Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
#3 Lucario EX
We have reviewed our third-place card before, back when
Pokémon previewed it in advance of the set. It’s worth
another look at though, as things have changed since
then, and this has affected the way the card is being
viewed by players.
On first look, many people thought this would be
the dominant
card for the start of the new season. A big HP EX with
fantastic Type support and three attacks that ranged
from the decent to the very good, it was sure to be the
focus of some powerful decks. But then a strange thing
happened, and Pokémon decided that that the rotation
would be Boundaries Crossed-on (instead of Plasma
Storm-on like most of us thought). This meant that,
contrary to expectations, Landorus
EX was sticking around for another year, and players
decided that its ridiculous
Hammerhead attack was a better recipient of all that
juicy new Fighting support. Hence,
Lucario EX was relegated from star of the show to
guest appearances (if that) in
Landorus/Big Basics centred decks (you know . . .
the ones people have been using for the last two years).
Personally, I think the card is now
under-rated,
if anything. Corkscrew Smash, backed up by Strong Energy
and Muscle Band, is one of the best attacks in the game:
capable of two-hit KOs on almost anything, while
delivering the holy grail of consistent draw through its
Bianca-esque effect. Recent
testing has shown me that the Mega is much better than I
thought initially too: it can easily sweep its way
through an opponent’s entire Field and doesn’t really
fear anything that is not named
Mewtwo EX.
Lucario
EX has a lot to offer the player who doesn’t just run
off back to their Landorus-shaped
comfort zone. It deserves more appreciation than it
seems to be getting at the moment.
Rating
Modified: 4.25 (solid attacks and in-built draw engine.
What more do people want?)
Expanded: 4.25 (all that, plus it
mullers Tynamos for
fun)
Limited: 5 (one of the best ‘+39 Energy’ EX cards that
there is)
|
aroramage |
Well well, are you at all
surprised? You might be, but these top 3 cards are all
well deserving of their spot, and considering what we
reviewed a few weeks ago, it shouldn't surprise anyone
that Lucario-EX is in the Top 3 of the Top 10!
So the big question is why number
3? Given the previous review (which I mostly stand by
save for bumping up Standard from a 4 to a 4.5 given
that I didn't take into account ye mighty Landorus),
there doesn't seem to be a reason for Lucario-EX to be
put only at #3, but without spoiling the rest of the
list, having Lucario-EX show up here isn't that
surprising in comparison. You can read my thoughts on
Lucario-EX here.
Lucario-EX has introduced a
powerful archetype that revolves around this Fighting
support, and his plans involve pumping up and
obliterating other Pokemon. He's a fantastic offensive
force, and if other decks are to survive, they're going
to have to figure a way around Lucario-EX's powerful
strikes!
Rating
Standard: 4.5/5 (Fighting decks are
super offensive now, and Lucario-EX tag-teams well with
Landorus and Landorus-EX to bring absolutely
devastation!)
Expanded: 4.5/5 (not much changes
aside from the number of Pokemon that could take Lucario-EX
out *coughcoughRayquazacoughcough*)
Limited: 5/5 (you know why)
Arora Notealus: You know it's
strangely appropriate that a Pokemon whose design is
based off of Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead, would
be reeking havoc soon enough. Granted, I don't imagine
Anubis running around using a Corkscrew Punch against
people, but who knows? The end of an era bringing about
a new one with Lucario-EX and the recent rotation is
also kinda oddly appropriate.
Next Time: Could another candidate
be #2?
|
Otaku |
We break into the top three of XY: Furious Fists
with Lucario-EX (XY: Furious Fists 54/111,
107/111). We actually took a look at this already as a
part of our “preview week”: it is interesting to see how
our expectations
then
versus now. I’ll run through the basics of the card
first as a precaution (it wouldn’t be the first time I
misread a card or the metagame), then we’ll tackle what
we’ve seen so far and anticipate to see in the near
future.
As expected, Fighting-Types are incredibly popular right
now thanks to the many potent support cards and new
Fighting-Type Pokémon. Fighting Weakness is still one
of the most common, found on the majority of printed
(though not necessarily played) Colorless-Type Pokémon,
with most Darkness- and Lightning-Type Pokémon suffering
it as well. Fighting Resistance is one of the most
common, but “No Resistance” is much more common and
Resistance is both easier to bypass and less potent than
Weakness, so in the end the Type is clearly a net
Advantage. Just as obvious, being a Basic Pokémon is
still the best, especially if Pyroar (XY:
Flashfire 20/106) isn’t big in your area: its pretty
hard to make needing to Evolution time and no additional
slots in the deck anything but the best.
Being a Pokémon-EX usually justifies a card having a
better HP score, Ability, and/or attack(s) than you
would see on the “regular” version of the same Pokémon…
and for Evolutions like Lucario in general, they get to
be printed as a Basic and not an Evolution! None of
these are guaranteed as inherent to the cards: after
all, during most of the BW-era I assumed that Pokémon-EX
had to be “legendary” Pokémon but that changed, and all
the other traits have also been missing for certain
cards. The only things guaranteed are giving up an
extra Prize, being unable to use certain existing cards
that explicitly state they are incompatible with
Pokémon-EX, and the many cards specifically designed to
counter Pokémon-EX. This card does clearly get the HP
benefit, as its got the maximum we’ve seen printed on a
Basic Pokémon-EX: 180. This is enough to be a hard OHKO
for most decks (the exceptions exploiting Weakness or
generally being good at OHKOs), but no HP is really safe
in this format. Without setting a new precedence, it is
as good as it gets.
Psychic Weakness isn’t the worst a card can have, but
its gone back to being a serious risk thanks largely to
cards like Lucario-EX. Mewtwo-EX and its
infamous X-Ball are a huge risk even for relatively
Energy efficient cards once Weakness gets factored in; a
Double Colorless Energy alone is good for a quick
80 points of damage. If the Defending Pokémon has an
Energy attached or Mewtwo-EX has a Muscle Band,
it hits that 100 points of damage that leads to a 2HKO…
for the bottom end of damage, that is quite nasty and it
pretty easily gets into an outright OHKO territory with
relatively minimal effort. Since Mewtwo-EX is
Psychic Weak and known for loading up on Energy, often
counters for it are still a serious threat for whatever
is vulnerable to Mewtwo-EX. The lack of
Resistance is a missed opportunity but not detrimental;
the Resistance mechanic is far more balanced than
Weakness in the TCG, but that sadly also makes it
largely immaterial. The Retreat Cost of two is not
really good or bad; you rarely ever want to discard
Energy to begin with, and it might get stuck from time
to time, but it often can be paid and most decks should
include workarounds.
Lucario-EX
brings is the first card in a few years to have a full
three attacks. Of course in the video games, Pokémon
can have up to four attacks plus an Ability, but for the
TCG this is kind of special. The Energy costs are well
done; [F], [FF] and [FFF] keeps the “big” attack from
being super easy to access, but it is fairly reasonable
and fits into a escalation pattern. For [F], Missile
Jab does decent damage, enough for all the damage
boosting options to build upon, and it ignores any pesky
Resistance you do encounter. Corkscrew Smash just needs
[FF] and scores a solid 60 points of damage with the
bonus of a Bianca style “draw until you have six
cards in hand” for its effect. This can help feed some
massive combos the next turn. Somersault Kick does a
slightly low (or perhaps just barely acceptable) 100 for
[FFF] and is the least impressive attack, but it is
still good to have when you do need raw damage.
Factoring in the many methods of boosting damage, like
Strong Energy and Muscle Band, plus the
other Fighting-Type support like Korrina, the
reason this card isn’t higher on the list is simple;
competition! The top two cards are just are already
proving even more influential, and between recent
additions like our number five pick of Landorus (XY:
Furious Fists 58/111) and (significantly more
important) the established powerhouse that is
Landorus-EX becoming even better after already
having an influential showing towards the end of the
previous format (let me stress again, before it
had access to the new Fighting-Type support!). Lucario-EX
is still being played, at least from my vantage point,
but its being used alongside Landorus-EX. That
is by no means a small accomplishment, but its important
to recognize.
Lucario-EX
has two things going for it with how it has been being
played. First, while its Psychic Weakness is dangerous,
it isn’t the Water-Type Weakness on Landorus-EX.
Psychic Weakness is not rare on Fighting-Types (in fact
it is the expected Weakness since video game
Fighting-Types have it!), but Lucario-EX is “the”
big Basic Pokémon with it, providing a definite niche.
This is further expanded not only by its raw
capabilities (it would be the headliner without
Landorus-EX in the format), but with the last
feature of the card I haven’t mentioned: M Lucario-EX!
As far as Mega Evolutions go, M Lucario-EX isn’t
a must run, but it is tempting, especially if you lack
another method for bypassing Intimidating Mane. M
Lucario-EX sports an additional 40 HP, which is
useful but like with most Mega Evolutions, doesn’t seem
like “enough” given all that goes into them. The attack
is pretty good, however; 140 for [FFF] is great and on
the unlikely chance you aren’t hitting for the OHKO, you
get to discard an Energy from the Defending Pokémon as
well. Without losing a turn to Mega Evolving it would
be an obvious finisher, but as is it still can be a
handy trick to consider running.
Expanded will likely (still working on theory here) see
Lucario-EX playing a similar role to what it
plays in Standard, but either against a wider variety of
decks or against whatever few decks somehow rise above
the best of the last two formats, the best of the
current format and then any decks that exist in Expanded
but never did before because the cards weren’t all
together before! For Limited, you should be running
this, and unless you have zero tolerance for risk, you
should be going for the “+39” build, running Lucario-EX
with 39 non-Basic Pokémon cards. XY: Furious Fists
does contain a multiple Psychic-Type Pokémon as well as
some Fighting Resistant Pokémon, but unless your
opponent has the “best” of either ready right away (or
can spam the lesser examples), you should quite rapidly
take four Prizes, long before your HP runs out. The
only other risk is, of course, an opponent that also has
a worthwhile +39 build.
Ratings
Standard:
4.25/5 - Yes, lower than when I initially saw it; its a
matter of there only being so much room for it with all
the new and older attackers (even big Basic attackers)
showing up in decks. While very potent, it still has
become a niche card, the other Fighting-Type
Pokémon-EX you run.
Expanded:
4/5 - As above, though I expect its effectiveness to be
further diluted with the larger card pool.
Limited:
5/5 - If you pull this, it should be in your deck (and
probably the only Basic Pokémon in your deck).
Summary:
The ‘mon who would be king! Lucario-EX is still
having a big impact, providing fast, reliable hits that
do decent damage with a solid bonus (at least for two
out of three), all on an impressive frame. If
Landorus-EX had rotated, this might have very well
become the standard bearer of the Standard format.
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