A Speculation on 2011-2012 Deck Archetypes

pokebeach.com
:(

I’ve recently read a thread written by a player in the SixPrizes forums. He said he made a mistake and wasted money on a bunch of cards that would be rotated out in a few months. I hate to say it, but he’s right. In fact, I’ve made a similar mistake before when I got components for a Speedrill deck that got rotated out after three months.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to build decks like LuxChomp at this point in the season. Suppose the average LuxChomp deck costs around $300 to build, and the next rotation’s in five months. To get an idea if you’re getting your money’s worth, simply divide the cost (that is, $300) over time (that is, five months).

The lower the value, the better. This is because in theory, as you play with or “use” your deck, the value of the deck (the initial cost you spent) decreases over time. In accounting, this is called depreciation. In the same example, the value of your LuxChomp deck would decrease by $60 each month ($300 / 5 months) – not exactly a good investment for your money.

Suppose you build a deck other than LuxChomp that costs as much to build but is still playable next season (that would mean another twelve months), the value of that deck would decrease by a much lower $17.65 each month – an obviously much better investment for your money.

I wouldn’t suggest new players to build decks for this season anymore, especially those who are just starting to build their own collections. I personally think it would be more economical to look forward to the next season instead. This article is basically a list of deck archetypes that would most likely see popular play next season.

SPECIAL THANKS

First and foremost, I couldn’t have made this compilation without the help of aaadams, airhawk06, baby_mario, blooper785con, CaptainX24, Crissxcross038, Genguy, indecarnive, kn3ll_, Kuprin, MrScaryMuffin, SomeR3j3ct, SoujiroElric, stalpno, Thegame8228, Vejita, and Vysekun.

I would also like to thank my friend, Nichollas Ong, for his insights on the current metagame both in the Philippines and the United States. Without their collaboration, this list of possible deck archetypes for 2011-2012 wouldn’t be possible.

LIST OF POSSIBLE DECK ARCHETYPES FOR 2011-2012

  • Deck Archetype (Cards Involved)
    – Deck Class/es
    – Bad/Good/Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Bad/Good/Excellent Momentum
    – Bad/Good/Excellent Recovery

    pokebeach.com
    WCC Sheer Cold: 50 damage. During your opponent’s next turn, the opponent’s Active Pokémon that was hit by this move can’t use any attacks. WWCC Icicle Drop: 80 damage. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Resistance.

  • BearDra (Beartic and Kingdra Prime)
    – Bash / Lock / Snipe / Tank
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • BearPlume (Beartic and Vileplume)
    – Bash / Lock / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • BearPerior (Beartic, Shaymin, and Serperior)
    – Bash / Heal / Lock / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Excellent Recovery
  • BlastGatr (Blastoise and Feraligatr Prime)
    – Bash / Snipe / Tank
    – Bad Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • Cappuccino (Cincinno and Zoroark)
    – Bash / Donk
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Excellent Recovery
  • Cinccino (Cincinno)
    – Bash / Donk
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Excellent Recovery
  • DonChamp (Donphan Prime and Machamp Prime)
    – Bash / Donk / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • DonkPhan (Donphan Prime)
    – Donk / Tank
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Excellent Recovery
  • FeraTurn (Feraligatr Prime and Lanturn Prime)
    – Bash / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • Gothitelle (Gothitelle)
    – Bash / Lock
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • HeaLix (Steelix Prime and Blissey Prime)
    – Bash / Heal / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Bad Recovery
  • Jumpluff (Jumpluff and Sunflora)
    – Bash / Donk
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • KingPhan (Kingdra Prime and Donphan Prime)
    – Bash / Donk / Snipe
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • LostGar (Gengar Prime, Seeker, and Lost World)
    – Donk / Spread / LZ
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • MagneBoar (Magnezone Prime and Emboar)
    – Bash / Engine / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Bad Recovery
  • MagneGatr (Magnezone Prime and Feraligatr Prime)
    – Bash / Engine / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Bad Recovery
  • MagneGrowth (Magnezone Prime and Tangrowth)
    – Bash / Engine / Lock / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Bad Recovery
  • MewPluff (Mew Prime and Jumpluff)
    – Bash / Donk
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • ReshiBoar (Reshiram, Emboar, and Ninetales)
    – Bash / Engine / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • SamuGatr (Samurott and Feraligatr Prime)
    – Bash / Snipe / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • Scavenger (Kingdra Prime and Mandibuzz)
    – Bash / Spread / Snipe
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • Scizor Prime (Scizor Prime and Skarmory)
    – Bash / Tank
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • ShayPerior (Shaymin, Serperior, and Max Revive)
    – Bash / Heal / Tank
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Good Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • TanBoar (Tangrowth and Emboar)
    – Bash / Lock / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • TanPerior (Tangrowth, Serperior, Shaymin, and Max Revive)
    – Bash / Heal / Lock / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Excellent Recovery
  • TyphRam (Typhlosion Prime, Reshiram, and Ninetales)
    – Bash / Engine / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Excellent Recovery
  • Tyranitar (Tyranitar Prime and Zoroark)
    – Bash / Spread / Tank
    – Good Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery
  • ZekromIsu (Zekrom, Pachirisu, and Shaymin)
    – Bash / Donk / Tank
    – Excellent Set-Up Speed
    – Excellent Momentum
    – Good Recovery

GLOSSARY

Bash – A class of deck that relies on dealing a consistent heavy damage to Knock Out the opponent’s Defending Pokémon and take Prizes.

Donk – A class of deck that relies on Knocking Out the opponent’s Defending Pokémon in 1-3 turns before he/she could properly set-up other Pokémon on his/her Bench. The player automatically wins the game if the opponent doesn’t have another Pokémon in the Bench to replace his/her Defending Pokémon that was just Knocked Out. This always involves Basic or Stage 1 Pokémon with relatively powerful attacks that require little or no Energy.

Engine – A class of deck that relies on a card or a set of cards to provide consistent draw power – decks that have draw engines most often have excellent momentum.

Heal – A class of deck that relies on removing damage counters from the player’s Pokémon to prevent the opponent from taking Prizes – this usually involves using a certain Pokémon Ability or attack.

Lock – A class of deck that relies on preventing the opponent from doing a certain action (e.g. using Trainer cards) while usually dealing a moderate amount of damage, disrupting his/her deck’s momentum – this usually involves using a certain Pokémon Ability or attack.

LZ – A class of deck that does not rely on taking Prizes but on placing the opponent’s Pokémon into the Lost Zone. This always involves the Stadium card “Lost World” – the player automatically wins the game if he/she plays Lost World when the opponent has at least six Pokémon in the Lost Zone.

Momentum – A measurement on the ability of a deck sticking to its primary strategy every turn after properly setting up.

Recovery – This refers to the ability of a deck to recover its momentum after being knocked out of it.

Set-Up – This refers to the point in time (measured by the number of turns) that a player gets to bring out the key components of his/her deck’s primary strategy out into play.

Snipe – A class of deck that relies on Knocking Out the opponent’s weaker Pokémon to take Prizes, usually those sitting on the Bench.

Spread – A class of deck that relies on spreading damage (damaging multiple Pokémon at one time) for easier Knock Outs.

Tank – A class of deck that relies on Pokémon with high HP and/or lowering the opponent’s damage output per turn with an Ability, attack or Trainer (Item, Stadium, and Supporter) cards. This prevents the opponent from performing 1HKOs and taking Prizes easily.

NOTES

pokebeach.comFirst and foremost, we really need better names for these deck archetypes. LOL.

As I’ve said earlier, I decided to write this article to help new players who have just started playing the Pokémon TCG get an idea of which decks they could build for the next season. I’m no expert – this is why I didn’t elaborate more on these deck ideas. I would like people to discuss more about them through the comments below.

As you have seen, I included a short glossary of terms in this article (explained to the best of my ability and understanding, but let me reiterate that I’m no expert).

The deck archetypes listed above were given a rough estimate of their performance next season after some discussion with fellow members here in SixPrizes, as there is no accurate way of measuring their performance at this time. A lot of factors, such as techs that would be included and the introduction of new cards, could either boost or dampen their individual performance next season.

In short, not all deck archetypes listed above are also going to be popular or competitive – remember that this list is based mostly on speculation.

One of the things that I didn’t get to include in the list is the average cost of building these deck archetypes – like their performance, they could not be measured at this time (even though the data would be quantitative). You can be sure that speculated deck archetypes like ReshiBoar and ZekromIsu are most likely going to be quite expensive to build in the future.

As most of you already know, the upcoming rotation would mean we would see a lot of changes next season. Pokémon SP, along with components of the overpowered SP engine, would be rotated out, drastically slowing the game next season.

pokebeach.comMost deck archetypes in the current season require the same few starter Pokémon such as Sableye and Spiritomb, but I’ve been hearing people saying that there might not be a need for starter Pokémon in the next format as a result of the slowdown next rotation.

I’ve also been hearing, however, that certain Pokémon like Cleffa have a potential to be all-around starter Pokémon next season, but I have yet to check up on this.

The introduction of Black & White also gave us a lot of room for new deck archetypes, most of which were probably mentioned here (BearPerior, LostGar, ReshiBoar, and TanBoar are my personal favorites). In a format dominated by decks based on Pokémon SP, I must say that the next rotation would bring a refreshing change to the TCG. To be honest, I’ve been looking forward to it for a few months now.

POSTSCRIPT

This list is incomplete. I would encourage you to join our discussion in the forums – we would really appreciate your comments and suggestions. :-)

Reader Interactions

23 replies

  1. George

    This is a great start on MetaGame discussion for the fall!

    Kudos to you for taking the time to assist newer players.

    With the rotation, new combos will need to be discovered to establish draw power, energy draw, evolution recovery, and Techs. This is a great start on the discussion.

    Personally, I believe we will be seeing many more Energy Manipulation decks than in the previous format.

    Examples
    Feraligatr Prime (HS)
    Emboar (BW)
    Mismagius (UL)
    Celebi Prime (TR)
    Pachirisu (COL)
    Blastoise (UL)
    Floatzel (UL)

    With DCE and Recovery Energy as the only Special Energy in the Format, Special Energy techs will be less effective – i.e. Scizor Prime (UD).

    Thoughts anyone?

    • Michael Sison  → George

      Don’t forget Lanturn Prime – I think FeraTurn is one of those overlooked and underrated decks. In theory, the deck should do well. I’m not sure about actual play, though.

      • Chris  → Michael

        I played FeraTurn for a while last year, and yes it did quite well. However, this year I am going with a Lanturn/Magnezone/Pachirisu/Shaymin combo because with FeraTurn, I almost never attached more than 2 energy per turn.

    • Anonymous  → George

      The one thing is that metal decks have their own energy accelerators as a great starter: Skarmory. Those metal decks just need to develop an anti-fire tech to be in business.

  2. Ryan Reis

    I’ve been playing for a long time, and still found this article very helpful because I was stumped on what to play. Thanks for posting!

    • Michael Sison  → Ryan

      Thank you. It’s comments like these that make me want to continue writing these kind of articles. :-)

  3. Garrett Williamson

    This was an excellent read man. Kuddos. As far as Cleffa goes, it’s great all game around. You tend to get dead hands mid to late game so hand refresh cards like copycat, pont, juniper etc are very useful in every deck. But you might not always have a copy of those in your hand so its always nice to push up Cleffa and “Eeeeeeek” for a fresh hand. plus it’s nice to use as a free retreater on a turn that you need to recover from a KO.

    • Michael Sison  → Garrett

      Cleffa is cute and quite useful. :D I haven’t tested it out myself, though. I’m more of a collector than a player. LOL.

      • Garrett Williamson  → Michael

        Ya, there was a reason the neo genisis one was named best card ever printed :P lol

        but articles like these, i think, are very important. I remember a little over a year ago I saw someone make the most ridiculous trade for a luxray X. It’s was literally 20+ Ex/gold stars just for luxray X and it really irritated me to see how much people would give for a card when they don’t even know why it’s worth as much as it is. The sole reason luxray was so valuable was because of it’s playability and nothing else. Nothing like Charizard EX and Charizard Gold star which will always be worth something simply because they’re Charizard lol. (I think it’s funny and a little ironic that the best Charizard printed is also the cheapest due to it being printed as a promo) but if Luxray wasnt playable it would be worth just as much as every other usless Lv X in the format lol

        I should have traded off my two when I had the chance :/ lol

        i think you should look into doing an article on what makes a cards value. Collectable and playability wise.

        • Michael Sison  → Garrett

          Luxray GL LV.X’s price should start going down in a month or two. I think it’s going to be a collectible, though. :-)

  4. Jacob Watson

    once again i say, I belive starters are near-useless this format because with the rule change you can just swap em’ out w/ trainers which are more versitile and dont take up bench space

    • Nick  → Jacob

      I tend to agree that starters aren’t as important because you can set up on the first turn but there are some cards which can help you get out of bad starts and can turn a horrible start into a good one.Note though that with the loss of Unown Q the number of usable starters are quite slim.

      • Joshua Pikka  → Nick

        unless you are playing a basic deck, you can’t start attacking until at least turn 2. So starters would be very handy the first turn or so.

  5. Ryan Graham

    Does anyone have any cards they want to give me for free? 0:)

      • Ryan Graham  → Eric

        Currently open to accepting any Reshirams, Zekroms, Emboars, Pachirisus, and anything else to make their decks work besides energy. Also accepting money and unopened tins.

  6. Caleb Cline

    While it’s a good article, I really think you’ve got a bit too much hype around Beartic. It’s going to be good, but I’m not sure it’s going to dominate the metagame.

    Secondly, where’s Yanmega on the list? Yanmega is just a all around solid card, and can at least find its place as a tech. It helps against fighting types like donphan prime, it has a solid sniping attack for 40, and any deck with it will most likely have the disruption power of judge. Seems pretty good all around to me.

    Other than that there were a couple of other obscure cards that I feel like deserved a mention, but given the number of different decks you mentioned, and the fact that you only have a limited amount of space and time, it was a very good read. Good job, and hope to see more form you in the future. ;)

    • Michael Sison  → Caleb

      No one mentioned Yanmega Prime to me until now, but don’t worry – I will add that later. :-)

    • Frank Donovan  → Caleb

      i agree – although there is a lot of hype around all of the speculative decks for the 2011-2012 season. just wait untill we get the triple colored decks they have in japan that feature the forest legends from the b/w video games (Trakkion and the like) or even the Red collection. theres no way to tell what the metagame will be like until the next few packs come out. if i recall correctly Garchomp C became more powerful when they finally reprinted DCE in HS and that was pretty much near the middle of the format.

  7. Ben Bradly

    no probs with the tangboar deck :)

    This is one of the most helpful articles on 6P at the moment because not only does it give a good idea of what to play, but it gives a good idea of what might be some of the biggest threats and what are in contention to be some of the best in the metagame.

    Thanks a lot for the article bro :)

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