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We celebrate the end of this week by reviewing… a
Pokémon-EX?
How did we miss
White Kyurem EX
(BW: Plasma Storm 96/135)?
Stats
Miscellaneous:
While the name makes it obvious, yes this is a
Pokémon-EX worth an additional Prize when KOed.
It is pretty hard to forget this while playing
it, but fairly easy to space off while breaking down the
card.
Type:
White Kyurem EX
is a Dragon-Type Pokémon; what support the Type has
doesn’t see play, and the only Pokémon that are Weak to
Dragon-Types are the Dragon-Types themselves.
There are enough that see serious play to make
hitting other Dragons for double damage useful, and
nothing is Resistant to Dragon-Types which is a nice
bonus.
Stage:
As a Basic Pokémon
White Kyurem EX
enjoys requiring the minimum amount of space to run and
time to get into play, Stage support, and the simple
benefit of being a self-contained Pokémon (such as
search cards naturally proving more efficient).
Hit Points:
180 HP is the maximum available for Pokémon-EX and will
usually allow
White Kyurem EX to take a hit and keep on swinging…
but probably only one hit.
Weakness:
Dragon-Type Weakness isn’t good, but it isn’t as bad as
it might seem as those that see play often hit so hard
that the Weakness either wouldn’t be needed or only
saves them a card’s worth of resources.
Resistance:
No Resistance, which is annoying but seems to be the
standard with cards released in the Black & White
era. It
also appears to be a conscious design decision for
Dragon-Type Pokémon.
Retreat:
A Retreat Cost of three is chunky, but it isn’t a huge
burden simply because the format pretty much demands but
also supplies cards that zero out the Retreat Cost or
even bypass it completely.
You also are able to enjoy access to
Heavy Ball.
Effects
Attack#1:
Slash is a straight forward (CCC) for 60 attack, which
is low as most three Energy attacks are expected to
deliver about 90 points of damage in competitive decks,
often with a beneficial effect.
Fortunately this is the smaller attack of two and
is completely Colorless in its requirements; once you
pull back and look at it on the card, it becomes… a bit
low to acceptable instead of being flat out poor.
Attack#2:
For the hefty price of (RRWC) White Inferno hits for 100
points of damage, plus another 10 points per damage
counter on it.
100 for four is the least I ask for, and the
effect isn’t totally worthless; the only real drawback
is that the actual Energy Types required make things
awkward.
(W) and (R) don’t share a
Blend Energy,
so you will probably have to resort to
Fire Energy
and Water Energy.
Given how we already have more than one big,
Dragon-Type Pokémon-EX that can discard for big damage
and the attack already hits for enough to 2HKO most
Pokémon that aren’t Dragon Weak, the HP means even if
your opponent lands a soft hit, they are pumping this
attack up nicely.
Synergy:
The basic synergy is there though not as nice as it
might be; three Energy isn’t that much easier to pay
than four, but it is definitely better than nothing.
The Colorless Energy requirements of the first
attack leave it open to most forms of Energy
acceleration but if you want access to the second
attack, only those accelerating Fire are really
worthwhile.
Usage
Card Family:
There is one other
White Kyurem EX:
BW: Boundaries Crossed 103/149, 146/146.
It has the same stats, and the same Energy cost
for its second attack.
Its first attack also requires three Energy and
hits for 60, but the exact cost is (RCC) making it a
little harder to meet, but it also gives you a coin
flip; “heads” and you get to attach a basic Energy from
your discard pile to itself.
Honestly this might be better than Slash, as
supplying one (R) requirement isn’t a huge burden and
the effect can be handy, but it isn’t a huge difference.
As for this version’s second attack, Ice Burn requires
you discard two (R) Energy from
White Kyurem EX,
but hits for 150 points of damage in addition to burning
the Defending Pokémon.
This is enough to OHKO most Pokémon provided they
flip “tails” for their burn check.
Still it is expensive and even with the
appropriate Energy acceleration can be hard to maintain.
It would be possible to use both versions in the
same deck, and that might not be a bad idea.
There is also
Crystal Edge, the infamous Ace Spec Pokémon Tool
only usable by
White Kyurem EX (again, either version), will keep
you from running something potent like
Computer Search,
Dowsing Machine,
or Scramble
Switch but will give a massive 50 point boost to the
damage the equipped
White Kyurem EX
does. I
don’t think it is worthwhile, at least compared to the
three Ace Spec cards I just listed, but if you insist
you can turn it to your advantages.
Combos:
Emboar (Black
& White 20/114; BW Promo BW21; BW: Next
Destinies 100/99) with its Inferno Fandango would
easily be able to fuel either
White Kyurem,
but despite it having been prominent at one point, it
has since struggled.
The only other options I can think of are the
risky Ether/Pokédex
combo as well as
Ho-Oh EX and
Energy Switch (and maybe
Scramble Switch).
Unlimited:
There are better options for a hard hitting attacker,
though it might be entertaining to use due to
Focus Band.
Modified:
There are a lot of great, established decks that are
almost guaranteed to outperform this card… but you could
probably build something functional.
Limited:
White Kyurem EX
is a solid pick for your Limited deck, though I don’t
know if it is safe enough to try the “plus 39 Energy”
build. The
only Dragon-Types are Rare or better, but if you go
second your opponent will have three turns before you
get to attack; that might give them enough time to
set-up. If
you don’t get the correct mix of Energy, Slash will be
hard-pressed to take out four Pokémon rapid fire before
the total of seven turns of attacks take
White Kyurem EX
out.
Future:
Chandelure (BW:
Plasma Freeze 16/116) is a Stage 2 Fire-Type
Pokémon, but its Ability allows it to attach (R) Energy
from your deck to one of your Pokémon once per turn,
doing 10 points of damage in the process.
Despite the potency of Energy acceleration from
the deck, its possible potency is still a long shot, but
three of them plus a manual Energy drop can cover the
full price of White Inferno and ensure it hits for 130.
If your opponent can’t hit for 150, you’ll be able to
hit at least that hard next turn.
If your opponent focuses on
Chandelure,
if you managed to set-up all three odds are you can prep
a second White
Kyurem EX before they are all gone while keeping up
in Prizes.
Getting that set-up both reliably and quickly seems
doubtful, but it offers some hope.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified:
2.75/5
Limited:
4/5
Summary
White Kyurem EX
seems to be a middle of the road Pokémon-EX, easy to
overlook.
It isn’t really bad, though, just overshadowed by the
great Pokémon-EX that dominate the format coupled with
the difficulty of successfully running the kind of
support that
White Kyurem EX needs means I wouldn’t expect to see
it except in fun decks… if people can remember it
exists.
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