Help Returning after year of absence, anything I need to know?

Axeww

Axeww

I Hate Metal
Member
Hello,

After a year of not playing the TCG, i've decided to play again. I run a Mega Mewtwo Y deck that has served me well, but with the forthcoming rotation i'm not sure what deck to play in SM. Advice and news on events, cards, decks, the meta, and the viability of my current deck in expanded are greatly appreciated!
 
The Meta (Standard):

Volcanion
Metal/Sivally
Gardevoir (Depends on where you live)
Zoroark/Lycanroc (Duh)
Golisopod/Zoroark
Greninja Break
Giant Mosquitos
And some other stuff I forgot.

Your current deck is probably not very viable in the current meta. There are not very many decks that are slower than M Mewtwo (Other than some gardy decks). M Mewtwo is rather slow. If you like the energy multiplier effect, use Gardevoir GX. It has lost popularity not that the metalpocalypse has come, but if you run weakness policy, you will be fine. Gardy also has it's own energy acceleration, in the form of it's secret spring ability.
 
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Things I recommend for Standard are:

Zoroark GX/Decidueye GX (One of my fav decks)

Zoroark GX/Lycanroc GX (testing this)

Buzzwole GX/Garodor (BP)

Gardevoir GX

Golisopod GX/Garbodor or Golisopod GX/Zoroark GX

Dusk Mane Necrozma GX/Mangnazone (ULP)

Volcanion EX

Greninja Break


So, those where some decks that I think are pretty good in the current standard format that you could build and do well with in a tournament.


So, here are some cards that are really good right now in the current format:

Tapu Lele GX ($45 and played in every deck, get at least 1 or 2)

Zoroark GX ($11 and really good get 4 of these)

Lycanroc GX ($6 get maybe 3)

Golisopod GX ($4 and get 2 to 3)

Buzzwole GX ($11 get maybe 1, 2 or 3 of these)

Cynthia (don't know the price but great a great card, get 2-3)

Guzma ($3 Get at least 3)

Acerola (don't know the price either, get 3)



Hope this list was helpful to you, and the list of cards was made from my personal list of good cards, and you can get whatever you really want but those were some cards that I thought were good.


Hope I helped. :)
 
There have been five Meta-defining cards released since you stopped playing:

1. Tapu Lele GX (Guardians Rising)

This card has been compared to Shaymin-EX with how useful it is in a deck. If you have an Ultra Ball in hand, you have whatever supporter you want out of your deck. It makes for a great backup attacker, and it has 60 more HP than Shaymin-EX. You should run at least two of these in every deck.

2. Garbodor (Guardians Rising)

TPCi wanted a slower meta, but they gave us GX cards that were powercreeped beyond most EX Pokemon. How do they balance this out? Release a card that punishes your opponent heavily for using Item cards. Garbodor is a one prize attacker that regularly deals 120+ with a single energy. Psychic types trembled in fear and they were pushed out of the meta for a little while until people started using less items. This card alone might make you want to think twice about playing M Mewtwo (although it's still possible).

3. Brigette (BREAKthrough)

This card has been around for a while I suppose, but it's now seeing tons of play. It puts 3 basic Pokemon (or 1 EX) on your bench, but those basic Pokemon can also be GX Pokemon. If you run a Stage 2 GX deck, you can get multiple basics in play so you can still have a chance if your opponent likes to play Guzma (or Lysandre).

4. Zoroark-GX (Shining Legends)

Think of it as Mega Rayquaza's baby brother. It has a similar but weaker attack with a more convenient energy cost. What makes it very good is its setup speed and its Ability. Night March decks (ugh) play this card frequently as a backup attacker and for its Ability to discard night marchers. This card becomes more deadly in Expanded with Sky Field, bumping up the maximum damage from 120 to 180.

5. Gardevoir-GX (Burning Shadows)

This card swept Worlds and it's so much of a threat that TPCi is stepping up their Metal-type support in Ultra Prism to counter it. It's basically a Stage 2 Mega Mewtwo (Y) that attacks for a single Fairy energy. It's ability lets you accelerate energy like crazy and it becomes even more potent if you have more than one in play. The meta has shifted towards low energy attackers to deal with Gardevoir, but it's still a solid deck.
 
Thanks for the help! I plan on playing Gardevior GX, as it's essentially a better Mega Mewtwo Y as far as I can tell. I plan on buying a full deck direct off of T&T or something similar, as my SM collection is very limited compared to my XY. I'll be sure to buy the cards I need, and i'll post it when i'm done!
 
Axeww said:
Thanks for the help! I plan on playing Gardevior GX, as it's essentially a better Mega Mewtwo Y as far as I can tell. I plan on buying a full deck direct off of T&T or something similar, as my SM collection is very limited compared to my XY. I'll be sure to buy the cards I need, and i'll post it when i'm done!
Click to expand...
Watch out for the Metal apocalypse...
 
Yeah, I've heard a bit about the introduction of Metal decks/card, hopefully as the use of the deck goes down due to that fact the usage of Metal decks goes down too. Thanks!
 
Prism Star cards are new, they are like the Ace Trainer card in the sense that you can only have one. But they are different because they can be Pokemon, Supporter, and even Energies as well as items. You can only have one of each name in a deck, (i.e. only one Diancie PRISM, only one Solgaleo PRISM) you can have as many as you like in a deck, as long as they all have different names. Once a Prism Star is discarded, it goes to the Lost Zone, never to return.
 
Alex Sableye said:
Prism Star cards are new, they are like the Ace Trainer card in the sense that you can only have one. But they are different because they can be Pokemon, Supporter, and even Energies as well as items. You can only have one of each name in a deck, (i.e. only one Diancie PRISM, only one Solgaleo PRISM) you can have as many as you like in a deck, as long as they all have different names. Once a Prism Star is discarded, it goes to the Lost Zone, never to return.
Click to expand...

Also, "Ultra Beasts" were introduced as a subclass of Pokémon.

Other things to remember:

  • Make sure you know the current Ban List (I think it has changed since you left)
  • Make sure you know current errata (Cyrus was just added to it)
  • Make sure you pick up at least two Cynthia (you can get that from the Garchomp-based Theme Deck)
The only subjective one of those is Cynthia, but she's Professor Oak's New Theory with a new name... and if you don't know PONT, both cards are Supporters that have you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw six cards. PONT was legal while both Professor Juniper and N were legal, during the 2011-2012 Standard Format. All three of those are also legal in the PTCGO Legacy Format. In those two environents, decks would typically run no less than a 4/3/2 split of those three major draw Supporters, sometimes as many as 4/4/4, and when running less than max the lowest one would vary according to the deck e.g. sometimes N was at two, sometimes Professor Juniper, and sometimes Professor Oak's New Theory. As such, I think it is all but guaranteed Cynthia will at least be a two-per-deck card in Standard Format play... and if we don't see reprints or equivalents of N and Professor Sycamore released in the next seven months, Cynthia will become the draw Supporter after rotation.
 
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