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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Nidoking #6/102 HS Triumphant Date Reviewed: Dec. 2, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 2.60 Limited: 2.75 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:

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Nidoking (Triumphant)   It seems weird, but this card has been getting a bit of minor, low-key hype. Even minor hype for a Pokémon with a single four Energy attack seems highly unlikely in this format doesn’t it? Maybe we should really take a look at this card . . .   Nidoking is a Fighting Type Stage 2 with a bigger than average 140 HP. It has Water Weakness which probably wouldn’t have mattered before Triumphant was released, but now Gyarados decks are getting popular again, could be a real liability (especially as Gyarados resists Fighting). Nidoking can at least boast an awesome Lightning Resistance, even if the Retreat cost of three is something it would likely try to avoid in conversation.   So . . . why the hype then? To answer that question, we need to take a look at the PokeBody, Pheromone Stamina. This has the effect of giving Nidoking an extra 20 HP for every Nidoqueen in play, boosting his HP to a theoretical 220 HP, or 240 with an Expert Belt!  Factor in the healing from Nidoqueen RR’s Maternal Comfort Body (though you can only use one per turn), and presumably this thing NEVER DIES while it smashes Luxray face!   Notice I used the word ‘theoretical’. No-one running this should ever assume that they are going to be hitting those kind of numbers. Even under ideal conditions, it is unlikely that you will be setting up more than 1-2 Nidoqueen: there simply won’t be time or Bench space for anything else  - after all, you won’t be getting that set up with out help from Uxie and Azelf, and that’s before you even think about a back up Nidoking and any other techs you might want to run.   Then there is the problem of speed. Not only do you have the clunky set up, you also have the fact that Venomous Horn costs [F][F][C][C]. True, it does do 80 damage (let’s call it 90 with the auto-Poison), but for that kind of Energy, it’s pretty much the minimum you would expect. While you try and power that up (and bench Queens!), your opponent is going to have plenty of time to come up with answers, or just disrupt you with KOs to the extent that the deck is never going to work.   So yeah, you can include me with those people who don’t understand why this card is getting ANY attention. It moves at roughly the speed of a tectonic plate and is destroyed by two of the most popular decks in the format at the moment, with Dialga G LV X shutting off the body and Gyarados smacking it for Weakness.   The revival of ‘Monarchy’ decks just got put on hold.   Rating   Modified: 2 (potential huge HP, but the concept doesn’t really work) Limited: 2 (There is a decent Nidoqueen in the set, but are you really going to pull multiple Stage 2s from 6 packs?)   Combos With . . .   Nidoqueen RR Nidoqueen TM
virusyosh	Happy Thursday, Pojo readers! Our Card of the Day week continues with a card from the HS Triumphant expansion that received a fair bit of hype before the set was released, but has seen much play since. Today's Card of the Day is Nidoking. Nidoking is a Stage 2 Fighting Pokemon. Fighting Pokemon are somewhat common in today's metagame, as Machamp and Promo Toxicroak G are rather common, with the occasional appearance by things like Donphan, Relicanth, and Mankey SV. 140 HP is good for a Stage 2, it means that Nidoking should be able to withstand a hit or two. Water Weakness is terrible with Gyarados's sudden surge in popularity. Lightning Resistance, however, is quite awesome: Luxray will have a much more difficult time making a dent into Nidoking, whereas Nidoking can easily OHKO back. Finally, a Retreat Cost of 3 is pretty terrible, so make sure to use Warp Point/Warp Energy/Switch to retreat. Nidoking has a Poke-Body and a single attack. The Body, Pheromone Stamina, makes Nidoking have 20 more HP for each Nidoqueen you have in play. This makes Nidoqueen RR a natural partner for Nidoking, as Multiple Nidoqueens on the Bench will raise Nidoking's HP to high levels, and Maternal Comfort will remove damage counters between turns. However, getting a Nidoking and multiple Nidoqueens out at the same time will prove to be very difficult, as getting out multiple Stage 2s can be very difficult in our current metagame. Additionally, even with a single Nidoqueen HP boost, Gyarados will still OHKO with Tail Revenge as long as all three Magikarps are in the discard pile, so keep that in mind if you were thinking of running a Nidoking deck for Cities. Nidoking's single attack, Venomous Horn, does 80 damage and automatically Poisons for [FFCC]. This attack is super-expensive, but works with the idea of having Nidoking as a tank pretty well. However, 4 energy attacks are simply too slow for the fast-paced Modified format we have today, so this one may have to wait until the rotation to enjoy great use. Modified: 2.25/5 Nidoking's attack is too expensive for the damage output, and Pheromone Stamina requires too much setup to be effective in today's metagame. Being Gyarados bait certainly doesn't help matters out, either. Maybe after rotation this will see some play, but not quite yet. Limited: 3/5 High HP, decent Weakness, good Resistance, a decent attack, and some Colorless Energy requirements make Nidoking a decent pick for Limited. Of course, it is a Stage 2 and Pheromone Stamina will rarely be useful, but 80 + auto Poison for 4 really is pretty decent in Limited. Chances are, if you get it out, you'll win. Combos With: Nidoqueen RR
conical	12/2/10: Nidoking(Triumphant)  One thing that interests me about Triumphant is that it has the potential to be the next Stormfront: a set which produces multiple archetypes that radically change the game. However, unlike Stormfront, there are no Pokemon that are virtually guaranteed to be archetypes, no Machamp or Gengar which outright screams “Play me, I'm awesome!*”(Ironically, the only Pokemon that could fit that role in the set are Machamp and Gengar Prime.) Nidoking, along with the previously reviewed Mew and Yanmega Primes, fits this description.   *That being said, a screaming card would be rather weird. So there you go.  Anyways, Nidoking combos well with Nidoqueen, gaining +20 HP for each one you have in play. The best choice, of course, is Nidoqueen RR, whose healing abilities have been evident in previous formats. This strategy would have been better served in a format with enough consistency to assemble two Stage 2s at the same time, but it can still be done, especially considering each card's tanking abilities. Venomous Horn is crazy expensive at FFCC, and 80 plus poison isn't great damage. Then again, the one constant about tanking decks is that its attacks may very well be horrible, so long as it can stay alive long enough. That will be the factor by which Nidoking should ultimately be judged.  Modified: 3/5 Limited: 2.5/5 Combos With: Nidoqueen RR
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Nidoking (HS Triumphant)   Hey guys, I managed to get online! Woohoo! Hopefully I'll be able to solve my tech problems some time soon, but until then I won't have much luck getting reviews in. Stay tuned, I will get caught up!   Now the actual review. Nidoking is my favourite Pokemon from the whole franchise (purple yet still monstrously awesome, a truly rare combination!) and this card is also a contender for the highest possible HP score in the history of the game, so expect a lot of fanboy love today!   The stats: 140 HP (but easily boosted) Fighting Stage 2 with Water weakness, Lightning resistance and a retreat cost of 3. These are  classic stats of a high damage, high investment Pokemon. Sadly, very few Pokemon with high costs have ever proven playable, but hopefully Nidoking can buck the trend!   There are 2 abilities, an attack and a pokebody. The body, Pheremone Stamina, is the reson that Nidoking can claim the current title of highest possible HP in the game. Pheremone Stamina boosts Nidoking's HP by 20 for each Nidoqueen you have in play, so with 4 'queens, Nidoking can get 220 HP! Add expert belt for a whopping 240! Even in unlimited with cards like Low Pressure system as well as recent cards like Expert Belt and Shaymin (Ground form) Lv X, Torterra can't manage more than 230 HP.   Sadly, I can't say that the body is all that brilliant. While massive HP is always good, the tradeoff is usually being unplayable in every other way. In this case, it means you need 4 stage 2 Pokemon in play to get the maximum effect. Still, the claim of Highest HP is not to be mocked!   Now the attack. Venomous Horn pretty much spells it out, since the attack deals heavy damage (80 to be exact) and inflcits auto-poison. Sadly, the cost is FFCC, which means a 3 turn minimum to attack and a fairly heavy investment for which you would expect more damage. At least Double Colourless energy can be used, but the attack is a letdown on such an awesome Pokemon. It should have 120 base damage with the auto-posion, or 100 base damage with a stronger posion (the 2-damage-counters-in-between-turns variety that is so commonly seen with Toxic attacks)   The real problem with Nidoking is the lack of partners. While Nidoqueen RR is awesome in every way and keeps Nidoking healthy, the rotation removed Nidoqueen MT with it's Mother Pheremone pokebody which would have been the perfect for both boosting Nidkoking's HP and lowering the attack cost (and it stacked!). Running 2 of each Nidoqueen while running some Nidoking RR for the defensive body (putting damage counters on the opponent's attackers) would have made an awesome deck, but I doubt anyone will try this Nidoking with 4 Nidoqueen RR's since Nidoqueen has so many other partners that are much more powerful and popular.   However, you should never forget the Golden Rule: Nidoking = AWESOME!   I have tried not to let my bias show through, but I do believe that this Nidoking would have been viable if Nidoqueen MT was still in the playable pool. That, and Nidoking has a natural aura of power and majesty which demands respect, obedience and will smack you into 3 separate dimensions if you so much as sneeze in the wrong direction!   Modified: 3 (High HP and synergy with Nidoqueen RR, but it is ruined by an attack that should deal 40 more damage and/or have a stronger auto-poison) Limited: 3 (the Nidoqueen in this set is great in Limited, so if you pull both add a point to the score)