Pokemon catcher is a card used in so many decks x3 Pokémon Catcher was first released in the
Emerging Powers expansion, originating from the
White Collection. It was reprinted in the
Battle Strength Decks,
Battle Theme Deck: Victini, the
Reshiram EX and
Zekrom EX Battle Strength Decks, and the
Battle Gift Set: Thundurus vs Tornadus. It was later included in the
Dark Rush expansion as an Ultra-Rare
Secret card.ah yes links where included ;D
Pokemon Catcher is a trainer card that lets you pick a Pokemon on your opponent's bench and switch it with the active. The last time this card was released, as a card named Gust of Wind, it was the best card in the format. It ushered in an era of dominance for a very fast deck with all basic Pokemon. The question was will
Pokemon Catcher have the same format changing effect as Gust of Wind did? To answer these questions I decided to test multiple decks in the PC (Post Catcher) format. The testing yielded some surprising results. To start this article off I will begin by running a "Mythbusters" type list about statements people made about
Pokemon Catcher.
Mythbusters- Pokemon Catcher
1.
Myth-Kenny Wisdom in his Sixprizes article said that some decks will be unplayable because they get destroyed by
Pokemon Catcher. It would make sense that decks that rely on bench sitters would no longer be playable.
Verdict-
Plausible. I have not tested a deck with a bench sitter like Reuniclus and Vileplume, but I would assume that it will be hard to setup 2 bench sitting stage 2s. But, if you need a bench sitter, it would be best to have either Gothitelle active or Vileplume on the bench.
2.
Myth: On the SixPrizes forum, a user named Johnny Blaze wrote that all Stage 2 decks will be horrible because you can just catcher up the basic first.
Verdict-
Busted. Stage 2 decks are still very playable. In fact one stage 2 Pokemon named Vileplume could become one of the most important cards in the format. Since everyone will be playing trainer heavy decks, the ability to take away the trainers will be amazing. Also, decks with 4
Pokemon Catcher don't always get one when they need it, and they can't always knock out a basic or stage 1 if they do find a Catcher. I think what is worse off than Stage 2′s are bench sitting stage 1′s like Weavile. If you don't also have Vileplume in play, those quick stage 1′s become a problem because anytime the opponent draws a Catcher, they can then stall by bringing up a bench sitting stage 1. But when it comes to stage 2′s, it will be harder to get them out, but I would say they are still very viable.
3.
Myth: Pokegym User Mew723 wrote that Emboar will be unplayable in the next format. If you think about it, catchering up a Tepig or Pignite would be hard to deal with.
Verdict-
Busted. I have tested an Emboar deck, and while it is no longer quite as consistent as it once was. it is not unplayable. The same principle works in the PC era as it did in the BC (before catcher) era. You might have to alter the decklist a little, but for the most part you can still run a Reshiboar deck about as good as you could before.
4.
Myth: This myth will address some of the comments made on my
Pokemon Catcher article. The comments are: Cincinno will be big, Zekrom is good, babies won't be as effective.
Verdict-
Plausible. Cincinno is now a much more effective Pokemon than he was before. He can attack fast and is almost on par with Donphan and Yanmega in some respects. Zekrom was always good, he might be a little better now thanks to Yanmega being that good. Babies will not be as popular as they once were. Its just really easy to Catcher them up when you need, or to Catcher around them when they are asleep. But, a lot of decks will run at least 1 Cleffa to help as a hand refresher.
Pokemon Catcher does change the format, but you know what they say about change. The more things change the more they stay the same. While some decks will be gone because of Pokmeon Catcher, the format will still come down to Donphan, Yanmega, Reshiram, Zekrom and other Pokemon that are currently popular. Decks that run benched Pokemon can still win, players just need to change their decklist a little to adjust. From my testing, it looks like all of those who say that
Pokemon Catcher will ruin the format will be wrong. So thats all for the Mythbusters episode, lets go to the list I promised you.
info provided by 1 hit ko.com and bulbapedia and my brain :P
