Name:
Sudowoodo
Set:
Aquapolis
Type:
Fighting
Stage:
Basic
HP:
60
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CC
Attack#1:
(C) Copy
Choose 1 of the Defending Pokémon’s attacks. Copy copies that
attack. This attack does nothing if Sudowoodo doesn’t have the
Energy necessary to use that attack. (You must still do
anything else required in order to use that attack.)
Attack#2:
(F) Energy Draw
Search your deck for a basic Energy card and attach it to
Sudowoodo. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Name:
Sudowoodo
Set:
Neo Revelation
Type:
Fighting
Stage:
Basic
HP:
60
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CCC
Pokémon Power:
Mimic
As long as Sudowoodo is your active Pokémon, it copies all of
the Defending Pokémon’s attacks, including their costs. This
power can’t be used if Sudowoodo is Asleep, Confused, or
Paralyzed.
Attack:
(CC) Slam [20x]
Flip 2 coins. This attack does 20 damage times the number
of heads.
Name:
Sudowoodo
Set:
Neo Genesis
Type:
Fighting
Stage:
Basic
HP:
60
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CCC
Attack#1:
(F) Flail [10x]
Does 10 damage times the number of damage counters on Sudowoodo.
Attack#2:
(FC) Rock Throw [30]
Attributes:
Sudowoodo is probably a good card to be, since the other two
just weren’t so hot: very little competition for it. It is a
basic, which is great-it would only be better if it had a “Baby”
stage and a Stage 1 Evolution (it’s all about options). It is a
Fighting Pokémon, which is a mixed blessing: there is Fighting
Weakness out there, but many Pokémon in Dragons are Resistant,
as are of course others. There are few strong Fighting decks
out there: in Modified, that is mainly due to lack of play. I
can name three Fighting Pokémon that can all play partner to
Sandstorm Xatu (for solid decks): Armaldo, Expedition Golem, and
Aquapolis Nidoking. In Unlimited, there just aren’t lot of
good ones left, and then, they have the Hitmon- family
(including their pre-Evo Tyrogue) for support.
All Sudowoodo
have 60 HP. This is solid for a Basic Pokémon, but to be fair,
Sudowoodo should probably be in the 70-90 HP club. Why? In the
Game Boy Pokémon games, it has good HP, but also solid Defense,
Special Defense Stats and Speed scores as well. Also, since it
doesn’t evolve, 60 is really a touch low. Next up is Weakness.
Sudowoodo was the first pure Rock-Type, and as such, Water,
Grass, Fighting, Ground, and Steel are all weaknesses for it in
the GB games. Sadly, only Water has been used so far on all
Sudowoodo. It’s not the worst, but Fighting or Metal might be
better in the current TCG environment. Sadly all have no
Resistance: Normal (Colorless), Fire, Flying (Colorless), and
Poison (Grass) are all possibilities, though Fire or Colorless
would be best (since “real” Grass Pokémon would should do
double). But instead, we get nothing, naturally the worst
resistance. Retreat was 3 on older versions, but at least went
down to a slightly manageable 2 for this version-low enough you
can actually pay it. You might want to let it go down swinging.
Abilities:
This versions makes a bizarre sort of sense with what it can
do. The original had what would (in the current Modified) be
considered decent attacks that just focus on damage. Flail’s a
great way to go out, and Rock Throw actually is discounted-you
pay for just 25, but get 30! It can learn both in the GB games,
and they function similarly. Now look at this one: it has Copy,
which lets it copy your choice of the Defending Pokémon’s
attacks, and Energy Draw, to help you power-up for Copy! It has
an attack (Mimic) that works a little like Copy in the GB
games. Now look at the Neo Revelation Sudowoodo. It looks
kinda like a cross between the two-it has a Pokémon Power,
Mimic, which again is similar to Mimic in the GB games. It has
Slam, which, like in the GB game gives just damage (though with
less variability and more accuracy). So that version gives you
the ability to rip your opponent’s best moves or to hit them if
they haven’t got anything good. Of them, I like Copy better
than Mimic-the end results are the same, but there are more
things that trouble Pokémon Powers than attacks, in my
opinion. Mimic “writes” an attack onto the card for you to
use, thus both things that affect attacks and Powers cause
problems for Mimic. Energy Draw would be better as a Poke-Power
though, since then you could use it and then attack the same
turn. The other attacks are all of equal use in my eyes, as
sometimes you want that solid 30, other times Flail would be a
great counter, but Slam is also colorless and can get up to 40
damage!
Uses/Combinations:
Decks that used Rainbow Energies already might benefit from
this-almost every deck you face, you can copy something good.
Without Rainbow, you can still copy, but it will likely be
slow. The big problem is it has got a trick that needs more HP
to be useful-by the time it can copy anything good, it’s
probably dead or close to it. =/ It might be decent for Sceptile
TecH though: Trans some Grass and a few Rainbow to it (after
dropping it freshly), and watch them squirm, especially if they
can’t OHKO it.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1.75/5-As usual, it can do stuff, but something else (Clefable)
does it much, much better. I didn’t comment on it too much for
this format for that reason.
Modified:
2.5/5-I see some use for it. The Sceptile TecH I’ve seen run
Solrock for Fighting TecH, as do most decks that need a little
Fighting. This might be a touch better since it might be able
to go for speed KO’s. Ironically, the others might be decent
here as well.
Limited:
3.5/5-Late game, against Evos, it may not do so hot. If you get
it early though, look out! Most decks here will run at least 2
energy types. With the strong Colorless Pokémon in some of the
recent sets (even the “old-new” stuff like WotC’s last 3 sets),
making even more colorful decks will be a snap. Now factor in
that your opponents will also have mostly colorless Energy costs
on their stuff, and Energy Draw. You should be able to set up
fast and nuke most of what they get while it’s still
under-powered. Like I said though, if they can set up anything
big, it will probably eat you first and/or be too hard to copy.
2-on-2:
2.75/5-Easier to Copy stuff here.
TMP:
2.65/6-Easier to like in 2-on-2, but you will risk this taking
twice the hits.
Summary
Sudowoodo,
like too many basics, has attacks that are really meant for big
guys. If it had a little more HP, it might stand a shot.
Still, it might have some use.
-Otaku (nintendotaku@hotmail.com)
