Separating the Good from the Bad — A ‘Sun & Moon’ Set Review and Three New Decks

Hello there, Beach-goers! Dalen back again, this time with an article on our newest TCG expansion, the Sun and Moon base set. Before I get too in-depth in the analysis, though, I want to point out that this will actually be a two-part article. Part one covers the Trainer cards from the set as well as a handful of Pokemon, including Decidueye-GX, Oranguru, and Passimian. Part two, written by Andrew Mahone, goes over some of the other hyped Pokemon from the set, such as Tauros-GX and Umbreon-GX. By separating the set analysis into two articles, we can go deeper into each card, and the two articles combined will cover everything you need to know about Sun and Moon!

The Pokemon

Tsareena

[cardimg name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

First up, naturally, we have the new Pokemon, and Tsareena is a great place to start. Reminiscent of the old [card name=”Weavile” set=”Undaunted” no=”25″ c=”from”][/card], Tsareena provides the game with the uncommon Ability to directly control your opponent’s hand. Sure, we have cards like [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] that do disrupt your opponent’s hand, but none of them give you complete choice in exactly how you set them back. If being this control-based isn’t enough for Tsareena already, it comes with the amazing bonus of being a Grass-typed Pokemon. This allows Tsareena to abuse [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] to evolve quickly, and potentially even multiple times in a single turn in conjunction with [card name=”Devolution Spray” set=”Fates Collide” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card]. Tsareena’s attack isn’t too spectacular, so most utility of the card will come from its Ability; coupling this wonderful Ability with our other hand-controlling cards can make your opponent’s board position spiral quickly out of control. Nobody has discovered Tsareena’s “perfect partner”, but there is one standout option to initially try: Gumshoos-GX (see below for Gumshoos’s review and a sample deck list for Gumshoos / Tsareena).

Decidueye-GX

Similar to Tsareena, Decidueye-GX is another Stage 2 Grass-type Pokemon. Decidueye also has an extremely impactful Ability, although Decidueye’s is direct in its strength, unlike Tsareena’s indirect advantage. With [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], you can build up a board of multiple Decidueye in no time. To put this into perspective, think of the popular [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] deck. We all have seen the strength of Fright Night [card name=”Yveltal” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]’s Pitch-Black Spear attack, softening up one of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon-EX. Now, imagine being able to place that Bench damage onto their field, all without even attacking! Decidueye’s Ability is without a doubt incredible, but its great attributes don’t stop there! Decidueye comes with a whopping 240 HP, safeguarding it from essentially ever being OHKOd. Its GX-attack is also great; recall some decks that use [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], like [card name=”Gyarados” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Being able to recover any two cards from your discard pile is certainly game-changing, so imagine how monumental getting back any three cards from the discard pile is. Albeit, this comes at the disadvantage of only being able to be used once per game as it’s a GX-attack. Still, for a single Grass Energy, Decidueye’s GX-attack is too good to pass up. While Decidueye’s first attack falls short of the high bar set by its GX-attack and Ability, 90 damage is nothing to scoff at for only a Grass Energy and a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card], especially with the damage you can rack up with its Ability.

One question many players seem to be divided upon is does Decidueye-GX replace [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] in Expanded decks, including [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / Crobat and the lesser popular [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] / Crobat? To answer this question, I’m going to use a little bit of math. Let’s say that in your decks, you played a thick 4-3-3 line of Crobat, and an equal 4-3-3 Decidueye line (counts that I would strive to fit, if possible). In Crobat decks, [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] is commonly played to reuse your Bats, but Decidueye decks will likely not play Super Scoop Up due to needing to fit [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] at a maximum four copies. Let’s assume Crobat decks will play four SSU and Decidueye decks will play zero, for this example, at least. Let’s also assume that in both cases, you’re able to get all three final stage evolutions out in a single game, and the Crobat deck will flip heads on exactly half of its SSU flips. Our final assumptions we need to make are that the Crobat deck will get two out of three Stage 1 evolutions on turn two, with the final Stage 1 and two Stage 2s being played turn three; the final Stage 2 will be played turn four. Decidueye will get out one Stage 2 and one Stage 1 by turn two (thanks to Forest), with the second Stage 2 on turn three and the final Stage 2 on turn four. Now, let’s figure out how much damage each damage engine can output in a given game.

• Crobat: Each full [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] evolution line deals 50 damage, with Crobat itself dealing 30 and [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] placing 20 damage. If you evolve all the way into Crobat five times (three natural evolutions and two SSU pick-ups), you get 250 damage total.

[cardimg name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

• Decidueye-GX: We assumed that by turn two you will have one Decidueye-GX in play, and you’ll evolve into one more for each of the next two turns. This means that turn two, you deal 20 damage. On turn three, you deal 40 damage, while every turn after you deal 60 damage. Just to round out our calculations, let’s say that an average game goes on for six turns (for both players, that is), an average of one Prize card per turn or one Pokemon-EX KO every other turn. Totaling all of these damage drops, Decidueye can deal around 240 damage throughout the game.

Now, from these numbers, it appears that Crobat is slightly a better choice than Decidueye in terms of damage output. One important note, though, is that luck can, and will, change these numbers around. You may have one of your evolutions stuck in your Prize cards in a game, limiting the number of evolutions you can pull off. Crobat decks may flip more heads than tails in a game (or the opposite). Decidueye might be able to get out all three by turn two with good draws. Because of all of these dynamic factors that are difficult to model without pages of assumptions and conditions, I like to think of Decidueye and Crobat as dealing roughly the same damage in a game. The differences between the two come in what they do outside of their Abilities. Crobat’s attack isn’t that great, but it has zero Retreat and only gives up one Prize card. Decidueye sacrifices two Prizes and has a hefty Retreat Cost, but it comes with an amazing GX-attack. These two damage engines are so close, I tend to chalk up the difference to personal preference; Decidueye is a more risky choice, but comes with more options.

When it comes to Decidueye, its has two downfalls in the Standard format that I see. The first is the inability to effectively get rid of [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tool card, which can completely shut down Decidueye. The second setback is its lack of a great partner, like it has in [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] in Expanded. In brainstorming a few partners for Decidueye in Standard, I came up with two that I feel warrant a little bit of consideration.

With Trevenant-EX

[card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] hasn’t seen much competitive play at all since its release, other than its occasional use in [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] Toolbox decks or last season’s [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] decks, but Decidueye-GX might be the partner it was looking for all along. Both Trevenant and Decidueye are Grass-types, which means they can benefit off of the same Energy, starting their synergy off well. Where I think this combination shines, though, is the amazing strength you get by combining Trevenant’s first attack, Dark Forest, with Decidueye’s Ability. Often the overlooked attack, Dark Forest doesn’t do much damage, but it stops your opponent from retreating his/her Active Pokemon during their next turn. With so many Bench-sitters like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] out right now, the goal is to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] up one of those liabilities and trap it Active with Dark Forest, all while you pummel their other Pokemon with Decidueye. Wood Blast isn’t a terrible attack to finish off a softened-up Pokemon, but it’s typically better just to slowly whittle them down while they have a useless Pokemon stranded Active.

The main issue with this deck is other decks being able to clean their board of any good Trevenant-EX targets. If they don’t play down Hoopa-EX, you lose that option, and Shaymin-EX can always be bounced back to the hand with its Sky Return attack, although it does come at the benefit of one of your opponent’s turns being wasted. In situations where you can’t trap anything Active, this deck’s game plan becomes all-out aggression, trying to overwhelm the opponent with Feather Arrow and Wood Blast. Decidueye isn’t a bad attacker in this deck either, actually dealing more damage than Trevenant-EX unless Trevenant has three Grass Energy attached, and Decidueye’s GX-attack will hardly ever not be used in a game.

With Yanmega BREAK

One partner that I’m excited to test with Decidueye is [card name=”Yanmega BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card]. Yanmega’s biggest attraction is free attacking thanks to its pre-evolution [card name=”Yanmega” set=”Steam Siege” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card], provided you have exactly four cards in your hand. With [card name=”Judge” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] in the format to put yourself at just the right number, and [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] to discard cards from a large hand size, it’s rare that Yanmega can’t pull of a free attack. Unfortunately, this deck suffers from one of the weaknesses of the [card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] / Decidueye deck, which is [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Not only does Garbodor stop your gameplan of using Decidueye to spread damage, but it even shuts down Yanmega’s free attacks. Since Abilities are so pivotal to this deck, I find it necessary to tech in a [card name=”Beedrill-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY157″ c=”name”][/card] or two. If your opponent is unsuspecting of Beedrill and over-invests on [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], a well-timed Beedrill can get you out of the annoying Garbotoxin lock for the rest of the game, leaving Garbodor as a Bench-sitter for the entire game. If you [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] Garbodor, you can put 100 damage, if not more, onto their field before they can ever retreat it, and you can just Lysandre it back Active again. Since you’re already playing Grass Energy to use Decidueye’s GX-attack, playing a copy of [card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] may also be a great tech in the Yanmega variant, giving you another option for the situations in which Yanmega is suboptimal.

[cardimg name=”Yanmega BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”8″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

By Itself

Sometimes no techs at all is the best decision and straightforwardness is invaluable, and this may be one of those cases. Decidueye-GX on its own is extremely powerful, with its biggest nuisance being [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. With [card name=”Beedrill-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY157″ c=”name”][/card], an anti-Garbodor card, you can keep the [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] off of Garbodor, giving you access to your Abilities. Since you don’t plan to attack with Decidueye that often, you can run four [card name=”Max Potion” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] to make Decidueye even more of a tank. Max Potion will likely be the targets of Hollow Hunt GX, effectively giving you seven uses per game. If you have the room, you can also run four [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to give you up to 11 Max Potion uses! Denying your opponent Prizes 11 times while placing 60-80 damage per turn is spectacular, not to mention the occasional 90 damage attack. While coming with fewer game plans and strategies, straight Decidueye may just be the best option.

Lunala-GX

A card I’m particularly fond of, Lunala-GX, is one of the two icons of Sun and Moon; I can’t pin down exactly why I like Lunala so much, but I have to guess that it’s due to Lunala’s Energy-moving Ability. I, like many other players, have always enjoyed having the freedom to move my Energy around as I please, such as with [card name=”Klinklang” set=”Black and White” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Aromatisse” set=”XY” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. Both of Lunala’s attacks are quite strong, too. Lunala’s regular attack has the rare effect of blocking your opponent from healing the Pokemon hit by the attack. Right now, healing cards aren’t popular, but in a format when OHKOs become less common and [card name=”Max Potion” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] is used to make even 2HKOs hard, Lunala’s first attack can really shine. Lunala’s GX-attack is amazing, since it only specifies the target must be a non-GX. This means that in our current EX-era, Lunala can, in fact, take two Prizes with its GX-attack, cleaning up even the bulkiest of your opponent’s Basic Pokemon.

Since our metagame now is focused on taking quick Knock Outs and trying to do so in as few attacks as possible, Lunala may not become a solid contender in the metagame just yet. As the format becomes slower though, and once we eventually get an English copy of the new non-GX Lunala released in Japan (see here for information on the new Lunala), Lunala as a deck has extreme potential. Both the predicted rotation next August and the new Lunala coming out bode well for the Lunala archetype, so I would definitely suggest picking up Lunala-GX while they’re cheap: the price may not go up, but it certainly won’t fall much lower.

[premium]

Passimian

Passimian reminds me of Night March, the dominant deck through the later part of last season, for many reasons. First, Passimian is a Basic Pokemon, just like [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card]. Passimian also uses a low Pokemon count and a very low Energy count in order to jam a ton of Trainer cards into the deck, similar to many Night March deck lists. Where Passimian differs from Night March, though, is Night March wanted a lot of its Pokemon in the discard pile; Passimian, on the contrary, wants to have its Pokemon, namely other Passimian, in the Bench to increase its damage. To maximize the number of Passimian of the Bench, many lists run multiple copies of [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card]. The idea behind Mew is it lets you attack with Team Play while keeping all of your Passimian on the Bench, since attacking with a true Passimian will reduce your damage.

In an ideal situation, four Passimian on the Bench and a Mew Active, Team Play hits for 130 damage. Even with Resistance, this is just enough to Knock Out a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] for two Prizes, and you can easily Knock Out anything weak to Fighting-types, such as [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. Having Mew is also great for its typing, allowing you to OHKO [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], provided [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is not in play with a Tool card to shut off Mew’s Memories of Dawn Ability. Since Passimian is such a strong, Basic attacker, many Passimian lists choose to not play [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], and instead play Oranguru (covered later in the article) as a draw engine. Oranguru is not a Pokemon-EX like Shaymin, so it’s a much safer Bench-sitter. Without playing Pokemon-EX, your opponent has to take six actual Knock Outs, something that rarely ever happens nowadays in Pokemon.

To make Team Play more of a threat, Passimian plays multiple damage-enhancing cards like Professor Kukui (also covered later in the article) and [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. With a Kukui, a successful [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], and a max-powered Team Play, Passimian can deal 210 damage, which KOs almost everything in the current metagame. Since Passimian decks have so much free room, it is common to also see Energy-denial cards like [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Kalos Starter Set” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”XY” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card], and Team Skull Grunt round out the Trainer cards. By discarding your opponent’s Energy and simultaneously Knocking Out their Pokemon, you put your opponent into a situation that is tough to overcome.

Oranguru

What many hail as a replacement (or at least, pseudo-replacement) to [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], Oranguru is another Pokemon-based draw card. Oranguru sports a couple of key points that make it comparatively better than Shaymin, with only one major downfall. With Oranguru, you can draw cards every turn that it remains on the field, whereas Shaymin is only the time you play it down. Also, Shaymin is a Pokemon-EX, but Oranguru is not. However, Oranguru only lets you draw until you have three cards, and Shaymin fills your hand to six.

[cardimg name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ align=”left” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While I do think Oranguru has its niche uses, I do not think it is a perfectly suitable replacement to Shaymin-EX. Even though Shaymin is a liability on the Bench, it’s much more likely to draw you out of a dead hand than Oranguru. One rationalization I often think of is this: there are two situations. I could play down Shaymin, draw a few cards, and probably draw at least one good card to keep my turn rolling. The other option is I could not play down Shaymin and dead draw for a few turns. If you play Shaymin and do get your setup going, you have a chance to win the game. However, if you hold the Shaymin in fear of your opponent taking easy Prizes on it, you’ll likely lose from dead drawing anyways. Only drawing up to three cards, Oranguru is unlikely to draw into a playable card; Shaymin nets you three more cards. For this reason, I still feel like Shaymin is the better option than Oranguru in most situations. However, some decks do not want to ever have a Pokemon-EX on their field at any time, so those decks gain a lot from Oranguru (Passimian, for example, although a Shaymin-EX variant wouldn’t be bad, either).

Looking ahead, however, Oranguru may become a much better card once our next rotation takes [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] out of the game. While this isn’t confirmed yet, it is highly likely that Roaring Skies, Shaymin’s set, will no longer be Standard tournament-legal, leaving Oranguru as the best Pokemon draw option. For now though, stick to Shaymin unless your deck doesn’t mesh well with Pokemon-EX.

Gumshoos-GX

Similar to Tsareena in many regards, Gumshoos-GX brings yet another consistent and effective hand-control card to the format. Upon first glance, Gumshoos may seem like a mediocre card at best, but the more you delve into each of its effects, the better you realize it actually is. Let’s start off with its Ability, Searching the Premises; looking at your opponent’s hand certainly isn’t a new idea in the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Cards like [card name=”Hand Scope” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] have existed before, and many of them have seen little or no play whatsoever. “If cards that let you see your opponent’s hand haven’t been good before, why is Gumshoos any different?”, you may ask, and this is quite logical. One reason Gumshoos is better than it may seem is that its Ability can be used every single turn. With the indirect hand-affecting cards we have in the format like [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] and the new Team Skull Grunt, it is extremely valuable to see what resources your opponent has at his/her disposal. Better yet, even if you don’t plan to play a disruptive card, simply seeing if they have the crucial [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] for game next turn is critical, letting you know whether or not you need to play [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]. As if a good Ability wasn’t enough, Gumshoos was also graced with considerable attacks. For three of any Energy, Gumshoos can deal a flat 100 damage. While this attack surely isn’t KOing much in one hit, not many Pokemon can survive two of these hits, and Professor Kukui can handle these situations when they arise. Additionally, since all three required Energy for this attack are Colorless, Gumshoos can abuse [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]. Gumshoos’s GX-attack is a powerful, as well, dealing more damage to Pokemon with many Energy attached. Against [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], Gumshoos Chance is a great way to take your last two Prizes, or even take an early lead in the matchup while cleaning up with a barrage of 100 damage attacks.

The Trainers

Professor Kukui

Moving out of the new set’s Pokemon, we move into its selection of Trainer cards. While some of these cards bring innovative and never-before-seen effects to the game, others rehash old effects in new ways. One of these rehashes is Alola’s Professor, Professor Kukui. Most player liken Professor Kukui to the Standard-legal [card name=”Giovanni’s Scheme” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], and players who have been playing for many years may recall a similar old card called [card name=”Buck’s Training” set=”Legends Awakened” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]; Professor Kukui is similar to both Giovanni and Buck. Unlike any other card at our disposal now, Professor Kukui allows you to both add damage and draw cards with a single Supporter. While Giovanni’s Scheme has the option to do either of those things, it forces the player to choose one effect or the other. Kukui is free of drawbacks like this, warranting at least a one-of spot in many decks. Without a Pokemon Tool card to in Standard to ramp up damage like [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Silver Bangle” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], Kukui is now the go-to choice for damage modification.

Timer Ball

Timer Ball, like Professor Kukui, is another new card that takes inspiration from an old one. Players of either the original Pokemon ex-era or the more recent HeartGold and SoulSilver era should remember a card called [card name=”Dual Ball” set=”Call of Legends” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]: Timer Ball has the exact same ability, except it searches for evolutions rather than Basics. Timer Ball is a wonderful card for decks that run multiple evolution lines, or even just evolution-based decks in general that want to have more Pokemon-searching cards. Although its success relies on coin flips, being able to grab any two evolution cards from your deck is incredible; just be aware of its potential to backfire on you, flipping no heads at all from time to time. With [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card], unarguably the best Ball in the game, in both our Standard format and Expanded format, Timer Ball may not be the star search card of any deck, but a one or two-of addition can really help get your Pokemon evolving in no time.

Nest Ball

Here we have yet another reinvented Trainer card; I’m perfectly okay with it this time, though, since [card name=”Great Ball” set=”EX FireRed and LeafGreen” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] saw quite a bit of success back in its heyday. Nest Ball, a duplicate of the original Great Ball print, combos wonderfully with the above-mentioned Timer Ball — Timer Ball searches evolutions, and Nest Ball searches Basics. However, I do expect Nest Ball to see quite a bit more play than Timer Ball, at least for the time being. My reasoning behind this is the great synergy [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] have. Ultra Ball lowers your hand size by discarding cards, and Shaymin replenishes your hand, ideally with the card(s) you were aiming for. Nest Ball forces the Pokemon onto your Bench immediately, rendering Shaymin useless. Similarly, one upside to Nest Ball is the fact that it doesn’t discard other cards from your hand. Since Nest Ball can’t let you Set Up with Shaymin anyway, you may as well keep the rest of the cards in your hand.

A card that functions similarly to Nest Ball is the familiar [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]. Almost all decks that run Level Ball use it to search out Basic, or occasionally Stage 1, Pokemon, and this is what Nest Ball does, as well. In many cases, it becomes hard to distinguish the usefulness of the two and to determine which one has more value than the other, and that all comes down to the Pokemon you’re running. For example, say the cornerstone Pokemon of your deck is [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], with 90 HP. Both Level Ball and Nest Ball can search out Combee, but Level Ball can also fetch Vespiquen itself. However, if you’re playing a deck that runs high-HP Basics in addition to an evolution line, like [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], Nest Ball is the much better choice (I’m not advising to use Nest Ball in Yveltal / Garbodor, I’m just using it as an example).

Rotom Dex

[cardimg name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

It’s been a long time since we’ve been given a card that can swap out Prize cards directly, with the last one I can think of coming in the Heart Gold and SoulSilver block ([card name=”Rotom” set=”Undaunted” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] from Undaunted). Many decks now have certain key cards that they never want to Prize, and Rotom Dex is a great backup plan for the times that unfortunate Prizes do occur. The biggest example of this is the Expanded [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] deck; Sableye plays many one-of cards that it hates going without, especially its Ace Spec [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]. Life Dew is the crux of the deck, and having it prized with no way to fish it out is the easiest way Sableye loses games. Also, since Sableye is a mill deck rather than a deck that aims to take all six Prizes, [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] doesn’t fix its prizing problem like Rotom Dex does. The best part about using Rotom Dex in Sableye is that even if the first use of Rotom Dex leaves the card(s) you want in the Prizes, you can just play two [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to reuse the Rotom Dex.

Other decks that can benefit greatly from Rotom Dex are [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Talonflame” set=”Steam Siege” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] and Passimian. While Rotom Dex wouldn’t be terrible in Passimian, Town Map would be a much better inclusion; Passimian can take a Prize or two fairly easily with a Passimian prized. Town Map helps in the entire game here, while Rotom Dex would only benefit Passimian once. Greninja / Talonflame, on the other hand, might be able to work wonders with Rotom Dex. Because of [card name=”Frogadier” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card]’s Water Duplicates attack, Greninja likes to have all four Frogadier in the deck every game, and prizing even one can make it stagger in its setup. Ideally, Greninja attacks turn one with Talonflame, searching the deck for any two cards. When you go to search with Talonflame, if you notice that a Frogadier is prized, you can grab the Rotom Dex and play it the following turn to (hopefully) return the Frogadier to the deck. An issue with this, though, is that Rotom Dex is not guaranteed to leave your Prize cards Frogadier-free, so the card could end up serving no purpose. Or, if your opponent plays [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] after you Aero Blitz, chances are you won’t redraw your single Rotom Dex. Greninja also can’t afford to run more than one Rotom Dex due to its already-tight list. These reasons make me hesitant to include Rotom Dex in my Greninja lists, although it’s certainly a tech you should be aware of.

Decks Emerging from Sun and Moon

During the analysis of some of the cards, I talked about new archetypes that will come out of Sun and Moon. Here, I want to provide sample deck lists for these decks and discuss their basic strategies.

Gumshoos-GX / Tsareena

[decklist name=”gt” amt=”44″ caption=”” cname=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″][pokemon amt=”17″]3x Gumshoos-GX (SM #110)4x Yungoos (SM #109)2x Tsareena (SM #20)3x Steenee (SM #19)3x Bounsweet (SM #18)2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”35″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Team Skull Grunt (SM #133)1x [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”Generations” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Devolution Spray” set=”Evolutions” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Red Card” set=”Generations” no=”71″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The goal of Gumshoos-GX / Tsareena is to lock your opponent out of a playable hand. Gumshoos lets you inspect what cards your opponent has at any point during your turn (only once per turn per Gumshoos, though), giving you crucial information on what threats your opponent may be holding. For example, you may see that your opponent, playing an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] deck, has two [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] in his/her hand, but no other Energy. Seeing this information, you can know for sure that Team Skull Grunt would be a fantastic play, ridding them of half of their DCE supply in one turn. Another example would be checking their hand to find they only have one Supporter / [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. You can then evolve a Steenee into Tsareena to discard their only way of drawing a new hand the following turn.

Between Gumshoos and Tsareena, there’s almost no situation you can’t take a lead in. [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is a nuisance for this deck since it relies on Abilities to function most efficiently, but Gumshoos can take down a Garbodor without too much effort. Locking the opponent into a slow, undeveloped board state is this deck’s goal and win condition, so other than Garbodor and consistent draw engines like Oranguru, this deck doesn’t have many terrible weaknesses. With a skillful pilot, I truly believe this archetype can see a nice bit of competitive success.

Passimian / Mew

[decklist name=”pass” amt=”46″ caption=”” cname=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″][pokemon amt=”9″]4x Passimian (SM #73)3x [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x Oranguru(SM #113)[/pokemon][trainers amt=”47″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x Professor Kukui (SM #128)2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Team Skull Grunt (SM #133)1x [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”Generations” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x Nest Ball (SM #123)4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Generations” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Revive” set=”Black and White” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Eco Arm” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”71″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Passimian / [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] reminds me of one of the most loved decks of all time, LuxChomp. Passimian tries to take its six Prize cards as quickly as possible, while slowing down the opponent to prevent them from matching your speed. To increase its damage and take Prize cards readily, Passimian uses all of the damage modifications it can get: four [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and a Professor Kukui. [card name=”Eco Arm” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] recycles Bursting Balloon back into the deck to enable repeated use of the Balloons, and [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] can add them straight back into your hand. Since the only attack you ever want to use is Team Play, Passimian only needs to run the four [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], with a [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] (plus the Puzzles) to recycle discarded Energy.

In the control aspect of Passimian, Energy-removal cards are critical to maintaining a better board position than the opponent. Between Team Skull Grunt, [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”Generations” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card], and a thick count of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Generations” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], you can constantly cripple decks that need multiple Energy to attack.

One note I have on Passimian regards the engine it uses: either Nest Ball and Oranguru or [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Flashfire” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. The list above uses the Oranguru engine, since Passimian doesn’t like giving up multiple Prizes from one Knock Out. In my testing of the deck, I’ve found Oranguru to be lackluster in many situations, and have noticed myself wishing I had Shaymin-EX over Oranguru. Other than switching the Ball choice, the only change I would make between the Oranguru variant and the Shaymin variant is adding in two [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] by removing the two [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. While Fighting Fury Belt gives Oranguru a mid-sized 150 HP, Bursting Balloon is still almost always the preferred Tool to play on your Pokemon. Parallel City is one way to try to make up for playing Pokemon-EX, since you can use it to discard the Shaymin you have to play down. One problem with doing this is that limiting yourself to three forces you to discard a Passimian if you had all four Benched, so playing Parallel like this is often better when a Passimian gets KOd and you don’t recover it.

One other slight change I would advise if you want to change out Oranguru for Shaymin is swapping [card name=”Revive” set=”Black and White” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] for [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Rescue” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card]. The reasoning behind this decision is that, in a dire situation where you need to dig through the deck, Buddy-Buddy can let you reuse Shaymin-EX’s Set Up Ability, while Revive cannot. In the Oranguru version, however, Revive is much better than Buddy-Buddy Rescue since none of your Pokemon activate when placed from hand; Buddy-Buddy would benefit the opponent in this case.

Decidueye-GX

Standard

[decklist name=”ds” amt=”48″ caption=”” cname=”Beedrill-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY157″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x Decidueye-GX (SM #12)4x Dartrix (SM #10)4x Rowlet (SM #9)2x [card name=”Beedrill-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”37″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Revitalizer” set=”Generations” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”6″]4x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Expanded

[decklist name=”de” amt=”46″ caption=”” cname=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x Decidueye-GX (SM #12)4x Dartrix (SM #10)4x Rowlet (SM #9)3x [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Team Skull Grunt (SM #133)1x [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”Generations” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”7″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

I already went over almost all of the strengths and weaknesses of Decidueye-GX as a whole in its section, but there are just a few things I want to say about it here. Decidueye-GX is undisputedly one of the best cards in Sun and Moon, and perhaps even the best. Finding the right partner for it in Standard will be the biggest factor in its success at major events, although I think [card name=”Yanmega BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] are great places to start. Decidueye just has such an amazing GX-attack and Ability, it will absolutely be top tier at some point in time.

Conclusion

Thank you guys for checking out my article! I hope I helped you see better potential in some seemingly-mediocre cards out of our new set; after all, ingenuity can win a tournament alone. Be sure to check out Andrew Mahone’s upcoming Sun and Moon article coming out in just a couple of days, featuring Tauros-GX, Decidueye-GX (possibly with a [card name=”Meowth” set=”Fates Collide” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] tech), and Umbreon-GX. As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments for me; I’d love to hear them.

Until next time,

-Dalen

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