Don't Forget The Older Sets! - Jonothan Cowley

With all the new sets being released people have been concentrating on the newer cards and ‘forgetting’ the older ones. Well, in this article I am going to discuss some of the cards from older sets, and how they can still be made into one of the best and most competitive decks out there...

CHATOT MAJESTIC DAWN (Set. MD #55)
Now, even though Chatot only has 60 HP, its overall performance is stable. Its first attack (Mimic) for no energies allows you to shuffle your hand into your deck, and then draw as many cards as your opponent has in their hand. This can really help if you get a bad starting hand. And, for NO energy cost? I’d say that it would be a solid Tech in any deck to eliminate bad starts and make your play faster. Plus, Chatot has a 0 retreat cost, so it can be easily retreated with no energies being wasted! Plus, with a Fighting Resistance and all the popular Fighting decks at the moment, it can’t easily be taken out in 1 hit. The downside, however, is that it is weak to Electric and its second attack is ... well ... terrible. For 2 energies you get to inflict 20 to your opponent and they can’t retreat? In my opinion, it isn’t worth wasting 2 energies for an attack that will inflict very little damage on big opponents in the current format. However, despite this, Chatot is still one of the best tech cards out there ... AND ITS A COMMON, MEANING IT’S REALLY EASY TO GET!!!

WEEZING GREAT ENCOUNTERS (Set. GE #31)
I think that Weezing was forgotten ALOT when Legends Awakened was released, considering that it benefited Gliscor decks a lot, not many people seemed to look at it. Anyway, you’re probably thinking ‘What does this Weezing thing do anyways?’ Well, just keep reading to find out! Weezing’s Poke Body reads ‘At any time between turns, each player puts 1 more damage counter on his/her poisoned Pokémon.’ Basically, this means put 2 damage counters instead on any poisoned Pokémon between turns! This can speed up and help any decks that aim on poisoning the opponents Pokémon instead of hitting them directly. Not only this, but in some situations Weezing’s attack can help you out! For 2 energies (1 Psychic and 1 Colourless) it does 30 damage with the possibility of both poisoning and confusing the opponents Pokémon! The only problem with Weezing is the HP isn’t amazing and it has a bad weakness against some of the many Gengar, Dusknoir and AMU decks out there... Never the less, this is still a big play for any poison decks!

MUK SECRET WONDERS (Set. SW #56)
 Muk. Well, that word alone would probably put anyone off playing this in a deck; however I still think that it has ALOT of potential. Its Poke Body poisons any active Pokémon that have a grass energy (This includes Multi Energies) attached to it at the end of each players turn. This is very helpful when you’re up against decks like Torterra and Leafeon, as the opponents Pokemon will almost always be poisoned! Unfortunately, not many Grass decks are played at the moment, so this will only come back into play when Grass decks become popular again (Probably next set, because that’s when we are getting Shaymin LV X!!!). And, its attack – Panic Liquid – is... OK. It would be playable if its attack only required 2 energy and not 3, because of what it does. 50 damage and confusion with the addition affect that you’re opponent can’t switch! However, like Weezing the HP is too low to be a main attack in any deck, though it is a decent deck against any Grass decks!

WEAVILE SECRET WONDERS (Set. SW #40)
 Weavile IS THE BEST tech in any T-Tar (Tyranitar) or Steelix deck! Now, in these decks it helps to power up the Pokémon for No energy and its Poke Power ‘Dark Engage’ turns your active Pokémon into a Dark Pokémon, giving Steelix (Metal Type) the power of Special Darkness energies (Each of your attacks do 10 more damage when you have a darkness energy attached to a dark Pokémon) as well! Then, just look at its retreat cost... THERE’S NOTHING THERE! Yes, Weavile has a zero retreat as well, meaning that after you have powered up your Pokémon to the max, you can switch it out and destroy your opponent with a OHKO! Anyway, back to Weavile. Its final attack (Chip Off) requires 2 darkness energies and does 40 damage plus the ability to discard cards from your opponents hand until they have 5 cards in his/her hand. This can really stall your opponent, especially if you discard a card that they need for next turn (For example, a benched Baltoy and you discard a Claydol !!! LOL !!). Defiantly a play for any good decks that require a lot of energies to do a lot of damage!

ELECTRODE SECRET WONDERS (Set. SW #26)
Electrode SW is a fantastic card all round. With a zero retreat cost and a pretty beefy basic Pokemon underneath, this is a solid card in a lot of decks that require a lot of energy (Regigigas, Machamp etc) because of its Poke Power, Energy Shift. Basically, if Electrode is Knocked Out with damage from an attack, it turns into an energy card that provides every type of energy but only 1 at a time (This basically means when it is knocked out, it turns into a Multi Energy). This is improved further through its attack! Ion Blast requires 1 Electric Energy and 1 Colourless energy to do 40 damage to your opponent. However, you may choose to do 40 + 60 more damage, eventually inflicting 100 damage on your opponent! However, Electrode does 100 damage to itself, which only helps its Poke power further because it is only activated when Electrode is knocked out, and this attack knocks itself out! The only downfall on this card is the amount of HP that it has, though this really doesn’t matter considering this card is designed to be knocked out!

AMPHAROS SECRET WONDERS (Set. SW #1 - NDP)
Now, this card was used a lot after the release of Magnezone LVX in Legends Awakened, though it was only used temporarily as new decks started emerging, such as Kingdra, Gliscor and AMU, because after this it got ‘lost in the crowd’ and people began to forget about it. Well, I am going to go over Ampharos’ powers and how it can benefit some of the decks played in the format currently. Well, where should I start?! With a beefy 130 HP, it is hard to take down with one hit, though it needs 3 energies to retreat it to the bench, meaning that once it’s out, it’s out (Unless you play Switch or Warp Point, of course!). Its Poke Body, Jamming, puts 1 damage counter on each of your opponents Pokemon whenever they play a Supporter card, meaning that any decks that rely on using Supporters every turn will be badly affected by this! However, this is one tech card with a decent attack! Cluster Bolt requires 3 energies and does an initial 70 damage and you may do 20 damage to each of your opponents benched Pokemon with energies attached to them if you choose to discard all Electric Energies attached to Ampharos. This is a very solid choice, so I would personally try and Include it in any Electric deck you may be considering (TIP - This works well with Magnezone or Bronzong MD ;))

MR MIME MYSTERIOUS TREASURES (Set. MT #30)
Mime mimeeee.... MR MIME!!! Yes, it’s the annoying Mime Pokemon! You’re probably thinking ‘How in the World can this be a good card?’ Well, I’ll start off with the fact that it’s a basic ... NO EVOLVING NEEDED!!! Plus, a sturdy 70 HP makes this a very playable card. Airy Wall Poke Body stops any damage done to Mr. Mime from opponents Pokemon that have two or less energy CARDS attached to them, giving you extra time to set up before any damage can be done to Mr. Mime! Unfortunately, these are all the positives that come from this card, because Trick Play is a TERRIBLE attack, and its retreat cost could be better. Never the less, it is a good starter card and is great against Kingdra decks, because under normal circumstances it only requires 1 energy, though up against a Mr. Mime it will need 3!!!

Thank You for reading my article! I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any queries about any cards or this article, please send a PM to Donezator. Cya!