Discussion Pikachu EX Doom Cannon

[Hydrocrush]

Pikachu EX is gonna be one of the new metas for sure because the combination of cards coming up will destroy most things.

Pikachu-EX – Lightning – HP130
Basic Pokemon

[C] Iron Tail: 30x damage. Flip a coin until you get tails. This attack does 30 damage times the number of heads.

[L][C][C] Over Spark: 50x damage. Discard all [L] Energy attached to this Pokemon. This attack does 50 damage times the number of [L] Energy discarded in this way.

When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: Metal (-20)
Retreat: 1

Magnezone line, which should work with 3 of them.

Lugia EX and Raikou for backup.

Fisherman, Energy Retrieval, and Energy Recycler will keep you reloading energies into your hand.

Pikachu EX will be able to be reloaded with Energies and, with a Muscle Band, hit 170 and 220 each turn, which will destroy almost anything.

Fisherman will let you take 4 Energies from your discard and put them in your hand and Magnezone puts them on Pikachu.

Due to low HP, Pikachu EX will need some backup for decks not based on EX so use Raikou to help.

Heliolisk could work, but not as well. Also you can use Raichu Break.

 

[Mora]

What does it even do? I haven't seen it yet, so I really can't judge how good it is.

Also you can use Raichu Break.

I don't think it works like that. I'm pretty sure that you'd have to go Pikachu (not Pikachu EX) -> Raichu -> Raichu Break. If that's what you meant, then that sounds like it would take up a lot of space.

 

[Hydrocrush]

What does it even do? I haven't seen it yet, so I really can't judge how good it is.

I don't think it works like that. I'm pretty sure that you'd have to go Pikachu (not Pikachu EX) -> Raichu -> Raichu Break. If that's what you meant, then that sounds like it would take up a lot of space.

i dident say evolve pikachu into raichu break....

pikachu EX does 50 damage for each energy you discard from pikachu EX

raichu break is a alternate since its not a EX but is limited to 170+20 damage

 

[redsky22]

i dident say evolve pikachu into raichu break....

pikachu EX does 50 damage for each energy you discard from pikachu EX

raichu break is a alternate since its not a EX but is limited to 170+20 damage

I feel like camerupt ex is better than pikachu ex because it can discard any fire energy even from your benched pokemon to deal damage not to mention burning energy, blacksmith and double colorless energy so you could power it up turn one.

 

[Scubasage]

Raikou XY8 would be a better attacker than Pikachu EX.

1) 120 HP + free hard charm is better than 130 HP
2) Only gives up 1 prize per KO, not 2 like Pikachu-EX does
3) The energies aren't discarded, so you don't have to run things like Fisherman and can instead use that room for more consistency

Sure, your damage output is lower, but the deck would be less of a glass cannon.

 

[Elbow]

I think it is interesting, but it has a few flaws.
Energy acceleration. Sure, in Expanded, you have Keldeo/Float Stone with Eels, which makes for easy damage attacking. At the same time, I'd much rather attack with Rayquaza EX DRX in Expanded over Pikachu EX IMHO due to the higher HP and easier attack to pull off (only 1 R 1 L, not 1 L 2 C).
In standard, you have Mega Manectric EX. While it seems like a perfect partner, I feel as if there are better partners it can be paired with over Pikachu. Regice, Lugia-EX, Garbodor, or Fighting Type attackers (Lucario-EX/Landorus-EX/Hawlucha) are more consistent damage partners. It's also not a great idea to pair up 2 of the same types in a deck as it doesn't counter as many types and gets tromped by one weakness.
I do think it's somewhat playable, like Gyrados AOR, but not something I expect to be sweeping up regional wins.

 

[Scubasage]

I think it is interesting, but it has a few flaws.
Energy acceleration. Sure, in Expanded, you have Keldeo/Float Stone with Eels, which makes for easy damage attacking. At the same time, I'd much rather attack with Rayquaza EX DRX in Expanded over Pikachu EX IMHO due to the higher HP and easier attack to pull off (only 1 R 1 L, not 1 L 2 C).
In standard, you have Mega Manectric EX. While it seems like a perfect partner, I feel as if there are better partners it can be paired with over Pikachu. Regice, Lugia-EX, Garbodor, or Fighting Type attackers (Lucario-EX/Landorus-EX/Hawlucha) are more consistent damage partners. It's also not a great idea to pair up 2 of the same types in a deck as it doesn't counter as many types and gets tromped by one weakness.
I do think it's somewhat playable, like Gyrados AOR, but not something I expect to be sweeping up regional wins.

Energy Acceleration isn't an issue when Magnezone is literally Blastoise but for electric types.

 

[Asclepius24]

Energy Acceleration isn't an issue when Magnezone is literally Blastoise but for electric types.

The issue in competitive settings is getting that energy acceleration into play. Blastoise fell out of favor before the Archie's engine because it was too slow/difficult with Toad around. Magnezone doesn't have a Supporter to get it into play.

 

[Maximinn]

The issue in competitive settings is getting that energy acceleration into play. Blastoise fell out of favor before the Archie's engine because it was too slow/difficult with Toad around. Magnezone doesn't have a Supporter to get it into play.

Promo Marowak would keep Toad in check. I'm not saying that makes this work, just that Toad is unlikely to be the problem.

 

[Asclepius24]

Promo Marowak would keep Toad in check. I'm not saying that makes this work, just that Toad is unlikely to be the problem.

Sure, but now you're running another evolution and taking up more space. The idea "works" in that it's cohesive, no doubt, but all the pieces you need to make it work make it less competitive. It looks like a fun League deck, but until things shift there's a reason we don't see many decks that focus on a Stage 2 doing well in larger events.

 

[pokedan24]

Spoiler: Pikachu-EX

Pikachu-EX – Lightning – HP130
Basic Pokemon

[C] Iron Tail: 30x damage. Flip a coin until you get tails. This attack does 30 damage times the number of heads.

[L][C][C] Over Spark: 50x damage. Discard all [L] Energy attached to this Pokemon. This attack does 50 damage times the number of [L] Energy discarded in this way.

When a Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: Metal (-20)
Retreat: 1

Reminds me of RayEels, but weaker and with bad HP. It's worth a look, but I think Raikou and Lugia are better attackers for Magnezone decks.

 

[Mora]

Hey, I've been looking for that for the longest time! Thanks for posting that; I'll add that to the OP.

 

[Elbow]

Energy Acceleration isn't an issue when Magnezone is literally Blastoise but for electric types.

Ok. But you know why Blastoise was so successful right? Archie's Ace in the Hole. It was never treated as a stage 2 and was put into play on the 1st turn. Magnezone does not get this luck. You'll have to manually evolve/wally/rare candy it. While to some it may seem easy for this to happen, I'd like to remind the reader of current stage 2 decks: virtually non-existant. The only pokemon you see that are stage 2s are Crobat and Vileplume, both of which prefer to be turn by turn evolved and can work around item lock as those Pokemon are not your main attackers (at least I hope so). The only other time you see them is through Archies/Maxie cards.
Another flip side is saying that because of a recent promo Marowak, there will be little Toad decks, so evolution decks will shine. I disagree with this. For one, abilities can be negated with Hex Maniac. 2nd, with 100 HP, Marowak is easily killable (and is a stage 1, leaving a turn to KO Cubone beforehand). Lastly, we do not know when this card will be in US sets. For all we know, it could be in XY10 or never be printed. For now, just talking about the relevance of Pikachu-EX, Seismitoad-EX will still rule the format and will make sure Magnezone can't get set up.

 

[SilverSilent]

Ok. But you know why Blastoise was so successful right? Archie's Ace in the Hole. It was never treated as a stage 2 and was put into play on the 1st turn. Magnezone does not get this luck. You'll have to manually evolve/wally/rare candy it. While to some it may seem easy for this to happen, I'd like to remind the reader of current stage 2 decks: virtually non-existant. The only pokemon you see that are stage 2s are Crobat and Vileplume, both of which prefer to be turn by turn evolved and can work around item lock as those Pokemon are not your main attackers (at least I hope so). The only other time you see them is through Archies/Maxie cards.
Another flip side is saying that because of a recent promo Marowak, there will be little Toad decks, so evolution decks will shine. I disagree with this. For one, abilities can be negated with Hex Maniac. 2nd, with 100 HP, Marowak is easily killable (and is a stage 1, leaving a turn to KO Cubone beforehand). Lastly, we do not know when this card will be in US sets. For all we know, it could be in XY10 or never be printed. For now, just talking about the relevance of Pikachu-EX, Seismitoad-EX will still rule the format and will make sure Magnezone can't get set up.

Blastoise was still big even before Archie's was added. Before Tropical Beach was rotated out, Blastoise was a tier one deck for consecutive rotations. The issue was that few people played it because Tropical Beach was overly expensive and no one could buy it.

 

[thedemonbarber]

I think this could be a nice thing to tech into M-Manectric decks to hit big numbers on occasion. Also, in expanded why not just Camerupt Embroar. Sure its one more energy to attack, but the extra HP could be worth it.

 

[Elbow]

Blastoise was still big even before Archie's was added. Before Tropical Beach was rotated out, Blastoise was a tier one deck for consecutive rotations. The issue was that few people played it because Tropical Beach was overly expensive and no one could buy it.

I'm not denying that Blastoise was never successful. I am saying is that the deck essentially died with Trevenant XY and Seismitoad-EX, and was brought back with Archie's Ace in the Hole, which brings it out turn 1.
You also bring up another good point about this deck. Unlike current Archie's Blastoise decks, Pikachu-EX decks cannot attack on turn 1, and thus would need Tropical Beach to run effectively. In standard, there's not enough draw support to make it viable.
In Expanded with tropic...well...why would you run this in expanded? Clearly Blastoise has proven to be very effective (won worlds and topped regionals) and did not need Tropical Beach to be ran effectively. Without Archie's for Electric I cannot see this deck gaining in popularity.