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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Seismitoad EX (Furious Fists)  Hello and welcome to an exciting week here on Pojo’s CotD (yes, even more exciting than when we’ve run out of good cards and spend weeks reviewing the filler). It’s especially exciting because we are going to preview some of the powerful new cards that will debut in August’s Furious Fists set.  We kick off with a look at Seismitoad EX, which is actually one of the more hyped cards from the set. You get all the EX goodness you would expect (massive HP, mainly), plus a decent-ish attack in the shape of Grenade Hammer, which does 130 for three Energy. It does hit a couple of your own Benched Pokémon, but hey, that’s what Mr Mime is for . . . or maybe not, because the reason for all the hype is Seismitoad’s first attack, Quaking Punch.  For the easily affordable cost of two Colourless Energy (that’s a DCE to you and me), Quaking Punch will do 30 damage (ho-hum), but has the effect of stopping your opponent from playing Item cards during their next turn. Already you can see yourself bulking that attack up to 50 with Muscle Band and not having to worry about Startling Megaphone. Pair Seismitoad up with Garbodor DRX for a double lock and you have something very similar to the Dragonite PLF/Garbodor decks that were used to counter Plasma lists . . . only instead of having to use a three-Energy Stage 2, you now get to use a EX Basic that can hit for the cost of a single attachment. Nice.  There will likely be space in the deck for counters to obvious bad match ups (Charizard EX or Pyroar FLF to deal with Virizion/Genesect), so the deck seems to have quite a bit of promise. Of course, nothing is certain heading into a new format/rotation: if we lose Hypnotoxic Laser, the deck takes a big hit; if Items become less important as players turn to Supporters like Pokémon Fan Club, Stadiums, and Special Energy, well then that’s another mark against it. Nevertheless, I do expect Seismitoad to be the core of a new archetype . . . how successful remains to be seen.  Rating  Modified: 3.75 (serious potential) Limited: 4.25 (it’s big and heavy hitting, and the Item lock may be handy too)
aroramage	OH MAN, AM I EXCITED TO SEE THIS!! Welcome to an action-packed week of Furious Fists previews! Officially the set doesn't come out until August 13th (unless you're in the Netherlands apparently), but that's never stopped us before! We've got some promising start-em-ups this week, so let's see what we've got! The first card of the week is Seismitoad-EX, and let me just start off by saying that I've been pretty hyped about this guy. I expect that for as long as Blastoise (BCR) remains in the format (which might be a while depending on whether Plasma Blast gets rotated out as well or not), Seismitoad-EX is going to provide a strong Water-type powerhouse. Now why do I feel this way? It's mostly cause of Seismitoad-EX's first attack: Quaking Punch. Actually, Quaking Punch is probably the biggest part of Seismitoad-EX in general. It's a measly 30 damage, which isn't the most fantastic number, but the fact that it costs 2 colorless Energy makes him splashable, and on top of that it has a phenomenal effect: the opponent can't play Item cards during their next turn. Now what does that mean? Put simply, that means no Professor's Letter, no Hypnotoxic Laser, no Muscle Band, no Giant Cape, no Trick Shovel, no Sacred Ash, no Fiery Torch, no Ultra Ball, no Level Ball, no Computer Search, no Master Ball - if the Trainer has any indication of Item on it, it's no good! This is a HUGE effect to have available, and it severely limits what your opponent can do. Sure they've still got their one Supporter a turn, and sure they can still play a Stadium or attach an Energy or attack on their next turn - but the fact remains that they have to start working around Seismitoad's Quaking Punch as early as Turn 2 (especially if you go second and get a DCE in hand). Alright, so the opponent's getting stalled out on Items for a couple of turns - now what? Well after a whack or two with Quaking Punch (and potentially your own Hypnotoxic Laser to capitalize on their lack of Switch or Muscle Band for raw power), Seismitoad only needs 2 Water Energy and a third energy of any type to unleash the Grenade Hammer, which deals a whopping 130 damage! The only catch? Two of your Benched Pokemon take 30 damage. Or do they? See, there are ways to work around this negative effect, the least of which is having no Benched Pokemon. We've still got Mr. Mime (PLF) in the format, and on top of that we're getting a new Stadium card in Furious Fists that'll negate damage to Benched Pokemon entirely! Suddenly Seismitoad's biggest drawback is nothing but a 130-pound beatstick! And after a Quaking Punch, a Hypnotoxic Laser, and/or a Muscle Band, most Pokemon won't stand a chance. Seismitoad-EX is going to be a power player in the upcoming format, so I would definitely keep an eye out for him! He may not have the new Fighting-type support, but he's already backed up by one of the biggest supporters in the format, and he's got an arsenal of tricks to completely decimate opponents! Rating Modified: 4/5 (his Item-lock and high-damage output along with great typing will give him a big spot in any Water deck; if you can make room for him, he's gonna help you go far) Limited: 4.5/5 (Item-lock here is going to be fantastic, and his 130 damage is going to KO most Pokemon in the format hands-down! Even the recoil's not a big pain when you're dealing that much damage!) Arora Notealus: Apparently he can break a boulder in one punch using vibrations in the bumps on his hands. Guess that explains the "quaking" in his "Quaking Punch!!" Next time: OH YEAHHHH, BRING ON THE PAIN!!
Otaku	This week we are reviewing five cards from the not-yet-released XY: Furious Fists.  These cards won’t be tournament legal until September 3rd, if I counted right (August 13th release date plus 21 days), and outside of Pre-Releases and apparently a Charizard-EX Gift Box that went on sale in (some) European locations, you won’t have English language cards of it until the Pre-Releases at the earliest.  That means this is going to be almost pure speculation; by the time these cards are legal, we should have learned of the set rotation and probably have already experienced it… but as of writing this, neither when nor what will be rotated has been announced!  Seismitoad-EX (XY: Furious Fists 20/111, 106/111) is a Pokémon that has many people excited, but others leery.  At a glance its just another Pokémon-EX: possibly good Typing (Water Weakness is getting more popula), 180 HP (best we’ve seen printed on Basic Pokémon-EX), Grass-Type Weakness (VirGen decks still ensure this is a bad thing), no Resistance (technically the worst, but its so common to lack any), and a three Energy Retreat Cost (Heavy Ball complaint, but that probably isn’t sticking around; bad but easily bypassed).  The second attack does a good 130 for [WWC], but you’ll either need something you’ll either need no Bench, up to two Pokémon you want to damage or Mr. Mime (BW: Plasma Freeze 47/116), and probably Muscle Band plus Hypnotoxic Laser/VIrbank City Gym to OHKO anything without Water Resistance and 180 or less HP.  The thing is, without Energy acceleration that’s too slow to be why you would run it; Black Kyurem-EX (BW: Plasma Storm 95/135) and Keldeo-EX have nothing to fear about losing their place in Deluge decks due to Grenade Hammer.  So we come to the first attack I blatantly skipped, making it obvious that is the part of this card that has people excited: for [CC] you score 30 points of damage and prevent your opponent from playing any Items during the next turn via Quaking Punch.  Dragonite (BW: Plasma Freeze 83/116) had its season of popularity because of how potent Item lock is, even when executed via an attack.  Being able to fuel it with two manual Energy attachments or one Double Colorless Energy means it will have potential not only in its own decks, but in a wide variety of decks.  Early games it protects your own set-up, slows your opponent’s and chips away at the HP of whatever said opponent has Active.  Any other time it can still be played, powered up, and promoted to try and buy time.  Possibly, it could anchor its own deck; as it blocks Items, your opponent will need an Ability or Lysandre to force it out of the Active slot (Lysandre being more likely) and end the effect of the attack… but most decks don’t run the former and only one or two of the latter (which also costs them their Supporter for the turn).  Being just a big, Basic Pokémon,Seismitoad-EX has room for a lot of possible support, including options you would normally avoid because they are too vulnerable as Items are being blocked.  I can see a sort of Quad Seismitoad deck that runs heavy disruption (Hypnotoxic Laser, Crushing Hammer, etc.) in an effort to slowly pick the opponent away.  I can see a build that backs Seismitoad up with a variety of useful Bench-sitters, including the aforementioned Mr. Mime to protect them.  I can definitely see a Garbotoxin backed build, as without Items or Abilities, many decks will grind to a halt.  Lastly, I could see trying this with Team Plasma Support and Team Plasma Badge; your opponent won’t be able to discard Team Plasma Badge with an Item due to the effects of Quaking Punch, allowing you to not only tap into Colress Machine/Plasma Energy for another way of powering it up in a single turn, but Deoxys-EX for extra damage.  So what’s the problem?  We don’t know the future, and more and more decks have a few useful non-Item power plays, like Lysandre, that could completely wreck the Item-Lock this deck has going.  Plus with the low base damage, your opponent may simply set up with manual draws and Supporters before you take enough Prizes to have secured the win.  Grass-Types might see a spike in play.  There are many paths that lead to Seismitoad-EX not living up the the hype.  All in all, I think it will be a pretty potent force in Modified, whether with what we’ve got or what we will have. Ratings Standard: N/A - It won’t be legal for another seven and a half weeks, give or take a few days.  If it were and the format is still around, I would give it a 4.5/5 but be surprised neither if it proved more or less formidable.  Limited: 5/5 - It is a big, Basic Pokémon-EX: just take it, add 39 non-Basic Pokémon, and go for it!  Grenade Hammer can’t damage Benched Pokémon that aren’t there, and while the Item lock won’t matter much, you can probably take four Prizes at least a turn before your opponent takes down Seismitoad-EX.