|
Hariyama Lv 42
Another Fighting Pokémon today . . . it’s Hariyama
from Arceus!
As I have said a few times in my reviews, Stage 1
Pokémon have a hard time in today’s format. Slower than
SP Basics and not as tough as Stage 2s, it is really
hard for them to find a competitive niche, especially as
there are many Stage 2s which are blindingly fast thanks
to low Attack costs, Rare Candy, and Broken Time-Space.
At least Hariyama has reasonable HP at 110. It’s
going to need it too, as it has a horrible Psychic
Weakness and attacks that take an age to power up. A
Retreat cost of four does not do anything to help this
card’s chances of making it to the tournament tables
either.
The attacks, in terms of their damage and their
effects are actually not too bad. Push Out does 50
damage and forces a switch, while Vortex Chop does 60
damage, but that increases to 120 if the Pokémon has any
Resistance (enough to OHKO a Flygon or a Nidoqueen). The
problem with them is their Energy costs. With the first
attack costing [F][C][C] and the second [F][F][C][C],
Hariyama is incredibly slow, which basically more than
negates any advantage of playing a faster Stage 1 card
in the first place. The likelihood of getting four
Energy on this card before it gets KO’d is pretty slim.
If I wanted to use a slow high Energy attacker, I would
go for a stronger Stage 2 like Tyranitar or even
yesterday’s card, Golem.
Even with Double Colourless Energy on the horizon in
the next set, I can’t see this getting any competitive
play. There are just too many Pokémon out there that can
hit harder and faster for less Energy.
Rating
Modified: 1.25 (slow card + fast format =
unplayability)
Limited: 2 (speed less of an issue here)
|
