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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

virusyosh	Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're going to review yet another Metal type from Dark Explorers. Today's Card of the Day is Bisharp.   Bisharp is a Stage 1 Metal Pokemon. In order to see Modified play, Bisharp is going to have to do something that will distinguish itself from its other Metal brethren, such as Klinklang, and other Stage 1s, such as Eelektrik or even Zoroark. 100 HP is a great start, as this is a pretty good amount for a Stage 1, leaving Bisharp to take at least one average-sized hit from the metagame's prominent threats. Fire Weakness is once again a non-issue due to the lack of competitive Fire-types at the moment; Psychic Resistance is once again great against Mewtwo and friends; and finally, a Retreat Cost of 2 is payable if you absolutely must.   Like many other Pokemon, Bisharp has two attacks. Aerial Ace starts off at 20 damage for two Colorless Energy, but can deal 20 more if you flip heads. 40 damage for two Energy is not bad in Limited, but mediocre at best in Modified. That being said, since the attack is a coin flip, you'll only average 30 damage for two Energy, which isn't playable in Modified at all. The second attack, Metal Claw, deals a vanilla 80 damage for two Metal and a Colorless. 80 damage for three Energy is just about average, and with no other effects to make the attack better, average isn't good enough to see competitive play.   Modified: 1/5 Bisharp's attacks don't do anything interesting, so it will be very hard pressed to find a place here. Additionally, 100 HP doesn't go too far these days, and heavy Energy requirements in a type without acceleration doesn't help, either.   Limited: 3/5 While Bisharp is average in most respects, average is good enough to warrant play in Limited. 100 HP is very solid for a Stage 1 in this format, and both attacks are decent, while unimpressive. Bisharp's biggest problem will be finding room in a deck due to its somewhat heavy reliance on Metal Energy, but if a deck is running Metal even as a secondary type, Bisharp could be a fit, as 80 damage in this format is often quite powerful (as long as you aren't staring down an EX).
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	For our Wednesday feature, we bring to you the other half of Bisharp, namely the Metal side from the Dark Explorers set. Considering that this set is dominated by Dark types, it's somewhat surprising how much love the Metal types also receive. Maybe the designers felt that these often maligned types needed a turn in the spotlight?   Even more surprisingly, this Bisharp is the better of the two. Not that it counts for much though.   So, ticking off the checklist we have 100 HP, Fire Weakness, Psychic Resistance, a retreat cost of 2 and absolutely nothing that screams "PLAY ME!". On the plus side, there are no immediate warning flags that make Bisharp instantly unplayable, but that's just my eternal optimism flaring up.   Attacks now. Bisharp has two of them. Neither of them have extra effects. Neither of them are cheap enough to quickly slap your opponent across the face. Neither of them have the insanely large numbers that would be needed to save this card from the binder.   In summary, keep Bisharp in the binder where it will stay pretty forever. These cards may be hopelessly underpowered but all of the Bisharps so far have had excellent artwork that shows them as either furtive and stealthy ninjas out to strike a deadly blow from behind (the Dark versions) or as a stalwart Samurai standing proud and ready to face all comers (the Metal versions). It shows superb artistic direction and I truly hope this trend continues!   Modified: 1.5 (weak and uninteresting)   Limited: 3 (still weak and uninteresting, but there are far fewer options available so beggars can't be choosers)   Combos with: an appreciation for dramatic poses and slashed bamboo
Jebulous Maryland Player	Bisharp   Bisharp is a Stage 1 Metal Pokemon with 100 HP.  It has weakness to Fire, resistance to Psychic, and a retreat cost of 2.  It suffers from the 'just out of searching range' problem, so no Level or Heavy Balls.   'Aerial Ace' costs 2 colorless energy and 20 plus 20 more if heads. Not good damage output at all.  Even with the heads, 40 damage won't do much (not even kill most Basics).  The positive thing is you can use a DCE for this...   'Metal Claw' costs 2 Metal energy and 1 Colorless energy.  It does 80 damage.  This is okay for a Stage 1, but it doesn't come close to OHKOing big threats.  What's worse is the attack's cost, the DCE you may have attached for the previous attack won't help here (you still need 3 attachments).   Overall this is not that great of a card.  I wouldn't play with it. The lackluster attacks don't help much.  I have no idea about Bisharp's backstory, but he looks cool.  It's a shame this card isn't...   Modified: 1.5/5 Limited: 2.5/5 Combo's With: ...   Questions, comments, concerns: jebulousthemighty@yahoo.com