You talk about every single EVO deck running Claydol, then proceed to call SP decks unoriginal and non-creative? EVO decks have Spiritomb, possibly one of the most broken support cards for EVO decks I've ever seen, and they keep Rare Candy. Volkner's is a Claydol in supporter form; I don't see the issue. Be creative, stage 2 decks aren't dead. I built a PT-on Crobat Prime deck that gets me a near-guaranteed Crobat Prime turn 1 (or turn 2 if I go first). Think outside the box.
ohh, I think very much so outside the box, I think even more than most competitive players...I'm not saying every single deck runs those...and I wasn't referring to SP decks as unoriginal and non-creative, I was referring to players who have done nothing but play decks like that after they have been known to catch wins...and currently with Cyrus engine being the most consistent engine in the format, no matter what SP deck is talked about those players will jump to those decks and try them before they try EVO decks...you are correct, Spiritomb is an extreme help to EVO decks...however, while you are using Spiritomb, you can't really Rare Candy and are somewhat reliant on using it's attack...but using it's attack alone doesn't keep you upto pace with SP decks, you still need the drawing to keep the set up going...true you can use cards like Volkner's, but when you might prefer to search as compared to using your supporter to draw for the turn, that still puts you at a disadvantage to SP decks, because all they have to wait for is either a way to get rid of Spiritomb, go around Spiritomb, or just wait for the KO and then just work what little bit of setup you were able to attain...and right now, Stage 2 decks are not dead, but once the majority of the draw power is gone, among many other counters to SPs...if nothing is done about the SP engine, they will make mincemeat out of nearly any EVO deck, if not every EVO deck...the format will be mainly SPs winning, even more so than it is now
You missed the point entirely. Sure, people CAN play Skorupi, but will they? Definitely not. It's terrible. It's exactly the same if there is a Drapion Lv. X with no Drapion, one can put it in their deck(s) but it will have no use. Using past examples doesn't really work, as Pokemon has never been consistent with set rotations; last year's (non-existent) rotation proved that.
but you can say that about how many cards that are actually playable, but don't get played?...and no it is not the same, if you put Drapion Lv. X in a deck with no Drapion and draw it, it is completely a dead draw...if you put Skorupi into a deck and draw it...you can then play it down, getting it out of your hand and doing whatever with it from that point, therefore having use...and last year's (non)rotation is an attempt to get more in line with the Japanese rotation, at least that is one of the reasons
What good is Claydol or Uxie against SPs if they Spray you 50% or more of the time? It kills your set-up and allows them to run all over you; with both of them gone spray will be near useless, as that's what is sprayed 90% of the time.
that is a big use for Spiritomb...if you're sitting behind, what can they spray, nothing...and Spray will in no way, shape, or form be useless...I've been sprayed many times for something other than Cosmic Power or Set-Up...and with some much less impacting draw powers still being out there, there is still plenty for it to spray
Use Cyrus to search ANY supporter, ANY energy, and a possible SP Radar or Poke Turn if running Crobat Gs (which should be run in almost any deck). How can that NOT be run in an EVO deck? And with Spiritomb, it gets even better, as you can hinder their set-up enough and allow yourself quite a bit of breathing room.
there are tons of EVO decks that do not run Crobat G...how can that not be run in an EVO deck...one word, consistency...the space used for the Crobat G's and the PokeTurns are normally sacrificing consistency for the actual strategy of the deck...in decks like Jumpluff, where they not only assist in adding damage to pokemon, but also assist in the deck strategy...yes, they should be used...not really sure about the Cyrus' though...but in other EVO decks where it's not nearly as helpful, why try to fit all that? I know many players that think they should have Crobat G in their EVO decks, which is one of the reasons why many EVO decks don't make those top cuts...btw, you can't PokeTurn sitting behind Spiritomb, so that kind of defeats the purpose of including Crobat to begin with...as I said, while Spritomb does give you breathing room, if you don't have draw to help setup while you're breathing, it will be your pokemon out of breath when it's all said and done
In favor of EVO decks... you mean in favor of Gengar/Machamp, right? That's all you listed, and weren't those the decks that were dominating (quite a bit, Machamp donk is one of the best donks in the game), before SPs came along? They still compete; when I get donked by Machamp, they start with THE hand, they rarely draw into it.
I only mentioned those, because those pokemon have been known to be used against SPs...and dominating for a set, isn't much dominating is it?...while I do see the occasional deck with Gengar (SF), Machamp (SF) has almost disappeared as a deck by itself...and by the way, how often do you now get donked?
Also, your use of the word "cheapest" is only a description of your inability to combat the SP archetype, like I said, Spiritomb AR and Cyrus' works quite well in EVO decks; maybe YOU should stop relying so much on Claydol and Uxie/Azelf. When you start to rely on powers that much, you're just asking for SPs to walk all over you.
actually, you misread the context of what I wad referring to...I call SPs cheap not because of the inability to combat the archtypes, but because they have TSS support only they can use, and their TSS support generally does things that no other TSS cards do...Power Spray - stopping a power for the use of one card, as compared to needing to get a "jumping" Stage 2 out, and discarding two cards, definitely cheap...Energy Gain - a tool that reduces energy cost by a {C}, they only thing that comes close is Salamence (SF), if there is a pokemon on your opponents field that has 120hp or more, and Mother Pheromone Nidoqueen, definitely cheap...PokeTurn - play a card pick up a pokemon, with no flip; SSU sux so much compared this...cheap anyone?...the other support I won't even get into, one is actually even with 2 cards, and the others, well, SP players often pass those over for their cheaper relatives that I just mentioned...generally, I don't have that much trouble with SPs when I play against them, because I have cards that I can use to counter, all of which will be rotating out, except Spiritomb...and when you show me an EVO deck that gets wins, like premiere event wins, using the Cyrus' SP engine, I will take your accusation seriously...otherwise, it just sounds like you're just reaching
Broken Time Space and Spiritomb (Spiritomb especially) have much less weaknesses and are much more searchable than Rare Candy ever was. But, Rare Candy was a given, it's been part of the game in several forms since Base Set (Pokemon Breeder), so I don't think it'll ever go away.
Idk, maybe I'm just hoping that it's PT-on because my current deck would be crippled without it. (It's not SPs, it's Crobat Prime FYI)
Also, I've seen many people say the rotation in Japan has been decided to be RR-on, and one person say it's been decided to be PT-on, but with no sources, valid or not. I even google searched it and could not find a single (even possibly valid) source.
