aroramage |
Lemme get this outta the way: this
new Starmie is good.
That being said, Star Freeze is an
improvement over the old one, albeit it's a 2-for-30
instead of a 3-for-20. The effect's virtually the same,
which for a 50/50 on getting Paralysis? Not too shabby,
but you don't wanna rely on it too much either. Unlike
that nifty Ability he got!
See aside from a HP boost and a
slight change in Weakness from Lightning to Grass,
Starmie also lost an attack to get an awesome Ability in
Star Beacon. Pretty much it might as well read:
"Exchange a card in your hand for 2 basic Energy in your
discard pile." Now you can't just pick an Energy you'd
discard in order to get it and another Energy back since
that would be cheap, but it's an ultra-selective way of
getting something you've got in hand into your discard
without relying on something like Sycamore to dump it
for you.
Naturally any cards that work
better in the discard will be prime targets, which means
things like Vespiquen will benefit a little off of this
Ability. The only major problem is figuring in the basic
Energies plus the discard, which leads me to thinking
more along the lines of Volcanion-EX. Pretty simple
combination: discard a Fire Energy for Volcanion-EX,
discard another card to get that Fire Energy and another
back for Starmie, ???, and then profit. You can do a lot
with this Ability if you can fit in a simple line-up for
him.
Or just play him with Archie's. A
bit of a stretch in terms of usage, but hey, it's a
thought.
Rating
Standard: 3/5 (Energy retrieval is
pretty nice, though the selective dumping alongside
putting the Energy back in hand may not be as great on a
Stage 1)
Expanded: 3.5/5 (that being said,
if you can fit Starmie into a deck, he can put in good
work for you)
Limited: 4/5 (and that's really
something to profit off of)
Arora Notealus: Starmie from the
Base Set days is a bit of a nostalgia point for me.
Notably he was a card you could get in the decks of the
Pokemon Trading Card Game for the GBC...ahhhh,
nostalgia, you blind me to the greatness of that small
small game. Course nowadays, we can't really have that
same thing getting updated with rotations, but hey, at
least they've got online capabilities rather than being
reliant on a cable.
Next Time: A common rat gets into
our Top 3??
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Otaku |
Our fourth place finisher is Starmie (XY:
Evolutions 31/108). This is a Stage 1 Water
Type Pokémon with 90 HP, Grass Weakness, no Resistance,
and Retreat Cost [C]. Being a Stage 1 is adequate;
Basics are best but a single extra card and turn delay
(or Wally) isn’t bad. Being a Water Type is
okay; it hits nearly all Fire Types and some Fighting
Types for Weakness, crashes into Resistance when facing
many BW-era Grass Types, has some good tricks like
Dive Ball and Rough Seas, and just some
strong Water Type Pokémon that - even if normally used
off Type - are even better in a Water Type deck.
There are some anti-Water effects, but they don’t amount
to much, with Parallel City being the main one
you’d encounter… and isn’t actually being run to counter
Water Types, probably because it’s just an annoying -20
damage at the cost of shrinking your own Bench down to
three spots. Exploiting Weakness would matter if
there were more Fire (or Water Weak Fighting) Types
being used, but as is is a decent foundation. 90 HP is
low enough for Level Ball; that’s the small
upside as most of the time it's a OHKO for your
opponent. Grass Weakness is dangerous, but with
the HP it’s going to be edge cases surprising you where
the true danger lies, as most serious attackers already
have the OHKO. No Resistance is the worst but is
typical; it is just a missed opportunity for Starmie
and not crippling flaw. The Retreat Cost of [C] is
the second best, not a huge benefit but not large enough
to require compensation.
Starmie
has the Ability “Space Beacon” which allows you (once
per turn before you attack) to discard a card from hand
in order to then add two basic Energy cards from your
discard pile to hand (one if there is only one).
The wording is such that if you have multiple instances
of Space Beacon, each may be used once per turn.
The text specifies you cannot reclaim the Energy
you discarded for the effect; based on similar older
cards this just means you cannot discard a basic Energy
card and immediately add it back to hand, but you
can discard a basic Energy card, and then using
either a second Space Beacon or just on your next turn,
select that as one of the two basic Energy you add from
discard pile to hand. Again, that is how a similar
effect worked in the past, so you should check elsewhere
to be certain. Starmie also has the attack “Star
Freeze” which costs [WC] and does 30 damage while having
you flip a coin; “tails” changes nothing while “heads”
leaves the opponent’s Active Paralyzed. As the
Ability only works with basic Energy cards, it will be
useless (or next to it) in some decks due to their lack
(or near total lack) of basic Energy cards.
Fortunately in some decks it should be very good, and in
most it should be handy (but not necessary). The attack
is filler; it isn’t the worst two Energy attack in the
world by any stretch, but only use it when desperate.
Starmie
Evolves from Staryu, so let’s take a look at our
options: BW: Next Destinies 23/99, XY
33/146, XY: Primal Clash 32/160 (also
McDonald’s Collection 2015 4/12), XY:
BREAKthrough 29/162, XY: BREAKpoint 25/122,
and XY: Evolutions 30/108. All but the
first two are Standard legal, and all are Basic Water
Type Pokémon with no Resistance, no Ability, and no
Ancient Trait. BW: Next Destinies 23/99 has 60
HP, Lightning Weakness, Retreat Cost [C], and two
attacks: [C] allows Staryu to use “Recover”,
discarding an Energy from itself to heal all of its
damage, and “Water Gun” for [W] to do 10 damage. XY
33/146 has 60 HP, Grass Weakness, Retreat Cost [C], and
the attack “Reckless Charge” for [WC], doing 30 damage
to the opponent’s Active and 10 to Staryu itself.
XY: Primal Clash 32/160 also has 60 HP, Grass
Weakness, Retreat Cost [C] and one attack, but its
attack is “Lunge” for [C] which does 20 damage but
requires a coin flip (“tails” fails). XY:
BREAKthrough 29/162 gives us a third Staryu
with 60 HP, Grass Weakness, Retreat Cost [C] and a
single attack that costs [C], but the attack is
“Continuous Spin” which has you flip a coin until you
get tails, doing 10 damage per “heads”. XY:
BREAKpoint 25/122 has just 40 HP, still has Grass
Weakness, has a perfect free Retreat Cost, and the
attack “Smack” for [W] doing 20 damage. XY:
Evolutions 30/108 goes back to 60 HP, Grass
Weakness, and Retreat Cost [C]; its lone attack is
“Quick Blow” which costs [W] and does 10 damage with a
coin flip, where “heads” does +10 damage (so 20 total)
while “tails” means only the base 10 damage is done.
For the record, XY: Evolutions 30/108 is
technically based on Base Set 65/102 (and Base
Set 2 95/130) but XY: BREAKpoint 25/122 is
about as close. In either case, none of the
attacks are likely to help so decide whether you want 60
HP with Lightning Weakness (BW: Next Destinies
23/99), 40 HP with a free Retreat Cost (XY:
BREAKpoint 25/122), or 60 HP with Grass Weakness
(any of the others).
Our other options for Starmie are BW: Next
Destinies 24/99, XY 34/146, XY: Primal
Clash 73/160, XY: BREAKthrough 30/162, and
XY: BREAKpoint 25/122. All are Stage 1 Pokémon
with 90 HP, no Resistance, no Ability, and no Ancient
Trait. BW: Next Destinies 24/99 is a Water Type
with Lightning Weakness, no Retreat Cost, and two
attacks: “Confuse Ray” for [C] (doing 30 damage and
Confusing the opponent’s Active) and “Swift” for [W]
(doing 50 damage and ignoring all effects plus
Weakness/Resistance on the opponent’s Active). It
was reviewed
here.
XY 34/146 is a Water Type with Grass Weakness,
Retreat Cost [C] and again two attacks: [W] pays for
Recover (again discarding an Energy an Energy to heal
all its damage) while [WCC] pays for “Core Splash” (does
60 damage plus another 30 if it has any [P] Energy
attached). It too
was reviewed.
XY: Primal Clash 73/160 is a Psychic Type with
Psychic Weakness, a free Retreat Cost, and a single
attack; “Synchro Star” costs [C] and does 10 damage, and
if Starmie and the opponent’s Active have the
same amount of Energy attached then it does another 60
(so 70 total). XY: BREAKthrough 30/162 is back
to being a Water Type with Grass Weakness, Retreat Cost
[C] and two attacks: for [W] it can use “Deep Sea Swirl”
to shuffle your hand into your deck and draw seven
cards, while for [WC] it can use “Balance Bind” to do 30
damage, and if both players have the same size Bench the
opponent’s Active is also Paralyzed. None of these
are worth using alongside today’s; some of the attacks
aren’t bad and free Retreat costs are nice, but aren’t
worth it on a 90 HP Stage 1 with nothing else to offer.
There is also Starmie BREAK (XY: Evolutions
32/108). Still a Water Type, but now with 130 HP
and an additional attack. As a BREAK Evolution, it
no longer can benefit from Stage 1 specific support,
though general Evolution support still applies. 130
would be the low end of typical for a Stage 2, and it is
just barely enough that surviving a OHKO is more likely
than not, but for something you’re investing at least
three cards into it doesn’t seem like enough. For
[W] it can use the attack “Break Star” which does 100
damage to each of your opponent’s Pokémon BREAK.
Now… BREAK Evolutions are a final Evolution Stage, so
while 100 damage for one Energy is great and 100 damage
against multiple targets even better, you might be doing
nothing as your opponent holds off on playing his or her
BREAK Evolutions. Plus to use the attack we are
looking at three cards (four if you need to work in a
source of [W] Energy). Even where BREAK Evolutions
are important, your opponent may be able to stagger them
so you’re just doing that 100. Indulging
Create-A-Card for a minute to underscore this, if we had
“Starmie-EX” with this attack, even with 130 HP,
it would have been better. This card could be
handy, but only if you already wanted to run a
Starmie and BREAK Evolutions are strong in
your area, strong against your particular deck, or both.
Starmie
(XY: Evolutions 31/108) borrows the art assets
from Starmie (Base Set 64/102; Base Set
2 94/130). This Starmie was a Stage 1
Water Type with 60 HP, Lightning Weakness, no
Resistance, Retreat Cost [C] no special mechanics, no
Pokémon Power (Abilities didn’t exist back then), and
two attacks. It has Recover for [WW] and
specifying you have to discard a [W] Energy from itself
to remove all its damage counters, and it has Star
Freeze for [WCC] and still flipping to Paralyze, but
only doing 20 damage. This was a pretty sad card,
and the remake does a decent amount for it. I
don’t know if it was the original, but I remember the
Ability as a Poké-Power called “Magnetic Field”, found
on Magneton (EX: Dragons 17/97; EX:
Power Keepers 16/108). It proved handy in
decks with heavy Energy discard costs, especially costs
from hand. That is the probable sweet spot for
Starmie (XY: Evolutions 31/108).
Examples would be decks using Volcanion-EX for
its Ability “Steam Up” to power up the damage from Basic
Fire Pokémon, and maybe decks using Abilities which
attach multiple Basic Energy from hand in a turn like
Magnezone (XY: BREAKthrough 54/162).
Boy Magnezone wishes this Ability had shown up on
Magneton.
So for Standard and Expanded play, it has its place,
though it is still a bit more narrow than I’ve
suggested. In addition to benefitting from
reclaiming basic Energy from the discard over and over
again, other options need to prove inferior. In
fact, I go back and forth over whether a Stage 1 Ability
I can reuse is worth more than say just running two
Energy Retrieval, or Fisherman, or what have
you. It is worth it in Limited play, unless you
pull a single, strong Basic and build your entire deck
around it (to the exclusion of any other Basic Pokémon).
Of course, don’t expect it to win you much directly,
just make it easier to meet your Energy needs.
Ratings
Standard:
3.25/5
Expanded:
3.25/5
Limited:
3.75/5
Summary:
Starmie gained a handy Ability, but I’m not
overly impressed. Maybe I just haven’t run the
right deck, or I have but I haven’t crashed into enough
Item lock, or have crashed into too much Ability lock.
The net result is a good, solid card though, and a
welcome addition to the card pool (just not mindblowing).
Starmie
snagged 11 voting points, edging out
yesterday’s
fifth place finisher by one point but missing a tie with
tomorrow’s
third place by four. Speaking of four, Starmie
only got four of its voting points from me as I had it
as my seventh place pick. Fourth seems a little
too high, but only a little.
|
Zach Carmichael |
Starmie has always been one of my
favorite Pokémon from the first generation. It was a
fantastic option for those players who did not choose
Squirtle as their starter (though I have to wonder why
they didn’t :P ). Unlike many of the cards in
Evolutions, which are pretty much unplayable, Starmie
has a slight bit of potential thanks to an interesting
Ability that could prove useful in decks that rely on
basic Energy cards.
At 90 HP, Starmie can be searched
out with Level Ball, as well as Dive Ball since it is a
Water-type. Its Star Freeze attack is a bit irrelevant
because 30 damage doesn’t do a whole lot in this format,
but its “Space Beacon” Ability is what makes Starmie
intriguing. It lets you put 2 basic Energy cards from
your discard pile into your hand if you discard a card
from your hand. While many decks can already recover
Energy thanks to Super Rod (and now Brock’s Grit),
adding a simple 1-1 Starmie line could prove useful if
you don’t feel like wasting Super Rod or need Energy in
a pinch.
Greninja BREAK decks can certainly
utilize Starmie, and I would not be surprised to see new
variant of the deck emerge over the coming weeks as new
tournaments are held. The problem with using Starmie in
Greninja BREAK decks is that it messes with Talonflame
significantly. Most players max out Talonflame in order
to start with it thanks to the “Gale Wings” Ability. It
adds a great deal of consistency to a number of
Evolution-based decks but perhaps is most associated
with Greninja BREAK decks. Typically you will want to
play 4 Talonflame and 3 Froakie to maximize your chances
of starting Talonflame – and nothing else. I suppose you
could cut the Froakie count to 2 to squeeze a Staryu in,
but then you risk prizing one or both of them.
That isn’t to say it can’t take
advantage of Starmie’s “Star Beacon” Ability, though,
and that there is only way to play the deck. I could see
a new version that focuses more on the “Giant Water
Shuriken” Ability than actually attacking, use Max
Potion to constantly heal while recovering Energy with
Starmie. The only issue with this is the threat that is
Garbodor, who has become a very cumbersome problem in
Standard and has no true counter. Until Tool removal is
a thing again, I am not sure how viable either Greninja
BREAK or Starmie are.
Ratings
Standard: 2/5
Expanded: 1.5/5
Limited: 2.5/5
Summary: Starmie caught my
attention when Evolutions was first release in Japan.
Its Ability is basically an Energy Retrieval, providing
a new sense of strength especially to decks that use Max
Potion to heal off damage. Greninja BREAK seems to be
the obvious partner, but as long as Garbodor is in the
format, I don’t think it will see too much play for a
while. It will be interesting to see what kind of
partners players will find to really take advantage of
the seastar Pokémon.
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