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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion

Escavalier (Dark Explorers) We’ve had more than enough Eeveelutions up for review this week for my liking, so I’m glad that we get to end with something different: Escavalier. ‘Different’ is probably the right word for this Pokémon too: apparently based on a jousting knight and a Japanese snail-eating beetle (thanks, Bulbapedia!), he is practically the slowest Pokémon in the video game, despite the fact that the flavour text on this card boasts that he flies around ‘at high speed’. Escavalier is a Stage 1 with a low 90 HP. He is a metal Type though, so at least he can benefit from the Special Energy. Fire Weakness isn’t too bad at the moment, though you do see Entei-EX decks around now and then, and even the odd Reshiram/Typhlosion that refuses to die. Psychic Resistance means that Mewtwo will need another Energy to OHKO it . . . which isn’t bad, I guess. The Retreat cost of three makes switching Escavalier out without Trainer cards a bit of a pain, but comes with the huge upside of making the Pokémon searchable with Heavy Ball. As far as attacks are concerned . . . Escavalier is nowhere near as terrible as I feared. Joust costs just one Metal Energy and does 30 damage (good value in itself) and also comes with the effect of discarding a Tool attached to the Defending Pokémon. This is a handy way of dealing with potentially troublesome stuff like Eviolite and Dark Claw. Cavalry Lance is somewhat less impressive – 70 damage for [M][M][C] and Escavalier has no Weakness next turn – but it’s more mediocre than actually bad. So, if Escavalier has some ok attacks, one of which is even quite useful and cheap, why will it never see any play? Pretty much because it’s one of those cards that seems to be designed with no reference whatsoever to the rest of the format. It does its own thing, and it does it reasonably well, but with that low HP and sub-par damage output, it really is made somewhat irrelevant by the existence of so many cards with stellar HP that will OHKO Escavalier with no trouble at all. Yes, it could be mildly inconvenient for an opponent to lose an Eviolite to Joust, but is that really ever going to be worth setting up a Stage 1 for? The answer right now is ‘no’, and when we get Tool Scrapper in a future set (it’s a Trainer, and the name is a clue as to what it does), the answer will be an even more emphatic ‘no’. Rating Modified: 2 (just doesn’t have the power to live with the rest of the format) Limited: 3 (damage for 1 Energy is always good, and it could get rid of a Dark Claw. Still, nothing special, even here)

virusyosh

Happy Friday, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing a new Rare from Dark Explorers that is definitely not an Eevee evolution. We're ending our COTD week by reviewing the Cavalry Pokemon, Escavalier.   Escavalier is a Stage 1 Metal Pokemon. Metal Pokemon are somewhat rare in Modified these days, with Klinklang seeing a bit of play alongside Darkrai (check the deck out if you haven't heard of it, it's kind of cool) as well as the random Durant and Cobalion sightings that you'll still encounter. 90 HP is once again fairly standard for a Stage 1, allowing Escavalier to take a middling hit or two before going down. One key difference is that Escavalier can take advantage of Special Metal Energy, granting the metal bug some damage reduction. Fire Weakness is expected but not too bad right now, Psychic Resistance is great to have with Mewtwo's omnipresence, and a Retreat Cost of 3 is huge, but expected. Even still, it's likely that you won't want to pay it.   Escavalier has two attacks. Joust does 30 damage and discards a Pokemon Tool card attached to the Defending Pokemon for a single Metal Energy, which is a pretty cool attack. It's important to note that the Tool is discarded before dealing damage, so Eviolite and other damage reducing Tools won't be a factor if Joust successfully discards them. 30 damage is also excellent for the single Energy cost, though this is still probably not an attack you'll want to use in Modified very often. In Limited, Joust is an excellent source of cheap damage if you decide to run Metal, and the secondary effect will also get rid of any pesky Dark Claws you may run into in that format.   Cavalry Lance is Escavalier's second attack, dealing 70 damage for two Metal and a Colorless, as well as nullifying Escavalier's Weakness during your next turn. The Weakness negation is very interesting, but probably won't be much use. Additionally, 70 damage for three Energy is simply average, meaning that you'll have to be able to attack multiple times to get your mileage out of Escavalier.   Modified: 2/5 Escavalier has cool attacks, but unfortunately has lackluster typing and low HP. If Escavalier had 120 or so HP and dealt 90 damage with Cavalry Lance, it may have been more playable than it is in its current state. At any rate, Escavalier could possibly work as a tech to remove those annoying Pokemon Tools, at least until Tool Scrapper (presumably) comes out in Dragons Exalted.   Limited: 3.25/5 Escavalier is a great Pokemon for Limited, but it forces you to commit to Metal. Joust is awesome for the price, as 30 damage for a single Energy is more than most opposing Pokemon will be able to handle. Discarding any Pokemon Tools your opponent has (like Dark Claw) is also a major plus. Cavalry Lance also deals consistent damage, and its effect can have some use as well. Unfortunately, both of Escavalier's attacks are Metal Energy intensive, so you'll have to run a few Metals in order to make sure it works properly. Overall, Escavalier is very solid for a Metal-containing deck in Dark Explorers Limited.