Kyle Sucevich

A new set is out, which means new decks and ideas are flowing! I'm here to tell you which cards to pay attention, whether they're overlooked or overpowered. It was tough to narrow the list down to 10, but it had to be done. Let's get started!

10) Cyrus's Initiative

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When I first saw this card, I scoffed at another mediocre Supporter that would never see play in a competitive deck. However, after having it used against me a few times, I've realized that it can be very disruptive and game changing. SP decks greatly rely on the use of Cyrus's Conspiracy. Often times, the player will use one Cyrus to grab another one, then another one, and so on. Well, what if you could get rid of that Cyrus? Your opponent's plans could be ruined just like that. Not bad!

The obvious drawback of Cyrus's Initiative is that it is a Supporter. Since you only get to play one per turn, normally you want to use your Supporter for getting yourself setup, not attempting to stop your opponent. Therefore, the only reasonable way to use this card is in conjunction with Porygon2. Thanks to its Download Poke-Power, you can play multiple Supporters in a turn. Still, Initiative probably won't do very much in the later stages of the game when your opponent has a Claydol in play. The most effective way to use Initiative is early in the game to prevent your opponent from ever setting up. Perhaps you can combine it with cards like Mesprit and TGI Power Spray to really give your opponent a headache.

9) Absol G LV.X

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What if you could get rid of your opponent's crucial LV.X from the game completely? With Absol G LV.X, there's always a chance! Darkness Send can get rid of up to three cards from your opponent's deck permanently if you flip well. The potential devastation of this Poke-Power is unmatched! Right now the norm is for decks to play one copy of a LV.X – one Flygon LV.X, one Luxray GL LV.X, etc. If you can take that card out of play, you have basically won the game. Even if you don't discard those cards, getting rid of cards like Night Maintenance can be equally disruptive.

Of course, the negative aspect of Absol G LV.X is that you have no idea what you're going to discard. There's a good chance you'll end up discarding a basic Energy, a worthless tech card, or something else that's not really important. If you want to control what you can discard somewhat, your only hope is Chatot G. Even though rearranging the top four cards probably won't improve your odds of getting rid of an important card, it's better than nothing. Then, there's always the chance you could flip three tails for Darkness Send and end up giving your opponent a good card! Although Absol G LV.X can be very devastating, its unreliability is what holds it back from being an amazing card.

8) Palmer's Contribution

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While Palmer's Contribution certainly is nothing spectacular (or original for that matter – it's an exact replica of Town Volunteers from Aquapolis), it provides a reliable way to get cards back into your deck. The five cards it offers is an improvement over the three that Night Maintenance gives you. In addition, being a Supporter, it can be searched out by Cyrus's Conspiracy. Overall, this is the card's biggest selling point. Right now it's the only searchable recovery card for non-SP Pokemon. Finding a card like this can make or break a game, so it's important to be able to search for it.

Unfortunately, the thing that makes Palmer's Contribution good – being a Supporter – is the reason it's also questionable to use. Often times you want the cards you're shuffling back in immediately, meaning you have to use a Supporter to search your deck for those cards. If you can't wait a turn to get those cards back, it's basically worthless. For that reason, Aaron's Collection may be a better alternative recovery Supporter for SP decks. However, Palmer's Contribution is still a solid card that should see play in all sorts of decks.

7) Mankey

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Yes, you are reading this correctly – Mankey. No, this is not a mistake! Why, you ask?

Question: What's the most popular card today?
Answer: Luxray GL LV.X.
Question: How much damage does Mankey do to a Luxray GL LV.X?
Answer: 120.

For one Energy, Extra Punch hits any LV.X for 60 damage. Well, Luxray happens to be weak to Fighting, so the lowly Mankey can KO it for one Energy. Even though it seems very silly, Mankey is the easiest way to respond to a quick Luxray GL LV.X, and it's easily added to any deck. All you need is one Mankey and one Fighting Energy! Sure, Mankey is very likely to be KO'd right back because it only has 50 HP, but the important thing is that it is a simple, effective response to a Luxray. Does it have any use outside of that? Well, unless you're running a Primeape deck, probably not. Still, Mankey serves its purpose very well.

6) Metagross

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Metagross is a truly unique card. In the past, there have been cards that raise the HP of Pokemon, but never any that actually decreased HP! With Metagross' Gravitation Poke-Body in effect, all Pokemon have 20 less HP. For example, the 50 HP Baltoy now has only 30 HP, and even Metagross drops from 130 to 110. With everything being so low in HP, options open up for new strategies. For example, you could go with a “sniping” approach with Honchkrow G or Gengar to pick off weak Pokemon for easy prizes repeatedly. Alternatively, you can take a straightforward approach with a strong, quick hitter like Kingdra. Now that everyone's HP is lower, an attack like Dragon Pump becomes much stronger. With Metagross in play, SP Pokemon (who usually have around 110-120 HP) become very easy to KO.

However, the Iron Leg Pokemon has a nasty three retreat cost, so be sure not to get it stuck in the Active spot. With cards like Luxray GL LV.X and Trapinch (Secret Wonders) being so popular, Metagross could end up being a big liability if you're not careful. In fact, you may have to play cards like Warp Point or Switch just to take care of that problem. For the most part, you will not attack with Metagross – only use it for its Poke-Body. Of course, the other major drawback to Metagross is that it is a Stage Two, so it is difficult to get into play. Still, I'm sure there is a way to use this card effectively in a future archetype.

5) Exploud

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Even though Exploud's attacks are downright awful, Erasing Sound is an incredible Poke-Body that can alter matchups like nothing else. One of the major ways to counter decks is by exploiting Weakness. For example, Machamp is weak to Psychic, so many players use Uxie LV.X as a simple counter to it based on Weakness. Well, now Exploud enters the scene! As it turns out, most cards that are used to counter popular things are actually quite mediocre when they don't hit for Weakness. If you can manage to get Exploud into play, the entire complexion of the game could change. Anyone who has played Pokemon knows how important Weakness can be, and getting rid of it can remove any, well, weaknesses from your deck. However, like the aforementioned Metagross, Exploud can be difficult to get into play because it is a Stage 2, and it can be a liability if it gets dragged out into the Active spot. Still, the Poke-Body may be too good for some decks to pass up, so they will find a way to make it work.

4) VS Seeker

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Okay, VS Seeker really isn't anything too spectacular, but it's a solid card that will find its way into a lot of decks. Obviously the card is useless until you have played a Supporter, so you will be using this card mostly in the middle and end of games. Basically VS Seeker is nothing more than a versatile card that provides an extra “any” Supporter. For example, say you play one Lucian's Assignment in your deck for unexpected situations, but you also play a VS Seeker in your deck. Now you have the option to use that Lucian's Assignment twice in a game, or maybe you just want to use your VS Seeker on another Bebe's Search, Roseanne's Research, etc. The point is, VS Seeker can be any of those cards depending on what you need at the time. Overall, it will find the most use in SP decks because of how important Cyrus's Conspiracy is. Nearly every game SP decks will use all four Cyrus's Conspiracy very quickly, and having access to a “fifth” Cyrus is incredibly useful. In addition, it's very nifty to be able to use utility Supporters like Aaron's Collection. While VS Seeker might not change the format or alter the way the game is played, it is a good card that will find its way into many decks.

3) Relicanth

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At first glance, this card is very underwhelming, and it even looks a little goofy! Plus, it's only an Uncommon? How can this card be any good? Well, in normal circumstances, this card would be pretty bad; however, in competitive play, it's extremely useful! For a Basic Pokemon, 80 HP is pretty solid, so that's a good start. Furthermore, it has a nonexistent Weakness – Grass. So far, so good! Let's just get to the good part, though: Grand Swell.

With the popularity of Energy Gain (in SP decks) and Unown G, odds are your opponent always will have at least one Pokemon Tool in play every game. For each one of those Tools your opponent puts into play, Relicanth can do 30 damage to any Pokemon! So, say you face someone who attaches two Unown G to his Pokemon, and he has a 60 HP Pokemon sitting on the Bench. Using Grand Swell, Relicanth can KO that 60 HP Pokemon instantly! Of course, if your opponent finds out that you are using Relicanth, odds are he/she will not put any more Tools into play. For this reason, Relicanth is best paired with cards that force the opponent to place down those Tools, such as Gengar from Stormfront. Ultimately, though, this card can just be added to the ever-expanding list of cards used to defeat SP decks. Since SP Pokemon need to use Energy Gain, Relicanth will be doing big damage for very little Energy. Look for the “Longevity Pokemon” to be featured in popular decks for a long, long time.

2) Blaziken FB LV.X

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For an in-depth look at Blaziken FB, I would recommend checking out Justin William's article.

Since Justin covered the card pretty well in his article, I'll make this brief. With an Energy Gain attached, Blaziken FB LV.X hits for 80 damage for one Energy with Jet Shoot. No matter how you look at it, that is strong, fast, and efficient. Surely it's a good fit in any SP deck. Still, often overlooked is the Poke-Body, Burning Spirit. When an Active Pokemon is Burned, any damage done to it is increased by 40. So, if the Defending Pokemon is Burned, Jet Shoot will do an amazing 120 damage for one Energy! Unfortunately, the convenient ways to Burn the Defending Pokemon is with Magmortar (Supreme Victors) or Blaziken (Platinum). You may just be better off doing the normal 80 damage with Jet Shoot.

1) Garchomp C LV.X

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For the most part, most people have overlooked this card, which is absolutely shocking. Where do you start with Garchomp? Well, let's go with the Poke-Power, Healing Breath. Some people thought SP Pokemon were unfair because of Poke Turn, which allows you to return any SP Pokemon to your hand. Basically it lets you scoop up damaged Pokemon to prevent your opponent from taking prizes. In addition to that, now SP decks have Healing Breath at their disposal, which removes all the damage off every one of your SP Pokemon! If Garchomp only had this Poke-Power and nothing else useful, it would already be an extremely good card; but wait, there's more!

For two Energy (and an Energy Gain attached), Dragon Rush does 80 damage to any Pokemon! At every point in the game, this attack is useful. Early in the game, you can use it to KO an opponent's Claydol, crippling their draw power. Maybe your opponent is building up a new threat and has a bunch of Energy on it – hit it with Dragon Rush! Perhaps your opponent has a nasty Flygon LV.X that is wreaking havoc on all your Pokemon. Hey, there's an easy solution for that; attack it with Dragon Rush! Since Garchomp is Colorless, it hits Flygon LV.X for 160 damage instead of the normal 80. Don't forget that Garchomp C LV.X also has no retreat cost, so he can come and go as he pleases. All of these factors make for one incredible addition to any SP deck, especially because it uses only Colorless Energy! You should see more and more of this card as the season progresses; it would boggle my mind if you didn't. For me, there is no question that Garchomp C LV.X is the best card in Supreme Victors.

Well, there you have it – the top ten cards from Supreme Victors. You should be seeing many of these cards in winning decks in the future, so be prepared for them! With the release of the new Arceus set coming up, how will these cards fit into new decks? Only time will tell!

-Pooka