I am coming into this thread a skeptic. I haven't encountered that many people running this and nothing says the one or two who tried didn't just have awful luck, decks and/or skill. So I've got a lot of questions:
1) Can someone clarify; is this supposed to be for Standard only, or just better in Standard but possible in Expanded?
2) Some of the comments talk about how
Houndoom-EX isn't an easy OHKO and this is true... however this is a format where even Mega Evolutions fear being OHKOed, so it still happens often enough.
3) Similarly, this is a format where some decks have low Energy attackers while others just have massive amounts of Energy acceleration.
I don't want to pooh-pooh something I don't understand (I've made that mistake often enough =P), so if someone wants to jump in and explain, go for it... just remember that I need more than you swearing upon your honor to persuade me.
I swear, you make everything so difficult! >o<
Jokes aside, I will answer them to the best of my abilities via numbers:
1.) To be perfectly honest, I think the Mill Variant could last in both formats. That said, I personally feel that it is the ONLY build that can do so. M Houndoom EX, while a nice 2 Energy Attacker... is a tad bit weak in terms of overall damage output (he has no hopes of OHKOing things around his HP that are very good, either, such as M Manectric EX, which is a HUGE problem for Fire decks in general due to the acceleration on to Regice. Even Pyroar cannot stand up to this deck because of M Manectric EX himself, who OHKOs Pyroar.).
That said, Houndoom EX himself has a lot of potential in both formats. He can Energy Accelerate, he can Mill, he has a nice amount of HP (which allows for tankier Mill Variants), and best of all, he is just as efficient as Omega Bunnelby as far as utility goes. Because Standard feels and seems like a slower format, Houndoom EX really does have the ability to run over a lot of decks with the Mill Variant. That said... Mill in Pokemon is like Control in MTG. It is very good once someone figures out how to make it work... but someone has to figure it out, first. That is what this thread is for: Discover how to utilize one or both cards and work towards the highest tier deck we can possibly fathom.
2.) There are numerous factors that determine how easy it is to OHKO a Pokemon in this game. One is how hard your Pokemon can initially hit. This is why scaling attacks are so good and can even become decks (Night March cough). Another is the combination of Weakness and Resistence. Vespiquen is versatile. Vespiquen can scale fairly well and has free Retreat Cost. Vespiquen is NOT good by herself in Standard, where a LOT of decks are tanky. This is the main reason Vespiquen is ran with the Eeveelutions: They provide Vespiquen with a tool that turns her from Good to Great in the form of extra Weakness coverage.
To say Houndoom EX is hard to knock out is going to depend on who is playing what. Regice laughs at him. Vespiquen groans without Vaporeon. Joltik hopes that it can get a free shot in and not get Milled. Giratina just hopes that you have no Lysandre in Hand.
That said, a lot of Pokemon do struggle to knock him out, much like they do with other EX Pokemon. The real factor is how versatile and useful Houndoom EX is to the winning strategy. He mills 2 cards and can set up another Houndoom EX or a Bunnelby to continue to do the same thing. He lasts longer than Bunnelby in general, which in turn can justify the 2 Prize Cards he gives over the 1 given by Bunnelby. He does things that Bunnelby simply could not.
3.) I suppose this is less of a question and more of a topic. This format is very interesting because you have decks that can and will attempt to race and decks that simply want you to sit down until your bottom hurts. This deck is somewhere in the middle instead of where most people would consider it: Slow and Boring. Houndoom EX bring to Mill something that other decks have not: A true way to Knock Out opposing Pokemon with very little commitment, AKA
another win condition. This is something that needs to be noted because it really does give you a better chance at tournaments, which is the reason you play this deck and this game competitively. Also, because of the flexibility of the Pokemon, you have a lot of options for the deck. You can play Energy Denial, Healing, Tools that stop you from experiencing early KOs, more Milling Cards, etc. This is what I find so interesting about this deck.
Either way, I hope this clarifies a few things. I know I type a lot, but information is always the Skeleton Key. Have fun!
-Asmer
