Hey guys, reporting here again is Woodstock with a new informational article.
SP CARDS
SPs are amazing cards. They have several pros and limited cons in my opinion, and are so easy to work with which makes variety with them so easy. There are countless LV.X cards with free retreat and minimal energy requirements, even with supporting cards like Energy Gain and Poké Turn to help them out. Some examples are Luxray GL LV.X, Infernape 4 LV.X, Blaziken FB LV.X, and so on.
I’ve noticed since the release of Supreme Victors though, that SPs can not work to their maximum potential with just one main attacker or two main attackers. They achieve the greatest success with techs – Pokémon that help the ultimate goal of the deck (winning) without deviating too far from the consistency of the deck. So without further introduction, here’s a list of the greatest SP Techs that see widespread use in almost all SP decks!
~Toxicroak G (PROMO)~
I can confidently say that 75% of all TCG players probably know the reason for implementing this card in their SP deck. One of the greatest fears at the moment is the magnificent Luxray GL LV.X. With the ability togust-of-Wind a Pokémon from the bench to the active slot without attacking is truly remarkable. For that reason, it should be feared by all Pokémon players.
And for that reason, Toxicroak G is the perfect counter. If you read it’s power Leap Away, you will see that Toxicroak G allows the Attacking player to do 60 Damage with Poison if the Defending player Knocked Out one of their Pokémon last turn. EXCELLENT… the Attacking player says to himself in a creepy, evil tone after being Knocked Out by the opposing player’s Luxray GL LV.X last turn. So, with just a Roseanne’s for Toxicroak G, an Energy Gain and a P Energy, the Attacking player can plot his revenge.
Like the card above, Ambipom G’s main purpose is to directly counter Garchomp C LV.X. With it’s attack Snap Attack, Ambipom G can do 120 damage thanks to Weakness if Garchomp C has no energy attached to it (which is usually does after using Dragon Rush and discarding 2 Energy attached to it). Another reason to sway Pokémon users to add this card to their SP decks is it’s first attack Tail Code, allowing the Attacking player to move an Energy Card from the Defending Pokémon to a Benched Pokémon.
Ambipom G is a great counter at the moment seeing the increased popularity of Garchomp C LV.X, but it also works as a fantastic starting Pokémon considering the player is using Double Colorless Energy in his deck as well. If the player using Ambipom G goes first, they can attach a DCE and do 60 damage first turn. That’s enough to Knock Out almost any basic Pokémon (excluding most SP).
**Fun Fact: The PokéGym Compendium has stated that Ambipom G’s Tail Code attack discards energies if the player targets a Pokémon with Unown G attached. Since Unown G removes effects from working, the Energy Card would then be discarded rather than attached to the G’d Pokémon!
This SP Tech was pretty standard in most SP decks following the release of Rising Rivals, but today, it doesn’t seem as efficient as it use to be. It’s Poké-Body Boundary Aura forces each player to apply Weakness on all of their Pokémon as x2 instead of their regular Weakness. This doesn’t bother SP Decks though because they already have x2 Weakness!
This card is slowly being taken out of SP decks though because of it’s cons. For example, it takes up a bench space and has no useful attack. With Psychic Weakness and 80 HP, it is very vulnerable sitting on your bench the entire game unless you choose to Poké Turn it. Another drawback is the fact that PUSA (Pokémon USA) is now applying all Weaknesses as x2 on their following sets.
There is only one factor that allows this card to be seen as an SP Tech. That factor is it’s Poké-Power Galactic Switch, which allows the player who has it on their bench to move an Energy card from an Pokémon SP to any Pokémon on the field. This is excellent for speeding up decks and serves as SPs main source for energy acceleration.
Bronzong G has it’s drawbacks as well though, such as a three energy Retreat Cost, a x2 Weakness to Psychic, and a worthless attack. On top of this, you must place 2 damage counters on Bronzong G each time you use it’s Poké-Power, so think wisely before moving your energy cards around the field!
The last card I’d like to talk about is Roserade GL. Right now, you’re probably wondering what the heck is going on. I’d bet more than 50% of Pokémon TCG players haven’t ever even read this card before. It has only one function for being placed in an SP deck, it’s first attack: Poison Bind. This attack allows you to Poison, not allow your opponent to Retreat, and place 10 damage on the Defending Pokémon.
It’s sole purpose is to stall, and is a great card for late-game battles. It definitely can be the deciding factor in a win or not. For example, if you Bright Look a Toxicroak G or Claydol GE on the bench and bring it to the Active Spot, you can free retreat Luxray GL and snap out Roserade GL to use Poison Bind. Now, your Opponent is stuck with an active Pokémon with a high Retreat Cost and has limited uses. Toxicroak G can’t use Leap Away because it’s Poisoned and Claydol GE can’t use Cosmic Power for the same reason. If your Opponent used all their Poké Turns already, than their stuck with an active Toxicroak G that can only do 20 damage.
IN SUMMARY
Some of these cards are definite choices to add to your SP decks for State’s, while others may have to be looked over twice depending on your Meta and whether or not you have enough room in your deck. Nevertheless, these single cards add diversity to your deck and each have their own reason for why they qualify. Don’t underestimate your Opponent, for they may have added some (or all) of these and whip them out at the exact time needed.
I hope I persuaded some of you, or, informed others of these cards! Now tell me, do you think these SP Techs are crucial for winning an overall tournament, or do you believe them to be just a waste of space that could be used for more consistency?
I'm loving the roserade idea, might have to steal my brothers if I end up playing an SP deck xD.
But yeah some if played right will be crucial to winning the game, others though can be situational.
Great article though :)
I don't see any of these cards being “crucial” to win. That said there are certainly some cool techs in here all of which could be good if used correctly. I can't see any of these becoming staples in any deck though.
Good article, a good intro to SP techs.
Though right now since the release of the legends block I bet Lucario GL will see less and less play. Since all weaknesses are x2 now it wont be of much help. SP decks always need more room in them for more cards, so I bet lots of people will start kicking their lucario gls right out of their decks.
Great article Zack!! Roserade is a very interesting option that I feel many people probably overlook. I think it can be really effective if you combine it with Crobat so that your opponent is KO'd from poison after their turn ends, giving you a clean look at a fresh Pokemon. However, lots of decks use Warp Point, so I'm not sure how effective it will be overall.
Lucario GL is still awesome in my opinion…Luxchomp has got no shot against Gyarados unless they're using it. It makes that matchup so much better. Being able to OHKO Flygons with Garchomp is nice too. Out of all those cards, I think Lucario might be the best one, other than Bronzong. Bronzong is just baller.
Okay ill admit that these cards are good however they arent game winners, toxicroak g maybe cos its really handy but you wouldnt win with these alone there like pokemon version of supporters as they support decks along but dont contribute alot to them. and Lucario is better outof the lot by far with its ability however i do like the points you made about roserade!
I'm sorry to say that Roserade is completely unneeded, for the simple reason that Azelf does the exact same attack, and you'll already be using psychic energy because of the Toxicroak G Promo in your deck. Adam noted why Lucario is crucial, and Bronzong is as well. I think Ambipom is largely a waste of space, as it's not versatile and is very situational.
Yeah guys, well remember these are techs, so obviously they won't win on their own (unless you were playing some kind of crazy SP Toolbox deck, which do exist). I mostly used the words 'crucial' and 'game-winner' to spice things up in the post and grab attention haha :)
I'd definitely disagree with Lucario GL being the best out of the list though, I'd have to say Toxicroak G or Bronzong G because of their purposes. Luxray GL is so common that i'd safely say you'll encounter 2-3 decks out of your 6 matches at a tournament with Luxray GL in them. Bronzong G is a baller, as Adam said, because it can be so amazing when switching a DCE from Garchomp/Luxray to Uxie X and knocking out Machamp with a Crobat drop.
Well, there's my two cents :) I could actually add a few more techs now that I think about it (Drifblim FB, Quagsire GL/Empoleon FB, and Toxicroak G PL) to name a few.
BTW, this is Woodstock, but for some reason it's not letting me log onto my account, so I'll just post through this name I guess.
I disagree quaziko, Ampbipom G takes up 1 space and is extremely versatile. For one, it's colorless, so it needs no extra energy, and it can attack for most an Energy and an Energy Gain. That attack does 60 damage (if the defending Pokemon doesn't have an Energy attached to it) and OHKO's Garchomp C X after a Dragon Rush, leading them to discard a DCE. It also works for Flygon Lv. X (in the unlikely chance that Flygon won't have any Energy on it).
It's first attack Tail Code just helps set-up it's second. And it's a great way to DONK first turn.
I don't know, it's extremely useful in my eyes. Enough to dedicate 1 space in my 60 card deck to.
I love Drifblim FB aka the Pixie Killer! Nothing with a Psychic weakness can not hide from the balloon. It could also take the place of Honchkrow G.
I was gonna bring up Drifblim FB too. 80 (with Lucario) snipe to 33% of the current meta game is pretty boss.
I'd like to think Roserade GL takes it up a level from Azelf. While Azelf also prevents a retreat, it does not place any Special Conditions on the defending Pokemon. Your opponent would need some sort of switch card to bring the active Pokemon to the bench. Like Woodstock mentioned, if Claydol was active it could not use “Cosmic Power” and it would decrease your opponent's chances of getting a way out of the lock.
Even if your SP deck does run Psychic Energies, attaching them to Azelf is not ideal. The colorless energy requirement of Poison Bind becomes really nice when you have worthless (after turn 1 I don't like drawing into them) Call Energies in your hand. You could then “Galatic Switch” the energy to an attacker and not feel like you wasted an attachment. Or if you'd rather just drop an energy on another Pokemon that turn, an Energy Gain is all that's needed for Roserade to complete the lock.
Lucario GL never feels needed until I play Gyarados or Kingdra. Then I never question it's existence in my SP decks…at least for two more games.
I absolutely loved the ambipom G Tech. I used it at my provincials (States for the US peeps =]) And… well… Call me a sack, but I donked a few people with a DCE opening hand. Also, a very very helpful thing about ambipom G is that using Tail Code, you can move a special metal attached to a Dialga G to their benched uxie or anything completely useless like their Azelf. This is great to help stop that giant tank's damage reduction and render him useless early game if you get it, since you can just keep moving energies to deny it from fulfilling its [C][C] retreat cost, or his second strike. Deafen lock for the lock! =D
Although IMO opinion, there is one SP pokemon tech that can see great play and can be absolutely devastating late game (if used correctly) and is highly underrated.
My secret tech: Manetric G
Why? its got 2x weakness to fighting with [C] retreat cost, that makes it pretty bad already. BUT! Its got an attack that costs no energies called Energy Absorption. It lets you grab two energies from your discard pile and attach it to Manetric G.
Imagine, You bright look a claydol and you want that heavy pokemon to lock down the active spot so you can snipe, but you've already wasted your DCEs. What will your garchomp do? Nothing! Retreat your Bright Looked luxray for a manetric and energy absorption for two DCEs! Next turn, you can poketurn it back to your hand or move one with bronzong G for a Garchomp snipe! OR, you force the opponent to take action and bring out an energized pokemon to knock it out. Its just that great! Highly late game and very situational, it may not be your cup of tea. But for all that its worth, and all the SV manetric Gs lying around, it's a concept that is worth mentioning =)
I absolutely loved the ambipom G Tech. I used it at my provincials (States for the US peeps =]) And… well… Call me a sack, but I donked a few people with a DCE opening hand. Also, a very very helpful thing about ambipom G is that using Tail Code, you can move a special metal attached to a Dialga G to their benched uxie or anything completely useless like their Azelf. This is great to help stop that giant tank's damage reduction and render him useless early game if you get it, since you can just keep moving energies to deny it from fulfilling its [C][C] retreat cost, or his second strike. Deafen lock for the lock! =D
Although IMO opinion, there is one SP pokemon tech that can see great play and can be absolutely devastating late game (if used correctly) and is highly underrated.
My secret tech: Manetric G
Why? its got 2x weakness to fighting with [C] retreat cost, that makes it pretty bad already. BUT! Its got an attack that costs no energies called Energy Absorption. It lets you grab two energies from your discard pile and attach it to Manetric G.
Imagine, You bright look a claydol and you want that heavy pokemon to lock down the active spot so you can snipe, but you've already wasted your DCEs. What will your garchomp do? Nothing! Retreat your Bright Looked luxray for a manetric and energy absorption for two DCEs! Next turn, you can poketurn it back to your hand or move one with bronzong G for a Garchomp snipe! OR, you force the opponent to take action and bring out an energized pokemon to knock it out. Its just that great! Highly late game and very situational, it may not be your cup of tea. But for all that its worth, and all the SV manetric Gs lying around, it's a concept that is worth mentioning =)
Hmmm interesting stuff
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FARMVILLE CHEATS
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