2011-1-12 UD Raticate 034

[MrMeches]

"Before posting, please review the FAQ and follow the Guidelines provided for Card of they Day. Whereas we enjoy opinions of the cards, it is necessary to include a Brief Description for all players to understand your point of view and an optional Rating (ex. x/10). In the future, posts not using the FAQ information may be deleted and reported. Thanks, Mgmt"



[gal=50624] 2011-1-12 UD Raticate 034[/gal]

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[Pokeric]

first tehehe.

bad weakness and hp first attack can be good or second attack i guess to discard a DCE

5/10

 

[ThePokemonRhombus]

I can defiently see someone using this as a quick kill card or to take off a DCE, though Vs Luxchomp, that DCE wont stay there long.

6/10

Edit: DAW beaten by a few seconds...

 

[PokemonPizzaParty]

3rd! ok card lets you discard their energy and 30 damage 6/10

 

[Lopunny]

Ok so the card of the day is our old friend Raticate. This speedy rat has always had a softspot in my heart in the TCG and Nintendo games. He never has truly shined always being outclassed (even his signiture move Super Fang was stolen By pachirisu) however onto the review!.

80HP: is average for a stage 1 however they could have been a little more jenerous. Even 90HP would have stopped it being KO'ed by Garchomps dragon rush . never the less normlly it should be able to withstand maybee one attack.

X2 Fighting Weakness: This really hurts the little guy common cheap attacks from eleite pokemon such as machamp and Donpahn will KO not to mention Gallade and the plethora of fighting pkm techs

0 Retreat Cost: This is perfect, Raticate wants to get in their bite them and run away ASAP and with 0 retreat cost you are able to safley run once his job is done!

Razior Sharp Insisors: 1 Colourless: This is in my opinion a cheap attack that can score a surprise KO. Sometimes you have badly damaged the defending pokemon however you have nothing on your bench that can finish it off. Raticate can come in and for only one energy pick them off. This attack has the potential to do around 50-90 damage easily.

Gnaw Up: 1 Colourless: Does 30 damage and lets to ditch one of their special energys. This is pritty good. Very cheap and decent damage. This guy loves eating those double colourless, call energys, rainbow energys etc.. Moreover effective use of wrap points or switch abilitys will allow you to draw out their benched pokemon (Garchomp anyone!) and gnaw its double colourless before they have a chance to fully set up. it then becomes a sitting duck while you retreat for a counter.

Deck Synergy: this guy would work well in spread decks allowing for easy damage on any pokemon taken damage counters. Luxray would work surpisingly well, allowing you to force a pokemon active and if luxray cannot kill it send out raticate to emobolise it. Dusknior and Gengar allow for quick damage counter abuse ready for raticate to gnaw.

Overall: The problem with our old friend is competition for deck space. its true he can preform decently as a revenge killer (however so does jumpluff!) furthermore ratatta hinders his durability. The higest HP Rattata legal is 40HP and this can just get sniped so quickly. However it does take little investment to get Raticate up and running 1 energy and 0 retreat cost allow you to score KO's or shut down pokemon with gnaw up! this coupled with the fact your not loosing much when it dies (low investment) he could be seen as a good tech!

Rating: 7.5/10

 

[Regis_Neo]

Today's CotD is Raticate from UD, another sort of poor Pokemon. Statwise 80 HP is a tad below average for a Stage 1, x2 Weakness to :fighting: sucks, no Resistance is common, and no Retreat Cost is great. Razor-Sharp Incisors is cheap for just :colorless: and deals an ok 10x the number of damage counters on the Defending, making it a nice finisher sort of move. Gnaw Up deals a basic 30 for :colorless: and you get to discard a Special Energy off the Defending as well. Raticate's main flaw I suppose is that it doesn't offer much; it has lightly damaging attacks that really don't justify its use as an attacker in a competitive environment.

Modified - 1/10 (Really no reason to use it, it's too weak and deals too little damage to be a force)
Limited - 8/10 (Now here's it's a good option, :colorless: typing and attacks means it's splashable in any deck, and it's an overall solid option)
Unlimited - 1/10 (See Modified review)

 

[Otaku]

Raticate is Colorless, which is alright (hitting Garchomp for Weakness) but it is a Stage 1, which bodes ill: most Stage 1 Pokemon seem to lack the needed combination of power and speed. It has just 80 HP, and that is about 20 below the acceptable threshold: many Pokemon will be able to OHKO. Especially Fighting-Type Pokemon, since it takes double damage from them (Weakness). No Resistance is disappointing but a lack of Retreat Cost is great!

Both attacks are interesting and potentially useful, but without something to keep Raticate alive or allow Rattata to quickly Evolve into it, it isn't going to be worth the deck space to run, let alone to keep it alive. Razor-Sharp Incizors hits harder the more the damage counters are on the Defending Pokemon... but that can make it bounce between underpowered and overkill: you want anything you face to be half-KO'd (rounding up), so that you finish it off. Raticate can't afford to have something able to fight back. Gnaw Up is a solid attack as well, doing 30 for (C) and letting you discard a Special Energy from the defending Pokemon, but it still isn't worth running such a fragile Stage 1 line for.

You could try to build a deck around damage counter placement and going for the OHKO with the first attack, but I'd rather use Donphan Prime and just go for the OHKO. In Limited it is a little better because the HP scores and average damage done is lower, plus having a free retreating Pokemon is more important too. Plus it can use any Energy.

Ratings

Modified: 2/10

Limited: 5/10

 

[MrMeches]

If Wailord become a Big Player, I can see this being a 1-1 Tech to do some big damage!

3/10 any format!