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Lucario (Unleashed)
Today’s card is the 497th Lucario to appear
in the current rotation (and I thought we were supposed
to be moving back to Johto!).
Ok, so I am exaggerating slightly, but we do get a lot
of Lucario.
This is probably the best one we have seen since the
original DP version (which was actually tournament
playable until Gardevoir SW came along). His first
attack in Bulk Up and for a single Energy it does 30
damage. That’s nice, if not special, but it does have a
useful effect – on your next turn Lucario’s attacks will
do 30 extra damage to the Defending Pokémon.
That last bit is probably what kills Lucario’s chances
of being a tournament card. Because the effect lies on
the Defending Pokémon, your opponent can just switch it
out for something new and there goes your nice boost
effect. But let’s ignore that and see what Lucario can
do if you do get Bulk Up to stick.
Lucario’s second attack, Magnum Punch does 50 damage for
two Fighting Energy. That’s not to bad, and if Bulk Up
worked and you got to do 80 for two, that would be
pretty good.Unfortunately it’s not enough to OHKO a
Stage 2 or a Levelled UP SP Pokémon (Luxray excepted)
so, for even better damage you could combine it with
Lucario LV X. By using the LV X’s Stance Power while you
Bulk Up you can protect Lucario and hit next turn with
Close Combat for 110. With an Expert Belt or a couple of
Crobat G drops, you will be getting a OHKO on most
playable Pokémon in the Format.
Is this really a top tier combo? Of course not. Lucario
is a low HP Pokémon that is vulnerable to Psychic.
Stance can be Power Sprayed, and you will almost
certainly see the LV X get KO’d the turn after you use
Close Combat. In some ways it’s a shame because, unlike
with most set filler, Lucario is an interesting card
with some neat abilities and inexpensive attacks.
Lucario falls into that annoying category of Pokemon
that have something going for them, but just fail to be
really playable. It is a super card for new players
though – it teaches them a bit of strategy and lets them
do the big damage they love.
Rating
Modified: 2.25 (not bad, just not good enough)
Limited: 4 (easy to get out, hits fast and hard)
Combos with . . .
Lucario LV X - but make the most of it while the
LV X is still in the format.
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