News Japan's December Sets: 'Ultra Sun' and 'Ultra Moon!'

Dark Espeon

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Dawn Wing Necrozma coupled with Prism Star Lunala played with Fighting Fury Belt and some cheeky Mimikyu tech is probably the easiest counter to Buzzwole GX, but whether or not we need a Buzzwole GX counter by the time this comes out is still unknown.

Dusk Mane Necrozma I think is a card that looks bad on paper (get it, cards on paper?) but honestly needs to be tested. Most people are leaning towards a 2/2 stage 2 Solgaleo GX split in the Solgaleo deck, which leads to a handful of its own issues in terms of consistency. Dusk Mane Necrozma's attack has the same "cost" as Sunsteel Strike on SuMo Solgaleo GX. Both of them discard 3 energy, which mean both of them have the same requirements for getting reaccellerated. It's just that Dusk Mane Necrozma has a higher "start up cost" with needing 4 energy to get going. Choice Banded, Meteor Tempest hits for 250 which is currently the highest HP any Pokemon can achieve in the game so far, so it really isn't a bad attack. SuMo Solgaleo's Ultra Road is great...if your opponent isn't playing Garbodor. Solgaleo Prism Star also makes the playing ground pretty even in terms of energy requirements.

Dusk Mane Necrozma gives the Solgaleo deck the option to play a 4/2/3 New Solgaleo GX line up and 3 copies of Dusk Mane Necrozma - New Solgaleo GX is your tank, Dusk Mane Necrozma is your sweeper. It's definitely not as streamlined as Ultra Road, but running better card counts might make the deck better simply through consistency.

Definitely worth testing.

Personally I can see both of them as tech cards in respective Silvally decks.

Dusk Mane Necrozma GX provides a soild ohko attack that the deck did not have in advance. I could see it replace Celesteela GX with Max Elixir and acceleration from Turbo Arm and Turbo Drive. On top of that Metal Silvally can also use Solgaleo Prism Star as a late game accelerator.

Dawn Wing Necrozma GX has a nice GX attack that blocks damage and all effects of attacks next turn and Invasion ensures that the deck will never be stranded with an active Silvally GX. The standard attack is at least decent. Psychic Silvally also has access to a lot of acceleration with Turbo Drive, Max Elixir and Lunala Prism Star. The latter on is also an excellent non-GX attacker. Include one or two Mimikyu and the deck looks rather decent.

I can also see Dusk Mane Necrozma as a one-off tech in Solgaleo decks but would not completely replace the old Solgaleo GX with it since it seems to need Ultra Road to deal with the massive retreat cost in this deck.
 

Kietharr

Aspiring Trainer
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They are both terrible lol. Finally they make a bad Solgaleo card.

Nah, DM is probably a good card. Its attack is similar to Solgaleo but on a basic for one more metal energy. It's a 190hp card which circumvents the 150+CB cards like Drampa. Will be situationally useful in metal decks, particularly in Metagross where you sometimes lack the damage to OHKO bigger cards.

I wouldn't rule out DW appearing like Keldeo, but in a format with 3-4 Guzma in every deck, switching options just aren't as important as they used to be.
 

Xeynid

Aspiring Trainer
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If these 2 are UB'S, and we're getting 5 UB's in the set, then that likely means either poipole or nagasaki isn't a UB.
 

Duo

RIP Nessa 2023
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Personally I can see both of them as tech cards in respective Silvally decks.

Dusk Mane Necrozma GX provides a soild ohko attack that the deck did not have in advance. I could see it replace Celesteela GX with Max Elixir and acceleration from Turbo Arm and Turbo Drive. On top of that Metal Silvally can also use Solgaleo Prism Star as a late game accelerator.

Dawn Wing Necrozma GX has a nice GX attack that blocks damage and all effects of attacks next turn and Invasion ensures that the deck will never be stranded with an active Silvally GX. The standard attack is at least decent. Psychic Silvally also has access to a lot of acceleration with Turbo Drive, Max Elixir and Lunala Prism Star. The latter on is also an excellent non-GX attacker. Include one or two Mimikyu and the deck looks rather decent.

I can also see Dusk Mane Necrozma as a one-off tech in Solgaleo decks but would not completely replace the old Solgaleo GX with it since it seems to need Ultra Road to deal with the massive retreat cost in this deck.

My only concern with Silvally decks is that the new Solgaleo GX completely negates the entire Silvally Memory mechanic with the no weakness ability. Even if Silvally gets fire memory, its damage cap is 240 hitting for weakness which doesn't cut it against either Solgaleo GX. You would have to play Kukui or deal poke damage in advance, and all this assuming you can get around the ability to begin with. Ignoring stage 1 vs stage 2, we are also comparing a Pokemon who accelerates 2 energy for 2 energy (1 attachment if DCE) as opposed to Silvally who needs 3 energy to accelerate 1.

But ultimately I think what you say is true. Both of these cards have good tech potential but likely not good enough to be decks of their own. That seems to be a pretty common theme with basic GXs revolving around the Ultra Beasts lately.
 

Rodzillaj3

Aspiring Trainer
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I'm seeing Dusk Mane as a replacement for Necrozma in Metagross GX. Finally swing for those huge numbers against stage 1s and can recycle the energy. Choice Band hits for 250.
 

Nick Tornell

Haha, art go brrrr
Member
Eclipse Moon GX- a stronger Total Shelter GX on a weaker Pokemon
WOW
tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
I see a possible new Solgaleo list with Dusk Mane Necrozma
 

Dark Espeon

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My only concern with Silvally decks is that the new Solgaleo GX completely negates the entire Silvally Memory mechanic with the no weakness ability. Even if Silvally gets fire memory, its damage cap is 240 hitting for weakness which doesn't cut it against either Solgaleo GX. You would have to play Kukui or deal poke damage in advance, and all this assuming you can get around the ability to begin with. Ignoring stage 1 vs stage 2, we are also comparing a Pokemon who accelerates 2 energy for 2 energy (1 attachment if DCE) as opposed to Silvally who needs 3 energy to accelerate 1.

Solgaleo GX is a better accelerator but Silvally GX still has a lot going for it. The memory mechnic is only part of its charm. Silvally GX is faster to set up and also has more space for tech cards. This is where the comparison of stage one and stage two decks comes in. Stage two decks are slower and need more deck slots to ensure the deck gets the main attackers out fast. Solgaleo GX will sure be a great deck but it is by no means as broken as it seemed two weeks ago.

I would also like to point out that the last two sets are better than they seemed at first glance. Some of the Ultra Beasts are nice tech cards but there are also some that can hold their own as one of the focuses of a deck. Buzzwole GX, Celesteela GX, and Pheromosa GX work rather well in our local meta.
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
Solgaleo got even MORE broken. My biggest complaint in the list I built was that I couldn't play 3-2 Solgaleo split of Sunsteel Strike and the Ultra Prism ones respectively. Pokemon, stop making Solgaleo even more convincingly BDIF, you already made your point.
 

Kyrushi

Squirrel
Member
Why do people think Lunala is bad? Once we get our new Roation and Zoroark is gone, this is our new go-to guy. You can make it come it at any time and Altar of the Moon means you can switch for free to something else. Not to mention that is a fairly safe GX move since that can give you a little more time to get something else rolling. I'd run it in decks with Wishful Baton for sure.
 

AFEX

Serena is too cute!
Member
Hmm, they're listed as Ultra Beasts, is that what they're classified as in the game? Not getting it till Xmas so is Dawn Wings Necrozma and Dusk Mane Necrozma being classified as Ultra Beasts something discussed in USUM?
 
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Mr_Karosu

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Now these two will look great in my collection. I wish they'd make a Radiant Sun Phase and Full Moon Phase set of cards.
 

theprp30

Aspiring Trainer
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Very cool that they decided to make Necrozma's new forms basic cards, but compared to original Necrozma and original Solgaleo/Lunala GX's, not as a good. Hopefully Necrozma's ultimate form card will be really good.
 

Haarry

Aspiring Trainer
Member
The dusk mane is actually quite good. The fact that its basic is amazing, especially with 220 damage, 250 with a choice band. Paired with either solgaleo prism or metagross GX this could make for some interesting decks
 
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