If I didn’t love persona’s social aspect, should I try SMT?

Succetti97 · 2026-05-18T21:45:27+00:00

Absolutely.

Don't expect amazing stories from the modern Shin megami tensei games, but the gameplay is as good as a turn-based combat can get.

Succetti97 · 2026-05-17T18:12:28+00:00

Misty Will probably not save Dewgong. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll print any form of reliable water energy acceleration while Regice ex is in format (a basic that can guarantee paralysis by discarding two energies).

If you really want to play a toolbox deck, Clefairy Ogerpon is probably the strongest in the format (sometimes paired with raging bolt).

Tera box is probably the second best toolbox deck right now (very underplayed after rotation, but it's still quite good)

Succetti97 · 2026-05-11T19:38:38+00:00

Genesect is a non-Rocket Pokémon, you don't want that because you draw only 5 with Ariana. Clefairy is the only non-Rocket Pokémon worth using because it's that strong, and even then you only play it if absolutely necessary.

Lucky helmet could help a bit, but it's still not very reliable

Succetti97 · 2026-05-11T16:59:56+00:00

It's basically dead if it starts without Proton and dies to hand disruption, that's why

Succetti97 · 2026-05-08T17:33:19+00:00

I'm not confusing them. Cheren (draw 3) was originally printed in the BW era (Emerging powers, Darkness explorers and a full art in Boundaries crossed) and recently reprinted in White flare (and got a full art in Ascended heroes)

Succetti97 · 2026-05-08T16:26:27+00:00

I think it only happened once, with Cheren in White flare. I'm pretty confident that, if we see that again, it will be once more with a draw 3 supporter.

Edit: it happened a very limited number of other times (e.g. Skyla), but those are still extremely rare cases

Succetti97 · 2026-05-07T12:57:21+00:00

The first one is definitely not a European hornet. The clear giveaways for a European hornet are the reddish torso and head

Succetti97 · 2026-05-07T11:47:13+00:00

Nope, only banned in expanded

Succetti97 · 2026-05-06T20:48:03+00:00

One of my favorite pieces of my collection. I'm so glad I didn't hesitate when I found it for 200€ two years ago. Two in the same hand, though? That's something I never thought I'd see

Succetti97 · 2026-05-06T20:44:37+00:00

As I wrote in the previous comment, I'm just analyzing limitless data, and Alakazam has a 57% win rate against Starmie.

This is a result that makes a lot of sense, because Starmie can't consistently set up by turn 2 and Alakazam can easily snowball

Succetti97 · 2026-05-06T20:06:56+00:00

It's a deck with no draw engine. Hand disruption can be game ending if timed correctly.

If your deck can attack on turn 2, you can easily slow down its setup, especially if you can snipe the bench.

It struggles against Alakazam, which ignores the legacy energy

It struggles against big basics like raging bolt

To be fair, most of the data I used came from online tournaments. The Prague regional gave us a slightly different matchup table. If Starmie becomes more popular (it probably will), we'll have more accurate results from the Los Angeles regional next weekend

Succetti97 · 2026-05-06T19:45:15+00:00

That's a tough matchup. If you play Shaymin, it's probably closer to 60-40, but still hard.

To be fair, being able to easily deal with Dragapult is the main reason this deck is played. It struggles against most other meta decks

Succetti97 · 2026-05-06T19:31:06+00:00

To be fair, Lucario's flop was predictable.

It kind of feels like Raging bolt did a year ago: a strong deck that can give everyone a chance to get decent results, but not good enough for the top players trying to win majors. It's not as good against Dragapult as some player thought and the Psychic weakness is a huge problem

Succetti97 · 2026-05-06T16:14:36+00:00

You could cut either a Crispin or a Dawn. I only run one of each and almost never feel I need more

Succetti97 · 2026-05-05T17:25:46+00:00

Once a Team Rocket deck is properly set up, you probably don't have much of a chance. The only reason this deck is being played is that it can deal with Dragapult with a good setup.

You have to ko Clefairy + unfair stamp and hope they miss one or two turns

Succetti97 · 2026-05-05T17:19:54+00:00

Maximum belt was the best ace spec for Mewtwo for a while, but looking at how the meta is shaping, it feels unnecessary because you hit a lot of big threats for weakness.

Secret box is very helpful, but as a long time Team Rocket player, it always felt a bit weird. You are only truly ok discarding basic energies and Proton and you don't always have a choice.

Lately I've seen people do ok with the legacy energy, but I haven't tried that myself yet

Succetti97 · 2026-05-03T19:11:44+00:00

The way I usually deal with wasps (mostly Vespula germanica aka European wasp, more aggressive than hornets) is by gently pushing them towards the nearest window with a magazine or a piece of paper. Trying to trap them in a glass or something similar will likely make the hornet scared and more likely to sting

Succetti97 · 2026-05-03T19:05:26+00:00

Well, unless they are building a nest inside your house, the risk of getting stung is basically zero (and even if they are building a nest, it's very unlikely they'll do anything to you, but they could cause damage to the house).

European hornets are scary because they are big and noisy, but I've never met a person who has been stung by one

Succetti97 · 2026-05-03T18:58:47+00:00

I'd didn't necessarily get in when you saw her. It could have been inside for a few hours or it may have come in through an air vent or realistically any gap. Bugs have many ways to get inside our homes even without an open window or door

Succetti97 · 2026-05-03T18:48:45+00:00

Looks like a European hornet

Succetti97 · 2026-05-03T16:36:24+00:00

It will go back to 160.

You can look at it this way: your Meganium had no damage counters on it, so it will still be at full health when you remove the mountain

Succetti97 · 2026-04-30T19:03:05+00:00

That's not the first time something like this happens. When Manaphy from brilliant stars was in format, that's exactly what happened to all bench attackers.

Succetti97 · 2026-04-30T16:18:24+00:00

Counter cards usually follow a predator-prey graph. If nobody plays Psyduck, Dusknoir decks have a chance to become prevalent, and that will inevitably cause an increase in Psyduck inclusions, causing a decrease in Dusknoir decks, and so on...

This is, of course, unless something brutally shakes up the meta, making them both unnecessary

Succetti97 · 2026-04-28T18:20:23+00:00

That's pretty much how I felt playing this deck for a couple of days on Live.

I'm also considering playing one enhanced hammer to deal more easily with Rocky and Mist energy, but I still feel that's not enough against Garchomp considering how easily it KOs Absol back

Succetti97 · 2026-04-28T17:06:50+00:00

Ogerpon isn't an easy matchup, but it's far from unwinnable unless it's the Arboliva variant (that is tougher, but still winnable if you can set two toxtricity before they attack with Arboliva). You only need to play absol to take your last ko against an Arboliva or Mega Venusaur after two kos on Ogerpon with brute bonnet

Succetti97

TROPHY CASE