Another re-review, this is a good example of the recent Turn
2 Control decks. It happens to also be the oldest of these
Pokémon, at least that I am familiar with, so it seemed most
deserving of a getting another look.
Name:
Muk ex
Set/Card#:
Dragon (96/97)
Type:
Grass
Stage:
1(Evolves from Grimer)
HP:
100
Weakness:
Psychic
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CC
Poké-Body:
Toxic Gas
As long
as Muk ex is your Active Pokémon, ignore all Poké-Powers and
Poké-Bodies other than Toxic Gas.
Attack#1:
(G) Poison Breath [10]
The
Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
Attack#2:
(GGC) Slimy Water [40+]
Does 40 damage plus 10 more damage for each (C) Energy in
the Defending Pokémon’s Retreat Cost (after applying effects
to the Retreat Cost).
Name:
Grimer
Set/Card#:
EX Team Rocket Returns (56/109)
Type:
Grass
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Psychic
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(C) Taunt
Choose
1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon and switch it with 1 of the
Defending Pokémon. Your opponent chooses the Defending Pokémon
to switch.
Attack#2:
(CC) Spit Poison [10]
The
Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
Attributes:
Let’s take a refresher course on Muk ex. It is a Stage 1
Pokémon ex, of course, which means it should be on par with many
Stage 2 Pokémon. It is a Grass-type, which appears to be an
advantage. Why? Well, it is a bad thing against Metal Pokémon
and Dark Dragonite… but there is a nice mix of Pokémon
Weak to it. Plus, there is always Crystal Shard.
Muk
ex
has 100 HP. This is a mixed blessing. On the bright side, it
is high enough that you can survive a hit or two. The downside
is that it is just enough to trigger Desert Ruins. Also,
Muk ex is Weak to Psychic Pokémon, and most will be able
to OHKO it. It also lacks a Resistance, so most Pokémon towards
the end of their Evolution line will be able to two-hit KO it.
Seems kind of sad since HP is one of
Muk’s strong points in the
GBA games. It has a fairly solid retreat
of two Energy; this is too pricey to
retreat for anything not serious, but you should be able to
retreat when it is vital.
I
recommend using the Grimer from EX Team Rocket Returns.
It has the same stats as your only other Modified legal
alternative from EX Dragons, but it has the oh-so useful attack
of Taunt to bring up something defenseless to give you time to
Evolve.
Abilities:
Toxic Gas gets a huge boost due to rulings changes since it was
first introduced. When it first came out, I believe that while
the term Pokémon Powers covered the terms Poké-Power and
Poké-Body, the reverse wasn’t true. That has now changed, so
this card can affect older Pokémon Powers… in Unlimited. I
wouldn’t recommend playing it there though, and I mainly mention
this ruling since I went on and on about the old ruling in the
original review of this card. More useful is that is now stops
coming into play powers, and more importantly, there are a lot
more of those seeing play (Zapdos ex), and just the
increase in dependency upon Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies to begin
with.
Poison
Breath is a simple, opening attack. It is fairly priced… for a
basic, so it is a tad disappointing for a Stage 1 Pokémon-ex.
Still, it serves its purpose.
Slimy
Water is a nice solid attack, especially early game when it
will OHKO the average small Basic (50
HP with a Retreat Cost of one).
Uses
and
Combinations:
Speaking of early game, that is when this card now gets into
play. It works well with the Jirachi Swoop
engine: start with Deoxys Jirachi, use it’s Poké-Power to
draw a card or two, then use Swoop! Teleporter to switch
to Grimer and then Evolve into
Muk ex. Now you can start killing their stuff and most
decks will be stuck top decking Trainers.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1.75/5-There might be some Rogue use for it… but if so I still
haven’t found it.
Modified:
4/5-Now that we have the Jirachi Swoop engine to
drive the deck, it’s become phenomenal.
Limited:
3.5/5-A lot of obscure Poké-Bodies and Poké-Powers become good
here, and this shuts them down. A lot of larger, let used
Pokémon also get used here. Finally, Poison is nasty in this
format. The only thing really holding Muk ex back is its poor
Attributes and being a Pokémon ex-that’s half your prizes if it
gets KOed.
Summary
This
card is fantastic now that players are getting it out turn two
and that the format relies so heavily on Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies.
It is quite hard to escape this when it sets up… but at the same
time if you know it is coming you can
prepare for it fairly effectively.
