Archive for the ‘Pokémon’ category

The new Undaunted set is now released! Though there were some cards I was disappointed not to see (Dialge Palkia Legend and Porygon Z) the set looks to be my favorite out of the Legend sets so far.
Here are the contenders.
Leafeon. This Eevee evolution comes on strong with its low energy cost and mobility. For only one energy of any type Leafeon is able to hit the opponent for 50 times the amount of Special Conditions on the opponent. If the player is desperate enough for an early setup they could use Skuntank G’s self-poisoning Pokepower Poison Structure. However, for the long run the player would have to refer to other Special Condition based Poke Powers: Houndoom Prime, Blaziken PL, Roserade UN, or Darkrai MD. What makes this Pokemon one of the top contenders is the other Eevee evolutions that make Leafeon so mobile; Espeon’s + 20 HP as well as the help of a newcomer…

Umbreon. Umbreon mostly works as a back up for Leafeon.. With the attack Moonlight Fang Umbreon voids any attacks done to it by any Pokemon that have PokeBodies or PokePowers with a simple one darkness energy. All this while also doing 30 damge. This means that most all Sp decks will not be able to touch Umbreon, along with a large It seems to that 7 out of 10 times a player will use a Pokemon that has a Pokebody or Pokepower handful of non-sp decks. The only decks that come to mind that run Pokemon without Pokebodies or Pokepowers are Machamp, Jumpluff and Kingdra.

Vileplume. Vileplume according to Facebooks is everyone’s favorite Pokemon, so this is exciting news. What makes Vileplume so powerful is its Pokebody Allergy Flower. Allergy Flower voids any player from using any Trainers whether Vileplume is on the Bench or Active. With this the player can fully dominate the game by simply loading their deck with supporters while slowing the opponents deck to a halt. Just a few months ago everyone was going crazy over Spiritomb, now we have a card that not only stops trainers, but also provides many options such as using Bellosom or the alternate Vileplume. Vileplume’s Body and mobility make the card very viable.
I would mention the new Weavile, however, I am not sure whether the ability to take to take a card from the opponents hand on a evolve is game changing. Other than these Pokemon the Undaunted set offers interesting trainers such as Defender (same thing as Plus Power but for defense) along with the Legend Box. Can’t wait for the next set!!!

Out of all the new additions in Pokemon TCG, I am most excited for the cards coming out of the Japanese Lost Link set. The art of the cards themselves is bound to catch any player’s attention. In the majority of the drawings the Pokemon have a darkened look to them. The art is very heavy on the eyes; it looks as if they were drawn with oil paints. Not only is the art worthy of praise, but the new attacks, powers and bodies coming out of Lost Link are very hause; specifically the cards centered on the Stadium Lost World.
Gengar now has a prime. This means that he can now be primed and Lv Xed. Which is interesting. Gengar Prime has a Pokebody and two attacks. His Pokebody says that any Pokemon knocked out by Gengar Prime is sent to the Lost Zone. This is a plus, however due to the fact that his attacks do not put forth much damage the pokebody is not Gengar’s greatest strength. Here is the money shot. Plunge into Darkness: for only one Psychic energy the player can look at the opponents hand , choose as many Pokemon as there are Psychic energies on Gengar and then take those Pokemon and put them into the Lost Zone. How viable is this? Without Claydol many players will not have the ability to put cards back into their deck. This was something that was essential to counter Stormfront Gengar’s Poltergeist and now it is a one two punch. Without the Cosmic Power recycle Gengar Prime will have the ability to pull out sitting ducks and put them into the Lost Zone. How else will a player be able to get rid of stray stage 1 or 2 Pokemon? Perhaps with Bebe’s Search or a few other alternatives, HOWEVER overall it will be harder to get rid of any drawn Pokemon. Nonetheless the new Supporter Hunter, each player takes a Pokemon from their Bench and puts it back into their hand, makes it so that Gengar Prime can now have a formula for its madness.
Now why am I making a big deal about this attack? If you have not already heard about the Stadium Lost World here is the scoop. When the Lost World is played the opponent looks into their Lost Zone and if there is 6 or more Pokemon in the Lost Zone then the Stadium’s player wins the game. DONE DEAL. This is different from simply the discard pile being that the Stadium accounts for a Pokemon’s past evolutions as well. In the current format a player can knock out a Stage 2 and get 1 prize cards. In the Lost World format a player Lost Zoning a Stage 2 is like getting 3 prize cards. With Plunge into Darkness however many Pokemon Gengar drags out is a prize. If Gengar has 3 energies and finds 3 Pokemon that’s pretty much 3 hypothetical Prize cards.

One of the most interesting things the new Legend set has introduced to us is the Legend card. Two “Pokemon” cards conjoined together to make one (or two) large beasts. The artwork on them is amazing and playing with one big card is pretty hause, however, are these Legend cards just all looks? Are they playable? The answer lies in the Legend box.
The Legend box allow the player to draw the top ten cards of their deck and if they can manage to find the “components”, meaning both halves of the Legend cards, they can take those cards and any energy found in the ten and put the cards on the player’s bench. The question is whether this is viable. Is the probability of finding the two halves in the top ten high enough to make the Legend cards playable? Perhaps the fact that I cannot find any energy with Interviewer’s Question, when having a 12 energy deck answers this question. I look at the top 8, and I barely can find ANY energy at all, now how is Legend box supposed to work with this?
The most legitimate solution would be Porygon Z Lv X. With Majestic Dawn still in cycle, as well as the new Porygons placed in the new Clash at the Summit set, Porygon Z Lv X’s pokepower Decode will give so much strength to the Legend Box. Decode allows the player to look though their deck and pick 2 cards of their choice and put them at the top of their deck. With this the player can find both halves and just Legend box the beast and ANY energy that comes along with the 8 other cards. Not only does Porygon Z allow the player to setup for the Legend, the new Clash at the Summit Porygon’s pokepower Dimension Transfer allows the player to get trainers back out of the discard on a coinflip. Unfortunately, this is somewhat bittersweet being that setting up for a stage 2 Lv X can be quite a pain, however, I think it might be worth it.
Palkia Dialga Legend
Palkia Dialga Legend is by far my favorite Legend card. Though none of their attacks do damage this cards definitely looks playable. For 2 metal energy and 2 colorless, P&D takes the top 2 cards of your opponent’s deck and puts them down as prizes. Once doing this the player has to discard 2 metal energies, HOWEVER, if the player has Heatran Lv X in play this can be bypassed. Just imagine it, adding 2 more to the opponent’s prize. With a whopping 160 HP as well as the option of putting Special Metals onto P&D, this gives the cards easily 2 or 3 turns of play. That means 6 extra prizes for your opponent.
Rayquaza Deoxys Legend
These already were my top two favorite legendary Pokemon, now they are a BA Legend card!?? RD wrecks shop with its attack Ozone Climax, a whopping 150 damage, however the player discards all fire energy. Fortunately, this can be remixed with the new Typhlosion Prime as well as the new draw engine Ninetales. Though setting all of this up may seem to be a hassle, in my head it seems that I would use Spiritomb to slow things dowwwwnn. First setting up Ninetales, then setting up Typhlosion, from there just plowing on the energy onto RD. I pretty much do the same thing with my Blastoise deck and it works out fine.

Its official. Majestic Dawn and everything following is legal for the 2010-2011 year! Many beloved cards will stay and many will be cycled out. Nonetheless it will be an intense year for Pokemon TCG. With the new worthy cards from HeartGold Soulsilver set mixed in with old competitors of the Diamond and Pearl set, it will be very interesting.
So what does this new format mean?
The reign of Claydol will finally be over…don’t freak out. There are a number of solutions.
First of all Legends Awakened will leave us with Uxie as well as Uxie Lv X. I would advise any player to go onto ebay and buy a Uxie Lv X before everyone catches on that they will be legal for the next year. Uxie gives us a quick start to the game and Uxie Lv. X will keep the drawing strong. The fact that Sp Decks already do this (as well as piggy back Cyrus’ Conspiracy) will mean that Sp decks will probably be twice as competitive as they were before.
Another substitute for Claydol will be Spiritomb from Arceus. Spiritomb will disrupt any speed deck. No trainers means no speed, no spamming cards to make room for Uxie Set up  and no rare candies. Spiritomb slows down the game enough for most decks draw the needed cards and set up.
Then there is the Shadow Command Dusknoir. Unforunately, unlike Claydol, a whole deck would be centered around this card. Dusknoir would provide constant drawing power while weakening itself; only plop down Dusknoir Lv. X and start spreading damage. The other player only has so many Stadiums to knock out the Lv X and it will be harder than ever for them to get the stadiums without their precious Claydol.

The ever majestic Ninetales gives drawing power to any deck that runs on fire energy. Discarding only 1 energy to to draw 3 cards seems very much worth it.

Legends Awakened Unowns such as Unown ? and Unown R could perhaps be a desperate attempt for new drawing power. I myself take joy in attempting to trick the other player into wrongly guessing the Pokemon’s type for Unown ?’s power.

Finally there is the prospective Magnezone Prime in which will either come out in this next set or the following. Magnezone lacks so much compared to Claydol; tt is a Stage 2 and it cannot recycle cards. It will be interesting to see if this card becomes playable.
Other than Claydol, Roseanne’s Research will not be available to give the player a constant flow of energy. What now? Interviewers Question? I have used interviewer’s question and I was disappointed. Either I would draw 0 or 1 energy with a 12-energy deck. Pretty much players are going to have to draw energy, slip SF Bronzong in their deck or use Cyrus’ Conspiracy to get specific energy, hence the new power of Sp decks.
Interestingly enough many of the metagame decks still will be playable: Gyarados, Gengar, Kingdra, Machamp, and ALL Sp Decks. Recently released cards will enhance every one of these decks. Gengar Lv. X, Kingdra Prime, Machamp Prime (check it out at Pokebeach.com), as well another Machamp combo Celebi Prime (check it out at Pokebeach.com). As for Gyarados, perhaps Clash at the Summit might have a new powerful Gyarados tech or combo.
Overall the continuation of Majestic Dawn and on is awesome news and the next year in Pokemon TCG is going to be like no other.