Our next honorable mention is the new
Cinccino.
Will it be as useful as its
predecessor, if even only for the short
period it was popular?
It’s just so… fluffy!
Stats
Cinccino
is a Stage 1 Colorless-Type Pokémon.
Being a Stage 1 Pokémon isn’t too
good right now: you’re still faster than
a Stage 2 that doesn’t use
Rare Candy, and still using one card
less than a Stage 2 that does use
Rare Candy, but the Stage 2 Pokémon
that see play tend to be huge and with
at least a useful Poké-Power or Ability.
Basic Pokémon are vicious this
format, and many Stage 1 Pokémon lack
the stats or effects to compete with the
best of them.
As for being Colorless, Weakness
or Resistance to Colorless Pokémon is
pretty rare and so it usually is safe to
use as an off-type for your deck, but
there isn’t any explicit Colorless
support right now.
Cinccino
has 90 HP, which is pretty low: most
decks can reliably OHKO something that
small.
Hopefully this means the Effects
on this card are stellar and the HP is
needed preserve game balance.
Fighting Weakness is bad, but at
the same time not so much.
This is because the most likely
Fighting Pokémon you encounter is
Terrakion (BW: Noble Victories
73/101, 99/101) which should OHKO you
without Weakness.
Still there are a few more that
aren’t all that uncommon to see play,
but they tend to just save a
PlusPower or two.
The lack of Resistance is
irritating but pretty common; still on
something this small I really think they
can risk it.
The single Energy Retreat Cost is
nice, allowing this card to hustle back
to the Bench pretty easily, and
warranted given the low HP score.
Effects
Cinccino
has Smooth Coat (an Ability) and Echoed
Voice (an attack).
Smooth Coat is the obvious reason
for the card’s low HP: whenever
Cinccino would be damaged by an
attack, flip a coin and if it is “heads”
prevent that damage!
No matter how hard something hits
it,
Cinccino has a 50% chance of taking
no damage.
Simply amazing, and notice it
doesn’t specify attacks from your
opponent: if you have an attacker with
“recoil” damage,
Cinccino may be protected from that
as well.
Just remember that it is only
damage that gets blocked: things like
damage counter placement work perfectly
well.
Echoed Voice requires (CCC) and only
hits for 50 points of base damage,
however its effect is that if the same
Pokémon used Echoed Voice the previous
turn, it does an additional 50 points of
damage.
Sadly, it does specify uses by
“this Pokémon”, so you do lose the
benefit if
Cinccino is KOed or goes to the
Bench (the latter based on general game
rulings, where effects of an attack that
“rest” on a Pokémon go away if that
Pokémon is Benched or leaves play).
The attack is very good if you’ve
used it the turn before, but a poor
return if you haven’t, which makes me
believe it’s at best a good attack, but
probably at least adequate.
Together, the two show some promise: if
Cinccino isn’t forced to the Bench
(such as by
Pokémon Catcher) between uses, its
Ability can help it survive abnormally
long so that it averages good damage
from Echoed Voice.
Usage
Before addressing specific uses, let’s
look at our options for
Minccino and other
Cinccino, since the former we have
to run and the latter might provide
combos or competition.
All three versions we have of
Minccino are Basic Colorless Pokémon
with 60 HP, Fighting Weakness, no
Resistance, and need a single Energy to
Retreat, so it comes down to effects, or
rather attacks, since none have an
Ability.
Black & White 88/114 lets
you flip two coins for (C) and do 10
points of damage per “heads”, BW:
Emerging Powers can do 30 points of
damage for (C) so long as you get
“heads” on a single coin toss, while
BW: Next Destinies 84/99 actually
has two attacks.
The first for (C) lets you search
your deck for a Basic Pokémon and add it
to your Bench, and for (CC) it can hit
for 20.
If the HeartGold/SoulSilver
block “Baby” Pokémon are still popular
in your area, the BW: Emerging Powers
version is a good pick, otherwise I’d go
with the BW: Next Destinies since
you can grab another basic Pokémon, like
a back-up
Minccino that will still be legal to
Evolve the next turn, even if your
attacking version gets KOed.
As for other
Cinccino, none appear to be designed
for supporting roles.
All have the same stats as
today’s version, and the two older
versions each have two attacks apiece.
They even have the same Energy
costs, the first attack for (C) and the
second for (CC), making them very Energy
efficient.
Black & White 89/114 gets
to flip two coins for its single Energy
attack, and do 20 points of damage per
heads to the Defending Pokémon.
What got it played in competitive
decks, and perhaps still gets it into
competitive decks, is that it knows the
infamous “Do The Wave” attack.
Its version does 20 times the
number of Benched Pokémon you have, so
between zero and 100 points; a great
attack overall.
BW: Emerging Powers 85/98
hasn’t seen serious competitive play to
my knowledge, with a first attack that
has a
Pokémon Catcher like effect, and a
second attack that just does 30 points
of damage plus automatic
Sleep.
The first never works very well
as an attack effect and the latter
really needs to be the opening attack.
The BW: Emerging Powers
version won’t matter, but the version
from Black & White is good enough
it might crowd out this version, or they
might work okay together.
Personally given current damage
yields, I think in the end a player will
just stick to the BW: Next Destinies
version or not even run
Cinccino.
So what combos can we use to enhance
Cinccino?
Rocky Helmet only triggers when the
equipped Pokémon is damaged, and three
Energy is a bit chunky as the only
attack, so I’d say
Exp. Share is a must: when a
Cinccino does eventually get KOed,
as long as it had a single basic Energy
attached, a second
Cinccino with an
Exp. Share will only need a
Double Colorless Energy to attack
the next turn.
Of course,
Double Colorless Energy is a very
basic combo piece for
Cinccino as well.
Rescue Energy is a little extra
effective since the Pokémon is hard to
damage
and Echoed Voice has all Colorless
Energy requirements.
Energy acceleration is very important
right now, and
Exp. Share probably isn’t enough
since it only kicks in for basic Energy
and after it’s already in play.
Electrode (HS: Triumphant
93/102) “Prime” might be a good choice;
while pricey, it would work with Special
Energy as well as basic Energy cards,
can ready multiple Pokémon at a time (if
you’re lucky), and since
Cinccino can be hard to kill you may
be okay with being down a Prize.
Celebi (HS: Triumphant
92/103) “Prime” can also work, since
Cinccino can make use of basic
Grass Energy.
Unfortunately unless you run
Skyarrow Bridge, another form of
Retreat aid, or a Retreat alternative,
you’re have to get two attachments to
break even, and you’re probably giving
up a Prize.
It also is counterproductive
unless it’s the start of the game or a
Cinccino just was KOed: you don’t
want to break the cycle of Echoed Voice.
Perhaps a more aggressive opener is in
order:
Landorus (BW: Emerging Powers
74/101) can energize itself by attaching
a basic Energy card from the discard
pile to itself.
This means with no outside help
(save discarding a basic Energy card) it
can set-up to use its big attack second
turn.
Said big attack does 10 points of
damage to all Benched Pokémon (both
players), but Benched
Cinccino could be protected if you
flip “heads” for Smooth Coat.
Plus if you’re using
Exp. Share (as I suggested), when
Landorus goes down it probably has
at least one basic Energy card that the
Pokémon Tool can snag.
Echoed Voice is very vulnerable to
disruption, since an opponent using
Pokémon Catcher would “erase” that
you used the attack the previous turn.
As such I strongly recommend
backing
Cinccino with
Vileplume (HS: Undaunted
24/90).
Your opponent should already be
struggling a bit due to the lack of
Trainers, and even if s/he gets
something strong set up, there is still
a 50% chance none of the attacks can
damage
Cinccino.
A steady barrage of
Echoed Voice will even be a threat
to Pokémon EX.
If it wasn’t for
Mewtwo EX (BW: Next Destinies
54/99, 98/99) already being near
universal back-up this format for just
about any deck, as well as the modern
pace making Stage 1 Pokémon slow, I’d
consider using
Cinccino as a back-up attacker
Energy acceleration decks that aren’t
picky about what they attach Energy to.
Then again, the vulnerability to
having Echoed Voice disrupted would make
me hesitate even in that inaccurately
better environment.
If you’re a bit desperate, it
might work okay in the real world.
In Unlimited, this won’t revolutionize
the format but it does create another
great deck.
It isn’t a donk deck or first
turn win or lock, so it isn’t part of
the most powerful level of decks, but I
think it’s quite qualified for the next
tier.
Back it up with
Slowking (Neo Genesis 14/111)
and speed both into play with
Broken Time Space.
Slap a
Focus Band on
Cinccino and there’s an overall 75%
chance it won’t be KOed.
Classical Baby Pokémon, protected
by the Baby Rule, are a pain since they
disrupt Echoed Voice’s extra damage, but
then again they are also small enough to
OHKO with it.
Boost Energy can fuel Echoed Voice
with a single attachment; though don’t
forget it is discarded at the end of the
turn.
As an added bonus, if your
opponent telegraphs that their deck is
Pokémon Power, Poké-Power, or Poké-Body
reliant, you can be nasty and run
Cinccino with
Muk (Fossil 13/62, 28/62,
Legendary Collection 16/110) and
Chaos Gym.
The former does not affect
Abilities like Smooth Coat, and the
latter will fill in for
Slowking, as
Chaos Gym can block Trainers in its
own special, confusing way.
You may even be able to TecH both
into the Mind Games build, since
Chaos Gym has historically been
layered on top of Mind Games for extra
insurance, and even a 1-1 line of
Muk may be sufficient when your
opponent already has crucial Pokémon
Powers/Poké-Power/Poké-Bodies in play.
In Limited I’d say this is a must run.
It can use any Energy, and
Minccino from this set is already a
solid choice due to its ability to
search out Basic Pokémon with its first
attack.
You have no reason not to run
even a 1-1 line of it.
Ratings
Unlimited:
3.75/5
Modified:
3.25/5
Limited:
5/5
Summary
Those scared of coin flips need not
apply, but with the right deck build
behind it
Cinccino can be a force in
Unlimited, a fun and possibly
competitive deck for Modified, and a
must for Limited.
It can be hard to run something
this “luck” reliant, but at the same
time it is also hard to face something
luck reliant; players hate not knowing
if their efforts will succeed or be
thwarted by a single coin toss.
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