Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Ludicolo
(Plasma Storm)
Apparently this is the first time in five years that
we’ve reviewed a Ludicolo.
That’s a pity because he’s one of my favourite Pokémon.
He’s like a cross between a duck and a giant
sombrero-wearing pineapple (yes, I do tend to like
ridiculous Pokémon designs), and he’s so
perma-happy that you can’t
help but smile when you see him on a card. Actually, in
terms of the TCG, Ludicolo
hasn’t been any good since 2005 when the
Ludicolo from the
Deoxys set made top four in
the Junior Division at Worlds.
Ludicolo
is a Stage 2 Water Pokémon with 130 HP (slightly on the
low side of average), a Weakness to Lightning which
doesn’t matter too much right at this moment (though
that will probably change), and a horrid retreat cost of
three (which means you will need Switch). So far, so
average, but it will take a lot of convincing before
anyone breaks out the Rare Candies to run a Stage 2.
Like a lot
of Ludicolo, this one is
given Rain Dish (this time in the form of
an Ability). In this version,
it heals 20 damage between turns.
That’s pretty nice actually, as it means
Ludicolo will heal off a
total of 40 before your opponent gets to attack it
again, turning an unboosted
Night Spear from a Darkrai-EX
(for example) into a three-hit KO. The key word there
however is ‘unboosted’. With
so many decks running Hypnotoxic
Laser and Virbank City Gym
to do an extra 30 per turn, Rain Dish is a lot less
effective that it might be, and that’s even before we
take into consideration those Pokémon that can OHKO
Ludicolo regardless (Black
Kyurem-EX,
Rayquaza-EX). Nevertheless,
if your opponent doesn’t have access to any of those
things and isn’t running Garbodor
DRX to shut off the Ability, Rain Dish can be somewhat
annoying for them.
The same could be said of
Ludicolo’s attack. Groovy Dance is expensive (two
Water and a Colourless Energy) and very underpowered
(just 70 damage), but it does have a bonus effect that
allows you to discard an Energy attached to
Ludicolo and Confuse the
Defending Pokémon. Confusion may not be as powerful as
it was back in the day (now you can just retreat out of
it), but it is nicely disruptive and can force an
opponent to burn Switches and discard Energy. It does at
least give Ludicolo some way
of maybe staying on the Field a bit longer to heal
itself with Rain Dish, but it’s a shame that the damage
output is so low. If Groovy Dance did 90 and could
two-hit an EX, I might like it a bit more.
There are things to like about
Ludicolo besides the endearingly goofy design:
Rain Dish can be quite effective, and Groovy Dance an
irritation for the opponent, but in the end, the card
doesn’t really offer enough of a reward for going to all
the trouble of setting up a Stage 2. The HP is just a
bit too low
and the attack just a
bit too slow
and underpowered to seriously trouble an opponent.
Rating
Modified: 2 (not the worst Stage 2 around, but still not
good enough)
Limited: 3.25 (if you can get him set up, he could pose
problems for an opponent)
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virusyosh |
Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing a
Pokemon that we haven't reviewed for the past five or
six years! Today's Card of the Day is Ludicolo from
Plasma Storm.
Ludicolo is a Stage 2 Water Pokemon. Water-types are
fairly common in Modified these days, with Blastoise/Keldeo
decks seeing quite a bit of play; of course, this also
means that Ludicolo will have to do something really
special to fill a niche and see play. 130 HP is standard
for a Stage 2, and unfortunately Ludicolo will only be
able to take some medium-sized hits in our now very
powerful, EX-dominated Modified; of course, it will fare
better in Limited. Lightning Weakness is a problem
against the somewhat rare Zekrom-EX and Thundurus, but
the pineapple duck will have to take care for Thundurus-EX,
which comes out in the next set. No Resistance is still
a very unfortunate thing, as is a Retreat Cost of 3,
which is pretty large and shouldn't be paid unless
you're in dire circumstances.
Ludicolo has an Ability and a single attack. Rain Dish
heals 20 damage from Ludicolo any time between turns,
which is great. Note that it works in between both
players turns, so Ludicolo will heal a total of 40
damage from when you attack with it until the beginning
of your next turn. This Ability is a lot more useful in
Limited than it is in Modified, as the Modified metagame
will likely OHKO Ludicolo anyway. Groovy Dance is
Ludicolo's attack, dealing 70 damage with the option to
Confuse (by discarding an Energy) for two Water and a
Colorless. 70 damage for three Energy is the bare
minimum you'll want to be doing in Modified for that
Energy cost, and the optional Confusion will only
sometimes be useful. However, in Limited, 70 damage is
great and will 2HKO most things, and Confusion offers
some much needed disruption. As one might expect,
Ludicolo's healing Ability isn't quite good enough to
overcome the big hitters of Modified, so it's mostly
relegated to use in the Limited format.
Modified: 1.5/5 Rain Dish is a fairly decent Ability,
but Groovy Dance doesn't do enough. Coupled with
Ludicolo's somewhat low HP and being a Stage 2, it's not
likely that the pineapple duck will see much play in
this format anytime soon.
Limited: 4/5 Rain Dish is fantastic in Limited, and
Groovy Dance will easily annoy the opponent between its
steady damage output and Confusion. Like many Stage 2s
in Limited, if you are able to get Ludicolo out, you
should be able to win the game.
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