With the upcoming release of XY:7, Ancient Origins, and the new format rotating up, the game is turning its tides towards supporting stage 2 Pokemon.
European Set Release Date: 25th of August 2015 (Pre release on 15th).
Using this intro, I would like to introduce a few decks receiving a lot of hype with this new expansion.
1. Vileplume/Giratina
Roles:
Giratina: Main attacker,
Uses its one and only attack, costing 4 energies, to do a 100 damage and blocking the opponent from Tools, Stadiums, and Special energy attachments the next turn.
The 4 energy cost can be cut down by using multiple double dragon energy.
You would want to run 4 Giratina in this deck. Giratina is a dragon type, with weakness to fairy.
Vileplume: Item Lock.
Vileplume is more or less a reprint of one of the older vileplume cards, from the HGSS sets.
Its ability blocks the use of any item card while on the field, both for you and your opponent.
It is best to run multiple glooms in your deck, as rare candy will be just a waste of space once Vileplume is out on the field.
Vileplume is a Grass Type pokemon with 130 HP and a 3 Energy retreat cost. It is best not to start with Oddish. Thus, I suggest running a maximum of 3 Oddishes, and 4 Giratina, to maximize your chances of starting with your main attacker.
Alternatives:
Hydreigon EX, his ability will lower the retreat cost of your Dragon Type Pokemon by 2, if a stadium card is in play. His attack can counter the abilities of your opponent's Pokemon. Shred, doing 80 damage and costing Darkness, Psychic, and a Colorless energy.
It is recommended to play either Silent lab, countering the abilities of all basic Pokemon on the field, or Giant Plant Forest, to get your Vileplumes out as fast as possible.
Pokemon Skeleton:
4 Giratina EX
3 Oddish AO
3 Gloom AO
3 Vileplume AO
1 Hydreigon EX RS
2. Vespiquen Variants
Roles:
Vespiquen: Main Attacker.
Although seeming frail at first, Vespiquen is a great attacker comboed with many of the eeveelutions introduced in this new set. It is the kind of attacker which attacks once or twice and then dies, only for the next to rise in power.
Vespiquen is a Grass type Pokemon with 90 HP and two attacks. Each of its attacks only requires colorless energy, thus flexible if you decide to run multiple attackers.
It is admired for its second attack, Bee Revenge, which does 20 Base damage, and 10 more for each Pokemon in your discard pile. You would probably want to run a 4-4 line of combees and Vespiquen, to have multiple ready should some die.
Eeveelutions: Supporting abilities.
Each new Eeveelution presented in Ancient Origins possesses the ability to transform every Stage 1 Pokemon on your side of the field to its type. With Jolteon on the field, Vespiquen would become a Lightning Grass Pokemon. With Flareon, a Fire Grass. The Stage 1 Pokemon would keep its original type. This ability is used to dish out double damage, under supereffective circumstances. I suggest a 4-4 Eeveelution line, with 2 Jolteons, 1 Vaporeon, and 1 Flareon.
Unown: Support Draw.
Unown possesses an ability which lets it discard itself, and you draw a card. This does not count as a knockout, and can be done as often in a turn as you want, as long as you have the necessary unown. I suggest running 4 of these in a deck, as they increase Vespiquen's damage if in the discard pile.
Alternatives:
Ultra balls, to discard as many Pokemon as possible.
Juniper/Sycamore, to discard even more Pokemon.
Shaymin EX, to draw even more cards. I would suggest running 2-3.
This Deck variant I have the highest hopes for.
Other Cards.
Other decks, in the moment, would include adding cards from the new set to prior decks. Cards like these would include Hex Maniac, a card which many consider broken, as it stops all abilities on the field until your opponents end of the turn.
Ace Trainer, being like the new N, only playable when you have more prizes left than your opponent. Each player shuffles their hand into the deck, you draw 6 cards, while your opponent draws 3.
Level Ball. A level ball reprint has been produced, making it playable again! This Pokemon search mechanic will be extremely helpful in decks with evolution lines. Especially the Vespiquen deck!
Hoopa EX. Its ability allows you to search out any 3 EX Pokemon from your deck and take them into your hand. Only when placed down.
Tyranitar EX and Mega Tyranitar EX. Two new Dark Pokemon EX cards which will profit from the new "Bad Energies", which, when attached to a dark Pokemon, will damage the oppenent's active Pokemon 20 points once it has attacked you. Mega Tyranitar EX is able to wear two tools at once, which would be a fun deck to play, since you can attach two Rocky Helmets and 4 Bad energies. This would result in 120 Damage to your oppenent's active Pokemon when your Mega Tyranitar is attacked! It does need 5 Energies to attack though...
Fin~
This was my first post, if you liked it, I will keep more coming!
