Blog Steamy Surprises: An In-Depth Look at Steam Siege and Worlds

An additional sweet Ninja Boy combo that you could use (and I so want to see on the Worlds stream even though I know nobody will probably do it lol) is with Dragonite-EX. Bust In to take all the energy you need from your Pokémon onto one spot, then SURPRISE JUTSU it to something else in the deck. Could be great fun!

Nice read though~. Honestly I'm not all that hyped for this set outside of Ninja Boy, but some of these ideas are definitely cool to consider. No love for Yveltal/Xerneas BREAK though?
 
The thing about that is, Dragonite-EX is probably the best thing you're gonna get out of Grass and Lightning Energy and he's kinda like Ninja Boy lite.

As I said, I don't know if Yveltal BREAK is gonna get much use. I mean, I guess it could, but I'd expect to see more Xerenas BREAK since you don't have to stack up three Energy on him to do big damage, and he's less dependent on your opponent's field. I could see Yveltal BREAK clutching a game out though.
 
Fun read and very good analysis. Although obvious, I didn't really notice how format-shaking Ninja Boy truly is.
 
I think a sneaky combo would be using the Celebi ancient trait promo with this, because of its ability that may make it so your opponent cannot take a prize card. How much would your opponent rage if they have your Shaymin/Hoopa/etc. down very low then you Ninja boy for Celebi, and you flip heads and they can't take a prize
 
next years format is not going to be primal clash on or roaring skies on. thats too much m ray decks and others
 
PMJ said:
The thing about that is, Dragonite-EX is probably the best thing you're gonna get out of Grass and Lightning Energy and he's kinda like Ninja Boy lite.

As I said, I don't know if Yveltal BREAK is gonna get much use. I mean, I guess it could, but I'd expect to see more Xerenas BREAK since you don't have to stack up three Energy on him to do big damage, and he's less dependent on your opponent's field. I could see Yveltal BREAK clutching a game out though.
Click to expand...

Well Dragonite isn't locked to taking only Grass and Lightning energy. It can take any basic energy whatsoever, so you could play him as a one-of in almost anything and take whatever you need to get an attacker going. Seismitoad or Genesect could make some use out of it for example, or even something like Giratina could come out of nowhere from any position on the board. The other benefit to this would be that any attacker you want to bring in will definitely be at full health, which I imagine could be a pretty big deal against certain decks.

I dunno, clearly it's more of a gimmick than the things you mentioned, but it's the kind of trick that will steal games and I just want to see it happen xD
 
Shouldn't Greedy Die be called "Greedy Dice" ? The japanese card reads "DA I SU", not "DA I".
 
Ninja Boy could also work with stage 1 evolutions. You can tech in a 1-1 line of something (like an Eeveelution from Ancient Origins). Instead of being forced to put down the weak basic for a turn, you can switch it out with one of your other basics and evolve right away. It saves bench space while protecting your only copy of the evolving basic from being knocked out.
 
Swag-pert said:
I think a sneaky combo would be using the Celebi ancient trait promo with this, because of its ability that may make it so your opponent cannot take a prize card. How much would your opponent rage if they have your Shaymin/Hoopa/etc. down very low then you Ninja boy for Celebi, and you flip heads and they can't take a prize
Click to expand...

That wouldn't work. Celebi would be KOed the second you brought it into play.

DaGod503 said:
next years format is not going to be primal clash on or roaring skies on. thats too much m ray decks and others
Click to expand...

I don't understand what you mean here.

gamercal said:
Well Dragonite isn't locked to taking only Grass and Lightning energy. It can take any basic energy whatsoever, so you could play him as a one-of in almost anything and take whatever you need to get an attacker going. Seismitoad or Genesect could make some use out of it for example, or even something like Giratina could come out of nowhere from any position on the board. The other benefit to this would be that any attacker you want to bring in will definitely be at full health, which I imagine could be a pretty big deal against certain decks.

I dunno, clearly it's more of a gimmick than the things you mentioned, but it's the kind of trick that will steal games and I just want to see it happen xD
Click to expand...
Okay, yeah, I see. I guess that could be used like that. I'm not sure what deck would wanna run Dragonite-EX just to combo it with Ninja Boy. Actually, that might not be a really convoluted way to get Mega Steelix powered up...

Aeter said:
Shouldn't Greedy Die be called "Greedy Dice" ? The japanese card reads "DA I SU", not "DA I".
Click to expand...

Probably. I just went with what PokeBeach had for its translation. The artwork does show one die though, so I would expect the English translation to use Die, not Dice. But eh.
 
Good read. Well done, PMJ.

I agree with most of what you said. What I wish to add (or challenge) is

Yanmega BREAK: Yanmega Prime was a Stage 1 card had either rotated or fallen out of usage by the time the then current Standard format began to resemble our modern game, didn't it? I know it has a lot going for it (like Forest of Giant Plants), which is why I can't make up my own mind on the card. XD

M Gardevoir: Forgive me if it was supposed to be obvious, but Karen should be quite important for this card, unless we don't get it at all or at least don't get it in time for Worlds.

Greedy Die: Eep. This is a trap card. No, not a Yu-Gi-Oh thing, but a concern I have from a game design standpoint. It is probably harmless filler, more or less. Yet stuff happens, and cards that look like that have a nasty habit of getting a combo/format that makes them worth it. Probably safe with this one, but only because of the three-fold combination of decks lacking the space to run it at a full four, the fact it is "tails fails", and the fact it does nothing unless it ends up as one of your face down Prizes. The thing is... with all that going against it, why make it in the first place?
 
PMJ said:
That wouldn't work. Celebi would be KOed the second you brought it into play.
Click to expand...


That's the point though, I'd rather have a Celebi that might not let your opponent take a prize card vs them KOing a Hoopa/Shaymin/etc. that would grant them 2 prizes. The point would not be to power up Celebi, it would just be to save a prize card or 2, this of course implying that you have another benched Pokemon to be able to move up to the active.
 
Swag-pert said:
The point would not be to power up Celebi, it would just be to save a prize card or 2, this of course implying that you have another benched Pokemon to be able to move up to the active.
Click to expand...

In some decks, you may even avoid giving up a lot of resources. Low Energy attackers, Energy moving tricks, sometimes even Tool moving tricks.
 
Thanks PMJ! This was awesome. Seems like ninja boy will become a staple but how many do you think will be run in a deck? Is it worth running 4 copies?

I think special charge is great too but I doubt that will run 4 in a deck.

Can't wait for Steam Siege to come out!
 
Otaku said:
Good read. Well done, PMJ.

I agree with most of what you said. What I wish to add (or challenge) is

Yanmega BREAK: Yanmega Prime was a Stage 1 card had either rotated or fallen out of usage by the time the then current Standard format began to resemble our modern game, didn't it? I know it has a lot going for it (like Forest of Giant Plants), which is why I can't make up my own mind on the card. XD
Click to expand...

It has the surprise factor going for it. If you have a Muscle Band on you will OHKO baby Greninja with baby Yanmega's attack, and Yanmega BREAK's attack OHKOes everything in Night March. Neither Greninja nor Trevenant is going to play Hex Maniac, so you should be safe against them, but post rotation I would expect this deck to be tier 3 at best unless it finds a way to get around Hex Maniac.

Otaku said:
M Gardevoir: Forgive me if it was supposed to be obvious, but Karen should be quite important for this card, unless we don't get it at all or at least don't get it in time for Worlds.
Click to expand...
Definitely, especially in Worlds builds. It's worth noting that there is a good chance that Worlds is going to be the only tournament in which this flavor of Gardevoir and Dimension Valley are legal in Standard.

Otaku said:
Greedy Die: Eep. This is a trap card. No, not a Yu-Gi-Oh thing, but a concern I have from a game design standpoint. It is probably harmless filler, more or less. Yet stuff happens, and cards that look like that have a nasty habit of getting a combo/format that makes them worth it. Probably safe with this one, but only because of the three-fold combination of decks lacking the space to run it at a full four, the fact it is "tails fails", and the fact it does nothing unless it ends up as one of your face down Prizes. The thing is... with all that going against it, why make it in the first place?
Click to expand...
Because taking a prize for "free" is awesome. Like I said I don't expect to see this card anywhere but dedicated joke decks (and even then, running this card hurts consistency no matter how you slice it).

21times said:
Thanks PMJ! This was awesome. Seems like ninja boy will become a staple but how many do you think will be run in a deck? Is it worth running 4 copies?

I think special charge is great too but I doubt that will run 4 in a deck.

Can't wait for Steam Siege to come out!
Click to expand...

Ninja Boy will never in any deck be a four-of, or even three. As I said in the article, it's got a niche purpose and you can just get it back with VS Seeker. Decks that rely on it will probably run two.
 
I still say Ninja Boy is going to make Machamp EX and M Glalie EX a force.
 
As is obvious with the deck list I posted a week or two ago, I see some nice potential in Infernape. By the nature of his design, he won't be throwing down on turn one, nor will he using the main attraction, Flare Up, all too much. A major weakness of the deck that I have discovered is that it basically has no turn 1 presence unless you have the perfect opening hand; that being Chimchar, Rare Candy, Battle Compressor, and Blacksmith.

However, once it gets going with Flare Drive, you can work your way to Flare Up very quickly, and Trevenant doesn't completely destroy the deck's ability to discard energy. A Muscle Band also gives him enough power to OHKO non-BREAK Trevenant, but that's provided that Trevenant isn't in the active slot already.

A deck based around him certainly isn't tier 1 material, but he's not entirely without merits, either. Counting all the cards that discard a definite amount of cards (four Battle Compressors, three Ultra Balls, three Acro Bikes, and two Fiery Torches), that's 23 energy discards. Naturally, this is without counting Professor Sycamore, Flare Drive, Scorching Earth, or even retreating. So, if anyone was apprehensive because you didn't know how much Flare Up could be used, you can reasonably assume that you can use it three times over the course of a match. Enough to knock out every non-Mega EX to take the win.

I think Infernape has the potential to break out as a Pokemon to build a solid deck around. Maybe he can't win tournaments, but I personally think that has still to be seen.
 
I'm not sure of the viability of Infernape on a tournament level. It requires constant Blacksmith use to even use his first move.

It's too bad the Stoke Charizard-EX is getting rotated; he would make a good partner for this deck, sucking up tons of Energy to use as fuel for Flare Up.

I would also add one or two Burning Energy. It may not contribute to Flare Up's requirement, but it helps you consistently pump out 120s.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top