Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Liepard
65/98 (Emerging Powers)
In my opinion, Liepard is
the most beautiful of all the
cat Pokémon. Not as iconic as
Meowth, not as cute as
Skitty, but better than
Purugly in every conceivable way. The artwork on
this card really brings out what a great design
Liepard is. But (sadly)
being prettyful doesn’t get
you any playtime in tournaments, so I guess I will just
have to look a bit deeper.
Liepard
is a Stage 1 Pokémon, which has become a pretty good
thing since the Rare Candy errata. For a couple of
years, none were playable outside of
Donphan and
Gyarados, and now you see
Yanmega,
Cinccino,
Zoroark, and even
Lanturn, and
Weavile getting some love as
well. Unfortunately, Liepard
has a very low HP and a pretty bad Fighting Weakness
(yes, Donphan is still
around). The Psychic Resistance is nice and all, but
when a Pokémon has only 80 HP, it isn’t often going to
be relevant.
Feint Attack is something you see a fair bit on Dark
Pokémon. This version is very nicely
costed at one Dark Energy
for 30 damage to one of your
opponent’s Pokémon. Snipe is always a good thing
to have (and this attack will OHKO Baby Pokémon), but
has become somewhat less useful since the release of
Pokémon Catcher. Besides, if you want a Stage 1 that
snipes, you can do better by going the obvious route and
using Yanmega Prime (10 more
damage for no cost if you match hand sizes). At least
Feint Attack does have some synergy with Claw Rend: this
attack costs [D][C][C] and
does a subpar 50 damage, unless the Defending Pokémon
already has damage counters on it, in which case it will
do 80.
I guess the idea is to snipe first, and then use Claw
Rend. The trouble is that Liepard
is so frail, it will seldom be on the Field long enough
to make that happen. Even if it was, it would still need
two Special Dark Energy to pull off
a two-hit KO on a standard Stage 2 or a fresh
Unova Dragon.
Attractive as it is, Liepard
just doesn’t have either the durability or the damage
output needed in this format of OHKOs.
Rating
Modified: 1.5 (even the BW Liepard
is slightly better)
Limited: 3.5 (I would most probably play this. Sniping
is very useful as people will retreat damaged Pokémon
for Prize denial)
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Hello, hello, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing a
new Darkness-type Pokemon from Emerging Powers. Today's
Card of the Day is Liepard.
Liepard is a Stage 1 Darkness Pokemon. Dark-types
aren't terribly common in Modified right now, only with
the random Tyranitar Prime and Weavile UD seeing much
play at all. 80 HP makes Liepard rather frail for
Modified and only slightly better in Limited, as most
high-powered attacks will be able to OHKO. Fighting
Weakness is bad news against Donphan Prime, Psychic
Resistance is great against Gothitelle and Mew Prime,
and finally a Retreat Cost of 1 is decent and payable.
Liepard has two attacks, Feint Attack and Claw Rend.
Feint Attack deals 30 damage to one of your opponent's
Pokemon for a single Darkness Energy, ignoring Weakness,
Resistance, or any other effects on that Pokemon. This
attack is fairly good for its cost, and the ability of
picking off Benched Pokemon and sleeping Babies is
always really good in this format. Claw Rend starts off
at 50 damage for a Darkness and two Colorless Energy,
and it does 30 additional damage if the Defending
Pokemon has any damage counters on it. Claw Rend works
very well with Feint Attack and other snipers, and also
can benefit from the damage increase of Special Darkness
Energy. In Modified, a maximum of 80 damage for three
Energy is a bit expensive, so there are probably better
choices there. In Limited, Claw Rend is excellent and
can easily pick off a previously damaged attack, or more
generally, can 2HKO everything in the format.
Modified: 2/5 Feint Attack is very good for its cost,
but Liepard's disappointing HP and high cost of Claw
Rend let it down. There's a possibility of Liepard
working with Tyranitar Prime, but chances are that
Mandibuzz BW is a better option for that as well.
Limited: 3.5/5 Although Darkness-types are relatively
rare in Limited, Liepard can be worth using a few of
them. Feint Attack allows you to snipe anywhere without
drawback, and Claw Rend deals strong consistent damage
for the format. Just make sure to watch out for any
Fighting types your opponent may be running, as
Liepard's low HP can't really survive many assaults from
them.
Combos With: Tyranitar Prime
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