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Spooky scary gothic gals, man.
That's pretty much Hex Maniacs in a nutshell, am I
right?
And MAN is Hex Maniac scary! No,
I'm not just talking about her creeping up on that Poke
Ball, I mean her effect is just downright scary! Sure,
you sacrifice the Supporter for the turn, but she's
exactly the kind of card that decks that wouldn't run
Silent Lab or Wobbuffet or Garbodor would LOVE to have!
Similar to all of these cards, Hex
Maniac has the Ability to...well, shut down Abilities.
Now whereas each of these has a specific limitation to
their powers - Garbodor needs a Tool attached, Wobbuffet
has to be Active and doesn't affect Psychic-types, and
Silent Lab only works on Basic Pokemon - Hex Maniac
doesn't have a limitation. She just shuts down all
Abilities of all Pokemon in the player's hands, on their
field, and in the discard pile until the end of your
opponent's next turn!
...ah, right. Till the end of the
opponent's next turn.
In a sense, Hex Maniac does have
her own set of limitations - she prevents you from
playing any other Supporters for the turn and only lasts
till your next turn. But that's certainly more than long
enough to make use of her - perhaps the most obvious use
of Hex Maniac is as a counter to Safeguard Pokemon like
Suicune, Sigilyph, or Pyroar to some degree so your
massive EX can get rid of the threat with ease, but
she's also got a few other good uses. For instance, keep
in mind your opponent doesn't get to use Shaymin-EX to
draw more cards during their next turn, they can't cycle
Energy from their discard pile through Bronzong or
Eelektrik or out from their hand via Blastoise or Emboar,
and it'll keep your Pokemon safe from combos like
Dusknoir, Crobat, and Flygon's damage-dealing and
rearranging Abilities!
Of course, most decks these days
tend to run around on Abilities, so it can be
detrimental to use Hex Maniac willy-nilly - you might
have to accelerate Energy or draw cards or all sorts of
other stuff! So the best way to use a Hex Maniac on any
given turn is to use any Abilities you have right away -
whether that's Dusknoir's rearranging damage to set-up
for a KO or even Hoopa-EX's powers to grab a Shaymin-EX
and draw cards to combo like crazy - and then when
you're done and ready, THEN drop that Hex Maniac!
Course, you still can't play
Sycaper or any other Supporter during that turn, but
hey, for that one turn you've got - and the next likely
crippled turn your opponent's got - Hex Maniac may end
up saving your life rather than taking it!
Rating
Standard: 4/5 (when played
correctly and at the right time, Hex Maniac can be a
devastating card to the opponent, ensuring a solid KO
and even crippling their next turn to make things
difficult for a counterattack)
Expanded: 4/5 (of course, once Hex
Maniac's done and over with...well, everything's gonna
go back online)
Limited: 4/5 (while there are only
so many Pokemon with Abilities in this set, those that
do have POWERFUL effects!)
Arora Notealus: So everyone has
probably at least heard of the mysterious ghost girl in
that one building in Lumiose City, right? The one with
the Hex Maniac sprite and everything? Seriously, how
creepy is that gal anyway? Why is she there?! What's her
purpose!! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HER!!!
Next Time: And now for the new lead
on Grass decks!
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