Monday, July 22, 2013

NXD-on, what's the story?




Virizion EX is the new "I'm good at every deck"-card
Hello everyone!



I was going to make another PTCGO giveaway contest today, but then changed my mind. After all, I haven't discussed the upcoming rotation at all in my blog yet!


If you didn't yet know, it’s official now and it has been for a while, but due to my hectic life in the summer I am bit late to analyze the changes. The next format will be Next Destinies-on! And what will that mean for the game and for the upcoming format? That’s what I am here today to discuss. What is even more interesting is the fact that they released the possible “alternative format” alongside the “modified” format starting late 2014. What kind of impact that will have to the game? That will be very interesting to see. If you haven’t yet seen the official announcement, check it out here:
http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/op_2014_format_rotation-2013-07-16/


Anyways, today I’ll be discussing, which cards will be out of the game in the next format and what it means for some decks. I’ll also take a look at the cards that are more viable now that certain cards have been rotated out. I might have missed the rotation of some cards, so feel free to comment if you notice anything lacking in my analysis!

Remember that the rotation takes place AFTER Worlds, so Worlds’ will be still played with the BW-on format.

Oh and one more thing. The Top Cut Invitational that I had last year priviledge to attend to is organized this year again. This time, The Top Cut needs your vote in order to decide the remaining contestant of the tournament! I voted for Sami Sekkoum, who is your vote? If you haven't yet voted, you can vote here: http://thetopcut.net/2013/07/20/vote-for-the-last-member-of-the-top-cut-invitational/ The tournament is just something very special and I encourage everyone to follow it!

Anyways, Let's get going.





What will be rotated out


Gothitelle (Emerging Powers)

If we are looking at the current metagame, the rotation of Gothitelle must be THE biggest thing. Gothitelle is a tier1 deck that you have to counter if you want to do well in the current format. We will see a lot of Gothitelles and Gothitelle counters in the Worlds Championships of 2013, but to be honest I believe that the rotation of Gothitelle is only a good thing. If you build Gothitelle correctly in the current format, you will get almost every time a T2 Gothitelle up. After that you can very quickly get the lock going with Accelgor and your opponent can’t do anything, The deck is not fun and there is no point of having a deck in the format, which you have to counter if you don’t want to do well in a tournament.

The loss of Gothitelle may also open up new opportunities for decks that concentrate even more on Items. I don’t know if it’s a good thing (the decks that abuse Items are often speed decks), but at least it brings more versatility to the deck building. Overall, I think that no one will miss Gothitelle, because it's almost unfairly good at the moment and very very boring to play against.


Eelektrik (Noble Victories)

Eelektrik decks have wandered between tier1 and tier2 as long as they have existed. It’s finally time for them to be rotated out. I’m sure that other energy accelerators will be released in the future and that a substitute for Eelektrik will be quickly found. It may not be a Lighting type energy accelerator, but nevertheless energy acceleration Abilites will never leave the game completely. At the moment, Eelektrik is overpowered by Accelgor/Gothitelle, so it’s a shame that they will be rotated out at the same time, but oh well… I was never an Eelektrik fan!

Energy Switch

Energy Switch is a nice tech card in many decks, but there is one deck that will suffer the most from the rotation of Energy Switch - Darkrai EX variants. After the rotation of Energy Switch they must completely rely on Dark Patch and Scramble Switch. Is that enough? I doubt it. The format won’t be any slower next season and since Darkrai EX will lose an important piece of its speed, it may very well end up being a tier2 deck. However, even without Energy Switch, Darkrai EX is still tier2 deck at worst. It has great HP, great attack and superb synergy with Sableye, so don’t go selling your Darkrai EXs just yet. It may very well surprise us in the next format. In the end, I believe Energy Switch will be reprinted soon, so I wouldn’t worry about losing Energy Switch that much for the time being.  

Crushing Hammer

As I won Nationals with Hammertime and got to top8 of Worlds with Energy Removal 2, I have always had a soft spot for Crushing Hammer in my heart. I think it’s sad to lose one crucial part of Hammerspam, but to be honest I also believe that they will reprint Crushing Hammer (with the same or different name) in the very close in the future. It’s good to remember that before Crushing Hammer was released, its name was Energy Removal 2 and it has been in our format almost 10-years almost in a row. There are just some cards that Pokémon doesn’t want to get rid of for good and I believe Crushing Hammer is one of them as it’s crucial part of all the disruption decks that have ever existed.

Energy Retrieval

Most cards that have been rotated out have the same thing in common – they are usually viable in only one certain deck. As for Energy Retrieval, it was the most popular in Blastoise variants. However, thanks to Superior Energy Retrieval, Blastoise doesn’t really miss Energy Retrieval anymore. Sure, one Energy Retrieval would be a nice tech in Blastoise variants, but it’s nothing that would make Blastoise that much better that it's irreplaceable.  Energy Retrieval is one of those cards that will be silently rotated out while most people don’t even realize that it is rotated out!

Super Scoop Up

Is this card really even played anymore? Max Potion does the job of Super Scoop Up in almost every deck – except Max Potion does it even better. Super Scoop Up is a card that we would seldom see in Blastoise variants, but thanks to Gothitelle, it is just one dead card more in Blastoise nowadays. I’m sure that if they don’t reprint Super Scoop Up, people will soon start to miss it, if coming-into-play Abilities (which are good for the skill-level of the game by the way) will increase. However, at the moment, Super Scoop Up isn’t really a card that makes any difference in the current metagame.   

Pokémon Communication

Most decks in the current format run 12-15 Pokémon. This way, it really isn’t prudent to play Pokémon Communication in the metagame decks. Pokémon Communication is the best in Acclegor/Gothitelle, because it often runs the biggest amount of Pokémon from the current metagame’s decks and as you know Gothitelle will be rotated out. So, where does it leave Pokémon Communication? It leaves Pokémon Communication into a situation, where no one really misses it. I also believe that they won’t reprint Pokémon Communication as long as they like to keep the game Basic EX-based as Basic EX decks don’t really need It due to their low Pokémon counts. Pokémon Communication has been in our format for a long time and it has been one of the best cards in the metagame for a long time, but now it’s just ancient history.



What can we expect the tier 1 to look like in the Battle Roads?


I don’t usually do things like this, but now I feel like predicting the metagame tiers for Battle Roads. Last year the results of western Battle Roads were very similar to Japanese tournaments results (excluding Garchomp/Altaria's failure) and I believe it’s good to look for advice from Japan once again. Anyways, here is what I believe the tiers of Autumn Battle Roads and Regionals will look like.


Tier1


1. Genesect EX/Virizion EX variants


I believe Genesect EX will be the BDIF in the upcoming format just like Hydreigon/Darkrai EX was arguably the brief period last autumn. With the help of G-Booster, Genesect EX is the perfect attacker. It OHKOS anything and everything. No questions asked. Never has such a card existed in this game and it’s only natural that it’s the BDIF thanks to solid energy acceleration help from Virizion EX. Virizion Ex's Ability also plays a huge role in making the deck the probable BDIF. The lack of Energy Switch is the only thing that can keep this deck from being the undisputed BDIF, because even though the deck can energy accelerate, the lack of Energy Switch causes a bit of immobility for the deck, which is a big weakness.

2. Team Plasma variants

More and more Plasma counter cards will be released in the upcoming sets and that is the biggest reason why I think Genesect variants will do better than the current Plasma variants. However, these normal Plasma variants aren’t going anywhere. They still hit hard, fast and are super consistent. Not to mention that they will probably be the most popular deck to play in the Battle Roads due to the accessibility of the cards in the deck thanks to cheap Deoxys and Thundurus EXs, which will be released as Promos in early autumn. Plasma variants will probably win more Battle Roads than Genesect EX variants, just because the standard Plasma is now much cheaper.


3. Blastoise variants

The only expensive card in Blastoise variants is Tropical Beach and that’s the only thing that keeps Blastoise from conquering the whole metagame. Ok, of course Genesect EX and Virizion EX can easily keep up with Blastoise now as well due to their natural type advantage, but most other decks just lose when Blastoise gets a good set-up. Blastoise is the most autopilot deck in the upcoming format and I don’t think it will do great in Masters, but in Juniors it will probably wreak havoc in the autumn tournaments. Also, if Tropical Beach will be released as the Worlds Promo once again, it makes Blastoise a bit more playable again since Tropical Beach is more and more common.


Tier2

Trubbish/Garbodor variants
Klinklang variants
Hydreigon variants
Darkrai EX/Absol
Quad Snorlax

All these tier2 decks have something in common – they have bad match-up against Genesect EX/Virizion EX. Trubbishes damage output isn’t enough against Genesect. Klinklang’s Ability won’t have any effect against G-Booster. Hydreigon variants will lose, because their attackers will be OHKOed, the same goes with Darkrai EX/Absol and Quad Snorlax can’t do anything, because Virizion EX negates all the special conditions!

I often say that even though I don’t want to pour fuel to the hype flames, it’s still good to wake up to the realities of the next season. Virizion EX gives already good Genesect EX energy acceleration and a counter against Hypnotoxic Laser. You have to somehow find a way to stop a Pokémon that hits 200 through everything and can’t be disrupted by Special Conditions. There is one thing I can tell you – that won’t be too easy. If you won’t be playing in the Worlds, I suggest you start testing with Genesect EX right now and see how powerful it is (or is it that powerful at all?).






Conclusion

The current time of the season is difficult for a blogger like me, because I haven’t been testing the new format much and can’t really show you any decklists. At the same time, there is no point of doing articles from the current format’s decks, because only a handful of players will go to Worlds and I am sure that they can do their own testing, and don’t need my help. After all they have qualified for Worlds Championships!

Anyways, whether you are going to Worlds or are already testing for the current format, I hope you enjoyed the article today and found it useful. As always, feel free to comment on anything, I’m more than glad to discuss anything and it may very well be that I missed some crucial card that will be rotated out.

Thanks for reading!







41 comments:

  1. Could you do a deck analysis for Genesect/Virizion Ex? I know you posted the battle carnival list, but things might have changed a bit since then. Also, I think you forgot to mention that we lose the NVI Cobalion. Nice article as usual though. :)

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  2. We also lose Klinklang BW.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. This... because it certainly didn't have much of an impact on the format did it. Its not as if last season's US National Championship deck was built around it, and its also not as if it is a crucial part of the Plasma Klinklang deck which has won a large percentage of Cities and Regionals this season etc.

      How Plasma Klinklang is expected to remain "Tier 2" I don't know considering the deck ceases to work at all without Shift Gear Klinklang unless the opponent runs a complete 0 non-EX attackers. Not to mention the fact that the deck loses Cobalion NVI. But then again if Snorlax is "Tier 2" despite Recycle a card which the deck relied upon heavily being rotated I guess anything can be tier 2.

      Also Genesect EX isn't the first card in the format to be able to hit thing in one hit at all, take Black Kyurem EX PLS which can do the same with consistent acceleration AND not need an Ace Spec in order to do so, and the deck isn't even the BDIF now.

      Apologies if this sounded too harsh, but this article really needed some more thinking about and testing before it was released.

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  3. "Genesect EX is the perfect attacker. It OHKOS anything and everything. No questions asked. Never has such a card existed in this game and it’s only natural that it’s the BDIF thanks to solid energy acceleration help from Virizion EX."

    Are you quite sure about this? Virizion is not plasma so you have to spend to turns powering it up, then be discarding two energy per turn with no easy way to get 2 energy back on the Genesect and you claim it to be so grand? Surely not.

    I think Blastoise and BKEX have a words to say about that.

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    1. Black Kyurem EX with Crystal Wall

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  4. Nice article, but you forgot the players who will do LCQ at Worlds in your conclusion :p Good article.
    I have 2 questions:

    What do you think about Emboar/Rayqazza will that come back insteat of RayEels. Emboar is also a nice thing vs. Genesect/Virizion.

    And you really don't you think Tool Scrapper will be big soon?

    Good luck at Worlds see you there :)

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  5. I think everyone knows why I didn't mention Klinkalng and Cobalion in the article,lol ;). I just have never fully understood how Klinklang was supposed to be competitive all this time even though I Know it was! However, yes it will get even worse now, but thankfully new Metal Pokémon will be released as well, so Klinklang will stay in tier2.

    Matthew King: Probably I should have just explained the OHKO part more deeply, so it would have been more clear. There is one HUGE difference between Genesect EX and Black Kyurem EX, Genesect EX OHKOs EVERYTHING. Just like I said. I thought it was self-explanatory since Black Kyurem EX can't damage Klinklang variants or Sigilyph, but I guess not. The reason why Genesect EX is so good is that it can't be countered with Silver Mirror or anti-EX Pokémon. And never has a Pokémon existed in this game that can OHKO anything and everything, just like I said.

    And, yeah the difference between tier2 and tier3 is pretty rough. Tier3 just sounds so... bad! SO I put everything into tier2.

    Anonymous1: As I said, I haven't tested it, but it dominated the Japanese tournaments, so I think it's a pretty good indicator. Not a fact of course like I said in the article. I just think that they will be very good and people should really start playtesting them right away to see if they are as good as the Japanese tournaments indicated.

    Bauke: The people going to Worlds include Grinders, naturally! Emboar will be interesting, but I think that Blastoise is still better since Emboar can't ohko Genesect EX.

    Tool Scrapper is a theorymon card that I believe will never be VERY BIG. Not even in the Worlds this year. That said, the new Spiritomb that will be released in the EX Battle Boost will be played and takes care of the G-Booster, but that won't probably be available in the autumn Battle Roads.

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    1. So did Garchomp Alteria, but did it dominate here? Hm... a trend?

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  6. I raely say this but your ace spec choice in genesect is horrid. I get the idea of one shooting the format but if we dont get eliese the deck will fall face first.

    For genesect to run properly you need plasma badge and pref g scope and even then an attach a turn to stay consistant.

    As for your call of t2 decks you really did an ok job but klang will dissolve due to the loss of shift gear and Darkrai/hydrageion will be a thing again because it can survive genesect assults easily

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  7. lol hydreigon and trubbish varients tier 2.. dont say that unless u tested the format.. smh

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    1. As a whole I think trubbish varaints are being underrated. It hits for retarded amounts of damage t2 and unless you can retaliate the blow against a deck where you take on prize knockouts, your dead

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  8. G-Booster is a team plasma card ,it can be retrieved with Shadow Triad so it can be replayed in case you get tool scrapped. And as far as I know this kind of deck runs at least 3 copies of shadow triad. I think THAT is what makes it almost invincible .
    Nantuko :)

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  9. Gothitelle was reprinted in the latest Japanese BW set.
    So if this set is going to make it to europe and america, gothlock is going to be T1 again. Just sayin´

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    1. Gothlock will never be T1 again since Virizon-EX shuts it down completely. you aren't able to paralyze or poison due Virizon-EX's ability.

      Gothitelle's itemlock is still very good. but it will never be T1 if used with accelgor.

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  10. I just think that charging up a virizion takes to long to accel and that people should run dce so they can repeatedly use Gbooster

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    1. You realize that Genesect can get a turn 2 G Booster without Virizion's attack, right? Attach turn one + Colress Machine + attach turn two. Simple as that. And since G Booster can be gotten back from the discard with Shadow Triad, it's going to be really tough to beat, not to mention none of the Pokemon in that deck can be affected by special conditions.

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    2. You can Shadow Triad the colress machine in T1

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    3. Oh! Wait... That wouldn't work sorry

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  11. I doubt Virizion/Genesect will be THAT good. You can only start accelerate energy by turn 2 and only in turn 3 you can hit for 200.

    Then, you need to attack with virizion AGAIN and hit 200 on turn 5. AND you need to find your ACE SPEC by turn 1 or 2.

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    1. Need to attack with virizion again? The way you seem to be using the deck it would be better to just use Gensect and get it T3 with a DCE so you can use it again and again =/

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  12. Victini will see a decent amount of play IMO, mostly because you can actually donk a virizion and genesect if you didn't prize victory piece, you would need victini ex and skyla( or victory peice in hand)

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  13. I don't like Virizion/Genesect all that much - and I think the rotation of Energy Switch severely hurts it. 200 damage is all fine and dandy but it's nearly impossible to keep the string going, especially with the sheer amount of other attackers that can OHKO it in the current format (Kyurem and Black Kyurem EX being the main two) and just wipe all the energy off the field.

    On the topic of Klinklang, as someone who's been a giant fan of it since it came out (heck, I managed to top 2 Regionals with it), I think it's time to say goodbye (not even Tier 2 status). The loss of BW Klinklang is a massive hit to a deck that is already faltering in the current format.

    I also want to give Trubbish a little credit - it's matchup vs Virizion/Genesect has been quite good in the testing I've done. V/G tends to have sluggish starts and Trubbish can pray on that by getting all the tools it needs early and just burning through them. Trubbish has a variety of other issues due to it having very frail attackers and being somewhat inconsistent, but I don't think Virizion/Genesect is what is keeping it out of the top.

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  14. Now, I don't claim to be an expert on these things, but why does Genesect need to G-Booster every single turn again? Yes, you have a 200 damage attack, but if the discard is going to be too costly...you can still opt out of it. If you can't find a way to keep a chain of G-Boosters...don't use them every turn. A 100+20 damage Megalo Cannon is certainly not OMGBDIF material, but it isn't bad...and between Red Signal and Catcher, you can target down whatever you want to.

    Genesect/Virizion isn't Blastoise - You don't have unlimited resources(for all practical purposes anyway), so stop trashing them every turn. Megalo Cannon is a 2HKO on everything p.much(and OHKOes some important cards as well such as Keldeo EX and Blastoise), so save G-Booster for big turns.

    That's just my opinion - feel free to disagree. I am not too knowledgeable about the PLB metagame, so I might have missed something major.

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  15. Maybe the new Haxorus might be a viable centerpiece for a deck as well? Since 2/3 Tier One decks you listed are Plasma variants (TDK being all plasma basics) and Haxorus can insta-kill them for 2 energy.

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  16. Reshiram BLW may be viable again!

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  17. Did Pluspower get rotated out of format too or was it ever reprinted/ is a promo?

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  18. PlusPower is gone. I was only last printed in BLW base set and thus, will be getting rotated out.

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  19. Why is Trubbish so good i havent heard about it?

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  20. Catcher just got reprinted. I'm going to go cry now. We also lost shift gear klingklang, so i have no deck to play now as well.

    Any suggestions?

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  21. reshiboar beats this deck bad. remember reshiboar has keldeo floatstone and can use beach... t2 emboar destroys this

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    1. And any other deck destroys Emboar... Especially Plasma, which is definitely still a popular choice.

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    2. I still use Emboar, but I hit with both White Kyurem EX (BC and PLS) and a Rayquaza EX

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  22. Any ideas on some good anti-meta decks, now that one of the best around, [Garbodor] is possibly on its way out, thanks to Tool Scrapper being now an at least 1-of in every deck.

    Feel as though the only anti-decks vs Plasma Box and Virinesect[Yes I started this and it will catch on] have to include the Bangle and Mirror.. which again, gets Scrapper'd.

    -Drench

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  23. Did we really lose catcher?!?!? i just barely got my fourth one this past week! :/ or do we have to use them expensive gold catchers now?? :(

    -Shane

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    1. You may play every single version of Catcher in the next format.

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  24. Will Tropical Beach rotate too? Or will it be legal in the next format??

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  25. What about haxorus it can one shot all plasma pokemon and uses the same blends as kyurem and thundurus but not that it really matters

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  26. We didn't lose energy retrieval...

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