I wanted to talk about some cards from Unleashed that actually caught my attention! Just to forewarn you this is an article geared towards SP’s. The two cards that caught my attention were Drifblim and Muk believe it or not.

I’ll start with Drifblim. Drifblim is good for two reasons: one he is a good counter to Mewtwo X, and two as a Machamp counter, it could also be used as a quick/cheap way to end the game if need be. Driblims first attack “Balloon Tackle” for one Psychic energy and one Colorless energy lets you do 60 and 20 in recoil, but with Mewtwo’s X2 Weakness to Pschic it gets OHKOed making it worth the 20 in recoil damage. Also if you have Lucario GL in play and you can use Crobat G’s Poke Power “Flash Bite”, you can the OHKO Machamp. Then we get to Drifblims second attack, “Take Away” lets you shuffle Drifblim and the defending Pokemon back into each players deck. This could easily be a game ender as I said above, but could also be a deadly compo with Luxray GL X up  and you it’s “Bright Look” power to drag up something loaded on the bench or a tech and then retreat for Drifblim and just Take Away into the wind.

Now onto Muk, Muk has a lot of positive things going for him in my opinion. Muks first attack “Sludge Drag” lets you drag up any of your opponents benched Pokemon active then poison is and confuse it. This could be used to stall, gust up techs (Ninetals, Regice, ect), or even Drag up Mewtwo Before it levels up. Muk’s second attack “Pester” does 50 damage plus 30 more for each special condition on the defending Pokemon. This could go either way, good or bad. If you bring Muk out after Mewtwo levels you only do 100 to it and you need to drop two Crobat G’s  to finish it off, or if you drag it then in levels you only need one Muk requires more resources to use but I think it is a better choice in the long run, because of it’s similarity to Luxray GL X, also you can use the attack to drag up Vileplume and hopefully kill it, breaking a trainer lock that hurts SP a lot!

I know there are tons of Mewtwo counter and Champ counters out there but I think these two are actually some of the better ones in my opinion. Another thing I like about these two is that they can be used for either Machamp or Mewtwo, whereas some counters (such as Dialga G X) can only be used for one. I hope you liked my article, and I look forward to writing more in the future! Sorry this one is kind of short I am just getting back into school and have a lot of work.

As we know, after this month’s Worlds tournament, SP decks have become even more popular.  But since then the new Vileplume card has come out, some people think this will change the format.  The interweb has been abuzz lately with players talking about trainer lock.  There is two distinct camps, one saying that SP decks will endure past trainer locks easily, and others who have tested the matchup and don’t see a way for SP decks to continue.                                                                                                                                                                                          

While I don’t think I am qualified enough to settle the debate today, I will write an article for beginners about all aspects of trainer lock.  At the end of the article, I will add a little of what I have learned.  So without further interuption lets talk about trainer lock and highlight some of the cards that have started this controversy.

How does it work?

So what is trainer lock?  Well that is a very easy question, it involves not letting your opponent use any trainers.  That seems simple right, but it is something very important.  If you can maintain a trainer lock all game, you can possibly shut down all SP decks, Gyarados decks, and all speed decks that require trainers.  Trainer lock is nothing new to this format, Dialga G and Gastly Sf have been doing it for a year, but now with some new cards the trainer lock can be applied the entire game.  A new trainer lock deck that maintains a lock all game will usually start with Spiritomb Ar, and then set up Vileplume Ud.

Vileplume UD

This card is the card that makes trainer lock a real possibility.  This isn’t a card review, but I will break down some basic stats of the card.  It has 120 HP, is a stage 2 Grass Pokemon, with a 2 retreat. Its Poke-Body, “Allergy Flower,” prevents both players from playing any trainer card from his/her hand.

So whats good about it?  A trainer lock that works from the bench.  Whats bad about it?  It is a stage 2 so it will take a while to set up, it has a 2 retreat cost, and a bad attack.

Spiritomb Ar

Spiritomb Ar is a great card that lets you start a trainer lock from turn 1.  If Spirtomb is your active Pokemon, his Poke-Body “Keystone Seal” kicks in and no player can play any trainers.  It also has a good attack called “Darkness Grace” that lets you search your deck that directly evolves from a Pokemon on your bench and put it onto that card.

So whats good about it?  It lets you apply a trainer lock early and helps you set up.  Whats bad about it?  Its body only works from the active spot, it has a 1 retreat cost, has only 60 HP, you have to run 4 of them to have a decent chance of starting with it, and it can be “Chatterlocked” (locked into place with Chatot Md’s attack “Chatter”.)

Gastly-Haunter-Gengar SF                                                                                                                                                                        

This Pokemon line has often been combined with both Spiritomb Ar and Vileplume Ud to complete a trainer lock deck.  Gastly has an attack called “Pitch Dark” that doesn’t allow your opponent to play any trainers during his/her next turn.  So if you don’t start with Spirtomb, then Gastly is second best.  Haunter has an attacked called “Hoodwink” with does 30 damage for 1 Psychic Energy, and lets you put 3 trainer, stadium, or supporter cards from your opponents discard pile to their hand.  This attack powers up Gengar, who for PC can do 30 damage for each trainer, stadium, or supporter card in their hand.  This is important because you can take advantage of all the trainer cards that are clogging up your opponent’s hand.

So whats good about the Gengar Sf line?  It has synergy with the Viletomb combo and is a good heavy hitter in this deck.  So whats the drawback about the Genar line?  It takes up a lot of space because you are incapable of running any Rare Candies.

Dialga G Lv.X

Dialga G is going to see a lot of play early this year, that is because the Lv.X has the “Time Crystal” Poke-Body that turns off all non SP Poke-Bodies.  But it can also lock trainers itself with its “Deafen” attack.  But here we will talk about Dialga G Lv.X as a counter to the Viletomb trainer lock.  His Pokebody will turn all Poke-Bodies off, including those of Vileplume and Spiritomb.  So if Viletomb decks do not have a Dialga G X counter they will lose.

So whats good about Dialga G X.  As mentioned the Poke-Body shuts down this deck, and can fit into almost any SP deck, and other normal decks.  So whats the catch?  A Gengar Viletomb deck can use Gengar Lv.X’s Poke Power “Level Down” to get rid of Dialga G’s Lv.x.  Making a matchup between these two decks very exciting.

That takes care of the big names in the Trainer Lock debate, but here are some other names that I have used in this matchup

Gengar VileTomb Techs

The tech that I have tried in this deck the most is Crobat Prime.  Crobat Prime has an attack that can poison the defending Pokemon for 4 damage counters between turns, for just 1 psychic energies.  This makes it an ideal counter for Dialga G, since it has a Psychic resistance and a high retreat cost.  Another tech that I have yet to test, but am sure it will work, is Kingdra Prime.  In this deck I would not run any water energies to allow Kingdra to attack, but instead just his Poke-Power “Sea Spray.”  This power lets you place on damage counter on one of your opponents Pokemon each turn.  This means that with “Sea-Spray” Gengar can KO any Uxie, Mesprit, or Azelf in just one attack with “Shadow Room”.                                      

Anti-VileTomb Techs

One anti-VileTomb tech that I think has potential is Muk Ud.  Muk has an attack that lets you switch your opponent’s active Pokemon with one of their bench, the new Pokemon is now poisoned and burned.  His second attack costs PCC and does 50 damage plus 30 more if the defending Pokemon is effected by a special condition.  This is a good tech  because if you  Muk’s first attack on Vileplume, and your opponent is unable to retreat Vileplume, you will be able to knockout Vileplume for just 1 more DCE. Other techs for SP decks include an extra Bebe’s Search, to get Dialga G LV.X back after he was leveled down, and a 2-2 Dialga G Lv.x Line.  But be careful in teching your list out too much, or it will lose to other decks.

My Thoughts

So those are the basics of Trainer lock and the counter to it.  Most decks in this format run a lot of trainers, so locking them can be key.  The Gengar VileTomb deck can change the game by locking all other decks down.  But then again, perhaps Luchomp decks can counter them with just a simple 1-1 Dialga G Lv.x line.  This is what I found:

Just a disclaimer before I tell you about my testing, I did build an anti VileTomb Luxchomp deck, but I consider myself a bad SP player so this fact can skew the results.

Well in all my testings I have found that the Gengar VileTomb deck is one of the best in the current format.  No deck that I can think of can effectively counter the trainer lock.  Sp decks can snipe VileTomb, but it will take a long time thanks to the lack of Energy Gain.  SP decks can also use “Bright Look” and “Luring Flame” from Luxray Gl and Blaziken Fb (respectively) to bring Vileplume active.  But the Vileplume player can just attach an unown Q, attach an energy, then retreat for Gengar.  Dialga G Lv.X can also possibly cause Vileplume problems by turning off “Allergy Flower.”  In response  the VileTlume player can just use Judge or Lookers Investigation (to get rid of Power Sprays) and then use “Level Down”.

To me it seems like trainer lock decks will be very good, I don’t really see a way around them. I don’t consider myself a great player so I am probably wrong, but thats what all my testing has proven.  This conclusion is just my opionion, feel free to test the matchup and draw your own.

The only way that we will know the truth about the trainer lock debate is when the new season starts up again.

Besides Gengar, other trainer lock decks can use Mismagius Ud Bellossom LA or other Pokemon as main attackers.

So what do you guys think, can trainer lock decks really rule the format?  Or will Luxchomp still rule the day?

But before I do that I want to kind of apologize for the lack of new updates on the site lately.  I’ve been busy with work and stuff,  Ed and his family are crawling around caves somewhere in Utah, and Omar for some reason hasn’t been writing much anymore.  But hopefully if Ed makes his way out of the caves we will be up and running with more articles soon.

Card #1-The Staple-Luxray Gl X.

Description- Here is the card that everyone wants, the money maker, Luxray Gl Lv.X.  Of course we will start out by looking at the cards basic stats.  It is a basic Lv.X lightning Pokemon with 110 HP, has free retreat,  a x2 weakness to fighting, and a -20 resistance to metal.  It has one Poke-Power named “Bright Look.”  “Bright Look” lets you switch the defending Pokemon with any of your opponents benched Pokemon, but the power can only be used when you first lay the Lv.X on the basic Luxray Gl.  It has one attacked called “Flash Impact,” it does 60 damage for LC and does 30 damage to one of your benched Pokemon.                                                                     

Analysis- Luxray Gl Lv.x is the most expensive card in Pokemon today for a reason, it is good.  It’s stats don’t look too impressive, only 110 HP and the potential to only do 70 damage with a 3 energy requirement and a discard.  But when combined with the Team Galactic Trainers, Luxray Gl X. is deadly.  It can be set up in only two turns and can use Energy Gain and Double Colorless Energy to make it quicker.  You can also use Poke-Turn to use “Bright Look” again.

When used correctly you should be able to take a prize every time you use “Bright Look.”  He is most often paired with Garchomp C, and when he is, what results is a deck that quickly and methodically takes six prizes.  He can also be paired with other SP Pokemon like Dialga G, and can be paired with non-SP Pokemon like Kingdra La.

But things aren’t all sunshine and flowers for Luxray Gl.  The most important thing in using a Luxchomp deck right now is winning the mirror matchup, and Luxray Gl does little in the mirror, except for the ability to get a cheap kill on a Crobat G.

One of the most important things in the game today is to have a good Luxray Gl counter.  One of the better counters is Power-Spray, if your deck uses SP Pokemon a well timed Power-Spray on “Bright Look” could be very important.  If you want to kill the Luxray Gl Lv.x in one hit after it has took a prize against you, you have two options Promocroak and Mankey SV.  Promocroak (or Toxicroak G-promo) lets you do 60 damage for PC after your opponent has taken a prize last turn.  Mankey SV has an attack called “Extra Punch” which for F you do 10 damage and 50 more if your opponent has an active Lv.X.  With Luxray’s weakness all of these Pokemon can OHKO Luxray Gl X.

Final Rating-9.5/10-Despite lacking pop in the mirror match up, Luxray Gl Lv.X is still one of the best cards in the format.  It is format changing, once again making Lightning Pokemon cool.  There are a handful or cards that aren’t playable now because they have lightning weaknesses, there aren’t many other cards that can stop other cards from being played.  Cards don’t get too much better then Luxray Gl.

Card #2 The Underdog- Regirock La

Description- In the spring the hot card was Regice La, being used in some great Gyarados and Jumpluff decks.  It has since faded, but its brother Regirock is still around and can be used effectively at times.  It is a basic fighting Pokemon with 90 HP, a x2 water weakness, and a 3 retreat cost.  Its Poke-Power “Regi Cycle” lets you discard 2 cards from your hand and attach a fighting energy from your discard pile to Regirock.  Its attack is called “Stones Edge” and does 40 damage for FFC and lets you flip a coin if heads you do 30 more damage.              

Analysis-Okay, it is pretty obvious the Regirock will not be your main attacker.  He only can do 40-70 damage for three energies and if you add that to the fact that he has a bad weakness and a horrid retreat cost will have you running to your binder.

But his Poke-Power might wanna make you wait before you put this card out of your mind.  If you use “Regi Cycle” you can attach a fighting energy from your discard pile to Regi Rock and then use the stadium card Stark Mountain to transfer that card to your fighting type main attacker, like Donphan Prime and Machamp.

It may not be a game changing Poke-Power, but it will help you charge up a fighting Pokemon fairly quickly.  If you have a Donphan or Machamp deck I would seriously consider this tech.

Besides the fact that Regirock can’t attack, another weakness he has that if your opponent is able to make him active you will have a hard time retreating him.  So be prepared to include some warp points in your deck list.

Final Rating- 6.5/10-  This is an okay tech for a fighting deck, it may not be anything great but if you are able to use it right it can be just what you need to tilt the scales in your favor.

Card #3 The Young Gun- Energy Exchanger

Description- Energy Exchanger is a trainer from the new HS: Undaunted expansion.  It has a simple effect; you take an energy card from your hand, put it on the top of your deck, and then take another energy card from your deck and put it into your hand.      

Analysis- It may be a simple card, but it also may be very important.  If you are running a card that runs two or more types of energy, this card may be important.  I use it in my Dialgachomp deck to get special metal energies or Double Colorless Energies easier.  It can also be used to get Special Dark energies in a Sabledonk deck, or a psychic or fighting energy if you are running a Gengchamp deck.

The drawback of this card is that it takes up space without giving a great effect, and it can be trainer locked.

Final Rating- 7.5/10- I think this card will almost reach staple status in some decks.  It is sure to see some play soon.

Well that’s all three, so I’m done, now its your turn to tell me what you think of these cards in the comment box. Also if you have an idea for an article or would like to write your own article for the site, please put that in the comment box.

This is Pikkdogs signing off saying So long and thanks for all the fish.

We all know that most decks in the upcoming format will rely on Uxie LA for draw power.  Just by putting him on your bench you can draw until you have 7 cards in your hand.  A lot of decks will be counting on getting good draws with Uxie for their deck to work.                  

But we also know what the counter to Uxie La is, Power Spray.  As long as you have 3 Pokemon SP in play you can play this card on your opponents turn and cancel out the effects of your opponent’s Poke-Power.  And without drawing those extra cards, most decks are locked down.

So Power-Spraying Uxie is good, but what are the best ways to use Power Spray, and what ways can you get around Power Spray?  Here are a list of ways to use Power Spray effectively and how to play against it effectively.

Ways to use Power-Spray

1. Use it Early- The most effective Power Sprays come early in the game before your opponent can fully setup.  You might want to run Call Energy or 4 Pokemon Collectors in your SP deck to get a lot of basics out quickly, which allow you to Power Spray. These things should help you have enough basics so you are able to Power Spray an Uxie.

2.  Run 4 in your Deck-  Power Spray is a good card and should occupy 4 slots in a normal SP deck.  There are some situations in which I only run a couple, but most SP decks should run 4 so you have a good chance at starting the game with it.  Drawing into the card is also key to keeping the surprise factor, as opposed to showing it to your opponent as a part of Cyrus’s Conspiracy.

3. Keep it a Surprise- This goes with the last step, if at all possible don’t show Power Spray to your opponent.  If your opponent knows you have a Power Spray in your hand he/she will either play around it or use a card like Judge or Looker’s Investigation to send your Power Spray away.

4.  Think it Through- Just because your opponent is using a Poke-Power and you have a Power Spray in your hand doesn’t mean that you have to spray it.  Save your sprays for something you really don’t want your opponent to do, don’t let your opponent play you like a fiddle.

5. Don’t Sleep on the Spray-  Your opponent may take a long time on his/her turn, but don’t zone out.  Keep close watch on what he/she is doing and the minute they try to use a Power that you don’t want them to, drop that spray.  This also goes back to the fact that before a tournament you should get enough rest and a good breakfast, so you don’t lose focus (yes, the Frosted Mini-Wheat commercial is right “Keeps em full, Keeps em focused.)

Ways to Avoid the Spray

1. Know Your Opponent-  Before the tournament do some studying and find out what decks run Power Spray and what decks don’t.  And if you think your opponent runs Power Spray then be aware when your opponent gets the card.

2. Decide when to use a Poke Power-  So what do you do if you need to use Uxie La, but you know your opponent has a spray?  You can try to use it quickly if you think your opponent is sleeping, but that doesn’t work against good players.  You first can try to use a Poke Power that you don’t really need and see if the opponent will spray that instead.  SP decks can drop extra “Flash Bites” or normal decks can include a Pokemon that has a sole purpose of using  up opponent’s Power Sprays (the new Smeargle comes to mind).  If all those options don’t work you can use Uxie anyway to make your opponent burn the Power Spray or choose to use your resources so you can try to run your deck without Uxie.  It may be worthwhile to play Uxie just to evolve into Uxie Lv.X.

3. Get Rid of the Sprays- It may be helpful to include a lot of Judges or Looker’s in your deck to get rid of your opponent’s Power Spray.  But also make sure to include a lot of  Pokemon Communications and Uxies in order to get an Uxie after to use Judge.

4. Lock em up-  One of the best ways to protect against Power Spray is to make sure that they can’t use the card.  If you have an active Spiritomb Ar or a benched Vileplume UD, your opponent cannot play any trainers, so they can’t play Power-Spray.  Spiritomb makes an excellent shield for you to drop as many Uxies as you want, then use Unown Q’s power, “Quick”, to retreat Spiritomb and then attack with your main attacker.   Vileplume may be a little slower then Spiritomb, but it will be very hard for an SP deck to get the win over any deck that gets Vileplume out in the first several turns.

So that’s what I learned about using and playing against Power Spray.  I encourage you guys to share your stories about playing and playing against this card.  My favorite moment was when I was playing against a BlazeRay deck.  I had a Claydol out and I knew my opponent had a Spray in his hand.  I only had one card in my hand, which was a Level X that I wanted to play next turn.  So Power Spray or not, I didn’t want to use “Cosmic Power” this turn because that would take away my Level X.  But since I knew he had a spray in his hand, I used “Cosmic Power” anyway, he sprayed it, I laughed, and next turn I used “Cosmic Power” for the cards I needed.

Thats all for today, once again this is Pikkdogs signing off saying So long and thanks for all the fish.

Adam over at 6P had this bright idea to get some webmasters to add chat capability to their sites. His plan was to link the chats up such that anyone using any one of the participating sites will be chatting live with everyone from all the sites.

I believe that the list of sites using it will be:

• Team Omar
• HeyTrainer
• J-Wittz
• Six Prizes

I already chatted with J-Wittz using TeamOmar.com’s chat client this morning. He’s working on getting his set up. Adam already has the Six Prizes one running.

If you want to join the conversation, head over to TeamOmar’s Chat Page.

This tournament report starts the way all Pokemon reports start, with the sentence: “I woke up early the morning of the tournament not having slept very much the night before. “  Seriously does any Pokemon player sleep before a tournament?

Well I got my day off to a groggy start and chugged down a couple of glasses of water, got changed into my Team Omar uniform, then went to Burger King for a quick breakfast.  The breakfast turned out to be not so quick, and left me about 10 minutes late.  Then I was 10 minutes later when I ran into a traffic jam.  Anyway, I make it to the card shop just when the organizer was about to hand out the decks.

After paying for the two tournaments (sealed theme deck and sealed booster) I sit down by the only familiar face in the rather small crowd, Card Selling Ed.  We both pick the same theme deck and then get a couple packs to try to improve the theme deck.  As we go we both look at the cards and see a couple we like.  I start with the Espeon deck and pull Flareons and an Umbreon Prime, so I make an Eeveelution deck.  Pairings are announced and I face the guy sitting across from me, Card Selling Ed

Theme Deck Tournament Round 1- Card Selling Ed.

Not much to talk about here, I start with 2 basics and can’t draw into much.  He, on the other hand, starts rather well and was able to beat me in about 3 or 4 turns.  We play again just for fun and I beat him just the way he beat me.

0-1.

Theme Deck Tournament Round 2- Some Junior

My round 2 starting hand was just as bad as my round 1 hand.  But this time I am able to keep in the game for longer.  He sets up with a metang, while I get an Umbreon Prime out.  He is able to use Metang’s attack to knock out my Umbreon before I get him loaded up.  He finishes me up when he finds his Metagross.                                     

0-2

Theme Deck Tournament Round 3- Peggy

This day was the first day I met Peggy, she is a Poke-Mom who has a son who is still very young, but is extremely knowledgeable about the game.  He really impressed me with how well we understood the game.  Peggy told me that they went to Indy for the Nationals and her son just missed Top Cut.  But anyway back to the game.  I again don’t start very well, but start better than the last two times.  She gets a muk out fast and starts knocking out three of my Pokemon, while I load up an Eevee on the bench.  It only has 1 energy on it when Eevee is forced to become active, I draw and attach an energy then use the attack “Tickle.”  Now this is a bland attack that does 10 damage and lets you flip a coin, and if heads paralyze the defending Pokemon.  But, it was one of the funniest and uncomfortable things to tell a middle-age Woman that, “I’m going to tickle you.”  Well I did tickle her and I paralyzed her twice, which prevented me from being Knocked Out.  The next turn starts and I draw, and I top deck the Flareon that I need.  I knock out her active Muk, then I knock out the Bellossom that she brings up.  Then I knock out two more Pokemon and win the game.

1-2.

This is the end of the theme deck tournament, I put the cards away and then I get ready for the  sealed booster event.  I get my six packs and start opening them.  For the tournament I am  hoping to pull a stage 1 prime and/or some Sneazels.  But for collecting purposes, I really want a Vileplume or the Smeargle.  I end up getting 3 Sneaszls and a houndoom prime, but fail to pull any useful trainers.  As I make my deck I keep on talking to Peggy and her son, the deck building was interrupted when a kid tried to go out the fire door, that woke everyone up.   The alarm was seriously on for 2 to 3 minutes, I should sue that kid for damage to my hearing.                              

Sealed Booster Tournament- Round 1- Peggy

I again get to play the person I sat next to while building the decks.  This game wasn’t half as exciting as our last one.  It was basically over once I looked at my starting hand, I had a Houndoor, a Houndoom prime, a Special Darkness Energy, and a Darkness Energy.  I just set up Houndoom Prime and it takes me 4 turns from there to end it.

1-0

Sealed Booster Tournament- Round 2-Card Selling Ed.

I again play my buddy Card Selling Ed.  I again start with a Houndoom Prime, but can not find the Houndours.  I do find a Sneazel early and load it up and use “Beat Up” to knock out a couple Pokemon.  By the time he knocks out my Sneazel I only have 1 prize card left and he has several damage counters on his Pokemon.  I bring out a Hondour and end the game with “Sharp Fang.”

2-0.

Sealed Booster Tournament-Round 3- Some League Guy.

Im sorry, but I forgot this guys name.  He is a guy that plays at League at this shop, but isn’t really a tournament guy.  As we both reveal our starting Pokemon I notice that, depending on the energy situation, the winner of this match will be the one who goes first.  Going first is usually bad in this game, but we both had Sneazel starts.  So that means who ever could attach two energies first would probably win.  I ended up winning the coin flip and attach and use “Fury Swipes.”  He attaches and does the same thing, then I attach and use “Beat Up.”  We end up knocking each others Sneazel out, but by this time I only had 1 prize left, so I brought up a charged up Sneazel and ended the game with “Beat Up.”

3-0

I inform the judge of who has won, and she gives me the 2 packs we get for playing and 1 pack for finishing with the best record.  I then open the packs, and make some trades.  I end up getting two Vileplumes (just what I wanted), but people wanted to hang on to their Smeargles (boo).  I then stay later and orgainize my cards.  As I leave the tournament and head for work, I realize that i just won my first Premier Event.  Eventhough it didn’t mean anything, its still nice to win.

Okay so thats its for a pointless tournament report, lets get to some cards.  I won’t go too far indepth here, I will just tell you what I saw.  The reason is that I want to cover some of these more in my Pikk 3 article.

Before I touch on some cards I will say a little bit about making a good pre-release deck.  In this limited format you must play a little slower than you do in the Modified format. Here it is important to use trainers and supporters, so use everyone that you pull.  Also it is important to use a higher percent of energies then you normally use, but don’t go overboard use about 14-15.  Also starting Pokemon are nice, so if there is a Pokemon that has a low energy attack that lets you draw cards, put it in the deck.

First for those going to a Pre-Release soon, here are some good combos.  Eevee decks are always great for Pre-Releases.  So if you can pull a Prime and some Flareons or Jolteons, I would use those.  Sneazel is a great card that lets you do 20 damage times the number of heads, for each Pokemon you have in play.  It won me this tournament, so if you get them, play them.  Of course, if you pull a stage 1 prime I would play it along with 4 or 5 of the Pokemon it evolves from.  Houndoom Prime is good in this format, as is Umbreon Prime, and the dreaded Slowking Prime (trade him as soon as the tournament is over though.)  The non primes of Scizor and Houndoom are also good cards.

Now for some cards that might see some play in the modified format.  Vileplume is a card that I don’t think anyone was able to get out in the tournament, but it will be awesome in the next format.  If you can trade for any of these, do so, it will be a valuable card.  Smeargle from this set is amazing.  I can’t remember what his Poke-Power is called, but it lets you look at your opponents hand and use a Supporter card they have and use it as the effect of this power.  This card had the potential to be a staple.  Energy Exchanger seems like a junk trainer, but I think it could see some play.  It is basically a Pokemon Communication, for energies.  You take an energy from your hand, place it on the top of your deck and search your deck for any energy card (even special energies!)  I could see this card being used in some decks that use Double Colorless Energy or Special Metal or Darkness Energies.  Rotom is also a good tech card that could see some play.  And if your a rogue, the new Magcargo can be used with Typhlosion Prime for some fun knockouts.

Well thats all for this time, this is Pikkdogs signing off saying, so long and thanks for all the fish.

Before we get started I want to remind you guys to check with your local tournament organizers because Pre-releases will soon be under-way for the Undaunted set.  These tournaments are always a blast because you get to play some fun games with people from your area, you get a lot of cards, and you can trade for the cards you need.  Just a heads up for you guys, if your local tournament organizers offer a sealed theme deck event I would recommend going to that too.  TPCI has changed the format for theme decks this year so that there are less energies in the deck, more rares (5!), and each deck comes with a pack of Undaunted cards.  Add all those extras to the 4 packs you get just for being in the tournament and thats 5 packs, 60 cards, and a deck box for 25 bucks!

Oh I would also like to wish whoever is headed to Worlds good luck!

…..Well what time is it geeky sidekick?

Geeky Sidekick:  “Its time to Pikk Three!”

Ok, lets do that!

The Staple: Gengar SF

Description- Gengar is a stage 2 psychic Pokemon with 110 HP, a +30 weakness to dark, a -20 Resistance to normal, and free retreat.

It’s Poke Power is called “Fainting Spell.”  The wording of the power is weird, wrong, and confusing; so errata has been issued for the card, and this is what the Pokemon TCG Compendium lists for the Poke Power “Once during your opponent’s turn, if Gengar would be Knocked Out by damage from an attack, you may flip a coin. If heads, the Attacking Pokemon is now Knocked Out.”  So basically if any Pokemon knocks out Gengar by means of damage, the Gengar player may flip a coin and if heads the Pokemon that attacked Gengar is knocked out too.

Gengar also has two attacks, the first of which is “Shadow Room.” For one energy Gengar SF can put 3 damage counters on any Pokemon on the field, or 6 damage counters on any of your opponents Pokemon that has any Poke Powers.  Its second attack is called “Poltergeist,” and does 30 damage times the number of trainers, stadiums, and supporters in your opponents hand.

Review- Man I love this card, its amazing.  It has seen a lot of play since its release in the Stormfront set, so lets see why this card is so great.

Its stats are not that great.  110 hp is low for a stage 2 Pokemon, the weakness to dark really doesn’t hurt you until you play Tyranitar, and having a normal resistance is great due to Garchomp C.  Its Poke Power is probably one of the best in the game.  It lets you knock out a Pokemon without even attacking.  “Shadow Room” is also very useful, its helps you snipe those Uxies and Azelfs that your opponent always plays.  And “Poltergeist” is a good attack against SP decks since they use a lot of trainers and supporters.

But Gengar does have some draw backs.  Its two attacks are conditional, depending on things that your opponent does.  Gengar isn’t really a great attacking Pokemon, and has fairly low HP.  But these things are made up by some great combos.

One combo is Nidoqueen RR.  Nidoqueen’s “Maternal Comfort” heals one damage counter from each of your Pokemon between turns, this makes it tough for your opponent to get around “Fainting Spell” (by using Uxie or Crobat G). Crobat G is also a great combo for Gengar, because it lets you knock out Uxie LA out with just one attack.  The most important combo for the current format is Machamp SF.  They don’t really seem to have much synergy, and the loss of roseanne’s research hurts this deck, but some how this deck is really good.  Machamp and Gengar are a good combo that will see play after rotation because they are decent SP counters.

Final Review- 9/10.  Gengar SF is almost a game changer its very fast and is deadly to any deck.

The Underdog: Shedinja SV

If you think Gengar had low HP just wait till we talk about Shedinja, oh well I guess you won’t have to wait much longer.

Description-Shedinja is a stage 1 Grass Pokemon.  It has 60 HP, a +20 Fire Weakness, and 1 retreat cost.  Those stats are less than stellar but this Pokemon is used for its Poke Body, “Marvel Shell.”  This Poke Body prevents all effects of an attack (including damage) done to Shedinja by your opponents Pokemon that has any Poke Bodies or Poke Powers.  It has one attack (“Spike Wound”) which does 30 damage to any of your opponents Pokemon that has any damage counters already on it.

Review- As you see from the description, Shedinja isn’t  a tank.  But he is an excellent wall, and walls are needed because Mr. Mime MT is leaving the building.  Most Pokemon today are chosen for there great Poke Powers or Poke Bodies.  Well all of those Poke Powers/ Bodies can’t do a single thing about Shedinja. It can really turn the game around if you get it at the right time.

That being said, Shedinja doesn’t just fit into every deck.  You need a deck that needs a wall, like shuppet or cursegar.  And his Poke Body can be gotten around  by most, but not all decks.

Final Rating- 7/10. There are good and bad things about this card.  But one thing is sure, he is under-rated.  Many people don’t know about this card and are shocked when they see their opponent play it.  So if your deck needs a wall, look at this card, but if not just be aware that Shedinja is out there.

The Young Gun- Umbreon Prime

When I first started reviewing Undaunted cards I started with Espeon Prime.  Today we get to see another eevelution, Umbreon Prime.

Description- Umbreon Prime is a stage 1 Dark Pokemon, with 100 HP, a x2 fighting weakness, a -20 resistance to psychic, and a 1 retreat cost.  It has a Poke Power called “Cloud Covered Moon” which is essentially a built in Super Scoop Up.  It has one attack called “Evo Bloast” which for DCC does 50 damage plus 10 for each of your Pokemon that evolve from Eevee.

Review- Here is what the eevee decks have been missing, a bit of power.  For just 1 special darkness energy and a Double Colorless energy you can do a maximum of 100 damage!  And “Cloud Covered Moon” is very helpful just in case he ends up with a lot of damage counters on him.

But Umbreon has a couple huge downsides.  It only has 100 HP and a 1 retreat cost, I would expect better for a Prime.  It also has a fighting weakness which is not good for a format that is Donphan and Machamp freindly.

Final Rating- 7.75/10. This card finally makes Eevee decks semi-playable.  They still aren’t even close to tier 2, but are still fun for people who like Eevee.  It is a good card that might see some play early in the next format.

Well thats what I think of these cards, I encourage you guys to tell me what you think of them by leaving comments.

As always I sign off by saying, “So long and thanks for all the fish.”

Way back when the deck was first starting to come to the forefront (right after it made some impressive showings in certain State Championships), we covered it. At that time, TeamOmar.com ran a Sablelock Deck Workshop in which we discussed how the deck worked and, with reader help, built a workable list for it.

At the time, some considered it a secret deck, but now it’s a known top-tier headache (for its opponents, of course). It is so well known now that even POP (aka PP) has even posted a decklist for it. So, let’s take a look at it.

Sablelock Deck List courtesy of http://www.pokemon.com/us/news/op_nationals10_analysis-2010-07-28/:

Pokemon: 19
4 Sableye (Diamond & Pearl—Stormfront, 48/100)
2 Uxie (Diamond & Pearl—Legends Awakened, 43/146)
1 Uxie LV.X (Legends Awakened, 146/146)
2 Garchomp Champion (Platinum—Supreme Victors, 60/147)
2 Garchomp Champion LV.X (Supreme Victors, 145/147)
1 Unown Q (Diamond & Pearl—Majestic Dawn, 49/100)
1 Azelf (Legends Awakened, 19/146)
1 Murkrow (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 95/132)
1 Honchkrow (Supreme Victors, 29/147)
1 Honchkrow [G] (Platinum, 77/127)
1 Toxicroak [G] (Platinum, 40/127)
2 Crobat [G] (Platinum, 47/127)

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums: 29
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
2 Cyrus’s Initiative
2 Pokémon Collector
1 Bebe’s Search
1 Felicity’s Drawing
2 Judge
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-103 Power Spray
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 Poké Turn
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-109 SP Radar
1 Aaron’s Collection
1 Premier Ball
1 VS. Seeker

Energy: 12
4 Double Colorless Energy
4 Darkness Special Energy
2 Darkness Energy
2 Psychic Energy

I actually noticed the POP article at the end of July, but I’ve been putting off posting this article (for no good reason). Oddly enough, just NOW while I was typing this up, I noticed that Adam over at 6-Prizes just posted about it. So, sorry Adam. This probably looks like I’m copying you, but I really have been intending to post this for a while now. And to be fair, we’re both really just copying TPCI’s content, anyway.

In an official statement released earlier today, Nurse Joy stated that Claydol is suffering from “severe exhaustion.”

It seems that trainers have been asking him to use “Cosmic Power” so many times over the last three years that they have worn the Clay Doll Pokemon out. Many trainers are gathering at the Lost Tower to pray for Claydol’s quick recovery.

As we all know, Claydol was formed thousands of years ago when clay statues were exposed to cosmic rays.  Although he has been around for a long time, Claydol’s popularity shot up in February of 2008 after perfecting his Cosmic Power technique. Since then, he has had little rest. Witnesses claim to have seen him use Spinning Attack, but even then, it was usually proceeded by Cosmic Power.

Claydol, now resting in an undisclosed Pokemon Center, still vows to make the upcoming trip to Hawaii in two weeks to be available for the 2010 Pokemon TCG World Championships.  Baltoy, a close friend of Claydol’s, has confided that, if Claydol survives the tournament, he will promptly retire and leave the Pokemon TCG forever. “It’s his one last chance to go out on his own terms,” explained his Clay Doll counterpart.

There has been no comment from Uxie or Ninetails as to how this news will affect their future, but we at Team Omar assume that this news will only increase their workload.  For their sake, we sincerely hope they try to take it easy in the future as to not share Claydol’s fate.

This news comes only days after many of Claydol’s peers like Dusknoir, Gadevoir, Gallade, and Beedrill had a group press release announcing their upcoming retirement following the 2010 World Championships. Said an unnamed source close to Claydol, “He wanted to tough it out for a few more years, but after this, it’s evident that his clay body just isn’t meant to take all this abuse.”

Readers are asked to share their personal stories of fond memories with Claydol in the comments box on the bottom of this page.  We will collect them and attempt to deliver them to the obviously hurting Claydol. In this, perhaps his darkest hour, he needs your encouraging words and memories to get him through what may be his final chapter.

I, myself, know that I will always remember how he seemed to fit with almost any team and transformed countless seemingly unwinnable situations into victories by providing a boatload of consistency and draw power.  He just had that uncanny ability to make the Pokemon around him that much better. I will also remember during Michigan States 2010 when I shocked an opponent by using him to attack and knock out their Pokemon.

So, what are your favorite Claydol stories and how would you like to wish Claydol farewell and/or a happy retirement? Do you have an acute hatred for him and would like to express your sentiments of good riddance? Those are acceptable too, but try to keep the animosity low and keep in mind that Claydol himself may be reading this.

On my drive home, though, I was kinda depressed. It’s been a good ride, and I feel like it’s coming to an end. I started to reminisce about the past year. When I left, I told Omar to have a good trip and have fun at college. What’s that? That doesn’t mean anything. So, I thought I’d write this, and he (and I) could keep it as an archive of what Team Omar once was.

Maybe years from now one of us can look back on it and find some satisfaction. That’s kinda why the website was started, as a way to log our thoughts and experiences. The website has grown and morphed a lot since then, but I’d still like to put this record up. Maybe you, the Pokemon playing public, will enjoy it. Maybe you’ll ignore it. If nothing else, it can serve as a marker for a new era in Team Omar and TeamOmar.com.

In September 2009, I had this crazy idea. My daughter, Ava, was interested in Pokemon (the videogame and TV show), so I thought that I could show her my old cards. I knew that the shop I used to be a Gym Trainer at had closed, but I remembered this card shop called Dreamers where I used to play Magic and buy singles every once in a while. I looked on their website, and noticed they had Pokemon League on Saturdays. The next Sat, we were driving around, and I suggested that we stop by. Ava was VERY interested, so we started attending league regularly.

In those early days, I was just playing my old Haymaker (Electabuzz and Magmar) deck, and I think I usually had Ava sit with me and learn (or she’d play and I’d sit with her). Quickly, though, I realized that the old (mostly base set) cards didn’t match up well against this new crazy stuff. I took a liking to SP cards, because they were most like my Haymaker. I retooled my new version of Haymaker. Instead of the classic Hitmonchan and Electabuzz, I opted for building around Whiscash 4 and Raichu GL. I built a very MTG looking deck with just about 4 of each card. I knew it, but I didn’t have any other experience to draw from. It wasn’t horrible. It wasn’t good. It was, however, fairly inexpensive. The best part was that it won me some league Uxies.

I needed cards for my creations, so I latched onto Abdi. He had graciously lent me some Whiscash 4 (which I’m now sure he never intended on using EVER). At league, he’d hang around with this Omar kid. They didn’t look anything alike, but they seemed to share cards. Whatever. I just needed my fix. At some point, I was able to con Omar into giving me his email address, and in early November 2009, I started filling up his inbox with ramblings about Wishcash/Raichu decks.

He was gracious. I keep emails. Here’s a quote from Omar. “In my opinion, the Raichu G, Gliscor G, and Wishcash G are all cards that aren’t sufficient enough to
compete in today’s tourneys, not because they are bad cards, but because there aren’t enough combos that run using those cards.” He could have stopped after “sufficient,” but he added the rest of that to make sure I didn’t feel like it was my idea that was bad. It was the cards, of course.

I kept pushing. I was determined to make it work, and now I had him on the line. I realized that Dreamer’s Pokemon league (which is really rather mismanaged, by the way) wasn’t the best place for me to learn and grow. It was for Ava, though. I didn’t want to quit that, but I wanted something more. I thought that maybe Abdi, Omar, and I could get together to practice. Omar had said they had cards I could borrow, and I really wanted to take advantage of that offer.

Over email, my deck was morphing and employing Crobat G and Honchkrow G for bench snipes. The speed engine was now partially inspired by the UR Double Donked deck. In real life, Abdi invited my wife and I to come over and play against him and Omar. At some point, Omar asked me to comment on his deck idea, and that was an interesting experience. I had to Researching Tower pretty much every card in the list and try to come up with valid points to make.

The cities championships rolled around, and I think the second one was at Dreamers. I figured that I ought to go. I was going to be late, so I emailed Omar my decklist. That means I have an archive of it, so I can share it with you.

Energy: 4
4 Basic Darkness Energy
Pokemon: 14
2 Honchkrow G (PL) 77
3 Crobat G (PL) 47
4 Uxie (LA) 43
4 Unown R (LA) 77
1 Unown Q (MD) 49
Trainers: 37
4 Poke Drawer + (SF) 89
4 Pokedex Handy 910is (PL) 114
4 PlusPower (PL) 112
4 Poke Blower + (SF) 88
4 Super Scoop Up (MD) 87
4 Quick Ball (MD) 86
3 Great Ball (SF) 85
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 Poké Turn (PL) 118
2 Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain (PL) 116
1 Team Galactic’s Invention G-109 SP Radar (RR) 96
1 Luxury Ball (SF) 86
1 Expert Belt (AR) 87
1 Night Maintenance (MT) 113
Supporters: 4
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy (PL) 105
Stadiums: 1
1 Miasma Valley (PL) 111

Omar and Abdi acknowledged that they knew me, but we weren’t like close buds or anything. They were the only ones I really knew, so I hung around them when I could, but I was pretty much on my own. As for the tournament, I know that I played Mike Lesky. I think that was the first round. I really had no idea what he was playing. I think later I realized that it was a Gyarados deck. At the time, I contended to Omar that he probably could have won the matchup. I had no idea what key bench Pokemon to target. If I had, I think I could have kept him down better. Who knows. Maybe I had no chance. I remember Mike looking upset. I figured he was unhappy early game, because he might lose to this pile of dung. He won, though. Maybe he just always looks upset. I went 0-3 and won out my last 2 matches against Ellen and Baqi to finish 2-3.

The next cities was at Misty Mountain Games and I was determined to do better. I thought that my turbo Honchkrow deck was a good idea, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned over my years, it’s that other people had a better idea earlier than you did, and there’s a fair chance that one of them got posted to the internet. My Honchkrow deck was partially based on the UR Double Donked deck, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to retool it into URDoubleDonked.dec. That’s what I did, and I played it at Misty.

My first round was against the intimidating Radu. He was playing SP. I won’t get into how UR Double Donked works, but I’ll just say that you NEED to deck yourself on turn 1 to play it right. IIRC, Radu played Call Energy (and maybe Cyrus) on his first turn. On my turn, I played Uxie. Radu used Power Spray. I tried another Uxie. Radu used Power Spray. I tried my 3rd Uxie (yeah, at least I was a bit prepared), and Radu allowed it. There wasn’t really a way for me to recover from 2 Spray, though. After that, I think I had a run of a couple good games. One was actually a double-donk, I believe. Another was when I got paired down and played against Michael, a senior. He wasn’t happy about it, though. I think I ended at 2-2, but since one of the wins was against a senior I effectively had only 1 win and 2 losses that count for Pokemon.com ratings. I think Omar got 2nd after losing to Radu in the final match.

I gained a bit of respect there (even though it was just for my Ash hat), but my big takeway was the utter lack of Junior players. I hatched a new plan to win massive amounts of product by focusing on Ava’s ability to win Juniors. I took my deck and built her a Shuppet donk deck out of it. I tailored it to her ability, and over Christmas time, we really trained a lot. She knew every card just by looking at the artwork. She was only 6 at the time, but I thought she had a real chance.

Let’s back up a step, though. Previous to this, Omar was exchanging emails with me, and I borrowed cards from Abdi. We were acquaintances that played some cards together a few times. They didn’t really need me, but I needed them. They had expertise and cards. I didn’t really have anything to offer, so I needed to come up with a cunning ruse to get them on my team. On December 15th, I sent Omar this text.

So, yeah, I’d like to play with you and Abdi more. To me that’s better than playing Dreamers, except that you don’t get prizes and it’s not great for Ava. It might be cool to try to come up with some sort of schedule to play. “Team Omar” could meet some evening each/every-other week or something. Yeah, you got that right. Go ahead and do a double-take. I just invited myself to join the prestigious Team Omar, and now you can’t cut me from the team without looking like a jerk. Your only option is to disband citing creative differences.

Omar obviously liked the team name. I didn’t know it, but whether they knew it or not, I now believed that they were starved for this weekly interaction. Maybe they did need me, but not for my prowess at the card table. It was for my insistence on bring this all together. They agreed, and a week later I registered teamomar.info as a bit of a joke they might enjoy and as a display of this being something real.

City Championships at Outpost 2000 were coming after Christmas. I didn’t have a deck, because Ava was using most of my cards. Of course, I’m always in email contact with Omar, and he was messing around with a Porygon-Z deck. I didn’t really know much about it, but I learned. It wasn’t the best deck, and that’s why Omar and Abdi didn’t play it. Tre and Louis were introduced to me at this tourney. I heard that they were now part of Team Omar. This wasn’t part of my plan. I wasn’t sure I wanted it to grow. I didn’t know these guys. This was the team that I created. Maybe naming it “Team Omar” had its downsides.

Porygon proved to be much more consistent than previous decks. I finally had a winning record at 3-2. Most of my wins were against (slightly) higher rated players, and my final round loss was to Thomas (IIRC) who was rated quite a bit higher than me. Even after going 7-7 over cities, I was still just a little under 1600 when it was all said and done. Actually this was quite a feat since one of my wins didn’t even count. To be honest, though, I don’t really care about my rating as far as ratings go. It interests me to watch it, but the number doesn’t really matter for anything. In a way, though, that’s the attitude that killed my States run. If you care, here’s Omar’s Cities report from Outpost 2000.

Ava’s bid for the top spot didn’t work out as planned. While she knew all the cards in her Shuppet Donk deck, I think she felt intimidated at times. She doesn’t seem to care whether she wins or loses, and that affects her desire to come up with winning strategies. She knew the deck, and she knew how to play it. I just think she didn’t know what to do in unexpected situations, so she’d just punt. To be honest, though, I didn’t really pay too close attention to her games. I found it very difficult to watch her play and also keep myself from interfering with the Juniors’ games. I know that some Pokedads will hover always watching over the shoulders of the kids. I don’t want to be that guy; plus I had my own games to play.

Somewhere between Cities and States, things clicked for me. I realized that I wasn’t an expert deck builder (not that I actually thought I was), and I couldn’t rely on playing Omar’s third-best deck. This is where Team Omar really started to be a real force, I think. Tre and Louis started showing up for our Wed night meetings, and at some point Charlie and Meghan started getting interested (though not as seriously as Tre & Louis). This added a whole new level of playtesting options, and we all reaped the benefits.

I decided to make a concerted effort to choose and build my States deck. I scoured the forums and crunched the numbers to come up with a list of top decks. I had already worked on an SP deck, and I decided it wasn’t the right choice for me. Knowing this, only one other top-tier deck stood out as fitting my playstyle: Gyarados. I built and tested several teched-out versions of the deck, but none of them felt right. Luckily our States was on the second weekend, so I really read the reports from the first weekend closely (especially any having to do with Gyarados). My main concern was the SP matchup, and I came across one report that really caught my eye. Austino had played Gyarados, and he seemingly had no issues in any of his SP matchups. I got ahold of him, and Austino’s Gyarados made its way to MN States.

If you want detail about the MN State tournament, you can read my MN States report or Michael’s report. Basically, I started at just under. Louis and Tre really cheered me on, and key wins against people like Radu put me in a good spot. As a fun side note, my win against him net me 23.53 points, and I think that I’ve beat him in every tourney that I played Gyarados against him. He’s an excellent player, but I guess he can’t beat Austino’s Gyarados. At the end of Swiss, I had a decision to make. It was a tough call. I wish I could have seen the standings before deciding, but I went with it and dropped. I would have gone into top cuts in 5th place, and I had a very real chance of making top 4 in the state.

I didn’t think about it at the time, but I should have taken my teammates into account more when I made the decision to drop. I know Omar wouldn’t have done it. Being on a team should mean that I sacrifice for them sometimes. I made a decision for me, and they stood behind me. I should have asked them and decided as a team.

This Team Omar thing was obviously paying off in our play, and the website was actually getting some traffic. We changed to .COM instead of .INFO, and Adam at Six Prizes linked to our site. I wrote an article about the (future Nationals winning) Sableye deck, and got a lot of hits on that one (again thanks to Adam).

My wife and I were planning to play in Regionals, but I knew that Omar couldn’t make it. He had Prom. I thought that my wife would like Gyarados, so I set out to find another deck to run. I was really infatuated with the Fulop Jumpluff deck, but I had a tough time convincing others it was any good. Abdi, however, did get hooked on it and ended up playing it for quite some time after that. I really wanted to play Jumpluff, but my wife didn’t like the Gyarados deck. I built her a really solid Shuppet deck, and she got hooked on that. Ava had switched to Scizor/Cherrim before States, so the Shuppet cards were available. That left me with Gyarados or Jumpluff, and I was very comfortable with Gyarados.

Regionals was a fun road trip for my wife, daughter, and I. We made Team Omar shirts that all 3 of us wore. I ended up 5-2 with the Gyarados deck putting me in 17th place (1 place short of the cut) after Swiss. Here’s the report. We all had a great time and drove home after getting interviewed by PokePress.

After regionals, the team really hit things hard. We all got good decks ready for BRs, and rocked them all. Omar played in 3 of the 4 Battle Roads and won each one. I did not lose a single game in Swiss (in all 4 BRs). Well, that’s not entirely true. I lost 2 games in my first BR to teammates. This allowed me to drop and give them an advantage. It paid off, because it got Tre into the top cut. At the only BR that Omar didn’t attend (due to his graduation commencement), I made top 2 and lost to Andy Wieman (his report is here). Check out all the Battle Roads reports if you like.

Anyway, this is getting long. Omar has proven to be an awesome player. I believe he’s the best I’ve played against, and I think that’s saying something. I don’t feel like listing people I’ve played, because it seems like name dropping. Let’s just say that Omar has something over each of them, and the ones that might be better at Pokemon in general are already older than he is. Omar doesn’t make mistakes when he plays. How can you consistently beat that?

So, let’s bring it back to the present. Omar flies off to CA on Tuesday. That’s probably the end of the Wed night Team Omar. Josh is around for a while longer, but he’ll go back to MI soon. Charlie and Meghan are off to college, themselves. Tre and Louis are infatuated with Naruto. I haven’t really even seen those two for the last 3 Wed nights. That leaves Abdi and myself. I’m going to try to keep Abdi in the game, but I feel like it’ll be tough. He’s a busy guy. Who knows. Maybe we can get someone else interested in what we have going. I just feel like it’ll be Abdi and me (and maybe our kids) whenever we can find a time that works for the both of us.

Team Omar as a physical presence seems to be dying off. However, for quite some time now, I’ve felt like TeamOmar.com has been divorced from the people it was meant to represent. The website has become a place where anyone can come to get information and share their thoughts. I’m hoping that more people will join in to write articles and comments. In this way, Team Omar can be reborn as a global team based around a website that just happens to have one of the best Pokemon TCG players as its namesake.

Good luck in CA, Omar. I hope school and life go well, and it’d be really cool if you ended up at my alma mater college. They say it’s the only college where the average starting salary outweighs the cost of an undergrad degree. Keep in touch!

This weeks theme is “Hand Refresh,” so if your looking for a card that can help your deck recover from bad hands hopefully you will find what you are looking for here.

Just for clarification a Hand Refreshing Pokemon is a Pokemon that has an attack that allows you to draw cards.  It is kind of like a starting Pokemon because it speeds your deck up, but it is mostly used towards the middle of the game, whereas a starter is used right away. A hand refresher also normally takes only 1 slot in your deck, where as a person normally runs 4 starting Pokemon.  Having a card that can refresh your hand is really important if you have a bad start, it is sometimes worth sacrificing a Pokemon.

Card #1 Chatot Md

Description- Chatot is basic normal type Pokemon with 60 HP.  He has free retreat, a +20 lightning weakness, and a fighting resistance. It has two attacks.  The first is called “Mimic”, this attack has no cost lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw as many cards as your opponent has.  Its second attack is called “Chatter,”  this attack does 20 damage and prevents your opponent from retreating for CC.

Analysis- Of all the hand refreshers in the format right now, there is no doubt that Chatot is the most popular.  He is most often found in SP and Jumpluff decks.  “Mimic” is a great attack that lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw a new hand with the same amount of cards as your opponent, which makes it like the supporter “Copycat.”

Its second attack is also of use.  20 damage for two energies doesn’t seem that exciting, but it also prevents your opponent from retreating.  It is most useful against Spiritomb AR, if your opponent promotes Spiritomb you can just Chatter Lock it, so it can’t retreat,  and then knock out the spiritomb with another Pokemon before time expires.

There are some draw backs to Chatot though.  One drawback is you don’t always want to shuffle your entire hand back into your deck.  The other drawback is that in a format without Claydol hand sizes are probably going to get smaller.  So drawing as many cards as your opponent has won’t be that great if your opponent only has two cards.

Rating: 7.5/10- All in all this common is an uncommonly good card.  Even though “Chatter” makes you shuffle all of your hand back into your deck, there are times when you don’t wish to do this, it is still a really good hand refresher.  Also this card is excellent for decks that don’t have anyone that has free retreat.

Card #2 Plusle SV

Description- Our next hand refresher is my favorite rabbit Pokemon that has a plus sign on its cheek, yes its Plusle.  It is a lightning type basic Pokemon with 60 HP.  Its has a 1 retreat cost, a +10 weakness to fighting, and a -20 resistance to metal.  Its first attack is called “Greedy Draw.”  This attack  is free and lets you draw one more card then your opponent has in his hand.  His second attack costs one lightning energy and does 10 damage and allows you to attach a lightning energy from your hand to a benched Pokemon.

Analysis- I think that Plusle Sv is my favorite Hand Refresher.  “Greedy Draw” lets you draw 1 more card than your opponent has, and you get to keep your hand.  In most cases there are at least 1 or 2 cards in you hand that you won’t mind holding on to, so this is a good thing.                                                     

I know there is one big drawback here, the 1 retreat cost.  If Plulse isn’t knocked out by your opponent you will have him stuck in the active spot next turn, this isn’t good.  But you can always use Unown Q’s Poke Power “Quick” to give Plulse free retreat, but this wastes one card in your 60 card deck.

Its second attack is also rather useless, unless you are running a lightning deck.

Final Rating: 7.5/10-  I love plusle for decks that either already use Unown Q or have extra room for Unown Q.  The only time in which I favor Chatot is in SP decks where deckspace is extremely limited.  Looking at the big picture, I think Plusle’s rewards out weigh the risks, but I sure would love free retreat on this guy.

Card #3- Manaphy UL

Description- Manphy is a newcomer to the Hand Refresh game, coming aboard in the last set.  It is probably the worst hand refreser of the three, but has decent potential. Heres why.

We’ll start with the basics, it is a basic Water Pokemon with 60 HP (why do all hand refreshers have 60 HP?).  It has a lightning weakness and a free retreat cost. Its first attack, “Deep Sea Swirl”, lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw five cards, but it costs one colorless energy.  Its second attack, “Wave Splash” does 20 damage for 1 water energy.                                   

Analysis-  Finally we have a hand refresher that doesn’t care what your opponent is doing.  Even if your opponent has 1 card in their hand, you can still draw 5 cards after you shuffle your hand into your deck.  And this card has a free retreat, which is always an awesome thing to have.

There is a negative about this card; its main attack costs one energy, while the other two hand refreshers have free attacks.  To use Manaphy you will have to waste an energy card from your hand an attach it to Manaphy.  You wouldn’t be able to attack that turn anyway with anyone other than Manaphy, but it still is nice to have the option of keeping the energy in your hand.  Another negative is a x2 lightning weakness, luxray gl can knock it out with only a double colorless energy. And the final negative of Manaphy is one it shares with Chatot, you need to shuffle your hand into your deck and give up all certainty and leave it all to luck.

Right now Manaphy probably isn’t the best of the three Hand Refreshers, but he does have some potential.  As mentioned Claydol GE is retired and so hand sizes could go down, and all the other Refreshers rely on your opponent having a lot of cards in their hand.  Manaphy is also from the new UL set meaning that it will be in the format long after Chatot has rotated out.  So there are some drawbacks but it is playable now, and will be more so in the future.

Final Rating: 6/10- I wanna give this card a better score for its potential, but I have to score it based on the current format.  And based on the current format there are better options then Manaphy.  But these three cards are so close it almost depends on a personal choice.

So since it depends on personal choice, I’d like to hear what you guys think is the best card.  Please leave a comment in the comment box and tell me what you think.

So this is Pikkdogs signing off, saying “So long and thanks for all the fish.”

Like many of you out there I am working on post-rotation decks.  I have had little success getting a successful draw engine for a stage 2 deck out of Uxie La, so I tried something different.  This deck uses Ninetails HGSS for a draw engine, which I find to be more consistent then Uxie La in stage 2 decks.                             

Now that I had my draw engine set I just needed a main attacker.  The most popular combo with Ninetails is Chariard Ar, but this has been done too much and is a little slow because of the fact that if you use Uxie La you then lose damage on each of Charizard’s attacks.  So I looked at other Fire type Pokemon and Normal Pokemon.  I saw a deck with Regigas and Mesprit that I liked, but I didn’t like the fact that Regigias’s best attack has a metal, fighting, and water requirement.  Next, I looked at Garchomp SV.

Garchomp SV was never hyped that much after its release, but it was valued highly after it’s release.  I have seen some decks that use this card, but none have been really consistent.   It is a fairly good card because it does 120 damage for CCC, minus 20 damage for each energy attached to the defending Pokemon.  It also has a good Poke Body, named “Dragon Intimidation” which returns an energy card attached to the defending Pokemon to your opponents hands.  My list uses Spiritomb Ar and Judge to disrupt the opponent.  It is especially effective against SP decks, which will be very popular after the rotation.

So without further discussion here is the list I have used.

Pokemon-21

• 4 Gible SV
• 3 Gabite SV
• 4 Garchomp SV
• 2 Vulpix HGss
• 2 Ninetails HGSS
• 4 Spiritomb Ar                      
• 1 Unown Q La

• 1 Uxie La

Energy-17

• 10-Fire
• 4- Double Colorless Energy
• 1- Warp Energy

• 2- Cyclone Energy

Trainers- 22

• 3- Judge
• 4- Collector
• 2- Broken Time Space
• 1- Expert Belt
• 1- Palmer’s Contribution
• 1- Pokemon Rescue
• 3- Bebes Search
• 1- Warp Point
• 2-Rare Candy
• 1- Luxury Ball
• 2- Fisherman

• 1-Interviewers Question

The basic strategy of this deck is to stall with Spirtomb and to slowly evolve Ninetails and Garchomp on the bench.  Then when the time is right you can use the Judge  card to shuffle all of your opponents trainers that he/she was holding back into his/her deck.  Then you can retreat Spiritomb and start attacking with Garchomp.

I admit that is is not the most polished list, but I just put this up to give you guys an example of a Ninetails draw engine.  2 Fisherman’s, at least 1 Interviewer’s Question, and 1 Palmer’s Contribution are neccessary to manipulate the energy you discard with Ninetail’s Poke Body.

Instead of the normal 4-2-4 Line of a stage 2, and 4-3-4 line is better because of the fact that Spiritomb Ar helps you evolve without the use of Rare Candy.  Warp Energy is essential for a deck with Spiritomb, because someone could stall the game by using an attack like Chatot Md’s “Chatter” that doesn’t let you retreat.

I also use 1 Warp Point and 2 Cyclone Energies to switch out the defending Pokemon when Garchomp SV is attacking, because some high energy attackers could cause him problems.

Well there it is, the strategy behind a deck that uses Ninetails for a draw engine.  If you have any comments for any similar decks or any improvements to this deck I would love to hear them.

The basis of the deck isn’t completely novel. I mean, the idea of pairing these two cards that came out in the same set should have been considered by many. The same powers have been around since base set. Base Set Venusaur’s “Energy Trans” Pokemon Power does the same thing as Meganium Prime’s “Leaf Trans,” and Blissey Prime’s “Blissful Nurse” Poke-POWER does the same thing as the Base Set Pokemon Center trainer card. You can see that the themes are nothing new. In fact, I played a deck that centered around Chansey, Alakazam, and Pokemon Center in a recent unlimited tournament. It has the same idea, except that it moves damage to an energyless Pokemon, while this Egg-Meg deck moves energy to an undamaged Pokemon. The Alakazam deck I played recently was based off a deck that my wife used to play back in Base Set. When I saw the HGSS cards, I thought about building her the Blissey/Meganium version, but I never did. That is, until I saw doeigts’ article. So, I took his list and built a version of it for her, my daughter, and I to all mess with.

Doeigts’ deck used an SP engine to do extra damage with Crobat G and bring up key targets with Luxray GL Lv. X. I don’t want the complexity SP adds, trying to stick with his intent, I swapped Cherrim SF in as a Crobat G replacement and Pokemon Reversal (which fairly quickly got changed out for Warp Point) as a Luxray replacement. Keep in mind that I want to keep this a bit more simple, so that non-experts can play it.

I built the deck, and gave it to my wife to play. I was excited, because I thought that she would like having a deck similar to the old Alakazam deck that she has fond memories of. Basically, she thought the deck sucked. I played it, and I had a better time with it, but I have a different perspective. When it doesn’t work for her, she’s frustrated and loses. When it doesn’t work for me, I try to figure out how I can play or build it differently.

It did win one good game for me against Pikkdogs. He was playing his experimental deck that runs a bunch of Spiritomb for early game evolving and trainer lock. I happened to get 2 energy out on my turn 1 (thanks to Cherubi SV) and then do 60 damage on my second turn. He couldn’t keep the Tombs in play. He did get the game turned around, but I was already ahead on the prize race. I was able to finish the job.

The choice to put in a 4-4 line of Cherrim is suspect, though it did win me the game against Pokkdogs. Options such as Sunflora have been suggested in place of it. Running Spiritomb myself would not be a bad option to stall and evolve early game. Metapod may be nice to help against fire, but I don’t even want to worry about bad matchups yet. I just want to make a deck that works fairly well in general. We’re probably talking about a league-caliber deck anyway, so worrying about specific matchups isn’t a high priority.

So, here’s my list. It could be a fun league deck as it stands, but I want to make it more consistent. I think I need more search (Collector?), and maybe Judge should be swapped for PONT or some such. Please give me your ideas, but keep in mind that this deck must be kept a bit on the simple side. I don’t want the whole SP thing to creep back in.

VERSION 1
Pokemon: 24
3 Chikorita
3 Bayleef
3 Meganium Prime
2 Chansey
2 Blissey Prime
2 Uxie
1 Chatot MD
4 Cherubi SV
4 Cherrim SF

Trainers: 14
1 Luxury Ball
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Super Scoop Up
1 Expert Belt
4 Warp Point

Supporters: 7
2 Pokemon Collector
2 Bebe’s Search
2 Judge
1 Palmer’s Contribution

Stadiums: 3
3 Broken Time-Space

Energy: 12
12 Grass

It is that time of the year, when the players who’ve had a great season pack up to go to worlds, and when the rest of us test our new post-rotation decks.  I hope all of you out there who are not going to worlds are having a better time at building post-rotation decks then I am.  I’m getting tired of all my decks starting really fast and then stalling out on turn 4 or 5.  But, I guess if success was easy it wouldn’t be as sweet.  So I hope that those of us who are having problems will soldier on and eventually find something that works.  Maybe you will find something while I “Pikk” three.                                          

The Staple- Machamp SF

Description: Machamp is a stage 2 Pokemon with 130 HP, a +30 psychic weakness, a 2 retreat cost and 3 attacks.  His most popular attack is “Takeout,” which does 40 damage for 1 fighting energy and knocks out the defending Pokemon if it is an unevolved Pokemon.  His second attack is called “Hurricane Punch”, costs CC, and does 30 damage times the number of heads once you flip 4 coins.  His final attack  called “Rage”, costs FFCC, and does 60 damage plus 10 more each damage counter on Machamp.

Analysis- Well if you want some versatility and brute force Machamp can give it to you.  Machamp has been a very important card ever since the Platinum series came out and introduced SP Pokemon.  This is because Machamp can knock out every SP Pokemon (except Toxicroak G Pt) for just 1 fighting energy.  Talk about a good SP counter!

Machamp decks, with Flygon RR, did very well at Worlds last year and in this years Fall Battle Roads.  But Machamp had fallen out of favor around Cities last year because of the popularity of Unown g, which can cancel out the effect of “Takeout”.  But now Unown g is getting rotated out of the format, so Machamp is once again a Pokemon to be feared.

But enough with the background and hype, lets look at the basics of the card. 130 HP is about the norm for a stage 2 Pokemon.  And a psychic weakness isn’t a terrible thing to have, but it can hurt against Uxie Lv.X and Toxicroak G Pt.  Its first attack is by far its best.  You can knock out any un-evolved Pokemon for just 1 energy!  So Machamp decks may have a shot at beating Luxchomp decks seeing that they can knock-out almost any Pokemon in the deck for just 1 energy.

Its second are third attacks are for desperate situations, and the Lv.X is nice but requires an experienced player to play correctly.

Final Rating- 8/10- Now that unown G is gone Machamp will have a chance to run around unhindered.  But the loss of Claydol GE could limit his play to only extremely fast decks.  Donphan Prime could be a decent pairing for Machamp in the next format, although games against stage 1 and stage 2 decks could be difficult.

The Underdog: Super Scoop Up

Description- Super Scoop Up (SSU) is a simple trainer card that lets you flip a coin, and if heads return one Pokemon in play to your hand.                      

Analysis- It may be a simple card but it has many uses.  You  could use it with Uxie La to give you deck a more consistent draw.  Secondly, you could use it with Mesprit La to keep up a devastating Power Lock on your opponent (with its “Psychic Bind” Poke Body). A third use is to heal your low or no energy attacker like Donphan, Jumpluff, or Gyarados.  The final major use that I know of is to re-use a Crobat G in a speed deck (such as Shuppet), the ability to use “Flash Bite” again could be just what you need to knock out the defending Pokemon.

The uses are endless, but there is one crucial drawback to the card.  It requires a flip, so if you aren’t lucky you may be wasting valuable spots in your deck.

Final Rating- 7.75/10.  Its a card that can be included in every deck to re-use the Uxie, or to prevent a knockout on that Expert Belted Pokemon that is about to kick the bucket. But it is inconsistent in the fact that sometimes it works and sometimes you roll tails and it doesn’t work.

The Young Gun- Vileplume Undaunted

Note this card has not yet been released so there may be some small translation errors.

Description- Vileplume is a stage 2 Pokemon with 120 HP, a weakness to Psychic, and a 2 retreat cost ( man Vileplume and Machamp have eerily similar stats).  It has an awesome Poke Body named “Allergy Flower”.  This Body prevents you and your opponent from playing any trainers.  It also has one attack named “Dazzle Pollen.”  This attack does 50 damage for GGC and you can flip a coin, if heads it does 20 more damage and if tails the opponents Pokemon is Confused.

Analysis- Vileplume’s Poke Body has been much hyped ever since it was first announced in Japan.  There was some talk of it coming to the U.S. in the Unleashed set, that didn’t happen but it will come in our Undaunted set.  The ability to lock all trainers from the bench is a very impressive ability.  Lets see if we can come up with any combo’s for this card.

The first combo that comes to mind is Bellosom La.  Its “Blend Pollen” attack does 40 damage for GC and an extra 20 damage for each Bellosom and Vileplume you have in play, the attack also lets you flip and if heads you can burn the defending Pokemon.  So if you were to have an active Bellosom and a Vileplume on the bench you can do 80 damage for 2 energies and possibly burn the opponent, while locking trainers.  And, of course if you could get another Vileplume or Bellosom out you could do 100 damage.  But, the drawback is that Bellosom only has 100 HP, so may want to think about Expert Belt or Shaymin Lv.X Ground Forme.  Also, don’t count on using trainers, so max out on Bebe’s Search instead of Pokemon Communication.  Uxie Lv.X also may be a good idea since you can’t use trainers like Pokedex.

This card has huge potential to stop SP decks and speed decks like Donphan.  If used correctly, Vileplume could easily dominate almost any match up you have.  But there are a couple draw backs.

Its Poke Body can be turned off by Dialga G Lv.X’s Pokebody.  Another weakness is that Bellosom isn’t the hardest hitter in town and has fairly low HP.

Final Rating- 8.75/10.  All in all I think this card is worth the hype.  Even if your opponent uses Dialga G Lv.X it could still slow that Luxchomp deck enough to beat it.  And since most decks after rotation will either be SP or be trainer heavy, it is a great metagame counter.

Well thanks again for reading another installment of Pikkdogs “Pikks” Three.  As always you are encouraged to leave you reviews of the card in the comments box.  And if you haven’t already, check out our buddy Jwittz’s new Prof-it website, www.jwittz.com.

Before we get started I would like to talk a little about Twitter.  I loved hearing you guys tweet during Nationals, and because of that I decided to get into Twitter more.  I have started to tweet about my decks and have found a couple of other people who do the same.  So if you are on twitter I would love to have you follow me and hopefully we can converse about the game.  Also, if you know anyone in the game who tweets also about it, please let me know.  My user name on there is “Pikkdogs.”

Like most of you, I am currently working on getting my decks post-rotation ready.  Some of my decks are working well, and some aren’t.  One that I am kind of on the fence about is Gyarados.

Just a small run through the strategy of the deck for all the new-comers.  Gyarados decks try to discard three Magikarps by turn 2 and then promote a Gyarados SF to do 90 damage with its “Tail Revenge” attack.  To get the karps in the discard pile, most people use Sableye SF’s “Impersonate” attack to set up, and then use Regice’s Poke-Power “Regi-Move” to discard the karps.

I have been talking to Ed about this deck and how it will be post-rotation.  As some of you might know, Ed has been playing Gyarados for a while and is somewhat of an expert on it.  When he tried to make it post rotation he noticed that he really missed the card called “Felicities Drawing.”

When I made my deck post-rotation I didn’t really notice this too much.  My major problem was mid game draw power. I can usually set up in 2-3 turns, but I had trouble recovering from a knock out.  My deck really misses Claydol and the draw power it provides.

So I will provide you guys with the list that I’m currently running and would appreciate any fixes to it, or any comments on post-rotation decks.

Pokemon-18
4 – Gyarados SF
4 – Magikarp SF
4 – Sableye SF
1 – Azelf LA
2 – Crobat G PT
2 – Uxie LA (The main draw Power of the deck)
1 – Regice LA
Energy-4
4 – Special Dark (For the Sableye Donk)
Trainers- 38
1 – Bench Shield (Just for those matchups versus snipers)
2 – Expert Belt
2 – Warp Point (mostly to get Regice out of the active spot)
3 – Poke Turn
3 – Pokemon Collector
4 – Super Scoop Up (To reuse Uxies and to heal Gyarados)
1 – Engineers Adjustment (To make some use out of the energies after the donk fails)
2 – Bebes Search
1 – Copy Cat
1 – Judge (One of the better cards in the format, man is this card great.)
1 – Cynthia’s Feelings
2 – Volkner’s Philosophy-2 (To discard a Magikarp)
1 – Pokeradar
1 – Luxury Ball
1 – Quick Ball
1 – Pokedex
3 – Pokemon Rescue
3 – Broken Time-Space
4 – Pokemon Reversal

Version 2 Changes

-1 Quick Ball

-1 Bench Shield

-1 Pokemon Reversal

+1 Uxie Lv.X La

+1 Copy Cat

+1 Pokemon Rescue

So there it is, nothing special.  Just a post-rotation form of a basic Gyarados deck.  My Gyarados deck is just supposed to be a prototype used only in testing,  because  I dont like the deck enough to bring it to a tournament.  Of course other decks use Luxray Gl, and thats a good choice,  and Adam from www.sixprizes.com swears that a build with Lunatone and Solrock is  best.  But this is just supposed to be a bland build.

Any hints to make it faster and better mid-game would be great.  Thanks

Hopefully we’ll see ya on Twitter.

First, a little about the event. My daughter and I have been planning to attend Nationals this year ever since we failed to go last year. We knew we were golden when we convinced my wife to come along and treat it like a family vacation. The drive from Michigan was easy, about 5 hours, and we made it with plenty of time to get the early registration t-shirts. We didn’t really grasp the scale of the event until Friday morning though.

The venue was gigantic, easily the biggest single room I have been in for a long time (in fact I am having difficulty recalling another time when I was in a room this size.) There are tons of people milling about. There are people in line for the Video Game Tournament. There are side rooms with vendors, open playing, and just hanging out. In the main room there are separate sections for each of the age groups, one for league play and side events, one for eating with tables and one for the video game stuff too.

Throughout the weekend we see people we know from Michigan but also folks we recognize from online like JWittz and Adam from SixPrizes.com. We spent a lot of time hanging out with Team Warp Point (Good Game) who make us honorary members before the weekend is over; YOU GUYS ROCK! And of course we make new friends too. If you didn’t make it this year, I strongly encourage you to plan on being there next year because it is a blast and there is a ton of poemon fun to be had.

Round 1 vs. Brandon (Indiana) with Dusknoir LvX, Gengar LvX

This was my first game and first donk of the event. It went down like this – I go first starting with Mr. Mime; I draw and pass. Brandon opens with Duskull who evolves using Reaper Cloth into Dusclops (who has 80 HP) and attacks with Dark One-eye, discarding to force me to discard. I use Roseanne’s Research to get Uxie and Shuppet (I have 2 PlusPower, 1 psychic energy, and Warp Point in hand); using Uxie’s Setup gets a Crobat G, another PlusPower, and a Super Scoop. I Flash Bite with Crobat G, hit heads on the Super Scoop, scoop and replay Crobat G for another 10 with Flash Bite and then attack with Shuppet with 3 PlusPowers for 60 and the KO.

Brandon takes it okay and we head over to the league tables for a friendly game that goes down to the wire but I win again.

Record: 1 win, 0 losses

Round 2 vs. Matthew (Indiana) with Jumpluff

Matthew goes first opening with Baltoy and passes. I don’t remember the details but I am able to KO the Baltoy and win the game with another donk.

Record: 2 wins, 0 losses

Round 3 vs. Hanaan (Rhode Island) with CurseGar

We chit-chat during setup and find out we are both “pokedads” with kids playing in the other age groups. Hanaan opens with a Spiritomb and Gastly and I immediately know what I am up against. I have played and beaten many CurseGar decks in past tournaments so I know what to expect and I feel confident. On my second turn I KO his Spiritomb and think I am off to the races, however on his next turn he uses Pokemon Collector to get 3 more Spiritombs from his deck and proceeds to trainer lock me for the rest of the game. I never faced a CurseGar that ran and used 4 Spiritomb, but all I have to say is when the game was over and I showed my hand to Hanaan we counted 14 trainer cards.

Record: 2 wins, 1 loss

Round 4 vs. Jay (Iowa) with Kingdra

Jay isn’t very talkative during setup and I get the sense he takes playing very seriously. I mulligan my first draw and Jay takes his time looking at my cards to figure out what I am running, he doesn’t look happy. We shake hands and flip our cards, he has a lone Horsea and I have either an Uxie or Dunsparce (I can’t recall which.) Jay goes first and passes. I play a Buck’s, attach a PlusPower and an energy, and drop Crobat G to the bench using Flash Bite for 10 damage. My attack takes care of the 40 remaining HP and gives me the game. That’s 3 donks out of 4 games, this is a huge difference from my deck’s performance during the 3 Battle Roads I went to.

Record: 3 wins, 1 loss

Round 5 vs. Alex (Indiana) with Dialga G LvX, Garchomp C LvX

We setup and I can’t believe that I am opening with a lone Unown Q. Seriously, I only run one of them and to not have any other basics in hand is unbelievable. I am dreading the donk but hope for the best as we turn over our cards. Alex has a Garchomp C active and a Baltoy on the bench. He goes first but doesn’t the double-colorless energy he needs to donk me and passes. I take a deep breath having survived the opening turn and gather my wits trying to get a quick KO. I use Roseanne’s Research to get Dunsparce and a psychic energy to exploit Garchomp’s weakness. My turn goes well and I KO the Garchomp, however that is the end of my good luck because Alex quickly sets up a Dialga G and proceeds to Deafen me for the remainder of the game. At some point he uses Judge to shuffle Dunsparce and the energy back into the deck. I am left to draw and hope to get an energy or another Roseanne’s but to no avail. He eventually attaches an Expert Belt on Dialga G and with a clever play with Crobat G he gets his last prize card. Another game where trainer lock wrecks me; my final hand had nearly 20 trainers in it.

Record: 3 wins, 2 losses

Round 6 vs. Katheryn (Alabama) with Fainting Spell Gengar

I don’t recall the details of this match but the executive summary is – my deck runs like a clock and I take 6 prizes while Kathryn struggles to get anything threatening setup for very long. I do remember being pleasantly surprised when she uses Shadow Room to KO my Mr. Mime. In the end though, I win without much trouble.

Record: 4 wins, 2 losses

At this point I am feeling pretty good about my deck and my playing. I begin to hope that I might make it into the top-cut.

Round 7 vs. Robert (New Hampshire) with Gardavoir, Nidoqueen

Another “pokedad” here with his kid playing in the seniors division. Robert confesses to being extremely tired because of the long drive the day before and I hope this bodes well for me. Another match where I don’t have many details but Robert plays well enough in his exhausted state to stave off my flurry of attacks and hold me to 3 prizes before time is called, too bad he already has taken 4 prizes. I really feel I could have won this matchup if it weren’t for the 2 Judge cards he played to shuffle away all of my resources at the right moments only to follow up with a Psychic Lock attack to limit my ability to recover. Hats off to Robert to play a smart game in such a state.

Record: 4 wins, 3 losses

This is the last game for the day and despite 3 losses and hopes of top-cut waning, I am feeling pretty good and look forward to the following morning.

Round 8 vs. Rebekah (Louisiana) with straight Machamp

The pairings are posted on time and we are seated and getting setup. During the small talk Rebekah informs me that if she losses again she is going to drop to which the guy next to me concurs. I don’t know what to make of this really because I don’t see the point of coming all that way only to drop before the final round, but whatever I guess.

This game is like the last few because I don’t have many details but do I know that I take one prize per turn and end Rebekah’s tournament (she dropped.) She struggles to get setup only to play to promote a Spiritomb when she needs to play Night Maintenance and Luxury Ball. The one Machamp she does get out and on the bench doesn’t last long enough for her to use because I flip heads on a Pokemon Reversal and hit it hard for the OHKO.

Record: 5 wins, 3 losses

Round 9 vs. Paul (Washington) with Jumpluff, Luxray GL LvX

This one is pretty fresh still in my head so I have more details than the last few. I go first and open with a Crobat G active and something else on the bench. On Paul’s first turn he gets his bench full and evolves up into a Jumpluff with 1 energy and OHKOs my Crobat G. I have a great hand and am able to get Shuppet, energy, several PlusPowers, an Expert belt and OHKO his Jumpluff. This seems to surprise Paul as he goes into he second turn. Again he gets a Jumpluff out and KOs whatever I have active (no Mr. Mime yet.) I know this is a slugfest and I a turn behind so I have to do something to stall him out. I play my turn going for the knock out on his Jumpluff but I see my opening for the next turn to get ahead on prizes. The plan I hatch is to use 2 Poke Blower+ to force his Claydol active so I can KO it. This will slow his recovery down at least for 1 full turn if not longer. As it turns out, when Paul gets control again, he searches for more Jumpluff but isn’t able to find it, he thinks about going for Luxray GL but decides not to. He promotes Chatot and uses Mimic to shuffle his hand and draw 14 cards. I decide to proceed as planned and go after his draw foregoing the easy KO on Chatot (he only has 60 HP.) I also get Mr. Mime in play with Unown Q attached.

It is a little early to celebrate, but I am up in prizes and he doesn’t have a Jumpluff in his deck. He decides to go for Luxray GL LvX and Bright Looks up an Uxie (why he didn’t go for the Crobat G I cannot say) only to retreat in favor of Chatot again. He Mimics for another new hand of 13 cards. Around this time I draw into a Cyclone Energy and keep it in my hand knowing that at some point he will attack with Luxray, leaving him active which is too much HP for me to one-shot. The last few turns are a blur to me, but I know he is obviously trying to get 3 energies on his Luxray in order to KO my Mr. Mime but doesn’t seem to have enough energy left (his multi-energy is already in the discard). My last turn of the game goes like this, I draw into a second Poke Drawer+ which I use to get the last PlusPower and a Crobat G, I retreat Mr. Mime and promote Dunsparce attaching cyclone energy. He switches Luxray for Chatot. I attach all of my PlusPower to Dunsparce and know I have the KO, however I also see Hoppip on the bench and feel like I can get the double KO if I get lucky on a couple of Super Scoop Ups and that is exactly what I do and it wins me the game.

Record: 6 wins, 3 losses

I decide that I have a slim chance still to get into the top-cut of 64 and sort my deck while waiting for the standings to get posted. After a while the standings go up; I finish 79th, well out of top 64. In my flight there were 25 players with 6-3 records who make it into the top-cut. Even so I had a great time and am very happy with the way my deck and I played at the end of the season.

Before we get into that, I’d like to say a little about Nats, which was held this weekend.  I wasn’t able to make it there, but I heard it was a great weekend.  A sablelock deck won, and luxchomp decks had a great showing.  So it looks like disruption decks are huge late in the season, but will it continue into the next season?

That is what this article is about.  Some players (Sp players) will be able to take 1 or 2 cards out of their deck and replace them with similar cards to make them modified legal.  But other people will have to totally remake their decks.

So what exactly will be popular after rotation?  Well no one knows exactly but here are a couple of decks we know will see lots of action.

1.  Sp Decks- As mentioned we know SP decks won’t lose much, so if their good now, they will be good later.

2. Donkphan Decks- Donkphan decks aren’t losing much either.  They already use Uxie instead of Claydol and are very fast.

3.  Charizard Decks- I haven’t heard of anyone playing this deck at this years Nationals, but it has done pretty well at some Battle Roads.  It is a fast deck that doesn’t rely on Claydol, hence it isn’t losing very much.  It can hit for a lot of damage early, doesn’t rely on a lot of trainers, and doesn’t have a x2 weakness.

All of those three decks have two things in common, they aren’t losing anything and the strategy of those decks will remain the same.  But what new decks will see play?  And what new strategies will we see?  I’m not sure but here are a couple of things to think of.

Think of New Draw Engines

Of course we are losing Claydol GE, so most decks will look for other draw engines.  The most obvious which is Uxie.  Some people will try to replace Claydol with two Uxies and 4 Super Scoop Ups.  While others will try fire or colorless decks and play Ninetails HGSS.  But there are other options out there to be explored.

The Other Side of Claydol’s Exit.

When the rotation was announced everyone knew that Claydol leaving the format means that decks will get a little slower.  But Claydol’s exit also changes strategy up a little.  Since Claydol is gone Garchomp C cannot snipe him, Blaziken FB cannot burn him, and Luxray Gl cannot “Bright Look” him.  That means decks like Sablelock will have to change their play a little.  This fact makes me think that Power Sprays will be more important (to stop Uxie) and Garchomp C will be less important (though only slightly).  So we might be seeing decks play more Power Sprays and less sniping.

What up G?

Unown g is also leaving the format.  Even though he is not half as popular now as he once was, Unown g’s rotation will effect the game.  Machamp SF, Crobat Prime, and Gengar SF will probably see more play, so be on the look out for those decks.

Get your Supporters Straight

One card that we are losing that will effect almost every deck is Roseanne’s Research.  This was a great card that not only let us set up our Pokemon, but gave us energy.  Now that we no longer have this card we need to change our supporter structure.  Of course Pokemon Collector will become a staple in every deck, but how does one get enough energy?  Interviewer’s Question is a card that could get more play.  Or maybe players will tend to use more drawing supporters like Copy Cat and Profesor Oak’s New Theory.  Or maybe people will just run 1 or 2 more energies.

Look towards the future

A lot of the cards that will dominate next years format have not been released yet.  So look at the new cards as they come out and judge if any of them are worthy enough to be in your deck.  Some of the most anticipated cards are Vileplume (which creates a trainer lock), Magnezone Prime (which is a Claydol like draw-engine), and the stadium card called “Lost World” (which adds a new way to win a game).  Take a really hard look at those cards that were in the Japanese “Lost Link” set.  They won’t be crossing the ocean until later in the fall, but when they do arrive here they will change the game.

Those are my thoughts on the rotation, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

He mentioned that there were 1336 players (which he pointed out was one short of the LEET 1337 / 826 masters, 300 seniors, 210 juniors). That field is split into two groups, and there will be a top-64 in each group. I believe that the field will be cut down to top-16 in each group by the end of Saturday.

Abdi and Benny are also representing Team Omar. Each of them are 3-4 at the end of Day 1. That puts the team at 12-9, which I’m very proud of. Cheffords, reporting for #TeamOmar, went 4-3 for the day with his daughter going 3-3 in Juniors.

I also heard a little about the rest of the MN players. This could be completely wrong, but I’ll mention it anyway. It sounded like Andy, Radu, and Emmanuel were having a tough time with their Kingdra/Machamp. They were something like 3-3 before the final round. Jon (Jake Long) and Michael (short) had the same record as Omar (5-1) heading into the final round of Swiss. Hopefully they’re both 6-1 also.

I think that covers it for Day 1. Good luck to all of you. Keep wrecking the field, Omar!

I wish to say “Good Luck” to all those headed to Indy at the end of this week for the U.S. Pokemon National Championship. I hope you guys have a fun time and get to meet a lot of cool people.

For those of you, who like me are unable to go, I hope that we get some good testing done.  It is a good time for us to take apart all our decks and make new ones that fit the post rotation rules.  This year Teamomar.com will hook us all up and with twitter feeds live from the tournament, so we just have to check in at the .com and see how our twitter correspondents are doing and what kinda things they are seeing.  I don’t think the list of correspondents is finished yet but I know a Minnesota player here, Andy, will be updating us, and also my buddy Cheffords from Michigan will take the trip south and keep us informed.

Now enough with the chit-chat lets Pikk three.

The Staple: Uxie Lv.X

Description: Uxie X is a psychic Pokemon with 90 HP, a x2 psychic weakness, and a 1 retreat cost.  It has the Poke-Power named “Trade Off”.  This power lets you look at the top 2 cards of your deck and choose one to put in your hand, the other goes to the bottom of your deck.  It also has an attack named “Zen Blade.”  This attack does 60 damage for CC.

Analysis: The basic stats of this card don’t seem very impressive. It only has 90 HP, a retreat cost, and a x2 weakness.  But it actually is a really good card, and one of the better cards in the format. It is mostly used for its Poke Power, but “Zen Blade” can also be a useful attack.

It is used mainly in SP decks to give the deck a little more draw power.  “Trade Off” can be just what you need to get that card you need late in the game. “Zen Blade” can also help the SP decks have a better Machamp matchup, with the use of only one Double Colorless Energy.

But with Claydol GE leaving the format soon, Uxie will now become the best draw engine in the game.  So players may want to use Uxie Lv.X in all of their decks in which they use Uxie.

That being said, Uxie La is a great card by itself.  Its Poke-Power is a lot better than the Lv.X’s, it might be unnecessary to run the Lv.X if the regular Uxie will suffice.  It also is a Lv.X so to use Uxie X you will need to make it active and then retreat it.  This will require you to slow down your attack, use Unown Q, or use Bronzong G or Shaymin Ul’s Poke Power.

7.5-All in all its a good card, it can fit into almost any deck because almost every deck runs Uxie.  And “Trade Off” is a Poke-Power that could be useful.  But, “Trade Off” is inconsistent in getting you useful cards, and it is hard to retreat Uxie.  So I would only use it in SP or DCE decks.

The Underdog: Cherrim SF

Description- Cherrim SF is a grass Pokemon, has a low 80 HP, a 1 retreat cost, and a + 20 weakness to fire.  Its Poke-Body “Sunny Day” adds an extra 10 damage to any attack done by fire or grass Pokemon.  It has two attacks, the first attack is called “Salty Sweet Pollen.”  This attack does 20 damage for no energy.  The second attack is called “Solar Beam” it costs GCC. Remember each attack does 10 more because of its Poke-Body.  

Analysis- Cherrim is a common Pokemon in the Scizor/Cherrim deck, but I think it has more potential than that.

Its stats arent very great, but it doesn’t have a x2 weakness and it has a useful no energy attack.

As mentioned it is common in Scizor/Cherrim decks, but it can work in other decks.  My nephew runs it, with some success, in his Jumpluff deck.  Cherrim lets Jumpluff attack hard enough to knock out almost every Pokemon for just 1 energy (with an expert belt).  Some people are also starting to build Torterra Ul decks.  If you were to add Cherrim to a Torterra Ul deck the user would be able to use his “Giga Drain” attack to do 80 damage ( with an expert belt and two Cherrims) and remove 8 damage counters from him.  This could be a deadly combination if set up fast enough.

7/10- This card can fit into any Grass or Fire deck and make an immediate impact.  The ability to add damage is invaluable.  But it is not a great attacker and does not help speed your deck in any way.  It can be a good card in the right deck, but is not a game changing card.

The Young Gun: Espeon Prime UD

Description-Espeon Prime is expected to be included in the Undaunted Set.  Here are its stats: it is a psychic Pokemon wiht 100 HP, a psychic weakness and a 1 retreat cost.  Its Pokebody, “Memory Of Evolution,” lets Espeon use any attack of any Pokemon on your bench that evolves from Eevee.  Its has 1 attack of its own, named “Solar Ray.”  For PC you do 30 damage and remove 1 damage counter from each of your Pokemon.

Analysis- The Eeveelution decks never seem to be very good, but people always love to play them.  I feel that the new eevee’s coming out in the Undaunted Set will share the same fate.

This Espeon is pretty cool though, it has the option to use an attack of any Pokemon on your bench that evolves from Eevee.  So if you are playing an Eeveelution deck and are playing a deck that is weak to psychic you can play Espeon Prime and load him with at least one Rainbow Energy and use any attack that benefits you.  Its not a great attack but it will be a fun Pokemon to play in an Eevelution deck.

Its stats (besides the Poke-Body) are very bland and un-impressive.  So if you are using this deck you are using it for the Poke-Body.

5/10- Its not a great attacker or support Pokemon, but if you must play an Eevee deck, this card is a must play.  It is a versatile card that may be able to get you out of a tight spot.

Well thanks for stopping by for another installment of “Pikk” Three.  As always I look forward to reading your take on these cards, and if you have any suggestions for future articles please leave them in the comments box.