The Mega Blaziken ex card I was very worried would set the Pokémon Pocket meta on fire is getting absolutely bodied in the first batch of tournaments since the release of Mega Rising.
It's only been a few days, so there's still plenty of time for things to shift, but none of the contests that have taken place since the October 30 launch date have a Mega Blaziken deck getting anywhere close to the top of the table.
This is surprising because Mega Blaziken ex is tied with Mega Gyarados and Ampharos for the highest HP Pokémon in the app and can dish out 120 damage plus burn with a two energy attack. Not only this, it seemed to have some of the best support in the new set, with the trainer card Flame Patch letting you pop a discarded fire energy onto your active Pokémon, turning Blaziken's biggest drawback into a strength.
Instead of the kung-fu kicking chicken, there are two standout Megas so far: Mega Altaria and Mega Absol. The first is one of headline megas from the set. Altaria seems to be benefitting from the high number of other strong psychic Pokémon added in this set.
These include Chingling, a very irritating baby Pokémon that stops your opponent using items - such as the Rare Candy that Blaziken decks need to reach their final evolution Babies seem to be doing very well in the new set. I suppose if your Mega Evolution dies you've lost the game anyway, so there's less downside to having a baby up first to run interference.
Indeedee ex also seems strong, as it can dish out healing from the bench, while Jirachi is a great option for sniping benched Pokémon.
Meanwhile, Absol decks are eating well off the number of players running psychic Pokémon. Absol itself is a very frustrating Pokémon to fight, since it robs your hand of Supporter cards.
It seems that Blaziken - by way of being a Stage 2 Pokémon - is just too slow to keep up with the rest of the field. Combine that with the fact Suicune is still going strong, and it's easy to guess why things turned out so fowl.
Still, at least it's not doing as badly as Mega Gyarados; no one's even trying to make the big fish work. Chalk it up to another victim of Misty warping water Pokémon design forever.
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