Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Cacturne
(Plasma Freeze)
It feels like a long time since we reviewed a
Cacturne: it’s one of those
‘forgotten’ Pokémon that doesn’t really have much of a
history of being good in the TCG or the video game, and
isn’t especially loved by fans.
This one is at least interesting though. Sure, it’s a
Stage 1 with low HP, and that doesn’t help its case at
all. The Weakness and Resistance combo are actually very
good, but when you only have 90 HP, they tend not to
matter so much. The Retreat cost of one is solid,
however.
For one Grass Energy you get Rapid-Fire Needles, and
attack which does 60 damage. Yep, 60 for one is still
incredibly good value and as you would expect there is a
drawback: the attack also does 30 damage to one of your
Pokémon. There are ways round this though, like playing
Mr Mime PLF and directing the damage at a Benched
Pokémon which he protects with his Bench Barrier
Ability. Even so, the attack is not as good as it
sounds: being a Stage 1 means you won’t get to use
Rapid-Fire Needles until your second turn, and there are
a lot of Pokémon that can use better attacks by that
point anyway, some thanks to Energy acceleration. The 60
damage might be a bargain in terms of cost, but in these
days of 170-180 HP EX’s, it’s not nearly as effective as
it was when Donphan Prime or
Kingdra LA
were doing it.
Cacturne’s
second attack, by contrast, is clearly designed for the
late game. Payback is also low cost, requiring one Grass
and one Colourless to do just 30 damage, but the effect
text states that if the opponent has one Prize card
left, it does an extra 60
damage and discards an Energy attached to the Defending
Pokémon. So, it’s basically useless unless you are on
the verge of losing, and even then it’s highly doubtful
whether it will be enough to turn things around. This
use of this attack is so limited that it would be
impossible to justify putting a Stage 1 in your deck
(and trying to get it out) for just this situation. It’s
no more than a gimmick really.
And that just about sums up the card as a whole.
It looks much better on paper than it actually is in
competitive play.
Rating
Modified: 1.75 (I still respect 60 for 1, but the rest
of the card is too weak)
Limited: 4 (Pretty good here, especially if your pull
Mime)
|
Ness
Two-Time World Champion
Check out The Klaczynski Open. August 31, 2013 |
Cacturne
Not only are its attacks weak for a
Stage 1, but its 90 HP, while conveniently searched by
Level Ball, falls easily to attacks like Night Spear,
and other weaker attacks that have their damage
increased by Abilities and Hypnotoxic Laser. For
example, while Thundurus EX's Raiden Knuckle starts off
as only 30 damage, 3 Power Connect abilities from Deoxys
EX as well as a Hypnotoxic Laser with Virbank City Gym
in play will bring the damage up to 90 and OHKO your
evolved Pokémon.
In limited, your opponent will get
down to one prize card more quickly, and you will also
have targets to hit with your own Rapid-Fire Needles
attack since those damaged Pokémon cannot be KO'd by
cards like Pokémon Catcher.
Modified: 1/5
Limited: 2/5
Combos with: Mr. Mime
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