Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Emolga
(Legendary Treasures)
We end the week with the last of our ‘pretty in pink’
Pokemon, the unbelievably
adorable Emolga. Who cares
that he’s just Generation V’s obligatory Lightning-Type
Cutemon (see also Pikachu,
Pachirisu,
Plusle,
Minun, and Dedenne)?
Since it was first printed in Dragon’s Exalted, this
card has seen sporadic play, but never quite made the
impact that was expected. As a ‘starter’ Pokémon,
Emolga has a lot going for
it: decent HP for a Pokémon of this kind, a great
Resistance, free Retreat, and a half-usable cheap
offensive attack. The real attraction though is Call for
Family: an attack which allows you to search you deck
for two Basic Pokémon and Bench them. Pretty useful for
avoiding donks, getting out
evolving Basics quickly, or just setting up a swarm of
big attackers, no?
In theory, yes, very much so.
In practice? Not so much as
it turned out. Decks just don’t have the space to run
the multiple copies that are needed to maximize the
chances of opening with a starter. This has been a
viable way to deck-build in the past (remember the
popularity of Holon’s Castform
and Dunsparce SS?), but just
doesn’t seem to work now. Of course
Emolga also has to contend with the fact that the
Tropical Beach Stadium is available (to Worlds
competitors and people with lots of money to spend), and
this has tended to be the opening play of choice for
those decks which don’t otherwise have a decent first
turn attack.
The recent rule changes hurt Emolga
a fair bit too: if you go first, you can’t even use the
Call for Family attack anyway (whereas you
can use
Tropical Beach). I suspect that this is enough to mean
that the last few traces of Emolga
are likely to disappear from competitive play
altogether. It’s a shame really, because in the right
format, he’s a very solid starter who could have had a
chance to shine.
Rating
Modified: 2.75 (the format doesn’t much like this type
of card)
Limited: 4.5 (still excellent here)
|
HEZ |
Emolga LTR
Modified:
This Emolga has been with us a while now, first released
in Dragons Exalted. The game has changed around it
though, with the new no attacking if you go first rule,
setup Pokemon such as Emolga just got slightly worse.
However, the type of decks that like to use such a card
(ones that want to set up evolutions) gained a little
more survivability, avoiding turn 1 donks a little
easier.
It's not the best set up Pokemon ever made, lagging
behind setup legends like Dunsparce (Sandstorm) and
Spiritomb (Arceus) but currently, it's just the best we
have in Modified. Call for Family can get the ball
rolling in a deck like Empoleon that wants to get lots
of Pokemon out quickly whilst also taking the first hit
instead of one of the decks main Pokemon. Providing it
survives the early game, the free retreat can be nice as
you can send it out after one of you Pokemon has been
KO'd, see what you can do during your turn, then
(hopefully) retreat into an answer. That's pretty much
it; it's not a big, impressive Pokemon (though you can
get a Full Art of it!) but it has a job and it does it
well.
Limited:
Another Pokemon to get several printings in this set, we
get it both at uncommon and also as a not-so-secret rare
Full Art. Emolga can fill several roles in this format.
It's 20 damage isn't going to do much here either so
it's all about Call for Family again. Emolga helps set
up the good Pokemon that you pulled, in a format with
very little deck searching. It can also be used in a
deck utilising a big EX. Rather than go the well known 1
EX 39 Energy route, you can use Emolga and a few other
decent Basics alongside your EX. This way Emolga can
start the game by finding your EX and other Basics
afterwhich your EX can safely set up behind the cannon
fodder and come in for a clean sweep when it's ready,
rather than gradually taking hits as you attach energy
to it.
Unlimited 150:
As I said in the Modified review, Emolga isn't the best
setup Pokemon ever made, it's just the most recent.
Emolga is woefully outclassed in U150 but... people
still use it! Possibly because it's easy to get right
now, maybe because it's available in Full Art (U150
decks never rotate so there's no rush, foiling and
FA'ing them out can be a few years work!), perhaps
people just like Emolga.
Like previously stated, the free retreat is useful too,
allowing you to set up after a KO then retreat into a
counter, of which many exist in this format, there's an
answer to almost anything somewhere in a well-built 150
deck! Even Static Shock could see some use in an
Electric deck, if you've already set up you could start
removing some uses of Darkness Grace from a Spiritomb or
hit a Squirtle for Weakness etc.
In summary, not the best setup Pokemon available in this
format, but still solid.
Ratings.
Modified: 3.5
Limited: 3
Unlimited 150: 2
|
