Hello, Cut or Tap readers! The new Journey Together format is upon us, with Atlanta Regionals revealing Dragapult ex’s dominance in the post-rotation metagame. Not only did Dragapult take Atlanta by storm, making up 30% of Day 2, but Budew showcased its strength in a limited card pool format. With cards like Rotom V, Lumineon V, Forest Seal Stone, and Radiant Greninja rotating, draw power in the current format is extremely limited. Many decks rely on Pokémon like Drakloak, N’s Zoroark ex, or Noctowl to find the cards they need, meaning Itchy Pollen shutting down Ultra Ball is key at slowing opponents down. Additionally, Budew stops opponents from aggressively targeting down your draw Pokémon via Dusclops + Counter Catcher or Prime Catcher. In summary, Budew and Dragapult rule the format, and any deck wishing to stand a chance at success must have game plans to deal with both.
As you may know, I played a ton of Miraidon ex before rotation in the Prismatic Evolutions format. Unfortunately, the days of Turn 1 Amp You Very Much are over with the rotation of Forest Seal Stone and Double Turbo Energy. Without the V-Pokémon package, Miraidon lost huge amounts of consistency, making it difficult for the deck to get a Turn-1 attack off. Without Raikou V, a Turn-1 attack requires at least three energy, meaning you need to hit a two-energy Electric Generator or multiple single-energy Electric Generators. Even worse, you need to attack with Amp You Very Much against Dragapult to keep up, meaning you need to get even luckier to stand a chance in the most popular matchup in the format.
Last format, I was a big advocate for going first with Miraidon and using Rotom V’s Instant Charge to create a hand and energy attachment advantage, but without Rotom V, the deck lost a lot of its security. Now if you go first with Miraidon, you are just asking to get hit with a Turn-1 Itchy Pollen and not be able to Amp You Very Much until after your opponent has set up a response. Seeing as going first lost a lot of its advantages and it became much harder to attack going second, I initially thought Miraidon completely died with the rotation.
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