Cobalion
is a part of the
“musketeer trio” of
Legendary Pokémon, and
might be the dominant
member of the group
according to Bulbapedia.
It is a Basic
Pokémon that has no
Evolutions available: it
sinks or swims on its
own merit.
It is a
Metal-Type, which makes
sense since in the video
games it is a
Metal/Fighting hybrid:
given that they
intentionally made all
three members of the
trio so similar, I
almost wish they were
all Fighting-Types.
That being said
this is probably the
best type for any member
of the trio: when you’re
a big Basic being able
to soak damage with
Special Energy
Metal Energy extends
its lifespan even more!
Cobalion has 110 HP
and that is great!
Very few Basic
Pokémon surpass this and
some Stage 1 (and even a
few Stage 2) Pokémon
don’t clock in this
high!
Cobalion can
definitely take a hit,
except from its
Weakness: Fire.
Of course this is
bad given that Fire
seems to be a popular
type… then again perhaps
Beartic will make
Water decks strong
enough to balance things
out?
I am glad we have
Resistance, but
unfortunately Psychic
Pokémon aren’t
especially strong right
now and the ones that do
see play tend to win by
means other than doing
plain damage: Special
Counter placement,
Special Conditions,
Lost World, etc.
The Retreat Cost
of two is a bit high for
a Basic, and without
some form of Energy
acceleration you’re
better of designing your
deck to keep
Cobalion active no
matter what or pack
Switch.
The first attack on this
card is Metal Horns, and
for (MC) it does 30
points of damage and
forces your opponent to
change out their Active
with one of the Benched
Pokémon.
With
Pokémon Catcher out
in this set this effect
loses some of what would
have made it useful, but
still it might come in
handy from time to time.
At the very least it
will make your opponent
work to keep a fully
powered Pokémon Active
to wail on
Cobalion, though it
only takes a Pokémon
with a free Retreat to
thwart this.
Sacred Sword
costs (MMC) and does 100
points of damage but
can’t be used the next
turn.
This can be a
little awkward.
The good news is
that if you used Metal
Horns and your opponent
couldn’t change back
you’ll be hitting
something fresh with
Sacred Sword.
The bad news is
that if your opponent
didn’t change back
you’re hitting something
fresh. If everything is
small and Sacred Sword
is good for OHKOs, then
this can be good.
If stuff has more
than 100 HP, you either
have to use boosting
effects (PlusPower)
or if your opponent
keeps it Benched use a
Pokémon Catcher to
force it back-up.
The pricing for
the attacks means you
can’t use
Double Colorless Energy
as a shortcut and the
musketeer trio really
makes me miss
Call Energy so they
could do something
useful first turn if
they are Active.
You can always
try to use another
opener, so it doesn’t
ruin them that they
require two turns to
attack.
The best use I can come
up with for this card is
the same one as I came
up with for its peers,
though this might be the
best one for tanking
out.
With a
Vileplume (HS:
Undaunted 24/90) and
a
Serperior (Black
& White 06/114)
behind 110 HP augmented
with Special
Metal Energy and
forcing your opponent to
cycle through their
Pokémon, you can really
turn
Cobalion into a
not-so-tiny tank.
Yes, you’re only
averaging 65 points of
damage a turn, but if
you’re slowing down your
opponent by denying them
access to
non-Supporter/Stadium
cards, keeping them from
powering up the same
card each turn, and
smacking anything that
gets to big with Sacred
Sword, and soaking
damage with Special
Energy
Metal Energy your
opponent is going to
have a hard time
building any damage on
you.
Hypothetically
speaking, of course:
this deck idea involves
running two different
Stage 2 Pokémon lines
after all, and while we
know that works, neither
line is designed to aid
in set-up.
So what about Unlimited
play?
Too slow, but at
least it is less sad
than most first attempts
at Legendary Pokémon.
In Limited play I
am assuming this card
will be great.
Unless there are
a
lot of decent Fire
Pokémon in this set, you
just need to work in
four or five
Metal Energy so you
can at least reliably
use the first attack and
Cobalion pound some
Pokémon.
First the usual
modifiers apply: this is
a Basic Pokémon whose HP
is probably about as
high as you’re going to
see since so many Stage
1 and Stage 2 Pokémon
won’t be pulled
alongside the cards
needed to run them at
all, let alone well.
For the same
reason, average damage
tends to be on par or
even lower than what
you’re getting from
Cobalion.
Second factor in
that players usually try
to hide stuff on the
Bench so if you start
forcing them to bring up
extra Pokémon, what are
they going to do?
Even if
Cobalion is KO’d
while doing it, leaving
your opponent with a
Bench full of Pokémon
one hit away from being
KO’d is worth a Prize
(unless it’s the last
one).
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified:
3.25/5
Limited:
4.25/5
Summary
Like the rest of its
trio, I don’t think
Cobalion is going to
impact the game in the
way
Reshiram and
Zekrom have, but I
do think it stands a
chance of seeing at
least some play, perhaps
as a spare tank for
another deck.
Check out my
eBay auctions! Pojo
is in no way responsible
for any transactions,
though.
