Crimson Invasion 2.0:
At this point, it's safe to assume Buzzwole is the best card in format, and BuzzRoc is the best deck in format. And those titles are only solidifed by the finals of the Latin America Internationals being a BuzzRoc mirror. But with Forbidden Light's release, 3 new tricks we're getting out of the set will guarantee Buzzwole's position for the foreseeable future.Beast Ring:
When Buzzwole-GX was first released, and still even today, the primary way to charge up one was through Max Elixir. But while it is a great card for energy acceleration, it isn't guaranteed, and games could come down to whether you hit a key Max Elixir or not. The solution: Beast Ring. While Max Elixir will still be played with Buzzwole for early acceleration, Beast Ring is the key to getting up a Knuckle Impact as soon as possible. While the clause of needing your opponent to have three or four prizes remaining is a bit annoying, it's a very easy restriction to work with, as unless you're playing against a Greninja BREAK deck, it's extremely hard to go straight from five prizes to two.
Diance Prism:
One of the key pieces that helped propel Buzzwole to top-tier status is the damage boosting power of Regirock-EX. However, it seems Regirock's time in the spotlight may be over as Diance Prism comes in to 1-up Regirock. The fact that Diance is essentially a double Regirock that only gives up one prize is what will likely force Regirock out. And while Diance is a one-of due to being a Prism Star, the numbers it allows Buzzwole to hit will make that trade off a small one in the long run.
Baby Buzzwole
Let's face it: One of the main weaknesses of Buzzwole Decks was the Shining Legends Hoopa (Or the Alolan Ninetales from Burning Shadows). Even if you were playing the promo Rockruff, 20 damage means you're 3-hit-KOing a Hoopa with weakness, or if you were playing the Rockruff from Guardians Rising, the 30 damage would be enough for a 2-hit-KO with weakness, that came down to a coin flip. Those both assume you're not using Strong Energy or Diance Prism, but both are easily KOed by an attacking Hoopa. But now with the Baby/Non-GX Buzzwole, Buzzwole decks will finally have a decent Attacking Hoopa counter. While the second attack involves coin flips and is a bit overpriced, plus the first attack's damage boost sometimes will never some into play, simply putting a Strong Energy & Diance Prism on the bench will allow you to hit Hoopas for 1-hit-KOs with ease. Even if you don't have to worry about Hoopa, the ability to hit 120 for 1 energy is great. Again, it may never come into effect in some games, since going from five to three prizes is relatively easy, just having it as a backup will help even out some matchups.
Beast Box: Naganadel/Buzzwole
Again, more Buzzwole. But let's face it, what other ultra beast would you pair with Naganadel as an attacker? While the deck does have the option to play other beasts like Kartana-GX, or in some cases Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX, if the deck sees any competitive play, it's likely going to be Naganadel/Buzzwole, and maybe a copy of Kartana-GX to deal with special energy.
Now, there has been plenty of talk about Naganadel just being a worse version of Zoroark-GX, but it has potential, and here's why: It's a Psychic Type. Because Buzzwole is the best Pokemon in format, being able to hit it's psychic weakness will be crucial to countering it. And while Mew-EX and Evolutions Mewtwo are also viable options as counters that can simply be teched into any deck, the GX attack on Naganadel could make it the best counter we have at the moment. Simply being able to screw your opponent over by giving them extra prizes when they've used a ton of resources, while accelerating your game-state by simply attaching three energy is a great option. And with Beast Ring running around, this could be a legitimate option.
Zoroark/Greninja:
This is probably the most interesting deck coming out of the new set, and it is the prime example of a hit or miss competitor. On the one hand, you get the consistency of Zoroark as well as a high damage, single attachment attack. Pair that with the new Frogadier & Greninja-GX, and Zoroark can now take KOs that previously took a couple of turns at best.
But here's the one thing that could shoot this whole archetype down: It's relativly slow in the early game, and the main attacker is weak to Buzzwole. The success of this deck will come down to whether it can set up fast enough to deal with Buzzwoles. If that can happen, we could have a new version of the Seismitoad/Bats deck from the Boundaries Crossed & onward format. But if it can't, it may just be stuck to being a fun league deck that crops up every once and a while.
Zygarde/Bonnie
While it could be argued this also has the chance to tank and become a fun league deck, there's quite a bit that's going for it. First off, Zygarde, being a fighting type, has access to some of the fighting damage boost tricks, mainly Diance Prism. It unfortunately can't abuse Strong Energy as it's acceleration attack accelerates fighting energy from the discard, and Strong Energy only counts as fighting energy when attacked to a fighting Pokemon.
But, like Naganadel, what might push Zygarde to competitive success is the GX Attack. The ability to take easy KOs on things like Tapu Lele-GX is good in itself, gaining immunity to EXs & GXs is huge. Since most top-tier decks at the moment revolve around GXs, it's basically full immunity (Unless you come across an attacking Hoopa or any deck that plays a non-GX tech). And with the ability to spam it with Bonnie, and then reuse Bonnie with something like Pal Pad, it could possibly see play at the top-tier tables.
Two questions still emerge with this archetype. 1. How will you be able to easily move Ultra Necrozma out of the active to accelerate to it with Malamar? The answer: Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX. While it's darkness weakness is painful, Zoroark will likely dip in play with Buzzwole gaining all the aforementioned new tricks, so the weakness won't be as bad. But what really will make this card great for Ultra Necrozma decks, besides the ability, is the fact that it's a psychic type that's resistant to Buzzwole. Being able to hit Buzzwole for weakness while basically negating a Diance or Strong Energy boost allows for Dawn Wings to become the final piece of the deck. But another question that has popped up every so often is why not the Necrozma-GX from Burning Shadows?
While the GX attack on Necrozma is better, as well as being able to hit 190 for 3 energy where Ultra Necrozma needs 4 energy, one of which needs to be metal, 3 things make Ultra Necrozma better. First, Light's End never comes into play in the current meta. It could down the road if Drampa sees an increase in play, but that seems unlikely with Buzzwole running rampant. Second, Ultra Necrozma has 190 HP while Necrozma has 180. As seen with Buzzwole, 190 is much better as it allows these Pokemon to survive hits from things like Drampa with a choice band, or Tapu Bulu without a choice band, and that could be key to Ultra Necrozma's viabilty. And third, Necrozma is weak to psychic. Again, any deck that techs psychic attackers to counter Buzzwole will counter Necrozma, where as Ultra Necrozma's weakness isn't as bad due to Gardevoir not being relevant at the moment, and even if it was, you're discarding the energy off of Ultra Necrozma, which weaken's Gardevoir's attack capabilities.
Ultra Necrozma/Malamar
And now, we have the most hyped up deck out of the set. Will it see play? Absolutely. The ability on Malamar has been proven good in the past with Dark Explorers Eelektrik and Phantom Forces Bronzong, even though those two were for lightning and metal energy respectively.
Two questions still emerge with this archetype. 1. How will you be able to easily move Ultra Necrozma out of the active to accelerate to it with Malamar? The answer: Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX. While it's darkness weakness is painful, Zoroark will likely dip in play with Buzzwole gaining all the aforementioned new tricks, so the weakness won't be as bad. But what really will make this card great for Ultra Necrozma decks, besides the ability, is the fact that it's a psychic type that's resistant to Buzzwole. Being able to hit Buzzwole for weakness while basically negating a Diance or Strong Energy boost allows for Dawn Wings to become the final piece of the deck. But another question that has popped up every so often is why not the Necrozma-GX from Burning Shadows?
While the GX attack on Necrozma is better, as well as being able to hit 190 for 3 energy where Ultra Necrozma needs 4 energy, one of which needs to be metal, 3 things make Ultra Necrozma better. First, Light's End never comes into play in the current meta. It could down the road if Drampa sees an increase in play, but that seems unlikely with Buzzwole running rampant. Second, Ultra Necrozma has 190 HP while Necrozma has 180. As seen with Buzzwole, 190 is much better as it allows these Pokemon to survive hits from things like Drampa with a choice band, or Tapu Bulu without a choice band, and that could be key to Ultra Necrozma's viabilty. And third, Necrozma is weak to psychic. Again, any deck that techs psychic attackers to counter Buzzwole will counter Necrozma, where as Ultra Necrozma's weakness isn't as bad due to Gardevoir not being relevant at the moment, and even if it was, you're discarding the energy off of Ultra Necrozma, which weaken's Gardevoir's attack capabilities.
Reign of the Beasts
While Zygarde and Zoroark decks may still be good going into the era of Forbidden Light being legal, the best decks will likely revolve around Ultra Beasts like Buzzwole & Ultra Necrozma. Could I be wrong with this? Absolutely, but we'll just have to wait.
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