Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Z/P/S after Worlds?

MagneBoar

New Member
So, i've been doing some testing with ZPS against Stage Ones, and i pretty much have a good match-up with it as long as i get a fair set-up.
I play a 2-2 Yanmega in my ZPS at the moment, but that will soon change.
In Emerging Powers, which comes out a bit after Worlds, we get Pokemon Catcher. I have a feeling that will be a huge card in our format, as it makes it less flippy. Being able to bring up a benched Pokemon without a flip is huge, just like how Luxray GL Lv.X was huge.
Of course, Trainer lock kills that idea, but Zekrom can kill Plume before it gets out.

I'm basically going to spill out my thoughts about how the deck will be after Emerging Powers comes out (based on what we've seen so far, Tornadus, Eviolite, and Catcher)

Zekrom is a bulky 130 HP basic, with two HP, is :lightning: and has weakness to :fighting:. No resistance, which is okay.
It's first attack, Outrage, for :colorless::colorless: does 20+ 10 for each damage on Zekrom.
That's great, especially after you get Bolt Strike off.
It's second attack, and where it shines it Bolt Strike. For :lightning::lightning::colorless: does 120, and does 40 damage to Zekrom. That can basically kill any basic in the format, and most Stage Ones. (Excluding Donphan, who will be explained with Tornadus)

Pachirisu/Shaymin
The engine used to power up Zekrom is PachiShaymin, as i call it. Pachi's Self Generation Power allows you to attach :lightning::lightning: from your hand to it when you play it. Then, you use Shaymin's Power, Celebration wind to move the :lightning::lightning: to Zekrom. And then, you have your attachment, which can be anything. (Bolt Strike costs :lightning::lightning::colorless:)

Unown Dark:
You can play this to help get the 3rd energy needed for Bolt Strike, and it's searchable via Dual Ball, Pokemon Collector, and Pokemon Communication. I don't play it, because it isn't that great, honestly. Mainly for more donking based ZPS's.

Tornadus:
I think this will make ZPS way more playable. Mainly because of it's Resistance to :fighting:. That gives you a large edge on Donphan players, and it's attack that costs :colorless::colorless::colorless: can be powered up via Pachirisu and Shaymin just like Zekrom. It's attack allows you to move an energy to one of you're benched Pokemon, so you can use it to send it to a Zekrom, or just another Tornadus. (I think it's required to move the energy, not 100% sure, but 50/50. Also, i'm not sure about how much HP it has either.

Babies:
I think babies are going to be dead when catcher comes out. Their basically free prizes, and can be brought up with Catcher, and then killed easily. I could be wrong, but i'm sure their counts will drop down a bit more. They also suck to start with, as they can get donked easily.

Yanmega:
Yanmega is a good Donphan counter, as it gets 3HKO'd by Donphan, due to it's -20 from :fighting: type Pokemon. It also 3HKO's Donphan, but can be a 2HKO via 2 Plus Powers. It also does a good job of cleaning up babies late game for cheap prizes.

That covers the Pokemon that i think are playable in the deck. Honestly, i don't think theres much else to play in the deck, other then Samurott as a counter to Donphan.


My hands hurt, because i do a lot of typing everyday, and i text constantly, so i'll be back on later to add more. (Trainers, Energy, etc.)

Please comment about how you think ZPS will fare after Worlds and with the release of Emerging Powers.
Also, i think ZPS is a good contender for Worlds, as it did good at both Canadian and Mexican Nationals. (1st in masters at both.)
Also, i heard that JPN played ZPS a lot, as they have 40 card decks, and 4 Prizes. This was only a rumor though, and i'm not sure.
 
I am with you that Zekrom (and Resiram) are potentially really strong decks. Currenlty I am using DCEs and Rainbows. However, Lost Remover will sure play hell with that!
 
Well, recently i've been testing Zekrom and Reshiram decks only, as i'm starting to really like them now. They have a ton of potential. (ZPS, and ReshiBoar/TyRam)
I actually played 2 Lost Remover in my Zekrom deck, and it was really good at getting rid of DCE's and Sp. Dark's against Cinccinos and Zoroarks. It helped alot.

How is that working for you? Don't you have a problem with damage output?
 
The Japanese do not play 40 card decks. They play standard 60 card format or half deck format of 30 cards.
 
Zekrom will be BDIF.

However, Beartic/Vileplume and Donphan will be viable counters. I intend to run a Beartic that burns many resources to hit the T2 Plume. Yes, you can Catcher + kill one Oddish T1 or T2 with Zekrom, but if I hit a T1 Collector/Dual Balls for multiple Oddishes, Zekrom will be at a loss.
 
@misnos
Oh, well i'd heard it somewhere(not sure where, but apparently they lied) and that's why they said ZPS was huge over there.

@P666
I agree, and if it's not, it'll definitely be Tier 1.
It's not that hard to retreat a Zekrom, it's definitely doable. and Zekrom's OHKO Beartics (i believe, not 100% sure)
 
Catcher helps Zekrom for sure. Evolite will too. And Zekrom EX probably will too. But so far we don't have anything that will get Zekrom out late-game, which is what essentially ruins the deck now.

Also, Yanmega was helpful to the deck because it could pressure the opponent while you attached energies to build up a Zekrom; it doesn't only serve as a Donphan counter.

Zekrom will be Tier 1 to 1.5, but it's really hyped for post-catcher. This puts a huge target on its back. Also, I don't know what you're talking about with the Stage 1 matchup. Right now stage 1's are somewhat favorable against it and they will benefit just as much from Catcher as Zekrom will. I don't see the matchup swaying that much, but I will have to test it more.

EDIT- Also Beartic completely dies to Yanmega variants as they can still retreat and just cycle around the Yanmegas. Beartic 3-hits because of Vileplume for a specific special energy and a specific basic energy while Yanmega 2-hits for free. I don't see Yanmega falling in popularity too much, so Beartic won't be that good.
 
@untitled
The whole Stage 1's match up is from personal experience against it with my list. My ZPS actually has a fairly good late-game and i'm able to keep up my Zekroms after they die. I won't be posting my list, due to netdeckers, though.
 
Fair enough, but considering you were talking about Cinccino and Special Darkness energies in Stage 1's I wouldn't trust the viability of the list/player you were testing against. :p
 
About Tornadus:

I wouldn't even play ZPS anymore if this is released, because Tornadus paired with the Pachi and Min combo is going to work awesome together with DCE Cinccino and some other cards.
With Catcher this should work awesome....
 
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