aroramage |
Going straight from adorable to
oddly adorable, aroramage returns with another look at
the new Flashfire set! Here we've got the strange and
curious Carbink, some kind of rock bunny thing with a
connection to another Pokemon only recently revealed
officially in the last few months. Does Carbink add to
the new Fairy-type in explosive new ways or does it just
draw on previously used concepts to strengthen its
impact?
Well sadly the latter is more the
case in the former, and being a 70 HP Basic, Carbink has
a lot to live up to. Its first attack, Crystal Barrier,
has an effect that goes all the way back to the very
first Base Set all those years ago. It's another one of
those Agility-esque attacks that keeps the effect but
loses the damage. Now I don't see a Pokemon like Carbink
using Agility any time soon either, but maybe there
could be more done for it seeing as its cheapest attack
is a 50% stall chance if that - and there are cards to
get around that too (looking at you, Pokemon Catcher).
Wonder Blast isn't as wonderful as
the name suggests either. It's a Fairy-typed Hydro Pump
that does 40 damage + 20 per Fairy Energy on Carbink. So
ideally you're either stalling out with Crystal Barrier
long enough to attach 3 Energy to Carbink (preferably
all Fairy Energy) in order to deal a solid 100 damage to
the opposing Pokemon. 100's not a bad number to hit
either, but there are better ways to add Energy to
Pokemon.
In fact, Xerneas (XY) comboes well
with Carbink so long as Carbink remains on the Bench and
Xerneas doesn't get KO'd too easily. Heck, if you've got
2 Carbink on the Bench and keep powering them up with
Xerneas' Geomancy, you could have two very powerful
heavy-hitting Basics that could maybe eventually 2HKO a
Pokemon-EX like Mewtwo-EX or Yveltal-EX or even a
powerful Mega Pokemon-EX!
Which on paper sounds fine and all,
but consider the resources that go into this: that's at
least 3 cards using at least 7 Energy to KO 1 Pokemon.
Assuming that all 3 get KO'd for the 1 Pokemon-EX,
that's a 3-for-2 trade-off in terms of Prizes. And
that's just not something that's ideal to work with
outside of casual. Carbink could've been a strong
contender for an attacker in the Fairy Deck, but we've
got bigger fish to fry.
...er, rocks to...bunnies
to...never mind.
Rating
Modified: 2/5 (needs a lot of
support to really get going, and it's only going to get
KO'd quickly)
Limited: 2.5/5 (you can probably
get away with it here, but there are definitely going to
be better options)
Arora Notealus: I've got this weird
image in my head of a Sableye running off with a Carbink.
One loves jewels, one is a jewel, it's The Sableye and
Carbink Show!
Next time: Celebrate good times
with MORE CLAWS
|
Otaku |
As one might expect, my premature return means I have
need to promote something; in this case, I am trying to
raise funds for something a bit odd;
an injured pet.
With some help we can get it the treatment it needs,
instead of having to put it down.
Today we look at Carbink (XY: Flashire
68/106), one of the “normal” Rares from the set. If you
don’t want a detailed look, simply skip down to the
Ratings and Summary sections.
Stats
Type
Carbink
is a Fairy-Type, which doesn’t mean a whole lot quite
yet, though in Japan we finally have some actual
Fairy-Type support. The only thing inherent to the Type
is that of course it hits Fairy Weakness for double
damage, and all the Dragon-Type Pokémon printed since
the Fairy-Type was introduced have said Weakness. It
isn’t bad to be a Fairy-Type, but it isn’t especially
good, either. If anyone thinks I am forgetting
something, remember that if something supports an
Energy-Type… I don’t treat that as the same thing as
Type support; after all Pokémon often have “off-type”
Energy requirements, and with the right cards often
something can use Energy-Type support without the
Pokémon being the same Type.
Stage
Carbink
is a Basic Pokémon and… that is as good as it gets right
now. There is still Basic Pokémon support in the
format, and even though Evolution support and Basic
counters are slowly showing up, its still the best deal.
Hit Points
70 HP means this will usually be a OHKO, and another 20
HP would have been nice… but at this size it is a legal
Level Ball target, and until that rotates out it
actually could prove important to the card.
Weakness
Metal Weakness isn’t especially bad right now. There
are some good Metal-Type attackers, but mostly they show
up in off-Type decks and even then, only specific ones
as there are few that can attack well without a source
of Metal Energy.
Resistance
Resistance is not only present on this card, but like
all currently released Fairy-Type Pokémon, its Darkness
Resistance. Darkness-Type Pokémon can hit hard, but
usually it requires some effort and -20 damage can
really throw them off. Its a nice bonus, though not
especially relevant given Carbink only has 70 HP
to begin with, and you expect to be hit for 90+ most of
the time.
Retreat Cost
Right now, a Retreat Cost of two is the worst. Thanks
for Fairy Garden (an example of Fairy Energy-Type
support) or any number of other Retreat Cost
lowering/eliminating tricks, it will rarely matter, but
until Heavy Ball rotates out, a Retreat Cost of
three is actually better than a Retreat Cost of two.
Even higher Retreat Costs may be better, but that isn’t
quite so clear cut. Once Heavy Ball leaves the
format, then this will be fairly average.
Effects
Attack#1:
For (Y), Carbink can use Crystal Barrier, an
attack that requires a coin flip. If “tails”, it does
nothing, but on “heads” it protects Carbink from
both the damage and effects of attacks. There are ways
to get around this kind of effect, but for the price its
acceptable, and if you’re lucky it can help buy time.
Attack#2:
Wonder Blast requires (CCC), and provides a base damage
of 40, plus an additional 20 points of damage for each
(Y) Energy attached to Carbink. We’ve seen
similar attacks used well; it will all come down to if
the rest of the card is more useful than it is
troublesome and if there is a good source of Energy
acceleration available to it. If powered purely by
Fairy Energy, the attack will hit for at least 100
points of damage.
Intra-Card Synergy
As a stand alone card, it isn’t bad but it isn’t good;
the first attack can buy time to set-up for the second,
but odds are against stalling this way for too long and
it takes several turns to ready the second attack using
manual Energy attachments alone, especially if you want
to get to significant OHKO level.
Usage
Modified
Carbink
has potential as a finisher (and possibly emergency
opener and attacker) in Fairy Transfer decks. If you
are forced to open with it, it can attempt to stall with
its first attack, and you can always shove all available
Fairy-Type Energy onto it and go for a big hit. Again,
unless you’re going for the final blow (or at least a
key KO), you would only resort to it in desperation… but
for an important “big hit”, it isn’t bad. Its easily
searched out nature combined with only being denied by
universal blocking effects (like its own Crystal
Barrier) and Pyroar (XY; Flashfire 20/106)
and its infamous Intimidating Mane Ability. If it shows
up prematurely or you’re in one of the few situations
where you need to attack with it before it would result
in an actual win, its not a Pokémon-EX so you’re only
out a single Prize.
There are obviously alternatives to using it, of course.
Xerneas (XY 96/146) is already a must for
any Fairy Transfer deck running at least a few basic
Fairy Energy cards, and for a deck where all Energy
provides Fairy Type, you’ll get the same 100 damage you
would with Carbink but on a slightly sturdier
form; the drawback is you would have to discard one. Mewtwo
EX and Yveltal EX are a bit trickier; X-Ball
and Evil Ball (their signature attacks, respectively)
easily outclass Wonder Blast, and while they are
Pokémon-EX, they have good HP scores so they aren’t an
obvious OHKO when you attack with them. Yveltal EX
will require a source of (D) Energy, but that usually
isn’t an issue. Their attacks also do more damage based
on how much is attached to both Active Pokémon, instead
of just themselves.
They aren’t something you can fetch with Level Ball,
however, and many metagames (let alone individual
players) are well adapted to dealing with them, making
them a less sound play than they appear. If you’re
facing opponent’s that have counters to those two ready,
especially if their own attackers use little Energy, you
would be better off with Carbink. It isn’t a
wide niche, but its something, and fortunately as
Carbink is a small, easily searched out basic
Pokémon, a niche usage is good enough to get it into a
deck.
Limited
Did you pull enough compatible Pokémon so that out of
your 15-20 Energy cards, 7+ can be basic Fairy Energy?
Good, then you run this. Its HP might actually last a
turn in this format, its Resistance can help shut out
what Darkness-Type Pokémon are in the set, and while
there are some Metal-Types in the set, its a dual Stage
2 line, a Stage 2 line, and a Pokémon-EX; they shouldn’t
be too common a presence. If you pull any other
Fairy-Type support or attackers, it gets even better.
While it requires drawing into it (or if you were lucky
enough to get some search, searching it out) earlier
enough so that you can try and build it, that really is
an option here, and you can probably deliver two OHKOs
unless your opponent throws a Pokémon-EX or Evolution at
you.
Ratings
Modified:
3/5 - Carbink does a job that overlaps with some
well known, powerful cards, but it does that job
reasonably well; an easily searched out glass cannon for
Fairy Transfer decks. Obviously, the score is meant
only for Fairy Transfer decks; its not worth it
elsewhere.
Limited:
3.75/5 - A very good pull, though if you have the
misfortune of getting without getting several other
worthwhile Pokémon that can attack using (at least in
part) Fairy-Type Energy, you’ll probably have to skip
it; it's less of a glass cannon, but its still not going
to last more than two turns unless your opponent has a
terrible set-up.
Summary
The glass cannon for Fairy Transfer decks, the only real
issue it faces is whether or not said decks need a glass
cannon. The job it does can be done better by
Yveltal EX or Mewtwo EX, but Carbink
is a little easier to search out while we have Level
Ball and the popularity of those two makes them
often countered. A single or no Energy Active Pokémon
that is safe from an Evil Ball or X-Ball with the Energy
in play can still fall into range of Wonder Blast. Not
an essential card, but it seems handy.
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