The new set, BW: Legendary Treasures,
is upon us so it is time for a new Top
10 list!
Last time we expanded to a Top 12
because of scheduling: this time the
nature of the set itself demands we
“adjust” our usual practice.
When we select cards for a Top
10, we don’t normally consider
“reprints”… but that would exclude most
of Legendary Treasures.
With the set being mostly reprints, the
new rules about to go into effect
tomorrow and the still relatively
recent rotation we’ll be doing two Top 5
lists: the Top 5 Promising Picks of
Legendary Treasures followed by the Top
5 Reprints of Legendary Treasures!
The review will be based on the
format post rule changes.
Today we look at a card that has
been getting a fair amount of hype,
Spiritomb (BW: Legendary
Treasures 87/113).
The card’s Ability and attack are what
excite people, but first things first:
it is a Basic Pokémon, which is still
the best it can be.
It is a Darkness-Type, which is
normally great but
Spiritomb but of which
Spiritomb won’t really take
advantage.
It has 80 HP: “okay” but 10 more
and it still would have been a legal
Level Ball target.
No Weakness is the best Weakness
but 80 HP is still just 80 HP.
No Resistance is the worst
Resistance, but for most cards it is
lacking and even when present, is just a
small bonus.
The single Energy Retreat Costs
good but not great; easy to pay but most
decks are going to bypass it anyway.
Sealing Scream, the Ability, prevents
either player from playing Ace Spec
cards from hand.
Ace Spec cards enable some
powerful plays but are one card out of
60.
Most decks run an Ace Spec and I
believe this is the first (and so far
only) card to specifically reference
them.
This means you’ll disrupt almost
every opponent (most a little, some a
lot), but it also means you’re
disrupting yourself by either by not
running an Ace Spec, denying yourself
access to your own Ace Spec, or
constraining yourself to “play around”
Sealing Scream.
It should also be noticed that the
wording explicitly only prevents playing
Ace Spec cards from hand; if an effect
plays the card from any other location,
duplicates the effect, etc. Sealing
Scream does nothing.
If there is a current card that
does this I am drawing a blank, but
we’ve seen this many times in the past
so if it happens before this card
rotates out, don’t be surprised.
So what about this card’s attack?
Bittersweet is how I would describe it;
for (C) you can use Hexed Mirror,
allowing you to draw a number of cards
equal to the number of cards in your
opponent’s hand.
This would be a great thing to
use first turn of the game; too bad that
isn’t legal anymore.
Aggressive decks are going to
want damage while slower, set-up decks
are apt to have cards in hand they don’t
want to shuffle away; regardless you’re
at the mercy of your opponent’s hand
size and not every has
Tropical Beach or needs to make use
of first turn.
Today’s card is a toned down version of
Spiritomb (Arceus 32/99) but
doesn’t lend itself as well to Item lock
decks or contain an incredibly potent
set-up attack.
I can write several paragraphs
detailing how I “believe” things will go
down with this card, but it is
speculation.
Looking it at it from your
opponent’s side, Ace Specs are a single
card that it may hurt to lose access to,
but if my opponent is running a small,
easy to OHKO Basic and expending
resources to get it out might be a
worthwhile trade.
I’ve read more than one comment talking
about running
Spiritomb and
Mr. Mime (BW: Plasma Freeze
47/116) in every deck… forgetting that
is at least two slots from your deck,
two “meh” opening Pokémon, and two
spaces on your Bench.
The way the game is shifting, you
might have to choose one or the other,
and remember using either means a deck
already running a non-Pokémon-EX can’t
pull off the “seventh Prize” trick.
Even though I am sounding pretty harsh
over this card, it is merely because it
has been really built up on the threads
in which I’ve seen it being discussed.
It is a good card but it won’t
turn a match-up into an auto win.
Most decks don’t heavily rely on
an Ace Spec, and the ones that do don’t
fold when they can’t use it or may be
better countered through more
conventional means of disruption.
I even could be wrong; perhaps a
single TecH copy will be played in
nearly every deck.
Insurance against an opponent
pushing for the win or turning a game
around with an Ace Spec is very
tempting.
For Unlimited, just use older Trainer
denial that blocked more cards (the best
block all kinds of Trainers!) but for
Limited, this is a great pull.
Not because of the Ability: there
are no Ace Spec cards.
Even with the new rules, Hexed
Mirror is useful here because it is
usually too hard (or telling) to play
out your hand in Limited, and all draw
power becomes vital.
Even though this can’t attack
offensively, and even with the new rules
in effect, you’ll probably be able to
use Hexed Mirror at least one while
soaking two hits.
Just skip it if you are going for
a Basic+39 deck.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified:
3.25/5
Limited:
4.9/5
Summary
Ultimately
Spiritomb is one of the best new
cards in this set but remember
competition was light.
Expect it to see play, but make
sure it is worth the space in your own
deck; just because it isn’t easy to
force it Active via
Pokémon Catcher doesn’t mean it is
invulnerable, and your opponent already
be planning to use their Ace Spec ASAP.
I had
Spiritomb in my number three slot,
just below
Meloetta EX; I wasn’t sure of that
decision then, nor am I now.
Spiritomb is probably the best
“general usage” new card we received,
but the impact of other cards may be
deeper even if their usage is narrower.
