2017 Format Rotation Announced!

[Otaku]

@Robin Aisaga

Okay, so my biggest, most important question is... is that Kurapika with a Pikachu on his head in your current avatar?

These are not decks I've run; obviously I can't run a card I don't own in the case of Gardevoir-EX. Since I hate facing most first turn locks, I decided not to play them; that means my experience with Trevenant BREAK is facing it, not running it. I don't think I've gotten enough Alakazam-EX/M Alakazam-EX to run it as the focus of its own deck, plus my experience facing it is that it works best as a back-up to Trevenant BREAK (which is not necessarily the best version of Trevenant BREAK, just the most effective M Alakazam-EX deck I've encountered). What I can tell you is that a lot of your counterpoints are based on "A isn't as good as B". Even for Theorymon that is plainly true. So I'm not disagreeing with you there. The question I ask is "Will it be good enough to prove competitive?" With several cards (like Battle Compressor) common to most dominant decks rotating out of Standard play, it is possible (even probable) that decks across the board will be diminished.

As for some of the specifics; we still have Acro Bike Professor Sycamore, and Ultra Ball for discards, and that assumes we gain nothing else. If you go first, you can't attack first turn anyway, so half the time your very first attacker could get two Energy attachments. Yes, always a risk your opponent will discard that Energy (s'why I get on my soap box about Energy removal being too potent for Items). If we don't get Karen so that Hoopa-EX and Shaymin-EX (among others) can be recycled each turn, I won't be expecting much out of the new Gardevoir-EX anyway.

...Defending a deck that can never exist, How silly of me

Careful, you're starting to sound like me.

 

[Robin Aisaga]

@Otaku You see that right. Some kind of genius combined Kurapika with Pikachu for no reason, creating Kurapikapika.

If we're talking past rotation. I would include Super Rod instead of Karen in my deck lists. Night March is no longer there. So why bother shuffling more than up to 3 Pokémon back into your deck. Karen would be a waste of your supporter for the turn. Even if it's just a tech to counter Vespiqueen. Trying to get 8 Pokémon on your bench every turn is too much to ask. I really don't see that working ever. Not expecting much of the new Gardevoir EX either.

Also It's certainly still possible to use cards like Mega Turbo. But I would personally encourage players to look at new cards like Clawitzer. Mega Boost can likely do a very efficient way of energy acceleration. Mega Mewtwo and Raquaza EX can be charged with Double Colorless Energy for example. On the other hand I still want Dimension Valley to stay. But that's just for the sake of Mega Alakazam and Gardevoir EX.

 

[Otaku]

Frankly we have too much Energy acceleration in the game right now, especially ones that can be accessed first turn. That's another discussion though:

If using Karen allows me to rip through my deck with three or four Shaymin-EX (ROS) plus a Hoopa-EX or two, filling my Bench and then promptly being discarded to fuel the attack of the new Gardevoir-EX, that would be worth it. With that being said, I am assuming the goal would not be to do this turn after turn, but when it really counters. I also am now wondering if this is why Foongus was printed; once you've got three copies of Poké Ball in your discard pile, odds are in your favor that Foongus "A" fetches Foongus "B" fetched Foongus "C" etc. with surplus "heads" fetching other cards.

Anyway, I've presented why I think there are some solid options, but neither of us are convinced this is going to be the next big thing, so... yeah.

Edit: Wait, "Kurapikachu" didn't occur to you the first time you saw Kurapika's name? Or is it just that "Kurapika-pika" is better since the repetition suits both Pikachu and Hunter X Hunter in general and yes, I think far, far too hard about such things. Like how I now have this mental image of Kurapika with a Pikachu named Killua...