Kommo-o – Crimson Invasion – Pokemon Card Review

aroramage

Kommo-o is the first Dragon/Fighting Pokemon line-up we’ve had in the entirety of Pokemon, which is quite an honor! Who’d have thought we’d get something like that anytime soon? I remember the time I came up with a Dragon/Fighting Pokemon. I named it Brawlhammed like Muhammed Ali!

…admittedly, the name would need some work…

But anywho, Kommo-o is a Stage 2, 160 HP Dragon with a couple big attacks. His first is probably the reason you’d play him, oddly enough – War Cry does 2-for-30, and if you’ve got fewer Pokemon than your opponent in play, it does an extra 90. Definitely a lot better than Clanging Scales, which is a 3-for-130 move that makes Kommo-o takes 30 more damage on the next attack. Not really worth the Lightning/Fighting/Colorless mix of Energy he’s got, huh?

War Cry being completely Colorless means Kommo-o could fit into any deck with a few Pokemon, the first of which I think of is actually M Gardevoir-EX. That’s an odd choice, for sure, but with the EX line-up working as a Stage 1 line-up and having M Gardevoir-EX’s Despair Ray discard extra Pokemon from the Bench, you can control your line-up such that you get the max benefit from both sides. It’s actually rather fascinating, and it’d be a unique mix of Fairy/Psychic/Dragon typing to deal with a wide range of opponents. All you need is for Despair Ray to hit for 120-130, and Kommo-o’s successful War Cry can clean up the rest! And even if you can’t utilize War Cry, you can use Kommo-o for Despair Ray and let M Gardevoir-EX dish out more damage!

With a few extra cards thrown in for consistently bringing out Kommo-o and M Gardevoir-EX, you could have a pretty unique deck on your hands – and it’s Standard-legal till the rotation comes out a few months from now! And if you tap into the cards in the Expanded format, you’ve got a whole lot more to utilize! I’d imagine these consistency issues would be what holds back a M Gardevoir-EX/Kommo-o deck from competing against some of the stronger decks of the format, but it’s a fun idea to say the least! Give it a whirl and try out Kommo-o for yourself!

Fun fact: you only need Fairy Energy in that build, as Despair Ray costs 1 Fairy and 1 Colorless~

Rating

Standard: 2.5/5 (War Cry has a bit of potential, hitting hard when the conditions are met)

Expanded: 2.5/5 (the natural disadvantages of being a Stage 2 though will likely interfere with the success)

Limited: 3/5 (still, don’t be fooled into thinking Kommo-o is useless – he could end up being a strong contender!)

Arora Notealus: Stage 2 Pokemon are ultimately overshadowed by the EX/GX of the set, mostly because they offer a lot of value for what they do, but it’s always good to keep in mind that there are Pokemon like Kommo-o that are lying around in wait to shine out among the masses. There’s a lot that can be done with Kommo-o, so he’s certainly worth looking into even if he’s outclassed by other Pokemon.

Side Reviews: Croconaw – it’d be a surprise to me too if there was another Feraligatr that came out of nowhere to bring Croconaw to relevance, but alas, nothing new has shown up in favor of Croconaw coming back into the limelight. There’s some new Water support that came out in Ultra Prism…sort of. Croconaw doesn’t really have the prowess to take advantage of it though – he really depends on that Feraligatr, which means it may be a while longer before he shows up again.

Next Time: The great sea slug of the Sinnoh region returns!…it is a sea slug, right?

Vince

This weekend, we’re looking at cards that were in Theme Decks of Crimson Invasion set. Today, we’re looking at Kommo-o, who happens to be the feature Pokémon of Clanging Thunder Theme Deck.

When it comes to effect text, Kommo-o has two attacks. War Cry costs a DCE for 30 damage plus 90 more if you have fewer Pokémon in play than your opponent. This could throw your opponent off if he or she has put too many Pokémon in play, but eventually you may be stuck 1-on-1 if your opponent stops putting Pokémon down. If that’s the case, then it’s second attack, Clanging Scales, costs LFC for 130 damage, but at the expense that you’ll take 30 more damage from attacks. Even with 160 HP, a medium to hard size hit can still OHKO this Pokémon.

I don’t see this Pokémon being used in Standard or Expanded, but in Limited, it might be a good pull. I don’t know the possible evolution packs from the prerelease kit, so I can’t give some insight. However, Kommo-o can do a good job in Theme Deck format, since War Cry alone can 2HKO almost all Pokémon inside Theme Decks. If, eventually, it comes down to 1-on-1, then Clanging Scales provides a solid hit. Devoured Field, even though available in a single copy, can improve the damage output on both attacks.

Standard: 2/5
Expanded: 2/5
Limited: 3/5
Theme: 4/5