Baby Mario
Top 4 UK Nats |
Ninetales HGSS
With the probable disappearance of Claydol and Uxie from
the format at the end of this season, players have been
scanning future sets to see where the draw power will be
coming from when we can no longer use Cosmic Power and
Set Up to get our decks working. One possible
alternative, at least for some decks, is Ninetales HGSS.
Only time will tell if it is the ‘new Claydol’. Let’s
see how well it works in the format we have now.
The reason for all the attention given to Ninetales is
its PokePower, the unfortunately named Roast Reveal (was
that really the best the translators could come up
with?). The effect is simple: discard a Fire Energy from
your hand and then draw three cards. Obviously, drawing
three cards with a Power is great. More cards = more
options and more options = a faster, better deck. Having
to discard a Fire Energy isn’t much of drawback in
itself as there are plenty of ways to get back discarded
Energy (Fisherman, Night Maintenance, Palmer’s
Contribution), or even make use of it (Energy
acceleration via Typhlosion Prime, Infernape LV X’s
Flare Up attack).
The major use-limiting downside of the card is the
requirement that it has to be a Fire Energy, which
pretty much restricts Ninetales to being themed support
for Fire decks. In contrast to Claydol, which could
always be used to re-stock the deck, anyone who plays
Ninetales also needs to be careful of decking themselves
out. Running a few shuffle-and-draw cards like Cynthia,
Rowan, or Professor Oak’s New Theory seems like a must.
In addition, the large hand sizes which this card
generates could end up benefitting your opponent if they
run Copycat or Chatot MD.
So, until it rotates out, Claydol and Uxie are clearly
the superior draw support cards for the vast majority of
decks. The only decks which should even consider running
Ninetales at the moment are Charizard AR, which benefits
from having benched Fire Pokémon, and Typhlosion, which
works well with the discard effect. It may be the case
that next season Ninetales will offer the best draw
support in the format, giving a massive advantage to
anyone running Fire decks. Until then, though, its use
will be limited due to the existence of better
alternatives.
Ninetales has decent HP for a supporting Stage 1, and a
couple of solid Basics which work well with its Power (Vulpix
PL and shiny Vulpix). Its attack, an effect-free 60 for
[R][R][C] is too expensive and shouldn’t be used except
in emergencies. Although it is outclassed as of now,
players should definitely be trading for, and holding on
to, a playset of this card for future use.
Rating
Modified: 3 ( good, but very specialised, draw support.
I do expect this rating to rise)
Limited: 4 (draw support is brilliant but be very
careful not to deck out)
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virusyosh |
Happy Wednesday, Pojo readers! Today we are reviewing
what has the possibility of being an important support
card once the rotation happens later this year. Today's
Card of the Day is Ninetales from HGSS.
Ninetales is a Stage 1 Fire Pokemon, with 90 HP, a
double Weakness to Water, no Resistance, and a Retreat
Cost of 1. 90 HP isn't bad for a Stage 1 but could be
better, Water Weakness is bad with Palkia G, Gyarados,
Kingdra, and Feraligatr around, and a Retreat Cost of 1
isn't so bad: it won't set you back too much if you have
to pay it.
Ninetales has a Poke-Power and a single attack. The
Power, Roast Reveal, allows you to discard a Fire Energy
card from your hand to draw 3 cards once per turn. This
is very similar to Energy Draw Delcatty back in EX, and
will probably see some play in Fire decks once Claydol
and Uxie rotate out. Drawing cards is always a great
thing, and discarding a Fire Energy to net 2 cards is
great. However, in order to use this power effectively,
your deck should have a way to pull Energy from the
discard pile either in play or back to your hand.
Typhlosion Prime and Fisherman are great for this, and
will probably be used in Fire decks for quite some time
to come.
The single attack, Will-o'-the-wisp, deals a vanilla
60 damage for [RRC]. Nothing spectacular here, but
you'll mostly be using Ninetales for the Power, anyway.
Modified: 3/5 I feel that Ninetales has a lot of
potential as a support Pokemon in Fire decks, especially
when Claydol and Uxie rotate out. More Energy is often
necessary in these decks to keep Ninetales drawing, but
this isn't so much of a problem when you are
consistently drawing and there are cards like Typhlosion
Prime or Fisherman to get Energy back. Unfortunately,
the attack isn't very good and Water is a popular type,
so Ninetales will likely be stuck on the bench.
Limited: 3.5/5 Drawing cards in Limited is fantastic,
and you probably won't get much more consistent than
discarding a single Energy to draw 3. It can be a bit
difficult to build a deck around though, as there needs
to be a sufficient amount of Fire Energy in your deck to
be really effective. The attack isn't so bad here, too.
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