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Jigglypuff13 |
8/4 Garchomp Lv.X (MD)
Hello, and welcome to a new week. Now, for some unknown
reason, when reviewing the MD cards, we managed to leave
out 3 of the sets 4 Lv.X's, so we are reviewing them
this week, along with another LA preview card (again,
another one was revealed after the weeks cards were
sorted out, so we've only got one LA preview card).
Today's card though, is one of the Lv.X's, and an
eagerly awaited one, Garchomp Lv.X. Now, the reason it
was so hyped up was for it's attack and Poké-Power, but
I'll start with the basic stats of the card. First, it
has a 140HP, which is about average for a Stage 2 Lv.X,
so is alright, but not brilliant. Next, it has a x2
Colorless Weakness, which is massive, but not very
annoying since so few people are playing Colorless.
There may be the odd Blissey (MT) about, or rival
Garchomp, but otherwise, it has to fear Crystal Shard,
which just isn't teched into anything now, so there's
nothing to worry about from it. No Resistance is
expected. I wish t had a Resistance, but you can't give
a card everything. However, it does have a brilliant
Retreat Cost; nothing. This means that, if you need to
bench it for any reason, you have no cost or punishment
to do so.
Now, it's Poké-Power, Dragon Pulse. Rather than aid the
normal Garchomp's attack, or fit in with the theme, it's
more of an icing on the cake Poké-Power. When you level
it up, you flip 3 coins, and do a 10 spread for each
heads. This is just so nice if you get a couple of
heads, since it softens the bench up for the normal
Garchomp's Dragon fang attack (which is of course
powered up by Rainbow Scale if you've got the right
energy on it). Obviously, Dragon Fang is going to be
Garchomp Lv.X's attack, but it's own attack, is just
nice for support. Restore costs no energy, and has an
absolutely fantastic effect. You can get a non-Lv.x
Pokémon from your Discard Pile, and put it on your
bench, and attach up to 3 Discarded Basic Energies from
your Discard Pile to that Pokémon. This basically allows
you to power up some of the games greatest attacks, in
just one attack. Because of this, there are often single
Stage 2 techs in Garchomp decks, most notably Gallade
(SW) and Flygon Ex (DF). There are others, but they are
the 2 most common techs. The only downside is, well,
it's an attack, which means your opponent is likely to
take advantage of this and damage Garchomp Lv.X.
Mind you, even if your opponent does attack Garchomp
Lv.X during one of these turns, chances are, they will
not KO Garchomp Lv.X. GG decks 3HKO it with Psychic Lock
from Gardevoir (SW), or need to flip 4 Prizes and get a
OHKO from Psychic Cut, though I don't see many GG
players being able to do that. Empoleon (MD) could get a
OHKO with Surf Together, but only after a couple Dual
Splash's weakening it. Eeveelutions can only get a 2HKO
with Glaceon Lv.X (MD), though with enough energies
attached to their Pokémon, Leafeon Lv.X (MD) could get a
nice OHKO. Skittles will struggle to get the 7 required
different energies attached to Ho-Oh (SW) for a OHKO,
but chances are will get a 2HKO if not. Chances are, any
other deck that may get played will only be able to
2HKO's at best. However, no matter what, being KOed is
not Garchomp Lv.X nor normal Garchomp's weakness. In
fact, it's facing something without a Weakness, or
having it's Poké-Body turned off. That's why some people
are or have teched in Lati-Lock, Blastoise d (CG) or
Cessation Crystal into their decks, even ones that rely
on Poké-Powers themselves for the latter. Why? Because
it stops Rainbow Scale, and thus stops Garchomp's main
attack power. However, Garchomp's Lv.X's Restore should
be able to counter them, and get some good techs out,
but they are still annoying to the Garchomp player.
Ratings:
Modified: It's has average HP, a good Weakness, and
perfect Retreat Cost, a nice Poké-Power and an attack
that allows for almost infinite techability in Garchomp
decks. Some techs ruin this and the normal Garchomp, but
they aren't played that often. This is a brilliant card,
and has brilliant potential (it got second in Masters
division in the National Championships over here, so
must be able to work). The only slight reservation I
have about the is how hard it is to get the normal
Garchomp deck to work, and since this card should be
used as a tech in normal Garchomp decks... 3.75/5
Limited: If only there was a Garchomp here. 1/5 |
