Discussion Will Professor Kukui Change Your "Regular" Card-Draw Engine?

TuxedoBlack

TuxedoBlack

Old School Player
Member
With the release of Sun & Moon set, 1 particular Supporter caught my attention immediately: Professor Kukui. This Supporter allows you to draw 2 cards, as well as boosts your Pokémon attack(s) onto the Defending Pokémon by 20 additional damage. I believe this card will be especially helpful in decks that already run Giovanni's Scheme as a complete replacement since it provides some card draw and damage boost, unlike Giovanni's Scheme which will do 1 or the other.

I'm curious to know how this card may change your card-draw support engine. In my case I usually run 2 Judge, 2 N, 1 Prof. Birch and 4 Prof. Sycamore along with 1 Shaymin EX. Unlike many players who just run N and Prof. Sycamore, I prefer the additional card-draw diversity that the Judge and Prof. Birch provide. Initially, I plan to just test a "1-of" Prof. Kukui. At this point, I don't have any reason to run more than 1 copy in a deck.

Any thoughts or even some results from your early testing?
 
It helped Shiinotic beat a Crobat in a pre-release. I decked myself out with the draw, Shiinotic was poisoned and Crobat had 50HP left
I'd say it's useful
 
It helped me one shot Butterfree's when bringing Crobat off the bench into the active during pre-release. I can see some utility when you might need to dig for an energy to attack and the extra damage is icing on the cake when you hit. Honestly, it's too early for me to make a definitive decision on it since I can build both cases for it and against it.

I believe the primary utility for this card is for hitting the extra damage when you need it, though. The extra card effect would not be my primary reason for using this card as we all know there are other cards that fulfil this ability better. Personally, I don't think this card will see very much play - or, about as much play a Giovanni did. As a supporter card, I don't really see myself being in a situation when I would want to VS Seeker this out of the discard unlike Sycamore, N, Lysandre, Olympia, Hex Maniac, etc.
 
A card like Giovanni's Scheme is run mostly for the damage bonus; I suspect the same will hold true for Professor Kukui. This means my true draw engine will be unaffected by it, however, my Supporter engine may shift. I don't exactly use Giovanni's Scheme in everything either. +20 damage is meaningless unless it
  • Speeds up taking a KO
  • Triggers a particular effect
 
I'm thinking they will remain the same way they are now at least until we know what the rotation will be and what we keep or lose but some decks could use it in higher counts like Mega Scizor, which is a deck that can miss KOs from time to time. As of now, it will mostly be a one of in decks just for the extra damage.
 
crystal_pidgeot said:
I'm thinking they will remain the same way they are now at least until we know what the rotation will be and what we keep or lose but some decks could use it in higher counts like Mega Scizor, which is a deck that can miss KOs from time to time. As of now, it will mostly be a one of in decks just for the extra damage.
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I thought of M Scizor right away with this card. Specifically to ohko Greninja and baby Yveltal.
 
During the Prerelease, I saw Kukui played several times. Of course, we didn't have Sycamores, Giovanni's, etc but Kukui did some unexpected twists with the +20 damage. Combine an unexpected Kukui with the new +30 Choice Band and there's a big bonus attack on the defending EX or GX Pokemon for a better than average knockout.
 
Aggie_Brad said:
During the Prerelease, I saw Kukui played several times. Of course, we didn't have Sycamores, Giovanni's, etc but Kukui did some unexpected twists with the +20 damage. Combine an unexpected Kukui with the new +30 Choice Band and there's a big bonus attack on the defending EX or GX Pokemon for a better than average knockout.
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Yeah, plus 50 damage out of nowhere is going to be annoying for sure. I think fighting is going to be a popular type because of Strong Energy.
 
I think that when Choice Band comes out, Professor Kukui will be not as good. Until then, do punt use it. Also, this is crazy, but geez Latios-EX can pull off T1 90 with Kukui + Choice Band, and if you use it again next apturn and maybe have a rattata to destroy a belt, you can achieve T2 KOs for 1 Energy on EXs!
 
Currently running 2 in Volcanion EX really helps hit the popular 180 - 210hp numbers, as for changing the draw engine I don't see it changing much, Sycamore and N will always be staples.
 
I think that because it's a Giovanni's, but better, it will certainly see a lot more play. I could see most decks having one, especially because it can help finish off pokemon that were previously a two-shot. It's also not as much of a dead draw than Giovanni's could be, so it's less risky, though still not as good as N or Sycamore.
 
Trixss said:
Currently running 2 in Volcanion EX really helps hit the popular 180 - 210hp numbers, as for changing the draw engine I don't see it changing much, Sycamore and N will always be staples.
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I also run a Volcanion-Volcanion EX deck and first placed Prof. Kukui into this deck - really seemed like an obvious choice given my deck strategy. My testing results have been quite positive thus far. Since I usually do run a Prof. Birch and 2 Judge (along with the 4 Prof. Sycamore and 2 N) as part of my Supporter-based, card-draw engine, the Prof. easily replaced 1 Judge.
 
I don't see it as a consistency card because 2 draw is pretty weak, but it's definitely going to be a 1-of in most of my decks now. I look at it more as keeping me afloat than actually helping with consistency.
 
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