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Metagross
(Plasma Freeze)
We continue our look at the ‘nearly cards’ from our
Plasma Freeze top 10 with Metagross,
a Pokémon that has been powerful in the TCG in the past
and is nearly always a threat in the competitive video
game scene. Does this version have what it takes to make
its mark?
Well, this is one of those occasions where you have
something good wrapped up in a package of pretty bad
things. Let’s get those bad things out of the way first,
so that we know exactly what we are dealing with.
Metagross
is a Stage 2 Psychic Type Pokémon who happens to be Team
Plasma (ok, that last bit is good). It has 140 HP (eh, I
suppose that bit is decent) and a retreat cost of two
(now that definitiely isn’t
very good). His attack is also severely lacking by
today’s standards: Mind Bend offers 60 damage and
Confusion for the cost of three
Energy. That certainly isn’t going to justify
running a Stage 2 Pokémon and a bunch of Rare Candy.
So what was the ‘good’ I mentioned earlier? Well, it
comes it the form of Metagross’
Ability, Plasma Search. This is restricted to one use
per turn (so there is no point in having multiple
Metagross
out) and enables you to search your deck for a Plasma
card . . . any Plasma card. That’s actually a bit more
wide-ranging than you think: not only does it give you
access to Pokémon like Deoxys-EX
and Kyurem PLF, but also to
powerful Trainers like Hypnotoxic
Laser and Colress Machine,
as well the the
Colress,
Ghetsis, and Shadow Triad
Supporters and the Plasma Stadiums, Frozen City and
Plasma Frigate. Sounds great in a Plasma deck, right?
Well . . . maybe not so much. This isn’t 2006 and
Metagross is no
Pidgeot FRLG. The most
popular Plasma decks right now simply don’t have room
for clunky Stage 2 lines and Rare Candy. They will run
four copies of their key Plasma cards and rely on
Supporters to draw into them. Put simply, the resources
that you would need to commit to a) including
Metagross in your deck and
b) getting it on the Field would be better spent in
improving deck consistency to the point where
Metagross isn’t even needed.
Maybe the lack of an existing Pokémon-based draw/search
engine in our current format and the slight resemblance
to that awesome old school Pidgeot
has people liking this card a bit more than they should.
Unless the nature of the game changes radically with the
rotation and future releases, I don’t really see
Metagross finding a home in
a competitive deck.
Rating
Modified: 2.25 (more Venusaur
DEX than Pidgeot FRLG)
Limited: 2 (probably not worth the effort here either)
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