dancingaway
New Member
Call of Legends – Set Review:
Part 2 (Rares, 21-39): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141322
Part 3 (Uncommons, 40-52): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1927244#post1927244
Part 4 (Commons, 53-75): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1928124#post1928124
Part 5 (Trainers, Supporters and Lost world 76-87): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141533
Part 6 (Conclusion, Overview and Awards): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141844
Every time a new set gets released I really want to see a comprehensive review, on a card by card basis, done by someone in the know. I would also love to go back and see this for every past set. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I know my way around the Pokémon TCG and I haven’t seen a full set review for Call of Legends so I give you my take here.
These are my opinions, feel free to disagree, just tell me why! I am rating all cards based on what they are. For example, Garchomp C Level X would get 5/5 for an awesome main attacker to base a deck around, while Gastly SF would also get 5/5 for being an excellent starter and the best basic form of Gengar (to use in a very successful deck). Garchomp C gets rated as an attacker, Gastly on his ability to help us set up. I will be marking each card on their use at the pre-release (PR) (don’t forget how fun these can be!), their use in our current meta-game (MG) and their art. I will not go into hideous depth for each card (we all want to go home tonight) but rather consider the standout features. I know the pre-releases have mostly been and gone but this being a reprint set it wasn’t possible to predict the set til this past weekend. Anyway, there’s launch parties next weekend in Derby and Nottingham in the UK, so there may be some where you’re from.
I should also add that this has become kinda epic so it’s being split into parts. I will post links to all the parts at the bottom of this as it gets posted. Also, if you want images of all the cards, they can be found in the Pokegym picture library (follow the link at the top of the page).
001 – Clefable (Colourless)
- Can anyone say donk a Garchomp C? Fairy power could be useful for reusing Uxies or picking up benched Pokémon for other reasons (say you put them down to avoid a donk but don’t want them on the bench) and moon impact can be ok, especially early game. It’s also nice that each attack can be done for a DCE. Get one of these up nice and early and it could be good for you but ultimately there are better starters and after a couple turns Clefable will be killed by any attacker in any half-decent deck.
- PR: 3/5 (Ok as an attacker if you have nothing else but few cards worth picking off the bench)
- MG: 2/5 (Some uses but so many better cards)
- Art: 4.5/5 (He looks like he WANTS to donk a Garchomp C)
002 – Deoxys (Psychic)
- Play this at a pre-release, with a high energy count, and you could be onto a winner. It’s a basic Pokémon and at a pre-release 60 damage can be good. It will also (mostly) completely self-heal, turning it into a bit of a tank, especially as it will take most people a few turns to be doing 80 damage. Outside of this 60 for PPP is bad and the healing is almost irrelevant as there are so many Pokémon (including pretty much all the main attackers) who will OHKO this.
- PR: 4/5 (If you can get it going you should take a couple prizes at least)
- MG: 1/5 (Just not good enough)
- Art: 3/5 (Looks a tad weird and essentially has no left arm, but the picture screams cool)
003 – Dialga (Steel)
- Now this is an odd one. On the face of it, it looks horrendous but it might have some nice situational uses. It could form a lovely combo with Rayquaza C (although the retreat cost of 3 hurts this a lot) and with the resistance to psychic, emptying of your hand (no trainers!) a lack of a poke-power (not to mention the ability to use special metal energies, snowpoint temple and expert belt to tank more), it would take SF Gengar a while to kill (unless it fell prey to Fainting Spell). Otherwise 4 for 70 is bad, the retreat cost hurts and having an empty hand could be terrible if you weren’t completely set up. As a side note, it can also help you not deck out.....
- PR: 4/5 (Hard to get going, but hitting for 70 is good and this set does have special metals)
- MG: 2.5/5 (Probably never going to be played, but I can see some quirky combos coming)
- Art: 3/5 (I have never seen Dialga look so cute)
004 – Espeon (Psychic)
- This is a reprint from Undaunted. I’ve seen it played a few times but rarely. Solar Suggestion can be useful but against most decks the 90HP and x2 weakness to psychic will mean it gets killed far too quickly to actually use. Psybeam is very much a last resort attack and 3 for PC (even with confusion) is not good enough. Saying that, in pre-releases it IS good. It can heal itself (and is much less likely to be OHKOed) as well as hitting Pokémon on the bench (where there are likely to be some low HP Pokémon). I owned an Undaunted pre-release with this bad boy and you could too!
- PR: 4/5 (1 energy, healing and picking easy prizes from the bench)
- MG: 1/5 (It’s just too fragile and ineffective against any decent deck)
- Art: 3.5/5 (Look how warm he is!)
005 – Foretress (Steel)
- This, again, is a reprint from undaunted. It’s a stage 1 which basically relies on swarming and could make a fun league deck. With Bebes, Pokémon communication, Uxie LA, Luxury Ball, Pokémon Collec
tor, BTS and Rare Candy it shouldn’t be too hard to get 3 (if not 4) of these rolling in 2-3 turns, where you can be doing up to 120 for a DCE and a M. Seems awesome but as you hurt your Pokémon too you can only really attack for 3 turns and recovery of all 3-4 Foretress will be incredibly difficult. You could run Manectric PL or bench shield to protect your bench but you then risk speed and consistency. 90HP is also very fragile in today’s format (even counting special metal and its use here). Seems awesome but this is not the next Speedrill. It will however make a fun (and cheap) league deck and will get a few wins if made correctly. Give it a go!
- PR: 3/5 (Doubt you’ll be swarming these but mirror shot could be useful here)
- MG: 3/5 (Good fun deck, someone may make it amazing)
- Art: 1.5/5 (Doesn’t do anything for me, sorry!)
006 – Groudon (Fighting)
- It really sucks how cool these legends look, because they play horribly. 100HP is solid for a basic but 80 for 4 is bad. The effect of Volcano stomp could be awesome, but it could also completely ruin the game for you and with a massive CCCC retreat cost he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. When you consider Donphan is a Stage 1 with 120HP, an awesome pokebody and 90 damage for FFF with no downside, it’s not likely you’ll need to tech in a grass Pokémon to take down Groudon anytime soon. The LA Groudon is not good but it’s far better than this one.
- PR: 2/5 (If you can get enough energy on him, and get lucky with flips he can win it for ya. IF!)
- MG: 1/5 (No. Just no)
- Art: 5/5 (He’s gonna stomp you! He also seems to have fire wings!)
007 – Gyarados (Water)
- Here we have a HGSS reprint. Now like Groudon and other Pokémon in this set, he takes a while to get going, but it’s worth it. My advice, keep him on the bench, get 4 energy on him and then let him loose with Hyper Beam. Not only will you be doing 80 damage per turn but you automatically discard one of their energy with no downside for you. This will severely hamper their attempts to set up and recover. For the metagame though it’s useless. Even when SF Gyarados gets rotated out there will be better water Pokémon (especially as in a slower format Feraligatr prime can help slower, stronger water Pokémon become relevant again).
- PR: 4/5 (If you have time to get 4 energy on him, it is all good!)
- MG: 2/5 (Too slow and nothing special)
- Art: 2/5 (Compare it to cards like SF and MT Gyarados!)
008 – Hitmontop (Fighting)
- Here we have a reprint from HGSS. There is one use for Hitmontop: getting him out T1 and using triple kick. Otherwise, he’s useless. I mean 60 for 3 energy AND with the downside that the next turn your opponent does 20 more damage, and you only had 60HP to begin with! (Clefable will be loving this though
At a pre-release he’s worth putting in for possible early kills. Otherwise, pop him in the binder and admire how shiny he is.
- PR: 3/5 (Excellent if you get him T1 with an energy and good flips)
- MG: 1/5 (Really, really bad!)
- Art: 1/5 (Cartoon drawing is horrible and he looks like he’s flying....)
009 – Ho-oh (Fire)
- Here we have a bird. A bird with a retreat cost of CCC! Combine that with massively overpriced attacks and it’s not good. Could be good at the pre-release if you get him powered up, but hit a tails on Scorching wing and you can’t retreat (due to the big retreat cost) or do big damage. If you have another energy in hand you can do 50 but it won’t feel good.
- PR: 3/5 (Can be good but takes too long to power him up and it could wrong quickly)
- MG: 1/5 (If you must have a fire bird that kills your energy, go for Moltres MD)
- Art: 3.5/5 (Picture is cool but doesn’t fit the background)
010 – Houndoom (Dark)
- Another reprint from Undaunted. Now THIS is a good card. Not states winning good but very playable and a beast at the pre-release. 20 for D is ok, but if the opponent had a fighting Pokémon on the bench (and there are several decent, common fighting Pokémon in this set that your opponent may be using) then you’re doing 80 for one dark energy. This is good. If not, Dark Roar does 50 for DD and forces your opponent to discard a card from their hand. In the metagame as a whole this can be useful (seen it used well in a couple decks) but needs the right deck (disruption deck tech etc).
- PR: 4/5 (Very useful and low energy cost)
- MG: 3/5 (Not amazing but finds its way into some good decks)
- Art: 2/5 (The art on the UD one is better)
011 – Jirachi (Psychic)
- Here we have a reprint from Unleashed. This has potential but before we get to that there is a huge stumbling block: 60HP and a x2 weakness to Psychic. Every deck runs Uxie. Uxie will do 40 to him without expert belt, plus power, the level X etc. So he will not last long, he better be able to do something good while he’s around. Now Time Hollow has potential, especially in terms of knocking out Pokémon by devolving them but unless you can score the knockout it really is a bit pointless. BTS is so prevalent in today’s format that putting the Pokémon in their hand will just lead to them using BTS to get back to their final evolution directly after when they take their turn, thus wasting your attack. Now of course this has the potential for several KOs, but how often does your opponent have several Pokémon, all with enough damage counters to KO their pre-evolved state, sitting on the bench? Not often, and the format today is too fast to set anything like this up. Yeah it can be powered up by a pokepower, but that’s flippy and unreliable. If you really want something to devolve Pokémon use Omastar MD. As it’s pokepower you can then judge your opponent, so even if you don’t score the KOs, you still destroy their set-up.
- PR: 2/5 (Chance of a couple cheap KOs without a revenge kill)
- MG: 1/5 (Really fragile and not as good as Omastar MD)
- Art: 2/5 (Cute enough but no good background and kinda plain)
012 – Kyogre (Water)
- Without exaggeration, this is (hands down) one of the worst cards I have ever seen. No joke. You take 4 turns to get 4 energy on him and then with a tails you do 40 damage to each of your own Pokémon. Even with Feraligatr to power him up, it’s just not worth it. As an absolute last resort, Hail Mary play at a pre-release this could score some KOs on basics on the bench and turn the game, but when are you gonna get 4 turns (with no energy acceleration) to power him up when you don’t need to put that energy on anyone else? Oh, and he’s weak to one of the most popular cards in the format. X2. Oh, did I mention the horrible retreat? Don’t play this card.
- PR: 1/5 (Possible Hail Mary play, but chances of it working are slim)
- MG: 0/5 (NO!)
- Art: 2/5 (He’s shown at an odd angle and the background sucks)
013 – Leafeon (Grass)
- Now this card I like. It was printed in Undaunted and is back now looking, well, the same (it is a reprint). It’s an eeveelution so it’s short on HP but for G you can do 30 with automatic sleep (which is good) and for C you can do 50x the number of special conditions, which can be very handy. Little trick if you don’t know: use Roserade UL and attach rainbow energy. The defending Pokémon is then affected by two special conditions and Leafeon can attack for 100. You only need two stage 1s for this combo and it can be very effective. As a side note, Leafeon Level X is very good for energy acceleration and has a nice attack if played well. Leafeon won’t win states, but it make a good fun deck and could possibly be teched into something very impressive.
- PR: 4/5 (sleep and 30 damage for one energy, oh yes!)
- MG: 3/5 (Real potential here if played right but probably better for league)
- Art: 2/5 (The UL one looked so much cooler and came with a pre-release stamp)
014 – Lucario (Fighting)
- Now THIS is a card that has potential. Sky Uppercut is a big pile of no; Donphan is the standard for stage 1 fighting Pokémon and he does 90 for FFF (which drops to 70 if they have resistance) while also being a much better tank. Dimension Sphere on the other hand I like the look of and can think of 2 uses for. On the one hand, if Gengar/Lost Zone becomes popular, you have a very powerful attacker for a DCE. If your opponent gets 5 Pokémon in the lost zone they’ve almost won but you’re hitting for 130 damage for a DCE (150 with belt, enough to OHKO a Gengar prime). The second use is to use a Pokémon like Mew or Relicanth CL to lost zone a bunch of Pokémon early and then hit for big damage. As each Lucario would only need a DCE to attack and is a stage 1, recovery would be quick and easy, and you’re hitting for big damage turn after turn. Using Relicanth would also mean you had a draw engine and next format that will be a big thing. I genuinely think this could be a viable deck..... Except for lost world. If you have to lost zone Pokémon to attack, you are not ever going to beat a deck that aims for wins with lost world.
- PR: 4/5 (If you can lost zone a couple Pokémon, you’re laughing)
- MG: 2-4/5 (If they don’t play lost world, you could be onto something, if they do.....)
- Art: 5/5 (He looks very, very cool. I don’t even care that the picture makes no sense!)
015 – Lugia (Water)
- What we have here is a very meh Pokémon. 30 to any Pokémon for WCC is pretty bad but could be useful in some circumstances. 80 for WWWCC is pretty bad, especially without anything extra (like discarding cards or special conditions). Big retreat cost and weakness to Luxray don’t make him any more stellar. Saying that, if you can get him powered up it could be good in a pre-release. Chances are though it’s just too slow.
- PR: 3/5 (Good if you get it going, but probably too slow)
- MG: 1/5 (It’s just not gonna cut it)
- Art: 4/5 (He looks all mean and nasty and the background is pretty cool)
016 – Magmortar (Fire)
- The problem with Magmortar is that, in the very same set, we have Typhlosion, who does more damage, for less energy and with a lower retreat cost. He’s a stage 2 rather than a stage 1 but the differences are still too much to ignore. As for Magmortar himself, Hard Crush is a bit risky having to discard 3 cards but could work, especially in an energy-heavy deck. Mantle Bazooka does good damage but you need some energy acceleration or you’re only attacking once every two turns.
- PR: 3/5 (If you get him rolling you can do 100 every other turn. This is good)
- MG: 2/5 (Compared to Charizard and Typhlosion it’s just nothing good)
- Art: 4/5 (He’s gonna shoot you!)
017 – Ninetails (Fire)
- Be happy that this has been reprinted and grab yourself a couple, because this might become a very expensive card. Next format we’re losing Uxie and the draw engine situation is not looking too good. We have some decent supporter draw (engineer’s adjustments, PONT etc), we have Magnezone Prime (stage 2 with bad retreat but who is also a good attacker) and we have Staraptor FB (who can search for supporters). Fire decks however have Ninetails and this is a good thing for them. Discarding a fire energy for 3 cards is awesome, especially with things like Typhlosion prime and Fisherman in the format to get the energy back. The attack is a bit rubbish (though could work in the pre-release) but just leave this baby on the bench and have a good time. Next format, without Uxie and SP, Charizard AR could be king and Ninetails will play a very important role in that.
- PR: 4/5 (Excellent draw engine, just stick in some extra fire energies)
- MG: 5/5 (Will be a staple card in all fire decks until rotated out)
- Art: 4/5 (Stunning picture but still outdone by the original HGSS picture)
018 – Pachirisu (Electric)
- This little guy is one the best Pokémon out there. He’s an electric squirrel. It’s hard to beat that. This card is also a very interesting one. Now next format Donphan is looking to become very popular so 60HP and x2 fighting weakness is not good but in the hands of the right person, and at the pre-release, he could be very exciting. As long as you have 2 electric energy in your hand you can be doing 50 the turn you put him down. I think this would be fun to abuse at the pre-release and possibly make a nice tech in a Magnezone deck though ultimately he’s too fragile to really be a contender.
- PR: 4/5 (Use him right and he could be a game winner)
- MG: 2/5 (Some nice combos could be done, but he’s only little)
- Art: 5/5/ (If he wasn’t electric I would wanna give him a big hug)
019 – Palkia (Water)
- An interesting little fellow here. 60 for WWWW is not good, but he has a built-in warp point and this could make some nice combos. You could use him for a hit and run (like Cursegar), or even to hit an annoying Pokémon for 60 and then get him out of the active. Not stunning but there are surely some creative uses for him.
- PR: 3/5 (Even here 60 for 4 is not good, but it’s still ok and could get rid of a pesky attacker)
- MG: 2/5 (Possibly some nice combos but outclassed by too many others)
- Art: 3/5 (Dodge Palkia, dodge)
020 – Rayquaza (Colourless)
- Ok, so here we have a 100HP basic who can hit for a hundred. The downside is that he needs 4 energies (of 2 different types) and must discard two of them to attack. This is woefully inefficient for today’s metagame (and even after rotation). Might be good in a pre-release but he can only attack every other turn IF you manage (in those two turns) to attack a F and L energy, which will often not be possible. Like most legends, he will never see play.
- PR: 3/5 (If you can get him going, awesome! But you probably won’t)
- MG: 1/5 (There’s just too many better Pokémon)
- Art: 3/5 (Insert drug reference here)
Part 2 (Rares, 21-39): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141322
Part 3 (Uncommons, 40-52): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1927244#post1927244
Part 4 (Commons, 53-75): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1928124#post1928124
Part 5 (Trainers, Supporters and Lost world 76-87): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141533
Part 6 (Conclusion, Overview and Awards): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141844
Every time a new set gets released I really want to see a comprehensive review, on a card by card basis, done by someone in the know. I would also love to go back and see this for every past set. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I know my way around the Pokémon TCG and I haven’t seen a full set review for Call of Legends so I give you my take here.
These are my opinions, feel free to disagree, just tell me why! I am rating all cards based on what they are. For example, Garchomp C Level X would get 5/5 for an awesome main attacker to base a deck around, while Gastly SF would also get 5/5 for being an excellent starter and the best basic form of Gengar (to use in a very successful deck). Garchomp C gets rated as an attacker, Gastly on his ability to help us set up. I will be marking each card on their use at the pre-release (PR) (don’t forget how fun these can be!), their use in our current meta-game (MG) and their art. I will not go into hideous depth for each card (we all want to go home tonight) but rather consider the standout features. I know the pre-releases have mostly been and gone but this being a reprint set it wasn’t possible to predict the set til this past weekend. Anyway, there’s launch parties next weekend in Derby and Nottingham in the UK, so there may be some where you’re from.
I should also add that this has become kinda epic so it’s being split into parts. I will post links to all the parts at the bottom of this as it gets posted. Also, if you want images of all the cards, they can be found in the Pokegym picture library (follow the link at the top of the page).
001 – Clefable (Colourless)
- Can anyone say donk a Garchomp C? Fairy power could be useful for reusing Uxies or picking up benched Pokémon for other reasons (say you put them down to avoid a donk but don’t want them on the bench) and moon impact can be ok, especially early game. It’s also nice that each attack can be done for a DCE. Get one of these up nice and early and it could be good for you but ultimately there are better starters and after a couple turns Clefable will be killed by any attacker in any half-decent deck.
- PR: 3/5 (Ok as an attacker if you have nothing else but few cards worth picking off the bench)
- MG: 2/5 (Some uses but so many better cards)
- Art: 4.5/5 (He looks like he WANTS to donk a Garchomp C)
002 – Deoxys (Psychic)
- Play this at a pre-release, with a high energy count, and you could be onto a winner. It’s a basic Pokémon and at a pre-release 60 damage can be good. It will also (mostly) completely self-heal, turning it into a bit of a tank, especially as it will take most people a few turns to be doing 80 damage. Outside of this 60 for PPP is bad and the healing is almost irrelevant as there are so many Pokémon (including pretty much all the main attackers) who will OHKO this.
- PR: 4/5 (If you can get it going you should take a couple prizes at least)
- MG: 1/5 (Just not good enough)
- Art: 3/5 (Looks a tad weird and essentially has no left arm, but the picture screams cool)
003 – Dialga (Steel)
- Now this is an odd one. On the face of it, it looks horrendous but it might have some nice situational uses. It could form a lovely combo with Rayquaza C (although the retreat cost of 3 hurts this a lot) and with the resistance to psychic, emptying of your hand (no trainers!) a lack of a poke-power (not to mention the ability to use special metal energies, snowpoint temple and expert belt to tank more), it would take SF Gengar a while to kill (unless it fell prey to Fainting Spell). Otherwise 4 for 70 is bad, the retreat cost hurts and having an empty hand could be terrible if you weren’t completely set up. As a side note, it can also help you not deck out.....
- PR: 4/5 (Hard to get going, but hitting for 70 is good and this set does have special metals)
- MG: 2.5/5 (Probably never going to be played, but I can see some quirky combos coming)
- Art: 3/5 (I have never seen Dialga look so cute)
004 – Espeon (Psychic)
- This is a reprint from Undaunted. I’ve seen it played a few times but rarely. Solar Suggestion can be useful but against most decks the 90HP and x2 weakness to psychic will mean it gets killed far too quickly to actually use. Psybeam is very much a last resort attack and 3 for PC (even with confusion) is not good enough. Saying that, in pre-releases it IS good. It can heal itself (and is much less likely to be OHKOed) as well as hitting Pokémon on the bench (where there are likely to be some low HP Pokémon). I owned an Undaunted pre-release with this bad boy and you could too!
- PR: 4/5 (1 energy, healing and picking easy prizes from the bench)
- MG: 1/5 (It’s just too fragile and ineffective against any decent deck)
- Art: 3.5/5 (Look how warm he is!)
005 – Foretress (Steel)
- This, again, is a reprint from undaunted. It’s a stage 1 which basically relies on swarming and could make a fun league deck. With Bebes, Pokémon communication, Uxie LA, Luxury Ball, Pokémon Collec
tor, BTS and Rare Candy it shouldn’t be too hard to get 3 (if not 4) of these rolling in 2-3 turns, where you can be doing up to 120 for a DCE and a M. Seems awesome but as you hurt your Pokémon too you can only really attack for 3 turns and recovery of all 3-4 Foretress will be incredibly difficult. You could run Manectric PL or bench shield to protect your bench but you then risk speed and consistency. 90HP is also very fragile in today’s format (even counting special metal and its use here). Seems awesome but this is not the next Speedrill. It will however make a fun (and cheap) league deck and will get a few wins if made correctly. Give it a go!
- PR: 3/5 (Doubt you’ll be swarming these but mirror shot could be useful here)
- MG: 3/5 (Good fun deck, someone may make it amazing)
- Art: 1.5/5 (Doesn’t do anything for me, sorry!)
006 – Groudon (Fighting)
- It really sucks how cool these legends look, because they play horribly. 100HP is solid for a basic but 80 for 4 is bad. The effect of Volcano stomp could be awesome, but it could also completely ruin the game for you and with a massive CCCC retreat cost he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. When you consider Donphan is a Stage 1 with 120HP, an awesome pokebody and 90 damage for FFF with no downside, it’s not likely you’ll need to tech in a grass Pokémon to take down Groudon anytime soon. The LA Groudon is not good but it’s far better than this one.
- PR: 2/5 (If you can get enough energy on him, and get lucky with flips he can win it for ya. IF!)
- MG: 1/5 (No. Just no)
- Art: 5/5 (He’s gonna stomp you! He also seems to have fire wings!)
007 – Gyarados (Water)
- Here we have a HGSS reprint. Now like Groudon and other Pokémon in this set, he takes a while to get going, but it’s worth it. My advice, keep him on the bench, get 4 energy on him and then let him loose with Hyper Beam. Not only will you be doing 80 damage per turn but you automatically discard one of their energy with no downside for you. This will severely hamper their attempts to set up and recover. For the metagame though it’s useless. Even when SF Gyarados gets rotated out there will be better water Pokémon (especially as in a slower format Feraligatr prime can help slower, stronger water Pokémon become relevant again).
- PR: 4/5 (If you have time to get 4 energy on him, it is all good!)
- MG: 2/5 (Too slow and nothing special)
- Art: 2/5 (Compare it to cards like SF and MT Gyarados!)
008 – Hitmontop (Fighting)
- Here we have a reprint from HGSS. There is one use for Hitmontop: getting him out T1 and using triple kick. Otherwise, he’s useless. I mean 60 for 3 energy AND with the downside that the next turn your opponent does 20 more damage, and you only had 60HP to begin with! (Clefable will be loving this though
At a pre-release he’s worth putting in for possible early kills. Otherwise, pop him in the binder and admire how shiny he is.- PR: 3/5 (Excellent if you get him T1 with an energy and good flips)
- MG: 1/5 (Really, really bad!)
- Art: 1/5 (Cartoon drawing is horrible and he looks like he’s flying....)
009 – Ho-oh (Fire)
- Here we have a bird. A bird with a retreat cost of CCC! Combine that with massively overpriced attacks and it’s not good. Could be good at the pre-release if you get him powered up, but hit a tails on Scorching wing and you can’t retreat (due to the big retreat cost) or do big damage. If you have another energy in hand you can do 50 but it won’t feel good.
- PR: 3/5 (Can be good but takes too long to power him up and it could wrong quickly)
- MG: 1/5 (If you must have a fire bird that kills your energy, go for Moltres MD)
- Art: 3.5/5 (Picture is cool but doesn’t fit the background)
010 – Houndoom (Dark)
- Another reprint from Undaunted. Now THIS is a good card. Not states winning good but very playable and a beast at the pre-release. 20 for D is ok, but if the opponent had a fighting Pokémon on the bench (and there are several decent, common fighting Pokémon in this set that your opponent may be using) then you’re doing 80 for one dark energy. This is good. If not, Dark Roar does 50 for DD and forces your opponent to discard a card from their hand. In the metagame as a whole this can be useful (seen it used well in a couple decks) but needs the right deck (disruption deck tech etc).
- PR: 4/5 (Very useful and low energy cost)
- MG: 3/5 (Not amazing but finds its way into some good decks)
- Art: 2/5 (The art on the UD one is better)
011 – Jirachi (Psychic)
- Here we have a reprint from Unleashed. This has potential but before we get to that there is a huge stumbling block: 60HP and a x2 weakness to Psychic. Every deck runs Uxie. Uxie will do 40 to him without expert belt, plus power, the level X etc. So he will not last long, he better be able to do something good while he’s around. Now Time Hollow has potential, especially in terms of knocking out Pokémon by devolving them but unless you can score the knockout it really is a bit pointless. BTS is so prevalent in today’s format that putting the Pokémon in their hand will just lead to them using BTS to get back to their final evolution directly after when they take their turn, thus wasting your attack. Now of course this has the potential for several KOs, but how often does your opponent have several Pokémon, all with enough damage counters to KO their pre-evolved state, sitting on the bench? Not often, and the format today is too fast to set anything like this up. Yeah it can be powered up by a pokepower, but that’s flippy and unreliable. If you really want something to devolve Pokémon use Omastar MD. As it’s pokepower you can then judge your opponent, so even if you don’t score the KOs, you still destroy their set-up.
- PR: 2/5 (Chance of a couple cheap KOs without a revenge kill)
- MG: 1/5 (Really fragile and not as good as Omastar MD)
- Art: 2/5 (Cute enough but no good background and kinda plain)
012 – Kyogre (Water)
- Without exaggeration, this is (hands down) one of the worst cards I have ever seen. No joke. You take 4 turns to get 4 energy on him and then with a tails you do 40 damage to each of your own Pokémon. Even with Feraligatr to power him up, it’s just not worth it. As an absolute last resort, Hail Mary play at a pre-release this could score some KOs on basics on the bench and turn the game, but when are you gonna get 4 turns (with no energy acceleration) to power him up when you don’t need to put that energy on anyone else? Oh, and he’s weak to one of the most popular cards in the format. X2. Oh, did I mention the horrible retreat? Don’t play this card.
- PR: 1/5 (Possible Hail Mary play, but chances of it working are slim)
- MG: 0/5 (NO!)
- Art: 2/5 (He’s shown at an odd angle and the background sucks)
013 – Leafeon (Grass)
- Now this card I like. It was printed in Undaunted and is back now looking, well, the same (it is a reprint). It’s an eeveelution so it’s short on HP but for G you can do 30 with automatic sleep (which is good) and for C you can do 50x the number of special conditions, which can be very handy. Little trick if you don’t know: use Roserade UL and attach rainbow energy. The defending Pokémon is then affected by two special conditions and Leafeon can attack for 100. You only need two stage 1s for this combo and it can be very effective. As a side note, Leafeon Level X is very good for energy acceleration and has a nice attack if played well. Leafeon won’t win states, but it make a good fun deck and could possibly be teched into something very impressive.
- PR: 4/5 (sleep and 30 damage for one energy, oh yes!)
- MG: 3/5 (Real potential here if played right but probably better for league)
- Art: 2/5 (The UL one looked so much cooler and came with a pre-release stamp)
014 – Lucario (Fighting)
- Now THIS is a card that has potential. Sky Uppercut is a big pile of no; Donphan is the standard for stage 1 fighting Pokémon and he does 90 for FFF (which drops to 70 if they have resistance) while also being a much better tank. Dimension Sphere on the other hand I like the look of and can think of 2 uses for. On the one hand, if Gengar/Lost Zone becomes popular, you have a very powerful attacker for a DCE. If your opponent gets 5 Pokémon in the lost zone they’ve almost won but you’re hitting for 130 damage for a DCE (150 with belt, enough to OHKO a Gengar prime). The second use is to use a Pokémon like Mew or Relicanth CL to lost zone a bunch of Pokémon early and then hit for big damage. As each Lucario would only need a DCE to attack and is a stage 1, recovery would be quick and easy, and you’re hitting for big damage turn after turn. Using Relicanth would also mean you had a draw engine and next format that will be a big thing. I genuinely think this could be a viable deck..... Except for lost world. If you have to lost zone Pokémon to attack, you are not ever going to beat a deck that aims for wins with lost world.
- PR: 4/5 (If you can lost zone a couple Pokémon, you’re laughing)
- MG: 2-4/5 (If they don’t play lost world, you could be onto something, if they do.....)
- Art: 5/5 (He looks very, very cool. I don’t even care that the picture makes no sense!)
015 – Lugia (Water)
- What we have here is a very meh Pokémon. 30 to any Pokémon for WCC is pretty bad but could be useful in some circumstances. 80 for WWWCC is pretty bad, especially without anything extra (like discarding cards or special conditions). Big retreat cost and weakness to Luxray don’t make him any more stellar. Saying that, if you can get him powered up it could be good in a pre-release. Chances are though it’s just too slow.
- PR: 3/5 (Good if you get it going, but probably too slow)
- MG: 1/5 (It’s just not gonna cut it)
- Art: 4/5 (He looks all mean and nasty and the background is pretty cool)
016 – Magmortar (Fire)
- The problem with Magmortar is that, in the very same set, we have Typhlosion, who does more damage, for less energy and with a lower retreat cost. He’s a stage 2 rather than a stage 1 but the differences are still too much to ignore. As for Magmortar himself, Hard Crush is a bit risky having to discard 3 cards but could work, especially in an energy-heavy deck. Mantle Bazooka does good damage but you need some energy acceleration or you’re only attacking once every two turns.
- PR: 3/5 (If you get him rolling you can do 100 every other turn. This is good)
- MG: 2/5 (Compared to Charizard and Typhlosion it’s just nothing good)
- Art: 4/5 (He’s gonna shoot you!)
017 – Ninetails (Fire)
- Be happy that this has been reprinted and grab yourself a couple, because this might become a very expensive card. Next format we’re losing Uxie and the draw engine situation is not looking too good. We have some decent supporter draw (engineer’s adjustments, PONT etc), we have Magnezone Prime (stage 2 with bad retreat but who is also a good attacker) and we have Staraptor FB (who can search for supporters). Fire decks however have Ninetails and this is a good thing for them. Discarding a fire energy for 3 cards is awesome, especially with things like Typhlosion prime and Fisherman in the format to get the energy back. The attack is a bit rubbish (though could work in the pre-release) but just leave this baby on the bench and have a good time. Next format, without Uxie and SP, Charizard AR could be king and Ninetails will play a very important role in that.
- PR: 4/5 (Excellent draw engine, just stick in some extra fire energies)
- MG: 5/5 (Will be a staple card in all fire decks until rotated out)
- Art: 4/5 (Stunning picture but still outdone by the original HGSS picture)
018 – Pachirisu (Electric)
- This little guy is one the best Pokémon out there. He’s an electric squirrel. It’s hard to beat that. This card is also a very interesting one. Now next format Donphan is looking to become very popular so 60HP and x2 fighting weakness is not good but in the hands of the right person, and at the pre-release, he could be very exciting. As long as you have 2 electric energy in your hand you can be doing 50 the turn you put him down. I think this would be fun to abuse at the pre-release and possibly make a nice tech in a Magnezone deck though ultimately he’s too fragile to really be a contender.
- PR: 4/5 (Use him right and he could be a game winner)
- MG: 2/5 (Some nice combos could be done, but he’s only little)
- Art: 5/5/ (If he wasn’t electric I would wanna give him a big hug)
019 – Palkia (Water)
- An interesting little fellow here. 60 for WWWW is not good, but he has a built-in warp point and this could make some nice combos. You could use him for a hit and run (like Cursegar), or even to hit an annoying Pokémon for 60 and then get him out of the active. Not stunning but there are surely some creative uses for him.
- PR: 3/5 (Even here 60 for 4 is not good, but it’s still ok and could get rid of a pesky attacker)
- MG: 2/5 (Possibly some nice combos but outclassed by too many others)
- Art: 3/5 (Dodge Palkia, dodge)
020 – Rayquaza (Colourless)
- Ok, so here we have a 100HP basic who can hit for a hundred. The downside is that he needs 4 energies (of 2 different types) and must discard two of them to attack. This is woefully inefficient for today’s metagame (and even after rotation). Might be good in a pre-release but he can only attack every other turn IF you manage (in those two turns) to attack a F and L energy, which will often not be possible. Like most legends, he will never see play.
- PR: 3/5 (If you can get him going, awesome! But you probably won’t)
- MG: 1/5 (There’s just too many better Pokémon)
- Art: 3/5 (Insert drug reference here)
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