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Tales of Valor expands the Company of Heroes universe by adding playable missions from World War II wherein soldiers overcame unlikely or even overwhelming odds to persevere in their mission(s). However, your mileage with this expansion will vary greatly depending on whether you pick it up for the single-player content or the multiplayer experience. In short, less of the former and more of the latter.
There are two ways to evaluate this title. If you approach it in terms of what a typical expansion has to offer, it does what it should: offers some new units, play modes and a barebones smattering of new single-player content. If, on the other hand, you measure it against the standard set by the developer's previous expansions, it winds up seeming like something significantly less; earlier expanded content in both this and their prominent and similar Dawn of War franchise gave us new factions, units, updated unit balancing and fleshed-out single-player campaigns. The six new missions spread across three "campaigns" and a couple of new units offered here hardly seem worth the time.
Also introduced is the "direct fire" system, which allows you to somewhat manually aim at targets before firing. Given that right-clicking on a target tends to get the job done just fine, it's not that helpful in combat. It can, however, be useful when driving tanks for blowing stationary objects, like buildings and cars, out of your path. This could probably also be achieved with a couple of extra clicks to "Attack Ground" and then point at the target, but who doesn't want to point and shoot in their RTS? Oh, right. Just about everybody.
The thought of commanding and participating in famous conflicts had me thinking back to a mode in the original Sid Meier's Pirates! called Command A Famous Expedition. You were outfitted like a great explorer of the 1000-1600 AD era and charged with taking on all obstacles to reach your objective. It took time. It was involved. It could play out a little differently each time. This is everything that Tales of Valor is not, as each campaign consists of two missions, often with one focusing on offense and the other on defense, with little room for strategy between plainly labeled objectives. For example, in one, you play a tank commander whose column has been wiped out and you're behind enemy lines. Initially, your task is to simply hold out and attack enemy emplacements one by one. When the map is clear, should you survive (it also functions as a tutorial, walking you through how to play the whole game as the mission wears on, as this is a standalone expansion), your next assignment is to make the area accessible to reinforcements. In another campaign, you're tasked with defending a settlement. Survive that, and you march forth to clear a path for a tank column. Lather, rinse and repeat. Not much depth or development here.
Where it does expand somewhat is in the multiplayer aspect of the game. Three new gameplay modes are introduced.
Assault employs a Defense of the Ancients play style, where players choose to play one of several heroes with different defensive, offensive and support abilities (engineer, paratrooper, recon, sniper, etc.) and then set out to fight through heavy lines of defense with the ultimate goal of destroying an enemy base.
Stonewall is a form of survival — or Horde, as it's become known since Gears of War 2 — with four players defending a small town from increasingly difficult waves of attacking enemies, starting as infantry and eventually moving up to a full-on tank assault. There are buildings within the town dedicated to different activities like healing injured soldiers, repairing armor or increasing population cap.
Panzerkrieg is all about tanks. If you took Assault mode and replaced the heroes with tanks, you'd basically have Panzerkrieg. The Axis has access to the Hotchkiss, Panther and Panzer IV tanks, while the Allies stand against them in the Churchill, M18 Hellcat and Sherman tanks.
Games of Assault and Panzerkrieg ultimately become a raging, active battlefield, and you control only one soldier or unit on the battlefield. Strategy comes solely from plotting a route less traveled or by coordinating with teammates. There is no unit creation or base building; it's straight-up action. It's a little like Dynasty Warriors: WWII Edition. In my first game of Assault, I chose to play as a sniper, and though respawning is allowed at certain points on the map as you progress (or get pushed back), I didn't die once. If you're low on health, retreat to the nearest forward base structure, and you can get your health back. This led to a 170+ kill streak that saw me to the end of the mission.
Upgrades are also awarded as you progress, allowing you to increase damage done by guns and grenades, as well as decrease the amount of damage you take. The main thing to take away from this is that if you increase the power of your sniper rifle enough, it can destroy buildings in about five shots. It's a little ridiculous, but effective.
Also along the lines of Dynasty Warriors, as you destroy enemy MG nests and the mortar bunkers they protect, all the enemies in that area will surrender and no more will spawn from that location. It sounds a bit like taking out a gate commander in DW and stemming the flow of bad guys from that part of the map. As a one-time fan of Koei's now-critically tolerated series, I can sort of appreciate the barebones approach to all-out action that tips its hat to their flagship franchise that continues to enjoy sequels, though no one understands why. But I digress.
Since these multiplayer modes don't involve base building, capture points or any of the usual RTS trappings, they work fine playing alone, though adding other players to the mix will surely make things more interesting. They can each be played on the Internet, via LAN or in single-player Skirmish mode. For someone who doesn't mingle with the online crowd all that much, this is welcome news.
What's not welcome is the continued use of Relic/THQ's DRM scheme, which forces you to either be online or have the disc in the drive to play the game, online or off. I'm all for turning a profit, and few developers are more deserving of it than Relic, but this is a nuisance. The game is available via Steam as well, but that changes nothing about the DRM. If you start Steam in Offline Mode without an Internet connection, the game prompts you to insert your disc for authentication. How are you supposed to do that with a game you bought through a digital distribution service? Basically, you don't get to play if there's no Internet, even for offline single-player modes. Lame.
I like the new multiplayer modes, though they do seem less strategic and more focused solely on guns, guts and glory, but it's nice to be able to play a match of something COH-flavored in under an hour. The new SP campaigns are largely forgettable; there's nothing here you haven't seen in the base game or Opposing Fronts expansion, save for a couple of different units. The environments look as good (and crumble apart) as well as they ever have. Overall, if you're a die-hard fan of the series and love MP, you'll appreciate the added content. If you're new to the franchise, this isn't really the place to get your feet wet, as it's such a departure both qualitatively (mostly action, little RTS) and quantitatively (sparse missions, no new factions) from the rest of the franchise. If you pick up the whole collection box set for cheap, it's a good buy, but to choose between Tales of Valor and the earlier content, you'd do better to get the base game and Opposing Fronts first.
Score: 7.0/10
More articles about Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor


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Tutor profile: Kennady P.
Subject: French
Which of the following is correct? "Oui, j'ai ta lettre. Je peux te la donner aujourd'hui." "Oui, j'ai ta lettre. Je peux la te donner aujourd'hui." "Oui, j'ai ta lettre. Je peux tu le donner aujourd'hui."
The first option is the correct one. When showing an indirect object in french, in the case of "tu" you would use te or t'. In addition to the indirect object, we must look at the direct object: "la lettre". Because this is feminine, the direct object form would be "la".
Subject: Writing
"I liked going because it was fun." Which of the following could make this sentence more interesting? 1. Provide more details 2. Vary the syntax 3. Make it a complex or compound sentence
All of the above! The sentence is entirely too vague, and that is the issue with most writing that falls short of the bar. There needs to be more details with varied language and sentence structure. Keep the reader interested.
Subject: English
Which of the following should fill in the blank in the sentence: "This jacket I found belongs to _____?" 1. who 2. whom 3. whose 4. who's
2. Whom. When you see "to" before the blank, that is a key to understanding that the following word should be whom and not who. Whom is an indirect object which is what we need in this case. Whose shows possession which would be incorrect, and who's is the contraction "who is" which does not apply to this example.
Contact tutor
needs and Kennady will reply soon.

subset: commoncrawl


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In 2014, the international Sleepinginairports.com website, which evaluates sleeping possibilities in airports, selected Helsinki Airport as the world's third most sleep-friendly airport. GoSleep pods are the most recent addition to the service portfolio of the innovative airport.
- We wish to provide passengers with an opportunity for stress-free travel and a nap between flights. Helsinki Airport has many transit passengers, who may not have had any sleep for a day or are suffering from jet lag. I believe that the service will have genuine demand, says Heikki Koski, Vice President at Finavia, Helsinki Airport.
GoSleep pod is a Finnish innovation, which provides passengers with peace and privacy amidst a hectic airport.
GoSleep sleeping pod is a Finnish innovation, which provides passengers with peace and privacy amidst a hectic airport. It is an ergonomic seat that can be turned into a bed, where a passenger can rest safe from passers-by and the noise.
You can conveniently stove away your hand luggage under the seat and pull up a cover that will isolate you from light and noise. The seat also has a power point for charging your phone or laptop during your rest.
Initial customer feedback is promising
Helsinki Airport is the first European airport offering sleeping pods to its passengers. The service was tested on site during the airport rest area pilot project in 2013.
The service is designed and manufactured by Finnish Short Rest Solutions Ltd.
- The pilot project showed that passengers prefer individual sleeping pods to larger rest areas. Sleeping pods have aroused wide-spread interest in particular on gate 18, where they are available for testing for free during the spring. Based on customer feedback, we will continue to refine the service to make it even more customer-friendly, says Jussi Piispanen, CEO of Short Rest Solutions Ltd.
Sleeping pods were launched in passenger use in mid-February. Initial customer feedback is promising.
- We have already received a great deal of positive feedback on the service. Feedback is important for us, so that we know how to develop the customer service at Helsinki Airport in the right direction, says Koski.
Helsinki Airport has in total 19 GoSleep sleeping pods. At the moment, the service is available on gates 18 and 38. Pillows and blankets are also available. The price of the service is 9 euro per hour.
Finavia is investing in customer experience
Finavia is investing strongly in the development of customer experience at Helsinki Airport. Development work has also involved passengers. Cooperation projects have brought, for example, yoga, Kainuu rest area, Book Swap point and a free art gallery to the airport.
Finavia is investing on customer experience also by renewing the commercial services of the airport. As a results of the revamp of service points, 70 new or renovated shops and restaurants will be opened at the airport.
Finavia has a EUR 900 million development programme under way. It aims to increase the transfer capacity of Helsinki Airport and the annual passenger volume to 20 million in 2020.


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New Courses for Growing Careers at RCC
DATE: August 28, 2017
animation and sustainable construction management added to College's offerings
RAMAPO – Prepare for fast growing careers in animation or emerging technologies in energy efficiency with new Animation and Sustainable Construction Management courses beginning this Fall at Rockland Community College.
From Mickey Mouse to Toy Story and Cars, animation has made a huge impact on American culture. The History of Animation (ART 151) meets just one evening a week, qualifies under SUNY General Education requirements and has no prerequisites. Learn more about the trends, the origins and the originators of the animation medium, as well as the surrounding social, artistic, historical, and political contexts of their creation.
Another new animation course this fall is Drawing for Animation (ART 294), a studio elective (with a Drawing I prerequisite) that introduces the basics of character drawing and the underlying principles to creating effective animation characters.
For more information on animation courses, please contact Eileen MacAvery Kane at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Many RCC Art graduates transfer to prestigious professional art schools or find immediate employment in advertising agencies, publishing houses, design and photography studios. Visit www.sunyrockland.edu/go/art to learn more.
Emerging technologies that support environmental concerns for a healthier planet continue to drive new careers in sustainable construction. Learn about sustainable materials as well as the best construction practices and methods to help improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Begin with the Introduction to Sustainable Construction Management to be followed this spring with Light Construction. For further information, contact Katherine Copp Brown at email@example.com.
To register, go to www.sunyrockland.edu/admissions, call 845-574-4224 or visit the Admissions department in the Technology Center on RCC's main campus.


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10/14/2016 by Jose Marrero
Table of contents
Hello once again, 60cards readers! With Florida Regionals right around the corner I wanted to talk about three decks that I personally feel are under the radar for Florida Regionals this weekend. Each deck I discuss I'll be giving an analysis on as well as give other card options in case you want to change each list to your own liking. On top of that I'll be adding some matchups for each deck. I believe we have over 500 Masters registered for this soon to be awesome event which means there are going to be tons of creative and unique decks. On top of the usual meta decks of course. However, for this next article I'm just going to go over three of the decks that I truly believe are strong plays yet will be under the radar. If you have second thoughts on attending the event because of the Hurricane last week, don't because that's all done and now it's time to move forward. The weather this weekend should be great and the venue wasn't damaged by the Hurricane so that was lucky of us. Meaning Florida Regionals is still on and will be bigger and better than ever. So if you haven't already be sure to register before it's too late. I can't wait to see most of you that are attending. Also if you haven't already knew Team OP (Ronae & Randy Curry) & Yeti Gaming (Vince & Denise Krekeler) will be adding extra prizing to 3rd-8th place in any division (based on Attendance). The extra prizing is down below strictly for Florida Regionals so far.
Attendance: 500+ Players
3rd-4th Place: $250.00
5th-8th Place: $100.00
Attendance: 400-499 Players
3rd-4th Place: $200.00
5th-8th Place: $75.00
Attendance: 300-399 Players
3rd-4th Place: $150.00
5th-8th Place: $50.00
Attendance: 227-299 Players
3rd-4th Place: $100.00
5th-8th Place: $25.00
Shout out to Team OP and Yeti Gaming for listening to the community and giving us what we wanted. You can see we will almost definitely have 400+ Masters since Arizona had over 460 meaning worst case we get an extra $75 for top 8 and $200 for top 4 which is still awesome. With that said, let's start with the first deck of the article, Mew/Yveltal/Yveltal-EX.
- 3x Mew
- 3x Yveltal
- 1x Yveltal
- 2x Yveltal EX
- 2x Shaymin EX
- 1x Umbreon EX
- 4x Professor Sycamore
- 2x N-supporter
- 2x Lysandre
- 2x Ninja Boy
- 1x Hex Maniac
- 4x VS Seeker
- 4x Ultra Ball
- 4x Trainer's Mail
- 4x Max Elixir
- 3x Fighting Fury Belt
- 1x Escape Rope
- 1x Super Rod
- 2x Parallel City
- 10x Darkness Energy
- 4x Double Colorless Energy
Pokémon (12)
Trainer (34)
Energy (14)
First off shout out to my buddy Hunter Butler since we both had input on the list. This is probably one of the least under the radar decks of the three. Still I don't see many people talking about it which leads me to believe that it still is under the radar. The core concept of the deck is to use Fright Night Yveltal to set up KO's and then use Yveltal-EX to cleanup and then of course there's Mew for the M Mewtwo-EX matchup and for the free retreat. Let's go over the Pokémon more as a whole starting with the three Mew. Like I said the Mew's are great against M Mewtwo-EX because they can easily one-hit KO them because of their Weakness. You basically just use Yveltal-EX's, Evil Ball with Mew since M Mewtwo-EX will have Energy on it already making Evil Ball do lethal damage. Mind you if they have Garbodor out then Mew is useless. Mew can also take advantage of Yveltal's Pitch-Black Spear for when you don't need to lock Tools. Which brings me to the three Fight Night Yveltal's which have the ability, Fight Night which as long as Yveltal is active each Pokémon Tool in play has no effect. This ability is very good against Pokémon with Float Stones attached to them since you can lock things up. Garbodor of course shuts Fight Night off so keep that in mind. Yveltal's attack, Pitch-Black Spear as I said can be used by Mew. It has a base of 60 damage and can snipe a Benched Pokémon EX for 60 damage as well.
So you can see how Fright Night in conjunction with Pitch-Black Spear can cripple EX Pokémon on the Bench. It only takes one Dark and one Double Colorless Energy so it's pretty easy to get Pitch-Black Spear going. Then there's just one Oblivion Wing Yveltal just to accelerate Energy back if necessary while chipping damage at the same time. Two Yveltal-EX are basically for later cleanups after Yveltal and Mew have done their jobs. Pitch-Black Spear plus Evil Ball can really hurt M Mewtwo-EX. Even Y Cyclone can come in handy against non EX decks such as Vespiquen since you KO them while saving an Energy at the same time. Two Shaymin-EX because you still want to make sure the deck doesn't draw dead. Lastly, as far as the Pokémon go is one Umbreon-EX which is another late game attacker for Mega Pokémon which also only needs one Dark and Double Colorless Energy attachment to use. Its attack Endgame makes so much sense because it can potentially take four Prizes in a single turn basically ending the game assuming you had already taken two Prizes. Mew can even use Umbreon-EX's attack if necessary. Moving out of the Pokémon we now move into the Supporters. Four Professor Sycamore is a must in this deck because you're wanting to dig through the deck faster to hit what you need. Two N as well to keep the opponent's hand to minimal size and to make sure the deck doesn't have to discard important resources at times.
Two Lysandre makes Pitch-Black Spear and Fright Night too good which is why two Lysandre is ideal in this deck. Two Ninja Boy as well because every Pokémon in the deck is a Basic which means Ninja Boy can pick whatever it wants to be. A Pitch-Black Spear or Endgame out of nowhere can win games. One Hex Maniac is mainly for Greninja and Volcanion decks. Stopping Giant Water Shurikens for a couple turns can be huge. However, Greninja is probably one of this decks worst matchups because Greninja doesn't play Pokémon-EX making Pitch-Black Spear not as effective. Although shutting off their Bursting Balloons can come in handy but if that's the case then their Giant Water Shurikens will be live. That's basically it for the Supporters. We now move into the Items. Some of the more standard ones are four VS Seeker of course and four Ultra Ball. These two cards speak for themselves. I would also say four Trainers' Mails are a staple in this deck because they are too good not to play in the Standard format. The more consistency the better and Trainers' Mail helps add to that. Now we get to the four Max Elixirs which is the bread and butter of the deck. They help achieve turn one Pitch-Black Spears and can overall get surprise attacks off including Umbreon-EX's Endgame attack. Even though Fright Night turns off Tools there is still three Fighting Fury Belts which are strictly for Mew and Yveltal-EX. However, if the opponent gets out Garbodor then Fright Night Yveltal's can take advantage of Fighting Fury Belts.
Bringing Mew up to 90 HP can make a difference in the long run as well as bringing Yveltal-EX up to 210 HP. The extra 10 damage can be relevant at times if Mew copies Evil Ball with a Fighting Fury Belt attached only needing two Energy against M Mewtwo-EX to one-shot them assuming they too have two Energy attached because then it would go from 200 damage to 220 which is enough to one-hit KO M Mewtwo-EX. One Escape Rope helps for when you open with the Fright Night Yveltal and have another ready to attack on the Bench and just need to get out of the active but at the same time potentially putting the opponent in a weird spot having to drag one of their Benched Pokémon active. Super Rod I kept in the deck because you never know when you need to recover Energy or Pokémon. The Stadium of choice is two Parallel City which are mainly for the Rainbow Road matchup and basically anything that you need them against or to get rid of your own Shaymin-EX's if needed. Because the deck runs well with Max Elixir means the deck needs to run a heavy count of basic Energy so I went with ten Dark Energy. I can see dropping down to nine if you really need to fit something else. Four Double Colorless Energy is a must and is always a staple in this deck.
Other card options
This card can come in handy for one-hit KOing Pokémon out of nowhere because Yveltal-EX in Standard can't do it as easily as it used to in Expanded because of the loss of Dark Patch and Hypnotoxic Lasers. Darkrai, Dark Pulse can easily one-hit KO a M Mewtwo-EX should you use the attack with Mew because of Weakness.
This card will be legal for Florida Regionals. Mew-EX can help copy an opposing Darkrai's Dark Pulse attack against the mirror match which can come in handy or against Darkrai-EX/Giratina-EX. Even just copying attacks that use Double Colorless Energy can be helpful. The downside is that Mew-EX is an EX and has one retreat compared to the non EX Mew.
This little guy is great against Mega based decks and in Standard there are tons. The thing is opening Klefki can be annoying because you want to open with the Fright Night Yveltal to keep Tools ineffective. However, Klefki can potentially help win games you just can't use them on the Fright Night Yveltal's themselves because they shut off Klefki anyway.
Reverse Valley:
This Stadium can give your Dark attackers an extra 10 damage which can matter at times.
M Mewtwo-EX/Garbodor - Very Favorable
This matchup is in Yveltal's favor because Fright Night Yveltal can snipe and whittle down Benched Mewtwo-EX and if they don't get Garbodor out then Mew makes the matchup that much easier.
M Rayquaza-EX - Favorable
I say this matchup is favorable because Fright Night Yveltal can stick Hoopa-EX Active thus doing crazy amounts of damage to multiple Pokémon-EX. On the other hand M Rayquaza-EX is so fast that it can just take control of the game by taking one-shot after one-shot. However, one of the main reasons this matchup is favorable for Yveltal is because Umbreon-EX's attack Endgame because taking four Prizes in one turn can be devastating.
Rainbow Road - Even
This matchup can go both ways depending on how many EX Pokémon they Bench. Because if they Bench Volcanion-EX and Shaymin then Pitch-Black Spear can do wonders if not then Rainbow Road can run through Yveltal because it's resistant.
Volcanion - Very Favorable
Not much to say here since all you have to do is Lysandre Volcanion-EX to make their Float Stones useless and then just go ham with Pitch-Black Spears.
Darkrai-EX/Giratina-EX/Garbodor - Even
I say this matchup is even at best because Darkrai-EX can one-shot Yveltal fairly easy but at the same time if the Yveltal player can stick something active to take advantage of Pitch-Black Spear then the Darkrai-EX player can be in serious trouble especially since Yveltal-EX can do lethal damage to a fully powered up Giratina-EX.
Talonflame/Greninja BREAK - Very Unfavorable
This matchup is hands down just terrible for Yveltal because Pitch-Black Spear doesn't do much in this matchup because Greninja doesn't play EX Pokémon. The Greninja player will just spam Giant Water Shuriken and take Prize after Prize. No Garbodor means it's going to be a field day for Greninja.
Primal Kyogre-EX/Manaphy-EX - Unfavorable
This matchup is probably similar to the Greninja matchup only this time you have to worry about healing from Rough Seas and the fact that Manaphy-EX goes around Fright Night. Not only that but Primal Kyogre-EX one-shots Yveltal except the EX. Something also to note is that Evil Ball won't get the full effect because Primal Kyogre-EX moves two Energy back to the Bench making Evil Ball do less damage.
Gyarados ANO/Octillery - Unfavorable
Fright Night doesn't really effect this deck and Gyarados doesn't play EX Pokémon which means Gyarados can just one-hit KO everything in the Yveltal deck. Even if you were to drag up an Octillery you would just take that one Prize.
Primal Kyogre-EX/Manaphy-EX
- 4x Kyogre EX
- 3x Primal Kyogre EX
- 2x Manaphy EX
- 2x Shaymin EX
- 1x Hoopa EX
- 1x Regice
- 1x Articuno
- 4x Professor Sycamore
- 4x N-supporter
- 2x Lysandre
- 1x Hex Maniac
- 1x Fisherman
- 4x VS Seeker
- 4x Ultra Ball
- 4x Trainer's Mail
- 3x Kyogre Spirit Link
- 3x Mega Turbo
- 1x Super Rod
- 1x Energy Retrieval
- 4x Rough Seas
- 10x Water Energy
Pokémon (14)
Trainer (36)
Energy (10)
This deck will definitely be under the radar. It has a great matchup versus Greninja, Volcanion, and M Mewtwo-EX which I consider to be the top three decks to beat in Standard at the moment. The core concept of this deck is to stream back to back Tidal Storm's with Primal Kyogre-EX and then use Regice and Articuno accordingly depending on the matchup. The deck plays a 4-3 line of Primal Kyogre-EX because it's the decks main and most powerful attacker. Primal Kyogre-EX has a trait called "Growth" which allows another Energy attachment onto Primal Kyogre-EX if you have attached one already at the same time. With a strong 240 HP Primal Kyogre-EX won't be taken down so easily. However, some of the decks tough matchups are M Rayquaza-EX, Rainbow Road, and obviously Vespiquen which are three decks that can potentially one-hit KO a Primal Kyogre-EX. Even Giratina-EX can be tough if they play Crushing Hammers but most Giratina-EX variants don't run them. If you don't expect to see much of these decks played at Florida Regionals this weekend then maybe it's the play for you. I know a lot of people have forgotten about the big bad Whale. It's attack, Tidal Storm has a base of 150 damage which is enough to two shot everything and one-shot low-HP Pokémon-EX such as Shaymin-EX or Manaphy-EX, but can also one-hit KO Volcanion-EX's because they are Weak to Water types which is one of the main reasons why this deck can perform well come Regionals.
Tidal Storm also moves two Energy back to one of your Benched Pokémon which is nice for powering up another Primal Kyogre-EX or a tech attacker. Not only that but Tidal Storm also does 30 damage to each of your opponent's Benched Pokémon EX which is relevant since Tidal Storm does 150 and if we add the 30 from the Bench then that adds to 180 damage which basically is enough to finish off non-Fighting Fury Belted Pokémon-EX. The non-Primal Kyogre-EX actually has decent attacks. Its first attack, Water Pulse has a base of 30 damage and auto-Sleeps the opponent's active Pokémon. This attack can come in handy when facing decks that block damage such as Giratina-EX or Glaceon-EX. However, its second attack, Giant Whirlpool has a base of 140 damage and moves two Water Energy back into your hand which can come in clutch against M Mewtwo-EX or Yveltal-EX. This attack can go through both Giratina-EX and Glaceon-EX, but you mostly want to stream back to back Tidal Storms to set up KOs. The deck also plays two Manaphy-EX to give every Pokémon free retreat should they have a Water Energy attached to them. Two Shaymin-EX as well which speak for themselves. One Hoopa-EX makes it so that you can search out multiple Kyogre-EX as well as a Shaymin-EX to draw more. Now the tech attackers are one Regice and one Articuno. Regice's attack, Resistance Blizzard is great for EX heavy decks such as M Rayquaza-EX and M Mewtwo-EX, however if they play Pokémon Ranger then you're in for a world of hurt.
Articuno on the other hand is useful against any matchup because of its Trait ∆ Plus, which lets you take an extra Prize if Articuno takes a KO. Articuno's Tri Edge attack has a base of 20 damage but you get to flip three coins and for each heads it does an extra 40 damage which should be enough to take that extra Prize card assuming you already Weakened the Pokémon first unless it's a low HP Pokémon such as Combee then it's easier just needing one of three heads. Its first attack, Chilling Sigh can also come in handy because it, too, auto-Sleeps. Moving out of the Pokémon we now get into the Supporters started with the staples. Four Professor Sycamore, two N, and two Lysandre. All of which are needed to keep the deck consistent and ready to take Benched KO's at a moment's notice while also refreshing your hand and limiting your opponent's. I went with just one Hex Maniac, but if you expect to see a decent amount of Greninja or Giratina-EX decks then maybe playing two is ideal because you want to deny Giant Water Shurikens as often as possible. Even stopping Volcanion-EX's ability can be relevant since they can potentially one-hit KO a Primal Kyogre-EX for 250 damage if they use all four Volcanion-EX abilities while attacking with one of them. The deck plays one Fisherman as well in case you need to grab more than two Basic Energy from the discard and plus you can reuse Fisherman with VS Seekers unlike Energy Retrievals. Four VS Seekers and four Ultra Balls speak for themselves as well since those are staples in most if not all decks that aren't Vileplume.
I guess you can also say that Trainers' Mails are staples in most decks in Standard as well since they help with consistency. The only Tools of the deck are just three Spirit Links because you want to be able to attack with the Primals once you have enough Energy on them. Three Mega Turbo as well so you can potentially get a turn two Tidal Storm going. One Super Rod helps for getting back Water Energy as well as Regice and Articuno should you need them again. Still I kept one Energy Retrieval because it still can come in clutch since Primal Kyogre-EX's Trait attaches two Energy at once and Energy Retrieval can recover two Basic Energy which is perfect in the latter game. The Stadium of choice for this deck is of course four Rough Seas because you want to be able to heal 30 damage from your Water Pokémon especially since Primal Kyogre-EX has so much HP. Rough Seas also makes Pitch-Black Spear seem useless against you unless they are targeting Hoopa-EX or Shaymin-EX otherwise they are basically doing 30 damage a turn. The Energy count is a solid ten Water, however I've seen some lists playing Double Colorless Energy.
Other card options
Having the option to stop Evolutions from doing damage to Glaceon-EX can come in handy, however if the opponent plays Pokémon Ranger than this strategy is nullified.
Great against Vespiquen decks which is one of Primal Kyogre-EX's worst matchups so being able to put back all their Pokémon in their deck makes Vespiquen do a lot less damage and hopefully making them unable to one-hit KO Primal Kyogre-EX.
Pokémon Center Lady:
Between this card and Rough Seas you can heal a total of 90 damage which can turn a two shot into a three or more shot which can be the difference between a win and a loss.
Giovanni's Scheme:
Great for bumping Tidal Storm's damage out put up to 170 which is just enough to one-hit KO Greninja BREAKs.
Assault Vest:
Can come in handy against M Rayquaza-EX making them unable to one-hit KO a Primal Kyogre-EX if they have a Double Colorless Energy attached. Even against M Mewtwo-EX an Assault Vest can make a difference.
Max Elixir:
Great for faster Energy attachments, however once Primal Evolved Max Elixir can't be attached to them so you have to be careful when playing Max Elixir in this deck.
Professor's Letter:
Great for searching out two Water Energy since Primal Kyogre-EX lets you attach two Energy at once on it per turn because of its Trait so Professor's Letter makes sense.
Switch/Float Stone/Olympia:
You can't always rely on Manaphy-EX for the free retreat because you still have to have a Water Energy on that Pokémon to retreat it and if something other than Kyogre-EX gets dragged up with Lysandre then you are more than likely going to get set back a couple turns.
Splash Energy:
Even though the deck plays Super Rod just having Splash Energy to retrieve a whole Primal Kyogre-EX line can come in handy. However, it can get Enhanced Hammered off.
Double Colorless Energy:
Adding in this Energy is nice for a turn two Resistance Blizzard on Regice as well as for Primal Kyogre-EX's attack, Tidal Storm which instead of moving back two Water Energy you can just move back a Double Colorless Energy since it counts as two Energy in this case.
M Mewtwo-EX/Garbodor - Even
If you can get rid of all their Shrine of Memories then the matchup should be easy. Otherwise it can be rough because then they just Lysandre up a Shaymin-EX or Manaphy-EX and take two Prizes while healing all the damage off.
M Rayquaza-EX - Very Unfavorable
Because M Rayquaza-EX can one-hit KO a Primal Kyogre-EX fairly easy makes this matchup very hard. Especially because you can't say the same vice versa. Two Primals for one M Rayquaza-EX is a terrible trade obviously.
Rainbow Road - Unfavorable
Again this deck can also one-hit KO a Primal Kyogre-EX but it will be a little harder because they need eight different Pokémon types on the Bench because seven only does 220 damage which isn't enough to one-shot a Primal.
Volcanion - Very Favorable
Volcanion's Weakness to Water means Primal Kyogre-EX can one-hit KO all of them. They would need four Volcanion-EX abilities while also attacking with one to one-hit KO a Primal which isn't easy to do especially if you have already took a Volcanion-EX down. Hex Maniac can win this matchup even more for you.
Darkrai-EX/Giratina-EX/Garbodor - Unfavorable
Because Primal Kyogre-EX is classified as a Mega Evolution Pokémon means it can't go through Giratina-EX's ability unless you play Hex Maniac first. This reason alone makes this matchup unfavorable. Also at some point in the game Darkrai-EX might be able to just one-hit KO a Primal from experience.
Talonflame/Greninja BREAK - Even
You would think Primal Kyogre-EX would be favorable, however I don't believe that's the case. At best this matchup is probably even but I could be wrong. Spamming Giant Water Shuriken will eventually take down Pokémon especially Hoopa and Shaymin-EX since they can't heal with Rough Seas. Tidal Storm can one hot Greninja, however it can't one-shot the BREAK unless you play Giovanni's Scheme.
Gyarados ANO/Octillery - Favorable
Should be an easy matchup because Gyarados can't one-shot Primal Kyogre-EX even if they took 20 damage first from Team Magma's Secret Base.
Gyarados ANO/Octillery
- 4x Gyarados
- 4x Magicarp
- 2x Remoraid
- 2x Octillery
- 1x Mr. Mime
- 4x Professor Sycamore
- 2x N-supporter
- 2x Lysandre
- 1x Teammates
- 1x Pokemon Ranger
- 4x VS Seeker
- 4x Dive Ball
- 2x Level Ball
- 4x Trainer's Mail
- 4x Puzzle of Time
- 3x Burst Balloon
- 3x Float Stone
- 2x Buddy-Buddy Rescue
- 1x Town Map
- 1x Special Charge
- 1x Super Rod
- 4x Team Magma's Secret Base
- 4x Double Colorless Energy
Pokémon (13)
Trainer (43)
Energy (4)
Now this deck will probably be one of the most under-the-radar decks going into Florida Regionals and for good reason. Basically the concept of this deck is to get Team Magma's Secret Base out first then Bench three or four Magikarp so that they can all take 20 damage each. Why do you want 20 damage on each Magikarp you say? Well that's a good question. If you read Gyarados's attack, Full Retaliation you can see it does 30 base damage and 30 more damage for each damage counter on each of your Magikarp so if you have three Magikarp on the Bench with 20 damage a piece then Full Retaliation maxes out at 210 damage which is enough to one-hit KO most Pokémon and only for a single Double Colorless Energy. That's pretty much what the deck does. Swarm Magikarp to maximize Gyarados's damage output just remember to Bench Magikarp after you have Team Magma's Secret Base out. You can have one Magikarp Benched before the Stadium just remember to evolve that one first. Let's go over some of the other Pokémon in the deck. To make the deck more consistent and because the deck doesn't play Shaymin-EX because you want to have the opponent take six Prizes we have a 2-2 line of Octillery for it's crazy draw power. Abyssal Hand also stacks so you can use multiple Octillery per turn. There are certain cards that you will be digging for once Gyarados or Magikarp start going down so you can keep pushing that 210 damage so having two Octillery helps with that.
I've also included a Mr. Mime with the Bench Barrier ability strictly for decks that can snipe the Magikarp such as Rainbow Road because of their Galvantula and Hoopa from STS as well as Spinda. You still have to watch out for Hex Maniac since that shuts off Mr. Mime's ability. The Pokémon in this deck is pretty straight forward as you can see. I did however, mention possibly adding in Mew-EX or Shaymin-EX even though you want the opponent to take six individual Prizes. Moving out of the Pokémon we now get into the Supporters. Just like in most decks we have four Professor Sycamore, two N, and two Lysandre. Then we have the one of Supporters such as Teammates and Pokémon Ranger. Teammates fits nicely in this deck to the point that I can see adding in another one because the deck doesn't need much after the first Magikarp or Gyarados goes down. You just need a way to get that Magikarp back from the discard then a way to get another Stadium out assuming it was bumped. So Teammates can grab two of those cards. With the help of Octillery's draw power you shouldn't have trouble finding what you need. Pokémon Ranger is strictly for Giratina-EX and Glaceon-EX because Giratina-EX shuts this deck down hard since you can't attach Double Colorless Energy, play down Team Magma's Secret Base, and play any Tools. Glaceon-EX would be much worse since the deck only attacks with Gyarados which is an Evolution Pokémon. You can see the deck doesn't run Ultra Ball because the deck only plays all Water Pokémon aside from Mr. Mime. Because of this the deck only plays Dive Balls and Level Balls so I went with four Dive Ball and two Level Ball.
The Dive Balls can search out any Pokémon in this deck aside from Mr. Mime, however Level Ball searches out Octillery lines, Magikarp, and even Mr. Mime. The deck also plays four Trainers' Mail because like I said numerous times they are great for consistency and between Octillery's draw and Trainers' Mail you should find what you need relatively easy. Some lists don't play Puzzle of Time, however I feel they are too good in this deck not to play especially because of Octillery being able to draw into more than one of them so you don't have to waste one. The Tools of choice in this deck are three Bursting Balloons so that the opponent is forced to either take the 60 damage to make for easier one-hit KO's or Lysandre around it and three Float Stones to mainly give Octillery free retreat since they have a two retreat cost. Now this next card is what makes this deck run more smoothly. Buddy-Buddy Rescue can get back a single Magikarp which is just enough to hit another 210 damage without having to use too many resources. I can see upping the count higher than two because this card is really important in this deck. However, with Puzzle of Time I believe two should be enough. If I were to drop Puzzle of Time then I would go up to three maybe even four Buddy-Buddy Rescue.
Prizing Magikarp can be really troublesome because even prizing a single Magikarp makes Gyarados do 60 less damage which is a tremendous amount. Only doing 150 as opposed to 210 damage is huge which doesn't even one-shot most relevant Pokémon-EX other than Shaymin-EX. Because of this we have to run a Town Map. For those that played Night March before you know exactly how I feel on prizing Night Marchers. There is also one Special Charge to get back Double Colorless Energy. One Super Rod as well to get back Magikarp or discarded Octillery's. Then of course the bread and butter of the deck, four Team Magma's Secret Base, This deck can't function without this Stadium because otherwise Gyarados is doing a measly 30 damage. Then of course just four Double Colorless Energy since the deck doesn't need to play Basic Energy.
Other card options
This card can copy Gyarados's attack, Full Retaliation making it easier to swarm back to back attacks while at the same time knowing you still have Gyarados as a backup in case Mew-EX goes down.
I did say you don't want Pokémon-EX in this deck, however some people play at least one copy of Shaymin-EX and only a 1-1 Octillery line which I personally dislike because the deck has no way of searching for the Shaymin-EX unless you add Ultra Balls.
Jirachi XY67:
Great against Giratina-EX since that's the decks biggest fear. Giratina-EX shuts this deck down hard especially because of Parallel City. The thing about Jirachi in this deck though is that the deck only plays Double Colorless Energy which Giratina-EX stops anyway so you will have to find Pokémon Ranger first.
Because Gyarados's Trait allows two Tools to be attached to it means you can have both a Klefki and Bursting Balloon on it which is awesome against Mega based decks as I mentioned earlier. Plus you can Super Rod Klefki back and reuse them.
Giovanni's Scheme:
Because Gyarados maxes out at 210 damage means it can't one-shot Mega Pokémon with 220 or more HP unless they have taken 20 damage first from Team Magma's Secret Base. Even then, that's 230 damage which Mega Pokémon such as Primals still survive. Or if one Magikarp is Prized, Gyarados maxes out at 150 damage, and Giovanni's Scheme pushing that damage up to 170 is relevant against most Pokémon-EX without Fighting Fury Belt.
Hex Maniac:
Very useful against Greninja to stop Giant Water Shurikens because you need to stay up on the Prize trade.
Eco Arm:
Awesome for getting back multiple Bursting Balloons and Float Stones if need be.
Enhanced Hammer:
As I said Giratina-EX is a tough matchup so having Enhanced Hammers can potentially stop them for a turn and just enough time to try and come back. The deck plays Puzzle of Time so you can reuse them if necessary.
Pokémon Catcher:
Because the deck is fast and goes through the deck pretty well with the help of Octillery means Pokémon Catchers can come in handy for dragging up easy Prizes.
Assault Vest:
This Tool can bring Gyarados up to 170 HP if the opponent's Pokémon they are attacking with has a Special Energy on it. However, Gyarados will most likely always have 20 damage on it from its own Team Magma's Secret Base after the first Gyarados is KO'd brining its HP down to 150 in a sense.
M Mewtwo-EX/Garbodor - Favorable
This matchup is favorable for Gyarados because M Mewtwo-EX has just enough HP for Gyarados to one-shot. However, if they get Garbodor out then it can be rough not being able to abuse Octillery.
M Rayquaza-EX - Favorable
This matchup is favorable if M Rayquaza-EX takes 20 damage first from Team Magma's Secret Base which then makes Gyarados finish them off. Even then you can still two shot the Megas and eventually just spam back to back one-shots on Benched Pokémon-EX.
Rainbow Road - Favorable-Unfavorable
I say this matchup can be both because it all depends if the Rainbow Road player plays both Galvantula and Hex Maniac and if that's the case then Gyarados will be slaughtered. They would then take double KO's on Magikarp which is hard to come back from.
Volcanion - Very Favorable
Super easy matchup because all you need is a single Magikarp on the Bench to do a base of 90 damage and then counting Weakness that's 180 damage which is enough to one-shot both Volcanion EX and the non EX. Also the fact that you are trading non EX for an EX makes this matchup that much easier because they have to Bench Volcanion-EX or else they lose anyway.
Darkrai-EX/Giratina-EX/Garbodor - Very Unfavorable
Giratina-EX shuts off basically everything in Gyarados. Not being able to attach Double Colorless Energy and play down Team Magma's Secret Base can cripple Gyarados especially if they lock with Parallel City.
Talonflame/Greninja BREAK - Very Unfavorable
Rough matchup for Gyarados because Greninja can just spam Giant Water Shuriken to KO Magikarp after Magikarp. Giant Water Shuriken goes around Mr. Mime which is another reason it's a tough matchup unless you play Hex Maniac.
Closing Thoughts
That's all for now guys. I hope this article was able to help you in any way whether it's how to build one of the decks I discussed or how to counter them. I should have two more articles later this month that should be short ones. I think if I were to play one of the three decks at Florida Regionals that I went over I would probably go with Mew/Yveltal/Yveltal-EX because I believe that deck has less counters compared to the other two. In my opinion the three decks to beat this weekend are M Mewtwo-EX/Garbodor, Volcanion, and Greninja BREAK as I mentioned earlier. All three of which are great plays as well but will probably have the biggest targets on their backs going into Regionals. It really all depends on how you think the meta will shape up to be, but those are my personal top three decks to beat. As always don't forget to check out The Chaos Gym on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch for new deck videos, player interviews, and many more. There should be a handful of player interviews after Florida Regionals just like we did for Arizona a couple weeks back. With that said, good luck this weekend to those that are attending.
If you have any questions about these lists or deck in general then please feel free to leave me a comment down below or message me on Facebook and I'll be sure to get to them as soon as possible. As usual, if you enjoyed reading this article, then please consider giving it a thumbs up. If you want to see a specific type of article or topic next time, then don't hesitate to give me ideas down below and I'll consider them. Or if you have any other deck ideas and want to see an analysis on it, then by all means post it and I'll take a look. As always, keep an eye out for more articles to come. Until next time!
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text:
The GSIS Scholarship Program for Academic Year 2018-2019 Forms :
|* Application Form
|* Fact Sheet
|* Employment and School Certification
|* CHED Identified Priority Courses
|* CHED Accredited Schools
State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will accept applications for the enhanced GSIS Scholarship Program (GSP) for Academic Year 2018-2019 from April 16 to June 15.
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The GSP application forms, requirements, and scholarship terms and conditions are available online at www.gsis.gov.ph.
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text:
"Green Light" singer Lorde is backtracking on her recent comments about her friendship with Taylor Swift.
Lorde received some criticism for comparing their friendship to an "autoimmune disease." She told the Guardian, "It's like having a friend with very specific allergies. There are certain places you can't go together. Certain things you can't do. There are these different sets of considerations within the friendship. It's like having a friend with an autoimmune disease."
When a fan pointed out that Swift's close friend Selena Gomez, who battles lupus, may not approve of the comment, Lorde apologized for the analogy. She tweeted, "didn't mention taylor, but regardless, i f**ked up & that was really insensitive. i'm sorry."
Lorde and Taylor have become close friends over the years. Before Lorde's birthday party, Taylor wrote on Instagram, "Thank you for the music you make, the advice you give, the thoughts you provoke, and the way you've made my life more beautiful since the first day we met up in New York and ate burgers on a park bench and got attacked by squirrels. I. Love. You. So. Much. Ella."