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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Pichu - (Neo Genesis Rare)

Pichu
Type:        Baby Pokemon 
Card #:      Card 12/111
HP:          30 HP
Level:       5

Baby Pokemon Power 
Attack: [C] Zzzap - Does 20 damage to each Pokémon in play that has a Pokemon Power. Don't apply Weakness and Resistance.

Pojo's Average Rating -
Standard: 3.50
Modified: 4.20
Reviewed January 07, 2002

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.



Scott
Gerhardt

A little Pokemon CotD action, eh? Why not - we'll try it. I'm gonna tell everyone straight off the bat one thing: I am not going to review every card. Sorry. I'll review the ones I want to review here and there. Some weeks - 5 cards. Some weeks - 0 cards. We'll have to see. I am going to do Pichu, though.

Pichu, slaughterer of Pokemon Powers! Babys are nice because if your opponent's luck sucks, then you can wreck them. Pichu is particularly metagamelischous since he can just start clearing out those heavy PokePowered benches fast. Everything from Alakazam straight up to Feraligatr and more take their damage, active or no. Down side? One good heads flip and Pichu is down for a 10 count. Also, there will be decks, especially in standard, where Pichu is gonna be trashy. More basic intensive there. In modified, though, he's da bomb, and keeping 1, maybe 2 in most any deck ain't a bad idea at all.

Standard Rating: 2.5
Modified Rating: 4.5

Overall Rating: 3.5



Doll

Ahh... the power of babies. 30 HP seems so weak, but the baby rule, which makes your opponent flip to see if they may attack, balances out the itty-bitty HP. Against an unlucky flipper, multiple tails can let Pichu and his baby counter-parts last a long time in the active position while you tend to other set-up dilemas.

Pichu's particular attack makes it an interesting choice against combo decks that rely on Pokemon Powers. If you are lucky and those tails keep on coming, you can buy time to set up your own bench while simultaneously wiping an opponent's Pokemon Power dependant combo into oblivion. 

At the West Coast STS this year, Pichu was everywhere as a partial answer to Feraligatr, Slowking and Typhlosion decks. Even an occasional brave Elekid saw a quick death at the hands of many a Pichu.

Ratings:
A scale of 1 to 5
1 = Toilet Paper
2 = Keep it in the Binder
3 = Decent
4 = Amazing
5 = Total-0wnage-Must-Be-Played-In-Every-Deck

Pichu pulls down a solid 4 in constructed, only avoiding a 4.5 because, due to the nature of it's attack, you basically can't use it effectively in Pokemon Power dependant decks. Pichu is definitely a metagame card for areas that have higher concentrations of PP decks. 

In draft, Pichu is an okay pick at best, giving you a zero retreater for your bench and a possible stall to buy you time as your active. I'd give it a 3 in limited play, perhaps a 3rd, 4th or 5th pick.

~ Doll


Rain

Pichu in Standard
For a Colorless Energy, Pichu uses its one and only attack: Zzzap - dealing 20 damage to every Pokémon with a Pokémon Power. And of course it has baby power, which takes a flip to attack it. This card weakens a lot of the overused cards in the Standard enviroment. Slowking, Typhlosion, Ditto, Igglybuff, Unown [N] and so on. This card saw play a little after Neo Discovery was released when Igglybuff dominated Slowking. Some smart people got one step ahead by playing a couple Pichu to get some easy prizes to KO their opponents Iggly's. Which was very clever. Pichu is most effective against Steel Chansey (which usually runs 2 Igglybuff/2 Unown [N]) by gusting up a hitter with high retreat, lassing and killing their Iggly's and Unown [N]'s in two turns. It's really ironic to think that Slowking/Sneasel have benefited the most from the arrival of Pichu. Think about it, what are Slowking's/Sneasel's 2 most biggest threats? Igglybuff and Ditto. If you play the deck right, Pichu takes care of those 2 biggest threats most of the time without a problem. Pichu made Slowking/Sneasel variants even stronger than they were before.

Pichu in Modified
This card is godly in the Modified Format. Pichu weakens popular and overused cards such as: Ferligatr, Typhlosion, Slowking, Magcargo/Entei, Erika's Victreebel, Giovanni's Machamp, Elekid and countless other cards. Pichu is most effective in Crobat/Pichu/Murkrow/Chaos Gym variants. There is no other deck in Modified that can hurt Ferligatr more than this can. It is an extremely fast deck and can beat almost anything when played right.

Rating
Pichu is simply just a great card. It made Slowking once again reliable and is awesome played with Crobat and Murkrow. It helps weaken Steel Chansey and helps Sneasel against Ditto. This card also makes me scared to play Iggly anymore. ;( In Standard I'm giving Pichu 4 Stars. But in Modified, I'm giving Pichu a perfect 5 Stars! Almost every competetive deck you'll see in Modified will run an evolution line with a Pokémon Power. Pichu gives original Modified decks the edge to compete with Ferligatr and Typhlosion.


"Ness"
Jason
Klaczynski

     Pichu is definitely an excellent card in both standard and modified.  In standard, the presence of Igglybuff, Ditto, Unown, Typhlosion, Muk, Slowking and a bunch of expected things make it worthwhile.  With Focus Bands and in numbers it is able to take down a large 80+ HP Pokémon. In standard I'd give it an 4.0/5.

     As for modified, there's Feraligatr, Slowking, Typhlosion, Magcaro, Entei, Elekid.. just as much.  Same thing. 4/5. 



Pokepop

Modified: A solid card. It helps take care of Slowking and Magcargo/Entei decks as well as Dounpour, all of which as very powerful and popular in Modified. It is a very useful Tech card.

4/5 in Modified.

Standard: While still useful in Standard, there are better choices available. Trainers become more important than Pokemon Powers and there are many Pokemon without Powers used in Standard. Still useful, but it needs to be in the right deck.

3/5 in Standard.


RaNd0m

Pichu is a great card in all formats. Zzzzap (How many z's are there? :P) is a great attack, damaging any pokemon with a power. Think about how great that is! Add in the fact that it is a baby, and you have a very VERY good card. I play at least 1 pichu in every deck, mainly because it is good anti-chansey.

In standard, I give it a 3.75 rating. It's VERY decent, and the baby rule just makes it broken. Unless your area is haymaker crazy, Pichu is the card to play.

In modified, I give it a 4.75. I know that is a little high, but I'm tempted to give it a 5.0. Every deck in modified that is viable has a pokemon power except Crobat. It takes typhlosion OUT, and it hurts Feraligatr, hurts Slowking, and damages many other decks.

In draft, I give it a 3.5. I'm not that experienced in draft... Scott and Doll are MUCH better in that area. But I have drafted a few times, and it is good. Being a baby pokemon... and because many people draft uncommons/commons WITH powers.

Overall Rating: 4.0 It's THAT GOOD. ~ RaNd0m

 


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