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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Baby Mario Top 4 UK Nats	Omastar LV 55   Hi and welcome to a brand new week. We are getting very close to Prereleases for the new set, but luckily we still have plenty of Arceus cards for review!   Kicking off this week is Omastar, an interesting Pokémon which has some similarities to previously released cards featuring this Pokémon.   Omastar has 120 HP which is . . . ok for a Stage 2, Weakness to Grass, which is a big bonus on a Water Type as it is so much better than Lightning, and a decent Retreat cost of one. Unfortunately, it is a Fossil Pokémon, and those are very hard to play right now, thanks to the Trainer Lock provided by Dialga G and Spiritomb. Fossils come with their own set of problems too: the Basic cannot be fetched with Call Energy or Roseanne, and they are the two best consistency cards in the format.   But just supposing you do manage to get this Fossil up and running, what do you get for your trouble? Well with Omastar, you can usually expect some kind of devoluter-style ability ( remember Omastar MD and Omastar PK?). This one is no different.  For the relatively easy cost of [C][C], you get to remove the highest stage of one of your opponent’s Pokémon and shuffle it back into their deck. This can be an excellent move, forcing them to burn another search card to retrieve it next turn. If they evolved with Rare Candy, that’s even better as they effectively wasted a key card. A successful Time Spiral could set your opponent back a couple of turns, and that could be enough to swing a game your way.   But . . . (there’s always a ‘but’), remember that a simple Unown G will block this attack completely, meaning that you won’t always be able to target the Pokémon you want to. It’s also almost completely useless against the ever-popular SP decks, many of which run only Basic Pokémon or, at most, a Claydol or two. So, it’s just as well Omastar has a second attack. It’s pretty cheap too, as Primal Tentacles only costs [W][C] and does 30 damage, plus 10 more for every Fossil Basic in your discard pile.   Obviously, if you wanted to use this attack you would need a way of discarding Fossils. Cards like Felicity or Blissey PL would certainly work, but I suspect this card was meant to combo with Kabutops AR which can do 70 for one Energy, provided it discards a Fossil Basic. Of course, in order to pull this off, you need to set up two Stage 2 Fossils, AND ensure a constant supply of Fossil Basics to your hand with . . . yep you guessed it, yet another Fossil! Aerodactyl AR and its Unearth Power.   A slick combo in theory, setting up all those Fossil Pokémon is somewhere between very tough and utterly impossible in competitive play, making that idea only good for a fun gimmicky casual deck. This leave Omastar’s only chance of tournament play is in the form of a devoluter tech where, again, being a Stage 2 Fossil counts heavily against it. Even here, the MD Omastar would probably be a better choice as it devolves all your opponent’s Pokémon with a coming-into-play PokePower.   Rating   Modified: 1.75 (a crucial part of a deck that isn’t competitive) Limited: 1.5 (tough to get out and very hard to support in Limited)
virusyosh	Hello, Pojo readers! Today we begin our new COTD week by reviewing Omastar from the Arceus set. Omastar is a Stage 2 Water Pokemon, evolving from Omanyte and Helix Fossil. Being a Fossil Pokemon is mixed at best: There are a few supporting cards (such a Fossil Excavator), but most are generally considered too slow compared to other popular decks. Omastar has 120 HP, which is pretty good for a Stage 2. Weakness to Grass can be problematic with the occasional Leafeon Lv. X, Torterra, or Tangrowth. As for its other bottom stats, no resistance is unfortunate, and a Retreat Cost of 1 is decent: it can be paid without too much of a problem. This particular Omastar has two attacks. The first attack, Time Spiral, returns the highest stage Evolution card from one of your opponent's Pokemon for [CC]. This particular attack is obviously very good against Evolution decks: being able to remove an Evolution card can clearly mess with your opponent's strategy. According to the Compendium, if the targeted Evolution card is leveled up, the Lv. X card returns to the deck as well. Of course, against an SP deck or another deck mostly reliant on Basics, this attack won't do that well. Omastar's other attack, Primal Tentacles, does 30 damage plus 10 more for each Helix Fossil, Dome Fossil, and Old Amber in your discard pile for [WC]. This attack is really only good in dedicated fossil decks, where you will have many Fossils. Additionally, this attack has very good synergy with this set's Kabutops, which deals more damage based on the number of these Fossils you discard. Modified: 2/5 The ability to remove the highest stage Evolution of one of your opponent's Pokemon and returning it to the deck is great, but won't always be useful against some decks. Additionally, the second attack is really only good in dedicated Fossil decks. Said fossil decks are very hard to use in Modified, however, because of the lack of search options for Fossils and the frailty of the Fossils themselves. Limited: 2.5/5 The relative lack of SPs and basics here combined with limited searchability and draw power make Time Spiral really good to use in Limited. 120 HP also means that Omastar should be able to take quite a few hits, barring an opposing Tangrowth or Sceptile. However, Primal Tentacles won't be good if you don't use a lot of Fossils.
BoDragon	Omastar (Platinum--Arceus, #23)   Omastar from Platinum--Arceus is a Stage 2 evolution Water-type Pokémon that can be played to devolve and knock out your opponent's Pokémon.  This is noticeable in its first attack, Time Spiral.  For {C}{C}, you choose one of your opponent's Evolved Pokémon, remove the highest Stage Evolution card from that Pokémon, and have your opponent shuffle that card into his or her deck.  Choose your opponent's Evolved Pokémon with the most damage taken for the attack, devolve it, and knock it out.   Its second attack is Primal Tentacles.  For {W}{C}, it deals 30 damage plus 10 more damage for each Helix Fossil, Dome Fossil, and Old Amber in your discard pile.  If you are able to play with many fossil cards discarded, you should be able to maximize damage.  Otherwise, this attack I would not recommend for consistently attacking to deal moderate to heavy damage before using Time Spiral.   Omastar has good health at 120 HP and a decent retreat cost of 1 Energy.  Its +30 weakness against Grass-type Pokémon may hurt against decks like Beedrill and Tangrowth.   Rating: Modified:  4/5 Limited:  3/5 BoDragon