And of course, with a new list brings some newer cards into the list which means, a few other cards that were originally in my first top 30 CEC list are now gone, they just have done much to earn the spot. I'll also include the previous entry of the card itself from my earlier top 30 post plus the decks in which the card sees play with to success in top events.
The cards that were not good enough to stay in the top 30:
- Excadrill - Nice idea for a rogue deck but never saw play anywhere
- Flareon - Most of the Eeveelutions didn't see much success
- Gallade - Saw no play whatsoever
- Guzzlord - Still didn't help to make Dark Box good
- Volcarona-GX - I still think this card is good but perhaps having to pay one energy to hit 20 damage is just not as appealing as a free 20 damage from a Stage 2 like Decidueye-GX
30) Belleba & Brycen Man
Seen Play in:
- Oranguru/Pidgeotto Control
- Doll Stall
Just see the two decks in play and yeah not a big fan of this card but since it's done well I cannot deny it a place on this list. But as it's a stall/mill style kind of card I'll just leave it there.
29) Lillie's PokeDoll
Seen Play in:
- Doll Stall
- Blacephalon UNB/Pidgeotto
As I said previously, it's a stall/mill style kind of card I'll just leave it there. Not a fan but since it's got results, it's on here.
28) Solgaleo & Lunala-GX
Seen Play in:
- Malamar
It's a decent attacker for Psychic decks but as expected, only some Malamar decks did try it out and even then, Malamar decks have more better options to go with. The GX does tend to swing games in your favour if you're using it.
27) Flygon-GX
Seen Play in:
- Flygon-GX
It's still a decent rogue deck that has gotten some results in local League Cups over in America. Sadly it just hasn't had any big results in a top tier tournament yet (SPEs, Regionals). The Red & Blue method and manually having to get a Stage 1 out does feel very slow for it.
26) Naganadel & Guzzlord-GX
Seen Play in:
- Malamar
- Giratina & Garchomp-GX/Mismagius
If I told of the three Dragon tag teams released and that ReshiRom is the one that wouldn't see success, you'd call me crazy but it has worked out that way. It's seen sucess with the DDG guys showing the power of it combined with Beast Ringer to pick up the first four prizes and finish off with it's GX move.
25) Alolan Persian-GX
Seen Play in:
- Alolan Persian-GX
It's seen play a few times but it does have success with a 50th place finish at the San Diego regional. Still don't think it's all that good to be honest but with more decks using Special Energies, it could see a bit more play.
24) N's Resolve
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
I could tell this card would end up being a flop. Sure attaching energies freely is a nice effect but when you have to discard the rest, it can be painful. The first time I played N's Resolve, the very first card discarded was Tapu Koko Prism. I already disliked the card from then. It's really only seen play in ADP now and even then it's only a handful trying this method out.
23) Beastite
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX
It's funny how this card was hyped up for Ultra Beast decks but the most succesful deck with it is an ADP deck that just happens to use BuzzMosa as it's second attacker. It's still very good, could still help Blacephalon-GX and Ultra Necrozma-GX in some ways.
22) Red & Blue
Seen Play in:
- Weavile-GX/Naganadel
It does have a good effect but the fact that only Dark Box and decks with Nagandel-GX in it have moderate success with does show that it wasn't as good as we all thought it would be.
21) Reshiram & Zekrom-GX
Seen Play in:
- Raichu/Nuzzle Box
The most hyped card going into the Cosmic Eclipse set has been a flop. It's seen play in it's own deck but to very little success. In fact, it's seen more success as a one-off tech in many Raichu/Nuzzle lists and has also worked nicely as a one-off in my Charizard TEU deck. The damage cap of 270 really did hinder it as many were able to get around it with Choice Helmet and a few 280HP Pokemon have seen more play lately.
20) Drampa
Previous Entry: None
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
A great non-GX attacker for ADP decks and can get cheap KOs on certain GXes but other than that, it doesn't really see much play with other decks.
19) Island Challenge Amulet
Seen Play in:
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Persian-GX/Naganadel-GX Checkmate
I was a bit worried that this card could be broken in some weird combo but thankfully it hasn't happened. Sure Gardeon is the most succesful deck to use it but there's always a way to get around it.
18) Draw Energy
Seen Play in:
- Lucario & Melmetal-GX
I knew this card would somehow find it's way in some deck and that deck just so happened to be Lucario & Melmetal-GX. Adrian's 2nd place list from Singapore SPE made it work well for it and has the results to show for it. Could see more play in decks with Greens or using Guzma & Hala moving forward.
17) Raichu
Seen Play in:
- Raichu/Nuzzle Box
Maybe the best fun deck to come out of this set and it has seen some success in some League Cups around the world. It's an easy deck to build and play and a good budget choice for newer players.
16) Mimikyu
Previous Entry: 26th
Seen Play in:
- Malamar
- Persian-GX/Naganadel-GX Checkmate
This was always going to see play in a few decks just to beat Mewtwo & Mew. And it has done so for decks like Malamar and the Checkmate deck. Decks that can find a way to spread damage around will try to fit one of these in their decks.
15) Lana's Fishing Rod
Seen Play in:
- Quagsire/Naganadel
- Blacephalon UNB/Pidgeotto
- Persian-GX/Naganadel-GX Checkmate
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
- Turbo Reshiram & Charizard-GX
A very useful way to retrieve a pokemon and a tool card into the deck, and at the moment the only non-supporter card to get pokemon back from the discard to the deck. Could explain why it's seen fringe play in many different decks.
14) Professor Oak's Setup
Seen Play in:
- Charizard TEU
- Malamar
- Quagsire/Naganadel
This car is too good to ignore for set-up decks which is why I'm not surprised to see those three decks having played this. Yes even Malamar can use this with two different typing of Inakys to choose from. May not be the best way to go about with your set-up but you can at least save your Comms and Treasures for Malamars.
13) Phione
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Spiritomb
- Doll Stall
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
I was silly to overlook the power of Phione. This card can ruin your opponent set-up if they are in an awkward spot, especially if they only have one benched Pokemon. And the fact that it goes back into the deck always guarantees you another shot of a gust effect.
12) Silvally-GX
Previous Entry: 3rd
Seen Play in:
- Quagsire/Silvally-GX
- Weavile-GX/Naganadel
Yes this card hasn't seen much success or play since it's release but there's no denying how good it really is. It's only a matter of time before someone finds the perfect combination for this deck. It's too good to be considered a flop.
11) Guzma & Hala
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Lucario & Melmetal-GX
- Giratina & Garchomp-GX/Mismagius
Another card I underestimated. It's insanely good not just for fetching out a stadium with the basic effect but to also grab a special energy and a tool with the secondary effect. No wonder it's seen a lot of play in decks using the Tag Call engine and it will continue to see play even in the new Sword and Shield era.
10) Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Spiritomb
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Articuno & Zapdos & Moltres-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Greens
I still don't think it's a good card on it's own but it has possibly the best GX to be released in a long time and simply because of it, ADP as seen 5 different forms of deck having success with it, all of them looking for the best way to utilise Altered Creation GX to their own advantage. The scary thing is with the impending release of Zacian-V, this card will see even more play.
9) Cynthia & Caitlin
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Malamar
- Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel
- Lucario & Melmetal-GX
- Giratina & Garchomp-GX/Mismagius
- Charizard TEU
This card was just too good to be ignored. It was always going to see play in decks using the Tag Call engine but it's also seen play in a few non-GX decks, namely Malamar and Charizard, just to get back one supporter while drawing 3 cards.
8) Charizard & Braixen-GX
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX Toolbox
- Charizard & Braixen-GX/Green's Exploration
I knew this card was good but I feared it would see play in some control style decks. Thankfully that never happened! It's taken over the role as the GreenZard deck but very recently it's seen play in Mewtwo & Mew-GX as the main attack most of the time to pull off the killer combos. Nicholas and I thought we found pure gold when testing this out for Singapore SPE but it turned out a few others also had the same idea. It works at least!
7) Blacephalon
Seen Play in:
- Malamar
- Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel
- Giratina & Garchomp-GX/Mismaigus
This card was always going to see play in Malamar but sure enough, decks utilising Beast Ring such as Blace/Naga and TinaChomp have found ways to get Blacephalon to spread those 12 damage around whenever it was needed, especially against Stall decks.
6) Rosa
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Keldeo-GX
- Charizard TEU
- Oranguru/Pidgeotto Control
I knew this card was amazing and I'm glad that others have seen the power of it. Stage 2 decks were always going to use it but it's nice to see a deck as good as ADP finding a way to use Rosa as well. The effect of getting a Trainer, a Pokemon and an Energy is too good not to ignore for any kind of decks. I mean the three decks listed are completely different from each other.
5) Chaotic Swell
Seen Play in:
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Quagsire/Naganadel
Chaotic Swell as ruined so many deck's old strategies relying on certain stadiums that have caused others to build their decks differently. Welder decks now use Flint to get around Swell and many other decks have included Marshadow just to counter this.
4) Tag Call
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Lucario & Melmetal-GX
- Charizard & Braixen-GX
- Giratina & Garchomp-GX/Mismaigus
This card was always going to see play alongside decks using Tag Team Pokemon, so no surprises to see the decks on this list. An easy way to find your attacker and a Supporter for the turn? Yup Tag Call is changed the way some decks are built.
3) Mega Lopunny & Jigglypuff-GX
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
- Turbo Reshiram & Charizard-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Malamar
- Quagsire/Naganadel
- Lucario & Melmetal-GX
- Charizard & Braixen-GX
Almost 10 different decks have seen success with this card in their list. Do I need to say more? Ok, 3 colourless energies, which is that's hard to pull off. Still need more? The possibility of taking a big KO against a GX heavy deck. Yup, it's amazing.
2) Mallow & Lana
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel
- Quagsire/Naganadel
- Lucario & Melmetal-GX
- Giratina & Garchomp-GX/Mismagius
- Charizard & Braixen-GX
Yes. All of those decks have used Mallow & Lana. Discard two and heal 120 from the Pokemon you have switched out of the active. Apart from the card on #1, this card was probably played the most during the CEC format of the new cards that were released.
1) Great Catcher
Seen Play in:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
- Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
- Turbo Reshiram & Charizard-GX
- Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
- Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX
- Malamar
- Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel
- Blacephalon UNB/Pidgeotto
- Quagsire/Naganadel
- Charizard & Braixen-GX
Great Catcher for game. Yes it's happened a lot in this format and it will continue to happen for the next few years as long as GX continue to be relevant. Best gust card in the game and yup, easily the best card to come out of Cosmic Eclipse.
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