attackers in Fighting. I still believe they have a place in the format, but relying heavily on them will prove risky due to weaknesses and the Flare Hyper gear. Conversely, as Fighting lacks energy acceleration other than Landorus, a Hyper Gear could be played to slow the opponent down.
Some alternative attack options that Fighting decks could explore (this is all Theorymon with no testing at the time of posting):
Hawlucha: has been used successfully in several Fighting / Garb builds, including my own. The 70 HP is a drawback, but being able to rack up up to 120 damage on an EX for one energy is notable. It also only gives up one prize. As a basic this should be a better attack option than Dugrio. Garbodor negates Shining Spirit, allowing Hawlucha to hit for weakness.
Terrakion NVI/ LTR: I've seen a small number of decks run this. Not a bad card by any means, but a little slow for most tastes. 90 Damage for two energy (before factoring in Strong Energy, Muscle Band, Fighting Stadium) is tempting.
Tyrantrum: A nion-EX that can do 150 damage to a target with special energy (and what decks don't run special energy these days?). Also has a bulky 150 HP. The drawback is that you need to use Jaw Fossil or Fossil Researcher to bring out Tyrunts. The former is unreliable, and the latter uses up your supporter for the turn; not playing draw enough support in the early game can set you behind. I still see massive potential in Tyrantrum though.
Lucario PLS: Hurricane kick does 60 damage plust 30 more for each prize your opponent has taken. Interestingly it can be turned into a dual Fighting/Metal type by attacking a Metal energy. Sadly the energy cost is kind of awkward. I saw this card used with KlinKlang last year, but I don't see it working as anything more than a tech 2-2 line at most.
M-Manectric-EX: While it's not a Fighting Pokemon itself, its attack can reattach discarded energies, and could possibly be used in conjuction with Landorus-EX to make Land's Judgements more likely.
Gone? Absolutely not. But it's going to have to resort to new builds and stratevies to perform well in the competitive scene. With all the Psychic support, Lucario-EX is a pretty risky play, and Landorus is weak to Seismitoad; these were the two core attackers in Fighting. I still believe they have a place in the format, but relying heavily on them will prove risky due to weaknesses and the Flare Hyper gear. Conversely, as Fighting lacks energy acceleration other than Landorus, a Hyper Gear could be played to slow the opponent down.
Some alternative attack options that Fighting decks could explore (this is all Theorymon with no testing at the time of posting):
Hawlucha: has been used successfully in several Fighting / Garb builds, including my own. The 70 HP is a drawback, but being able to rack up up to 120 damage on an EX for one energy is notable. It also only gives up one prize. As a basic this should be a better attack option than Dugrio. Garbodor negates Shining Spirit, allowing Hawlucha to hit for weakness.
Terrakion NVI/ LTR: I've seen a small number of decks run this. Not a bad card by any means, but a little slow for most tastes. 90 Damage for two energy (before factoring in Strong Energy, Muscle Band, Fighting Stadium) is tempting.
Tyrantrum: A nion-EX that can do 150 damage to a target with special energy (and what decks don't run special energy these days?). Also has a bulky 150 HP. The drawback is that you need to use Jaw Fossil or Fossil Researcher to bring out Tyrunts. The former is unreliable, and the latter uses up your supporter for the turn; not playing draw enough support in the early game can set you behind. I still see massive potential in Tyrantrum though.
Lucario PLS: Hurricane kick does 60 damage plust 30 more for each prize your opponent has taken. Interestingly it can be turned into a dual Fighting/Metal type by attacking a Metal energy. Sadly the energy cost is kind of awkward. I saw this card used with KlinKlang last year, but I don't see it working as anything more than a tech 2-2 line at most.
M-Manectric-EX: While it's not a Fighting Pokemon itself, its attack can reattach discarded energies, and could possibly be used in conjuction with Landorus-EX to make Land's Judgements more likely.
