Shino Bug Master
Front Page News Editor
Getting To Know The Unown (G)
Date : 2/10//2010
Format : DP-AR
Division : All
You walk into league on your first day, armed with your Stormshaper theme deck. You have the choice between either of the theme decks, but you feel this one is superior, with Gengar AND Luxray hitting for 60+ damage. You sit down to play against someone your age, and the game is off! You manage to get out your Swalot but don't draw the Psychic Energy you need to attack! So you pass. Your opponent benches a Pokémon, then declares that he's going to attach it to his active, as a TOOL! You ask if that's allowed, and he gives you a dirty look, responding "Of course it is!" You shrivel back into your chair, disappointed with yourself already looking like an idiot at the game. On your next turn, you top deck a Psychic Energy! Nice! You attach, and announce "Damage Roller!" Your opponent glares at you again, and proclaims "Awesome, because that does nothing with this tool attached!"
Your attack is wasted, your Swalot’s in trouble, and you are lost. Not a great first game. Let's get you familiar with a card that will plague your opponents’ decks for the rest of the season:
At a Glance:
Unown G shares traits with a lot of very unimpressive cards, yet finds its way into 90% of competitive decks. Let's ignore its Power for a second and see what the structure of the card is.
At 50 HP, it won't be taking many hits, no matter what’s hitting it. 50 damage can be done in 3 shots of a Pokémon like Bulbasaur who can do 10 damage the first turn, and then 20 with an extra energy. So an early Unown G make stick around for a few turns against the likes of Bulbasaurs. But looking at its weakness an almost identical card Croagunk can knock it out in 2 hits. Anything remotely powerful will dominate the card in one hit.
No resistance and one retreat cost are petty, and it being a basic Pokémon is nothing special. Its attack, Hidden Power does 50 damage for [P][C] which is truly a great ratio, and could KO opposing Unown Gs with ease, if it didn't have an additional effect. If Unown G has any damage counters on it, it does a total of 10 damage INSTEAD of that lovely 50. Lesson 1 of Pokémon was the basics, here's lesson 2.
TWO ENERGY FOR 10 DAMAGE IS NOT A GOOD THING
Traits of the Tool:
So there is a very important redeeming factor to this card, and that lies in its Poke-Power: Guard. If you're new to the game, here's a quick rundown on how a Power works:
A Poke-Power, unless stated otherwise on the card, can be used at any point during your turn before you attack. Read them carefully. Many powers have prerequisites or things you have to do in order to use them outlined in the text under the power. They don't count as an attack, and you can utilize as many of them per turn as you have access to, though many prevent you from using the same named Power twice in a turn.
Guard allows you to discard everything attached to Unown G and then attach it to one of your Pokémon as a Pokémon Tool card (this does not knock Unown G out, so no prize card to your opponent). This effect neutralizes all of Unown G's physical limitations as a Pokémon. Note that once Unown G is attached, it loses ALL aspects of being a Pokémon. It can't attack, your opponent doesn't take an extra prize card for knocking a Pokémon with Unown G out, and it doesn't count as a "Pokémon in play" for any effects.
:fire:IMPORTANT NOTE!:fire: Unown G was errated (corrected) shortly after its release. The following bolded text is considered an unseen part of the Poke-Power. The fact its not written on the card is nothing more than a translation lapse. Don't get caught off GUARD! Hahahahaha!
Now that you have successfully "G'd" your Pokémon, what does it get from the little parasitic alphabet tile? While attached as a tool to a Pokemon, Unown G prevents "all effects of attacks, excluding damage done to that Pokémon by your opponent's Pokémon ." That phrase may be the most widespread, frustrating, confusing and misinterpreted phrase in all of Pokémon Organized Play. Here's a list of things Unown G attached as a tool can do for you!
1) Everyone's Special
Poisoned. Burned. Paralyzed. Asleep. Confused. Brought in from the popular Pokémon video games, these "special conditions" should be familiar to you. Their descriptions can be found in any theme deck rule book, so if you aren't aware of their spectrum of effects, get acquainted with them. Grass Pokémon are the most common carries of these, specializing in Poisoning most times, but any type of Pokémon could have them. If your opponent plays down a Tangela, you can smirk to yourself and attach an Unown G to whatever you plan on attacking with. When Tangela comes up to bat, its attack Sleep Powder will still do the 20 damage printed on the card, but the effect of sleep will be negated, meaning you won't have any trouble smacking it repeatedly until it becomes another dweller of the discard pile and a prize for you.
2) Silent Stop of the Counter Culture
When you get a starter deck, they give you these cheap little cut out circles with "10" printed on them. While most Pokémon deal damage causing you to use these, some Pokémon skip that step and instruct you to put X number of damage counters on a Pokémon. That Swalot you attacked with early for example, has his first attack; Damage Roller, that doesn't do what we call Direct Damage, but still hurts the opponent's active Pokémon by placing damage counters. Your opponent was not just harassing your lack of game understanding, Unown G actually prevents this sort of attack entirely. These kind of attacks can have some seriously damaging effects when not prevented, that Swalot could put up to 9 damage counters, the equivalent of 90 damage, on the Defending Pokémon, for only 1 energy. But just attaching Unown G turns its max damage output with Damage Roller to 0. Other cards you might see with these kinds of attacks include Gengar (SF), Dusknoir (SF), Gallade (SW) and Azelf Lv.X
3) Schoolin' the Old Schoolers
For those new players who play at league, there will always be the kids who think shiny = better, no matter how old a card is. A card you encounter is the old Tyranitar d Ex, whose first attack puts a Shock-marker (a game mechanic that has never been used on another card) on one of your Pokémon. If your opponent chooses a Pokémon with Unown G attached, the attack fails. Since markers are not used by any current attack or effect, this isn't a modern threat.
4) Knock Blocked
Cards like that T-Tar Ex in the last example, Machamp (SF) and Gardevoir Lv.X can knock out Pokémon instantly when certain conditions are met. Unown G attached to the Pokemon they select, means that the KO is completely prevented. When facing Machamp's Take Out, Basic Pokémon often sport an Unown G on them when tackling The 4 Armed Harm Machine.
5) The Locksmith
A commonly used type of attack in the card game reads something along the lines of "The Defending Pokémon can't retreat during your opponent's next turn" and has become very popular in the current metagame. It is used to stall opponents, get knock outs with techs and is referred to as "locking" your opponents Active Pokémon. Several cards like the two modified Spinaraks, Chatot (MD), Azelf LA) and Trapinch (SW) can stop your active Pokémon from retreating, which in many situations can allow your opponent to build up their set-up to even the game out. If your active Pokémon is being locked and you can't do anything to get it out, G it. The next time they attack you, the effect will be ignored and you can safely retreat.
6) Fail Escort
If you're displeased with how big a threat your opponents active Pokémon is, you're either going to knock it out, or try and make them use something else. Dragging a Benched Pokémon up to be the Active is a very fun to utilize effect, but Unown G will block this on 2 levels. If your opponent’s Trapinch (SW) tries to Inviting Trap a Pokémon on your bench with Unown G, it will be prevented. But if you have multiple Pokémon on your bench you don't want brought as active, and only 1 Unown G at the time, you can still block it. If Zangoose (PL) uses Invite and Strike to bring up a Benched Pokémon while you have Unown G attached to your ACTIVE Pokémon, the attack will still fail, since the attack still involves switching the G'd Pokémon! Some other cards to watch for with this are Swampert (SV), Nidoking (SW) Blazekin FB and Regigigas (Promo).
7) The Inverse
Unown G doesn't only prevent your opponent switching your active Pokémon, it can act as wall that prevents your opponent from switching the Active Pokémon, even if the Unown G'd Pokémon on your bench isn't the direct target of the attack. If your opponent attempts to use an attack like Pidgeot (SW)'s Whirlwind you can tell your opponent your choice is a G'd Pokémon on your bench to switch it with. This causes Unown G to block the effect and leave your Pokémon as active.
8) Energy Bar(ricade)
Most popular Pokemon in the game require Energy Cards in order to use their attack. So cards that support attacks like Hyper Beam that discard energy attached to the Pokémon they attack seem like they'd be pretty useful for slowing down an opponent. There are also cards that can move Energy from one Pokémon to another, such as Ambipom G and Dialga G Lv.X whose Remove Lost can send them to the Lost Zone. All of these effects on energy are prevented if any of the targeted Pokémon are G'd.
Currently, there is a very interesting ruling on cards that move Energy and Unown G. Straight from the Compendium:
== TAIL CODE (Ambipom [G] - PL:Rising Rivals)
Q. If I use Ambipom [G]'s "Tail Code" attack to move an energy card from the Defending Pokémon to one of my opponent's Pokémon that has an Unown-G attached to it, what happens?
A. While Unown-G prevents the attachment of the energy to the protected Pokémon; it does not prevent the removal of the energy card from the Defending Pokémon. The energy card is discarded. (Jan 14, 2010 PUI Rules Team)
9) Can't Touch This
Along with guarding Energy Cards, Unown G also protects any TMs attached to the same Pokémon it’s attached to. This isn't all that big a threat, as there are few cards that discard TMs, and even fewer TMs. But what's even more impressive, is that Unown G protects ITSELF. Cards like Mismagius (SF) (who can also discard TMs!) and Pachirisu (GE) who attempt to knock that annoying Unown G off will find themselves unable to. Unown G prevents Tools from being discarded, and since it IS a tool, it counts. Once attached, Unown G has no plans of going anywhere, unless the Pokémon its leeched onto gets Knocked Out, or Scooped Up.
10) The Best Compass Ever
The Lost Zone is a relatively new function in the Pokémon game and much underutilized so far. Only 5 cards have the ability to mess with the Lost Zone, and of those 5, only 2 can directly send a Knocked Out Pokémon to the Lost Zone. Those two cards are Giratina (PL) and Giratina Lv.X. Amazingly, Unown G somehow manages to prevent the effect of being sent to the Lost Zone too. As mentioned earlier, it blocks DGX from Lost Zoning your energy too, so it prevents 3/5 of the cards that work with the zone.
11) Notetaker
While widely unseen, cards that use attacks like Amnesia exist. I'm sure by now, you've guessed that Unown G blocks it, and you are right! Relicanth (SV) is the only viable example of this type of card that I'm aware of.
Denting the Diamond Drill
Despite its seemingly invincible state as a tool, Unown G can be put out of commision, or even made into a player for your team, leeching on your Opponent's Pokemon.
Relicanth SV
After an explosion of popularity in a number of decks, the usage of the rocky fish has died down. Despite this, it still provides game changing moment in the decks that can find the space to run it. Its first attack, Grand Swell does 30 damage for every Tool and Stadium your opponent has in play, to ANY of their Pokemon. This makes it easy to get KOs on things before they are fully charged, if your opponent has an Expert Belt/Energy Gain, Stadium and Unown G in play. Unown G's inability to be of use against straight damage makes it function as a bench sitter of a tool, usually stuck on something that won't be active much and remain in play most of the game. This allows the Relicanth user to exploit the 30 damage snipe Unown G provides at any point in the game.
Pachirisu GE
While in no way as effective as Relicanth, Pachirisu is more easily justifiable in decks, as it can play the role of starter. If your deck's main attacker specializes in somethign Unown G prevents, this isn't a bad card to consider putting in the deck. His second attack, Smash Short hits for 40 damage if the Pokemon its attacking has a tool attached to it, discards the tool and raids your opponents hand for anything with the same name. While the additional discard and raid effect is blocked by Unown G, you can still hit for a 1 energy 40 with a tech Pokemon. This is nice for setting up a knock out without endangering something more important. If Pachirisu isn't knocked out after attacking, Unown G will still be attached, allowing you to spam a 1 energy 40 as long as the Pokemon its attached to is attacking and you have nothing better to be doing.
Hippowdon Lv.X
Sand Reset, the only one-time-a-game power currently made, is also the only modified card that can get rid of an attached Unown G. It will put all energy, stadiums, tms and tools attached to all Pokemon back into their respective players' decks. While this card shouldn't be run solely for the purpose of beridding Unown G, it is a nice side effect you could take advantage of if you already run the lovable lug.
Power Spray/Alakazam MT
Power Cancel switches the requirement of having 3 SPs in play to discarding 2 cards from your hand from Power Spray, but functions the same way here. If you have a strategy that can't handle Unown G being attached, either fo these cards will allow you to trap Unown G on the bench as a Pokemon, giving you a turn to take it out before it does anything. The cost is rather steep for blocking such a small range power and Alakazam may be too slow to block an early Unown G, but if you can get one to do what you need it to, you can make better use of attacks like Sand Tomb and Shadow Room.
Mesprit LA/Gardevoir SW
Gardevoir's Psychic Lock and Mesprit's Psychic Bind cover the same purpose as Power Spray/Alakazam, but do so in a much different way. Both encompass all Poke-Powers, making them much more deadly, but unlikely to trap an Unown G. They do still prevent the attachment of him as a tool, which can be enough in some situations, but once the lock is broken, Unown G will likely swoop to the bench and attach itself. Missing the timing neccesary to remove the threat of Unown G makes them slightly weaker than the two aforementioned cards, for this purpose.
Looking Forward
Unown G will be an important part of deck building for the remainder of the 09-10 series. The top decks at Worlds, be they comprised of SPs, Flygons, Gengars, Beedrills and/or red face powder decks, will more than likely be sporting one or two of these Gs. In this format, everything else is replicable. Roseanne’s can be traded for Pokémon Collector, Bebe’s for Communication or PETM. Uxie, and Claydol and Ninetails will all be changed around to fit the decks needs. But Unown G will remain a solid staple to every deck that runs a power, or plays Spiritomb, or only has a few Warp points. There will always be a reason to play it. You will have to master the compression of when to attach it, what to attach it to, or when to save it for later for just about every card in the game, or be at risk of wasting an irreplaceable ability. You’ll also have to project those same thoughts on your opponent in order to get around it.
Keep in mind it only needs 1 or 2 spaces in a deck. If you’re new to deck building, you’ll eventually find yourself building 59 card decks, which have an Unown G in them. For now, if you’re running a Theme Deck, or for that matter, any deck that has a pyramid structure for its Pokémon (Eg. 4-2-1 lines) you can take out a few of those basic Pokémon that aren’t really doing anything after T3. There is no question that your deck could be bettered by the inclusion of this if you’re new to the game, even if it’s only for fending off those Special Conditions they love throwing in to theme decks. There are a handful of cards that can mess with Unown G, but the casual player won’t run into them often and can learn quickly as long as they take the time to read the cards. With the number of usable tools in the format relatively low, you shouldn’t have much trouble deciding if you want to G something or not, so all that’s left is for you to throw it in your deck and take it for a spin. So the next time your opponent throws down this magic “prevent everything” tool on their Pokémon, you’ll have predicted them doing it 2 turns earlier.
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