Scipio
New Member
The dust is slowly settling. Casualties are being counted, wars are being settled, and the complete outrage has been cooled down.
I'm talking, of course, about the MD-On rotation that has been announced a few days ago.
For those of you who are relatively new to the game, a rotation usually happens once every year, on September 1. Several sets are cut out and will not be allowed for tournament play any more. Last year, there was no rotation. This year however, several series have gotten the boot, those series being:
Diamond & Pearl
Mysterious Treasures
Secret Wonders
Great Encounters
POP Series 5 to 9
Black Star DP Promos 1 to 21
All these cards cannot be used for tournament play any more. The real question now is: What will this mean for the tournament scene. Which cards in these sets hold a heavy impact and will not be allowed any more, and how will we replace them? Far from an easy question, but in this article, I will try to elaborate on this.
Dusknoir, from Diamond&Pearl, is our first victim. Dusknoir has been hailed as the king of disruption for Stage 2 decks, often enough coming out of nowhere, then using that insane power of his to shuffle back a Pokémon your opponent had in play. The sheer surprise factor is what made this card so good and required decks to be extremely careful about what they put on their bench. So is there a replacement for this card?
This Mismagius. And that's about it. Now you might say that Mismagius, unlike Dusknoir, can't really come out of nowhere. Furthermore, it's an attack and it requires Psychic energy. All true. Dusknoir is the superior card. However, thanks to the Mismagius from Unleashed, you can play this card down, move a Psychic energy attached to another one of your Pokémon to Mismagius, put it on the frontlines and attack with Horror Chant. It won't replace Dusknoir as an universal tech but if you really loved the Dusknoir playstyle, you're going to love this Mismagius.
Mysterious Treasures brings Mr. Mime to the table, one of the more used techs lately to hold back the very common 0-to-1-energy-attack-decks such as Gyarados, Jumpluff, Beedrill, Donphan...the works. Mr. Mime has mostly been used in hit and run decks, able to be put up to the front, sop up a hit, and then return to the bench. Mr. Mime has never really been a superstar in the game but his presence does require these decks to play a bit differently. So is there a replacement for this card?
You should immediately see why I should have said "No". Dusknoir is the closest thing you're going to find, and he requires 3 energy to attack. Not good. More importantly, Dusknoir has a heavy retreat cost so he can't flee to the bench when something becomes too energized for him to stop. He also cannot be used in a hit-and-run strategy because he will concede a hit next turn. This means that there really isn't a Mr. Mime replacement.
Mysterious Treasure's Night Maintenance is the next card that receives the boot. The universal recovery card, Night Maintenance is a major asset to any speedy decks requiring quick recovery coupled with the ability to follow up with a supporter to immediately pull out of your deck what you had just shuffled back kept low hitpoint speedy decks going and going, but this will be no more. Night Maintainence has usually been at least 1 copy in pretty much every deck, mostly 2 even. So is there a replacement for this card?
Yes, I'd say there is adequate replacement. Aaron's is of course a SP-exclusive, but Palmer is universal and can even pull back more then Night Maintenance can. The flipside however is also clear - they are supporters. Due to them being supporters, it's not nearly as easy to go ahead and pull whatever you just shuffled into your deck right back into your hand. Aaron doesn't have that problem but he cannot be universally used like Palmer can. As a result, mostly speedy decks will feel the blow. There is still Luxury Ball to immediately get that one Pokémon, but you cannot couple that any more with a supporter to get even more at once. So yes, there is adequate replacement - it's just not as fast.
Another Mysterious Treasures card, Team Galactic's Wager is one of THE most annoying cards to face in the entire game. Offering both hand disruption and a redraw at once, Wager can seriously mess up one's plans. The downside however is that the one playing the Wager can actually end up with less cards if the Rock Paper Scissors game is lost. Still, Wager has disrupted many a surefire victory, and it leaving will not cause many tears to be shed. But is there a replacement for this card?
Well...sort of. First there is Looker's, who will give you the OPTION to disrupt your opponent's hand or to just give you a nice redraw. The fact that you get to have a peek at your opponent's hand definitely helps. But it cannot let both players redraw. Judge, on the other hand, will do just that, letting both players redraw, though neither player gets an advantage here. It also won't be easy to quickly refill your own hand after playing one of these anymore, so a bad hand really is that - BAD. But for the disruption decks, these options are most certainly open. Judge might resemble Wager more here then Lookers does, but Lookers does have a few unique qualities on his own.
Secret Wonders and the Gardevoir...the most evil card of them all, if you were to ask anyone who has been playing for more then two years. The combination of using Psychic Lock to completely lock off any power-based tricks (And there were a lot of those...still are actually) along with Telepass to give Gardevoir its own setup powers, not to mention that Gallade that always lurked around to make mincemeat out of your heavy Gardevoir counters meant that Gardevoir has dominated the format for a while. Even now, two and a half years after its release, Gardevoir still lurks around the format thanks to Double Colourless Energy. It isn't as powerful anymore but still around. But is there a replacement for this card?
The simple answer here is no. Gardevoir is a unique card, and there are no Pokémon in the current format that let you lock off the opposition's powers as effectively as Gardevoir can do. Now you might make a case for the LA Mespirit, but that thing can't attack as effectively as Gardevoir can, can be Power Sprayed by SP decks and takes up more bench space if you intend to keep a lock going. There is also no replacement for Telepass - although the Smeargle found in the next set (Undaunted) will come close, though he only works when active, and there is Arceus Raticate, but he is frail and requires an attack. Gardevoir isn't likely to be replaced like this ever again. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, that's up to you.
Roseanne's Research, also from SW. Now this, this is a big one. Roseanne is the ultimate basic search supporter, not because it gets so many of them, but because it can also seek out energy. This gets particularly useful in the mid-game, when your bench is filled with basics anyway, Roseanne can then take over to seek for energy instead, something the low-energy decks in the format in particular (Jumpluff rang) can get quite desperate for. This unique trick makes Roseanne to what it is - possibly the best supporter in the game. So can this card be replaced?
Sorta...Collector is both superior and inferior to Roseanne. Superior in that Collector can get up to three basics, opposed to Roseanne's two. Inferior in that Collector cannot get any energy cards. And that right there might cause a certain format shift. Roseanne enabled low energy decks to seek out their energy with the help of a multi-purpose card, not a card used ONLY for getting energy. This versatility will be missed, and might cause decks to run a few extra energy cards. This is another blow to speedy low energy decks. Sure there's Cyrus's Conspiracy, but he is more deck-restrictive and cannot directly seek out basic Pokémon. Roseanne cannot be 100% replaced...but Collector is adequate for our basic-searching needs.
This is the big one. Claydol GE, the best draw support card the game has ever known and most likely will never know anymore. A bulky bench sitter, literally everything about this card is horrible...except for that godlike Poké-power. The ability to keep refreshing your hand until you have 6 cards in your hand, along with the ability to get rid of your unwanted cards by putting them on the bottom of your deck makes for amazing draw support, even as when the format progressed Claydol got more vulnerable. There are few decks that do not use Claydol - typically SP decks - and all the others that do use it will feel the blow of losing him. Can this amazing card ever be replaced?
Now before I go on, let me say this - NONE of these cards are as good as Claydol. But we're getting desperate for draw support Pokémon, so let's get this show on the road.
First, there is Uxie and Uxie LV.X. Uxie offers searchable hand refreshment, upping your hand until you have 7 cards in your hand. Since this card can hide back into your deck, you can re-use this power, although it is a bit of a clunky way. Alternately, you can level it up into Uxie LV.X and get a constant drawpower - not the best but it's far from bad either. Its attack cost means you can splash it in any deck and pull off a Zen Blade as well for a backup attack. Do not rely on it though.
Dusknoir is a stage 2 and thus not as easy to get out. However, drawing 2 cards isn't bad. The downside, 20 damage conceded, is. It is also an easy bench target and vulnerable to being pulled onto the frontlines as it's not a great attacker.
Dodrio is very mediocre but there is a reason I included him. Next set will feature a Dodrio that lowers your retreat costs by 2 - a very valuable asset. Why not couple it with some extra drawpower coming from something with free retreat? It's not good but not horrible either. The fact that Luxray eats him for breakfast hurts though.
That same bit is an issue with Staraptor as well, who is a Level X as well and thus not exactly easy to get out. Out of the cards named here however, Staraptor is the most constant of the bunch, able to pull a supporter out of your deck and use it. Since you can do this every turn and there are plenty of draw/refresh supporters, Staraptor is a solid card, just not as easy to get out. Free retreat helps here though.
As far as Ninetales goes - he isn't as versatile as the ones described above. Since he needs to discards Fire energy he only fits in 2 types of decks - Fire and Colourless. However, the discarded energy is not easy to get back unless you run Typhlosion Prime, which is something to consider. Far from bad drawpower but his lack of versatility stings.
In the end though, Claydol will be missed, and none of these will have the same impact as Claydol has had. Still, there is replacement around, which is good to know.
Unown G, from Great Encounters, has been called Unown Godmode. Gaining immunity from all effects of an opponent's attack that are aimed at your Pokémon is indeed a powerful ability. Placing damage counters, using special conditions, discarding energy, all are useless in the face of Unown G. But now it will be gone. Gengar SF has been throwing a party somewhere, and Machamp SF was invited to come along. However there are also more obscure decks that will be happy to see this card gone. While not used as often anymore as it was when SF was just out, it still was around, always ready to mess with the plans of certain decks. So can this card be replaced?
Short answer: No. Long answer: Nnnnnnooooooo. Simply put, there is no replacement for Unown G. Not in regular tool mode, not in Poké-body mode, not in Unown mode, there simply is none. As such, Unown G will be missed, never to be replaced.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These are cards I found to be too deck-specific but should still be noted.
Felicity's Drawing - This card is mostly used in Gyarados to discard the Magikarps. The use of Regice or Registeel coupled with other draw supporters should still give Gyarados their discard and draw power they so desire.
Moonlight Stadium - Used in certain Psychic/Dark decks, they'll have to turn to Unown Q to get what they want. No pure replacement for this one folks.
Time-Space Distortion - Has been mostly replaced with Pokémon Rescue anyway. Has never really been consistent enough for a heavy meta impact.
Professor Rowan - If you really can't find better hand refreshment cards (Here's a hint, Professor Oak's New Theory) then you haven't been looking very hard. Then again Rowan does let you keep a specific card - which won't help you if you just topdecked Rowan without a hand. Easily replacable, wasn't used often anyway.
Ninetales MT - Fire SP's won't have their easy way out against Mewtwo anymore. Then again Fire wasn't SP's biggest type anyway, so its loss will be only small.
Beedrill GE - 2009's world championship deck...and now completely in Jumpluff's shadow anyway. Moving on...
Lake Boundary - Weakness amplifier used in decks that cannot afford benchspace for Lucario GL...and there is our insta-replacement. Would've been pretty useless anyway since there aren't a lot of not x2 weak decks left anyway.
Multi Energy - Last reprint was in MT, I just heard, so hence this last minute edit. Either way it wasn't a commonly used card anyway due to how clumsy it is with Call Energy and Double Colourless Energy negating its effect. Rainbow Energy is the obvious replacement and it might actually see some use left and right, although the 1 damage counter backfire hurts.
And with that, we draw this article to a conclusion. The main difference we will see lays within Claydol, but it should also be noted that fast low-energy attackers might suffer more from this rotation then initially thought due to the rotation of Night Maintenance and Roseanne's Research. The next season is more open then people might think, though SP's are indeed barely hit by this. What will happen, only time will tell...but the above cards will all be missed.
I'm talking, of course, about the MD-On rotation that has been announced a few days ago.
For those of you who are relatively new to the game, a rotation usually happens once every year, on September 1. Several sets are cut out and will not be allowed for tournament play any more. Last year, there was no rotation. This year however, several series have gotten the boot, those series being:
Diamond & Pearl
Mysterious Treasures
Secret Wonders
Great Encounters
POP Series 5 to 9
Black Star DP Promos 1 to 21
All these cards cannot be used for tournament play any more. The real question now is: What will this mean for the tournament scene. Which cards in these sets hold a heavy impact and will not be allowed any more, and how will we replace them? Far from an easy question, but in this article, I will try to elaborate on this.
Dusknoir, from Diamond&Pearl, is our first victim. Dusknoir has been hailed as the king of disruption for Stage 2 decks, often enough coming out of nowhere, then using that insane power of his to shuffle back a Pokémon your opponent had in play. The sheer surprise factor is what made this card so good and required decks to be extremely careful about what they put on their bench. So is there a replacement for this card?
This Mismagius. And that's about it. Now you might say that Mismagius, unlike Dusknoir, can't really come out of nowhere. Furthermore, it's an attack and it requires Psychic energy. All true. Dusknoir is the superior card. However, thanks to the Mismagius from Unleashed, you can play this card down, move a Psychic energy attached to another one of your Pokémon to Mismagius, put it on the frontlines and attack with Horror Chant. It won't replace Dusknoir as an universal tech but if you really loved the Dusknoir playstyle, you're going to love this Mismagius.
Mysterious Treasures brings Mr. Mime to the table, one of the more used techs lately to hold back the very common 0-to-1-energy-attack-decks such as Gyarados, Jumpluff, Beedrill, Donphan...the works. Mr. Mime has mostly been used in hit and run decks, able to be put up to the front, sop up a hit, and then return to the bench. Mr. Mime has never really been a superstar in the game but his presence does require these decks to play a bit differently. So is there a replacement for this card?
You should immediately see why I should have said "No". Dusknoir is the closest thing you're going to find, and he requires 3 energy to attack. Not good. More importantly, Dusknoir has a heavy retreat cost so he can't flee to the bench when something becomes too energized for him to stop. He also cannot be used in a hit-and-run strategy because he will concede a hit next turn. This means that there really isn't a Mr. Mime replacement.
Mysterious Treasure's Night Maintenance is the next card that receives the boot. The universal recovery card, Night Maintenance is a major asset to any speedy decks requiring quick recovery coupled with the ability to follow up with a supporter to immediately pull out of your deck what you had just shuffled back kept low hitpoint speedy decks going and going, but this will be no more. Night Maintainence has usually been at least 1 copy in pretty much every deck, mostly 2 even. So is there a replacement for this card?
Yes, I'd say there is adequate replacement. Aaron's is of course a SP-exclusive, but Palmer is universal and can even pull back more then Night Maintenance can. The flipside however is also clear - they are supporters. Due to them being supporters, it's not nearly as easy to go ahead and pull whatever you just shuffled into your deck right back into your hand. Aaron doesn't have that problem but he cannot be universally used like Palmer can. As a result, mostly speedy decks will feel the blow. There is still Luxury Ball to immediately get that one Pokémon, but you cannot couple that any more with a supporter to get even more at once. So yes, there is adequate replacement - it's just not as fast.
Another Mysterious Treasures card, Team Galactic's Wager is one of THE most annoying cards to face in the entire game. Offering both hand disruption and a redraw at once, Wager can seriously mess up one's plans. The downside however is that the one playing the Wager can actually end up with less cards if the Rock Paper Scissors game is lost. Still, Wager has disrupted many a surefire victory, and it leaving will not cause many tears to be shed. But is there a replacement for this card?
Well...sort of. First there is Looker's, who will give you the OPTION to disrupt your opponent's hand or to just give you a nice redraw. The fact that you get to have a peek at your opponent's hand definitely helps. But it cannot let both players redraw. Judge, on the other hand, will do just that, letting both players redraw, though neither player gets an advantage here. It also won't be easy to quickly refill your own hand after playing one of these anymore, so a bad hand really is that - BAD. But for the disruption decks, these options are most certainly open. Judge might resemble Wager more here then Lookers does, but Lookers does have a few unique qualities on his own.
Secret Wonders and the Gardevoir...the most evil card of them all, if you were to ask anyone who has been playing for more then two years. The combination of using Psychic Lock to completely lock off any power-based tricks (And there were a lot of those...still are actually) along with Telepass to give Gardevoir its own setup powers, not to mention that Gallade that always lurked around to make mincemeat out of your heavy Gardevoir counters meant that Gardevoir has dominated the format for a while. Even now, two and a half years after its release, Gardevoir still lurks around the format thanks to Double Colourless Energy. It isn't as powerful anymore but still around. But is there a replacement for this card?
The simple answer here is no. Gardevoir is a unique card, and there are no Pokémon in the current format that let you lock off the opposition's powers as effectively as Gardevoir can do. Now you might make a case for the LA Mespirit, but that thing can't attack as effectively as Gardevoir can, can be Power Sprayed by SP decks and takes up more bench space if you intend to keep a lock going. There is also no replacement for Telepass - although the Smeargle found in the next set (Undaunted) will come close, though he only works when active, and there is Arceus Raticate, but he is frail and requires an attack. Gardevoir isn't likely to be replaced like this ever again. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, that's up to you.
Roseanne's Research, also from SW. Now this, this is a big one. Roseanne is the ultimate basic search supporter, not because it gets so many of them, but because it can also seek out energy. This gets particularly useful in the mid-game, when your bench is filled with basics anyway, Roseanne can then take over to seek for energy instead, something the low-energy decks in the format in particular (Jumpluff rang) can get quite desperate for. This unique trick makes Roseanne to what it is - possibly the best supporter in the game. So can this card be replaced?
Sorta...Collector is both superior and inferior to Roseanne. Superior in that Collector can get up to three basics, opposed to Roseanne's two. Inferior in that Collector cannot get any energy cards. And that right there might cause a certain format shift. Roseanne enabled low energy decks to seek out their energy with the help of a multi-purpose card, not a card used ONLY for getting energy. This versatility will be missed, and might cause decks to run a few extra energy cards. This is another blow to speedy low energy decks. Sure there's Cyrus's Conspiracy, but he is more deck-restrictive and cannot directly seek out basic Pokémon. Roseanne cannot be 100% replaced...but Collector is adequate for our basic-searching needs.
This is the big one. Claydol GE, the best draw support card the game has ever known and most likely will never know anymore. A bulky bench sitter, literally everything about this card is horrible...except for that godlike Poké-power. The ability to keep refreshing your hand until you have 6 cards in your hand, along with the ability to get rid of your unwanted cards by putting them on the bottom of your deck makes for amazing draw support, even as when the format progressed Claydol got more vulnerable. There are few decks that do not use Claydol - typically SP decks - and all the others that do use it will feel the blow of losing him. Can this amazing card ever be replaced?
Now before I go on, let me say this - NONE of these cards are as good as Claydol. But we're getting desperate for draw support Pokémon, so let's get this show on the road.
First, there is Uxie and Uxie LV.X. Uxie offers searchable hand refreshment, upping your hand until you have 7 cards in your hand. Since this card can hide back into your deck, you can re-use this power, although it is a bit of a clunky way. Alternately, you can level it up into Uxie LV.X and get a constant drawpower - not the best but it's far from bad either. Its attack cost means you can splash it in any deck and pull off a Zen Blade as well for a backup attack. Do not rely on it though.
Dusknoir is a stage 2 and thus not as easy to get out. However, drawing 2 cards isn't bad. The downside, 20 damage conceded, is. It is also an easy bench target and vulnerable to being pulled onto the frontlines as it's not a great attacker.
Dodrio is very mediocre but there is a reason I included him. Next set will feature a Dodrio that lowers your retreat costs by 2 - a very valuable asset. Why not couple it with some extra drawpower coming from something with free retreat? It's not good but not horrible either. The fact that Luxray eats him for breakfast hurts though.
That same bit is an issue with Staraptor as well, who is a Level X as well and thus not exactly easy to get out. Out of the cards named here however, Staraptor is the most constant of the bunch, able to pull a supporter out of your deck and use it. Since you can do this every turn and there are plenty of draw/refresh supporters, Staraptor is a solid card, just not as easy to get out. Free retreat helps here though.
As far as Ninetales goes - he isn't as versatile as the ones described above. Since he needs to discards Fire energy he only fits in 2 types of decks - Fire and Colourless. However, the discarded energy is not easy to get back unless you run Typhlosion Prime, which is something to consider. Far from bad drawpower but his lack of versatility stings.
In the end though, Claydol will be missed, and none of these will have the same impact as Claydol has had. Still, there is replacement around, which is good to know.
Unown G, from Great Encounters, has been called Unown Godmode. Gaining immunity from all effects of an opponent's attack that are aimed at your Pokémon is indeed a powerful ability. Placing damage counters, using special conditions, discarding energy, all are useless in the face of Unown G. But now it will be gone. Gengar SF has been throwing a party somewhere, and Machamp SF was invited to come along. However there are also more obscure decks that will be happy to see this card gone. While not used as often anymore as it was when SF was just out, it still was around, always ready to mess with the plans of certain decks. So can this card be replaced?
Short answer: No. Long answer: Nnnnnnooooooo. Simply put, there is no replacement for Unown G. Not in regular tool mode, not in Poké-body mode, not in Unown mode, there simply is none. As such, Unown G will be missed, never to be replaced.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These are cards I found to be too deck-specific but should still be noted.
Felicity's Drawing - This card is mostly used in Gyarados to discard the Magikarps. The use of Regice or Registeel coupled with other draw supporters should still give Gyarados their discard and draw power they so desire.
Moonlight Stadium - Used in certain Psychic/Dark decks, they'll have to turn to Unown Q to get what they want. No pure replacement for this one folks.
Time-Space Distortion - Has been mostly replaced with Pokémon Rescue anyway. Has never really been consistent enough for a heavy meta impact.
Professor Rowan - If you really can't find better hand refreshment cards (Here's a hint, Professor Oak's New Theory) then you haven't been looking very hard. Then again Rowan does let you keep a specific card - which won't help you if you just topdecked Rowan without a hand. Easily replacable, wasn't used often anyway.
Ninetales MT - Fire SP's won't have their easy way out against Mewtwo anymore. Then again Fire wasn't SP's biggest type anyway, so its loss will be only small.
Beedrill GE - 2009's world championship deck...and now completely in Jumpluff's shadow anyway. Moving on...
Lake Boundary - Weakness amplifier used in decks that cannot afford benchspace for Lucario GL...and there is our insta-replacement. Would've been pretty useless anyway since there aren't a lot of not x2 weak decks left anyway.
Multi Energy - Last reprint was in MT, I just heard, so hence this last minute edit. Either way it wasn't a commonly used card anyway due to how clumsy it is with Call Energy and Double Colourless Energy negating its effect. Rainbow Energy is the obvious replacement and it might actually see some use left and right, although the 1 damage counter backfire hurts.
And with that, we draw this article to a conclusion. The main difference we will see lays within Claydol, but it should also be noted that fast low-energy attackers might suffer more from this rotation then initially thought due to the rotation of Night Maintenance and Roseanne's Research. The next season is more open then people might think, though SP's are indeed barely hit by this. What will happen, only time will tell...but the above cards will all be missed.
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