This guide assumes you have access to scans or a spoiler of the cards.  You can find scans from Pokébeach here.

 

Basic Guidelines for Deck Building

 

Remember the normal limit of four of a card doesn’t apply, though if the card itself limits how many you can use (like Pokémon* do), that still applies.

 

You will often need to run 1-1 and 1-1-1 lines.  “Line” refers to a series of related Pokémon, for those not familiar with the term.  So the “Charizard” Line is Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard.  A 1-1-1 line would be one each of those Pokémon.  A 2-1-1 line means two of the Basic, and one of each Evolution.  You generally want at least one Stage 2 line and one Stage 1 line in your deck, backed by enough Basic Pokémon to bring your total count of Basic Pokémon up to at least 10.  If you do have a several big Basics or a good 2-2-2 or two 2-2 line etc. you can be more discriminating and opt to not run a 1-1-1 line or 1-1 line alongside it.  Expect to have about 20 Pokémon in a good Limited deck.  For those not familiar with the term, Limited is the Format that Pre-Releases use: it refers to building your deck with the limited supplies you get at the tournament.

 

Any Trainers and Special Energy cards you pull are almost guaranteed a spot in your deck.  The biggest exception comes from highly specialized cards that are completely incompatible with your deck or only compatible with a few cards or in special circumstances.  Generally, if less than five cards can make use of it; you probably shouldn’t run a particular Trainer or Energy.  This set has quite a few Trainers (12 of the 101 cards) so you should get at least one or two.  This set also has six Special Energy cards, though you may pull some you can’t use or at least use well.

 

How to Evaluate a Pokémon

 

Some of you may know that I have done this kind of massive overview before.  It is not easy, though mostly it’s a matter of finding time to look at each card and type up a summary of its potential.  This time, I am writing before I have had a chance to participate in a Pre-Release, so there is a lot of guesswork involved.  Also, remember that this is Pokémon, a TCG distributed through semi-randomized booster packs: lucky pulls, even in multiple, happen and can radically alter the environment from the norm.

 

In order to go faster, I am going to focus on getting to the point much quicker, especially for cards that are bland or weak.  Much of this can be accomplished by reminding you all that this guide is meant for viewing with a Spoiler or Scans of the cards handy (there is a link to the top for card scans), and that you are supposed to read the guidelines here carefully, so that you can understand what I mean when I list something simple like “good Attributes”.  By Attribute, I am referring to pretty much everything about a particular card other than Poké-Bodies, Poké-Powers, or attacks.  Something with “good Attributes” it has one great Attribute and a bad one, one above average Attribute and the rest all average, and other potential combinations that have the net result of being “good”.  So having a reference to the card in question will make it clear what I am saying.

 

Stage: All Stages are important, but it’s much more balanced in Limited: Stages that aren’t the end of their line can still win you many games.  Generally, you look for reasons to disqualify a Stage 1 or 2, as if you can find nothing significantly wrong you should be running it.  As always, remember that “I won’t have enough room for Energy” is a valid reason to avoid running an otherwise good card.

 

I don’t penalize Stage 1 and 2 with respect to their scores: the assumption for my scores is that you pull a workable line. I do, however, give a small bonus to Basics and even less substantial bonus to Stage 1 Pokémon due to the ease of their use.  This, combined with rarity, reflects how easy they are to run well (as opposed to run at all).  This might appear as mere score inflation, but it reflects my experience with Limited: availability can put a weaker card over a stronger one, but only by so much.

 

Type: Pokémon Type is not something that can be easily evaluated: it varies by what people pull and play.  Don’t assume a type to be “good” or “bad”: just focus on having reasonable Type matching capacity: even if you pulled a solid line of something, if that line’s Weakness is apt to see a lot of play, don’t run it unless your deck can cover its Weakness well.  Resistance is less a concern only because it is so rare, but if you see many Pokémon with it, try to cover that angle as well.  An example would be if Fire appears easy to run and run well, then even if you can run a Grass line in your deck you shouldn’t unless you already have Water Pokémon in the deck to cover the Fire Weakness.

 

One can’t even assume that a Type is good because its Weakness is very common: good players do pay attention to that kind of thing and will avoid what seems like an obvious choice of Pokémon in order to avoid an unnecessary vulnerability that is well represented in a set.  There is also the luck of what is pulled: someone may run a line that would seem foolish because they pulled several copies of the Basic and Stage 1 or even the Stage 2 Pokémon.

 

Still, it’s good to know raw numbers, so here is a crude chart.  The ones are just used as tallies and to create a simple, hopefully almost universally easy to view visual comparison.

 

Pokémon Weaknesses Breakdown

No Weakness    : 11111111                                08

Colorless           : 1111                                       04

Fighting             : 111111111                              09

Fire                   : 11111111                                08

Grass               : 11111                                     05

Lightning           : 1111111111111111111             19

Psychic            : 11111111111111111111           20

Water               : 1111111111                             10

 

And here is one for Resistance.

 

Pokémon Resistance Breakdown

No Resistance   : *                     73

Fighting             : 1111111          07

Fire                   : 1                    01

Grass               : 1                    01

Lightning           : 1                    01

Water               : 111                 03

 

*No, I am not making 73 ones for the chart – there isn’t enough room without going down a line and that defeats the purpose.

 

Now, take the difference between Weakness and Resistance and the apparent order of best to worst type would be Psychic, Lightning, Fire, Water, Colorless, Grass, Fighting, Metal, and Darkness.  Obviously, the greater “net Weakness”, the higher I rated the type, with the tie between Water and Fire broken by Fire only being Resisted by a Pokémon-ex, the tie between Colorless and Grass broken by the obvious superiority of the Colorless Pokémon (see their individual reviews), and the same for the tie between Darkness and Metal.

 

Hit Points: A Basic Pokémon with an HP of 50 is acceptable, particularly for a support role, while 60 HP is good and 70-80 is great. 40 is normally weak, but its so very common this set that it will be tolerated for cards.  It is relatively rare to find a Basic Pokémon with 90, 100, 110, or 120 HP, that isn’t a Pokémon-ex but such cards tend to be fantastically good so long as they have something useful they can do.  Basic Pokémon-ex need to be at least 80 HP to be acceptable with 90 being good, and 100+ being great.  For a Stage 1, 70 HP is acceptable, 80 is good, and anything more is great.  A Stage 1 Pokémon-ex, on the other hand, needs at least 100 HP to be acceptable.  A Stage 2 needs at least 100 HP to be solid, and anything more is good, unless it is a Pokémon-ex, in which case it needs at least 140 HP to be acceptable.

 

I feel I should once again mention that Pokémon in this set, as a whole, are fairly “small” in HP.  While there are a few that are fairly high, many are lower than anticipated.  Several Basic Pokémon come in at 40 HP this set.

 

Weakness: Here’s a quick breakdown of the amount of each Pokémon-Type you’ll see in this set. 

 

Pokémon Type Breakdown

Colorless                       : 11111                         05

Darkness                      : 111111                        06

Fighting                         : 11111111111111          14

Fire                               : 11111111111111          14

Grass                           : 111111                        06

Lightning                       : 111111111                  09

Metal                            : 111111                        06

Psychic                        : 11111111111111          14

Water                           : 111111111                  09

 

Thankfully, there were no dual-type Pokémon to make matters more complicated.  My rating is based on both how strong the Pokémon of the Type are overall, and how easy it should be to run said Type.  So if all cards of a Type are strong, that matters, but if they are mostly higher rarities, than that is more important still.  Additionally, not all Pokémon can deal significant amounts of damage.

 

So, how does Weakness break down?  Well, of course no Weakness is best, and in order from best to worst Weakness to have its Darkness, Metal, Grass, Colorless, Lightning, Water, Fighting, Psychic and finally Fire.  Nothing is weak to Darkness or Metal Types in this set, but they are included for the sake of posterity, and to flesh out how I evaluate Weakness to a Type.  I should mention that for the most part, this set should find most Weaknesses to be on equal footing as most have about the same amount of worthwhile attackers.

 

The reasons are as follows:

 

Colorless Pokémon [(C)] have the fewest representatives in the set.  However, as they can use any Energy to attack, they are quite easy to “splash” into just about any deck.  Colorless Pokémon in this set consist of a Common-Uncommon-Holographic Rare Stage 2 line and a Common-Rare Stage 1 line, both of which have worthwhile abilities for Limited play, making them more formidable than some of the slightly more abundant Types. 

 

Darkness [(D)] Weakness appears to be the safest – too bad (for certain cards) it doesn’t appear in the set.  Of the Darkness Pokémon in this set, only the Nidoking-line can attack without the aid of δ Rainbow Energy or Scramble Energy.  Even then, the attacks that don’t need Darkness Energy tend to be vanilla or low in damage.  Finally, the rarity distribution for this Type skews high: with just two commons, one Uncommon, one Rare, one Holographic-Rare, and a Pokémon*!

 

Fighting [(F)] Pokémon have a solid distribution in this set, but most worthwhile ones will be at least Uncommon.  They have one Pokémon-ex, two Holographic-Rares, and a normal Rare.  All the Fighting Pokémon have good abilities for Limited, though most are also fairly low HP for their Stage, keeping them from beating out Fire and Psychic.

 

Fire [(R)] Pokémon are as prominent as Fighting and Psychic Pokémon this set.  I see some nasty Stage 1 Pokémon at reasonable rarities this set, giving them enough of a push to beat out Fighting but not Psychic Pokémon.

 

Grass [(G)] Pokémon have as few representatives as Darkness and Metal Pokémon do in this set, but with a slightly friendly rarity scheme (two Commons, an Uncommon, a plain Rare, a Holographic-Rare, and a Pokémon-ex).  One of them can’t attack for damage, though, and all need one to two Grass Energy to hit hard (if they can hit hard).

 

Lightning [(L)] Pokémon are not as rare as several other Types this set, but if you aren’t running a deck with several Lightning Energy, they won’t do you a whole lot of good.  They have some potent Pokémon but said cards are Holographic-Rares and two Pokémon-ex.  The one Pokémon-ex is a Basic, though and anyone who pulls it will be a fearsome foe, which is why this faired so well even though it has almost as few good Pokémon in the set as the previous, less numerous Types.

 

Metal [(M)] Pokémon are a rarity in this set as they normally are.  Nothing is Metal Weak, but if it were it’d fair quite well, and only a hair worse than Pokémon that would be Darkness Weak.  At least the Nidoqueen-line can attack without access to a Metal Energy-substitute, and unlike her beaux Nidoqueen has access to a big Colorless attack.  Metal Pokémon also have a slightly nicer rarity scheme than Darkness Pokémon, but only by one card (an additional “Normal” Rare Basic as opposed to a Pokémon*).  Still, there are so few in the set it’d have been a pretty safe Weakness.

 

Psychic [(P)] Pokémon are once again very prominent, and at the lower rarities, surprisingly.  This may not seem like much, but it is indeed enough to make them the worst Weakness.

 

Water [(W)] Pokémon favor the higher rarities in this set, and most have Water-Type energy requirements in their attacks.  Still, all three Pokémon-ex and the Pokémon* Water Pokémon are formidable for Limited.

 

Resistance: Resistance runs parallel to the “best Type” breakdown.  Adjusted for what is missing, Lightning Resistance then is the best this time around, followed by Fire, Water, Grass, and finally Fighting.  Still, any Resistance is a good one.

 

Retreat Cost: A Retreat Cost of three can hurt a Pokémon, making them vulnerable to becoming “stranded” in the Active slot. Two is neither good nor bad, barring other cards making it difficult.  A Retreat Cost of one is great.  It is even better than it normally is in Constructed play because of the importance of not giving up Prizes and shaking the effects of several Pokémon abilities (like Special Conditions).  A free Retreat Cost is fantastic, but alone it still won’t justify a Pokémon being included in your deck.  It will usually offset one major issue or two minor ones e.g. low HP, or a useless Poké-Body and bland attack.

 

In this specific set, only four Pokémon have a free Retreat, 60 have a retreat Cost of one, 15 a Retreat Cost of two, and four a Retreat Cost of three.

 

Abilities: The basics of evaluating attacks are the same, but the spectrum is more stretched out: requiring more than two of a single color really limits a Pokémon, so lacking even a token Colorless attack can be troublesome.  Effects of attacks that were a nice bonus are often major factors in deciding on a card now: Special Conditions are much harder to get out of without a solid Trainer base!  Attacks requiring a Metal or Darkness Energy normally would have to be ignored, but Scramble Energy and δ Rainbow are in the set, so you might be able to use them if it is on an Evolution and not a Pokémon-ex and you are behind on Prizes or a Pokémon δ.  In either case the attacks aren’t particularly reliable when they are so dependant upon such circumstances, are become merely fringe benefits.

 

Rarity: While rarity does affect the metagame in constructed, there it is more a matter of who has more disposable income.  In Limited, it becomes another attribute and balancing agent.  Commons, simply put, are the most abundant cards and thus tend to be the best for Limited events like Pre-Releases.  Each subsequent rarity is harder to use, but at the same time becomes more precious due to your lack of alternatives.  Most of the time you should focus on Commons and Uncommons; they will be what you normally encounter.  Still, remember you will run into Rares, Holographic Rares, Pokémon-ex, and even the occasional Pokémon* and plan accordingly.  Additionally, the normal restriction on four copies of a card per deck is waived for Limited play, so a good common can be quite good indeed.  Obviously once you have a card, you have a card, so like with Basic Pokémon and Evolutions, I merely tend to give a slight bonus to the more common rarities, as again this reflects my experience with the game.

 

Miscellaneous: I will indicate a Pokémon is a δ Delta Species Pokémon by simply following its name with a “δ” symbol.

 

δ Delta Species Pokémon (Pokémon δ for short) are the norm in this set. The Pokémon δ aiding cards only matter if you pull them and can use them, but the Pokémon δ punishing cards matter if anyone else at the tournament can pull and use them.  Therefore, I will give a small bonus to “plain” Pokémon in this set.

 

Reviews

 

My evaluations will normally assume you can pull at least one a form’s lower Stages with its upper Stages.  I have separated the cards by Rarity, except for Trainers and Energy which I am lumping together and sticking between commons and Pokémon-ex, so that this will cover the cards in set number order.  I am unlikely to comment on an Attribute that is fairly well covered by the above introduction unless I feel it is still noteworthy.

 

Holographic Rares

 

Ampharos δ: 3.5/5

Ampharos may have players excited for constructed, but in Limited it is hard to utilize its Poké-Body: simply put, all Pokémon you’ll have will already be Pokémon δ..  What that leaves is a Stage 2 Colorless Pokémon with an attack that is “okay” to “good”: Delta Circle won’t top 60 points of damage, though it does a minimum of 30 and can “attack from nowhere” since this set contains Boost Energy.  The Attributes are a bit low, but that’s “average” for this set.

 

Feraligatr δ: 4/5

Feraligatr has great Attributes, as a whole: best HP it can have, okay Retreat Cost, okay Weakness, Type hits a prominent Weakness, etc.  Its damage increasing Poké-Body means that it’s probably worth running even as a 1-1-1 line in a deck with few Lightning Energy.  Drag Off can frustrate an opponent all by its lonesome if you use your head.  If you can justify running Lightning Energy, Sharp Fang is a simple, straightforward attack that compliments Drag Off’s more strategic nature.  Together, both attacks should allow you to score a KO every other turn and make it hard for the opponent to counter-attack.  Still, it does require a good deal of Lightning Energy in your deck to fully realize its potential, and any player who has studied the will make an effort to include a good Lightning Pokémon in their deck: almost one in four Pokémon are Weak to them.

 

Heracross δ: 3/5

Heracross looks better than it actually is: Shining Horn only works if it is your only Pokémon in play, Dig Deep doesn’t work too well without a method of discarding Energy, and since it requires Fire Energy Extra Claws won’t justify running the card either.  If you already have room for Fire Energy, then the card is a good pick.  You can risk Heracross as your only Basic while it is fully healthy and the opponent has just Basics that are low on Energy in play.  If you can’t attack with Extra Claws, though, Dig Deep isn’t worth the eventual loss of a Prize after Heracross finishes stalling (that is your opponent gets an Evolution out).

 

Meganium δ: 4/5

Meganium has great Attributes, attacks, and a Poké-Power.  The main drawback is you have to have a Fighting Energy to attack (even if its just one in either attack’s cost).  Actually having a Resistance is huge, Delta Reduction means you can trade blows with any non-Fire Pokémon that does 60 or less damage and come out ahead, and Mega Impact is that solid, straight damage attack that lets you burn through an opponent with only Basics in this format.

 

Milotic δ: 3.75/5

Milotic has solid Attributes for a Stage 1 Pokémon, and a useful Poké-Power.  Sharing will mostly prove useful because it lets you see what your opponent is capable of: it is doubtful they will have a Supporter most turns.  Still, it’s phenomenal when they do.  The reasons this card doesn’t score high are it comes from Feebas, an extremely weak Basic, and requires two Fire Energy for its three Energy attack.  Since Fire Pokémon aren’t super-abundant in this set, that means dedicating a good deal of Energy to a Type you probably only have a few users of.

 

Nidoking δ: 1.75/5

Nidoking has good HP and the ability to hit a Benched Pokémon for 30 damage… but unless you pull a couple δ Rainbow Energy, that will be all its good for, and that’s pretty pathetic.  Still, if you pull multiples of the lower stages, this final stage can still be useful.

 

Nidoqueen δ: 4/5

Nidoqueen has solid but with a great Poké-Power and attack.  Early game Nidoqueen might seem weak, but she should be used for set up at that time, while other solid cards to go down fighting.  Then let her come out and swing for big damage.  The all Colorless attack is especially nice for Limited.

 

Ninetales δ: 3.5/5

Ninetales was clearly meant to support another version of it’s self.  Volunteer’s only real use is, if you get multiples, to use it to shake Special Conditions (it apparently still works when afflicted by one) and thin your deck.  Trick Tail isn’t too bad but it’s hard to dump Energy in Limited.  Ninetales has a free Retreat Cost, which is a selling point, and its attack is for just two of any Energy.  This means it can be worked into most decks so long as something better isn’t available.

 

Snorlax δ: 4/5

Snorlax is a novelty, having no attacks but both a Poké-Power and Poké-Body.  While he can heal himself if he is awake and hurt the opponent with damage counter placement while Asleep, its all up to chance, and remember if you do Sleep through two turns straight and place 4 damage counters on the opponent, you won’t be able to use the Poké-Power to heal!  Still, with its impressive 80 HP and ability to heal most turns, it should be a great stall Pokémon.

 

Togetic δ: 4/5

Togetic is very small, a 60 HP Stage 1.  It has great bottom Attributes, and a sick first attack (given the set), plus a decent fallback attack.  So it’s Togepi δ being so weak combined with Togetic’s HP and Wave Splash needing Water Energy that keeps it from being a must-run winner.

 

Typhlosion δ: 4.25/5

Typhlosion is good, but you have to build your deck around it.  Shady Move is useful, letting you move a damage counter once per turn, including moving it from one player’s Pokémon to another, but it only works while Typhlosion is Active.  That means you still need it to be able to attack.  Typhlosion needs three Energy to attack, and one needs to be a Psychic Energy.  This gives you a straight forward damage attack.  If you have at least two Fire Energy attached, then you score auto-Burn as well.  As you can still attack without Fire Energy, it’s a nice option: some decks can ignore it if they don’t have room, and many can just add two Fire Energy and hold them back for Typhlosion.

 

Normal Rares

 

Arbok δ: 4/5

Arbok is a great Pokémon for Limited.  With all but four Pokémon in the set being Pokémon δ, it’ll almost always be doing 80 with Strangle.  Burning Venom is also quite nasty, given the potency of Special Conditions in Limited.  Other than that, solid Attributes for a Stage 1 end form.

 

Cloyster δ: 3/5

Cloyster is an alright card, with a useful Poké-Body that protects your bench and a respectable attack.  Unfortunately, that Fighting Energy requirement means you can’t run it in a deck that can’t reasonably meet the requirement: the Poké-Body just doesn’t seem worth the room.

 

Dewgong δ: 4.5/5

Dewgong isn’t perfect, but it’s close.  As a Colorless Pokémon with Colorless attacks, it can fit into just about any deck.  Solid Attributes and being a Stage 1 Normal Rare makes it easier to get for your deck and into play.  You need Water Energy to fully utilize Surge, but since its not a necessity you can risk things like running just two Water Energy in a deck.  Of course, the main selling point is Delta Reduction, which will reduce damage from almost all Pokémon in this set by 40 points!

 

Gligar δ: 3.75/5

Gligar is just so easy to fit into most decks that one might as well do so.  The first attack is flippy and the second can be handy against the inevitable Pokémon-ex you’ll face.  Still, if you are tight on space you should drop it for something more vital to the deck.

 

Jynx δ: 3/5

Jynx is pretty average: even if you got Smoochum δ and are able to Evolve it, you’re merely knocking a single Energy off the retreat cost of your Fire and Psychic Pokémon.  The attack is fair and straightforward, but not enough to warrant adding Fire Energy to a deck.

 

Ledian δ: 2/5

Ledian has a nice free retreat cost and excellent Poké-Power, but unless you pull a δ Rainbow Energy it probably isn’t worth running since it won’t be able to attack.  If it can attack, it’s unlikely to get the draw effect since that requires a Pokémon Tool.  Still, some will consider it if they feel they can risk a spot on their Bench for what will end up being just a “free retreater” after Evolving.

 

Lickitung δ: 4.5/5

Lickitung is an almost guaranteed play: solid HP, a great first attack, and if you can make room for some Psychic Energy, also a great second attack.  Lap Up is draw power any deck can use, so almost every deck will want to make room for it.  Delta Mind is also great, and might be worth adding just one or two Psychic Energy on the off chance you get lucky and draw into them at the right time.

 

Mantine δ: 2.5/5

Mantine has an okay Poké-Power (you won’t use it most of the time) and a useful attack (not much damage, but it keeps it alive) and they do work okay together (provided you have Energy you need in the discard).  Still, it’s basically on par with man Basics that Evolves (even though Mantine itself doesn’t).  The need for Lightning Energy to attack and self-damage if you use the so-so Poké-Power hold it back.

 

Quagsire δ: 3.5/5

Quagsire δ is a solid Stage 1 Pokémon, but it requires you run at least a few Grass Energy if you want to attack, and if you don’t have any Pokémon Tools, both the Poké-Power and additional effect of the attack are wasted.  Wooper δ is wonderful, though.

 

Seadra δ: 4/5

Seadra needs a Fighting Energy to use its second, bigger attack, but it has Smokescreen for its first attack.  Smokescreen is devastating in Limited, so if you pull more than a 1-1 Seadra-line, make room for some Fighting Energy.

 

Tropius δ: 2/5

Tropius should only be used in most decks for the Poké-Power if you think you can spare the room for it.  Unless you pull several δ Rainbow Energy, it can’t attack.