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As the end of the year approaches
and we start to realize that we've only got so many
review days left (ya know, cause of breaks and
what-not), it's about time we got down to organizing
what we believe to be the best cards release throughout
the year. And BOY was this a big year! From the advent
of Ancient Traits to the rise of even bigger monsters
with each passing set and even the banning of a card
that we never thought we'd see banned, all thanks in
part to ANOTHER really powerful card, this year has seen
some of the most powerful cards in the entire history of
the Pokemon TCG!
And to start off our list of
undeniable powerhouses, we've got...Jirachi?
Not even a Jirachi from a set! This
is a promo card!! What gives?! WHO SENT ME THIS LIST?!?!
Haha, just kidding, I know exactly
who sent me this list :P
Anywho, Jirachi's inclusion may
seem a bit unusual - after all, promo cards are so
rarely incorporated onto Top 10 lists, but don't be
fooled! Jirachi is more powerful than he looks!...well,
sorta. I mean, 60 HP is pretty much bottom of the barrel
nowadays in terms of non-evolving non-EX Basic Pokemon,
and Dream Dance at a 2-for-20 blow that puts BOTH
players' Pokemon to Sleep isn't that exciting a
build-up, so what's up with Jirachi's inclusion?
As you might have guessed by now,
it's actually Jirachi's first attack that has garnered
so much attention in such a short timespan - after all,
Jirachi only came out recently with special Blister
Packs of BREAKThrough, alongside a reprint of Hawlucha
from Fighting Fists, a Sableye with the Theta Stop
Ancient Trait, and a Celebi that had a 50/50 shot at
completely denying your opponent the Prize for beating
it! And yet none of these other cards have seen the kind
of approval that Jirachi has, thanks again to its first
attack: Stardust.
Stardust is a paltry attack at a
measly 1-for-10, but never be fooled by an attack's
damage output! After all, some of the most dangerous
attacks in the game come not from the damage they deal
but the effects they provide! And on that front,
Stardust delivers. With any 1 Energy attached to Jirachi,
he can use Stardust to discard a Special Energy attached
to the Active Pokemon.
...yeah, that seems pretty stellar,
hehehe-wait, HE CAN'T BE HIT IF YOU DO?!
Yes, Jirachi mimics the Safeguard-esque
effects of Suicune and Sigilyph in the same manner that
Regice's Resistance Blizzard does, but oh how different
it is! Not only is it cheaper than Regice's attack, but
it does FAR MORE than just cover your bases against
Pokemon-EX! It gets rid of a key card that your
opponent's using - a card which becomes almost
impossible to get back!
...come to think of it, I don't
even think there are any cards in Standard that can get
Special Energies back...
Needless to say, Jirachi stands out
as an incredible underrated staple in any deck that
could run it. The only main weakness to the strategy is
that, aside from forcing a switch through Lysandre, if
Jirachi doesn't discard a Special Energy, the rest of
Stardust doesn't go off. So while this won't usually
work against decks like Primal Kyogre-EX or, to a lesser
extent, M Tyranitar-EX or M Manectric-EX builds, this
attack will do wonders against M Rayquaza-EX and even
Night March style decks!
Will Jirachi see more play in other
decks? Possibly, though he's no Shaymin-EX. But for a
promo card to come so far, I'd say that's as good a sign
as any.
Rating
Standard: 3/5 (super tiny little
Basic gets amazing Energy discard with equally tiny
damage...in a way, Jirachi is strangely balanced to just
kinda stall out an opponent, and if they're not careful,
they could run out of Energy to use period!)
Expanded: 3/5 (even so, the way to
counter Jirachi is as simple as its effect, and 10
damage is going to be paltry in the face of EX with over
200 HP)
Limited: N/A (still every little
bit counts, and besides, HE'S NOT IN A SET, YOU FOOLS)
Arora Notealus: Speaking of
Stardust, I think that was a good movie. Am I right?
Yeah? No? Eh...
Next Time: TIME TO GO TURBO
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