EDIT: Have there been ANY really really strong ancient trait cards? (non EX)
It seems to me they're always underwhelming or just barely usable.
(Note: The following post is written from the perspective of someone who likes to play for fun. In all honestly, only about 30% of the cards listed below are good)
-Ancient Magcargo has actually seen play with Seismitoad-EX and Primal Groudon-EX as a type advantage counter. It's great against Virizion/Genesect and Bronzong PHF!
-Ancient Swampert is used with Archie's Ace In The Hole now and then for the Ability. It's mostly seen with decks already running Slurpuff PHF, like Seismitoad-EX and Plasma Flareon.
-Ancient Nidoqueen is probably the best Omega Barrage attacker, but since Mewtwo-EX and Seismitoad-EX are splashed so frequently into popular decks like Bronzong PHF and Yveltal-EX, it's too easy to counter it. As such, it probably won't be good until next format, if at all.
-Ancient Medicham has seen success as a budget deck, though the low HP and reliance on needing 2 attachments at once to do anything makes it a risky play.
-Ancient Excadrill seems to be a very popular League deck and For Fun deck, though I've never personally seen anyone playing it at tournaments.
-Ancient Kingdra got hyped a ton when it came out. Even the Stage 2 haters thought it would be great. Yet, it hasn't seen much play at all, though I think that Double Dragon Energy and Level Ball could help it in the future.
-Ancient Bunnelby is probably going to be a lot better as a support card now that Trump Card is banned.
-Ancient Articuno is by far the best Delta Plus card because it's a Basic, but it's a flip-based deck, so I can't see it being all that great.
-Ancient Banette is getting a bit of discussion as a possible counter to Mega decks and Stage 1 decks, but with Roaring Skies just out, it hasn't seen any use yet.
-Ancient Togekiss is great for Energy Acceleration in any deck, but since nearly every type in the game (except Fighting and Psychic) have easier to use Acceleration cards, the only combo people are really trying it at ALL with is Malamar-EX since it abuses Energy like crazy. There's a http://google.com/ article somewhere about it, and considering that they never really cover 'fun' decks, that's surprising.
-Ancient Dragonite is a gimmick I've been messing around with and it's genuinely good, but it has so much trouble against X-ball themed attackers since it needs 5 Energy to attack - not to mention that Seismitoad-EX is an obviously bad matchup.
-Ancient Altaria is used in almost every Crayquaza deck to stop Mega Manectric-EX and Raichu XY.
