It's Professor Teej again, with our second and final article in our miniseries "Rotation for Dummies." After pitching the idea of an article concerning new decklists for the new format, a customer gave me the idea to write about the competitive staples that we lost and what to replace them with, so here we are! We're going to discuss five cards that saw a large amount of play last season, and my best attempt at a replacement for them. Some of these staples have pretty clear replacements, but others required the team at JPP to get a little more creative.
If you need a refresher on what rotation is, how it affects you as a player, or how to look for cards that are rotating, check out the first Rotation for Dummies article.
Staple One: Nest Ball
Nest Ball saw play in nearly every deck, and it's no surprise why. It saw play in big basic and evolution decks alike due to its ability to search for any basic Pokémon. Decks that utilize evolution Pokémon have a pretty clear replacement however...
Replacement One: Poke Pad
The common trainer that was once $8 due to its early scarcity and immediate playability, Poke Pad is the clear replacement for Nest Ball. While it isn't a one-to-one replacement, evolution decks will use Poke Pad to search for their basic Pokémon, and as a bonus, you can use the card to search for non-rule box Pokémon as well!
Staple Two: Iono
One of the highest-used supporters, and the bane of many trainer's existence, is finally leaving us. Iono was the game's premiere form of hand disruption, and the lack of its presence leaves us with two options for hand disruption in the post Scarlet and Violet era...
Replacement Two: Judge and/or Unfair Stamp
There really isn't a clear cut best form of hand disruption in this new era, but these are the two closest options. Judge is a slightly less mean Iono, where no matter where you are in the game, both players will still end up with 4 cards. This is a solid alternative, especially if you need to disrupt your own hand but you don't want to give your opponent more cards than you have to.
Unfair Stamp will definitely be the most played ACE SPEC, and this is mainly due to this card being the only aggressive hand disruption option. If your opponent takes an early knockout, you can punish them by bringing them to two cards and bring yourself to five. Even better, the card is an item, so you still have the opportunity to use supporters like Boss's Orders to really turn the tide of battle.
Staple Three: Arven
One of the most heartbreaking losses in my opinion, Arven was an incredible first turn supporter. Searching for an item and a tool was a great way to set up, and its utility also bled into the mid and late game as well. Searching for the trainer cards you need is always a great game action and a newer card allows us to do something similar...
Replacement Three: Team Rocket's Petrel
Team Rocket's Petrel finds itself a little more versatile than Arven, allowing you to search for any trainer, including an item, tool, stadium, or supporter for your next turn. This does come at the cost of only grabbing one trainer, where you could grab two with Arven. I kind of prefer the versatility though, I've used this card especially in the Arboliva ex deck to grab the stadium Forest of Vitality, which is essential to that deck's success. This strong ability and the well-roundedness of the card will definitely ensure this card sees a good amount of play.
Staple Four: Earthen Vessel
Many popular decks in last format (and this upcoming one) involve more than one type of basic energy, and earthen vessel was a perfect item to find the energies you need. Many of these decks are still seeing play today, such as Dragapult ex or Raging Bolt ex, so some sort of trainer is required to make these decks work...
Replacement Four: Crispin
While Crispin is a supporter and not an item, this is the closest replacement to Earthen Vessel. One upside, however, is that Crispin allows you to attach one of the energies, and that doesn't count as your attachment for turn. This gives you a boost in energy acceleration that Earthen Vessel doesn't necessarily provide. Crispin will help those dragon Pokémon attack a turn faster than usual, and you will likely see 3-4 copies in any deck that uses multiple types of basic energy.
Replacement Five: Pidgeot ex
The ultimate search engine, and the partner for my favorite deck of all time, Charizard ex, is leaving us and I am being totally normal about it and not emotional at all. Pidgeot ex allowed you to search for ANY card you want, once per turn. This worked great with combo decks that require 3-5 specific game actions per turn to fulfill that deck's purpose. Often times, I would use Pidgeot to search for Boss's Orders to end the game...
Replacement 5: Meowth ex
Easily the greatest competitive card from Perfect Order, Meowth ex is a card that can search for any supporter when you play it from your hand to your bench. Obviously this is not as consistent or versatile as Pidgeot ex, but it will fulfill a similar purpose, often winning you the game if you can find Meowth at the right time. Except almost every deck to play at least one copy of Meowth, which some decks even playing 2 or 3!
And there they are! If you're looking for new cards to play in your old decks, you now know of five replacement ideas to get yourself ready for rotation and the new format! As always, any questions, feedback, or ideas can be sent to me at events@justpressplayonline.com. Happy Training and good luck on the pulls!