Japan's XY9 Set: 'Rage of the Broken Sky,' New 'Battle Strengthening Sets'

[treyh37]

not quite as good as the mill Durant from NVI mostly cause it take 2 energy to get same mill amount but easier to get out could be coupled with solar birth volcarona or some other energy accel and either rainbow energy/team magma's secret base.

can't remember the exact math people did with the old Durant but think this type of mill gives opponent 9~ turns before they deck.

 

[Athena]

Thanks! Are there more type of decks with names like this?

There are a few different "named" categories of decks based on their intended purpose. "Donk" decks aim for clearing your opponent's field of Pokémon very early on in the game; not sure where that name comes from, but it might be related to donk betting in poker. There are also "Lock" decks that aim to stop your opponent from using certain mechanics, such as trainer cards or abilities. It's called this since you're effectively "lock"ing your opponent out. There might be more too, but these are the 3 I'm most familiar with. It's not uncommon for these words to be used in the deck's title, such as "Porydonk".

 

[OVERGRO]

Petilil and Durant both have some nice art! And I hope it's not too late for Lilligant BREAK, as I said that first attack is perfect setup for some kind of awesome BREAK attack. Of course, PCL works in strange ways...

Max Elixir could be used to get Durant some energy, and Fighting Spirit Belt bumps it to 110 HP. Bunnelby simultaneously discards your opponents cards, and lets you re-use Trick Shovels, FSBs, etc (not to mention it gets 100 HP with FSB). My only issue is how to get those damage counters... I guess Rainbow or Magma Base? (Hmm... maybe they should make an Item that places damage counters on your Pokemon... it's not too crazy of an idea considering they made Battle Compressor).

This actually sounds like a fun deck

 

[Athena]

I don't think a Lilligant BREAK is in the cards based on numbering. Lilligant is 008/080 so its BREAK would be 009, but Durant is 009.

 

[Otaku]

You say that as if you expected a basic that evolves to be any good...

Expect? No. Hope? Absolutely; not to be a broken record but with the qualifier of "being done properly" that makes it almost meaningless, better Evolving Pokémon (be they Basics or Stage 1 cards) are what I believe the game needs to help Evolutions.

Thanks! Are there more type of decks with names like this?

There are a few different "named" categories of decks based on their intended purpose. "Donk" decks aim for clearing your opponent's field of Pokémon very early on in the game; not sure where that name comes from, but it might be related to donk betting in poker. There are also "Lock" decks that aim to stop your opponent from using certain mechanics, such as trainer cards or abilities. It's called this since you're effectively "lock"ing your opponent out. There might be more too, but these are the 3 I'm most familiar with. It's not uncommon for these words to be used in the deck's title, such as "Porydonk".

I'm going to get long-winded again... but thankfully this is a board with spoiler tags that don't just cover text but hide it behind a button. Yay, minimizing!

Spoiler

I'll add perhaps the most and least useful term: beatdown. Beatdown decks focus on dealing damage quickly through attacking. Yes, that simple, but a bit like biology it is often further up in the taxonomy. So far up that it is also a term used in various other games, which is likely where it originated: as long as the game has an action akin to "attacking" and cards akin to "Pokémon", beatdown is often the proper terminology, at least in my experience (admittedly, I have only played about half a dozen games and am only vaguely familiar with maybe another half dozen, if that).

Spoiler

Another is "control". Control is when you expend resources to dictate what your opponent can or cannot do. Lock decks are one kind of control deck but they are not the only kind... unless you really want to make them the same and then you'll just slap a bunch of modifying terms to "lock" until it actually describes the variations in control decks. Control decks rarely can control everything (thank goodness because that is quite boring to face!) so they tend to specialize; "hand control" tries to strip away your hand and/or affect what cards you can draw into while field control worries about what you have in play (and is still pretty broad; usually it will be a single element like "Energy"). Where it goes from "control" into "lock" is open to debate; if you can still use something but your opponent quickly eliminates it, I tend to think of it as "control" and not "lock", such as when one faces an opponent that does not prevent Energy attachments but does remove most or all of the opposing player's Energy cards from the field during his or her turn.

Spoiler

Then you can get some pretty specific terms; an old, old one that may be the oldest deck archetype in the game (and is almost certainly the oldest successful archetype) is "Haymaker". The story (anecdotal at this point even if it was ever factual back in the day) is that a skilled Magic: The Gathering player looked at translations of Japanese cards that were supposed to be in the original Base Set, either shortly before or after it released, and built a deck for his son. That deck was named "Haymaker" and remained the dominant deck (albeit with tweaks, revisions and even major variants) for at least the next three sets (four if you count the very first reprint set, Base Set 2) and stayed strong for another three sets.

Anyway the original build focused on Base Set Hitmonchan and Electabuzz, allowing it to exploit Weakness against a good chunk of the original card pool while relying on big, Basic Pokémon that took a few hits to KO but had quite good single Energy attacks (for the time) and only needed two Energy (Electabuzz) or three Energy (Hitmonchan) for their "big" attacks. Because the deck focused on big, Basic Pokémon (and only Basics - it isn't a Haymaker if it includes Evolutions!) and then mostly on their less expensive attacks, it ran far less Energy and Pokémon than what most of those early decks were able to (let alone chose to run)... leaving room for heavy Trainer builds. Yes, just like most successful decks right now.

If you find a list, you'll see a lot of parallels with contemporary deck building, with some cards nearly identical to what are used today and quite a few that were stronger, at least when it comes to Trainers! Getting back to how this is not just a beatdown deck but a control deck, included were cards to manipulate what your opponent had active (Gust of Wind) and discard your opponent's Energy (Energy Removal, Super Energy Removal). Lass gave a limited form of hand control that later releases expanded upon. The strategy shifted to a variant that was able to hit any Weakness in the game, known as "Potpourri".

Oh, and the specific term "Haymaker" is from boxing; it is uncertain if it was from a botched translation of the second attack on Hitmonchan (Special Punch) or a direct reference to boxing. Either is quite plausible.

 

[MegaButterfree]

I don't think Durant will get a BREAK evolution, as it's my impression that BREAK evolutions are an additional form of evolution (for stage 1 and 2 cards). But who knows.

 

[asdjklghty]

I'd very much disagree that M/ Aggron is unplayable. Sure, it takes a lot of setup but in a test deck I made running it you'd be surprised how many times as soon as it's set up it can take the game for you. I don't have any more than personal experience to back up this though.

M Aggron is pure trash sorry. I tried to make him and I couldn't, even with help from others. He's way too slow to get setup and even if you do, his attack is too inconsistent.

Durant's only purpose for Grass (Bug) typing is so he can hit for Weakness on 99% of Water Pokemon and Fighting. Ok TPCi we get it. You like Grass. Stop giving them so much support already they have enough! Water needs to be playable. Again, stop wasting time, cardboard and ink designing and printing these Pokemon that never will be played even in casual play. Primal Kyogre, Palkia EX, Golduck EX, etc what a waste.

 

[SaiScott95]

Looks like Team Magma is getting more Pokémon that don't match their theme. First Shedinja, then Gyarados, and now a Durant.

I'm sure Durant will also appreciate Fighting Spirit Belt.

 

[Skyleaf2000]

Aaaahhh! Durant?! My baby!! Come to me!!
I desperately hope he gets a Break card. For one, the art would be amazing (especially for a Durant collector like me), and for another, the attacks would probably be astounding!
I can perfectly imagine an attack that removes a lot of cards from the opponent's deck. Call it Iron Crunch or something like that.

 

[Pikachu6319]

Well I am glad to see a grass type Durant (not so thrilled about the mill part mind you). I hope that the Ferrothorn line follows suit sometime soon, perhaps even in this particular set.

 

[qrorohill]

This art! It is amazing and it is a [G] type wich is pretty cool for Durant

 

[thegrovylekid]

That Petilil is amazing, art-wise.

 

[Otaku]

M Aggron is pure trash sorry. I tried to make him and I couldn't, even with help from others. He's way too slow to get setup and even if you do, his attack is too inconsistent.

I have to disagree with you. I also tried to make an M Aggron-EX deck and it never turned out very well... no, that isn't the same as "pure trash"; pretty clear we are trying to discuss things in more detail so if that was just a simple case of hyperbole, it was ill timed. The reason M Aggron-EX isn't worth playing is because for all it has going for it

(just a quick rundown)

• 240 HP
• DCE compatible
• Spirit link
• variable attack that hits key amounts for OHKOs and 2HKOs

other stuff just does it better. No, just because some things are better doesn't make a card pure trash; there is more to it than that because so often there is always something better. In this case, it is the fact that the resources required to make M Aggron-EX competitively fast and/or reliable are better spent on different attacks. A Double Colorless Energy and two copies of Mega Turbo take M Aggron-EX from zero to attacking in a single turn Megaton Slam in a single turn... but you could use a little less than that to prep M Rayquaza-EX (Emerald Break version) in terms of Energy. Reliably preparing a large enough Bench for high HP OHKOs seems on par with the Megaton Slam coin flip. In fact, even with Trick Coin or Victini (Victory Star), filling your Bench after dropping Sky Field is probably still more reliable.

Δ Evolution means you can do all that in a single turn, but let's ignore that for a moment. M Rayquaza-EX would still be better due to the lower Energy cost and still formidable attack, which we have of course seen borne out in competitive play. So yes, when M Aggron-EX can set-up, it proves pretty nasty... but getting it to set-up in a reliably, timely manner and keeping it set up, plus the potential for the coins to turn against you mean it isn't unplayable, it isn't trash and it isn't underplayed. It just is a functional but not significantly competitive deck. It shouldn't win an event or even come close to making the top cut, but underestimating it or only a small bit of luck can still allow it to take a win against someone who otherwise was headed for the top.

...

Yeah, I've been that guy, knocked out of the running by something he casually dismissed, hence going on about the matter. ^^'

Note: Yes, I royally messed up and suggested using Wally on a Pokémon-EX because brain fail. Corrected that and also cleaned up the message a bit.

 

[Robin Aisaga]

I'm sure Durant will also appreciate Fighting Spirit Belt.

If Durant had 110HP plus about 2 damage counters it is still likely to be knocked out. Would Fighting Spirit Belt make much of a difference? Instead I would focus on cards to set up.

plus Wally to get M Aggron-EX ready to attack in a single turn

Wally can't be used to evolve EX Pokémon

 

[Rocket The Shellos]

Mill Decks actively seek the win condition of decking their opponent out. The term comes from the MTG card Millstone.

Actually, Milling is a real term, and it is defined as the removal of materials. In this instance you're removing "material" from your opponents deck.

anyway bloody durant coming back to ruin our decks again no not this why

 

[qrorohill]

Wait a second... Maybe that fire in the background is from Heatmor
I hope Heatmor is in this set, just for the sake of art

 

[Rocket The Shellos]

Also, while BREAK pokemon are in play i think the only EX we will be seeing in sets are Mega Pokemon and their basic stage, as well as legendaries.

 

[Otaku]

...Wally to get M Aggron-EX...

Wally can't be used to evolve EX Pokémon

Super special awesome fail on my part, that.

Actually, Milling is a real term, and it is defined as the removal of materials. In this instance you're removing "material" from your opponents deck.

Except

Mill Decks actively seek the win condition of decking their opponent out. The term comes from the MTG card Millstone.

is correct. Perhaps that is why a WotC used a millstone for the effect of discarding cards from one's deck, but the origin of the term stems from the M:tG card.

 

[awesomeMSG]

I can see the new deck played everywhere: bunnlebee/durant/houndoom-ex/anything else that discards. But I am happy to see mill decks get a comeback. Also this won't be too hard to get for it is an common so it may be an uncommon for us in BREAKpoint.

 

[awesomeMSG]

Seeing as in Emerald the average hp was 50, I honestly don't care about it. Also 50 hp is normally the amount pokemon get if it ain't 60 when their able to evolve. They also still get one shotted in this format anyway, so who cares? I really do like the art, they are doing a great job with this set art-wise. Playability can just be dumped down the drain in some cases.

I would rather 60 because siesmetoad is huge so with a muscle band, it 1hkos this card. Also even the most playable set won't have all playable cards like this one.