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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day


Image from
Wizards of the Coast

Poliwrath - Skyridge


Date Reviewed: 06/26/03

Ratings & Reviews below

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

X-Act
Skyridge Poliwrath
 
I guess this is the first card we're reviewing whose rating depends on the ruling: whether the rules are those of WotC or those of Nintendo.
 
If it is Active, this Poliwrath can auto-confuse the Defending Pokemon, at the cost of discarding a basic Energy card from it. As you might know, Nintendo have changed the Confusion rule. It now says that a Confused Pokemon can retreat without flipping (like all the other Special Conditions), and if a Confused Pokemon tries to attack and flips tails, 3 damage counters must be placed on it. This new ruling, in my opinion, makes Confusion less harsh than it was before. In fact, most of the Nintendo cards don't flip for confusion now, unlike most of the cards in the pre-Nintendo sets. In fact, the only auto-confusion cards I know of that are from a pre-Nintendo set are Psychic Cube, and... this Poliwrath.
 
The problem is that I personally hate the attack. An attack for a Stage 2 that, for [1FF], does 40 50% of the time, simply doesn't cut it. It does have plenty of HP, but its attack plainly stinks.
 
Unlimited: No, don't play this card here. If you want a Fighting Pokemon for this format, use Tyrogue.
1/5
 
Modified: I think this card is a little bit underrated in this format. It's true that Special Conditions are, in general, easily counterable, but a sure Special Condition per turn certainly isn't. Another thing that people overlook about Poliwrath's power is that it switches off the Defending Pokemon's Poke-Power or Pokemon Power (if it has one). The new rules will make Poliwrath less playable, true, but I'd still consider it. The bad thing about Poliwrath, as I already mentioned, is its below-par attack. If it had an attack that at least did 50+, it would have been a much bigger force.
3/5
 
Draft: If you draft this, be careful. Poliwrath's pre-evos aren't Fighting Pokemon, although, admittedly, both the Poliwag and the Poliwhirl have colorless attacks in both Skyridge and Expedition, so it actually isn't much of an issue. This is deadly in Draft if you manage to get it out. Special Conditions in Draft can win you the game, and Poliwrath's massive 110HP will let it live for very long. The drawback is that Poliwrath itself isn't splashable. If you're playing other Fighting Pokemon, try this out, since Poliwag and Poliwhirl can still attack with the Fighting energies.
3/5
pERfeCt 0nE
Poliwrath

I like this card.  When I first saw it, I opened up apprentice and went crazy.

Unlimited-  Each review, i will say something is usually too weak to ER, SER, Sneasel, wiggly, and maybe fable or zappy- this is not an exception =/.
rating--- 1

Modified-  Kewl.  I like using this with Murkrow or possibly Starmie- to counter Scizor.  If you use Mirage Stadium and his confusion, you can totally mess them up, AND they wont want to use DG to escape it with Mirage Stadium right there.  If they do, you can Murkrow lock them, via Warp Energy after their DG!  He's very combolicious ^_^.
rating--- 3.675

Draft-   Once again...If you can draft his family and get him up- you WIN!!!  ...most likely...lol
rating--- 3.75
dontknow09 Skyridge Poliwrath

Poliwrath seems to be a very unpopular pokemon to me for some reason. I see plenty of Poliwhirl toys/plushes/etc. but I don' see many Poliwraths. Could this new Poliwrath hype up the Pokemon world? Well, this Poliwrath has the most HP out of any Poliwrath, a hefty 110HP. The 3rd Pokemon to have 110HP I think. Poliwrath goes to fighting type like the Discovery version, which I don't like because of the complex color change. Good thing the new Poliwags and Poliwhirls have colorless attacks. Watch out for Espeon's, which could do some major damage to Poliwrath because of its weakness to psychic. 2 retreat is the best retreat cost out of any Poliwrath, but I'd rather use a switch or something. On to the arsenal.  What an amazing Poke-Power. Auto-confusion can really hurt the defending Pokemon. Although it comes at a cost of one energy, a recycle energy could solve that problem. If only you could use this while on the bench... Spiral Punch does a strong 40 and the extra effect is pretty cool. It's flippy though, but even without the flips, Spiral Punch does enough damage.

Unlimited- Weak to SER. Strange Spiral could help, but most people would just free retreat anyways.  1/5

Modified- It's a good fighting, but like AQ Nidoking don't be fooled by how it looks. Strange Spiral is still great, but it's Spiral Punch that I'm
worried about. Maybe if the base damage was up a notch, it wouldn't be as mediocre.  2.5/5

Draft- Pretty good if you could get it out. Flipping wouldn't matter since you have a confusion to protect you plus a hefty 110HP. 3.25/5

-dontknow09

The Poke`mon Master 1110
Poliwrath:

I love this guy.  I have him and the Piloswine in a deck, and it really does work well.  With Gold Berries and his high 110 hp, he can last a long time.  The power is, simply put, too good.  Yes they may retreat, yes they may switch or double gust, but guess what?  They just had to throw away a trainer or a few energy, AND had to risk a flip.  And if they attack?  They may hit themselves.  At what cost to you?  One basic energy card.  His attack is brutal.  One heads does 60 for pete's sake. Flip a little lucky, and your looking at doing 80 or 110 a turn.  Awesome, simply awesome.

Unlimited:  He could cause some problems, but not too much.  I wouldn't play him myself here:  2/5

Modified:  Could be very dangerous.  I wouldn't be ashamed to play him, no sir.  3.75/5

Limited:  If you can back him up with Poliwags and whirls, you've got it made.  He will win you most games, hands down.  3.5/5

The Bottom Line:  3/5

Thundachu Skyridge Poliwrath:

Overview: One of my favorite cards in Skyridge. 110Hp for a stage 3 is great. Not many people use psychic decks anymore, but with the new sets coming out it could be bad. Espeon overkills this guy. The pokemon power in my book is great. For the cost of 1 energy the defending pokemon is automatically confused and auto confusion 0wnz. For 2 Fighting energy and 1 colorless you do 40 automatically and flip until you get tails, 20 for each heads. Retreat of 2 is wonderful with a stage 2 evo. I wonder if Nintendo will release any water Poliwraths in the future 0_o

Unlimited: 3/5(eh... it's ok)

Modified: 1.5/5(Weakness to psychic=Espeon's prey)

Draft: 2/5(Rare and stage 2.)
TR Shadow Poliwrath

The Pokemon Power can be very useful when used correctly.  Confusion is a nice effect.  You could do a lot there with recycle energy if it didn't say BASIC energy.  Spiral Punch isn't very useful.  For me, it would always be forty; I hate attacks that depend on flips.  The retreat doesn't hurt it that badly, I guess.  110 HP, I'd have to say, isn't too bad.  There are some that have 120 HP, but 110 is near perfect I would say.  Three energy is about average for a Pokemon's big attack.  Having it powered up on your third turn would work well.  Or you might want it on your bench for its Pokemon power.  You'd have to keep giving it energy, though.  I personally like it.

Unlimited 3.5/5
Modified 4/5
Limited 3/5

~TR Shadow~


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