Hariyama – Sword & Shield Fusion Strike 143/264
Date Reviewed:
January 9, 2022
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 2.00
Expanded: 1.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Vince
Looks like I’ve found another tempting card to use similar to Eevee yesterday.
Hariyama has an ability which can make or break a game. Guts states that if this Pokemon were to be Knocked Out by damage from an attack, you get to flip a coin. If heads, Hariyama is not Knocked Out and its remaining HP becomes 10. This could cause an annoyance to your opponent because their attacks are supposed to KO Hariyama, but didn’t. Meanwhile, Hariyama has an attack to use such as Hammer In, which costs FCC for 100 damage without any effects. Because it is a Single Strike card, it can benefit from damage boosting cards and energy acceleration such as Houndoom’s Single Strike Roar and Emboar’s Fighting Fury Stance ability. With Emboar and at three Single Strike Energies, Hammer In will do 190 damage, which could be enough to 2HKO anything in the game. I guess the ability – that could help Hariyama stick around – makes up for such an disappointing attack at first glance that could be improved.
But that’s not the only attack Hariyama has. Because of being a Single Strike card, it can also gain access from three other Pokemon Tools that adds an additional attack that Hariyama can use. Single Strike Scroll of Scorn has Furious Anger, which costs F for 10 damage and does 10 more damage for each damage counter on this Pokemon. Assuming Guts bring it down to 10 HP remaining, that means Hariyama has 13 damage counters stored, so 140 damage (can be boosted by 190 with one Single Strike energy and Emboar). Single Strike Scroll of Piercing has Bullet Breakthrough, which costs RCC for 120 damage, and it isn’t affected by Weakness, Resistance, and other effects of the Defending Pokemon. Single Strike Scroll of the Fanged Dragon has Superstrong Slash, which costs FMMCC for 300 damage and forces you to discard all energy attached to Hariyama. Out of the three, I rather choose Single Strike Scroll of Scorn as this attack is easy to use than the other two.
Except that Guts doesn’t always help Hariyama in some cases. Even if it were to survive with 10 HP, Poison or Burn special conditions will Knock Out Hariyama between turns. That’s what keeps Hariyama from being successful as one would think. It could still be a formidable Pokemon if your opponent lacks an answer to it as I don’t recall Special Conditions be the focus of a competitive deck; they’re mostly dealing big numbers. Expanded does have Hypnotoxic Laser, and that ruins any chance Hariyama would have even if Guts or Focus Sash was activated.
Ratings:
Standard: 2/5
Expanded: 1/5
Another luck-based element like Eevee yesterday, Hariyama doesn’t take much to do its thing, only requiring one coin flip the moment it is about to be knocked out. But even then, that coin flip could be the keys to victory or defeat. And I didn’t mention that switching related cards like Boss’s Order might alleviate the problem, though Guts could still work even on the Bench.
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