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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Sharpedo #30/102 HS Triumphant Date Reviewed: Dec. 30, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 2.20 Limited: 3.70 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst.  3 ... average.   5 is the highest rating. Back to the main COTD Page
Combos With:

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Sharpedo (Triumphant)   We end the year with what I consider to be the single most frightening Pokémon card in the entire format, or maybe even in the history of the TCG.   It’s not scary in the way that big mean-looking Pokémon like Dialga and Tyranitar are scary.   It’s not scary in the way that powerful cards like Luxray GL LV X, with their ability to destroy your set up are scary.   In fact, most of the card is anything but scary: a 90 HP Stage 1 with horrible Lightning Weakness and a bog standard ‘Rage’ style attack for three energy? That has ‘meh’ written all over it.   Nope, the reason Sharpedo is such a frightening prospect is all down to its Strip Bare attack. For one Dark Energy, this has an uninteresting base damage of 20, but an effect which could very well end a game there and then. Basically, you flip two coins and if both of them are heads your opponent discards their entire hand.   Yep, you read that right . . . pull off the flips and your poor opponent loses every card they hold and gets put on top decks from that moment on. Combine a successful Sharpedo flip with a card like Slowking HGSS or Chatot G to fix that top deck, and you have virtually guaranteed that your opponent will never recover. You may now proceed to win the game any way you like.   Of course, I’m not actually going to recommend that you enter a tournament with Sharpedo hand disruption as your main strategy. I can’t even claim that it combos well with other disruption cards like Weavile UD and Cyrus’s Initiative: if Sharpedo works, you won’t even need them, if it doesn’t then it’s just wasted space. If I’m honest, I don’t really think that Sharpedo belongs in anything other than the world’s most annoying casual/League deck, due to the fact that Strip Bare, although pretty much made of greatness, is extremely unreliable.   Nevertheless, if you are ever sitting opposite an opponent who utters the words ‘evolve to Sharpedo, attach Darkness Energy’ before picking up a couple of dice . . . well, then be afraid . . . be very afraid . . .   Rating   Modified: 2 (if it works, you win . . . but that’s a big risk to take) Limited: 3.75 (both attacks are pretty good here)   Combos with . . .   Slowking HGSS Chatot G   Well that’s it for 2010. Happy New Year to everyone, and don’t forget to check back in 2011 for more reviews!
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Sharpedo (HS Trimuphant)   We finish the year with another, if not playable, at least interesting card from the new set. Presenting the steroid-powered Jaws of Steel, Sharpedo!   Sadly, Sharpedo never gets much love because despite the ingenuity and talent that went into designing the original character, it just doesn't cut it competitively in the cards or the video games (something about a lack of attack power and crappy movepool). Added to that is the fact that the dual Dark/Water typing and red eyes makes it a natural villain, which means the anime doesn't showcase Sharpedo the way it deserves either.   Maybe that is changing? Probably not, but I still like the card.   The vital statistics: Dark type (yay!) Stage 1 (not a good thing at this time in the game) with 90 HP, Lightning weakness and a retreat cost of 1. Summary: Lightning techs and Luxray are death to the shark, while other pokemon won't find it difficult to get an OHKO either due to lack of resistance and low HP (100 is what you want on a Stage 1 nowadays, though 90 is on par for most Stage 1 Pokmon, especially the faster ones). And there is no excuse for the retreat cost, Sharpedo should get free retreat in deference to its speed stat in the video games and the lack of other good stats on this particular card.   Now the attacks, and Sharpedo gets 2. Strip Bare has a cost of [d] and deals 20 damage (about right, considering the boost from Special Dark energy) with 2 coin flips. If both are Heads, your opponent loses their entire hand to the discard pile. Unless you opponent is playing Gyarados and their hand is full of magikarp at the time, this is definitely a good thing but the fact that it will only happen in a 1/4 of games (you generally won't get a second shot) means Sharpedo needs something more to push into the 'Playable' category. Though this attack does help Sharpedo's survivability, since your opponent will suddenly be out of options and probably be unable to strike back if the attacks works.   Now the second attack. Rage is an ancient standard, and this version follows the pattern faithfully. At the cost of [d][c][c] you get 50 damage, plus 10 more damage for each damage counter on Sharpedo. Considering the extra damage you can give Dark Pokemon, this attack can hurt but the problem is that Sharpedo will usually go form full health to the grave in a heartbeat, so it is a huge risk spending the Special energy (either Dark or Double Colourless) on Sharpedo since there is no way to retrieve them in the current format and adding Expert Belt is also a risk as it is unlikely you will take more prizes than you give up, though fans of the Twins and Black Belt supporter cards might want to try it.   In the end, Sharpedo doesn't have the staying power to be a viable choice in a Drak deck, even as a tech, though a fun deck revolving around it and the Spiritomb from the same set is a fun way to spend an hour at League. Since you are most likely wondering what I mean by that last statement, my idea is that you drop Spiritomb and use its Poke-power to force your opponent to shuffle and draw a hand of 6 cards, then rig your coin and make them discard the lot. Rinse and repeat to mill your opponent's deck to tatters, alongside other fun cards like Slowking HGSS and Primeape SV.   Modified: 1.75 (fun, but nowhere near playable. If it was a Tyranitar with stats to match and these attacks, then you'd have a real contender!) Limited: 3.5 (even without Special Dark energy in the set,Sharpedo is cheap and nasty while the low damage in Limited will allow Rage to hit big twice, maybe even 3 times, especially if you get lucky and discard your opponent's hand early) Combos with: Spiritomb TM
conical	12/30/10: Sharpedo (Triumphant) You feeling lucky, punk? Well, do ya?   Let's cut to the chase. Strip Bare does D for 20, with a nice effect for 2 heads. Now, it's a very flippy attack, and no one should use an attack with a 25% chance of having a good effect. That being said, I pity the fool who plays against this, especially if the other guy flips two heads. No deck likes having their hand discarded. None. Not Luxchomp, not Vilegar, not even decks like Gyarados and Charizard, who ordinarily like discarding, like having their hand discarded. Then again, you could topdeck an Uxie, or a Collector for an Uxie. Good luck with that.   It's not something I'd rely upon, but underrating this card is like asking to suffer humiliating defeat in the early rounds of some major tournament. With that in mind:   Modified: 2.75/5 Limited: 3.75/5 Combos With: Loaded dice P.S. Oh right, this is the last Pojo COTD for the year. Have a good new year, and we'll try to bring quality-ish card of the day for 2011 too.