Chibi sumo!
Makuhita
is another Basic meant primarily to
evolve, but like
Gligar, it starts off better than
some of the other Pokémon we’ve been
discussing.
As a Fighting-Type it stands to
hit opposing weakness quite often.
70 HP is enough that early game
it can take a hit and still be viable to
evolve, while late game it might even
survive an attack from something big.
The damage doubling Psychic
Weakness is a drag, and I am hard
pressed to really classify it as good or
bad.
There are some big decks that can
hit it but they don’t seem to be “the”
deck to run right now, but then again we
do see certain Psychic Pokémon popping
up frequently as supporting types.
The lack of Resistance is
disappointing and the two energy to
retreat is acceptable, given its status
as a big, slower Pokémon in the video
games and strong HP score as a Basic
Pokémon.
Unfortunately, both attacks on
Makuhita require a Fighting Energy
and neither requires just a single
Energy.
This robs the card of speed.
Slap Down is an okay attack for
(FC): it does 20 damage and gives you
two coin tosses to generate another +10
per heads, for upwards of 40 damage.
The attack really needed to cost
just one
Fighting Energy or required two of
any Energy so it could use
Double Colorless Energy, allowing it
to be splashed into a variety of decks
and attack right after being dropped.
Either changing the attack to a
straight 20 or 30 points of damage, or
10 points of damage with the flips still
doing +10; I am sure something could
have been worked.
The second attack is Slap Push is
pure damage, but unlike the last several
reviews it paid attention in class: it
only costs (FCC) and that means you can
drop a Fighting Energy first turn and
follow up with a
Double Colorless Energy to bust out
a respectable 40 damage second turn.
It is still a bit too low to be
competitive on its own or match modern
damage returns, but it is really close.
As is,
Makuhita will be relying on two
things to be played: a good
Hariyama to evolve into and that no
other
Makuhita takes its place.
I see only one other
Makuhita that is still Modified
Legal.
It has the same HP, lack of
Resistance and Retreat Cost but a better
Psychic +10 Weakness.
It has Sand Attack for (C) to
stall a little and for (FC) does 30
points of damage with Magnum Punch.
It is like one good
Makuhita was divided into two sub
par versions.
The Weakness is mostly a product
of the times, and while nice isn’t
really important enough to be a deciding
factor in my book.
Sand Attack should either cost no
Energy or do 10 points of damage with
modern pricing.
Magnum Punch is okay but not good
enough to be the cards “big” attack
while Slap Push actually just fits the
bill.
I’d probably split the line:
ideally I wouldn’t be attacking with
Makuhita at all.
If I am, I’d rather open with
Sand Attack since it can be powered by a
single
Fighting Energy or overpowered by a
Double Colorless Energy setting up
for a larger, later attack but if
Hariyama doesn’t show for some
reason,
Hariyama can then be a credible
threat to anything that isn’t huge
starting turn two.
Simply put neither is really good
or bad, and since you have to run them
to get to
Hariyama, you might as well split
and see what actually works best in your
anticipated area of play.
Of course, finding a
Hariyama worth running is also a
challenge.
The older version from Arceus has
110 HP, Psychic Weakness +30, and a
Retreat Cost of four.
Its Push Out attack costs the
same as Slap Push but does 10 more
damage while forcing the Defending
Pokémon to switch out after that damage
is done.
The damage is iffy and the
secondary effect can backfire.
Vortex Chop is the second attack
and costs (FFCC).
That extra energy buys a mere 10
more points of base damage, and the
attack is only worth using when the
secondary effect kicks in: if you attack
something with Resistance (an iffy
proposition), you’ll score 120 points of
damage.
Unless Resistance makes a huge
comeback (at least on what is played),
this guy just isn’t worth running.
The rest of the CotD crew reviewed it
about two weeks ago and weren’t too
impressed.
100 HP is barely adequate and
seems almost shameful for a Pokémon that
is meant to be “big” according to the
source material.
The slightly better Retreat of
only three is appreciated, but in the
way its better to owe someone three
dollars instead of four.
I can’t say which
Hariyama has the better Weakness:
adding 30 is much worse when facing
small fry, but when facing a Psychic
Pokémon meant to attack, doubling the
damage like the HS – Undaunted is worse.
Hammer In is actually pretty
good, ignoring how
Donphan Prime makes everything look
so paltry with its fantastic first
attack.
For the same price as Slap Push
you do 60 points of damage with no
catches.
That is reliable damage from a
fast enough attack to be very
threatening early game… so much so that
one might even consider throwing on an
Expert Belt so that everything but
Rhyperior Lv.X and
Wailord from Supreme Victors is
within 2HKO range (ignoring other
mitigating factors).
Too bad Backward Belt Throw is
about as bad as Vortex Chop.
They cost the same amount of
Energy, and you do 80 points of base
damage instead of 60.
The effect of the attack is
arguably worse: you do 20 points more
damage to your
Hariyama to 20 points more damage to
the Defending Pokémon.
It is good to have the option of
when to inflict the extra damage, but
the self damage conflicts with the most
obvious way to run
Hariyama.
In the end, neither version is likely to
see much play, which means
Makuhita is probably only going to
see play in Limited.
Here its 70 HP is even better:
only three Basic Pokémon have higher HP
scores:
Hitmonlee,
Skarmory, and
Tropius.
Six others match the 70 HP, and
of course most Stage 1 and 2 Pokémon
surpass it.
Still quite good for a Basic
Fighting Pokémon you might be able to
pull an evolution for and that requires
only a single of its Energy be Fighting
in order to attack.
I mentioned the other day there
are a full 20 Fighting Weak Pokémon, but
be aware there are also nine Fighting
Resistant Pokémon that can shut
Makuhita down.
As a whole, I think it is nearly
a must run unless you have another good,
Fighting Basic Pokémon like
Hitmonlee to run… in which case I’d
be tempted to run both.
Ratings
Modified:
2/5
Limited:
3.75/5
I am still selling my former
collectables on eBay. I’ve had a
lot of hobbies over the years, so at
various times I’ll have comic books,
manga, action figures, and video games
on the auction block. You can take
a look at what’s up for bids
here. Just a reminder, Pojo is
in no way responsible for any
transactions and was merely kind enough
to let me mention the auctions here. ;)
