Raikou EX is first up on this list and this is probably in the top 3 from this set. Thunder Fang is a decent attack that should only be used if you can KO a opponents Pokemon with it. Volt Bolt is where its at for this card at the cost of all Lightning Energy attached to it you can do 100 damage anywhere on your opponents side of the field. This is very Similar to Blastoise(UL) only you discard the energy instead of returning it to your hand. Now at first glance this might not seem like a good attack until you remember we have Skyarrow Bridge and Eelektrik. Skyarrow Bridge gives Raikou the free retreat it badly needs, and Eelektrik will allow for multiple fast usage of Volt Bolt. I see Raikou EX seeing alot of tech play in Zekeels so be prepared cause there are now very few things on your bench safe. Fighting Weakness really sucks with Terrakion and Landorus seeing much more play in a Zekeels format thus far.
Entei is a interesting card that i myself wouldnt mind toying around with. Fire Fang is a great attack when combined with the Volcarona from Dark Explorers as its ability will place 4 damage counters onto burned pokemon should your opponent flip tails. Grand Flame is a nice little attack that will allow you to attach a fire energy from your discard pile to 1 benched Pokemon. With some card investment i could see Entei being a nice little Revenge hitter for Reshipholsion decks as he can come up and KO pesky EX Pokemon that have knocked out your Reshirams and help Typholsion Prime with Energy Acceleration. The Retreat Cost is a little upsetting but you can run Switchs to counter this, and Water weakness is really good as there are very few dedicated Water decks around.
Tornadus EX is probably the second best EX Pokemon in this set, and its easy to see why. Blow through is a great attack as most decks that will run Tornadus will run a Stadium (Skyarrow Bridge for free retreat) so your almost guaranteed that 60. Power Blast is a straight up attack nothing fancy about 100 damage for 3 energy and a possible discard. Lightning Weakness is not a good Weakness to have right now, but the Fighting Resistance means Zekeels will tech this in for a Terrakion counter. I can also see CMT (Celebii/Mewtwo/Tornadus) running this either in place of or with Tornadus EPO (Emerging Powers).
Groudon was supposed to be in our Next Destinies set but was held back in favour for a full art Reshiram EX and Zekrom EX. My opinion of Groudon has changed however, given the way the format has gone. Terrakion/Landorus has become quite the power house deck and I feel that Groudon could hold a nice spot in this deck until we get Terrakion EX. Tromp is a nice way of spreading damage (keep in mind that Landorus also spreads damage) and Giant Claw is a devastating attack after a few Gaia Hammers or Tromps. Water weakness is great cause like with Entei, Water isnt really run in a dedicated deck. Lightning Resistance is amazing with Zekeels proving to be the deck to beat this format. The retreat is really high but Terrakion Landorus decks should run Switch anyways. Also its good to point out that Groudon is fetchable by Heavy Ball which is also a good choice for Terrakion Landorus decks.
Kyogre EX was another Pokemon that was excluded from our Next Destinies set. Unfortunately where my opinion of Groudon has changed, Kyogre is still bad. In as few words as possible Kyurem from Noble Victories does everything Kyogre does only better. Glaciate is a better dual splash (yes i know its less damage but you get everything on your opponents side of the field) and Outrage will almost always outperform Smash Turn. Also Kyurem has a much preferred Metal weakness to Kyogres horrible Lightning weakness.
I didnt include Darkrai in this analysis cause i am sure everyone knows what it does and how its kind of broken. Luckily with the exception of Kyogre alot of other decks get alot of power options, so this is all in all a good set. Pre-Releases start this weekend so I hope you all pull good and have a good time.
Ps Thanks to google for providing pictures
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