OK, I have been a part of a lot of these “highlight”
number Pokemon reviews, including the 1000th card
reviewed and a few others…shows just how long I have
been doing this service!
We definitely get one of the better cards in the set to
talk about here too! Metagross is a 130 HP (read 110 HP)
beast.
It has a weakness to fire, which can be BAD with the
Infernapes and Blazikens bouncing around, and even the
Magmortars that are quietly beginning to reappear.
Resistance to psychic is ALWAYS good.
Retreat cost of 3, well, we won’t be retreating anytime
soon, will we? We will use switch or warp point to get
away, or some other trick!!!
This card is a spread deck’s BEST friend, in that it
reduces all HP by 20. You have to be VERY careful in
reviewing your own damage before dropping this beast, or
you could give your opponent a few prizes on accident!!!
Nidoqueen, of course, is the bane of all spread decks,
but get pressure on with this beast, and even Nidoqueen
could have trouble.
The attack of 3 for 60, with damage to the bench with a
stadium in play (which you WILL have, right?), for each
Pokemon of the same type as the defending Pokemon!!!
That works.
Those benched Pokemon having limited HP helps too. Boy,
can you imagine Gengar teaming with this guy? The
ability to snipe a Uxie, Azelf or Mespirit for 50 HP has
to be really tempting.
Super damage spreads, with Crobat, Spritomb, Prinplup
and others could see real play again!!!
Who knows, devoluter may become HOT!!!
Overall, you have to consider the impact of this card on
the metagame.
My ratings, which are going to show a bit of my love for
the card, are as follows:
Modified: 4/5 Not since Nidoqueen do we have a card that
changes the face of play potentially as much!
Limited…2.5/5 Too big of a set to try to get these
pieces out, and no special metals to help him. I would
probably pass this up, or rare draft it. Stage 2s are a
really tough play with this set.
Meganium45
Baby Mario Top 4 UK Nats
Metagross LV 68
For some reason, Metagross is usually made into an
interesting card in the TCG. The LA Metagross saw
limited play as a tech in some decks (such as Machamp)
because of its coin flip Gust of Wind type Power. Now
that we have the much faster Luxray GL LV X to do that
job, it will probably be seen even less. Can the new
Metagross offer anything to competitive decks and ensure
that this particular Pokémon sees some tournament play?
Well, like the LA version, Metagross SV seems designed
to play a support role, rather than be a main attacker.
Its single attack, Geo Impact, does a respectable, but
unimpressive 60 for [M][M][C], with a 20 spread to all
Pokémon of the same type as the defending, as long as
you have a Stadium in play. Not bad, but nothing to
build a deck around by itself. With a hefty retreat cost
and Weakness to Fire, a type which is increasingly
popular, you are unlikely to want it in the active
position anyway.
The real attraction here is the PokeBody, Gravitation,
which reduces the HP of each Pokémon in play (including
yours, so be careful) by 20. Obviously, the Body will be
most effective in decks which spread damage and/or snipe
the bench. Having Metagross on the bench will lead to
faster mass KOs in spread decks like Tyranitar, and it
will also help a sniper like Gengar to take prizes with
Shadow Room (Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit can be OHKO’d
without the need for Crobat G or Cresselia LV X). The
Body doesn’t stack, so only one Metagross is needed,
making it fairly easy to tech into any Stage 2 deck that
can use it. It does have the potential to backfire,
though, so it needs to be used wisely. Nevertheless, it
does have some potential and I expect to see it tried
out in a few decks during Autumn Battle Roads.
Rating
Modified: 2.75 (could be a useful tech for spread and
snipe decks)
First of all, congratulations on Pojo reaching their
1500th CotD. I've been a reader of this site since way
back when they started covering Pokemon (even get a
little nostalgic and read the old Tourney Reports from
'00 from time to time). I'm really happy to be a part of
the team now, finally feeling like I'm competent enough
to actually contribute to the community of this card
game. Congrats, Pojo, and keep them coming!
Okay, so today, we're looking at a card that really
compliments one of the strongest decks in our format,
Gengar. While Mother Gengar (a combination of Gengar and
Nidoqueen RR) is probably the most popular variant right
now, a new deck, entitled "Metal Gengar," could see a
lot of play at the upcoming Battle Roads. Is this card
really worth the hype that it's getting for this
purpose?
Yep, I really think it's worth it.
The basics of the card are both good and bad. Metagross
has 130HP, which is great for a Stage 2 Pokemon.
However, its +30 weakness to Fire is very dangerous in
this format, considering the danger of Blaziken FB and
Infernape 4. The -20 Resistance to Psychic is always
nice, but not great, since most of the heavy hitter
psychic types (Gardevoir, Mewtwo) aren't really used
anymore, and Gallade 4 still manages to do 50 because of
Feint. Although, you do get a little boost when it comes
to the Gengar matches (especially Nidoqueen). The Three
Retreat Cost is horrid, but understandable, mainly
because of Metagross's sheer size. That isn't too much
of a horrible thing though, because if used correctly,
Metagross won't really leave the bench. All in all, okay
stats.
Now, the Poke-Body of this card is what makes it
interesting. Metagross has a nifty little power,
Gravitation, that reduces the HP of EVERY Pokemon in
play by 20. Sure, that brings down Metagross to 110, but
you know what else that does? Azelf/Mesprit/Uxie are
down to 50HP, yes, 50HP. Claydol is down to 60HP! And if
they can't get the Unown G out there in time, do you
know what that means? Shadow Room one shots all of them.
Beedrill, Infernape 4 Lv. X, Luxray GL Lv. X, and
Blaziken FB Lv. X are into Poltergeist range with 3
trainer cards instead of 4, which can mean a huge
difference. There are so many other examples of the card
being useful in a Gengar SF deck, so I won't get into
them all, but just know that this card has TONS of combo
potential with Gengar SF, and I really expect to see
quite a few of these decks being played at Battle Roads.
I'm really excited to see how else this card can benefit
other decks, and I can't wait to see if anyone really
tries to take this card to new places, because this
Poke-Body could really make some changes. The only
downside is the fact that Dialga G Lv. X completely
destroys this card's usefulness, so you really need to
watch out for that.
Metagross's other attack is much less spectacular, but
still doable. Geo Impact, for 2 Metal and a Colorless,
does 60 to the Active, and if you have a Stadium in
play, it does 20 damage to any Pokemon on your
opponent's bench that's the same type as the Defending
Pokemon. Okay attack, but not really worth using. If you
want to play around with a Three Energy non-SP attack
that only does 60, go play with Gardevoir SW, you know?
Ratings:
Modified: 3/5 This card has lots of potential, but it
could also be a double-edged sword. Be careful about how
you use it. Play it in Gengar, see how it goes, and then
decide if you want to replace it with Machamp or
Nidoqueen. Watch out for Dialga G, though.
Limited: 2.5/5 It's a Stage 2, so you might have trouble
getting it out, and you don't have the Gengar synergy in
this format. At a few of my Pre-Releases, I saw kids
with this in their decks play the Metang more than the
Metagross. However, if you can pull one of the Stadiums
from this set, try using this. It can give you some much
needed spread damage IF they're using mono/dual decks.
So yeah, Metagross SV could see some play, and it
deserves to see a lot of it in Gengar decks. Now, the
question is: will it stick around? Check back after
Battle Roads. Once again, I love hearing from you guys,
so if you like, drop me an e-mail at
drtomoe123@gmail.com.
Steel_
Winger
Welcome back to the Pokemon COTD!
Today is special, because today's card is the 1,500th
card Pokemon card reviewed on Pojo.com! Awesome! But is
today's card as awesome as what this day entails? Let's
see...
Today's card is Metagross from Supreme Victors. There's
been quite a bit of buzz about this card, which will be
explained later. For now, let's look at the basics: 130
HP, great amount on a Stage 2. Metal-type, not a common
weakness to exploit and most Lightning types resist it.
+30 Weakness to Fire, which is a liability as of right
now with Blaziken FB and Infernape 4 running around. -20
Resistance to Psychic, Gallade 4 and Gengar will be
hard-pressed to do a lot of damage to it. Retreat Cost
of 3, bad. Not as bad as Regigigas, but if you need to
retreat it, use Switch/Warp Point. Flygon lets it
retreat for free with its body.
Now for what makes Metagross garner attention: it's
Poke-Body, Gravitation. This body reduces the HP of all
Pokemon by 20 (including itself) as long as it's in
play. This can be really helpful against Pokemon with
low HP values, like some popular SP Pokemon. If you play
a Miasma Valley after this hits play, your opponent's
non-Grass and Psychic Pokemon will be short by a
whopping 40 HP as soon as they hit play. Or you can use
Galactic HQ, which is awesome against decks with Stage 2
Pokemon. Perhaps Regigigas LV. X can make use of this
guy.
Metagross has an attack called Geo Impact, which does 60
for 2 Metals and 1 Colorless, which is average. If you
have a Stadium in play however, you also do 20 damage to
each opposing Benched Pokemon that's the same type as
the defending Pokemon. That can help if the opponent has
multiple main attackers set up since they're usually the
same type. Usually. It's not that useful against some
Toolbox varients.
So, what can combo with it? Anything with a large amount
of HP. To me, Armaldo (LA), Kingdra (LA), Regigigas LV.
X (LA), and Waliord (GE and SV) come to mind. I believe
this card was meant to make games go a bit faster by
weakening everyone that hits play. But only use it if
you can KO your opponent faster than they can KO you.
It's a double-edge sword, careful how you use it.
Ratings:
Modified: 2.75/5 This guy is strictly support, alongside
Crobat G. But it makes a good target for Blaziken FB and
Luxray GL LV. X. You'll usually have to rely on Super
Scoop Up to get it out of harm's way, otherwise just let
it sit there.
Limited: 4/5 It's hard to pull the entire line but if
you get a big hitter with this out, or one that can
recover, you should have an edge on your opponent even
though the Body affects you as well.
This is Steel_Winger, until next time!
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