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Hello all and welcome to the end of the week again!
Here we've got a classic Gen I Pokemon in the form of
"totally original character do not steal" Golem!
(literally named golem, like the moving statue)
Now looking around at past Golems, there's a
distinctive "hit myself for damage" trend in their
attacks, usually to the benefit of an attack or just as
a side effect of an even more powerful attack. Does this
Golem's raw power allow it to soar to new heights over
its predecessors, or does it just blow out its fuse like
a dud? Let's check him out!
Golem here has two modest attacks which cost a lot
and have a good damage output. The first attack, Stone
Edge, costs 3 Energy (2 of which must be Fighting) and
deals 60 damage with a 50% chance of increasing it to
90. That's not the greatest 3 Energy attack in the world
(but let's face it, that's probably on a Pokemon-EX
anyway), but it's still a solid damage dealer, an
attribute most Fighting-TCG Pokemon are known for
anyway. His other attack is Explosion.
Now when I first encountered Golem, he had
Selfdestruct, an attack that did a high output of 100
damage; that was a lot back in a time when most Pokemon
barely hit 90 HP let alone 100, so it was a guaranteed
KO on two Pokemon. Yes, back then Selfdestruct meant,
"I'm blowing myself up to low you up," since Golem dealt
100 damage to himself as well. Never mind the additional
20 damage on each Benched Pokemon that could, with the
right set-up, net a person 2 or 3 Prizes.
Nowadays, Explosion and Selfdestruct haven't really
improved much, and the power creep would pretty much
neutralize the effects of even 40 spread damage on each
Benched Pokemon for a chance at trading KOs. To be fair,
Golem's Explosion does 150 damage, which can KO most any
other Stage 2 in today's format. Not quite enough for
most Pokemon-EX, but with some Muscle Band and a little
Hypnotoxic Laser, Golem can deal just enough to KO most
of them with an attack that guarantees he'll get KO'd
next turn since Explosion deals 100 damage to him
(unless you combine him with Protection Cube rather than
Muscle Band).
Of course, with the upcoming Furious Fists expansion,
Fighting-types are going to get a lot of good support
for their damage-mashing ways, and Golem could be a
potential heavy-hitter within those decks. Suddenly that
60 damage becomes 80 with a chance to add 30 for 110, or
that 150 damage dealing Explosion not only goes up to
170 but then Golem doesn't get KO'd by the next attack!!
(okay, I've been looking at the next set's Japanese
list, I'm just excited.)
Golem is a decent casual player, but it might be that
in the near future, he could be a contender. He could be
somebody! He could dominate the world!
...or maybe he'll just sink into the depths of the
earth again, who knows.
Rating
Modified: 2.5/5 (he'll need a little support for KOs,
but at least he can deal damage)
Limited: 4/5 (combined with Protection Cube, Golem's
a massive damage-dealer for no recoil!)
Arora Notealus: I dunno why, but those yellow-glowing
rocks remind me of the ki blasts from the Dragonball
series. Maybe Golem will have a Mega-Evo that turns him
into solid gold and become a legendary Super Saiyan!
Weekend Thoughts: It's only another month till
Furious Fists are unleashed on our faces! What sets in
the past have you been excited for and why?
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