aroramage |
Alright, so here's the deal with
Tyrantrum-EX here.
1) You're taking 190 damage from
his Dragon Impact no matter what.
2) Despotic Fang is the reason for
that, since it prevents any effects on the opponent's
Active Pokemon from affecting the damage.
3) No, Despotic Fang itself isn't
protected from getting negated by things like Garbotoxin
or Silent Lab
4) You are losing 3 Energy from
using Dragon Impact
5) The fastest Energy engine to use
would be with Bronzong Metal Links, and even then thanks
to all the Energy you're losing, Tyrantrum-EX isn't
worth running - and yes, that's including things like
Double Dragon Energy
On the plus side, you're
practically guaranteed to KO any non-Mega non-Wailord-EX
Pokemon out there! Even stuff like Suicune and Regice
can't block this thanks to Despotic Fang, though again
it can get negated by some cards and Abilities. Could
make for a quick surprise if you've got three Bronzong
in play and a Switch ready to roll, but otherwise,
Tyrantrum-EX isn't as ridiculously powerful as one might
expect.
Rating
Standard: 2/5 (a powerful expensive
attack and a moderately useful Ability that combo
together to make a super-slow OHKO-er that's okay at
best.
Expanded: 2/5 (very niche and very
nice)
Limited: N/A (this was a promo
after all)
Arora Notealus: KIIIIIIIIING
OOOOOOOOOOOF THE JUNGLLLLLLLLLLLE
...what? I got nothing.
Next Time: DRAGON DRAGON IT'S
A...dragon?
|
Otaku |
Time
for Tyrantrum-EX (XY: Black Star Promos
XY70)! This is a Dragon-Type which means there
isn’t a lot of Type-related support for it in Standard,
but at least it has access to the potent Double
Dragon Energy; in Expanded it also has access to
Gabite (BW: Dragons Exalted 89/124) and
Altaria (BW: Dragons Exalted 84/124; BW:
Black Star Promos BW48; BW: Boundaries Crossed
152/149), the latter of which may matter. There is
actually is one anti-Dragon-Type card in the form of
Bisharp (BW: Plasma Freeze 73/116) and if you
didn’t recall its existence don’t worry; like many such
cards it is pretty easily forgotten because it is an
underwhelming card. In terms of relationships,
currently the only things Weak to Dragon-Types are
BW-era Dragon-Types, though nothing currently is
Resistant to them either. The Dragon-Type lacks
any Trainer based support entirely, so combined with
hitting so few cards’ Weakness, the Type leaves much to
be desired, though individual examples of Dragon-Types
have proven quite formidable. If I didn’t know the
direction that this card was going, I might lament it
not being a Fighting-Type (to represent its video game
status as being a Rock/Dragon dual-Type), as that is
probably the best supported Type in the game spoiler
alert, I don’t think it would do Tyrantrum-EX
much good.
Being a
Pokémon-EX agrees with Tyrantrum-EX; you’ll have
the usual issues (gives up an extra Prize when KOed,
can’t access certain pieces of support, has to deal with
anti-Pokémon-EX cards) but the promise of better
attributes and effects includes a change in Stage.
Other Tyrantrum are Stage 1 cards that Evolve
from a Restored Pokémon, the hardest Stage to get into
play and one no game mechanic specifically recognizes as
being distinct from other Stage 1 cards: Tyrantrum-EX
gets to be a Basic, which is (and has been) the best
Stage a Pokémon can be for much of the game’s history.
Basics are easy to play, easy to run and not only enjoy
a better natural synergy with some game mechanics but
there are even a few Stage based support cards for Basic
Pokémon! Yes, I’m using an exclamation point even
though I say it often and most know of it; it is just so
baffling for the designers to have done such a thing. Tyrantrum-EX
also cashes in on being a Pokémon-EX through its 180 HP,
a 30 HP increase over its “regular” Stage 1 counterpart;
while not a huge bump it is the higher of the two common
HP scores for Basic Pokémon-EX. This is enough to
often survive a hit and is pretty good for the current
metagame.
No
Weakness is the best Weakness but Fairy-Type Weakness
may be a close second, at least for now.
Fairy-Type decks aren’t as prominent as others, nor do
you see a lot of Fairy-Type attackers being splashed
into decks built around other Types. When you look
at the good Fairy-Type attackers, Weakness will mostly
save them requiring a better set-up for a OHKO, but
without said Weakness you would still be in OHKO range.
Still there are a few that will go from 2HKO to OHKO, so
be careful. The lack of Resistance is the worst,
but also so common that it isn’t worth worrying about;
the Resistance mechanic seems relatively balanced, at
least compared to Weakness, which means even when
present it isn’t all that significant. Could have
been interesting though given its Type combination means
could justify two forms of Resistance not currently
available in the modern card pool (Colorless and Fire)
or the one that seems to have been phased out in the XY
sets (Lightning). Tyrantrum-EX has a chunky
Retreat Cost of [CCC]; high enough to be at least
awkward to pay and usually painful to recover from
having paid, pack something else to help get it out of
the Active slot or to endure being up front.
Tyrantrum-EX
has an Ability alongside a single attack. The
former is “Despotic Fang”, a nice name that plays upon
the Pokémon’s name and nature and actually somewhat
fitting for the effect: when Tyrantrum-EX attacks
something, it gets to ignore any effects upon that
Pokémon. Resistance is not an effect
(unless that has been revised), but again nothing is
Dragon Resistant so you’ll need some Unlimited Format
shenanigans for that to even matter. It won’t help
you against effects done to Tyrantrum-EX or
effects that just don’t alter damage done, either.
So Confusion will still cause Tyrantrum-EX to do
no damage to the opponent’s Active while placing three
damage counters on itself for a failed check and
Focus Sash will still save something from being
OHKOed because it doesn’t reduce the damage done but
stops the KO process from following through before
restoring the equipped Pokémon to 10 HP. Also be
aware of the rare scenario when an effect on the
opponent’s Active would boost damage done to it; that is
ignored as well. “Dragon Impact” is the name of the
attack and it requires [FMMC] to use, plus its effect
text states you discard three Energy attached to itself.
This buys 190 damage which is a solid deal, in fact good
enough to make the name meaningful instead of “It is a
Dragon-Type so just add ‘Dragon’ to another attack
name!”. Not as good as “Black Ballista” on
Black Kyurem-EX (BW: Plasma Storm 95/135),
but only 10 less, and Despotic Fang is a far better
compliment than a filler “Slash” attack.
When I
first saw this card, I was inclined to write it off.
After a second glance, it looked like it might have some
potential. Actual tournament results proved me
wrong… it has a lot of potential! Tyrantrum-EX,
supported by Bronzong (XY: Phantom Forces
61/119) and Giratina-EX (XY: Ancient Origins
57/98) was piloted to first place in the Vancouver, BC
Autumn Regional Championship by Jonathan Paranada, with
Paul Johnson using it to snag a sixth place finish.
A single event - even at this level - doesn’t prove a
deck will remain a viable strategy for the long run, but
when we look at how this deck work, it will require a
significant metagame shift to keep it from at least
remaining viable. Bronzong is used in several
decks for Energy acceleration; what this deck enjoys is
alternating between an overwhelming attack with
Tyrantrum-EX or a still strong 2HKO that includes
control elements with Giratina-EX. While
the two Dragons rely on Double Dragon Energy (Tyrantrum-EX
has a lone basic Fighting Energy as a fallback
option), familiar faces Cobalion-EX and
Aegislash-EX are there to help pick up the slack.
As for why Tyrantrum-EX can be overwhelming when
it only hits for 190, besides ignoring effects that
would otherwise prevent damage, the solid and simple
combination of Muscle Band and Faded Town
means a Mega Evolution needs 240 HP to survive (and if
Faded Town remains in play and the damage is not
dealt with, it will still be KO'd during the next
between turns phase).
This
looks like a great deck for Expanded or Standard; the
latter requires adjustments for cards lost but the core
strategy remains both intact and relevant. You
can’t enjoy Tyrantrum-EX in Limited play, but if
it were to be reprinted in a set it would not be
a good +39 candidate; sure you’d score a OHKO whenever
you attacked but except against other decks running a
single Basic and 39 other non-Basic Pokémon cards, that
wouldn’t be good enough. Four turns before you can
attack once with a three turn “recharging” period from
your discards means a lot of small attacks would add up
fast and overwhelm Tyrantrum-EX against the
typical Limited deck.
Ratings
Standard:
4/5
Expanded:
4/5
Limited:
N/A
Summary:
For an attacker that needs support, I am scoring
Tyrantrum-EX quite highly, but even though it’s
an Energy hog that cost goes to just high enough damage,
an effect that deals with counters before they happen
and a very solid frame. Now if we can only get it
reprinted as a secret rare so it will be in its “shiny”
colors. Blue is close enough to purple, yesssss.
…
Beast
Wars
Megatron, not Barney. Though now that I
think of it, both are probably fun ways to defeat your
opponent.
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