aroramage |
And now we move on to Regice,
another one of the Basic non-EX Regis in this set!
Comparing it to Regirock, it's definitely a lot better,
not having to rely on existing support to make its
attacks better. If anything, it's probably got the best
attacks of the three!
Ice Beam is a decent first attack,
and while it's a bit expensive at 2-for-30, it does
provide a coin flip for a 50/50 shot at Paralysis.
Paralysis is unequivocally the best Status Condition in
the TCG, so even having a 50% chance of landing it is
pretty good, and when you do hit it, your opponent can't
do much but sit there! Granted, you can't really make it
your main attack with that low damage output, but it's
definitely a good first attack.
And then there's Resistance
Blizzard. And MAN, is this a great attack for Regice!
At 3 Energy, it does a decent 70
damage, not the greatest seen on non-evolving non-EX
Basics, but its effect is probably the best power you
could have! Basically after using Resistance Blizzard,
Regice becomes Pokemon-EX-proof during your opponent's
next turn - and I DO mean Pokemon-EX -proof! They can't
even TOUCH Regice, as the barrier makes him COMPLETELY
IMMUNE to damage and effects from attacks! NOTHING CAN
HIT REGICE!!
...well, unless it's not an EX.
Then Resistance Blizzard doesn't do much.
But in a metagame where EX are so
prevalent, and in which we need a sort of secondary
attacker, Regice will most likely be the driving force
that reminds people that non-EX aren't so bad after all.
Cause you're not getting over him
otherwise.
Rating
Standard: 3.5/5 (extremely relevant
in terms of the meta and definitely a great secondary
attacker for Water Decks like Primal Kyogre-EX; in a
way, he's just another version of Suicune)
Expanded: 3.5/5 (the advantage to
running Regice over Suicune though is that he won't have
his effects shut down by things like Hex Maniac, Silent
Lab, or Garbodor - just get him to 3, and watch him
force your opponent to make plays!)
Limited: 3/5 (there are less EX in
this set compared to Standard and Expanded, but the
chances of getting one are still high, and 30 and 70
damage is still really good in this format)
Arora Notealus: Beep boop boop beep
boop
Next Time: AND NOW FOR SOMETHING
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
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Otaku |
I was going to
try to be subtle and work it into the review, but I am
pleased to point out that
pokepedia.net has received a long overdue update.
If you’re not familiar with the site, it allows you to
search not just for text spoilers of cards, but for
specific elements within the cards, including within the
card text!
Our second
subject this week is Regice (XY: Ancient
Origins 24/98). Diving right in, it is another
Water-Type. Nearly all Fire-Types and a chunk of
Fighting Types are Water Weak; they weren’t the dominant
presence of the top cut of last of the first weekend of
Autumn Regional Championships (I don’t have results yet
for the second weekend) but they had more of a presence
than I realized: Flareon (BW: Plasma Freeze
12/116), Donphan (BW: Plasma Storm 72/135)
and Landorus-EX still made a showing in the lower
age brackets. Water-Type Resistance is absent on newer
cards but still present on many Grass-Types from the
BW-era sets. There are a few “anti-Water-Type” cards
but the most I hear about them is when I keep mentioning
them in these CotDs for the sake of being thorough, give
or take some Theme Deck matches on the PTCGO.
Water-Type support exists but it isn’t as robust as the
Fighting-Type, which is the gold standard. It is a
Basic which clearly is the best; fastest into play,
least amount of time to set-up and even though there are
some “anti-Basic” effects it doesn’t overpower their
natural synergy with various card effects and game
mechanics, plus in Expanded remember there are
some Basic Stage support cards (which were totally
unneeded back when they were new as well).
Regice has 120 HP which is just 10 shy of the
printed maximum seen on Basic Pokémon, excluding those
with a special mechanic (like being a Pokémon-EX).
While it most definitely can be OHKOed, doing so
rapidly, reliably and repeatedly is going to be limited
to decks that focus on steamrolling the competition;
most competitive decks will manage one of the three and
quite a few two, but all three in the same deck is not.
As Regice is Metal Weak, which is unsurprising
given that it is actually strictly an Ice-Type in the
video games, which in the TCG has been folded into the
Water-Type. Relevant to the TCG is that this is
probably on par with the Grass Weakness you’ll find on
many (most) Water-Type Pokémon, but can be useful
by diversifying Weakness in a mostly or all Water-Type
deck. When it comes to actually taking hits, yes it can
hurt; Metal-Type attackers aren’t as common right now
but Bronzong (XY: Phantom Forces 61/119)
is used as Energy acceleration for splashable attackers,
which means those decks could easily add one in if
Regice proved worth countering. No Resistance is
the worst but it is also so very common so we will move
onto the Retreat Cost of [CCC]; this is hefty and even
if you can pay it, it will be a pain. Pack something to
bypass manually Retreating at full price or to help
“tank” while Active. As this is a Basic Pokémon, this
being Heavy Ball compliant is a bit more
worthwhile: one Heavy Ball yields one Regice.
Regice has no Ability or Ancient Trait but it
does have two attacks. For [WC] it can use “Ice Beam”
for 30 damage with a coin flip to Paralyze the
opponent’s Active; the damage is a bit low but sometimes
it will be a useful fallback attack. For [WCC]
Regice can attack with “Resistance Blizzard”, which
hits for 70 damage while placing an effect on itself.
Said effect is that all effects of attacks including
damage done to itself (Regice) are prevented,
until the end of your opponent’s next turn. Though this
effect can be reset by Benching it (though unless your
attacking Pokémon-EX can hit the Bench, you’ll need to
force it Active again) and the usual attacks that ignore
the effects on the opponent’s Active. It offers no
protection against the many non-Pokémon-EX that see
play, but a good chunk of those won’t find Regice
an easy OHKO (and Resistance Blizzard will half KO
them). All in all, a good attack even if it needs a
Muscle Band to 2HKO the typical 170 to 180 HP
Pokémon-EX.
Regice has no other versions to consider.
Its main competition comes from Suicune (BW:
Plasma Blast 20/101). Suicune is also a
Basic, Water-Type with no Resistance or Ancient Trait,
but it has 100 HP, Grass Weakness, a Retreat Cost of
[CC], the Ability “Safeguard” (same effect as Resistance
Blizzard but always on) and the attack “Aurora Beam”
(costs [WCC], hits for 70 damage). That level of
protection always being on is great, though every now
and then it causes hiccups as you can’t (for example)
use the Energy attachment of M Manectric-EX on a
Safeguard Pokémon. Aurora Beam also gives you less bang
for the buck than Resistance Blizzard; same damage but
Aurora Beam has no effect. Obviously less HP is a
concern while the slightly better Retreat Cost is just a
small bonus. The deciding factor between the two
whether you are more worried about Abilities being shut
down or more worried about combos with your own
Pokémon-EX… in Expanded. In Standard Regice is
our only option and… its doing well.
One
Vileplume (XY: Ancient Origins 3/98) list ran
four of it and it made the top eight for the Masters
Division in Houston for the first weekend of the Autumn
Regional Championship. Not the same as winning the
whole thing and/or being in most of the winning decks,
but it is still impressive. Where I usually encounter
it is on the PTCGO with - you guessed it - M
Manectric-EX, something Suicune can’t do as
well because you can’t use its “Turbo Bolt” attack to
attach to it. So in the Standard format, it is
certainly has a place. In Expanded, it still does
though it faces more competition. In Limited, it is a
great pull; only skip it if somehow your deck cannot
afford another Basic Pokémon (like a +39 deck that runs
just one big, Basic) or you somehow can’t make the space
for basic Water Energy.
Ratings
Standard: 3.75/5
Expanded: 3.5/5
Limited: 4.8/5
Summary: The short version is that Regice
should have made our Top 15 list; it is a very, very
good card though it does rely on other cards to do its
job. Yes it has to attack to gain its protection and
yes that protection isn’t full proof, but if a deck
isn’t prepared for it it can quickly become an autoloss,
and even decks that can deal with it will often lack the
capacity to deal with it well.
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