Hello Pokegymers I would like to start a new thread about the BW-on format. Now I know for some of you that are going to worlds this may not be as prominent. But for the players like myself that did not qualify I think this would be a very good thing that has not been done yet.
Before Rotation Top Decks
Well since most of the top tier decks that are out now the main cards are rotating out. These are some of the main decks that are leaving and lets see how they will stack up or will still be usable.
1. Cmt loses its main energy accel in the form of Celebi that is getting rotated out so since the deck no longer has any energy acceleration it looks like this deck's time has come.
2. Darkrai is also losing smeargle which is also the main accelaration so speed Darkrai will no longer be as effective since there is no more Smeargle or Junk Arm and other speed cards.
3. Vileplume variants Oh how fun it was to see an oddish on your oppenents field turn 1 and just try to get rid of it ASAP. But back to the serios note this will no longer be viable because everyones beloved Vileplume is getting rotated out. Thus any lock deck is more than likely deck as well with this.
4. Terrakion Landorus This only really loses dual ball or maybe a junk arm or two so and just some shuffle draw like PONT but I think this deck will still be good and playable,
5. Hammertime this deck is probably still going to viable by denying energy and you can also just use sabeleye to return any trainers which could be a good replacement for junk arm which could give this an uppper hand when racing to setup in the new slower format.
6. Zekeelz this is everyones favorite and most popular deck in the format and by far my favorite and this deck does not lose much it still has its energy support, main attackers, and setup guys like thunderus are still around and kicking. So this deck still seems to be one of the best plays with raikou coming on to the seen it can snipe all the fragile bench setters like Eelektrik and another I will cover later in this discussion.
7. Quad Entei this deck still has its main attacker Entei and energy support Entei. Though you still have all of that good stuff most of the healing cards that are like moo moo milk and life herb are gone but super scoop up and max potion could keep this deck alive.
8. Kinklang Exs this deck was probably the biggest underdog of the season and most people thought "Oh this is just a gimmick, a stage two? That will not work in this format." Well it did work to great success at the United States Nationals where it took 1st place by a very skilled and talented player. This deck I think is going to be very viable because it still has all of its attackers, support, and healing though it does lose the main basics searchers like dual ball and collector which all decks do but this is the first where you need a high number of basics to get them out. Though with the klinks and klangs and kinklangs from Next Destinies having a 3 retreat cost heavy ball could be a very useful for searching since most all big Exs and the kinklang line have a heavy retreat cost. I do think that this deck will still be very viable.
9. Mew prime decks as with Vileplume all these will no longer be even playable because the main focus of the deck is getting rotated out.
10. Empoleon Terrakion this deck may not have been top tier or played that much but as the format slows down some I think the internal draw of empoleon and the amazing lightning and dark counter of Terrakion I think this deck could be a repeat of how well Jumpluff did and think this deck will see a ton of play as the format progresses.
11. Durant well not much can be said about this since it loses twins and lost remover and with heatmor this deck has in my oppinion drawn to a close. Though it may have lost those lost remover could be replaced by enhanced hammer twins is need but not game breaking to the viability to the deck but it loses rotom. Rotom is the only way you could get out a durant of the prizes if you prized a Durant or two.
So that is what I think about the best decks now and how I think they will do after the rotation. If I left a deck out that you think I should write a bit about please let me know and I will add it to this post.
Post Rotation Decks with Dragon Exalted
1. Hydreigon (dark trance) Exs is a deck that has the same comcept as Kinklang but it uses Hydreigon as the main attacker which for a psychic two darks and a colorless does one-hundred and forty and discards two darks. This decks idea is to use Hydreigon to deal high damage and only gives up a single prize card. This also uses Darkrai to give everything free retreat and other Exs to just counter what you are playing against. Now the best thing about this is you do Hydreigons attack discard two darks then idealy you can dark patch then move them to your active and when he is damaged move all the energy off max potion move it all back on and continue with the attacking. A main last card this deck has is Sabeleye he is your main setup support since early you need to use alot of trainer to get up and going and late game he is used to retreive more dark patches and more max potions to continue running well.
2. Garchomp Altaria this deck is going to be very populare because it is just so easy to setup. The Gabite has an ability which searches out any dragon type pokemon once per turn from your deck. The Altaria has as an ability which adds twenty damage that any dragon type pokemon does and it is stackable so if you have three or four out it will do sixty or eighty more damage which is just great for Garchomp. Garchomp is the main attacker of the deck which for one fighting does sixty damge and more is added with each altaria so it can do a possible one-hundred and forty for one energy and discards a special energy from the oppenents pokemon.
3. Rayquaza Eelektrik This deck will be very used especially since Rayqyaza is coming out in a tin. This deck will be very good for multiple reasons it has an early game attacker in the form of Thunderus, energy acceleration with Eelektrik, a heavy hitter with Rayquaza, and what I think sets this deck over the top will be the sniper Raikou Ex. Both of the Exs in this deck I think are good to the point of over powered. Rayquaza has an attack that does sixty damage times the number of energy you discard and then it can have it all replenished by Eelektriks is just to good to ignore and with bench sitters like Eelektrik and Altaria now Raikou Ex can Volt Bolt and take an easy prize on them and just slow the other decks down.
Some last minute notes
1. Sabeleye this may become seen in more and more decks to replace junk arm and just help boost consistency of all decks in general.
2. Elgyem/Emolga both of these cards have an attack for one colorless you search your deck for 2 basic pokemon and put them to your bench which will be popular in decks like Garchomp and Eel variants. Though Emolga is the better option since Elgyem has less Hp and is weak to psychic so a mewtwo DCE does not take a quick cheap prize on you.
3. Virizion this may not be the first card that comes to mind to some people but this could be a very good card in the rotation as a starter just to help you draw through your deck early on and could take a hit or two while you try to set up.
4. Archeops this card was very shunned when it came out since bulky basics where the main source of interest and the main decks that won but now that stage twos may start to make showings with Kinklang, Hydreigon, Empoleon, and Garchomp start to make a showing could this card start to become relevant with twist mountain and the fossil cards?
5. Terrakion Ex this card is a new card coming out in our next set that for two fighting and a colorless and it lets you attach up to two energy to any combination or your benched pokemon. This could be used in any type of mono fighting deck to get more energy out then with exp shares you could get the energy off the Ex to your benched getting even more energy out.
6. Garbodor this card has an ability that whenever there is a tool card attached to this pokemon no abilities can be used other than Garbodor's ability. This could be very good in decks that aim to snipe and then lock down abilities though this will not be as overpowered as everyone thinks. If it becomes popular people will either run tool scrapper that lets you discard up to two tool cards attached any of your oppenentes pokemon. Another things is Raikou Ex will be popular and Raikou's attack "Volt Bolt" can knock the Garbodor out in one hit when it is setting on the bench.
7. Mew Ex this card has an attack called replace that just lets you move your energy around however you like, like Shaymin from Unleashed, but his main point of interest is his ability. His ability is just like almost every other mew and it lets you use the attack of any pokemon in play. So there is endless possibilites that this could be used with to maybe even make some new type of lock decks since mew usually goes with those types of decks.
Thank you so much for reading my thought on what Bw-on format will be like it would mean alot to me if you suggest what you think and just discuss this in general. Thank you so much for your time and this is my first article sort-of-speak so please do not hate if I did not do some things right just let me know if this was helpful or interesting to you thanks again. :smile:
Special Thanks
This is just to things I missed that people have pointed out to make this article better.
1. Shuckle lv.X, reminded me about rotom for durant which just comepletely slipped my mind.
Before Rotation Top Decks
Well since most of the top tier decks that are out now the main cards are rotating out. These are some of the main decks that are leaving and lets see how they will stack up or will still be usable.
1. Cmt loses its main energy accel in the form of Celebi that is getting rotated out so since the deck no longer has any energy acceleration it looks like this deck's time has come.
2. Darkrai is also losing smeargle which is also the main accelaration so speed Darkrai will no longer be as effective since there is no more Smeargle or Junk Arm and other speed cards.
3. Vileplume variants Oh how fun it was to see an oddish on your oppenents field turn 1 and just try to get rid of it ASAP. But back to the serios note this will no longer be viable because everyones beloved Vileplume is getting rotated out. Thus any lock deck is more than likely deck as well with this.
4. Terrakion Landorus This only really loses dual ball or maybe a junk arm or two so and just some shuffle draw like PONT but I think this deck will still be good and playable,
5. Hammertime this deck is probably still going to viable by denying energy and you can also just use sabeleye to return any trainers which could be a good replacement for junk arm which could give this an uppper hand when racing to setup in the new slower format.
6. Zekeelz this is everyones favorite and most popular deck in the format and by far my favorite and this deck does not lose much it still has its energy support, main attackers, and setup guys like thunderus are still around and kicking. So this deck still seems to be one of the best plays with raikou coming on to the seen it can snipe all the fragile bench setters like Eelektrik and another I will cover later in this discussion.
7. Quad Entei this deck still has its main attacker Entei and energy support Entei. Though you still have all of that good stuff most of the healing cards that are like moo moo milk and life herb are gone but super scoop up and max potion could keep this deck alive.
8. Kinklang Exs this deck was probably the biggest underdog of the season and most people thought "Oh this is just a gimmick, a stage two? That will not work in this format." Well it did work to great success at the United States Nationals where it took 1st place by a very skilled and talented player. This deck I think is going to be very viable because it still has all of its attackers, support, and healing though it does lose the main basics searchers like dual ball and collector which all decks do but this is the first where you need a high number of basics to get them out. Though with the klinks and klangs and kinklangs from Next Destinies having a 3 retreat cost heavy ball could be a very useful for searching since most all big Exs and the kinklang line have a heavy retreat cost. I do think that this deck will still be very viable.
9. Mew prime decks as with Vileplume all these will no longer be even playable because the main focus of the deck is getting rotated out.
10. Empoleon Terrakion this deck may not have been top tier or played that much but as the format slows down some I think the internal draw of empoleon and the amazing lightning and dark counter of Terrakion I think this deck could be a repeat of how well Jumpluff did and think this deck will see a ton of play as the format progresses.
11. Durant well not much can be said about this since it loses twins and lost remover and with heatmor this deck has in my oppinion drawn to a close. Though it may have lost those lost remover could be replaced by enhanced hammer twins is need but not game breaking to the viability to the deck but it loses rotom. Rotom is the only way you could get out a durant of the prizes if you prized a Durant or two.
So that is what I think about the best decks now and how I think they will do after the rotation. If I left a deck out that you think I should write a bit about please let me know and I will add it to this post.
Post Rotation Decks with Dragon Exalted
1. Hydreigon (dark trance) Exs is a deck that has the same comcept as Kinklang but it uses Hydreigon as the main attacker which for a psychic two darks and a colorless does one-hundred and forty and discards two darks. This decks idea is to use Hydreigon to deal high damage and only gives up a single prize card. This also uses Darkrai to give everything free retreat and other Exs to just counter what you are playing against. Now the best thing about this is you do Hydreigons attack discard two darks then idealy you can dark patch then move them to your active and when he is damaged move all the energy off max potion move it all back on and continue with the attacking. A main last card this deck has is Sabeleye he is your main setup support since early you need to use alot of trainer to get up and going and late game he is used to retreive more dark patches and more max potions to continue running well.
2. Garchomp Altaria this deck is going to be very populare because it is just so easy to setup. The Gabite has an ability which searches out any dragon type pokemon once per turn from your deck. The Altaria has as an ability which adds twenty damage that any dragon type pokemon does and it is stackable so if you have three or four out it will do sixty or eighty more damage which is just great for Garchomp. Garchomp is the main attacker of the deck which for one fighting does sixty damge and more is added with each altaria so it can do a possible one-hundred and forty for one energy and discards a special energy from the oppenents pokemon.
3. Rayquaza Eelektrik This deck will be very used especially since Rayqyaza is coming out in a tin. This deck will be very good for multiple reasons it has an early game attacker in the form of Thunderus, energy acceleration with Eelektrik, a heavy hitter with Rayquaza, and what I think sets this deck over the top will be the sniper Raikou Ex. Both of the Exs in this deck I think are good to the point of over powered. Rayquaza has an attack that does sixty damage times the number of energy you discard and then it can have it all replenished by Eelektriks is just to good to ignore and with bench sitters like Eelektrik and Altaria now Raikou Ex can Volt Bolt and take an easy prize on them and just slow the other decks down.
Some last minute notes
1. Sabeleye this may become seen in more and more decks to replace junk arm and just help boost consistency of all decks in general.
2. Elgyem/Emolga both of these cards have an attack for one colorless you search your deck for 2 basic pokemon and put them to your bench which will be popular in decks like Garchomp and Eel variants. Though Emolga is the better option since Elgyem has less Hp and is weak to psychic so a mewtwo DCE does not take a quick cheap prize on you.
3. Virizion this may not be the first card that comes to mind to some people but this could be a very good card in the rotation as a starter just to help you draw through your deck early on and could take a hit or two while you try to set up.
4. Archeops this card was very shunned when it came out since bulky basics where the main source of interest and the main decks that won but now that stage twos may start to make showings with Kinklang, Hydreigon, Empoleon, and Garchomp start to make a showing could this card start to become relevant with twist mountain and the fossil cards?
5. Terrakion Ex this card is a new card coming out in our next set that for two fighting and a colorless and it lets you attach up to two energy to any combination or your benched pokemon. This could be used in any type of mono fighting deck to get more energy out then with exp shares you could get the energy off the Ex to your benched getting even more energy out.
6. Garbodor this card has an ability that whenever there is a tool card attached to this pokemon no abilities can be used other than Garbodor's ability. This could be very good in decks that aim to snipe and then lock down abilities though this will not be as overpowered as everyone thinks. If it becomes popular people will either run tool scrapper that lets you discard up to two tool cards attached any of your oppenentes pokemon. Another things is Raikou Ex will be popular and Raikou's attack "Volt Bolt" can knock the Garbodor out in one hit when it is setting on the bench.
7. Mew Ex this card has an attack called replace that just lets you move your energy around however you like, like Shaymin from Unleashed, but his main point of interest is his ability. His ability is just like almost every other mew and it lets you use the attack of any pokemon in play. So there is endless possibilites that this could be used with to maybe even make some new type of lock decks since mew usually goes with those types of decks.
Thank you so much for reading my thought on what Bw-on format will be like it would mean alot to me if you suggest what you think and just discuss this in general. Thank you so much for your time and this is my first article sort-of-speak so please do not hate if I did not do some things right just let me know if this was helpful or interesting to you thanks again. :smile:
Special Thanks
This is just to things I missed that people have pointed out to make this article better.
1. Shuckle lv.X, reminded me about rotom for durant which just comepletely slipped my mind.
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