OK, a legendary bird that, other than its starting hit
points is PATHETIC.
100 HP, weak to metal, resistant to fighting, 2 retreat
cost.
Nothing special here. Decent weakness, and an irrelevant
resistance due to Machamp…
Yeah, I know, put the unown G on him, then Machamp has
to flip all heads to knock him out.
No, Machamp has to laugh, leave it there, and set up
something behind it…goodness knows Articuno can’t hurt
Machamp.
And now the attacks….
3 for 30 or 40 with a heads flip. Wow. Completely bad.
4 for 50 with paralysis on a heads flip. Even worse.
This reminds me of the Articuno back in the Base Set –
Jungle Days, when all attacks now appear way overcosted.
Ratings.
Modified – 1/5 Can’t go lower. This thing is pathetic.
Even much better stallers out there!!!
Limited – 2.5/5…No Machamp threat here, but so many
better choices. This is a tough card. 100 HP basics are
always good.
Vince
Baby Mario Top 4 UK Nats
Articuno Lv 41
After seeing what feels like dozens of Palkias, Dialgas
and Giratinas in recent sets, it’s nice to see one of
the original Legendaries return.
At least some of the newer Legendaries have been
playable, though. Sadly, this is not the case with
Articuno.
The 100 HP is standard for Legendary Basics these days.
Metal Weakness is one of the better ones to have
(although Dialga G still sees play, and there is always
the odd Magnezone hovering around). Fighting Resistance
makes little difference unless you want to use an Unown
G on Articuno, as Machamp will just use Take Out. The
Retreat Cost of two is ridiculous: Articuno can fly for
goodness sake!
It’s those attacks that let Articuno down so badly
though. Ice Beam does a measly 30 for THREE Energy, with
a chance to add a massive 10 extra damage on a coin
flip. Attaching yet another Energy lets you do Ice Beam
for 50 damage and a coin flip for paralysis.
To be blunt about it, no sensible player is going to
invest three Energy in a non-SP Basic (that can’t use
Energy Gain). This is especially true for Basics that
don’t have a decent low cost attack to use in the
meantime. For this card to even begin to be worth its
attack costs, the attacks would have to be spectacularly
good (OHKOs on everything, big damage and Power Lock . .
. something like that). As it is, the attacks are
terrible in themselves, condemning this card to the
binder for all eternity.
It’s a shame, really.
Rating
Modified: 1 (nice to look at, but don’t touch)
Limited: 1.25 (eh . . . slower format, could stall for a
bit, but it’s still bad)
Steel_Winger
Welcome back to the Pokemon COTD!
Looks like we're reviewing regular rares now since
yesterday. Today's card is Articuno from Supreme
Victors. This is not the reprint from ages ago. Let's
look at it's stats: 100 HP on a Legendary is expected,
so no surprise there. The Water typing can hurt Blaziken
FB and Infernape 4, should it ever get to attack. A +30
Weakness to Metal will make Articuno cringe upon facing
a Metagross (SV) or Dialga G... who only needs to Deafen
just 3 times to KO it! But these two aren't really
likely to attack. A -20 Resistance to Fighting gives it
an edge against Machamp and Rampardos... well, not
really, because Machamp can still get it with a Take Out
attack and Rampardos' Poke-Body doesn't factor in
Articuno's Resistance. A Retreat Cost of 2 is a bit
much. You would think that being a Legendary BIRD that
it would have no retreat cost, but... I digress.
No Powers or Bodies, but there are 2 attacks... which
really suck due to the costs. Sharp Beak does 30 and
possibly an extra 10 for 3 energies, one which should be
Water. Are you serious!? Swampert suffers from steep
energy costs for low power, but at least his attacks are
somewhat USEFUL.
The second attack, Ice Beam, does 50 and possibly
Paralysis for 2 Waters and two other energies of choice.
By the time you get this powered up, Articuno wouldn't
even be in play anymore if it was active.
Seriously, does anybody care about Articuno to make him
into a decent card nowadays? I suppose not. Even the
Articuno from Majestic Dawn is a LOT better than this
one, and nobody plays that. My advice to you if you get
this: use it as a coaster.
Ratings:
Modified: 1/5 I rarely give out 1s, but this card really
deserves it, especially for being a rare. This card will
get you NOWHERE competitively.
Limited: 1.5/5 Even with all of the bad cards in this
set, almost all of them are better than Articuno. ALMOST
all of them.
This is Steel_Winger, until next time!
Guy
Articuno:
Ah its Thursday, and what better pokemon to show up than
Articuno! Articuno is and always has been my favorite
pokemon, but the lack of good Articuno cards has been
pretty disheartening. Let's see if this Articuno is any
better than its ancestors!
Articuno has 100 hp and is a basic. Sounds pretty decent
so far. Its first attack is Sharp Beak. Sharp Beak
requires one water energy and 2 * energy. For three
energy it only deals out 30 damage, with a coin flip's
chance at adding 10 damage to that. So we're talking
30-40 damage for 3 energy. What a let down. I can think
of about 30-40 better ways to use 3 energy. Maybe
Articuno's next attack will have some redeeming value!
Ice Beam: uses 2 water and 2 * to do fifty damage with a
coin flip to determine paralyzation. Fifty damage is not
much for 4 energy, so the question must be asked: how
good can you flip a heads? Resistance to fighting is
decent, weakness to metal is not to terrible, but 2
retreat cost for a card that doesn't have many uses or
combos is asking a lot.
So once again, I'm let down by Articuno's performance in
the card game. Well, I can say this: collect Articuno
for its beauty, not for its power.
Modified: 1/5 Harsh weather Articuno! Until you can give
me a good card I will not give you beauty points.
Limited: 1.5/5 Barely even better in this format.
Codex_of_
Wisdom
Legendary cards have disappointed me since Base Mewtwo
and Promo Mew… Articuno LV. 41… is no different.
Basic Pokemon with 100 HP. Very, very, very nice. +30
metal weakness. Not too bad. There are a few metal cards
running around, but not too many. -20 fighting
resistance… eh, okay but not great.
Two retreat cost: yuck.
Overall, so far, not too bad. I’ve seen better, but this
is okay…
Until I read the attacks.
The first attack is one water and double colorless for
30 with a coin-flip chance of 40. Woopidydoda. Fairly
expensive, weak, and a 50/50 for… 10 extra? Put that
Sharp Beak to the grindstone, Articuno.
The second attack is a little better. Double water and
double colorless for 50 and coin-flip paralysis. Another
coin flip and 4 energy for 50 damage. Bellow par, I’d
say.
Overall:
Modified – 2/5 Yes it’s a basic, but for a Pokemon that
doesn’t evolve, it’s pretty useless.
Limited – 2.5/5 Basics are more valuable here, so I
guess I’ll raise the rating a bit.
Not too bad, as far as basics go, but since you can’t go
anywhere with it, there’s no real reason to ever play
it, sorry Legendary fans.
