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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Steelix #24/95 HS Unleashed Date Reviewed: June 22, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 1.50 Limited: 2.30 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst.  3 ... average.   5 is the highest rating. Back to the main COTD Page
Combos With: See Below

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Steelix (Unleashed)   We reviewed Steelix Prime a few weeks ago and it turned out to be a potentially good tank with a few obvious weaknesses. Today it is the turn of the normal version, so you would expect it to be not as good as the Prime . . . and you would be absolutely correct to do so.   It has 120 HP, which is good for a Stage 1 (but 20 less than the Prime), a useful Psychic Resistance, a nasty Retreat cost of four, and a double Fire Weakness. Until recently I would have said that Fire is possible one of the better Weaknesses to have, but Entei Raikou Legend has been creeping  into decks (often as a tech), and that would spell doom for any Steelix. Being a Metal type is excellent as always, giving you access to the protection of Special Metal Energy.   It won’t shock anyone who knows the TCG to learn that Steelix is lumbered with two very expensive attacks. The first, Guard Press, costs [M][C][C] and does a pitiful 40 damage. Yes, it does reduce the damage Steelix takes by 20 next turn, but it is so slow and does so little damage that it probably won’t make much difference to its chances of survival. Add another Metal Energy to the cost, and you can use Steel Swing. This is a flippy attack where you flip two coins and do 80 damage for each heads. Yep, 160 for four Energy is good, but 80 for four is not . . . and as for 0 for four . . . well that probably just cost you the game.   Really, this card is pretty pointless. If you want to use Steelix, stick with the Prime and avoid this one like the plague. It’s slow and it’s flippy and those are very bad things for a card to be.   Rating   Modified: 1.25 (No reason whatsoever to use this) Limited: 2 (it can stall a bit and you might get lucky)   Combos with . . . Time to dig out that binder graphic again. (Pojo Note: Okie Dokie)
virusyosh	Hello again, Pojo readers! Today we are reviewing Steelix from the HS Unleashed set. Steelix is a Stage 1 Metal Pokemon. Metal is a pretty good type to be, as the types they are commonly weak to aren't seen very often and Metal Pokemon can be given damage reduction through Special Metal Energy. 120 HP is excellent for a Stage 1, allowing Steelix to take a few hits, especially with the help of Special Metals. Double Fire Weakness is decent, as there aren't very many Fire Pokemon seen in Modified except for Blaziken FB and the random Charizard/Typhlosion/Ninetales combo. Psychic Resistance is great. A Retreat Cost of 4 is absolutely terrible, so use Switch or Warp Point if you wish to retreat. Steelix's first attack, Guard Press, deals 40 damage for [MCC] and gives Steelix a nice damage reduction of 20 during your opponent's next turn. This attack works perfectly with Special Metal Energy, allowing for even further damage reduction and increases Steelix's overall survivability. The damage output is a little low, however. The second attack, Steel Swing, costs a hefty [MMCC] and is a coin flip attack, flipping twice and dealing a massive 80 damage times the number of heads. Although 160 damage for 4 energy sounds pretty good, most of the time you'll average 80 for 4, and occasionally you'll get no damage. Hence, this attack is too unreliable to use as your main form of assault. Modified: 1.5/5 Steelix might work with Special Metal Energy as a tank, but tanking is not usually the best idea in this metagame, and you are probably better off using either Dialga G or Steelix Prime in this regard. Limited: 2.5/5 Steelix could be a force here. High HP for a Stage 1, mostly Colorless Energy requirements, and the possibility of damage reduction make Steelix a decent pick here. The only problems are that it's a bit slow, has a huge retreat cost, and there aren't many other Metal things in the set to work with it.
Otaku	Today we look at the “other” new Steelix from HS – Unleashed.  How does it stack up to its Prime cousin?   Poorly, I am afraid.   120 HP is still good for a Stage 1 and in character for Steelix.  The double Fire Weakness isn’t the worst Weakness to have right now but you’ll have to remember that unlike most other types, they’ll be able to OHKO your Steelix without a good combo.  I am happy to see Psychic Weakness.  It may only be -20 damage (I miss -30) but especially when combined with Steelix nature as a Metal Type Pokémon and inherent ability to reduce damage via the Special Energy version of Metal Energy you’ll be able to shrug off most small hits.  Unfortunately Psychic Pokémon are one of the types that specialize in disruptive Special Conditions and tricks like damage counter placement that will bypass these safeguards.  The four Energy Retreat Cost is in character but should never be paid: design your deck with something to get this out of the Active Slot or be able to let it go down swinging.   This is another Stage 1 Pokémon that has to rely on just two attacks to get by, and to be blunt they won’t do it.  The budget attack still has a massive three Energy requirement, though at least only one of the first attack’s Energy has to be Metal, so you could drop one Metal Energy and a Double Colorless Energy to pay for it.  That is still too slow, especially for what you get: 40 damage and reduce damage by 20 after applying Weakness and Resistance.  Either the damage done or reduced needs to be a lot higher or the Energy going into it needs to be less, maybe all three.   The next attack is a little better, but only just: for a massive four Energy investment, two of which need to be Metal, you get to flip 2 coins and hit the Defending Pokémon for 80 damage per heads.  Roughly one in four times that will actually be a great attack, but half the time it’s a bit low and the remaining fourth it’s going to do nothing.   So in short, it’s too slow and too weak, unless it is Limited where the ability to soak small amounts of damage might actually make it a good pick.   Ratings   Modified: 1.5/5   Limited: 3.25/5
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Steelix (HS Unleashed)   Here we have another non-Prime clone who got suckered with horrible attacks. We don't expect brilliance when compared to the Primes, but do the normal versions have to be this terrible?   Steelix packs a healthy 120 HP, which is balanced out by the horrifice retreat cost of 4. Fire weakness is normale and not particularly alarming, but Psychic resistance is awesome. Being able to use Metal Energy adds even more to the survivability of Steelix. I must say, the decision to move Poison Pokemon from the Grass element into the Psychc element is one of the best recent game changes the organisers have made, thankyou very much for that!   Good stats unfortunately don't make a card playable on their own, so now we check out the attacks. Guard Press is the first, and deals 40 damage with 20 less damage being received by Steelix during the next turn. Sadly, the cost of MCC makes this attack mostly unplayable and the defence effect can be negated by the loved and loathed Luxray GL. While this attack gives even more survivability to Steelix (taking the maximum possible damage reduction to 80 damage if you include resistance, 100 with Buffer Piece) you won't get much of a chance to use it and it can be counteracted far too eaisly.   Steel wing is a bizarre choice of attack for Steelix (considering the lack of wings or any other limbs aside from a tail) and is just as disappointing as Guard Press. For MMCC, you flip 2 coins and deal 80 damage per heads. Flippy = Unplayable, so Steelix get canned.   All in all, this tank could have been brilliant if each of the attacks cost 1 less M energy and the flip was removed to just deal 80 vanilla damage. Or even if only Guard Press was cheaper and Steel Wing did 70-90 with 2-3 damage counters removed. But it just isn't meant to be, so I will mourn the loss of another great chance at a playable Steel Pokemon and keep this in the memorial binder.   Modified: 2 (and that is only because I like Metal element Pokemon) Limited: 1.5 (No Special energy, no tanking. No tanking, no game!)   Combos with: Magnezone SF (either one, both have nice powers)