2007-09-16 Masquerain- MT 55/123
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pokeockey12
New Member
i have this card in my deck and i love it...
Rai
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Masquerian from Mysterious Treasures
Against some decks, this is quite the scary card to face against, to be honest.
A deck that uses Water pokemon will find themselves hurting whenever you use Swirling Ripple. How common is that? Empoleon is a rather popular card at the moment. Feraligatr has also been seeing some attention, and might be played. Don't forget the Latios from Lati-lock will be water type as well. Finally, Altaria EX d, and Mew * d are both water type.
Thus, you'll find Swirling Ripples to be an interesting tech option in a grass deck that can fit Masquerian in, except for a few problems... The largest problem comes from the fact that... Most grass pokemon already have water resistance anyways. As far as tech options go, this doesn't seem to be the best idea possible.
So what else can this card be used for? Well, we now turn to his first attack, Centrifugal Force. This attack is quite interesting, but also hard to make reliable. Should your opponent play a pokemon with high retreat cost, such as Magmortar or Electivire, then this attack deals devastating damage for the cheep cost of only two energy. Of course, pokemon with low retreat cost (such as Infernape and Delcatty EX) are also widespread.
The question then comes, can Centrifugal force be used reliably? In a deck focused around Ariados, yes. You're ensuring that the opponent will take 40+ damage if you have two Ariados out, which is not too difficult. Now in a deck not centered around that combo? No.
For the last attack that Masquerain will be seeing use of, is the attack of Surskit. You'll find this attack quite useful before evolving, and even a Memory Berry will surprise you, since this is a free Pokemon Reversal. The ability to pick any pokemon off the bench, and place them active and asleep is incredible in this deck. Should your opponent's only water type be active, you might wish to drag up a new pokemon to avoid losing the Swirling Ripples condition. Perhaps they have a high retreat cost pokemon on the bench? Perhaps you see a power (like Delcatty PK) on the bench to shut off? A highly useful ability, only weakened by the fact that you need one grass energy to use this attack.
And now that attacks have been looked at, let's see how this card works defensively.
First off, his free retreat cost is something that would ordinarilly be seen as a blessing. Why ordinarilly, rather then always? In a deck comboing with Ariados, the Ariados will increase everyone's retreat cost (including your own Masquerain). Therefore, ideally, you won't be able to use the free retreat cost, which is a shame.
Secondly, resistance to a common type (Fighting) is rather useful. Mario decks for instance, can't touch him with their Machops, and are incapable of one shot knocking out Masquerain with any attacks unless a Holon FF energy is attached. Also, Rampardos is fighting type, and has been seeing attention. Rampardos, which his second attack will instantly knock out Masquerian, is weak to Grass type, and is commonly paired with Empoleon. Those last two factors make encounters with him rather enjoyable for the Masquerain player.
Finally, weakness to fire. In this case, the weakness is almost negligable. The majority of fire type pokemon will already be dealing 80 to 150 damage (see Gardevoir EX d, Magmortar, Infernape). Considering Masquerian's HP, the weakness does not accelerate his demise noticeably (unlike pokemon who have 130 HP and +30 lightning weakness). Therefore, it's not too devastating to have fire weakness. In fact, it's preferable to have fire weakness to a type such as Lighting, as there are multiple Lightning attacks that deal around 60 damage (namely Electivire's Giga Impact and Raichu's Explosive Thunder), and would benefit from the weakness damage boost.
Considering all of those traits about Masquerian, it's safe to assume the following.
1) He's not the ideal tech to splash into any deck
2) Masquerian is however, quite capable of surviving in certain decks
3) When the deck is built to take advantage of Masquerain, he is effective at dealing damage, and can throw off the opponent via use of the basic's attack.
Therefore, rating for Modified Format (HP->MT) would be a 5/10. Above average, but enough gaps in it's strengths to make it not too impressive.
Against some decks, this is quite the scary card to face against, to be honest.
A deck that uses Water pokemon will find themselves hurting whenever you use Swirling Ripple. How common is that? Empoleon is a rather popular card at the moment. Feraligatr has also been seeing some attention, and might be played. Don't forget the Latios from Lati-lock will be water type as well. Finally, Altaria EX d, and Mew * d are both water type.
Thus, you'll find Swirling Ripples to be an interesting tech option in a grass deck that can fit Masquerian in, except for a few problems... The largest problem comes from the fact that... Most grass pokemon already have water resistance anyways. As far as tech options go, this doesn't seem to be the best idea possible.
So what else can this card be used for? Well, we now turn to his first attack, Centrifugal Force. This attack is quite interesting, but also hard to make reliable. Should your opponent play a pokemon with high retreat cost, such as Magmortar or Electivire, then this attack deals devastating damage for the cheep cost of only two energy. Of course, pokemon with low retreat cost (such as Infernape and Delcatty EX) are also widespread.
The question then comes, can Centrifugal force be used reliably? In a deck focused around Ariados, yes. You're ensuring that the opponent will take 40+ damage if you have two Ariados out, which is not too difficult. Now in a deck not centered around that combo? No.
For the last attack that Masquerain will be seeing use of, is the attack of Surskit. You'll find this attack quite useful before evolving, and even a Memory Berry will surprise you, since this is a free Pokemon Reversal. The ability to pick any pokemon off the bench, and place them active and asleep is incredible in this deck. Should your opponent's only water type be active, you might wish to drag up a new pokemon to avoid losing the Swirling Ripples condition. Perhaps they have a high retreat cost pokemon on the bench? Perhaps you see a power (like Delcatty PK) on the bench to shut off? A highly useful ability, only weakened by the fact that you need one grass energy to use this attack.
And now that attacks have been looked at, let's see how this card works defensively.
First off, his free retreat cost is something that would ordinarilly be seen as a blessing. Why ordinarilly, rather then always? In a deck comboing with Ariados, the Ariados will increase everyone's retreat cost (including your own Masquerain). Therefore, ideally, you won't be able to use the free retreat cost, which is a shame.
Secondly, resistance to a common type (Fighting) is rather useful. Mario decks for instance, can't touch him with their Machops, and are incapable of one shot knocking out Masquerain with any attacks unless a Holon FF energy is attached. Also, Rampardos is fighting type, and has been seeing attention. Rampardos, which his second attack will instantly knock out Masquerian, is weak to Grass type, and is commonly paired with Empoleon. Those last two factors make encounters with him rather enjoyable for the Masquerain player.
Finally, weakness to fire. In this case, the weakness is almost negligable. The majority of fire type pokemon will already be dealing 80 to 150 damage (see Gardevoir EX d, Magmortar, Infernape). Considering Masquerian's HP, the weakness does not accelerate his demise noticeably (unlike pokemon who have 130 HP and +30 lightning weakness). Therefore, it's not too devastating to have fire weakness. In fact, it's preferable to have fire weakness to a type such as Lighting, as there are multiple Lightning attacks that deal around 60 damage (namely Electivire's Giga Impact and Raichu's Explosive Thunder), and would benefit from the weakness damage boost.
Considering all of those traits about Masquerian, it's safe to assume the following.
1) He's not the ideal tech to splash into any deck
2) Masquerian is however, quite capable of surviving in certain decks
3) When the deck is built to take advantage of Masquerain, he is effective at dealing damage, and can throw off the opponent via use of the basic's attack.
Therefore, rating for Modified Format (HP->MT) would be a 5/10. Above average, but enough gaps in it's strengths to make it not too impressive.
Magic_Umbreon
Researching Tower Scientist, Retired
Poor HP, poor damage potential. Confusion isn't very useful now versus free retreaters. It gets a point for having free retreat.
2/10
2/10
This is such a bad card.
Damage output is unreliable at best, HP is basically non-existent. Obviously if you wanted to use it w/ anything, Ariados sticks out like a sore thumb but that's still not a good deck.
Modified: 1.112/10
Unlimited: Dunno don't care
Limited: Dunno don't care
Damage output is unreliable at best, HP is basically non-existent. Obviously if you wanted to use it w/ anything, Ariados sticks out like a sore thumb but that's still not a good deck.
Modified: 1.112/10
Unlimited: Dunno don't care
Limited: Dunno don't care
Dark Weedle
New Member
rampardos/empoleon? joke?
KingGengar
New Member
Great concept, especially with Ariados. I'd like to say it's a good tech for a Grass deck that includes, for example, Meganium and Ariados.
Ardoptres
New Member
Combines well with Ariados, but it is way to slow to get 3-4 of those spiders up.
Gets a point for free retreat.
It's second attack can be very good though. 60 for 2 AND confuse? Yesssss.
I'm not thinking too positive about it though. It doesn't have enough HP to do anything.
2/10 - Modified
Gets a point for free retreat.
It's second attack can be very good though. 60 for 2 AND confuse? Yesssss.
I'm not thinking too positive about it though. It doesn't have enough HP to do anything.
2/10 - Modified
Croatian_Nidoking
New Member
It's a good draft card, maybe worth putting in a beginner's deck, but aside from the free retreat, it's not tournament-worthy. 1/5.
- Croatian "(Masque)rain falls" Nidoking
- Croatian "(Masque)rain falls" Nidoking
Regis_Neo
Moderator
Masquerain is one of those cards that looks decent enough in concept, but lacks playability in actuality. Poor HP, Weakness to a popular type, and overall iffy attacks weigh it down considerably. Centrifugal Force is an ok attack when combined with Ariados MT, but overall not exactly the best thing for damage output. Only real pluses I can see are free Retreat and Resistence to another popular type.
Modified - 2/10 (It can work with Ariados, but doesn't offer much beyond that)
Limited - 7/10 (It's a Stage 1 with free retreat and cheap attacks here where it could work)
Unlimited - 1/10 (Base Set Gastly is better than this)
Modified - 2/10 (It can work with Ariados, but doesn't offer much beyond that)
Limited - 7/10 (It's a Stage 1 with free retreat and cheap attacks here where it could work)
Unlimited - 1/10 (Base Set Gastly is better than this)
spoinkmaster
New Member
OMG! This card is pwntastic! 10/10
Ariados + thi = BDIF, and I'll prove it at BRs.
Ariados + thi = BDIF, and I'll prove it at BRs.
KingGengar
New Member
spoinkmaster da man
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