So, I just looked at the top 8 for Liverpool regionals. And it's shocked me. Ninetales variants placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th. How?!!! It is a stage one two prize attacker that discards 2 Energy for only 160 damage as its main attack. I don't understand how it is that good. Can someone explain?
Discussion How is Ninetales so good?
- Thread starter Pokemaster26
- Start date
Blizzard Edge hits the right numbers with a Choice Band, allowing Ninetales to OHKO all basic EX/GXs. Double Colorless energy is included in this deck not only to get Ice Blade ready instantly, but to pay the cost for Blizzard Edge. Discarding any Water energy isn't much of an issue either because they can be gotten back with Aqua Patch. Ninetales also has a mean GX attack that transfers all its damage to the opposing Active Pokemon, which is especially good to punish a missed OHKO.
I've ran Ninetales quite a bit and can tell you that it's amazing. You're forgetting the fact that it has has the ability to snipe and it has one of the best GX attacks of the game...
Simply put, you're opponent has to be careful when playing Ninetales. If they don't one shot you, you can move all that damage off and get a big KO while completely healing your Ninetales. The two energy discard from it's second attack isn't that big of a deal either, seeing as how you can discard a DCE or if you discard water energies, you can stack up another Ninetales on the bench with Aqua Patch. 160 plus a Choice Band is enough to get many key KOs. Whatever doesn't get KO'd can usually get sniped by it's first attack next turn if need be.
The fact that Alolan Vulpix is it's basic is even better. Beacon makes this deck set up so much quicker. There's a reason why so many deck that don't even play Ninetales still play Alolan Vulpix. Ninetales also has great synergy with Pokemon like the Tapu Koko promo and Espeon EX. Octillery, being both a water type and now the best draw support Pokemon in Standard, also greatly increases the consistency of this deck.
Also, with the new Alolan Ninetales from Burning Shadows that you can throw in this deck, you have an option to completely wall decks that rely on EX and GXs.
Long story short, it's relatively quick to set up, has very versatile attacks, and great support.
Simply put, you're opponent has to be careful when playing Ninetales. If they don't one shot you, you can move all that damage off and get a big KO while completely healing your Ninetales. The two energy discard from it's second attack isn't that big of a deal either, seeing as how you can discard a DCE or if you discard water energies, you can stack up another Ninetales on the bench with Aqua Patch. 160 plus a Choice Band is enough to get many key KOs. Whatever doesn't get KO'd can usually get sniped by it's first attack next turn if need be.
The fact that Alolan Vulpix is it's basic is even better. Beacon makes this deck set up so much quicker. There's a reason why so many deck that don't even play Ninetales still play Alolan Vulpix. Ninetales also has great synergy with Pokemon like the Tapu Koko promo and Espeon EX. Octillery, being both a water type and now the best draw support Pokemon in Standard, also greatly increases the consistency of this deck.
Also, with the new Alolan Ninetales from Burning Shadows that you can throw in this deck, you have an option to completely wall decks that rely on EX and GXs.
Long story short, it's relatively quick to set up, has very versatile attacks, and great support.
It's so good because of conistency 
1. As mentioned by HouchinsDJ, Alolan Vulpix sets up incredibly well, even as a wall, as it requires no energy. Beacon is a great attack.
2. Alolan Ninetales GX hits all the marks of what a great card wants in this format.
- Can it make use of DCE? Yes [Iceblade] and [Ice Path GX].
- Can it KO other Pokemon/GX? Yes [Blizzard Edge] and [Ice Path GX] does want a Choice Band but we have those in the format.
- Is it easy to set up? Yex, thanks to Vulpix.
3. Alolan Ninetales even has the option to become a direct counter to the best cards in the format, being GX and EX. Breaks can still do something but for logical reasons arn't that popular.
Combine it all into one deck and basically half your 'Pokemon line' is finished. Especially a powerful non-GX variant is the make or break deal of this format. You see the same with more decks who I see are amongst the top 5.
Cheers,
1. As mentioned by HouchinsDJ, Alolan Vulpix sets up incredibly well, even as a wall, as it requires no energy. Beacon is a great attack.
2. Alolan Ninetales GX hits all the marks of what a great card wants in this format.
- Can it make use of DCE? Yes [Iceblade] and [Ice Path GX].
- Can it KO other Pokemon/GX? Yes [Blizzard Edge] and [Ice Path GX] does want a Choice Band but we have those in the format.
- Is it easy to set up? Yex, thanks to Vulpix.
3. Alolan Ninetales even has the option to become a direct counter to the best cards in the format, being GX and EX. Breaks can still do something but for logical reasons arn't that popular.
Combine it all into one deck and basically half your 'Pokemon line' is finished. Especially a powerful non-GX variant is the make or break deal of this format. You see the same with more decks who I see are amongst the top 5.
Cheers,