Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Simisear
(Plasma Storm)
It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Monkey Trio in a
set . . . mind you, we got them in everything for the
first few Black and White releases and I for one was in
danger of becoming sick of the sight of them.
This Simisear is a Fire Type
Stage 1 with just 90 HP, making it very difficult to use
as an attacker, as it has neither the speed nor the
durability of the game-dominating Basics we see at every
tournament. Weakness to Water is likely is not going to
matter at that level of HP, but the Retreat cost of two
is a positive inconvenience – you won’t want to pay it,
and you don’t even get Heavy Ball
searchability.
What you do get is two attacks. The first, Searing
Flame, isn’t even that bad: just one Fire Energy will
get you 20 damage plus automatic Burn. I don’t think
it’s going to be causing any EX Pokémon to tremble in
fear, but it’s ok for what it
is. The second attack, Flame Blast is like a weaker,
Fire Type version of Keldeo-EX’s
Secret Sword, costing three Energy and doing 40 plus 20
for every Fire attached. Of course, Fire even has its
own Blastoise-style
acceleration in the form of Ability
Emboar from BLW, but any thoughts of this card
having the same kind of impact as
Keldeo should disappear as soon as you remember
that this is
a 90 HP Stage 1, and not a Big Basic.
Looked at in isolation, Simisear
isn’t that bad of a card really. It has a useful, cheap
attack and one that can potentially do enough damage to
OHKO absolutely anything providing you can attach the
Fire Energy to do it. In a format which is ruled by
speed and incredibly high HP though, a Pokémon like this
will just find itself completely outclassed.
Rating
Modified: 2 (doesn’t have what it takes to play with the
big boys)
Limited: 3.5 (relatively fast and easy to use)
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virusyosh |
Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing an
Uncommon that appears to be an awesome card in Limited
if you're running its type. Today's Card of the Day is
Simisear from Plasma Storm.
Simisear is a Stage 1 Fire Pokemon. Fire-types aren't
common right now, with only Ho-Oh-EX rarely seeing play;
in addition, the prevalence of Water-types like
Blastoise and Keldeo-EX give Fire Pokemon additional
problems. 90 HP is standard for a Stage 1, and will
unfortunately not last very long in a Modified format
dominated by heavy hitters. Water Weakness is once again
a problem against the aforementioned Blastoise and
Keldeo; no Resistance is always a sad thing; and a
Retreat Cost of 2 is payable in a pinch.
The newest iteration of this Fire monkey has two
attacks. Searing Flame does 20 damage and automatically
Burns for a single Fire Energy. While not dealing nearly
enough damage for Modified play, the automatic Burn and
fast damage can be a real asset in Limited. Likewise,
Flame Blast, Simisear's second attack, starts off at 40
damage for three Colorless Energy, but does 20 more for
each Fire Energy attached. This attack is in some ways
like a weaker version of Keldeo-EX (only as a
Fire-type), and as such, can wreack absolute havoc in
Limited in dedicated Fire builds, as you'll easily reach
100 damage and maybe even more than that. In Modified,
you're still better off just using Keldeo and Secret
Sword, but if you manage to pull a Simisear and many
other Fire Pokemon in Limited, the monkey is a
surprisingly good primary attacker.
Modified: 1.5/5 Simisear is almost totally outclassed
by Keldeo-EX, which has better typing, is a Basic, and
has a slightly more damaging attack. Therefore, if
you're looking for a Flame Blast type of attack in
Modified, use Keldeo.
Limited: 4.5/5 Simisear is fantastic in Limited. Both
Searing Flame and Flame Blast are both awesome here, as
Searing Flame is fast and disruptive while Flame Blast
hits very, very hard. Flame Blast will easily 2HKO the
format (if not better) if you can pile Fire Energy onto
Simisear, which isn't that hard to do in Limited. Of
course, 90 HP means that Simisear will need some kind of
healing to survive to sweep, but once again, the fire
monkey is a monster in dedicated Fire builds.
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Jebulous Maryland Player |
Simisear
Simisear is a Stage 1 Fire Pokemon with 90 HP. It is
weak to Water and has a retreat of 2. It is searchable
by Level Ball.
'Searing Flame' costs 1 Fire and does 20 damage. It
auto burns the Defending Pokemon. Honestly this is
something I'd rather see on a Basic Pokemon. The cheap
cost is nice, but if you have evolved this, chances are
you opponent is either evolving and powering up, or just
powering up their Basic (presumably Big).
'Flame Burst' costs 3 colorless energy and does 40
damage. It does an additional 20 damage for each Fire
Energy on Simisear. So for 3 Fires it does 100. That's
not too bad considering some of the other attacks out
there. The biggest problem is devoting the energy to a
Pokemon with 90 HP. It's not going to last long, so the
energies won't either. It'd be best to pair this with
an energy accelerator, so you can power it up and get
the most damage before it gets KOed.
Simisear is okay, nothing great though. There usually
must be a reason to play a Stage 1 (an ability that
helps the deck as a whole). Simisear is just an
attacker. So do what you will, I think it is an okay
card (one for a fun deck).
Modified: 2/5
Limited: 2.5/5
Combos With: ...
Questions, comments, concerns:
jebulousthemighty@yahoo.com
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