We are coming to the end of another great year, filled with many great new additions to the current TCG format. The card game has seen many new twists introduced, from Pokémon SP that allowed you to play insanely powerful monsters with great speed to a Lost Zone from where your cards can never return. However, throughout this year, there have been cards that stood out among the others, and I am taking it upon myself to honor those cards today. Let’s begin…
Most Underrated: Kricketune (PL)
Most players probably never even touched this card this year, except maybe to stick it in the binder. When you really look at Kricketune paired with Dawn Stadium, though, you see it had genuine potential at it’s time. I think this little bug deserves a closer look. I believe that a Kricketune / Vileplume / Yanmega / Shaymin LV.X / Regice deck could still be a dominant force now.
Attach a G Energy to Vileplume (LA) to put the Defending Pokémon to sleep. Bebe’s Search for a Kricketune or Kricketot and use Regice (LA) to discard it along with a G Energy. Use Yanmega’s (SV) Poké-Power to attach the discarded G Energy to itself. Then, attack with whichever of Kricketune’s attacks is stronger at the moment. If you run low on G Energies, bring in Skymin LV.X (PL) and use Seed Flare to move all G Energies from Vileplume to Yanmega, then retreat for Yanmega and use a very powerful Wind Return, giving you G Energies in your hand which you can play again on Vileplume. This deck definitely deserves a chance.
Most Feared: Flygon LV.X (RR)
Decks based around this card were common ever since its release, and they still are very powerful. More decks were built to counter this card than I have ever seen before. Some people even think that Shuppet decks originated as a counter to Flygon LV.X. Overall, this card is a very devastating card to its opponents.
Best Starter: Weavile G (PL)
This Pokémon was the ideal starter for SP decks, allowing you to search out ANY 2 of your Pokémon SP per turn. Honchkrow G was also a good starter for SP decks, but its use became limited after the first turn. Weavile, on the other hand, could survive entire games, constantly bringing in more and more Pokémon SP.This card allowed SP Decks to set up even faster than they were already capable of, leaving many other decks in the dust.
Most Over-hyped: Blastoise (PL)
This card was widely praised before its release. It’s function as an Energy accelerator and as a main attacker earned Blastoise a good deal of attention prior to the Platinum set being released. However, once it was actually obtainable, nobody… really… played it. At all. The few players who did create decks based off of this blue turtle actually were fairly successful, but for some reason, the Blastoise bandwagon crashed pretty quickly.
Most Obnoxious: Dialga G (PL)
Anybody who has ever played against Dialga G has endured true frustration and despair after being hit with Deafen. Still one of the best attacks today, Deafen stops you from using trainers entirely. This was extremely detrimental to Shuppet decks, but annoying for everybody. Having those Trainer cards in your hand but not being able to use them really makes for a rather unpleasant experience.
The Card That Came Too Early: Shaymin LV.X (PL)
This card was somewhat hyped before its release, but was virtually ignored afterward. It’s Poké-Body was great, but its attack, which allows you to place as many Energies from your hand as you like and did more damage when you placed more Energies, was essentially disregarded. Why? Because there was no practical way of amassing large amounts of energies in your hand quickly enough.
However, I have looked at the cards being released in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, and there is a card that makes Shaymin LV.X practical: Blissey Prime. This Pokémon has a coming-into-play Power that allows you to remove all damage counters Energies from a Pokémon and place them in your hand. Combined with Super Scoop Ups, these two could have made a dominant deck in this format. Alas, it was not so.
The Card That Came Too Late: Broken Time-Space (PL)
2009 marked the ascent of the big Basic Pokémon, mostly Pokémon SP. Stage 2 decks couldn’t compete withthese decks that were so effortlessly set up. It is unfortunate, then, that Broken Time-Space couldn’t have come in 2008, when Stage 2s were a much more common sight.
Best LV.X: Infernape 4 LV.X
Now, I know most people would pick Luxray GL as the best LV.X, but I believe that Infernape 4 left a much more prominent mark on the TCG world. While cards like Luxray GL were being manipulated to try to gust in weak Pokémon as much as possible, Infernape 4 LV.X was able to switch the opponent’s Pokémon EVERY SINGLE TURN. Although your opponent got to choose, the general disruption which this card was able to inflict upon other decks was unmatched this year.
Best New Staple: Cyrus’s Conspiracy
As all readers of this article know, SP decks have been hugely successful this year. Cyrus’s Conspiracy is the main reason why. Cyrus is a deck engine all by itself. When played in succession, it gives you constant access to the Energy and the Tools you need for an SP deck to run. In a year in which SP decks have dominated, it would be insane to leave their pivotal card off this list. Cyrus’s Conspiracy was the card this year of which you could never just run one.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
Card of the Year: Expert Belt
A game-revolutionizing card. The abundant uses and combinations that the release of Expert Belt has opened up are only starting to be discovered. This card has transformed fading decks into tournament-worthy ones, including decks with Kingdra, Shuppet, Gyarados, and Nidoqueen. Even now we are starting to see SP decks cut back an Energy Gain or two to include this card, and this is only a month after its release! Expect to see a lot of this card used in new and unexpected ways in 2010. Although this card wasn’t given enough time to shine, it continues to change the face of TCG today.
If you think differently on any of these categories, please comment!
I, sadly, would have to disagree on all accounts.
Most Underrated (PLAYABLE card): Manectric PL
Most Overhyped: Ampharos PL
Most Feared: Luxray GL Lv.X/Power Locking Cards (Power Spray/Mesprit)/T1 Machamp
Best Starter: Spiritomb AR/Sableye SF (cards that actually IMPACTED this season)
Most Obnoxious: Power Spray (play during your OPPONENT’S turn???).
Card That Came Too Early: Nidoqueen RR. Killed every card that spread. We’d have a much more diverse format without it.
Card That Came Too Late: Spiritomb AR (Would have helped slow the donk factor), or SP Radar (Would have been huge in Platinum).
Best Lv.X: Luxray GL Lv.X/Dialga G Lv. X (Infernape doesn’t make Top 5!)
Best New Staple: Luxury Ball
Card of the Year: Luxray GL Lv.X – Won US Nats AND Worlds.
I, sadly, would have to disagree on all accounts.
Most Underrated (PLAYABLE card): Manectric PL
Most Overhyped: Ampharos PL
Most Feared: Luxray GL Lv.X/Power Locking Cards (Power Spray/Mesprit)/T1 Machamp
Best Starter: Spiritomb AR/Sableye SF (cards that actually IMPACTED this season)
Most Obnoxious: Power Spray (play during your OPPONENT’S turn???).
Card That Came Too Early: Nidoqueen RR. Killed every card that spread. We’d have a much more diverse format without it.
Card That Came Too Late: Spiritomb AR (Would have helped slow the donk factor), or SP Radar (Would have been huge in Platinum).
Best Lv.X: Luxray GL Lv.X/Dialga G Lv. X (Infernape doesn’t make Top 5!)
Best New Staple: Luxury Ball
Card of the Year: Luxray GL Lv.X – Won US Nats AND Worlds.
I disagree on some and agree on others.
Most Underrated (IMO): Kabutops (AR). Sure it had some talk when it first came out but it was never really tested/played. Dome Fossil’s Body combined with Kabuto (MD) could possible set up T2 Kabutops hitting 70 a turn starting on T2. (T1 Fighting on Dome to Kabuto (MD) + Power = T1 Kabuto active with a old amber on bench. Attack for 20. T2 Kabutops + Aerodactyl (AR) [Get a fossil every turn from deck into hand])
Most Feared (IMO): Machamp (SF). When SP came out and started being the top deck ran everyone teched in a TecH for Machamp.
Best Starter: This really can’t be awarded as it depends on the deck. But Honorable mentions are: Pachirisu (GE) for being able to grab 3 for 1C. Weavile G (PL) for being able to set up SP decks and allowing the player to Power Spray after their first turn. Sableye (SF) for allowing people to go first and get stuff into the discard [Gyarados deck anyone?]. Spiritomb (AR) for allowing people to slow down SP decks while allowing its owner to help set up.
Most Overhyped: Shaymin Lv.X (Ground). When this card came out a ton of people started jumping on the Shaymin/Torterra bandwagon. Didnt turn out too good..
Most Obnoxius: Dialga G (PL) or Gastly (SF). This can go to either one of the two. Being able to stop your opponent from playing trainer cards helped so much against donk decks (Machamp/Shuppet/Uxieruption to name a few) and SP deck.
The Card that came too early (I honestly have no idea who i would give it to so i’ll go with Willy G on this one): Shaymin Lv.X (Ground). At the time this card came out, the big deck was Luxape and then Blazeray. Grass decks were helpless in the format and for the most part they still are but that could possibly change after the release of HeartGold/SoulSilver.
The Card that came too late: Broken Time-Space. This card came into play when the main decks were SP decks so the sight of Stage 2 decks were just not that great. Had this card come out during Diamond and Pearl or every before that back in the EX days this card would have been extremely helpful.
Best Lv.X: Luxray GL Lv.X. Being able to choose what the bring up (even if only once) is so big. Combine that with being able to do 60 for 1L and free retreat is just beast. So many decks have been devestated after the loss of claydol (Bright Look claydol then retreat for something that can OHKO it or even just to stall while your opponent struggles to retreat it wasting valueable time and energy.
Best New Staple: Cyrus’s Conspiracy. This card is a staple for every SP deck and even in some non-SP decks. Why? Being able to grab a supporter for next turn, a basic energy, and the able to get SP Radar, Energy Gain, Poke Turn or Power Spray is just amazing.
Card of the Year: Expert Belt. No matter how you argue this selection it doesnt matter. Being able to give your pokemon +20 HP and allow youe pokemon to do 20 more damage to your opponent’s active pokemon at the cost of an extra prize is just amazing. So many times you find yourself short 10 damage in a big game is just heartbreaking or many times you find yourself being knocked out because they can do just enough damage is/can be heartbreaking. People will say “But giving up 2 prizes for 1 knockout just to give your pokemon +20 HP or to do 20 more damage is just retarded”, wanna know what i have to say about that? Allowing your opponent to take 2 prizes never stopped people from playing pokemon EX when they were legal and +20 HP and 20 more damage is too big in today’s format.
You both have to be kidding me! Broken Time-Space, too LATE? BTS was one of the few things issued to keep Stage 2’s competitive vs SP! It would have been ridiculously overpowered had it come out ANY EARLIER, but it balanced the meta vs. SP.
BTS isn’t even that good, its flygon bait and if you cannot get by with 4 rare candy your deck is horribly inconsistent. It makes sense in gyarados and speedrill where recovery is huge, but anything with set-up and energy attachments required its a wasted card. Not to mention how it always seems that you have 2-3 stadiums in your hand when you are being deafen locked, lol.
Are you really trying to argue that a card which allows you to evolve AT WILL “isn’t even that good,” just because you MAY be Sand Walled or MAY be Deafened? Then Claydol must be bad because of Bright Look and Mesprit, and SP must be bad because of Machamp and Mewtwo, huh?
Kingdra, Bees, Gyarados, and Gengar are practically unplayable without it versus SP/Mesprit! Even Machamp would suffer without it! Whatever, dude, lol.
You named 3 stage two decks and 1 stage 1 deck that need it. All i’m saying is many decks do just fine without it such as , Flygon, Salamence, Sceptile, Leafeon to name 4 to match your 4. I just find often it does not help at all when I have it, and when I need it I don’t have it. So it seems it needs four spots in the deck to be useful and i can think of quite a few detter uses for those spots. I know at my local league and within my group of friends alot of us have pulled it from our decks.
I agree, and I thought I was the only one that thought so. =p
To me, all BTS offers is a link between the Basic and the 2nd Stage Evo, in other words, when you don’t have Rare Candy BUT you have a Machoke, you can simply evolve 2x from Machop into Machamp.
It sort of suggests for you to up your main attacker line from the common 4-2-4 to a 4-3-4, which always cluttered my deck.
But of course it’s imperative in decks such as Speedrill and Gyarados, etc.
I guess your friends and local league are the authority on the metagame now, eh? And you may have named 4 decks, but you named only ONE current COMPETITIVE archetype. I named FOUR.
Salamence is an awful choice for Cities, first of all. The others you at least admit are poor choices.
Why didn’t any Flychamp at Worlds run BTS?
1) The meta at Worlds was mostly Flygon, with a large chuck of SP, and some random decks, like the few Gyarados, Gengar and one Beedrill. That was basically it. Why would Flygon play a stadium, when in one of every 3 matches, it cost you in the mirror?
2) Flygon may be the only Stage 2 archetype that shoudln’t be running it! Flygon thrives on knocking opponent’s stadiums OUT of play, in order to slow them down. Playing BTS would help most opposing decks rather than the Flygon (ie, in the case of those 5 decks I named). And some Flygon variants still DO run one or two BTS if SP is very heavy in their meta.
Broken Time-Space = Staple card. Sorry if you can’t grasp that.
Flygon and Salamence are two of the biggest decks for CC’s and Sceptile is rampant in Juniors and Senior even if not masters its like a modern T-tar, and Leafeon has been forgotten for the most part, but with BlazeRay being so big Bees and Gyarados are seeing little play. Again this is only in my area as the meta varies widely from area to area and I never claimed to represent the whole world, nation, region, or even state for that matter merely posting my observations and opinions on a discussion forum, but I counter your claim with the same are you the ultimate authority on the metagame? BTS is a great card for donk decks, low energy requirement decks, and decks that need fast recovery, but in decks with high energy requirements and set-up its really not a needed card. If it was so vital why did both of the FlyChamp decks from Top 4 in this past worlds not run a single copy? The stadium has its uses and certain decks need it, but its not a staple in Stage 2 decks like rare candy or roseanne’s, Bebe’s, etc.
You prove my point exactly a staple is a card every viable deck will run at least a copy of such as Roseanne’s and Bebe in set-up decks or Cyrus for SP’s if the card is that critical then Flygon thriving on knocking stadiums out of play would not be an issue, the great benefit of BTS would out weight the downside(since people will avoid playing stadiums against Flygon anyway) and people would rather play it and set themselves up rather than put themselves at a disadvantage. BTS is a great card in certain stage 1 and 2 decks, but is not vital. It’s alot like spiritomb form Platinum Arceus useful and even essential in certain build, but in others just doesn’t make sense or really add anything.
BTS also may have lost some of it’s luster because it is a stadium that can at times help your opponent more than it helps with most decks including sp’s lately running claydol an I’ll timed BTS can get you in trouble where as other stadiums such as moonlight, miasma vally, etc. can be more tailored to your deck and only benefit you 75%(guessing) of the time.
You both have to be kidding me! Broken Time-Space, too LATE? BTS was one of the few things issued to keep Stage 2’s competitive vs SP! It would have been ridiculously overpowered had it come out ANY EARLIER, but it balanced the meta vs. SP.
BTS isn’t even that good, its flygon bait and if you cannot get by with 4 rare candy your deck is horribly inconsistent. It makes sense in gyarados and speedrill where recovery is huge, but anything with set-up and energy attachments required its a wasted card. Not to mention how it always seems that you have 2-3 stadiums in your hand when you are being deafen locked, lol.
Are you really trying to argue that a card which allows you to evolve AT WILL “isn’t even that good,” just because you MAY be Sand Walled or MAY be Deafened? Then Claydol must be bad because of Bright Look and Mesprit, and SP must be bad because of Machamp and Mewtwo, huh?
Kingdra, Bees, Gyarados, and Gengar are practically unplayable without it versus SP/Mesprit! Even Machamp would suffer without it! Whatever, dude, lol.
You named 3 stage two decks and 1 stage 1 deck that need it. All i’m saying is many decks do just fine without it such as , Flygon, Salamence, Sceptile, Leafeon to name 4 to match your 4. I just find often it does not help at all when I have it, and when I need it I don’t have it. So it seems it needs four spots in the deck to be useful and i can think of quite a few detter uses for those spots. I know at my local league and within my group of friends alot of us have pulled it from our decks.
I agree, and I thought I was the only one that thought so. =p
To me, all BTS offers is a link between the Basic and the 2nd Stage Evo, in other words, when you don’t have Rare Candy BUT you have a Machoke, you can simply evolve 2x from Machop into Machamp.
It sort of suggests for you to up your main attacker line from the common 4-2-4 to a 4-3-4, which always cluttered my deck.
But of course it’s imperative in decks such as Speedrill and Gyarados, etc.
I guess your friends and local league are the authority on the metagame now, eh? And you may have named 4 decks, but you named only ONE current COMPETITIVE archetype. I named FOUR.
Flygon and Salamence are two of the biggest decks for CC’s and Sceptile is rampant in Juniors and Senior even if not masters its like a modern T-tar, and Leafeon has been forgotten for the most part, but with BlazeRay being so big Bees and Gyarados are seeing little play. Again this is only in my area as the meta varies widely from area to area and I never claimed to represent the whole world, nation, region, or even state for that matter merely posting my observations and opinions on a discussion forum, but I counter your claim with the same are you the ultimate authority on the metagame? BTS is a great card for donk decks, low energy requirement decks, and decks that need fast recovery, but in decks with high energy requirements and set-up its really not a needed card. If it was so vital why did both of the FlyChamp decks from Top 4 in this past worlds not run a single copy? The stadium has its uses and certain decks need it, but its not a staple in Stage 2 decks like rare candy or roseanne’s, Bebe’s, etc.
Salamence is an awful choice for Cities, first of all. The others you at least admit are poor choices.
Why didn’t any Flychamp at Worlds run BTS?
1) The meta at Worlds was mostly Flygon, with a large chuck of SP, and some random decks, like the few Gyarados, Gengar and one Beedrill. That was basically it. Why would Flygon play a stadium, when in one of every 3 matches, it cost you in the mirror?
2) Flygon may be the only Stage 2 archetype that shoudln’t be running it! Flygon thrives on knocking opponent’s stadiums OUT of play, in order to slow them down. Playing BTS would help most opposing decks rather than the Flygon (ie, in the case of those 5 decks I named). And some Flygon variants still DO run one or two BTS if SP is very heavy in their meta.
Broken Time-Space = Staple card. Sorry if you can’t grasp that.
You prove my point exactly a staple is a card every viable deck will run at least a copy of such as Roseanne’s and Bebe in set-up decks or Cyrus for SP’s if the card is that critical then Flygon thriving on knocking stadiums out of play would not be an issue, the great benefit of BTS would out weight the downside(since people will avoid playing stadiums against Flygon anyway) and people would rather play it and set themselves up rather than put themselves at a disadvantage. BTS is a great card in certain stage 1 and 2 decks, but is not vital. It’s alot like spiritomb form Platinum Arceus useful and even essential in certain build, but in others just doesn’t make sense or really add anything.
BTS also may have lost some of it’s luster because it is a stadium that can at times help your opponent more than it helps with most decks including sp’s lately running claydol an I’ll timed BTS can get you in trouble where as other stadiums such as moonlight, miasma vally, etc. can be more tailored to your deck and only benefit you 75%(guessing) of the time.
“Blissey Prime” a.k.a. “Great Blissey” makes you discard energy, not return them to your hand.
“Blissey Prime” a.k.a. “Great Blissey” makes you discard energy, not return them to your hand.
idk this thread could get interesting.
I would love to see what everybody eventually thinks.
Man I think Kyle/reinfield89 got it dead correct except for maybe Nidoqueen as card that came too early. When Nidoqueen came out SP already had a good footing in the environment and probably would’ve kept spread decks down by itself. I’m also going to make a case for Fluttering Wings Beedrill as most obnoxious. Lastly how people cannot pick Luxray GL lv X as Best Lv x, and card of the year when as stated previously was apart of the most important winning decks and fetches the most money of any card released in the past 2 years.
Best Level X Infernape 4?
pa
Its a good lv.x but there are lots better, flygon, luxray gl, alakazam 4, gallade 4, blaziken fb.
Hm…not sure I wholly agree, but thanks for contributing! Here are my opinions on the matters:
Underrated: Manectric PL
Most feared: Power Spray
Best Starter: Spiritomb
Overhyped: Salamence AR?
Obnoxious: Power Spray
Came too early: Not sure about this one, tbh.
Came too late: Not sure here either, but Spiritomb may be a solid choice.
Best Lv. X: Luxray GL Lv. X
Best New Staple: Cyrus’ Conspiracy
Card of the Year: Luxray GL Lv. X
Hm…not sure I wholly agree, but thanks for contributing! Here are my opinions on the matters:
Underrated: Manectric PL
Most feared: Power Spray
Best Starter: Spiritomb
Overhyped: Salamence AR?
Obnoxious: Power Spray
Came too early: Not sure about this one, tbh.
Came too late: Not sure here either, but Spiritomb may be a solid choice.
Best Lv. X: Luxray GL Lv. X
Best New Staple: Cyrus’ Conspiracy
Card of the Year: Luxray GL Lv. X
I think Gengar could be up there in Most Feared. Or it should be at least. It’s diversity in this format is crazy, and has been a solid choice for tournaments since Stormfront.
I disagree on some and agree on others.
Most Underrated (IMO): Kabutops (AR). Sure it had some talk when it first came out but it was never really tested/played. Dome Fossil’s Body combined with Kabuto (MD) could possible set up T2 Kabutops hitting 70 a turn starting on T2. (T1 Fighting on Dome to Kabuto (MD) + Power = T1 Kabuto active with a old amber on bench. Attack for 20. T2 Kabutops + Aerodactyl (AR) [Get a fossil every turn from deck into hand])
Most Feared (IMO): Machamp (SF). When SP came out and started being the top deck ran everyone teched in a TecH for Machamp.
Best Starter: This really can’t be awarded as it depends on the deck. But Honorable mentions are: Pachirisu (GE) for being able to grab 3 for 1C. Weavile G (PL) for being able to set up SP decks and allowing the player to Power Spray after their first turn. Sableye (SF) for allowing people to go first and get stuff into the discard [Gyarados deck anyone?]. Spiritomb (AR) for allowing people to slow down SP decks while allowing its owner to help set up.
Most Overhyped: Shaymin Lv.X (Ground). When this card came out a ton of people started jumping on the Shaymin/Torterra bandwagon. Didnt turn out too good..
Most Obnoxius: Dialga G (PL) or Gastly (SF). This can go to either one of the two. Being able to stop your opponent from playing trainer cards helped so much against donk decks (Machamp/Shuppet/Uxieruption to name a few) and SP deck.
The Card that came too early (I honestly have no idea who i would give it to so i’ll go with Willy G on this one): Shaymin Lv.X (Ground). At the time this card came out, the big deck was Luxape and then Blazeray. Grass decks were helpless in the format and for the most part they still are but that could possibly change after the release of HeartGold/SoulSilver.
The Card that came too late: Broken Time-Space. This card came into play when the main decks were SP decks so the sight of Stage 2 decks were just not that great. Had this card come out during Diamond and Pearl or every before that back in the EX days this card would have been extremely helpful.
Best Lv.X: Luxray GL Lv.X. Being able to choose what the bring up (even if only once) is so big. Combine that with being able to do 60 for 1L and free retreat is just beast. So many decks have been devestated after the loss of claydol (Bright Look claydol then retreat for something that can OHKO it or even just to stall while your opponent struggles to retreat it wasting valueable time and energy.
Best New Staple: Cyrus’s Conspiracy. This card is a staple for every SP deck and even in some non-SP decks. Why? Being able to grab a supporter for next turn, a basic energy, and the able to get SP Radar, Energy Gain, Poke Turn or Power Spray is just amazing.
Card of the Year: Expert Belt. No matter how you argue this selection it doesnt matter. Being able to give your pokemon +20 HP and allow youe pokemon to do 20 more damage to your opponent’s active pokemon at the cost of an extra prize is just amazing. So many times you find yourself short 10 damage in a big game is just heartbreaking or many times you find yourself being knocked out because they can do just enough damage is/can be heartbreaking. People will say “But giving up 2 prizes for 1 knockout just to give your pokemon +20 HP or to do 20 more damage is just retarded”, wanna know what i have to say about that? Allowing your opponent to take 2 prizes never stopped people from playing pokemon EX when they were legal and +20 HP and 20 more damage is too big in today’s format.
idk this thread could get interesting.
I would love to see what everybody eventually thinks.
Man I think Kyle/reinfield89 got it dead correct except for maybe Nidoqueen as card that came too early. When Nidoqueen came out SP already had a good footing in the environment and probably would’ve kept spread decks down by itself. I’m also going to make a case for Fluttering Wings Beedrill as most obnoxious. Lastly how people cannot pick Luxray GL lv X as Best Lv x, and card of the year when as stated previously was apart of the most important winning decks and fetches the most money of any card released in the past 2 years.
I rather have Machamp over Gengar as most, the diversity in the metagame is eventually going to condense back to more SP making it less viable for Gengar.
I agree with most of these EXCEPT for too early/too late.
Shaymin X was too LATE. Definitely my #1 pick for that. It came out in the same set that Dialga G X came out in, making it utterly worthless. It was actually SUPPOSED to come out in SF, but they delayed it due to the movie with Shaymin. HAD it come out in SF, it would have been Dialga free, and Grass types would have probably all been BDIF’s, be it Tangrowth or Torterra.
BTS was JUST on time… It obviously came out so the Stage 2 decks could remotely compete with the SP decks.
Best Level X Infernape 4?
pa
Its a good lv.x but there are lots better, flygon, luxray gl, alakazam 4, gallade 4, blaziken fb.
How is Machamp More Feared than Gengar? Unown G makes Machamp nothing. It can’t stand in a deck unless with a tech, or at least a good deck. I understand that ‘Take Out’ is scary for SPs, but ‘Shadow Room’ can knock out any engine on the bench (Uxie, Claydol, Azelf). ‘Poltergeist’ is extremely scary as well for most decks and only needs 2 Energy’s to avoid Unown G. Finally, Fainting Spell is the worst out of all Gengar’s attributes. It’s ridiculous that Poke-Power.
Maybe Machamp is more feared by SP decks, but if anything Gengar SHOULD be more feared.
Unown G also took a lot of the fear out of Gengar, and good players can so easily play around Fainting Spell Gengar.
^Exactly. How can you, Woodstock, say Unown G makes Machamp nothing, and then say Gengar is legit? Guard Claydol, SPARINGLY play the power techs, and (idk why this seems so difficult?) keep the T/S/S out of your hand, and Gengar does _no damage_. Fainting Spell can be played around by most decks.
Some people are nominating cards from GE and LA, this is for the year of 2009, not for the entire format.
I agree with one of the posters that said powerspray is the most feared. People somehow try to stop playing pokepowers just because of 1 little card.
For overhyped card there are many. Flygon could fit here, even though its a great card it was hyped so much it could never live up to it. Another overhyped card was tangrowth lv.x. Everyone was wanting that card when they saw the jap card. But when it came out no one played it.
Most obnoxious card is powerspray, it sucks getting sprayed.
Yes exactly people this is for 2009,cards released in 2009 so machamp/gengar/luxury ball etc dont make the cut,and this article is pretty good,but the best card should go to luxray/flygon.
I think Gengar could be up there in Most Feared. Or it should be at least. It’s diversity in this format is crazy, and has been a solid choice for tournaments since Stormfront.
Before anyone picks a “stickler” fight/argument with me (DONT!), allow me to use the wonderful disclaimer, “…for me anyway” which means “in my selfish understanding” or “don’t disagree with me and get excited, it’s only an opinion, much less a game.”
=)
This (TO ME) looks like:
Most Underrated:Alakazam LvX-If maybe people just took the time and tossed in a Level Max or some Switches/Warp Points, this guy has a sort of complicated Nidoqueen RR (for SP decks) thing going for it. Throw all your spread damage on him, and simply Poketurn. Any damage is bad damage.
Most Feared:Gengar-It can knock you out (Fainting Spell) just.because.
Best Starter:Chatot-Beginning of the game is most important imo, and this guy lets you dump what’s disposable and get more from where that came from (Mimic).
Most OverHyped:Salamence LvX-I just don’t know anymore. Are all the turns of storing up that heavy-hitter worth it? =/
Most Obnoxious:Power Spray. Do you know why, because it stops you from activating a PokePower. (No s***)
The Card That Came Too Early:Electivire LvX-I don’t even think there WERE any reasonably playable tools or stadiums for her to Pulse Barrier WERE THERE?! O_-
The Card That Came Too Late:Garchomp LvX MD-If he was an entity in DP, when the metagame was all Infernape/Empoleon decks running rampant, she could have made things really complicated.
Best LvX:Flygon LvX-Too many things going for it; mill your opponent, or prevent their growth and stigmatize their progress and Extreme Attack their LvX.
Best New Staple:Unown G-No good excuse NOT to have it. In EVERY deck right now.
Card Of The Year:Yeah, Luxray GL LvX-He’s just too cheap, so cheap people are trying to run engines of him in evolution deck like that one guy that one World’s with it and Beedrill, that doesn’t make any sense. JK!!!
Whoops, tee hee hee…
“Cards of 2009”.
=/
I rather have Machamp over Gengar as most, the diversity in the metagame is eventually going to condense back to more SP making it less viable for Gengar.
I agree with most of these EXCEPT for too early/too late.
Shaymin X was too LATE. Definitely my #1 pick for that. It came out in the same set that Dialga G X came out in, making it utterly worthless. It was actually SUPPOSED to come out in SF, but they delayed it due to the movie with Shaymin. HAD it come out in SF, it would have been Dialga free, and Grass types would have probably all been BDIF’s, be it Tangrowth or Torterra.
BTS was JUST on time… It obviously came out so the Stage 2 decks could remotely compete with the SP decks.
How is Machamp More Feared than Gengar? Unown G makes Machamp nothing. It can’t stand in a deck unless with a tech, or at least a good deck. I understand that ‘Take Out’ is scary for SPs, but ‘Shadow Room’ can knock out any engine on the bench (Uxie, Claydol, Azelf). ‘Poltergeist’ is extremely scary as well for most decks and only needs 2 Energy’s to avoid Unown G. Finally, Fainting Spell is the worst out of all Gengar’s attributes. It’s ridiculous that Poke-Power.
Maybe Machamp is more feared by SP decks, but if anything Gengar SHOULD be more feared.
Unown G also took a lot of the fear out of Gengar, and good players can so easily play around Fainting Spell Gengar.
^Exactly. How can you, Woodstock, say Unown G makes Machamp nothing, and then say Gengar is legit? Guard Claydol, SPARINGLY play the power techs, and (idk why this seems so difficult?) keep the T/S/S out of your hand, and Gengar does _no damage_. Fainting Spell can be played around by most decks.
Some people are nominating cards from GE and LA, this is for the year of 2009, not for the entire format.
I agree with one of the posters that said powerspray is the most feared. People somehow try to stop playing pokepowers just because of 1 little card.
For overhyped card there are many. Flygon could fit here, even though its a great card it was hyped so much it could never live up to it. Another overhyped card was tangrowth lv.x. Everyone was wanting that card when they saw the jap card. But when it came out no one played it.
Most obnoxious card is powerspray, it sucks getting sprayed.
Yes exactly people this is for 2009,cards released in 2009 so machamp/gengar/luxury ball etc dont make the cut,and this article is pretty good,but the best card should go to luxray/flygon.
Before anyone picks a “stickler” fight/argument with me (DONT!), allow me to use the wonderful disclaimer, “…for me anyway” which means “in my selfish understanding” or “don’t disagree with me and get excited, it’s only an opinion, much less a game.”
=)
This (TO ME) looks like:
Most Underrated:Alakazam LvX-If maybe people just took the time and tossed in a Level Max or some Switches/Warp Points, this guy has a sort of complicated Nidoqueen RR (for SP decks) thing going for it. Throw all your spread damage on him, and simply Poketurn. Any damage is bad damage.
Most Feared:Gengar-It can knock you out (Fainting Spell) just.because.
Best Starter:Chatot-Beginning of the game is most important imo, and this guy lets you dump what’s disposable and get more from where that came from (Mimic).
Most OverHyped:Salamence LvX-I just don’t know anymore. Are all the turns of storing up that heavy-hitter worth it? =/
Most Obnoxious:Power Spray. Do you know why, because it stops you from activating a PokePower. (No s***)
The Card That Came Too Early:Electivire LvX-I don’t even think there WERE any reasonably playable tools or stadiums for her to Pulse Barrier WERE THERE?! O_-
The Card That Came Too Late:Garchomp LvX MD-If he was an entity in DP, when the metagame was all Infernape/Empoleon decks running rampant, she could have made things really complicated.
Best LvX:Flygon LvX-Too many things going for it; mill your opponent, or prevent their growth and stigmatize their progress and Extreme Attack their LvX.
Best New Staple:Unown G-No good excuse NOT to have it. In EVERY deck right now.
Card Of The Year:Yeah, Luxray GL LvX-He’s just too cheap, so cheap people are trying to run engines of him in evolution deck like that one guy that one World’s with it and Beedrill, that doesn’t make any sense. JK!!!
Whoops, tee hee hee…
“Cards of 2009”.
=/
Cards of 2009
Underrated: Warp Energy
Most feared: Power Spray
Best Starter: Spiritomb
Overhyped: Salamence AR/Lv.X
Obnoxious: Power Spray
Came too early: to hard to say..but shamin come to early or to late
Came too late: SP Radar […..Snorlax LV.X( come on..SNORLAX ftw xD) ]
Best Lv. X: Luxray GL Lv. X
Best New Staple: PokeTurn (Used in every Sp-Deck and in a lot of other decks)
Card of the Year: Luxray GL Lv. X
Warp energy came out in SF….:(
IMO…
Underrated: Giratina Lv. X… much like what others have stated earlier, it got the shaft by being released with Dialga G Lv. X so no one wanted to use it because its Poke Body would be shut down, but with 3 basic forms, forcing discard to attack, even when it’s on the bench and spreading with the potential to send things to the Lost Zone, without a flip, make this card a lot better than most people think it is.
Most Feared: Dialga G Lv. X… Dialga is such a pain to so many decks. look at any forum around and you’ll see that if they’re not playing SP’s someone posts how they should fear Dialga G Lv. X (Gengar/Machamp are from ’08)
Best Starter: Spiritomb AR… Stop your opponent, check, evolve for no energy while still stopping your opponent, check… play it smart and it’s a perfect start
Most Over Hyped: Arceus/ Arceus Lv. X… so many people in my metagame try to make it work and no, it won’t… not well anyway… People were excited for it but it’s just too much set up to counter the speedy SP’s and how the stage 2 decks have adapted to handle SP’s
Most Obnoxious: Shuppet PT… Really? what a cheap and ridiculous combo… not to mention the simply bewildering first turn these decks have… ugh…
Came Too Early: Flygon Lv. X/Salamence Lv. X… 3 words… Double Colorless Energy
Came Too Late: Dialga G Lv. X… there have always been ways to combat Poke Powers, Mesprit, Gardevoir etc, but the only guy who will consistently, i know there are others that do it with attacks, but note how i said consistently, shut down Poke Bodies is Cyrus’s Metal Dragon…
Best Lv. X: Luxray GL Lv. X… Splash-able, Fierce, Great Power, cheap attacks, free retreat, utilizes E-Gain, Tech-ed in National and World Champion decks… should I keep going?
Best Staple: Expert Belt… Splashed almost as much as Luxray Gl Lv. X and as useful as it too. We all know what it does, and we all love (and sometimes hate) it for that too
COTY: Luxray GL Lv. X… Its versatilitly is undeniable… just like the other points I made about it
Cards of 2009
Underrated: Warp Energy
Most feared: Power Spray
Best Starter: Spiritomb
Overhyped: Salamence AR/Lv.X
Obnoxious: Power Spray
Came too early: to hard to say..but shamin come to early or to late
Came too late: SP Radar […..Snorlax LV.X( come on..SNORLAX ftw xD) ]
Best Lv. X: Luxray GL Lv. X
Best New Staple: PokeTurn (Used in every Sp-Deck and in a lot of other decks)
Card of the Year: Luxray GL Lv. X
Warp energy came out in SF….:(
i am in 100% agreement with your predictions!! there sooo true
IMO…
Underrated: Giratina Lv. X… much like what others have stated earlier, it got the shaft by being released with Dialga G Lv. X so no one wanted to use it because its Poke Body would be shut down, but with 3 basic forms, forcing discard to attack, even when it’s on the bench and spreading with the potential to send things to the Lost Zone, without a flip, make this card a lot better than most people think it is.
Most Feared: Dialga G Lv. X… Dialga is such a pain to so many decks. look at any forum around and you’ll see that if they’re not playing SP’s someone posts how they should fear Dialga G Lv. X (Gengar/Machamp are from ’08)
Best Starter: Spiritomb AR… Stop your opponent, check, evolve for no energy while still stopping your opponent, check… play it smart and it’s a perfect start
Most Over Hyped: Arceus/ Arceus Lv. X… so many people in my metagame try to make it work and no, it won’t… not well anyway… People were excited for it but it’s just too much set up to counter the speedy SP’s and how the stage 2 decks have adapted to handle SP’s
Most Obnoxious: Shuppet PT… Really? what a cheap and ridiculous combo… not to mention the simply bewildering first turn these decks have… ugh…
Came Too Early: Flygon Lv. X/Salamence Lv. X… 3 words… Double Colorless Energy
Came Too Late: Dialga G Lv. X… there have always been ways to combat Poke Powers, Mesprit, Gardevoir etc, but the only guy who will consistently, i know there are others that do it with attacks, but note how i said consistently, shut down Poke Bodies is Cyrus’s Metal Dragon…
Best Lv. X: Luxray GL Lv. X… Splash-able, Fierce, Great Power, cheap attacks, free retreat, utilizes E-Gain, Tech-ed in National and World Champion decks… should I keep going?
Best Staple: Expert Belt… Splashed almost as much as Luxray Gl Lv. X and as useful as it too. We all know what it does, and we all love (and sometimes hate) it for that too
COTY: Luxray GL Lv. X… Its versatilitly is undeniable… just like the other points I made about it
i am in 100% agreement with your predictions!! there sooo true
I think pachirisu ge is the best starter and the most feared is dependent on who is playing a deck, if they can set up and make good a salamence lv x deck, by by others with the large use of expert belt plus double fall, and flygon lv x is definetely a fear as well.
I think pachirisu ge is the best starter and the most feared is dependent on who is playing a deck, if they can set up and make good a salamence lv x deck, by by others with the large use of expert belt plus double fall, and flygon lv x is definetely a fear as well.
Call energy substitutes well for Pachirisu, but they really is little better than starting with a Pachi and knowing you’re going to set-up quickly, great card. I believe Jirachi RR is an underrated starter yes if you go first it can do a very plain 20 damage, but double supporter use in the beginning can be amazing.
Call energy substitutes well for Pachirisu, but they really is little better than starting with a Pachi and knowing you’re going to set-up quickly, great card. I believe Jirachi RR is an underrated starter yes if you go first it can do a very plain 20 damage, but double supporter use in the beginning can be amazing.
Very cool post, I think that charizard G very underrated. :D
Very cool post, I think that charizard G very underrated. :D
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