Pachirisu and Phione are probably
the most argued over starter Pokemon. We've all seen articles on why they are good or not.
And as many people will have seen at Regionals and just during league play, Pachirisu has amazing popularity. Phione of Majestic Dawn has seen as much hype, if not more than Pachi. Between those two cards, many decks will run one or both Pokemon.
But are they worth it? They both have problems and drawbacks, which should raise the question "Does this deck really need it?".
Pachirisu
Pachirisu has had a masive popularity from the day it was released, and is a useful card. But it is overated, and not the amazing miracle card that will change the metagame. So why does everyone use Pachi, and why is it still so good? Two reasons:
Call for family is the big one. The lure to get 3 basics in just the first turn is too good. But, why should everyone use Pachirisu for that? Getting basics right away isn't huge unless you run a T2 deck, and even then, the only really good ones (Quickitune, Banette and Honchkrow)don't need added support.
pachi is only really good for turn 1. Then' you've got the basics, and can't really do anything else with it. Once the bench is full, it's pretty useless. And as Prime mentioned, with the booming popularity of Magmortar decks, a 70 HP Pokemon just taking up bench space can equal an easy prize.
Pachirisu is pretty much the new age version of the SS Dunsparce, with more hype. To put it simply, if you don't
need tons of basics, you shouldn't be running Pachirisu. Cards like Roseanne's research, daul ball, holon mentor, ect are there if you may need more basics. Don't run Pachi just because.
And before I get a flood of angry posts, no I did not forget about Pachirisu's Smash Shot. Does 10 damage, but if the defending Pokemon has a Pokemon tool, it does 30 more damage, and the tool and all copies in your opponent's hand are discarded. That may be great, especialy for stopping the dreaded Cessation Crystal, but it has one
huge drawback: who would put a Pokemon toool on their active if the other person had a active Pachi? No one.
Case in point. People don't just play a Pokemon tool right where Pachi can get it. Yes, you an say it acts as a deterant. A one turn deterant.
So unless it's important enough to retreat and shift up Pachirisu, you won't get a lot of action with that move.
So once Pachi has grabbed basics, that's it. Without the Poketool effect, Smash Short is no good, so it's just a one turn card. Summing it up, it's grab and run. But it is still a good card. A deterant for Poketools and something that can get 5 basics in 2 turns. But always make sure you have either a setup or attacking Pokemon ready to take over. Pachirisu indeed works best to grab the setup Pokemon that's right for the senario. That way you can have one of a bunch of different openers, and have acess to them 90% of the time.