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Pojo's Pokemon Site - MonsterOfTheLake's Lake - Welcoming DP-On
 | MonsterOfTheLake's Lake |  |
Welcoming DP-On
It's my birthday! Woo!
While HP-On, and thus, the last of the EX sets in a Modified format, are still alive and kicking, DP-On is just around the corner. Gone will be the 2-prize exs, Lightning type Feraligatrs, and Energy cards that provide >1 energy; to be replaced by more Level-Up cards, a new Removed-from-game zone, and trainers that have different effects when played two copies of at once. And to think, just 6 years ago we were quite pessimistic about what the future held for Pokémon. Sorry about the link swarm.
This article won't be about which deck you should play to win tournaments, but rather the changes to the gameplay and metagame. If you're here for an AMU list, you're at the wrong place, buddy.
So what awaits us in these uncharted territories of DP-On, the final nail in the coffin of all things EX? Well, read the article.
| 
 00:13:14 - MonsterOfTheLake flipped a coin: HEADS |
| Loss of Special Energies (the ones that matter) |
None of the Energy cards that provide more than 1 Energy will be legal in DP-On; which is the harbinger of -- but in no way the only -- the downfall of Plox. Without DREs and Scrambles, Gardelade loses both speed and bouncebackability. The sheer scare factor of the dreaded T2 Psychic Lock will be eliminated. The loss of Scramble also protects decks from getting Psychic Cut for ONE BILLION damage, just for having the audacity to take a prize against Plox.
Gardelade clearly isn't the only benefiter of the Energy acceleration that these three cards provide. Almost all decks run Scramble, and Double Rainbow is also widely played. Blissey has been using Boost to be able to one-shot the opponent's Active.
Will the games be played at a slightly slower pace with the loss of these cards? Not likely; players will adapt to the new metagame. Stage 2s will give way to faster basics and Stage 1s. Not a complete exodus of Stage 2s, or a return to the days of Haymaker and Rocket's Zapdos, yet Stage 1s, which do less damage than Stage 2s for less energy, gain more power with the Stage 2s losing speed.
The loss of these cards will disintegrate the sole common Energy acceleration option for all decks, effectively making other Energy acceleration options more powerful. Leafeon Lv.X's Energy Forcing will give it a great advantage over other decks, whom can't play more than 1 Energy a turn; yet this advantage does not necessarily make Eeveelutions the BDIF -- Raindance also had a similar advantage, yet lost out to Rocket's Zapdos in the end, which also had Energy acceleration of its own. Sceptile GE provides a similar level of Energy acceleration, and one that can't be shut off with Powers being disabled -- the loss of Cessation Crystal and Latilock makes Bodies virtually untouchable.
Overall, the loss of DRE/Boost/Scramble will force huge changes in the metagame. Cards such as Beedrill and the new Kingdra will be a lot more effective, due to their ability to hit fast and hard. Attacks requiring 3 or more Energy in decks without Energy acceleration options will not be very effective. | 
 |
| Swarm of Lv.Xs |
How many useful Lv.Xs are there in HP-On? Gardevoir Lv.X is the best by far, and other than Magmortar Lv.X, the rest of the Lv.Xs aren't very usable; so despite the hefty price tags of the Lv.Xs, people could easily afford a Tier 1 deck for around $60.
Welcome AMU. You need 6 Lv.Xs to build this deck, 2 each of Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie. Remember how bad LBS was? Or even Mewtrick? Both dominated the metagame, and you needed to sell your kidney to put half of it together.
With the release of better, more powerful Lv.Xs, and the inherit rarity of these cards, the game can once again be made up of $300 decks. While that amount isn't as scary as the cost of competitive decks in Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh! (barf), Pokémon thrives on the ease of the ease for new players to adapt to the game without spending millions.
It's too early to raise the alarm bells; and the nature of the Lv.Xs make them less likely to be needed in the same abundance of exs. However, it does look as if Tier 1 decks will cost over $100 once again next season. | 
These things will all have ludicrously expensive Lv.Xs.
Back to the days of exs? |
This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with DP-On.
| Deck structure |
Following on from the loss of the "2+ Energy" cards, decks will go through some vital changes. With the loss of these Energy cards, 14-16 Energy will no longer be sufficient, unless running Sceptile. Given that 4 of those spots will probably go to Call Energy, and that you can't attach a Double Rainbow to meet the specific Energy requirement for big attacks, attacks requiring at least 2 non-colorless Energy will be really hard to use.
With the advent of the new +Trainers, decks will end up needing even more space, in addition to the extra Energy needed. Considering how you must run 2/2 Claydol in whatever deck you're playing, this leaves a very limited amount of space for your Pokémon. Forget about Stage 2 techs in DP-On; you will hardly have any space to have a really good Trainer engine. | 
Playing two of these results in a twin Computer Search effect. Nifty, huh? |
| Base set reprints |
Base set Charizard will be legal in DP-On.
No, seriously. |
 I have 8 of these cards, including a German 1st edition one.
In your face =D |
And that's all I have to say about DP-On, for now. Because it's my birthday (woo!), I'll discuss some random things here, instead of competitive Pokémon.
-> For fellow metalheads, Stormwarrior is a fantastic German Viking/Power Metal band. RAGNARÖK!
Take care!
PoJoMOTL@gmail.com
AIM: PoJoMOTL
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