Hello, and welcome to a new week of COTD, which starts
of with the new preview card from Arcues, Sceptile!
Since the translations for Japanese up until now,
absolutely no one has been hyping this card, and really,
you'll probably be able to understand why quite quickly.
First up are the basic stats of the card, and it has 130
HP, which, is the just over average on a Stage 2 at the
moment, so it's a good start. The +30 Fire Weakness
doesn't allow it to continue, since it allows Infernape
4 and it's Lv.X (RR), along with the various Blaziken
(all) decks running about at the moment to plough
straight over this card. -20 Resistance to Water is
quite nice, with Gyarados (SF), Kingdra (LA) and Palkia
G and it's Lv.X (PL) running about a fair bit. 1 Retreat
Cost is very nice, and we are generally used to seeing
Sceptile's with a higher Retreat Cost than that.
Abilities now, and this is really where the card drops
to useless. First, Leaf Supply, which for G, does 30
damage. With a good effect, it's not a bad attack.
However, all it allows you to do is attach a Basic
Energy from your hand to one of your Pokémon. That isn't
bad, and Energy acceleration is quite nice, it's just
not the best Energy acceleration we have, nor anywhere
close. If I want Energy acceleration (the damage is
negligible), I'd much prefer Leafeon Lv.X (MD), or a
type specific Energy accelerator to fit the deck I'm
making, rather than needing a Stage 2 active and
attacking to fulfil the role instead.
Dual Cut isn't awe inspiring either. For GCC you flip 2
coins, and for each heads, you deal 70 damage. Not bad,
you may be thinking, since you have a chance of dealing
140 damage for GCC. Just remember, it's a 25% chance,
which is also the same chance as it is to deal 0. On
average, you'll be dealing 70 damage per turn, so you
are looking at 2HKO's for the most part, and for GCC,
you'd expect more than that now really.
Combos? The folder, probably. It's Energy acceleration
is useless, and Dual Cut is not main attacker material.
Counters? When everyone realises how bad it is. This
will probably be around the time when everyone first
sets eyes on this card when they pull it during a
Pre-release, or a random pack they may buy. For proper
counters, really, it's the plethora of playable Fire
types that people are using at the moment. Most of them
can OHKO Sceptile without breaking sweat, so it really
isn't going to help this card.
Ratings:
Modified: So, it has decent stats, which is a nice
start, and where all the niceness of the card ends. Leaf
Supply is terrible, Dual Cut is pointless, has bad
Weakness for the format (countered by a decent
Resistance, I will admit), and doesn't even hit many
Pokémon for their Weakness due to Grass typing. If
anyone can find any use for this card at all, please,
let me know, because I'm certain there won't be one.
1.25/5
Limited: I'm not sure it's that much better here. It's a
Stage 2, so it's going to be tough to get out, so you'll
want decent attacks to allow to sweep through
everything. Leaf Supply is more a set up attack, which
buy the time you get this card out, will be pointless,
and Dual Cut is too risky to rely on. Again, there is no
use for this card. Grovyle might be alright here, but if
you get Sceptile, don't use it. 1.5/5
Baby Mario Top 4 UK Nats
Sceptile (Arceus)
Ok, we kick off the week with another preview of a card
from the upcoming Arceus set. Despite having quite a lot
of support (Shaymin, Sceptile GE, Cherrim SF), grass
Pokémon haven’t made much of an impact on the tournament
scene in forever. Will this new Sceptile change all
that?
Well, unlike its GE and SF cousins, this Sceptile
doesn’t boast any useful PokePowers or PokeBodies, so
the focus is going to be entirely on the attacks. Leaf
Supply does a very respectable 30 damage for a single
Grass Energy AND allows you an extra Energy attachment .
. . that’s ANY Basic Energy to ANY Pokémon. Dual Cut is
a somewhat more risky and expensive affair. For [G][C][C]
you flip two coins and do 70 damage for each heads. That
could be a massive 140, or it could be nothing. The most
likely outcome is that you will do 70 damage which is
pretty average for the cost.
Although Leaf Supply is a nice attack that can help you
get set up, it doesn’t really offer enough to be worth
the effort of getting out a Stage 2 Pokémon and using an
attack. Leafeon RR’s Plus Energy does something very
similar and, being a Stage 1, it does it faster too.
While Dual Cut can OHKO practically every playable
Pokémon in the format, the fact that it is flippy makes
it difficult to work with. Most players like to be able
to calculate the damage they can do to help formulate
their strategy.
So, even though it can give something to Grass decks,
there are better, more reliable options out there. If
you need Energy acceleration, it is better to stick with
Sceptile GE. If you want a hard-hitting attack, then
Torterra MD is much more reliable. If you want both in
one card AND a handy HP boost, then there is Shaymin LV
X and its Seed Flare attack. Now you may have noticed
that those cards are rarely seen at tournaments, and
that should give you some idea of how playable today’s
card will be.
Yes, Sceptile has a nice 130 HP and a very useful
Resistance to Water, but there are better Sceptiles out
there. Hey, there’s even a better one coming out in the
new set.
Rating
Modified: 2 (risky cards can win you matches but will
lose you tournaments)
Limited: 2.75 (if you get the whole line, the Energy
acceleration is great and it will survive long enough to
give you a few shots at using Dual Cut)
Guy
Alright, we have a card from the new Arceus set! I hope
everyone had a great weekend, and lets get into it!
Sceptile is a stage two card with 130 hp, which checks
out good, 1 retreat cost, good, and resistance to water,
not bad. Resistance to fire is iffy, but what can you
expect from a grass pokemon. At least it isn't double
weekness.
The first attack is absolutely great. For one energy you
can attack for 30 and attach another energy of any basic
type to any pokemon. It would have been broken as a
poke-power, but it is still amazing as an attack.
However, the second attack I am not a fan of. For 3
energy you have a chance of doing 0 damage? I understnad
you have a chance of doing 140 for three, or 70 for
three, which arent bad outcomes, but OH the 33 percent
of the time when a turn is wasted when you do no damage!
Its to risky for my taste, but it may work.
I think this card has potential, but we will have to see
what comes out with the rest of the new Arceus set.
Modified: 3/5 first attack- great, second attack- coin
flips chance of being great, decent, or terrible.
Limited: 3/5
Codex_of_
Wisdom
This week starts with a card from the upcoming Arceus
set - Sceptile LV.59
Upon first glance it's a normal Stage 2 grass, with 130
HP (pretty high), +30 fire weakness (okay - at least
it's not x2) and -20 water resistance (not too bad).
Finally, a single-energy retreat cost.
The attacks are pretty good. The first, Leaf Supply,
seems out of place for a Stage 2, being a single grass
cost for 30 (good in and of itself) and the ability to
put a basic energy from your hand onto one of your
Pokemon. Very nice.
The second attack isn't too bad, either. Grass and
double colorless for two coin flips for 70x each heads
(so chances of 0, 70, or 140!). Kind of flippy, but for
the cost, it's a pretty good attack - 140 damage is
very, very rare and nice.
Overall:
Modified - 4/5 Able to get energy out and a possible
super heavy hitter. The only problems are it's a Stage 2
and kind of flippy.
Limited - 3/5 It's a Stage 2, enough said.
A pretty good card to start off the week, I'd say! So
far, I'm looking forward to the Arceus set!
Meganium45
OK, let’s look at our 2nd Favorite Big Green Pokemon.
The major problem with this sceptile that it is
competing with the Great Encounters Energy doubling
sceptile for space in the deck, and its big attack is a
flipper.
The top stats – 130 HP is great.
The bottom stats – weakness to fire +30, resistance to
water, retreat of 1 are not good until Arceus is
released…which will weaken fire just a bit.
The first attack, 30 for 1 and attach an energy from
your hand to one of your Pokemon (not just a grass
energy, and not just to a grass Pokemon…this guy just
got a bit splashable)
2nd attack 3 for 0, 70 or 140. Bad, OK, and then GREAT.
1 in 4 shot at great.
No sceptile level X to save it, a better sceptile, and
much better grass attackers (even in its own set)…makes
this a card not that great.
Modified 2.5/5 Will see some splash play, but not much.
Limited…2.5/5 Smaller set for Arceus may make it able to
get out the underlutions.
There you go…final battle road this weekend at B&B St.
Peters!!! Saturday!! 12:30 Registration, 1:30
Registration ends!!!
Vince
Steel_Winger
Welcome back to the Pokemon COTD!
Today's card is a card found in the upcoming Arceus set.
It's Sceptile!
Let's look at it's stats: 130 HP on a Stage 2 is great,
and is currently better than what you'll see on the
other Sceptiles of this format. It's a Grass-type, so
Claydol and Rampardos are going to get hurt. However,
that +30 Weakness to Fire means it won't be standing up
to Infernape 4, Blaziken FB, and even Magmortar for
long. A -20 Resistance to Water means that it will
likely stick around vs. Kingdra and Palkia G. A Retreat
Cost of one is average on most Pokemon, and is also the
best of this season's Sceptiles.
No useful Bodies or Powers here, but there are 2
attacks. The first, Leaf Supply, does 30 for 1 Grass
energy. Good cost/power ratio on a Stage 2. In addition,
you can also attach a Basic energy to one of your
Pokemon from your hand. It can certainly help you power
up itself or others faster if you go second and use Rare
Candy. It's no Weavile (SW), but it does its job of
energy accelerator early game while doing damage. Not
bad against, say, a Baltoy start. It also helps powers
itself up for it's next attack.
Dual Cut, for 3 energies, one which must be Grass, does
70 damage for every heads you flip out of 2 tries.
There's a 25% chance you'll do 140 damage (Wow!), a 50%
chance that you'll do 70 damage (still not bad for the
cost of a Stage 2), and a 25% chance that you do no
damage at all (woe be to those who do). So, more likely
than not, you be doing some damage. If you're willing to
take a chance when falling behind, be sure to put an
Upper energy on it.
Combos? Combine it with other energy accellerators.
Leafeon LV. X and Gardevoir thrive on having a lot of
energy attached to them.
For those that want to give Sceptile a try, there are
quite a few of them. If I were to try, I'd probably have
this as a starting tech along with the GE Sceptile and
another good Grass-type, say, Tangrowth.
Ratings:
Modified: 3.25/5 As mentioned earlier, it's great for
getting your Pokemon powered up early. Dual Cut can
possibly be meh and sick at the same time. Too bad
Infernape 4 OHKOs it, though.
Limited: 3.5/5 It you get the entire line, you're more
than likely going to play it which should be easy since
it looks to be a regular Rare. It'll be hard to get it
out in play, but it'll usually be worth it when you do.
