Top 10 cards from Pokémon Pitch Black!

Hello everyone!

It is sometimes crazy how time flies by… just yesterday I was writing an article about Chaos Rising and look at this, the next set is already upon us. Pitch Black is the fourth set since rotation took place and it is centered around the Pokémon that embodies Nightmares, Mega Darkrai ex itself. So expect a lot of spooky attacks, ghost-type Pokémon and a bunch of cards for Darkness type Pokémon. I won’t waste your time so let’s get right into it!

10. Bolty [L] Energy 

As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides 1 [L] Energy.
The attacks of the [L] Pokemon this card is attached to do 20 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).

This card being in the list was honestly a very easy decision. Damage modifiers are great and the only thing better than a type-specific damage modifier is actually a generic damage modifier. Lightning Energy allows electric type Pokémon to hit for 20 more damage and considering that we will most likely head into a format where Mega Evolutions are the norm, this damage boost might be the difference from getting a big KO or not.

The only problem? There are not many relevant electric Pokémon in the format so this card might not immediately shine… Yes, sure, Mega Manectric ex might finally get to better numbers but it was not doing much, you know what I mean? This is the type of card you need to keep in your radar because it is arguably very powerful but the format is just not helping it at all.

9. Toucanon 

Ability: Sky Draw
Once during your turn, you may draw a card.
[C] Feather Rondo: 60+ damage. This attack does 20 more damage for each Benched Pokemon in play (both yours and your opponent's).

When the scans started leaking online, so many players started losing it and started screaming “OMG, Palkia VSTAR is back!” pointing at Toucanon. By the way, why is it wearing such an angry expression on its face? It is a bird, isn’t it supposed to be flying and happy and colorful? Who has insulted its family? Sorry, let’s get back to the card itself…

Toucanon does effectively remind us of the very powerful Palkia VSTAR, one of the most powerful Pokémon of its generation. The attack deals 60 damage and increases by 20 by each Pokémon that is in play. In an ideal world, where both benches are full, Toucanon can be technically hitting for 260 for just one energy, a really, really powerful number. On top of that, Toucanon has an ability that lets us draw cards and the more birds you evolve, the more cards you will be able to get.

Even if this all sounds amazing on paper, I am still a bit concerned about the competitive viability of Toucanon. Dragapult is way too strong and between a combination of Dusknoir, Munkidoi and Phantom Dive, Toucanon might just lose the game in one turn if Dragapult is able to find the right pieces (spoiler: Dragapult never misses). And being a stage 2 Pokémon without a very specific support doesn’t help as well.

So I do think that this angry friend has some potential and will do well against very specific types of decks, but I don’t really consider it will be able to make a significant impact in the metagame.

8. Misty

Search your deck for up to 4 Basic [W] Energy and attach them to 1 of your Pokemon. Then, shuffle your deck. Your turn ends.

I don’t really know what to think of this card. Losing a turn? Terrible. Attaching 4 energies from your deck? Insane. If Maths has taught us anything, it is that a negative balances a positive… kinda?. Jokes aside, this is not the first time we’ve had a supporter like this. Kiawe, for example, in the Sun and Moon era did the same for Fire energies and it was a great supporter but it is true that the circumstances that surrounded the formats are very different. So I really don’t think that Misty is going to be played for now but this is just the type of card that is one Pokémon away from breaking the format.

7. Mega Darkrai ex 

Basic Pokemon
[D][D] Night Raid: 110+ damage. If any of your Benched Pokemon have any damage counters on them, this attack does 110 more damage.
[D][D][D] Abyss Eye: If your opponent's Active Pokemon is affected by any Special Condition, it is now Knocked Out.

I want Mega Darkrai to be playable so badly… Darkrai is one of my favorite Pokémon ever and it has always been a strong contender in the format but I am concerned that, at least for the time being, this won't  be possible for a couple of reasons. Let’s start with the positive aspects and then move into the negative ones, shall we? 

Mega Darkrai has some amazing attacks that ensure nothing stays in its way and I have to say that both movements are also very cost efficient. For just two energies, Darkrai can reach the magic 220 number (enough to KO a wide range of 2 prize cards) just by meeting the condition of having a damage counter of your bench, which is ridiculously easy to achieve thanks to Toxtricity. And then, if you just attach one additional energy card, Darkrai can send anything to the discard pile with Abyss Eye as long as the Pokémon is affected by a special condition. How do we ensure our opponent always has a special condition though? Just keep reading the article to find out because, as you can expect, Pokémon Company was not going to release a Pokémon like Darkrai without a way to make the combo go through! 

So, while Darkrai is definitely a powerhouse, it still has a big problem. It is a Mega Evolution Pokémon, meaning that it gives three prize cards when it falls in battle… and considering how strong Grass type decks are, Darkrai might have a really difficult time fighting for some space in the metagame. In my opinion, Drakrai is a strong Pokémon and has a ton of potential but unless grass decreases its use or there is a way to pair it up with strong one-prizers, I don’t really see Darkrai making a short-term impact.

6. Fossil Excavation Site

Stadium
Once during each player's turn, that player may search their deck for up to 2 Trainer cards with "Antique" in their name, put them onto their Bench, and then shuffle their deck.

Technically speaking, this card is really, really broken for fossil decks. In practice… well, the problem is not this card, the problem is that fossil strategies have never been more than meme decks. 
See, Pokémon as a Trading Card Game have a serious problem with the mechanic itself for two big reasons: consistency and speed. This stadium card solves problem number one, allowing you to find your items (which act like basic Pokémon in this context) without needing you to draw them manually. But even if you still set up well, the problem is being able to still find the rest of the pieces throughout the game and have enough power to go against the rest of the decks in the format. 
So, is this card good? Absolutely, very very powerful. Will it really make fossil decks stand out? I don’t think so, but it's worth keeping in mind.

5. Mega Excadrill

Mega Excadrill ex - Metal - HP340
Stage 1 - Evolves from Drilbur
[M][M] Dig And Break: 90 damage. Discard the top 2 cards from your opponent's deck.
[M][M][M] Maximum Drill: 200+ damage. If this Pokémon has at least 2 extra Energy attached to it (in addition to this attack's cost), this attack does 130 more damage.

When I played Legends ZA, I used Mega Excradill almost compulsively from the start of the game so I really wanted the card to be good. And well, it is not spectacular but certainly not disappointing. Mega Excadrill is a very simple, aggressive, straightforward deck: if you are able to attach 5 metal energies, you can basically KO every single (relevant) Pokémon in the format. And while 5 energy cards looks insane, it is actually very easy to pull off thanks to Metang from Temporal Forces.
In fact, Mega Excadrill has been quite popular in the Japanese scene but it has not been able to just make a big breakthrough in the metagame. I think something similar will happen here, where this big guy will definitely top some tournaments but won’t by, by any means, the most played deck.

4. Dark Bell

Both Active Pokemon (except any [D] Pokemon) are now Confused.

This is the type of cards I really like: simple but powerful. Dark Bell “just” makes both Pokémon confused except Dark ones. The combo with Darkrai is pretty obvious, so I won’t go into it but I think that having an item that always grants confusion is always very positive. You could theoretically play it, then retreat your active Pokémon and attack. Next time your opponent attempts to move, they know they will need to get lucky with their coin flips.

While this card will of course find immediate use in every deck that runs Dark-type Pokémon, I also think it is a massive addition for control decks, getting them a turn or two they normally miss.  

3. Gladion

You may only play this card if it is the only card in your hand.
During this turn, attacks used by your Pokemon that do not have a Rule Box deal 80 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon.

I love this card. The first time I read it I almost choked on my coffee because I completely missed the first text line (it was very early in the morning). Gladion allows you to deal plus 80 damage as long as you are using a non-rule box Pokémon as an attacker AND (this is the part I missed) as long as there are no cards in hand. 
It is not ideal to have an empty hand count, we all know that, but 80 extra damage is just a crazy number, crazy enough that you will still just find your way to make this card work. The deck that immediately came to mind is Festival Lead, whose attackers meet all the requirements and can maneuver to find the right pieces to discard your hand. Of course, the decklist itself would need to be adapted around Gladion but I still think it will be worth it. And… in the future? Who knows where Gladion might be seen…

2. Gwynn

Supporter
Discard up to 2 Pokemon from your hand (excluding any Rule Box Pokemon). Draw 3 cards for each Pokemon discarded in this way.

Ok, I really think this card is amazing. I was just so close to including it in the top 1 and perhaps I should have done it considering the more I read it the more I liked it. So, Gwynn is a supporter with a very simple but powerful draw effect that can give you up to 6 fresh new cards in exchange for discarding non-rule box pokémon from your hand. 
Because of that restriction. Gwynn won’t become an immediate staple for all decks in the format, since there are so many strategies that purely rely on big ex Pokémon. But for the rest? This is a blessing, something can suddenly boost the consistency of the one-prize decks. With the sad departure of Professor Research in the past rotation, this now becomes the best draw option we have available. If only there was an archetype of one-prize cards that benefited from being sent to the discard pile… right?

1. Ghost Veil

Sinistcha - Grass - HP60
Ability: Ghost Veil
This Pokemon can't be affected by effects of attacks or Abilities from your opponent's Pokemon.

Dhelmise - Psychic - HP140
Basic Pokemon
[P] Regretful Rage: 30+ damage. If you have 4 or more Pokemon in your discard with the Ghost Veil Ability, this attack does 140 more damage.

Banette - Psychic - HP80
Stage 1 - Evolves from Shuppet
Ability: Ghost Veil
This Pokemon can't be affected by effects of attacks or Abilities from your opponent's Pokemon.
[P] Doll Catch: 80 damage. You may search your deck for any card and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your deck.

I am sorry, I cheated. Now that I think of it, I tend to cheat a lot when I write these Top 10 cards articles, but I hope you can forgive me because I have selected an entire archetype for the last spot of the list. Hide and Sneak is the name that these spooky Pokémon share and that basically allow them to perform powerful attacks depending on the amount of friends available in the discard pile. On top of that, some of them have a built-in armor that prevents damage and counters from being placed on them, which is normally the biggest weakness of one-prize Pokémon.

On paper, the deck looks very strong and solid once it keeps going. Gwynn was of course designed to boost their consistency so I expect players to run no less than the full 4 copies of this supporter, alongside a lot of other cards that can discard stuff (Ultra Ball, Secret Box, Prism Tower…). The idea is pretty simple: Banette or Dhelmise are your best attackers in normal situations and if you see an opening, you can simply change your opportunity to spreading damage counters with Sinistcha or Sabeleye. I have always had a thing for one-prizes and I loved to play Night March back in the days so you can imagine how excited I am for this.

If this was not enough to get you hyped, some players are saying that Hide and Sneak are THE new Dragapult counter. And I understand why they would say that… They have the right attackers (psychic type) and technically Dragapult can’t really touch them with Phantom Dive. But still, I think they will suffer against disruption and well timed Munkidori.

I don’t think Hide and Sneak is the next broken deck (that title is very well guarded by Dragapult to be honest) but I am pretty sure it will be a very popular deck choice and players are going to love its dynamic. My only concern is that, even if they seem to be designed to beat Dragapult, they won’t be able to do so in practice…

And with that, we reach the end of this list! Which cards are you excited about? Maybe we will see some cool surprises during Worlds this year and I can’t wait to see people bringing these new strategies to life. Thanks for reading!