Article New Kids on the Block: New Decks from Ancient Origins in XY-On

I keep wondering the opposite, Coin flip is luck based anyway you look at it... you may very well have a game where you only get tails, this has to happen just one time (Perhaps at an important tourney) and you're out. I know the facts and you probably heard them as well, you get more cards out of birch overall, good timing though is never guaranteed.

I have tried Birch, else I wouldn't say all this. But I think there's enough reason not to use him. Of course It's also a matter of play style. I like consistency above pretty much everything. I never use cards that rely on coin flip.

People play it because statistically you have more gain than loss. When compared to Shuana's 5: Tails, you lose one card. Heads, you gain 2 cards. 4 cards isn't really horrible either, especially with Shaymin EX (which has a number of ways to be retrieved from the deck).
 
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I keep wondering why people still use Shauna whilst Birch is around, and I'm glad I'm not the only one to pick up on it. Nice to see some interesting decks, and I can't wait to try vespiquen+night march

Shauna is guaranteed 5 cards whilst Birch is more a chance to get more but the odds are slightly less for that to happen. For me, I'd go more on Shauna and 1 Birch as that is probably the best draw thus far. I tend to be unlucky and hence steer clear from coin flips a lot. But if you need to be aggressive, then you might take a chance and load up.
 
I've been pondering Machamp Ex/Ariados. Being able to swing for 170 with 3 basic energy drops and poison doesn't seem too bad. If you include muscle band, strong energy, fighting stadium. It seems like it could do some legitimately good damage. But getting the 3 energy on it does seem like it would be troublesome. Thought the 1st attack can do quite a bit as well. It could even run focus sash to hit up to 340 for 2 energy.
 
Oh man, not sure about that Vespiquen list.

DCE alone is suicide at this point of the game. You definitely need even 3 Basic Energy IMO, even if it slows the deck.

A slightly slower deck > Auto-loss if they run an Aegislash or Two. Hex Maniac is not gonna be able to save you imo.
While you do make a good point, there are other cards to counter Aegislash specifically, aside from Hex Maniac. Silent Lab is the resource that I use in my Hippowdon deck, this ( and Toad) are the reason it's 46 - 3 Win/Loss ratio. Despite being Special energy heavy the deck can still thrive.
 
Not much added in this set deck wise, but a lot of great techs and additions to current decks is going to what makes the new format feel even more fresh. Like TheStrictNein said, in our current meta without Trump Card, ONLY playing DCE is super risky, especially when Wailord-EX has a lot of hype (although I'm sure it will die down a bit with the lose of Hugh and rise of grass deck usage). I'm surprised you didn't mention Machamp EX or Giratina EX(as a stand alone deck). I don't really think these decks are necessarily amazing, but a lot of people are hype about them. Overall a very nice article, great work!



I've been thinking about this deck a lot, because honestly Paralysis is OP af now that Keldeo is gone. And with Rough Seas the damage to yourself can be easily played around. My only fear is that it's weakness to Fighting will give it a fair amount of bad match ups (although the special energy from this set helps out with that), but we'll just have to see how the next few months play out (but if I get enough of the line I'll definitely build one just for fun)
The fighting weakness can get especially scary if you can't even paralyze your opponent, Hippowdon gets a very good match up here, haha. However the raw power of 170 is enough to OHKO a non-Resistance Desert Hippo, and almost a Toad.
 
I've been pondering Machamp Ex/Ariados. Being able to swing for 170 with 3 basic energy drops and poison doesn't seem too bad. If you include muscle band, strong energy, fighting stadium. It seems like it could do some legitimately good damage. But getting the 3 energy on it does seem like it would be troublesome. Thought the 1st attack can do quite a bit as well. It could even run focus sash to hit up to 340 for 2 energy.
I like this deck because it gets variety out of expanded in a few different ways, for example, the use of Virbank with Ariados and even a couple lasers. Also you could tech in a heavy ball or two to fish out Machamp EX.
 
Shauna is guaranteed 5 cards whilst Birch is more a chance to get more but the odds are slightly less for that to happen. For me, I'd go more on Shauna and 1 Birch as that is probably the best draw thus far. I tend to be unlucky and hence steer clear from coin flips a lot. But if you need to be aggressive, then you might take a chance and load up.
A good way to run flip cards such as Birch and Scoop Up are in even numbers, (whether it be 2 or 4 doesn't matter) this maximizes your chances of hitting a heads. Obviously if you run 3 you could have a 2 to 1 ratio of heads, but the chances are 12.5%. Hitting heads for 2 tries is 50% for 1, and 25% for 2 heads.

tldr: running even copies of flip based cards is my suggestion. As to supporter preference, that can vary from deck to deck, and player to player. Hope that this helped :)
 
A good way to run flip cards such as Birch and Scoop Up are in even numbers, (whether it be 2 or 4 doesn't matter) this maximizes your chances of hitting a heads. Obviously if you run 3 you could have a 2 to 1 ratio of heads, but the chances are 12.5%. Hitting heads for 2 tries is 50% for 1, and 25% for 2 heads.

tldr: running even copies of flip based cards is my suggestion. As to supporter preference, that can vary from deck to deck, and player to player. Hope that this helped :)

That doesn't make sense. If you decide to run another extra copy of a card that is chance based, you will always cause the probability of get at least one heads to be higher. Besides, it is also consistency to run as many as you can, and often that consistent number may be 3.
 
That doesn't make sense. If you decide to run another extra copy of a card that is chance based, you will always cause the probability of get at least one heads to be higher. Besides, it is also consistency to run as many as you can, and often that consistent number may be 3.
Sorry I left out the bit on consistency. However running a consistent base of cards would also mean that running less copies of coin flipping cards would be optimal because it lessens the chance that something will change. However it cant be helped in decks that use Super Scoop Up, unless you run more AZ and VS Seeker. By lowering the amount of flip cards in a deck you can free up space. You are right about the chances you get going down, however that is never a guarantee that more flips = more consistency.
 
Sorry I left out the bit on consistency. However running a consistent base of cards would also mean that running less copies of coin flipping cards would be optimal because it lessens the chance that something will change. However it cant be helped in decks that use Super Scoop Up, unless you run more AZ and VS Seeker. By lowering the amount of flip cards in a deck you can free up space. You are right about the chances you get going down, however that is never a guarantee that more flips = more consistency.
I'm honestly finding this very difficult to follow. Things that are powerful and have niche, like SSU and Crushing Hammer, are best used with counts of 3-4 (I run 3 SSU to much success) so you can get maximum chances on getting the heads. I wouldn't put my 3 count of SSU to 2 to free up space. I personally don't like high counts of things like Birch when there is something like Shauna that is more reliable with similar drawbacks, as theoretical flips isn't exactly actual flips. Consistency isn't necessarily getting lots of heads, but is more of an always getting the card when you actually want it.
 
I'm honestly finding this very difficult to follow. Things that are powerful and have niche, like SSU and Crushing Hammer, are best used with counts of 3-4 (I run 3 SSU to much success) so you can get maximum chances on getting the heads. I wouldn't put my 3 count of SSU to 2 to free up space. I personally don't like high counts of things like Birch when there is something like Shauna that is more reliable with similar drawbacks, as theoretical flips isn't exactly actual flips. Consistency isn't necessarily getting lots of heads, but is more of an always getting the card when you actually want it.
To each their own, but what I mean to say is no matter how many copies you run nothing is guaranteed, like you are as likely to hit heads an entire game, as you are to hit tails an entire game; I'm saying a gamble is sometimes just a waste of deck space. Just my opinion, sorry if that was hard to follow, I didn't really explain it well.
 
To each their own, but what I mean to say is no matter how many copies you run nothing is guaranteed, like you are as likely to hit heads an entire game, as you are to hit tails an entire game; I'm saying a gamble is sometimes just a waste of deck space. Just my opinion, sorry if that was hard to follow, I didn't really explain it well.
Sometime the gamble is worth it, such as Crushing Hammer and SSU (imo).
Eh, np. I appear to have followed it in the end :p
 
Sometime the gamble is worth it, such as Crushing Hammer and SSU (imo).
Eh, np. I appear to have followed it in the end :p
Glad to hear it, but that is true. In fact I prefer Birtch to Shauna myself, but another part that plays in is the actual deck you are using I suppose :)
 
I would say that M tyranitar/crobat won't fit. The new ancient trait theta stop will prevent this crobat and golbat, especially since it's on M Sceptile Ex. Also, Giratina Ex preventing damage from Megan's, yeah, I think it won't work.
 
i feel Hard Charm is a good tool for M Ty. Let's not forget M Ray exists and might be a force to reckon with. Also, running no Stadiums is suicide. I don't know how played Color Drained City will be but it's gonna suck playing against it with no counter.

I completely agree, as it lets mttar survive ANY attack in the game, and dish HUGE numbers out too
 
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