TCG History: The Base-Fossil Format

The Base-Fossil Format

The Base-Fossil Format (1999) is fondly remembered as a nostalgic time when the Haymaker and Rain Dance decks once dominated everything else... Or at least that's how it was in 1999. Things have changed since then, but we'll still start by touching on three cards that defined the earliest stages of the format.

The star of the old school format was undoubtedly Hitmonchan. Even in the modern Base-Fossil format, Hitmonchan is still a prominent and important card. Being able to do 20 damage for a single energy was always efficient, which is especially important in a format where Energy Removal runs rampant.

Nowadays, Hitmonchan isn't a staple even in Big Basic builds, but it does hit some of the most important cards in the format for weakness. Still, it's fallen off significantly to mirror the rise of Psychic decks and the modern obsession with Dodrio.

The big evolution deck of the original format was always Rain Dance. This is still widely considered the best Stage 2 Evolution, but being forced to start the game with a lone Squirtle in the active is a very real fear.

Still, dumping a hand full of energy onto the field will always be extremely, extremely powerful.

This deck is still meta-relevant, but not necessarily the end-all, be-all. In fact, there's a real debate to be had over whether Rain Dance is better than the modern builds of the VenuCenter deck.

Alakazam has fallen much farther from grace than Hitmonchan and Blastoise. His main claim to fame was the ability to stall the game to a miserable crawl with the help of cards like Chansey, Scoop Up, and Pokemon Center.

So why is he so forgotten? Simple. Venusaur has proven to be a more optimal way to achieve the same exact strategy. Unlike Alakazam, Venusaur isn't a prime target for Gust of Wind, and its pre-evolutions are a little more usable than Abra and Kadabra. Damage Swap decks aren't gone, but I would only classify them as rogue builds in the modern day.

Base Set Trainer Cards - Beautifully Broken

The Base Set introduced a list of the most powerful Trainer Cards in the history of the game. Refreshing your whole hand multiple times in one turn? Doable. Searching your deck for any card you want with minimal drawbacks? Doable. Recursion for your degenerate Trainer Cards? Doable. If that wasn't good enough you can also fully heal your whole team, remove Energy Cards from your opponent, shuffle every Trainer Card in their hand away, and then force their weakest 'mon into the active spot.

It's safe to say that Super Energy Removal and Energy Removal define this format more than any other cards. You are simply not allowed to use attackers that require 3 or more energy unless they have some way to get around these cards. Period.

These two cards single-handedly make over half of the Evolution Cards in the game unplayable, because the tempo loss that Super Energy Removal represents is just that unreasonable. Energy Removal might possibly be fair without its big brother, but there's a reason that neither one has been reprinted into modern sets.

The second pillar of the format is the absurd draw engine. Between Professor Oak (discard your hand and draw a new one), Bill (draw 2 cards), Computer Search (discard 2 cards to search for anything), and Item Finder (discard 2 cards to retrieve a discarded Trainer Card), it was entirely possible to draw your entire deck in a single turn.

In fact, the draw engine is so powerful that one mark of a skilled player in this format is knowing when not to play Oak. Stall is a very real archetype in this format, so getting greedy with Oak is a leading cause of new player losses.

The Lickitung Renaissance

As modern players started revisiting the format, they quickly realized that the tools available for stalling were far, far too powerful. Between Scoop Up, Super Energy Removal, and high HP Basics, it can be incredibly difficult to make any progress against a dedicated stall deck.

One of the biggest advancements is the realization that Lickitung isn't just "good." It's easily in contention for the best card in the format. Skip half your opponent's turns for a single Basic Energy of any type, with a Basic that can already survive almost every attack in the metagame. If your deck can't break Lickitung, you don't have a deck.

The second biggest glow-up in the format has to go to Dodrio. A large percentage of players have abandoned Scyther entirely for the insane utility provided by Retreat Aid. Dodrio isn't a terrible attacker in a pinch, either.

Dodrio is borderline mandatory in many top decks. It can rescue a stranded Hitmonchan, allow Chansey and Fossil Magmar to retreat for free, and Retreat Aid even stacks with itself.

It's also worth noting that Dodrio single-handedly fuels some niche archetypes, such as the occasional Dragonite-Vileplume deck, although these are mostly fun rogue brews.

The Metagame that Slowed with Age

In some ways, I would describe the Base-Fossil metagame as a metagame that evolved backwards. Instead of feeling more powerful than ever before with new discoveries, the modern Base-Fossil metagame is a grind game like no other grind game.

Drawing one too many cards can lead to a loss. Using Psyduck's Headache one turn too early or too late in certain strategies can be the difference between victory and defeat. At the top level, this metagame demands an extremely high level of skill, but you won't get to enjoy the explosive strings of knockouts that some newer metagames offer.

Compare that to the historical format, in which players didn't know how to make the best decks yet. Janky Venusaur builds that used Exeggutor were rogue-viable. Dodrio and Lickitung were relatively unheard of. Almost every match was a race to attach energies and do big damage. Koffing unironically saw play in a historically significant deck.

As for the modern version of the Base-Fossil metagame... Well, I hope you like paralysis.