Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

catcher = no babies

mewbreon

mewbreon

New Member
so im working on getting ready for battle roads and obviously adjusting my deck with the release of EP...
and im just looking to see what everyone's opinions on babies are now that catcher will be legal.

IMO babies are catcher fodder and wont be played
but im hearing a lot of talk from fellow players who are still going to run manaphy/cleffa/tyrogue (all together)

whats your opinion? discuss!
 
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Ironically, Catcher might make Pichu viable, at least in decks that need set up (if they turn out to be playable).

They are Catcher fodder, that's true, but then they were Linear Attack fodder before. I think Babies will still see some play until we get some kind of generic non-Supporter draw/search engine. There just isn't a brilliant alternative to using them right now.
 
But that was one attack from a pokemon who usually could hinder your setup more by sniping something else. But now any old pokemon who can do 30 gets you a free prize.
 
Yeah, they'll get one free prize, hopefully at the expense of not attacking something more important. Unless it's going to win the match, there will usually be better targets for Catcher.

Babies are a pain to use, just like they always were, but people use them because we don't have the consistency/draw cards we have had previously. A 4th copy of PONT isn't really a satisfactory alternative to Cleffa.
 
Yeah Catcher makes Pichu more viable. Some people will still use Cleffa while others will switch to Manaphy. A few just won't run the clutch draw but that only works in a few decks. I expect Tyrogue to see less play though; the 30 is rarely worth it when you probably won't get the immunity and I hardly saw any donks from Tyrogue at either the LCQ or Worlds.
 
untitled said:
Yeah Catcher makes Pichu more viable. Some people will still use Cleffa while others will switch to Manaphy. A few just won't run the clutch draw but that only works in a few decks. I expect Tyrogue to see less play though; the 30 is rarely worth it when you probably won't get the immunity and I hardly saw any donks from Tyrogue at either the LCQ or Worlds.
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no offense, but i think that catcher just provides more reasons to use Cleffa over Manaphy if you need a clutch draw supporter. anything with 60 hp or less is not safe and less people will play tyrogue. so, in general manaphy has lost it's advantage over cleffa.
 
Nothing in the format competes with the cleffa at the moment (not even manaphy)

The option for a searchable draw card is too good to pass up, even if you risk losing a prize.

If anything the advent of catcher makes TWINS more viable. Cleffa will always have a spot in the metagame.
 
gallade said:
But that was one attack from a pokemon who usually could hinder your setup more by sniping something else. But now any old pokemon who can do 30 gets you a free prize.
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...and in the same way that Yanmega was better off sniping somewhere else, you'll be better off Catchering somewhere else.
 
Have to agree with Baby Mario. If anything, you'll see more Pichu seeing play to get out your Pokemon. I'm thinking of using it because it takes 5 cards out of the deck and you opponent would have more then one target with catcher and yanmega.
 
Will Catcher dissuade some baby use? Yup~
Will they fully disappear? Definitely not.

Pichu will probably start seeing the most play out of the Baby Pokemon to get a quick set up going on for you while Cleffa will probably be the second most played Baby card since it's like another PONT you can use to get you a fresh new hand for next turn. Plus, like K2theAblaM said, it makes Twins more effective since while they might get a free prize, you can get two key cards you need depending on if you can get Twins into your hand (which shouldn't be that hard with Pokegear)
 
ajhawk said:
no offense, but i think that catcher just provides more reasons to use Cleffa over Manaphy if you need a clutch draw supporter. anything with 60 hp or less is not safe and less people will play tyrogue. so, in general manaphy has lost it's advantage over cleffa.
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Isn't that exactly what my post said? And Manaphy never really had an advantage over Cleffa in any deck except Yanmega/Magnezone. Usually you'd see one of each or just 1 Cleffa.
 
baby mario said:
Yeah, they'll get one free prize, hopefully at the expense of not attacking something more important. Unless it's going to win the match, there will usually be better targets for Catcher.
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Actually, I'd assume that if Cleffa is active and protected by Sweet Sleeping Face, the point is that Pokemon Catcher allows me to save it for later and try to take out (or at least force Active and injure) something else. Now at lower level tournaments it might not be the default, but I assume a good player will evaluate a Cleffa that isn't Asleep and use Pokemon Catcher if it is in his/her best interest to skip Cleffa for now.

So why skip Cleffa? It doesn't Evolve and it exists to aid in set-up. Its ability to stall is almost totally gone now thanks to Pokemon Catcher: as long as a player can get Pokemon Catcher and you have a Bench, you won't escape the turn free of damage due to Sweet Sleeping Face, and given the current state of the game its probably going to end up being a OHKO. Cleffa is only going somewhere if someone uses a Seeker on it or a Super Scoop Up... so I ask you, baby mario, is saving Cleffa worth that effect? If it isn't, then a player probably isn't going to do that and I (well, a good player, anyway :wink:) can take five Prizes and save that chubby chunk of lunch meat for easy Prize #6.
 
baby mario said:
Ironically, Catcher might make Pichu viable, at least in decks that need set up (if they turn out to be playable).

They are Catcher fodder, that's true, but then they were Linear Attack fodder before. I think Babies will still see some play until we get some kind of generic non-Supporter draw/search engine. There just isn't a brilliant alternative to using them right now.
Click to expand...

I haven't been playing for a while, so could somebody explain to me what happened to Smeargle and why things like Cleffa are being played over it? Has there been a drop in Supporters in your typical deck or is it the lack of Unown Q?
 
Melee Mewtwo said:
I haven't been playing for a while, so could somebody explain to me what happened to Smeargle
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2 things . . .

1. Unown Q getting rotated
2. The chance that you could end up portraiting a Juniper and being forced to discard your entire hand

and why things like Cleffa are being played over it?
Click to expand...

Cleffa is at least reliable where Smeargle isn't. You know what it's going to do. But basically it's the lack of non-Supporter draw in this format (now Uxie has gone) that is forcing people to use Cleffa.

Has there been a drop in Supporters in your typical deck or is it the lack of Unown Q?
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If anything Supporters are being played even more. Typical decks will run 8-12 draw/shuffle draw Supporters. The fact that Cleffa is one of the few free retreaters left, and it can stall, helps as well.

If there is one thing this format really needs it is some kind of generic, non-Supporter draw/search.
 
gallade said:
Please read the rest of my message before you try and get your 'likes'.
Posted with Mobile style...
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What "message?" That's all that is in the post. You said that Yanmega was better off sniping somewhere else to hinder your setup. What makes that any different with Catcher? Now, basically any Pokemon just becomes Yanmega (for the purposes of this topic).

This is one of the most lazy, ignorant replies I have ever seen. You are assuming I reply to things without thorough examination, which I wouldn't do and is the kind of thing that clogs this board with trash. I read the entire thread and posted a response to why babies are not going to be affected. Rereading it now, there's no reason to retract.

If no one had liked my post, would you have said the same thing? I made a valid point, others thought so as well, and so they "thanked" me. As if I had made some rightfully outlandish post that garnered 3 lines of likes. Two people. "Thanks" are around so people can acknowledge that they agree with a reputable post, which is why logical fallacies such as yours don't get them. I'm glad people found my post to be reputable, but honestly I'm a social dropout that doesn't know much about what strikes a good note in others. I also think the "like" obsession we have is thoughtless. I was disappointed to see Pokegym falter to the demand. For you to pool me with people who actually consider something as simple as hitting a button worth something, shame on you. There are other ways to feel good about yourself than to sit around trying to garner praise from total strangers.

I hate writing essays on forums over dumb stuff like that, but you really have disgusted me. I hope that everyone "likes" this post just because you value it so much.
 
Babies have always been a free prize. Babies have always been Reversal fodder. Babies have always been snipable.

Regardless, their usefulness (I'm talking Cleffa and Tyrogue) here is just so great that you have to play them. Draw is at a premium this format, and Cleffa in particular is indispensable.

Most decks will still run 1 Cleffa and maybe the Tyrogue, just like they were before. People just have to be careful not to rely on them too much, and not to thoughtlessly drop them on the bench. Only use them when you have to, and not before or after. You'll notice that most Worlds-calibur players were already doing this.
 
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