Name/Level:
Mantine LV.25
Set:
Mysterious Treasures
Rarity:
Rare
Card#:
29/123
Type:
Water
Stage:
Basic
Hit Points:
70
Weakness:
Lightning +20
Resistance:
Fighting +20
Retreat:
C
Poké-Body:
Jumbo
Fin
If Mantyke is
anywhere under Mantine, the Retreat Cost for each of you (W) Pokémon is (CC)
less.
Attack:
(WW) Giant Wave [50]
Mantine can’t
use Giant Wave during your next turn.
Name/Level:
Mantyke LV.6
Set:
Diamond and Pearl
Rarity:
Uncommon
Card#:
55/130
Type:
Water
Stage:
Basic
Hit Points:
40
Weakness:
Lightning +10
Resistance:
Fighting -20
Retreat:
(C)
Poké-Power:
Baby Evolution
Once during your
turn (before your attack), you may put Mantine from your hand onto Mantyke
(this counts as Evolving Mantyke) and remove all damage counters from
Mantyke.
Attack:
(0) Call for Friends
Search your
deck for a (W) Basic Pokémon, show it to your opponent, and put it into
your hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.
Attributes:
Mantine LV.25 is a Basic Water Pokémon. In the video games, they
decided to change it from a Basic into an Evolution and now the beginning of
its Evolutionary line is Mantyke, so the standard TCG solution is to
release a Mantyke with the Baby Power, allowing Mantine to be
played upon it as an Evolution (bypassing “immune to Basic Pokémon” effects,
gaining access to cards that it couldn’t use as a Basic like Double
Rainbow Energy, etc.).
I believe that
being a Water Pokémon will be a definite boon right now: there’s both a
pricey Fire deck (Magmortar) and an inexpensive Fire deck (Infernape)
that people are playing, and a little bit of type matching is often great.
Being a Basic is of course an advantage, as there are many easy ways to get
Basic Pokémon from your deck. Great Ball will grab one and Bench it
no problem: it isn’t even a Supporter but a normal Trainer! Otherwise,
there are cards like
Holon’s Mentor,
and while that is a Supporter with a discard cost, it also grabs three Basic
Pokémon from your deck. For an “Evolved Basic” like Mantine, this is
great: you can grab a copy of it, a copy of its pre-Evolved form, and then
another Basic all in one shot.
Lightning Weakness
is a concern since Electivire decks are apt to remain popular, plus I
have heard talk of Manectric LV.38 decks as well. At least it
is only +20. Fighting Resistance at the +20 level is nice to see: for once
it’s the same as the level of Weakness, instead of always seeming to be
smaller. It should also come in handy since Fighting Pokémon have actually
been seeing some play (though mostly Lucario and its Level X form).
Last of the bottom stats is a single Energy Retreat Cost, which is pretty
affordable. Pretty good deal, here.
There is only one
Mantyke available for it to “Evolve” from, and its likely you’d want
to given the Poké-Body on Mantine (more on that later). Mantyke
is a Basic Water Pokémon that only has 40 HP, but it only has a +10
Lightning Weakness and still has a -20 Fighting Resistance. It too has a
single Energy Retreat Cost, which is nice. It has the now seemingly
standard Baby Power, allowing it both to fake Evolve and shedding Special
Conditions, attack effects, and damage counters. In many ways, this
will allow you to ignore the opponents first few attacks if they are of an
aggressive (re: damaging) nature and not focusing on their own set up.
Mantyke itself is great for setting up Water decks, being able to snag a
Basic Water Pokémon from your deck for no Energy. This means it can also
grab Mantine to Evolve into on the next turn, if it would be
desirable.
Abilities:
This cards Poké-Body and attack are closely related, though it may not be
obvious. The attack, at a glance, seems rather mediocre. Sure, 50 damage
for just (WW) is nice, but you can’t use it again the next turn (unless you
Bench and then bring it back out). That’s where the Poké-Body comes in
handy. If Mantine is Evolved from Mantyke, it drops the
Retreat Cost of all your Water Pokémon by two. That means anything this a
Retreat Cost of (C) or (CC) now has a free retreat, and that includes
Mantine. So it can attack and then get out of the way for something
else. The Body, combined with Mantyke’s usefulness in setting up,
should get it played in most Water decks. To make it just a bit better,
Jumbo Fin stacks. Two of them will allow every Modified-legal Water Pokémon
to retreat for free. Three would allow any Water Pokémon ever printed
(that’s right, big ol’ Wailord ex).
Uses and
Combinations:
Two Mantine, each evolved from Mantyke, and each with a
Double Rainbow Energy, can hit for 40 as soon as turn 1 and just keep
retreating to change out and keep it going. This alone could bring down
Water Weak decks, and is a solid aggressive tactic for most Water decks in
general. Combined with its use harassing Fighting decks and of course as a
Bench sitter to give you all free retreating Pokémon, it’s has secured its
place alongside Mantyke in the majority of Water decks.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5 – I just can’t see the Retreat Cost mattering much for Unlimited, and if
you want an attack to help you set up, you use Cleffa from Neo
Genesis.
Modified:
3.5/5 – Most of this score comes from its important to Water decks, though
one could conceivable add a 1-1 upwards of a 2-2 line for many decks to
quickly deal with Water Weak opponents. After all, even after losing 10
damage to Double Rainbow Energy, you can hit Infernape to 70
and Magmortar for 80, and more than likely OHKO their opening Basics
early game.
Limited:
3/5 – Even lacking a Mantyke, it will just be a solid alternating
beatstick: 50 every other turn isn’t as bad, since you just need something
already powered up and you can just pay the Energy cost to retreat each
turn.
-Otaku
