Nationals have wrapped up and rotation for next season has been announced. All that is left is the big stage, Worlds! This year World Championships will feature a lot of interesting decks to end the 2014 season with a bang. This week we are going to feature a card that has been splashed into many decks. It can do heavy damage with a simple energy cost and evolves from a pretty famous Pokemon. This card may have been released in XY base set but it has shockingly raised in popularity. This week we are going to feature Raichu!
Raichu is a Lightning Pokemon with 90 HP. It has a zero retreat cost making it easy to put into the active only to switch it out with a Pokemon on the bench that is ready to hit hard. Raichu can also hit hard for 100 damage using Thunderbolt which cost two Lightning and one other energy but it will have to discard all energy cards attached to it. This attack will not be used. The main draw for Raichu’s usage is the attack Circle Circuit. If you attached two energy or a Double Colorless Energy then you can do 20 times the number of Pokemon on your bench. So if your bench is full then that is 100 damage. The same amount of damage if you use Thunderbolt.
This card has risen in popularity and was featured in Brandon Salazar’s Anti-Metagame deck that won US Nationals a few weeks ago. Raichu is an easy card to set up because all you need to do is keep Pikachu safe until you evolve it into Raichu. Then slap an Double Colorless Energy and you have a Pokemon ready to attack. It also helps that some of the popular Pokemon in the metagame such as Yveltal EX, Empoleon and Lugia EX have Lightning weaknesses. That makes them easy knockouts for Raichu. Your bench has to be full in order to do this but most decks which run Raichu commonly have filled up benches.
Another reason why Raichu has become popular recently is because it is a Stage One Pokemon. That means it can get around Pyroar‘s Intimidating Mane ability and hit the Pokemon hard. Raichu may not like getting attacked back by Pyroar but most of the time Raichu will be attacking first. That is because of how easy and quick it is able to set up. Something that Pyroar decks have a difficult time doing sometimes.
Lastly, Raichu has free retreat. Did your Pokemon got knocked out and you need to send out a Pokemon to the active? Send out Raichu and set up another Pokemon on the bench. Once you are done then retreat Raichu and go to town with your newly set up Pokemon. It is always nice to have a Pokemon with free retreat without the use of Float Stone or Switch.
Several decks have made room to include Raichu in their deck. You will see it in several anti-metagame variant decks as a counter for Yveltal EX and Lugia EX or a quick way to do easy damage. Some Plasma decks have consider to use it as a way to do quick damage and as a counter in mirror matches or knock out a few Pyroar. Even some Yveltal-Darkness variants have put Raichu in their deck because it uses a Double Colorless Energy to attack. Genesect–Virizion decks have began to play Raichu due to it only need two energy to attack. This can be done by using a Double Colorless Energy or a recipient of Virizion EX’s Emerald Slash effect.
Raichu does have it’s weaknesses which is it’s weakness to Fighting Pokemon. With the recent rise of Raichu, Landorus EX has also rise in popularity as a counter. It started a little before Nationals but now that it has been confirmed Boundaries Crossed will be included in next year’s format. players have rushed to get their hands on Landorus EX. Especially if there will be some synergy between Landorus EX and Lucario EX in the upcoming Furious Fist set. If you attached a Muscle Band to Landorus EX then a simple Hammerhead on an active Raichu will knock it out while softening up something on the bench. Landorus EX even have resistance to Raichu and takes less damage from Raichu’s Circle Circuit attack.
Not all is bad for Raichu. Did you know that it has a resistance to Metal Pokemon? That 30 damage Righteous Edge from Caboalion EX is only doing 10 damage. Most Lightning Pokemons such as Raichu regain their Metal resistance since XY base set.
This little Lightning Pokemon is certainly a Pokemon to watch out for. If you are running a deck with Lightning weak Pokemon then make sure to keep an eye out for any Pikachu because they will certainly become Raichu. The fact that Raichu is a Pokemon that can hit hard for an easy energy cost while only giving up one prize is enough to consider Raichu in a deck. The next set may make Raichu a little uncertain to play but for now it is a heavy contender to be used at Worlds where Furious Fist cards will not be allowed.
So don’t be shock to see Raichu all over the place at Worlds! Best of luck to those who received invites or plan to hit the last chance qualifier at Worlds!