Hey everybody! PikaPoster here, ready to talk about the recent 2017 rotation. As you probably know, we lost a bunch of important cards and even whole decks as a result of the rotation, but that’s just how it is. You’ve got to roll with the punches and build a new deck for the standard format!
Lost Cards
Okay. We all know we lost some pretty important cards, such as Battle Compressor, Trevenant, and other good cards. But what exactly happened? Here is a list of the main important cards that we lost to Expanded Format.
| Card | Expansion |
|---|---|
| Trevenant | XY |
| Greninja | XY |
| Aromatisse | XY |
| Druddigon | FLF |
| Miltank | FLF |
| Pyroar | FLF |
| Dedenne | FFI |
| Lucario-EX | FFI |
| Mienshao | FFI |
| Seismitoad-EX | FFI |
| Hawlucha | FFI |
| Landorus | FFI |
| Night Marchers | PHF |
| M Manectric-EX | PHF |
| Bronzong | PHF |
| Aegislash-EX | PHF |
| Crobat | PHF |
| Gengar-EX | PHF |
| Malamar-EX | PHF |
| Pyroar | PHF |
| Xerosic | PHF |
| AZ | PHF |
| Korrina | FFI |
| Blacksmith | FLF |
| Muscle Band | XY |
| Hard Charm | XY |
| Head Ringer | PHF |
| Focus Sash | FFI |
| Battle Compressor | PHF |
| Startling Megaphone | FLF |
| Sacred Ash | FLF |
| Trick Shovel | FLF |
| Robo Substitute | PHF |
| Dimension Valley | PHF |
| Fighting Stadium | FFI |
| Mystery Energy | PHF |
Main Decks Lost/Hit
| Deck | Main Cards Lost |
|---|---|
| Night March | Joltik, Pumpkaboo, Lampent, Battle Compressor |
| Seismitoad-EX Variants | Seismitoad-EX, Crobat |
| Trevenant | Travenant, Dimension Valley |
| Mega Manectric | Manectric-EX, Mega Manectric-EX |
| Lucario-EX | Lucario-EX, Fighting Stadium, Korrina, Hawlucha |
| Pyroar | Both Pyroar, Blacksmith |
| Wailord | AZ, Hard Charm, Head Ringer, Trick Shovel |
New Decks To Build
Now that most of the pre-rotation decks are dead, its time to look for a new deck. I was playing Vespiquen pre-rotation, and one week after, I decided to build a Mega Gardevoir (Brilliant Arrow) and Giratina-EX deck. Is completely standard, and has no need for Aromatisse. Here are some decks that can do well post-rotation.
Vileplume AOR Variants
It is probably the best disruptive card in standard right now. Without Battle Copressor, I doubt many people will play it with Vespiquen, but it could work.
Garbodor BKP Variants
Without Xerosic and Startling Megaphone, he would be a force to be reckoned with. Zygarde-EX might be a good partner for this deck, as well as the more recent version of Darkrai-EX.
Mega Mewtwo (Y)
This deck always struggled against Night March, but now, with no key cards rotated, it could see some serious play. It has high HP and powerful attacks, and it accelerates very fast.
Mega Rayquaza-EX
This card is the same story as Mewtwo. No Rotations, and super fast acceleration. It will see lots of play in future.