Hope you are enjoying a nice, sunny day,
because if not reviewing
Solrock (BW: Plasma Storm
74/135) might be a bit cruel.
Seriously, I live in
South Dakota
and I am writing this with the forecast
including snow, with verified snowfall
not far from where I live… and we had an
ice storm just a few weeks ago.
Stats
Type:
Solrock is a Fighting-Type Pokémon,
allowing it to hit many Colorless-Type,
Darkness-Type, and Lightning-Type
Pokémon for double damage.
Resistance is also common, as
almost all Types have at least one
Fighting Resistant Pokémon, including
the three I cited as being known for
Fighting Weakness, but due game
mechanics Fighting Weakness is far
harder to deal with than Fighting
Resistance.
There isn’t any Fighting-Type support,
but the Weakness factor still makes this
a great Type.
In the video games this is a
Rock/Psychic hybrid; being a
Psychic-Type wouldn’t have been bad, but
it would not have been as good.
Stage:
Solrock is a Basic Pokémon in a
format where Basic Pokémon dominate;
this does not guarantee it will see
play, but at least it will have an
easier time of it than Evolutions.
Hit Points:
90 HP is not enough to be safe from
being KOed on the first turn of the
game, and it is a reasonably easy OHKO
for most decks past the first turn.
If this was an Evolving Pokémon,
this would be a good score, but as there
is no Evolved form of
Solrock, it is poor.
The small respite is that it is a
legal
Level Ball target, and in the video
games Solrock have low Hit Points,
Defense, and Special Defense scores.
Weakness:
Grass-Type Weakness is currently quite
good; even though it is in high demand
due to multiple, high profile Grass Weak
Pokémon, what few Grass-Type Pokémon
have seen play seem to have faded away
completely.
So you will rarely have to worry
about being hit for double damage.
Resistance:
Lack of Resistance is the default in the
Pokémon TCG anymore and it wouldn’t do
much as the damage output of most decks
can overwhelm it, so it isn’t something
to penalize a card over.
I don’t like it, and in the video
games Solrock naturally Resist five
different Types:
Normal,
Flying, Poison, Psychic, and Fire.
Colorless Resistance would be
appropriate if it appeared Colorless
Resistance as that is composed of
Normal- and Flying-Types.
Poison and Psychic are two-thirds
of the TCG Psychic-Type, but then again
the TCG inverts Psychic Resistance for
Psychic-Types to Psychic Weakness.
Fire Resistance doesn’t currently
exist but would match-up perfectly;
perhaps like Colorless Weakness it
simply isn’t allowed anymore.
Retreat:
Solrock has a hefty Retreat Cost of
three; this is too expensive to pay even
if you had the Energy attached, so a
Retreat alternative or aid is
recommended.
It does make
Solrock a legal
Heavy Ball target, which may be
useful.
Effects
Attack#1:
For (FC)
Solrock can use Heat Burn, scoring
20 points of damage and guaranteed Burn.
Burn isn’t reliable like Poison;
between turns it might place two damage
counters on the Defending Pokémon, but
as it is based on a coin toss the odds
are the same that it won’t.
As this format requires a deck be
at least somewhat prepared to ditch
Special Conditions, this means a Burned
Pokémon probably won’t remain so for
long.
Two Energy tends to buy a lot on the
more competitive cards.
In some ways, it is unfair to
compare this to something like
Mewtwo EX or
Tornadus EX, and yet they do indeed
compete against each other.
I think the attack might have
worked if it only requires (F) or (C),
or at least no more than (CC), but as
is, it leaves much to be desired.
Attack#2:
Explosion requires (FCC) and does 90
points of damage… to both the Defending
Pokémon and
Solrock itself.
For whatever reason, I tend to
enjoy using these kinds of attacks, but
the reward just isn’t there.
It is nice that the attack can
make use of
Double Colorless Energy, and three
for 90 is pretty much the going rate,
but obviously doing enough damage to
OHKO yourself is a steep cost that
should be worth a good sized bonus; even
hitting the Defending Pokémon for 180
might not be overpowered… or else the
Energy requirement should have been
something like (C).
For anyone that knows my views on high
damage attacks that can be accessed
first turn (…I don’t think they should
exist) note that I am not stating what I
wanted to see per se, but what I believe
would have been required to make
Explosion a competitive attack by
current standards.
Synergy:
The attacks have minimal synergy, but it
is there.
Heat Burn might bring something
down low enough where a follow up
Explosion would seal the deal.
This isn’t too impressive given
that while Explosion can make good use
of Energy acceleration, Heat Burn less
so; you may end up having a turn where
Solrock can’t attack at all but then
can jump directly to using Explosion.
Either way, you need to survive
to combo the attacks, and that is very
unlikely with only 90 HP.
Usage
Card Family:
Solrock doesn’t Evolve, but it has a
related Pokémon in
Lunatone; the two often have effects
that reference each other.
Not this time, however.
There also aren’t any older
versions of either card that are
currently legal.
Combos:
Eviolite allows you to use Explosion
without
Solrock KOing itself; the same holds
true for
Giant Cape.
As already stated, this card is a
legal target for both
Level Ball and
Heavy Ball, which makes it pretty
easy to search out.
Unlimited:
Even if you need a Pokémon that blows
itself up, there are better options
here.
Modified:
The only rare thing this card offers is
reliable Burn… unfortunately the handful
of decks that would enjoy that really
can’t afford to make room for what it
would take to build
Solrock up quickly, especially (as I
keep saying) since it is an almost
guaranteed OHKO past the first turn or
two of the game.
Limited:
Again, Limited is the “ray of hope” for
this card.
Being a 90 HP Basic means it will
be one of the bigger cards pulled, the
lower average HP and damage seen in this
format (as so many Pokémon pulled can’t
actually be run) means you should at
least be able to Heat Burn and follow up
with Explosion for a KO, and likely you
can take two Prizes; one just through
Heat Burn and one through Explosion once
you doubt your survival the next turn.
You will need some
Fighting Energy, but the mostly
Colorless attack requirements also keep
it friendly for the often two or three
Energy-Type decks of Limited play.
Special Conditions, while still
unreliable, are also extra intimidating
(and often extra effective) in Limited
where they aren’t easy to shed and the
damage is proportionately greater.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified:
1.25/5
Limited:
4.25/5
Summary
A fine pull for Limited, but
Solrock won’t do much for you in
other formats.
I am also surprised that they
didn’t have
Lunatone combo with it at all.
