Article Standardized Testing: Preparing for City Championships and Beyond

Wrong Bagon! But great article. I'm still living in hope that "break" evolution means built in delta evo.
 
LinX336 said:
Wrong Bagon! But great article. I'm still living in hope that "break" evolution means built in delta evo.
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Unfortunately some info from Japan has said that it follows all normal evolution rules, so it looks like we'll have to wait the turn. I don't have a primary source handy, but I believe it since we almost certainly would have heard about that by now.

On the other hand, I can imagine some mechanism changing that in the future. Megas were pretty bad until we got Spirit Links, so a Tool or Stadium that speeds up BREAK evolution seems within the realm of possibility. We'll have to see.
 
LinX336 said:
Wrong Bagon! But great article. I'm still living in hope that "break" evolution means built in delta evo.
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Thanks! Are you referring to the Bagon with the "Almost Flight" attack? I guess that would fit a little better. I just liked the art on this card, which made me pick it haha. I always thought it was cute how the Pkedex says Bagon jumps off cliffs as it dreams of flying one day.

Asclepius24 said:
Unfortunately some info from Japan has said that it follows all normal evolution rules, so it looks like we'll have to wait the turn. I don't have a primary source handy, but I believe it since we almost certainly would have heard about that by now.

On the other hand, I can imagine some mechanism changing that in the future. Megas were pretty bad until we got Spirit Links, so a Tool or Stadium that speeds up BREAK evolution seems within the realm of possibility. We'll have to see.
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I can also confirm that BREAK cards are still subject to the normal evolution rules. I also hopping that we'll see some more support for them in future sets. I really think this is a step in the right direction for powerful non-EX Pokemon, but we still need to see some stronger effects and acceleration before BREAK becomes viable.
 
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Nice article. What I like about the current format is that there are a lot of decks that can compete, and this article does a great job at summarising them all.
 
Very nice read here. As much as I see your analysis based on the cards based on how well they've done in expanded, I have to disagree on particular areas, mainly based on the play I've been having in the online trading card game, which I've been playing the standard format for quite a while:

- Fighting Decks have gotten really common to face lately, mainly Lucario-EX, Hawlucha, and Medicham ones. A trend I'm seeing to their rise is they quite commonly spam Focus Sash as a way to avoid 1-hit attacks. This is because there's no lasers anymore, and it blocks Vespiquen and Night March quite often. Do not underestimate Fighting decks in standard, even with Landorus-EX out of the picture.

- Night March is still a threat, but in a very different archtype: I'm seeing more and more decks merging night march into Vespiquen, and really lower the Eeveelution count.

- I don't know why, but I'm seeing so many more differing winning strategies to use in standard than expanded, despite standard having fewer cards. I don't know exactly why is, other than the fact that there really is no crazy overcentralizing strategy in standard. Even M Manectric hasn't taken over the metagame by storm yet, even though it is still a great strategy to play.

Somehow, I expect one really creative strategy winning a standard championship. Or, at least I'm hopeful of one!
 
Yvetal is one of the most worse pokemon to play in standard -- between Manetric, Joltic, Evee Evolves, and Regice it really is one of the easiest KO'ed pokemon out there. Bats are really, really still dangerous Manetric/Bats just won the league challenge last week.

Night March is extremely powerful in this format. I like how the perceived notion is that because we can't overpower the deck, it is now less powerful. Actually, Night March in this format is supper powered. You loose a couple of cards but gain draw power with Revive and Unown, your potential to hit a 160 to 180 on second turn is pretty consistent. You just can't be lazy with the deck anymore, and your supporter draw needs to consist of more than Juniper and N, which I know is the biggest challenge from expanded to standard. You need to run a variety of supporters for situation match ups.

The last and probably worse deck out there, that I feel will make some top cuts is the Paragon Z and Melowetic deck. It is one of the biggest troll decks out there. But has the ability to infinitely recycle the most powerful trainers into your hand (Not your deck, your hand). It, I feel, will be a contender and should practiced for a bit.

As for the new pokemon in the breakthrough set, I feel that the last set has built so many counters for them that it will be null and void. As for the trainers, I think there are few that will be reasonable plays but you will need to part with other supporters that will drive a player mad.

I do believe this is the time for a variety of deck builds, but as of right now, there is no one deck or card that really dominates the new format. In this format, I'd suggest to play what you love to play, and let the match ups unfold. I think the decks that will prevail in cities will be the ones that received the best match ups in the tournament. Where as last season, it was more deck related with Seismitoad. If you played Seismitoad, you had a huge chance of top cutting. If you play any one of the decks I mentioned, it grantee's little to the player. Which I think is good for the game in general.

Just Thoughts....
 
Interesting thing about vespiquen in standard LC's, I haven't heard of the card or various lists that use vespiquen to win more then 2 LC's. We move into a slightly larger format where people will be testing to play slightly more competitive decks to make up the major bulk of CP for the year. Decks that are considered popular or well known will be to heavily countered making the play of vespiquen very hard.

Toad/tina for standard on the other hand seems like a deck that will just destroy the format, all the support breakthrough gives it, and see some top 4 action.
 
I've yet to see Medicham give a strong performance, outside of a few specific matchups such a Night March where it can take multiple Prizes. That aside, with only 90 HP and requiring two energy to attack (Celebi isn't in Standard and Shrine of Memories takes away the damage from Fighting Stadium), Medicham tends to not hit hard enough to make important KOs. As far as other Fighting decks go, I'm seeing Dugtrio from XY as a strong contender. Combined with Eeveelutions you can exploit a lot of weaknesses. However I feel the days of EX-hard Fighting decks are behind us. Focus Sash is a neat card, but it can be removed with Xerosic, a card that I've managed to squeeze into every list I've built.

As far as Night March goes, while still a strong contender, the enemy here is consistency, not power. Mew allowed for some clutch plays that just can't be followed through in the same manner, and makes prizing Night Marchers even more troublesome. Yes there are a few workarounds like Bronzong, but they are not without drawbacks.

Yveltal is just too powerful of a card to disappear completely. Partnering with non-EX attackers and clever techs has been a proven way to deal with its weaknesses. Zoroark is capable of doing some real damage with the right setup, and makes for a good partner. Standard Yveltal decks will have a very different structure from what we've seen in the past.

This applies to both Standard and Expanded, but I think the biggest killer of creativity is Hex Maniac. This can come out of nowhere and lock all Abilities at the worst possible moment for your opponent, and many lists are running more than just one. This can make decks that rely heavily on Abilities risky, as some can become crippled if they have even one turn without their powers. Imagine yourself playing an Aromstisse deck. Your active Pokemon has a precious Rainbow Energy on it, and your opponent uses Hex Maniac, then attacks. You're in a pickle. If you don't use a Max Potion, your Pokemon will be knocked out. You can't Fairy Transfer, so if you heal you can kiss your Energy goodbye. This is just one scenario where a random (or should I say well-timed) Hex Maniac becomes more than just a minor annoyance. Decks that's perform well will be those that are not overly reliant on their Abilities.
 
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That was a really good article! The only thing I disagree with is Yveltal. I don't think it will be able to stand up to the fast DCE decks or Megamane. It's not too difficult to bump the Shadow Circle and take a KO with Joltik, Jolteon + Vesp, or mega man. Maybe Ninetales PRC+Assault Vest would help.

I agree most bat decks are extinct with the possible exception of Raichu, and I'm excited to see what comes up with Vileplume, especially with the new Dodrio increasing its mobility a little bit. Interesting that you didn't mention Giratina-EX or Mienshao in the winners/losers. Have you thought about those decks?

Overall I liked the article it felt like a "freemium" one; a free article that could easily be a premium.
 
SugoiiSenpaii said:
What about Sceptile?
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I'm glad you brought it up but I'm also not glad. My thinking, It's never good to bring up a deck that could do well in both formats due to typing and strategy, however nobody will play it consistently. In standard you could play this with a bunch of float stones, energy retrieval and professor's letters constantly healing yourself after you take dmg, but you might want to play a trevenant EX or dragonite EX so you can lysandre up and ko shaymin's and mega's with 100 dmg on them. In expanded you can play this with genesect EX and a couple deoxy's EX so you can hit for very large numbers. Now this will be a thought in somebodys head and they might test for it exclusively.
 
My Little Keldeo said:
Thanks! Are you referring to the Bagon with the "Almost Flight" attack? I guess that would fit a little better. I just liked the art on this card, which made me pick it haha. I always thought it was cute how the Pkedex says Bagon jumps off cliffs as it dreams of flying one day.
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Yeah I just meant the "almost flight" Bagon. But hey we knew what you meant :)

Oh and top standard decks in my humble opinion are;

1 Manectric/Lugia/regice
2 Dugtrio/Hawlucha/Jolteon
3 Florgres/Slurpuff/Vileplume

I'm very curious to see if Toad/Empoleon can make a splash next format too!
 
My area recently posted cities, it depends but generally cities are posted after regionals, so they are most likely posted on the pokemon tcg event locator.

The top standard decks imo

toad/tina/aegislash
raichu/bats
Tyrantrum (dinosaurs, everywhere)
 
My Little Keldeo said:
I've yet to see Medicham give a strong performance, outside of a few specific matchups such a Night March where it can take multiple Prizes. That aside, with only 90 HP and requiring two energy to attack (Celebi isn't in Standard and Shrine of Memories takes away the damage from Fighting Stadium), Medicham tends to not hit hard enough to make important KOs. As far as other Fighting decks go, I'm seeing Dugtrio from XY as a strong contender. Combined with Eeveelutions you can exploit a lot of weaknesses. However I feel the days of EX-hard Fighting decks are behind us. Focus Sash is a neat card, but it can be removed with Xerosic, a card that I've managed to squeeze into every list I've built.

As far as Night March goes, while still a strong contender, the enemy here is consistency, not power. Mew allowed for some clutch plays that just can't be followed through in the same manner, and makes prizing Night Marchers even more troublesome. Yes there are a few workarounds like Bronzong, but they are not without drawbacks.

Yveltal is just too powerful of a card to disappear completely. Partnering with non-EX attackers and clever techs has been a proven way to deal with its weaknesses. Zoroark is capable of doing some real damage with the right setup, and makes for a good partner. Standard Yveltal decks will have a very different structure from what we've seen in the past.

This applies to both Standard and Expanded, but I think the biggest killer of creativity is Hex Maniac. This can come out of nowhere and lock all Abilities at the worst possible moment for your opponent, and many lists are running more than just one. This can make decks that rely heavily on Abilities risky, as some can become crippled if they have even one turn without their powers. Imagine yourself playing an Aromstisse deck. Your active Pokemon has a precious Rainbow Energy on it, and your opponent uses Hex Maniac, then attacks. You're in a pickle. If you don't use a Max Potion, your Pokemon will be knocked out. You can't Fairy Transfer, so if you heal you can kiss your Energy goodbye. This is just one scenario where a random (or should I say well-timed) Hex Maniac becomes more than just a minor annoyance. Decks that's perform well will be those that are not overly reliant on their Abilities.
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Actually, In standard, I haven't seen Yveltal make a strong appearance yet in our league challenges. Though with zoroark I do agree it brings another dimension. Honestly, and I know this sounds insane, but Yveltal against the top tier matchups Vespquin, Manetric, and even toad/giratinia is either not doing enough damage, or is a bit slow in standard because it can be one shot so easily. Yveltal is honestly balanced in my opinion in standard.

Actually, I like Hex Maniac in standard. I disliked garbotrox as I felt it was to easy to setup. Hex Maniac on the other hand brings a real strategy to the game that will give pause to players that have been playing that 4/4 line of N and J for draw support. It really brings in a lot of different dimensions that allow for creative situations to change the flow of the game. It also doesn't keep your abilities turned off the entire game. It's a strategy card. I sort of like the idea that it can throw a monkey wrench at certain periods of the game.

It might be just me, but night march/Vespqueen is pretty consistent. Online, at least, I very seldom run across a players, or when I play it, completely dead draw on the deck. Usually, between the Unowns/Revive and Shaymins players usually can draw themselves out of sticky situations.

As for the Max Potion situation, and I know it was just an example, I always felt that it really overpowered that deck. Because of this, players played Garabotrox. Right now, without max potion and with a single hex, you can pick up some games with the right match ups. But for the most part, if your going to play fairy, I think Pokemon has come up with some fun and creative cards that work reasonably well for fairy decks.

In all, I think the game will more about versatility then pure outright consistency, which right now, is the biggest struggle for all us players.
 
Im afraid poor Yveltal-EX is too slow and fragile for standard. Though I do think a dark based deck will rise from BREAKthrough. The new Yveltal especially looks like a sleeper card that might turn out to be really good. Yveltal-EX is most likely to become just a spectator, MAYBE 1-of or something.
 
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