Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Basculin
(Black and White)
So . . . our mission to review so far
unreviewed
cards takes us all the way back to the
Black and White set today. Actually it
was less than a year ago that this was
released, but a year is a long time in
Pokémon.
Actually, the
Basculin we are looking at wasn’t
in the main Japanese Black and White
sets, it came in the ‘Beginning Set’ – a
special collection of half decks that
came in two different sets – one for
boys and one for girls (the girl one had
cuter Pokémon). This should give you a
pretty big clue as to how good today’s
card is: non-set Japanese releases tend
to contain
very inferior versions of the set
cards.
Basculin
is an unevolving
Basic Pokémon with just 70 HP and a
Lightning Weakness. Normally you would
say that Lightning Weakness was a bad
thing but . . . it’s not like anything
needs to hit for Weakness to OHKO a 70
HP Pokémon is it? Similarly, you would
think that being a Water Type would make
him useful against Fire or
Donphan
decks only, as we shall see, he can’t
hit hard or fast enough to cause them
any trouble. The Retreat cost of one is
about the only thing on the card I can’t
complain about.
This card has just the one attack:
Crunch. This costs two Water Energy and
does just 30 damage. Needing a specific
Energy Type just to hit for 30 is just
crazy these days. Yes you do get a coin
flip chance to discard an Energy
attacked to the Defending Pokémon, but
that in no way makes up for the absurd
cost and pitiful damage output of the
attack. Obviously, this card has no
place in Modified and even in Limited
it’s a poor choice. I can’t think of
many random Basics that are much worse
than this.
I think we can now all go back to
forgetting that this card ever existed.
Rating
Modified: 1.25 (I only give 1 if I
actually hate the Pokémon as well as the
card)
Limited: 1.5 (not even good here . . .
early game wall if you’re desperate I
suppose)
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virusyosh |
Greetings, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing a
Basic Pokemon all the way back from Black and White,
although we've reviewed other iterations of this card
before. Is this particular version playable? Today's
Card of the Day is Basculin BW #35.
Basculin is a Basic Water Pokemon. Water-types are
fairly rare in Modified these days, with only Kyurem and
Kyurem-EX seeing limited play. However, if Reshiram or
other threats with a Water Weakness become dominant
again, there is a chance that the type will return to
the tournament scene. 70 HP is just about average for a
non-evolving, non-Legendary Basic, and Basculin should
be able to survive a somewhat weak hit. Unfortunately,
this value also means that the piranha loses out to most
of the hitters that are common in Modified, so it has to
do something incredibly well or be relegated to Limited.
Lightning Weakness is a bad start, as Zekrom-EX will
easily OHKO, as will other Lightning-type threats like
Zapdos, Zebstrika, and Thundurus. No Resistance and a
decent Retreat Cost of 1 are also expected.
Basculin, unlike many other cards we review, has only
one attack and no other abilities. Therefore, this
single attack has to be incredibly good for the fish to
see play. Crunch deals 30 damage for two Water Energy,
discarding an Energy from the Defending Pokemon if you
get heads on a coin flip. The damage output for this
attack is disappointingly low in Modified, but it can
work in Limited, provided you have enough Water Energy.
In terms of the Energy-discarding effect, there are
generally better options in Modified, including Crushing
Hammer, Lost Remover, or even Krookodile EP.
Modified: 1.5/5 Basculin is totally outclassed here. If
you want to discard Energy from the opponent, use
something like Crushing Hammer instead.
Limited: 3.25/5 Basculin is fairly good in Limited if
you can provide the Water Energy to support it. Crunch
is decent in Limited, as discarding an Energy from the
Defending Pokemon can help you stall them out, as well
as waiting until you build up another attacker.
Unfortunately Basculin's HP, Energy requirements, and
attack damage aren't the greatest, but the card is
definitely usable in this format provided you have
adequate Water support.
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