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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

aroramage

...alright, I'm gonna level with you guys.  M Charizard-EX? And M Rayquaza-EX? The ones with 300 damaging attacks? They don't even compare - COMPARE - to what M Tyranitar-EX can do.  Mewtwo-EX, Yveltal-EX, these are just paltry amounts compared to the utter devastation M Tyranitar-EX. And don't even think about bringing Genesect-EX with Megalo Cannon or even Keldeo-EX to the field, they're not even gonna come close.  Listen up: M Tyranitar-EX is a BEAST. A BEAST I TELL YA!! There are few Pokemon you will run into that will deal ANYWHERE as much damage as this guy right here, and after this review, you're going to BEG for Pokemon like Suicune to stick around - cause they're gonna be the few, the proud, the brave ones that will be able to stand against the tyranny of M Tyranitar-EX.  First off, let's cover that ungodly attack he's got - there's a reason it's called "Destroyer King." THIS ATTACK DESTROYS ANYTHING IN ITS PATH!!...well, sorta. It's a 4-for-110 damaging move, which all things considered is...well, pretty meh. But then you read the fine print. Your eyes bulge as you get further down into the text. You realize just what kind of monstrosity M Tyranitar-EX has become.  He deals more damage based on how much damage is on the Active Pokemon already.  How much more?  60.  You read that right. 60 ADDITIONAL POINTS OF DAMAGE...FOR EVERY DAMAGE COUNTER ALREADY THERE.  At one measly damage counter, M Tyranitar-EX hits for 170 damage - which, with that one counter, is enough to KO most Pokemon-EX. Add a single one more - 20 damage total - and M Tyranitar-EX wollops foes at 230 DAMAGE!! And may Arceus have mercy on your soul if you have three damage counters - that's 290 damage raining down upon you, and last I checked, the highest HP score to date was Wailord-EX at 250.  It takes a mere 3 damage counters to KO anything in the game. And let's face it, there are PLENTY of ways to get damage counters out and about.  Sure you could go for extremely complicated methods like trying to run Primal Kyogre-EX alongside M Tyranitar-EX, but that's far too clunky and reckless. No, you need better, faster, swifter Pokemon that won't suffer from his wrath - Pokemon that can aid in throwing damage counters on Pokemon with ease! Enter the Crobat line-up from Phantom Forces, which can either send a resounding wave of damage counters across the board or hit 3 damage counters - that magic number - on ANY Pokemon. After that, they're just a Lysandre away from total annihilation.  Now that might not be enough in and of itself - maybe you can't evolve those Crobat just yet. How about stuff like Team Magma's Secret Base? It's a risky maneuver, but if you can play it early on and win out in the Stadium Wars, your opponent will be taking 20 damage automatically without even doing anything but playing a Pokemon (cause let's face it, no one's running Team Magma Pokemon anyway - so let's destroy them with ease!!). Course, it could come back to hurt you too, so be careful of that.  There is one other unique thing about M Tyranitar-EX here that could make him scarier than anything we've seen before with Megas, and that would be the inclusion of an Ancient Trait. Yeah, that's right - there's a Mega Evo that's not a Primal or M Rayquaza-EX with an Ancient Trait!! Oh, and it's a good one too. Theta Double lets M Tyranitar-EX brandish not one but TWO Tools on him! That means you can have your Spirit Link - and you'll be able to enjoy your Muscle Band too.  M Tyranitar-EX. Theta Double. Destroyer King. Frack.  Rating  Standard: 4/5 (his attack cost is high without Dark support, but his power is real! There will be M Tyranitar-EX around, and there will be total destruction in his wake)  Expanded: 4.5/5 (add in that Dark support, and there may just be no way of stopping M Tyranitar-EX...without some Fighting power to take him down)  Limited: 5/5 (you get the pieces, and you WILL play M Tyranitar-EX. No questions asked)  Arora Notealus: There is no escape. Anything in his path will be torn down, tread upon by his mighty girth before falling behind, a trail of destruction left in his wake. He will not stop until something just as powerful rises up and challenges him - or worse, something even more terrifying arrives. He is...GODZILL-I mean, uh, MEGA TYRANITAR!!  E-X!!  Next Time: And now for something completely different: plants.

Otaku

Time for our 13th place finisher, M Tyranitar-EX (XY: Ancient Origins 43/98, 92/98).  This is a Dark-Type Mega Evolution, which means that on the Type front it enjoys some decent support in Standard (like Shadow Circle) that becomes better in Expanded (where it regains Dark Patch); the Type also contains some formidable attackers like Yveltal-EX that help bolster it.  In terms of Weakness, Darkness Weakness is found on some Psychic-Types while Darkness Resistance is so far universal on Fairy-Types.  There are also some “anti-Darkness” cards but like most Type specific counter cards that work by explicitly doing something to the Type being countered… they aren’t really any good.  In the end, it is good to be a Darkness-Type, but it probably isn’t as good as some of the other Types like my usual reference point, the Fighting-Type.  Being a Mega Evolution can be challenging; it basically has all the drawbacks of being a Stage 1 (extra time and space) and of being a Pokémon-EX (gives up an extra Prize when KOed, can’t use certain forms of support, target of certain “counter-cards”), plus the Mega Evolution rule that ends your turn when you Mega Evolve and as of this set, Faded City, a Stadium that places two damage counters on Mega Evolutions between turns but they’ve had Mega Turbo, which provides Energy acceleration just for Mega Evolutions.  Being a Mega Evolution usually means better attributes and/or effects, but until we started getting shortcuts like Spirit Link cards, most couldn’t overcome the turn ending rule from Mega Evolving.  M Tyranitar-EX has 240 HP, difficult (but not impossible) to OHKO and only 10 less than the the card with the current highest printed HP (Wailord-EX).  Fighting-Types have an edge though as they can exploit Weakness when attacking M Tyranitar-EX, and Fighting-Types are known for hitting hard for low Energy through stacking bonuses, at least since XY: Furious Fists.  Unlike many Pokémon, M Tyranitar-EX enjoys Resistance, specifically to Psychic-Types; -20 damage isn’t huge but especially with so much HP it can be quite useful.  The massive four Energy Retreat Cost is pricey; you’ll need to include something to deal with it in your deck.  M Tyranitar-EX has an Ancient Trait, Θ Double, allowing it to sport two Pokémon Tools and not just one.  While lacking the raw “oomph” of something like Δ Evolution but still good.  Like all Mega Evolutions so far, M Tyranitar-EX has only one attack: “Destroyer King” requires [DDCC] to hit for each damage counter on your opponent’s Active Pokémon.  This is a bit underwhelming against anything with full HP but almost nothing with three or more damage counters on it could survive: the exceptions are those with some sort of defensive buff, be it preventing/reducing damage taken, done or increasing HP.  So underkill versus overkill most of the time, with the question being how pricey is the latter?  Tyranitar-EX (XY: Ancient Origins 42/98, 91/98) is a Basic Darkness-Type Pokémon-EX with 180 HP, Fighting Weakness, Psychic Resistance, Retreat Cost [CCCC] and two attacks: “Hammer In” for [DCC] to hit for 60 or “Break Ground” for [DDCC] to hit the opponent’s Active for 130 and each of your own Benched Pokémon for 10.  This is pretty much a filler Basic Pokémon-EX; not totally worthless but “Hammer In” is either overpriced or underpowered while Break Ground needs some buffs to get into OHKO range… and for four Energy plus combos, a OHKO is what you need to bring.  You also will want Tyranitar Spirit Link: no surprise that avoiding the Mega Evolution Rule shutting down your turn is a huge benefit; it is nice that thanks to Θ Double after you Mega Evolve you can toss a second, still useful Pokémon Tool onto your now M Tyranitar-EX.  There are two main things to worry about for a M Tyranitar-EX deck: Energy acceleration and spreading damage counters.  For the former you’ve got Dark Patch in Expanded and for either Standard or Expanded you’ve got Yveltal (XY 78/146; XY: Black Star Promos XY06).  For the latter you’ve got some decisions to make.  I don’t expect it to be a common choice but Spinda (XY: Primal Clash 115/160) hits all of your opponent’s Pokémon for 10 damage at a cost of just [C] with its “Uproar” attack.  You could try Forretress (XY: Flashfire 60/106) which can place a damage counter on all of your opponent’s Pokémon when you Evolve something into it from hand, through its “Thorn Tempest” Ability.  Then the last major option popping into my head are the tag team of Golbat (XY: Phantom Forces 32/119) and Crobat (33/119), well established for placing damage counters via their Abilities, “Sneaky Bite” and “Surprise Bite” (respectively) which also trigger when you Evolve into them from hand.  Instead of a massive spread you get two damage counters or three damage counters (again, respectively) placed one the opposing Pokémon of your choice.  Though slower, their attacks also can help with this in a pinch as Golbat has “Swoop Across” for [C] which like Uproar does 10 damage to each of your opponent’s Pokémon while Crobat can do 30 for [C] via “Skill Dive”.  There are ups and downs to any of the approaches: damage to the Bench can be blocked easier than damage counters, Abilities can be shut down but attacks obviously require you to actually burn an attack on them and potentially add a turn to the combo. Taken all together, this is a pretty significant combo to pull off, but wait there's more; you can use cards like Rocky Helmet (now and Expanded only option) and Dangerous Energy in the hopes that something with full HP or at least fewer damage counters than you need for Destroyer King to take a shot at M Tyranitar-EX and prep for a OHKO the next turn.  Setting up can take a bit of time, but the end results are impressive.  I’m still not completely sold on this for Standard play; lots of “moving pieces” that can go wrong and when it goes well, you’ve burned resources on overkill.  I would think Dark Patch would be a big help here except you’ll already have Mega Turbo which is basically a better “Mega Evolution only” option.  I suppose the two together would be nice.  For Limited play, you’ll need at least one other high rarity pull (Tyranitar-EX) to run M Tyranitar-EX and without Tyranitar Spirit Link you can’t afford to give up a turn in a +39 deck.  In a less gimmicky build where you’ve got other Basics besides Tyranitar-EX, it is a welcome addition even if you have to give up a turn… most games.  Ratings  Standard: 3.35/4  Expanded: 3.4/5  Limited: 4/5  Summary: M Tyranitar-EX is quite a beast, but be careful not to get stuck “overkilling” targets and wasting resources.  A somewhat complicated set-up leaves you with an attacker that can OHKO almost anything, and if you time it well you’ll easily pull ahead in Prizes.  This was actually my 14th place pick and coming in one above that seems at least mostly merited.  For the record, it actually tied in terms of position with yesterday’s and tomorrow’s picks!