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I was on site at the Arby’s in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio for the pre-release of the Black and White set of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. The newest set of the popular TCG features more than 70 new Pokémon from the Unova region, along with some possibly game-changing rules. From now on, Trainers, Supporters, and Stadiums are all considered to be trainers and can be played on the first turn. A card that was only a Trainer in the past is now a Trainer-Item, and you can play as many Items as you want per turn.
As before you can only play one Stadium and one Supporter per turn, but they are now called Trainer-Supporters, and Trainer-Stadiums. If a card said that you could search for a trainer, it has been changed to say you could search for an Item. Thanks to these rules, there are many more possibilities for the first turn, and on top of that, the earliest you can play a Stage 2 is on the second turn. Before you evolve a Pokémon, it must have been in play for an entire turn, which means no more Rare Candies on the first turn to a Stage 2.
At the tournament, two decks seemed to reign supreme, and those were decks involving Zekrom and Reshiram. These two legendary Pokémon are some of the most powerful ones yet. Both of them have insanely high HP for a Basic at 130, and an attack that deals 120 damage for three energy. True, Zekrom deals 40 damage to himself for using it, but that only powers up his Outrage attack. In the games that I was able to get Zekrom set up, I was 3-1. Zekrom and Reshiram have the potential to have a major effect on the way decks are made in a post SP world.
In a game where Stage 2 Pokémon are impossible to play on the first turn, and with nearly every deck slowed down, Zekrom may have a devastating effect. Why? Because it is possible to have Zekrom attacking for 120 damage on the first turn. If you start the game with a Zekrom, three lightning energies, a Pachirisu, and a Shaymin, you will be tough to beat. Keep in mind that you don’t need to start the game with all of those cards, since items and supporters can be played on the first turn.
The deck can nearly be made up of nothing but basic Pokémon, but it may be a good idea to use a 1-1-1 Magnezone line for some draw power. Cards such as Dual Ball and maybe even Pokéball could be golden in this deck. You’ll burn through all of your trainers as fast as possible on turn one to get everything you need, and keep it going until you get Magnezone out. Once you do, use as many of the cards in your hand as possible, and then Magnetic Draw for more. Once they’re able to knock out a Zekrom, use a Revive and bring him right back. Super Scoop Ups and Seekers will also let you abuse your Shaymin and Pachirisu combo.
Reshiram on the other hand is easier to set up, and more consistent. A Reshiram combined with the new Inferno Fandango Emboar could be quite crushing. Again, Revives would make it easy to get Reshirams back, and Energy Retrievals and Fishermen will guarantee that you get all of the energy from your fallen Reshiram back into your hand. Emboar will then let you attach as many Fire energies as you want to all of your Pokémon, so Reshiram will continue to attack.
Aside from Zekrom, Reshiram and Emboar, there are quite a few new cards that will find their way into decks. Samurott, Klinklang, Cinccino, Zoroark and Reuniclus are all quite good, and Professor Juniper can be a popular alternative to Professor Oak’s New Theory. Depending on which sets are rotated out, these Pokémon and other new cards may have a drastic impact on the metagame.
I’m bummed they cut Leavanny from the first set, but it still looks like a pretty great well-rounded release.
It’s too bad my local comic shop quit hosting Pokémon events recently…
It’s looking like even though some of the highly anticipated cards (Gothitelle, Beartic, Pokemon Catcher, Max Potion) didn’t make the cut, that the set itself is pretty good. I didn’t get a chance to hit up a prerelease, and any post-release prereleases are at least an hour and a half from me. Still, if I had the chance to get to one, I would totally go.
I will say, I think that Typhlosion Prime is a better play in a Reshiram deck than Emboar. Typhlosion Prime gets those discarded fire energy from the discard pile and adds damage for Reshiram’s Outrage attack. Only time will tell, though. In a HGSS-on format there are going to be a ton of new decks that were unfeasible with SP so dominan in the format.
ETA: Out of curiousity, what were your pulls at the event?
I tend to have extremely good luck at prereleases, so I got a ton of good stuff. I got a Zekrom, the super rare pikachu (which I traded for a super rare Zekrom), 2 inferno fandango emboars, a reuniclus, the good samurott, 2 krookodiles. That’s all that I got that’s worth mentioning though. I do have a Zekrom deck now, and my friends have Cinccino and Reshiram decks. I’m really liking this set, and the HS-on rotation. Right now I’m working on making Zekrom as consistent as possible, so I can hopefully attack with him on turn one every game.
The Reshiram deck uses Emboar, and the Cinccino deck uses Typhlosion. Ty would be risky in Reshiram, because it can make him easier to kill in one shot, but works in Cinccino because he’s not expected to live more than one turn.
2 Inferno fandango Emboars and a good Samurott? You really do have excellent luck with your prerelease pulls. You might try comboing Zekrom with Yanmega Prime. I’ve heard that it’s a dominant deck type right now in Japan because a lot of people went with Donphan to combat Zekrom decks, so Yanmega was teched to deal with that. As far as consistency goes on Zekrom, the only advice I can give is what you probably already know, and that’s to max out your collectors.
And once again you’ve proven that deep in my heart of hearts, I still want to play Pokemon TCG. :'( but omg where do I begin
@Hsieh Well, that’s really simple (and free) right now. Get you a Pokemon trainer account and go to http://www.pokemontcg.com. It has battles against computer opponents right now, and online play against real people is coming this fall. Gosh, that makes me sound like a spammer…