Kenny’s Wisdom: Writing about Pokémon is Hard, Random Discussion, and A Decklist

Hi all,

Firstly, let me apologize for the span in-between this and my last post. January is always a hectic month for me what with work, the Holidays and such, so I haven’t had enough time to write (or spend on Pokémon in general), as I would like. With States coming up me and my team will be testing more, so I should have lots of interesting stuff to write about in the weeks to come.

Because I haven’t exactly had the utmost time/concentration/inspiration to spend on Pokémon lately, I thought I would make this article sort of a mishmash of subjects, and try to spark some discussion in the comments section. I understand this type of article won’t be for everybody, but hopefully you can bear with me until I get some relevant testing results to share with you all.

TCG News of the Day

– So that Call of Legends set was pretty bad, eh? I don’t really think so. I mean, I completely DO think that everyone reading this post thinks that the set is bad, and rightfully so. However, that is probably because we are all jaded competitive players who have little need for most of the cards in this set.

If you take the time to look at this set from a purely “How many good cards are in it?” standpoint, it starts to become less terrible, considering that the set consists of…

Lost World
Lost Remover
Smeargle
Ninetales
Umbreon
Leafeon
Mr. Mime
Professor’s Oak New Theory
Copycat
Special Dark
Special Metal

So, 11 cards that range anywhere from constructed kinda playable (Leafeon, Mr. Mime) to semi-staples (Smeargle, PONT) to new cards that could make quite a splash (Lost World, Lost Remover).

Obviously 11 cards, most of which are either unproven or are reprints does not a great set make, but I thought I would throw an opposing viewpoint out there, since the quality of COL has been a relevant discussion as of late.

– I assume that by now you’ve all heard of the new Online TCG that will be implemented in the next few months? If not, check down a few posts on this very website! I’ll give you some time to check that out……Now that that’s out of the way, what do you think? Personally, I think this has the chance to be quite game changing, but unfortunately I don’t see that happening. Here are a few reasons why:

  • Nowhere in the press release does it say that we’ll get to have non-theme deck cards
  • Even more importantly, nowhere does it say that we’ll get to construct our own decks
  • It is apparently going to be run through Pokémon.com, which, although a fantastic resource, isn’t always the most stable website on the entire internet.

Don’t get me wrong, if OP wants to roll something out in the same vein as Magic The Gathering Online – that is, the ability to buy, sell, and build real decks, real-time set releases and events with prizes and relevance to the game — then that would be amazing, and I would fully support that.

In fact, if something like that were to happen for Pokémon, I would probably get even less article writing done. So maybe its not such a great idea. =\

Let me pose this question to you: If something like MTGO were opened up, and let’s say you could create an account for $10, and with that account you would receive a pack of the newest set, as well as infinite basic energy, a few theme decks, and a few hundred staple cards, would you join?

With the idea being, of course, that you would purchase packs at full-retail price (there would also be a marketplace where you could buy/sell/trade cards), and then in turn could participate in events for prizes, trips, packs, etc. Would you be down? Why or why not?

– I also assume that you’ve all heard of the new rule regarding Game 2 of top cut matches? For those who aren’t aware, earlier in the year the rule was changed to say that the winner of Game 2 was the player who had taken the most prizes (regardless of the number taken).

There was a bit of an outcry over that (for reasons that I can’t go into at the moment, but would be more than willing to write an article on, if anyone would be interested), and it was recently announced that it was being changed back to say that, in order for Game 2 to count, the player in the lead on the prize count had to have taken 50% or more of his/her prizes.

There’s quite a big discussion going on about it over at the Pokégym that I suggest you check out. I mainly bring this up because it just goes to show you how much the people in charge actually care. Sure, they make poor decisions sometimes and they’re often hard to read, but most of the time when it really matters and when it’s something that the community is truly passionate about (the 30+3 rule comes to mind), they make it right.

Even in the times when they don’t, they typically have sound reasoning for why they can’t make it so, and are typically very transparent in their practices.

– Speaking of OP and controversial decisions, how does everyone feel about States trophies being transformed into medals? For those who aren’t aware, while perusing the SPT forum on the ‘Gym I noticed that a few TOs had listed medals as the prizes, instead of trophies.

My friend Amelia made a thread about it on the Gym, wherein it was confirmed that we were getting medals as replacements for trophies, and members of OP made solid justifications for it, in my mind. You should go check out the thread if you’d like to read more about it.

Overall, I can understand the decision, but I have to say it is a little depressing. Because I am a master trainer, I was excited about winning some kind of trophy this year, and it looks like that won’t be happening, at least not at a States or Regionals level. I suppose there are worse things in the world, especially considering that we don’t pay for tournaments and such, but it’s still a disappointment.

– Who wants to convince the SixPrizes crew to do another podcast? Because I sure do. If you’d like us to record another edition of 6P radio, please e-mail (read: spam) adam@sixprizes.com, voicing your concerns. Also, if you have any suggestions for articles, videos, podcasts, or anything of that sort, please shoot me an e-mail at kenny@sixprizes.com, as it’s obvious I’m quite desperate for ideas.

– Has anyone been testing winning Gengar lists lately? If you have, please hit me up! Haha. We’ve tooled around with a crapton of different lists, and for some reason we can’t get any of them to have decent matchups against SP.

I’ll go deeper into why in a later article, but for now, all I can say is that I’m quite disappointed with how this deck has turned out, but I’m keeping my mind open, and I honestly believe that someone will break this deck before too long. I’ve only been playing Pokémon seriously for the past year or so, but has anything been so hyped like this, and fallen so flat?

I mean, I know there are hyped cards all the time, but it seems like almost all players of all skill levels were hyping this deck, and now all of those same players just aren’t finding a home for it. Maybe (read: hopefully) I’m wrong and someone is cracking this in half in secret, but for now I’m really unsure.

One last thing, here’s my most recent LuxChomp list that we’ve been tooling around with. I’m not sure that it’s completely optimized and there are still some slots I’m tooling around with, but it’s had solid matchups across the board thus far. Let me know what you think!

Pokémon – 202 Luxray GL RR
2 Luxray GL LV.X RR
2 Garchomp C SV
2 Garchomp C LV.X SV
3 Uxie LA
1 Uxie LV.X LA
1 Azelf LA
1 Unown Q MD
1 Dragonite FB SV
1 Ambipom G RR
1 Bronzong G PL
1 Crobat G PL
1 Lucario GL RR
1 Weavile G PL
Trainers – 284 Pokémon Collector
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
2 Bebe’s Search
1 Twins
1 Aaron’s Collection
4 Poké Turn
4 Energy Gain
2 Power Spray
2 SP Radar
1 Junk Arm
2 Premier Ball
1 VS Seeker
Energy – 124 Double Colorless
4 Call
3 L
1 D

A few explanations…

The 2-2 lines of SP LV.Xs are mainly to combat the Gengar threat. As I said before, I’m not sure if Gengar is an amazing deck yet, but either way I know it has the power to “Gastly, Rare Candy, Gengar, Attach P, Hurl Into Darkness targeting your 1-of Garchomp C LV.X”, and that’s enough of a reason, at least in my meta, to go with the 2-2 lines.

Weavile G is also to counter the Gengar threat. I played around with Absol, Honchkrow SV, and no counter at all, and found that for this deck, Weavile was strictly the best.

It’s a basic (easy to tutor for), is an SP (can be Poké Turned/Energy Gained/Healing Breathed/Provide prerequisites for Power Spray/Can be Aarons’d), has a relevant first attack, and can 1HKO Gengar with relative ease.

All of these factors combined make Weavile undoubtedly the best play, in my mind.

– I really want to fit in Promocroak, but I’m not sure what to cut for it. Any edge in the mirror is relevant and needs to be at least considered, though.

– I’m not too sure about my Spray/Radar/Junk Arm/Ball numbers, I’m still working on all of those, although I do live 2 Premier Ball and 1 Junk Arm, and am not entirely sure I need more than 2 Spray. We’ll see though, as I said, some of these slots are definitely being worked on.

– The D Energy is for Weavile, of course. Still trying to find room for a P and a Promocroak, as I said.

That’s all I’ve got for this week, let me know what you’d like to see for next week, what you thought of this article, my LuxChomp list, etc. in the comments, and as always, if you’d like to contact me directly, please hit up kenny@sixprizes.com, or follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, whatev.

Until next time!

Reader Interactions

24 replies

  1. Dave Hueglin

    Nice article Kenny. I agree with your feelings about Call of Legends.

    Feel free to keep the number of Power Sprays at 2 or even reduce it. That will really help out my Dark Disruption and Leafeon decks, as they rely heavily on Poke-Powers! Seriously though, I’m not a Luxchomp player and don’t follow the lists as closely as I should, what would you say is the norm for Power Sprays – 2, 3 or 4?

    • Kenny Wisdom  → Dave

      I’d say that most lists are running 3 or 4. I personally think 3 is the perfect number, but more than that never hurts. I really should probably make room for one more. Like I said, the list is still being worked on.

      Thanks for the compliment, Dave. Always good hearing from you!

      • Dakota Streck  → Kenny

        Great job Kenny! In LC, I usually run 2-3 Power Spray, 4 seems to just take space away from other stuff without really contributing anything to the deck that three Power Spray can’t.

  2. Matthew Tidman

    My suggestions just looking a the list are to drop your Uxie count down to 2-1 and replace one of the call energy with a psychic. This would let you fit in the Promocroak and a psychic. Here’s my reasoning behind this. While 3-1 Uxie is beneficial since the opponent won’t expect a third one, if you do end up using Weavile’s second attack it behooves you to have as few non-SP Pokemon on the bench as possible. As for the call, Weavile’s first attack (for free) is basically a call without the attach, and with four collectors you should still be ok for search cards.

    • Kenny Wisdom  → Matthew

      I’ve wanted to fiddle with 3 Call for a while. I think during my early testing I was running 3 w/ a Rescue Energy. It’s certainly not a bad idea at all, and something that I should test more extensively.

      However, I’m pretty sure I’m keeping the 3-1 Uxie line. Not only is drawing cards pretty awesome, but it gives you such a huge advantage vs. Machamp, which is something I definitely think will be relevant based on the results of the European Cup. I can definitely see your thinking with that though, I just don’t think it’s doable. Your point about the Weavile is also very apt.

      Thanks for the input! I love when I get long, detailed, discussion-starting comments on my articles. Good to know people are interested and are brewing up ideas as well. Thanks again.

    • Kenny Wisdom  → Amin

      When you see that the villain is playing Gengar, you would try and rely on Pixies and other non-SP Pokemon as much as possible, filling your bench with SP Pokemon (which Weavile can help out with, using his first attack), and then swing with his second attack to OHKO a Gengar. It’s also completely okay to 2HKO it if you have less benched space, or to use Crobat shenanigans to add extra damage as well.

      Like I said in the article, I just think it’s the most solid Gengar counter. There’s another little something that I don’t feel that I’m at liberty to discuss at the moment, but I’ll probably go over it in a future article. Besides that card, though, I think Weavile is the strongest as it’s a basic, and SP, and 2 card slots (Weavile and Dark), which pretty much beats out most of the other Gengar counters benefits.

  3. matthew green

    Im not an SP player, but here is a thought.

    Since Weavile is needed against Gengar now, why not take out the Call’s – Add three weaviles and 2 SP Energy?

    Would that work?

    • Kenny Wisdom  → matthew

      I see what you’re getting at, and the idea is sound, I’m just not sure that it’s worth it against the meta as a whole. If you’re not playing against Gengar, I would much rather attach a Call energy to a Luxray, Garchomp, or other starter than to start with Weavile and search for basics that way, y’know? Plus, even with 3 Weavile, that’s still a lower chance of starting with it compared to 4 Call Energy, and it’s probably a less useful card the longer the game goes on and/or against different match-ups.

      Definitely an interesting idea, though. Thanks for the comment!

  4. Derek Coontz

    I would love to hear more of SixPrizes Radio again. I even voiced this opinion a while back in the forums.
    As for LostGar, your right about the SP. It has a pretty bad match up against it. I feel like right now isn’t the time for LostGar quite yet, but if rotation goes as most people think, and SP is gone soon, LostGar will start to rise in the next format.

    • Kenny Wisdom  → Derek

      Totally agreed about 6PR. :D

      And yeah, my thought on LostGar is that someone will break it soon. I don’t think someone will bust the format open with it, but I think a consistent list will rise up before Regionals, and will at least be able to hold it’s own against SP. It’s almost there, it’s just missing something that I’m sure a master brewer ala Chris Fulop, etc. could come up with.

      And yeah, that’s another thing, Gengar is guaranteed to be legal this format and next, and there’s even a chance he could be legal the format after that, so the deck definitely has some time to grow and manifest itself.

      Good comment, thanks so much!

      • Dakota Streck  → Kenny

        On the contrary, I think that LostGar will be broken sooner than players are thinking. LostGar is one of the most hyped decks of all time, which means that a lot of players will have been playing.

        I wouldn’t be surprised if serious headway was made on LostGar at this year’s States.

        • Anonymous  → Dakota

          I think we’ll see Sir Fulop make a decent stab at it with the lostgar UG article. I’d expect the UG players who are willing to run it to see good chances, and positive matchups across the board. But it still won’t be broken until it gets some good techs of its own, less anti-tech hate, and some testing experience under its belt. All just my opinions, of course.

  5. George

    Kenny,

    Great thoughts on the game! How about some love to Lost Remover? I believe that this trainer may make or break some games at States. There are large amounts of Special Energy in play at the moment and throwing them into the Lost Zone could be disaterous for many decks – especially SP Decks that run low energy counts.

    What do you think?

  6. Anonymous

    just saying that shouldnt your luxchomp include a mewtwo counter. its a lot harder to play around it if you still have 6 prizes left.

  7. Joshua Pikka

    I like trophies better then Medals, but since I haven’t won either yet, I’ll take anything they’re offering.

  8. Sebastian Hunter

    Hey Kenny!

    First off, nice article. Next, I, like others, wish they still had trophies. It’s not like I’ve won anything yet, but I believe I have a fair chance at states this year (WA States – see you there?).

    I’m actually pretty psyched about that TCG online thing. It sounds pretty cool so far, and they could do some awesome stuff with it – however, if it’s just theme decks, I will be disapointted…

    Nice list. I’d play LC if I could (I don’t have the Luxray line, but everything else I need for a good list I have) but I can’t, so I’m sticking with either Sablelock or DChomp for States.

    I’m not to thrilled about Weavile G in the list, to be honest. In my opinion, 1-1 Umbreon (UD/CL) is much better, as it locks and hurts LostGar, and it locks a lot of other decks (SP, VileGar, etc.)

    I’d play 3 Spray in any SP deck, excepting Sablelock (which needs 4), so maybe remove a Prem Ball for it? The only non-SP Radar searchable X in here is Uxie X, and chances are you will Bebe’s/topdeck into it. I’d also up the Radar count to 3, as that’s whats worked the best for me so far, though I will likely try slimming it down.

    But yeah, you need Promocroak. Seriously. It saves you so big if you ever actually play vs. T-tar, which otherwise is a hard MU as it seriously tanks.

    But yeah, nice article Kenny :D

  9. Kyle Nelsen

    Nice list bro, we’ll have to test against my LostGar, i hope u got my list i sent u, weavile is definitely good against gengar but unless ur bench is full of sp u cant one shot gengar x like honchcrow, we’ll see thou!

  10. Kyle Nelsen

    Nice list bro, we’ll have to test against my LostGar, i hope u got my list i sent u, weavile is definitely good against gengar but unless ur bench is full of sp u cant one shot gengar x like honchcrow, we’ll see thou!

  11. Will Youngblood

    Just to throw in my non lostgar related comment…. I would never ever pay full retail price to own virtual cards. in fact I wouldnt pay more than 10-15 bucks total to have access to every card ever and the ability to create your own deck and play player vs player via internet. Theres no way Pokemon would get me paying twice as much to play. not even close

  12. Caleb Cline

    Great article, I would love to see more of these types in the future. It’s like a quick rundown of all the early news, and a expert opinion that I can in generally agree with.

    To start out I agree that medals replacing trophies is a sad truth. The only counter argument I’ve really seen for it is that you can wear them, which while cool for juniors and seniors doesn’t really do anything for master unless you want to be viewed as a bit of a cocky jerk. I just can’t bring myself to imagine wearing that thing to another tournament… It’s going to go on my wall, a wall that would look much nicer with a trophy.

    As far as Gengar goes, I’m having the same problem as most of the community. It’s one of those decks that can beat SP from time to time, and can do well, but ultimately will probably not be successful. In addition to Gengar I’ve even played around with PalkiaLock with Lumineon SF, but even that deck can’t really take on LuxChomp (and autoloses to Gengar xD).

    As far as your SP list goes, I’m honestly surprised at the lack of a mewtwo counter. With gengar prime, and vilegar rising in popularity, I’ve got a gut feeling that SP decks without a counter to a lone mewtwo will find themselves suffering at states. I understand the idea of taking the one loss and moving on, but I hate the idea of getting to T16 and losing to vilegar w/mewtwo (or lostgar if there really aren’t any players with a hard counter to it in their SP decks).

    As far as everything else goes, it looks pretty good. I can agree with most of the list, and while there’s minor changes I would probably make to preference (most of which you’ve already mentioned), I really like the list. Although I did notice the lack of smeargle, but with having to tech in weavile these days, I’ve had allot of trouble getting him in there myself.

    Good luck at states, I hope to see you at the top tables at nats. ;)

    EDIT – Oh yeah, six prize radio would be awesome to see again!

  13. Michael Randolph

    Well written article bro, well written indeed. And not totally being a top notch player, you can completely dis-regard any/all of my suggestions below, but for the moment, assuming G-Dos playability goes down due to influx of Gengar, I would drop a Bebe’s and a Lucario for the Promocroak and Psychic. Also I think your Weavile G tech does admirably well against Gengar. As I said before, call me crazy, but “MY” meta doesn’t call for much G-dos prevention. Yours may be completely different, so dropping the Lucario and Bebe’s would be my best opinion. Especially seeing as how LuxChomp, being considerably well rounded, can’t have a counter for everything, sometimes you simply have to weigh your options and choose which you would rather counter.

  14. theo Seeds

    Lost World woo hoo
    Lost Remover really? refer to the j-wittz cotd
    Smeargle yeah, but reprint. you could just buy the ud one.
    Ninetales refer to smeargle
    Umbreon refer to ninetales
    Leafeon not that good + refer to Umbreon
    Mr. Mime promo noctowl is better.
    Professor’s Oak New Theory refer to umbreon
    Copycat refer to pont
    Special Dark refer to copycat
    Special Metal refer to spec dark.

  15. wisconsinsquad

    In LuxChomp, try taking out the Dragonite FB (unless your area plays a lot of SP), an Uxie, a Collector, and a Premier Ball for a Roserade GL, Promocroak, Psychic Energy, and a Power Spray.

Leave a Reply

You are logged out. Register. Log in.