R
RattataJoey
Evolution has always been the key focus of Pokémon, whether its the video game or the TCG, but most people will see the aspect of evolution as just Pokémon lines and then leave the concept of evolution there, but what about the concept of a deck evolving as a whole?
Decks rarely tend to remain unchanged after the release of a new set, take the release of Noble Victories for example, as soon as the scans for the set went online most of the community started planning on how to modify there decks, of course Noble Victories only brought small changes to already established decks such as adding Eviolite into Reshiram and Zekrom decks or testing N in trainer lock decks that tend to fall behind early game in an attempt to gain hand advantage, these changes are only minor but they manage to demonstrated how decks don't stay in 1 constant state for the entirety of there playable life.
Personally I feel that a lot of decks are going to change drastically with the release of Next Destinies and the introduction of EX's, as most people know EX's are on the whole, basics with attacks that are decent at worst and high Hp (except for Shaymin who only has a modest 110Hp), with that established a few of them have been receiving some hype and it wouldn't be wrong to assume that most if not all are going to be tested,. So how do the EX's improve the decks that we currently have in format? Below I am going to explain how the use of EX's can alter already existing decks and in some cases completely change them.
Firstly we have Tyram, quite notably the most played deck at the beginning of the HGSS-on format, what EX's can used in Tyram? and how do they benefit the deck? To start with we have Mewtwo EX
Mewtwo EX – Psychic – HP170
Basic Pokemon
[C][C] EX Ball: Does 20 damage times the number of Energy attached to each player’s Active Pokemon.
[P][P][C] Psycho Drive: 120 damage. Choose 1 Energy attached to this Pokemon and discard it.
Pokemon EX Rule: When Pokemon EX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Mewtwo EX can be a quick and effective counter to some of Reshirams current match-ups, namely Zekrom and Gothitelle, Mewtwo is able to take advantage of the fact that both of these decks not only require there attackers to use 3 energy but keep them attached as opposed to Reshiram being able to discard them, added to the fact that Mewtwo can be ready to attack the turn he's played to the bench with the use of 1 afterburner and an attachment from hand he can be quite the surprise attacker, to illustrate my point lets step back and put things into perspective, Mewtwo's X-Ball can output 20 damage for each energy attached to Mewtwo and the defending Pokémon (this damage output can be read as 40 damage for each energy on an opposing Pokémon with a Psychic weakness), so what does this mean against the above mentioned match-ups;
Against Zekrom:
Meaning Mewtwo can either revenge KO Zekrom after a Bolt Strike (3 if Eviolite is attached) or take away the option for another Bolt Strike due to the fact that they wouldn't survive the recoil, also after 1 afterburner Mewtwo will still have 160Hp left so Zekrom won't be able to knock-out Mewtwo with 1 attack.
Against Gothitelle:
As you can see Mewtwo easily takes care of Gothitelle with 70 damage spare, meaning if you get a Gothitelle in the active position that only has 2 energy on you can knock it out without it ever attacking.
Of course the Zekrom vs Reshiram match-up has always been a matter of whose the better player and in minor cases who gets luckiest but the Gothitelle match-up has always been seen as being in Gothitelles favour and simply coming down to if Gothitelle manages to set-up then its pretty much won, Mewtwo gives a strong and most importantly fast counter to a difficult match-up and can act as a game changer by adding an additional attacker to the deck.
Next for Tyram we have a much more drastic shift which relates to an evolutionary branch of the deck that has all but died away, I'm talking about ReshiBoar, Back when HGSS-on was announced both decks where experimented with and Tyram was chosen as the better of the 2 due to Typhlosion being easier to retreat if its catchered up and Tyram needing less of its trainer and supporter line to cover energy recovery, but things might change slightly with the release of Reshiram EX;
Reshiram EX – Fire – HP180
Basic Pokemon
[R][C][C] Shining Claw: 50 damage. Flip a coin, if heads this attack does an additional 30 damage.
[R][R][C][C] Brave Fire: 150 damage. Flip a coin, if tails this Pokemon also does 50 damage to itself.
Pokemon EX Rule: When Pokemon EX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
Reashiram EX has 2 cost heavy attacks and both involving a coin toss, the first being for extra damage and the second being for recoil, as you can see there's no discard with this Reshiram as he deals with a chance of recoil instead, both of these factors edge towards Emboar being the stronger choice for this deck as you don't have to constantly grab energy from the discard any-more you just have to charge him then attack repeatedly, this means having Emboar for a reduced charge up time and mid game recovery is prefered when compared to Typhlosion who can only grant 1 energy per turn and that has to find its way to the discard pile first and then you add damage to Reshiram which reduces Reshiram EX's survivability when combined with the possibility of 50 damage.
Secondly we have ZPST, another top tier deck that's being performing well all season, so what changes could be possibly be made to improve ZPST, oddly enough not much but the main reason I'm looking at ZPST is for its energy acceleration engine and how it can be applied to another Pokémon, the Pokémon in question being Regigigas EX.
Regigigas EX – Colorless – HP180
Basic Pokemon
[C][C][C] Giga Power: 60 damage. You may do an additional 20 damage. If you do, this Pokemon also does 20 damage to itself.
[C][C][C][C] Raging Hammer: Does 50 damage plus an additional 10 damage times the number of damage counters on this Pokemon.
Pokemon EX Rule: When Pokemon EX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 4
Regigigas EX doesn't instantly look like a replacement for Zekrom but 9 times out of 10 120 damage for your opening attack tends to be a sizeable amount more than you need with most basics having around 60Hp as an average and around 80 Hp in some rare cases, both of which Regigigas EX can hit for 3 energy with optional recoil, also Regigigas EX's recoil can be completely covered by Eviolite meaning that Regigigas doesn't have to help your opponent, but these aren't Regigigas EXs only strong points, with 180 Hp and an Outrage styled attack with a based damage of 50 instead of 20 Regigigas is capable of incredibly high damage output and can't be OHKO'd.
But why change ZPST into RSPT (ReSPecT)? Mainly because with his high Hp and a 'Rage' attack Regigigas EX can output and absorb more damage than Zekrom could and he still complements the energy acceleration and Tornadus' resistance to Fighting, also as mentioned in the previous paragraph Regigigas EX can't be knocked out in 1 hit in most foreseeable circumstances meaning that any initial hit against Regigigas EX is potentially just fuel for 'Raging Hammer', this essentially means that your opponent has to carefully plan there damage placement or they're just going to give you the prize which can easily negate the usefulness of the EX rule.
So this pretty much covers 3 aspects of evolution in decks, the ideas I've listed above are purely theoretical they may or may not happen, although I see all 3 of them being feasible decks we can't be sure of the future meta-game and what it holds for the above decks but that's part of fun of new sets, not knowing what they'll do to the format.
If you have any suggestions for upcoming articles or card reveiws feel free to drop me a line either on here or on facebook.
Signing off for now,
RattataJoey
Decks rarely tend to remain unchanged after the release of a new set, take the release of Noble Victories for example, as soon as the scans for the set went online most of the community started planning on how to modify there decks, of course Noble Victories only brought small changes to already established decks such as adding Eviolite into Reshiram and Zekrom decks or testing N in trainer lock decks that tend to fall behind early game in an attempt to gain hand advantage, these changes are only minor but they manage to demonstrated how decks don't stay in 1 constant state for the entirety of there playable life.
Personally I feel that a lot of decks are going to change drastically with the release of Next Destinies and the introduction of EX's, as most people know EX's are on the whole, basics with attacks that are decent at worst and high Hp (except for Shaymin who only has a modest 110Hp), with that established a few of them have been receiving some hype and it wouldn't be wrong to assume that most if not all are going to be tested,. So how do the EX's improve the decks that we currently have in format? Below I am going to explain how the use of EX's can alter already existing decks and in some cases completely change them.
Firstly we have Tyram, quite notably the most played deck at the beginning of the HGSS-on format, what EX's can used in Tyram? and how do they benefit the deck? To start with we have Mewtwo EX
Mewtwo EX – Psychic – HP170
Basic Pokemon
[C][C] EX Ball: Does 20 damage times the number of Energy attached to each player’s Active Pokemon.
[P][P][C] Psycho Drive: 120 damage. Choose 1 Energy attached to this Pokemon and discard it.
Pokemon EX Rule: When Pokemon EX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Psychic (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Mewtwo EX can be a quick and effective counter to some of Reshirams current match-ups, namely Zekrom and Gothitelle, Mewtwo is able to take advantage of the fact that both of these decks not only require there attackers to use 3 energy but keep them attached as opposed to Reshiram being able to discard them, added to the fact that Mewtwo can be ready to attack the turn he's played to the bench with the use of 1 afterburner and an attachment from hand he can be quite the surprise attacker, to illustrate my point lets step back and put things into perspective, Mewtwo's X-Ball can output 20 damage for each energy attached to Mewtwo and the defending Pokémon (this damage output can be read as 40 damage for each energy on an opposing Pokémon with a Psychic weakness), so what does this mean against the above mentioned match-ups;
Against Zekrom:
Zekrom with 3 energy = 60 damage
Mewtwo with 2 energy = 40 damage
Total = 100 damage
Mewtwo with 2 energy = 40 damage
Total = 100 damage
Meaning Mewtwo can either revenge KO Zekrom after a Bolt Strike (3 if Eviolite is attached) or take away the option for another Bolt Strike due to the fact that they wouldn't survive the recoil, also after 1 afterburner Mewtwo will still have 160Hp left so Zekrom won't be able to knock-out Mewtwo with 1 attack.
Against Gothitelle:
Gothitelle with 3 energy = 120 damage
Mewtwo with 2 energy = 80 damage
Total = 200
Mewtwo with 2 energy = 80 damage
Total = 200
As you can see Mewtwo easily takes care of Gothitelle with 70 damage spare, meaning if you get a Gothitelle in the active position that only has 2 energy on you can knock it out without it ever attacking.
Of course the Zekrom vs Reshiram match-up has always been a matter of whose the better player and in minor cases who gets luckiest but the Gothitelle match-up has always been seen as being in Gothitelles favour and simply coming down to if Gothitelle manages to set-up then its pretty much won, Mewtwo gives a strong and most importantly fast counter to a difficult match-up and can act as a game changer by adding an additional attacker to the deck.
Next for Tyram we have a much more drastic shift which relates to an evolutionary branch of the deck that has all but died away, I'm talking about ReshiBoar, Back when HGSS-on was announced both decks where experimented with and Tyram was chosen as the better of the 2 due to Typhlosion being easier to retreat if its catchered up and Tyram needing less of its trainer and supporter line to cover energy recovery, but things might change slightly with the release of Reshiram EX;
Reshiram EX – Fire – HP180
Basic Pokemon
[R][C][C] Shining Claw: 50 damage. Flip a coin, if heads this attack does an additional 30 damage.
[R][R][C][C] Brave Fire: 150 damage. Flip a coin, if tails this Pokemon also does 50 damage to itself.
Pokemon EX Rule: When Pokemon EX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
Reashiram EX has 2 cost heavy attacks and both involving a coin toss, the first being for extra damage and the second being for recoil, as you can see there's no discard with this Reshiram as he deals with a chance of recoil instead, both of these factors edge towards Emboar being the stronger choice for this deck as you don't have to constantly grab energy from the discard any-more you just have to charge him then attack repeatedly, this means having Emboar for a reduced charge up time and mid game recovery is prefered when compared to Typhlosion who can only grant 1 energy per turn and that has to find its way to the discard pile first and then you add damage to Reshiram which reduces Reshiram EX's survivability when combined with the possibility of 50 damage.
Secondly we have ZPST, another top tier deck that's being performing well all season, so what changes could be possibly be made to improve ZPST, oddly enough not much but the main reason I'm looking at ZPST is for its energy acceleration engine and how it can be applied to another Pokémon, the Pokémon in question being Regigigas EX.
Regigigas EX – Colorless – HP180
Basic Pokemon
[C][C][C] Giga Power: 60 damage. You may do an additional 20 damage. If you do, this Pokemon also does 20 damage to itself.
[C][C][C][C] Raging Hammer: Does 50 damage plus an additional 10 damage times the number of damage counters on this Pokemon.
Pokemon EX Rule: When Pokemon EX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 4
Regigigas EX doesn't instantly look like a replacement for Zekrom but 9 times out of 10 120 damage for your opening attack tends to be a sizeable amount more than you need with most basics having around 60Hp as an average and around 80 Hp in some rare cases, both of which Regigigas EX can hit for 3 energy with optional recoil, also Regigigas EX's recoil can be completely covered by Eviolite meaning that Regigigas doesn't have to help your opponent, but these aren't Regigigas EXs only strong points, with 180 Hp and an Outrage styled attack with a based damage of 50 instead of 20 Regigigas is capable of incredibly high damage output and can't be OHKO'd.
But why change ZPST into RSPT (ReSPecT)? Mainly because with his high Hp and a 'Rage' attack Regigigas EX can output and absorb more damage than Zekrom could and he still complements the energy acceleration and Tornadus' resistance to Fighting, also as mentioned in the previous paragraph Regigigas EX can't be knocked out in 1 hit in most foreseeable circumstances meaning that any initial hit against Regigigas EX is potentially just fuel for 'Raging Hammer', this essentially means that your opponent has to carefully plan there damage placement or they're just going to give you the prize which can easily negate the usefulness of the EX rule.
So this pretty much covers 3 aspects of evolution in decks, the ideas I've listed above are purely theoretical they may or may not happen, although I see all 3 of them being feasible decks we can't be sure of the future meta-game and what it holds for the above decks but that's part of fun of new sets, not knowing what they'll do to the format.
If you have any suggestions for upcoming articles or card reveiws feel free to drop me a line either on here or on facebook.
Signing off for now,
RattataJoey
