aroramage |
Oh now HERE we go, a BREAK
Evolution to rival the likes of Greninja BREAK!!
...okay, maybe not that crazy, but
Arcanine BREAK does bring to his branch something to
make them far more usable than just standing on the
sidelines. For starters, his attack is not only usable -
it's useful! Turbo Flame only does 2-for-80, but it
allows you to attach 2 Basic Energy cards onto a Benched
Pokemon you control. That can be useful to fuel up a
Volcanion's attacks or another Arcanine BREAK's Turbo
Flame to be used! Combined with something like
Volcanion-EX's own Ability, and the two can work really
well together.
That being said, what Arcanine
BREAK can do may be useful, but only his previous
evolutions can make him truly worth the effort. In
Standard, this includes the very basic Arcanine (BKP)
and Arcanine (EVO). The Evolutions print at least has
Burning Road, which can draw out Fire Energy from
anything already on the Bench to itself when it goes
Active, which combines nicely with Arcanine BREAK's
Turbo Flame set-up into Scorching Breath...albeit he
can't attack on his next turn. There's also another
Arcanine set to come out in Sun & Moon, and that's the
one that seems the most promising to me with BREAK. In
Expanded, you've got the two Arcanines from Next
Destinies, with (12) hanging onto the attack deterrent
Burning Mane Ability and (13) coming in about as basic
as the BREAKpoint version.
Ultimately, Arcanine BREAK may see
a little niche play in some Volcanion decks, but his
usage is entirely optional compared with the non-EX
Volcanion's own Power Heater being more efficient with
less Energy but less damage. He might also end up in his
own separate deck, though I'm not sure what deck one
would want an effective Stage 2 Energy recycler. If
there's a use for Arcanine BREAK, it's out there, but
until that time, he'll be niche at best.
Rating
Standard: 2.5/5 (he may be a slower
more powerful Volcanion with Power Heater)
Expanded: 2.5/5 (but Turbo Flame is
an attack that shouldn't be overlooked just because it's
on a BREAK Evo)
Limited: N/A (such is the nature of
promos though)
Arora Notealus: Arcanine BREAK will
surely find his way into some deck, but if he doesn't,
then it won't be a big deal. His Turbo Flame is
definitely a useful attack, and I'd hate to see it end
up wasting away in a trade binder being unused, but
efficiency is the name of the game, and it's hard to be
a Stage 2 with Energy cycling for 2 Energy competing
against a Basic with Energy cycling for 1 Energy.
Weekend Thought: Any thoughts on
this week's cards? Think I was a bit too harsh on some
cards? Not harsh enough? Think there's a use for some of
these cards in some deck out there? Lemme know your
thoughts as we start taking a look into the next
evolution of the card game...no, not BREAKing into it,
that's pretty much over and done with as far as I can
tell.
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Otaku |
We conclude this week with Arcanine BREAK (XY:
Black Star Promos XY180). Being a BREAK
Evolution is slightly complicated; they are not
the same Stage as the Pokémon from which they BREAK
Evolved, so only effects that reference Evolutions in
general or that specifically cite BREAK Evolutions apply
to them. Sun & Moon officially releases today,
and though it will be a bit longer before it is
tournament legal, it confirms what we already suspected;
no BREAK Evolution cards are present so it is highly
unlikely we’ll get anything more that references them.
The only two cards that do so far are both BREAK
Evolution counters: Giratina (XY: Black Star
Promos XY184) and Starmie BREAK. The
former negates Abilities found on BREAK Evolutions,
which includes those inherited from their prior Stage.
The latter simply has a single Energy attack that hits
all of the other player’s BREAK Evolution cards for 100
damage. Not the worst things to deal with, but
they are out there and Giratina at least is
seeing some current usage at TecH to counter more
prominent BREAK Evolutions like Carbink BREAK,
Greninja BREAK, and Trevenant BREAK. Arcanine
BREAK Evolves from the Stage 1 Arcanine, so
it behaves a lot like a Stage 2 without access to
some of their better tricks, like Rare Candy.
As a Fire Type, Arcanine BREAK enjoys some decent
tricks; the Fire Type has some powerful plays but they
are reserved for Basic Pokémon (Volcanion-EX) or
Expanded play (Blacksmith). You can still
include some solid supporting (but not Type specific)
Pokémon, as well as support built around helping with
[R] Energy; an example of both is Volcanion
(XY: Black Star Promos XY145; XY: Steam Siege
25/114). Most anti-Fire Type effects can safely be
ignored because they aren’t particularly good and few
people run them, but the exception is Parallel City;
this two-sided Stadium has an effect that reduces the
damage done by Fire Type (as well as Grass and Water
Type) Pokémon by 20, though the main reason it is run is
for the other side’s effect, capping a player’s
Bench size at three. That still means a player
shrink his or her own Bench (sometimes desirable) to
shave damage equivalent to Resistance off of your
attacks. Speaking of Resistance, nothing is
naturally Fire Resistant (a small but welcome bonus),
while most Grass and nearly all Metal Types are Fire
Weak. Arcanine BREAK has 160 HP, enough to have
a good shot at surviving a hit that isn’t striking
Weakness. Its Weakness will come from the
Arcanine from which it Evolves, but all are Water
Weak so we’ll address it now. Water Weakness can
be pretty dangerous in either Expanded or Standard play,
with Expanded having more ways for it to wreck your
deck. No Arcanine has Resistance either, so
neither will Arcanine BREAK; a bit of a shame as
it could have made a difference with the HP, but -20
damage would only matter in close outcomes, anyway, so
it isn’t a bit loss.
Arcanine BREAK
inherits any attacks or Abilities from the Arcanine
that precedes it. Those we’ll address when I look
at each Arcanine, so we’ll move onto its own
effect, the attack “Turbo Flame”. For [RC] this
attack does 80 damage and attaches two Basic Energy
cards from your discard pile to one of your Benched
Pokémon. The Energy acceleration from the discard
is great, but the damage is a bit low, falling short of
the amount needed to 2HKO most non-Fire Weak Pokémon-EX.
I don’t want to need a Giovanni’s Scheme just to
score a OHKO against Fire Weak Pokémon-EX at the typical
170 to 180 HP range, and with a Fighting Fury Belt
they could be like Mega Evolutions and still fall
outside of OHKO range. Anything not Fire
Weak can take a hit even with a damage buff. I
stress this specifically because M Manectric-EX
had the near identical attack “Turbo Bolt”, which cost
[LC] to do 110 while still attaching two basic Energy
from the discard pile. Though as a Mega Evolution
it was giving up an extra Prize and would have to deal
with both Pokémon-EX and Mega Evolution counters,
Manectric-EX ended up being so strong that it had a
deck on its own, and decks focused on either dominated
past Standard formats and are still competitive in
Expanded play. The BREAK Evolution of a Stage 2 is
actually slower out the gate than a Mega Evolution
(unless the Mega lacks its Spirit Link card), so
Arcanine BREAK really needed to do at least 10
more damage (preferably 40 more, so that it could score
solid 2HKO’s on its own).
For Arcanine, we have four options: BW: Next
Destinies 12/99, BW: Next Destinies 13/99,
XY: BREAKpoint 11/122, and XY: Evolutions
18/108. All of them are Fire Type Stage 1 Pokémon
with Water Weakness and no Resistance, as mentioned
above. Some have a Retreat Cost of [CC] while
others have [CCC]; I’ll specify which when I cover them
individually, but even the lower cost is too much to pay
for in the long run. Turbo Flame can help a little
with recovering discarded Energy, but especially if you
use an Arcanine with the larger Retreat Cost,
you’ll want to include something to assist with changing
out your Active. So first up for individual
specifics is BW: Next Destinies 12/99, only legal
for Expanded play. It has a decent 130 HP, around
the point where I find Pokémon start being more likely
to survive a hit than be OHKO’d, and the chunkier
Retreat Cost of [CCC]. This is one of the two
blessed with an Ability; while Arcanine is
Active, “Blazing Mane” triggers whenever it is damaged
by an attack from an opponent’s Pokémon (even KO’d by
the attack). This actually is more impressive
now thanks to the revision to Burn damage: now a
Burned Pokémon has two damage counters placed on it
between turns, then flips a coin to see if Burn goes
away on its own. The attack is much more dated;
for [RRC] “Fire Spin” does 100 damage and requires a
coin flip; “tails” means you discard two attached Energy
from Arcanine itself, while “heads”... just means
the attack does its damage without the drawback.
If we get something that combos off the Burn, this might
have a reason to be used, but probably not. Baby
Mario and virusyosh reviewed it
here.
Next up is the set-mate of the previous Arcanine,
XY: Next Destinies 13/99, meaning it is also an
Expanded-only option. This one only has 120 HP,
meaning it shifts to being a tiny bit more likely to be
OHKO’d than survive. It still has the full [CCC]
Retreat Cost, and two attacks instead of an Ability and
attack combo. “Crunch” costs [RC] and does 30 damage,
plus a coin flip to try and discard Energy from the
Defending Pokémon. For [RCC] it does 70 damage,
mediocre but not entirely worthless in general, but
pointless for Arcanine BREAK unless it would need
to avoid attaching Energy from the discard pile for some
obscure reason. Again, Baby Mario and virusyosh
review it
here.
XY: BREAKpoint 11/122 is our first Standard
legal option, but has the lowest HP of the bunch at 110;
it isn’t fragile, but most decks should take it down in
one hit outside of hiccups. The Retreat Cost is
[CC], and again we have two attacks available. “Flop”
costs [C] and does 30 while [RRC] pays for
“Flamethrower” to do 90 damage, and discard an Energy
from Arcanine itself. Yet again, these
attacks aren’t awful, but they are definitely
underpowered by competitive standards, and will seldom
help Arcanine BREAK. We didn’t review this
one unless I had a Ctrl+F fail.
That just leaves the other Standard-legal option, XY:
Evolutions 18/108. It borrows the artwork from
the original Arcanine (Base Set 23/102;
Base Set 2 33/130; Legendary Collection
36/110) but not much else. 130 HP with Retreat Cost
[CC], it has the Ability “Burning Road” and the attack
“Scorching Breath”. The Ability can be used once
during your turn, before your attack. Normally
that last bit would go without saying, but this one is
actually a triggered Ability, activating when this
Arcanine goes from your Bench to the Active
position. If you use Burning Road at that point,
you may move any number of [R] Energy attached to your
other Pokémon to it. As it does not specify
basic Energy but does affect Energy already in
play, that means Special Energy which provide [R] are
fair game, and this can help it power up fairy quickly,
provided you have means of making it Active during
your turn (KO’s between turns or on your opponent’s
turn wouldn’t work) and sufficient Energy in play to
make a difference. You’ll probably want at least
two units of [R] Energy available and preferably more,
because Scorching Breath needs [RRRC]. The hefty
cost yields 150 damage, which might be a bit low given
the Energy investment, and definitely is low
given the effect prevents Arcanine (“this
Pokémon”) from attacking during your next turn.
BREAK Evolving will remove that effect, and this is
the best choice for Arcanine BREAK, but it gives
a third reason to include assistance for changing out
your Active. We reviewed it
here,
where I mention Arcanine BREAK as well as a
possible future partner.
Growlithe
won’t be much help as none of the five available are
impressive, but a few do stand out. You can pick
from BW: Next Destinies 10/99, BW: Next
Destinies 10/99, BW: Legendary Treasures
RC4/RC25; XY: BREAKpoint 10/122, and XY:
Evolutions 17/108, all of which are Basic, Fire Type
Pokémon with 70 or 80 HP, Water Weakness, no Resistance,
Retreat Cost [CC] or [CCC], no Ability, and either one
or two attacks. BW: Next Destinies 10/99 is only
legal for Expanded play, has 80 HP with Retreat Cost
[CCC]. Slightly sturdier than some options, but
not enough to guarantee it is the version to use, with
the Retreat Cost strongly suggesting you should avoid
it. The first attack is “Stoke” and it is a weak
argument for using the card, costing [C] and having you
flip a coin to see if you may attach a [R] Energy from
the deck to Growlithe itself. For [RC]
Growlithe can use “Firebreathing” instead to do 10
damage plus flip a coin, with “heads” adding 20 to the
damage (for 30 total) while “tails” just means the base
10 is done. BW: Next Destinies 10/99 still has
80 HP but drops the Retreat Cost down to [CC] and the
attacks down to one; [RC] pays for “Combustion” which
does 20 damage. This is another card only legal
for Expanded play. BW: Legendary Treasures
RC4/RC25 is… adorable. It also has 80 HP with
Retreat Cost [CC], but goes back to having two attacks.
For [CC] it can use “Rest” to heal all damage from
itself, but this leaves it Asleep. For [RCC] it
can use “Lunge” to do 40 damage, but you have to flip a
coin and “heads” just means the attack works while
“tails” means it does nothing. Rest is about as
compelling as Stoke while Lunge is a waste, but we have
the better HP with the better Retreat; this might be the
go to for Expanded play.
The first of our Standard legal offerings is XY:
BREAKpoint 10/122, the first to have only 70 HP, but
still with Retreat Cost [CC] at least. Its attack
is “Bite” for [CC], doing 20. At least Bite is
affordable when you’re desperate to finish off something
nearly KO’d, but thankfully we have one other option for
Standard play. XY: Evolutions 17/108 is the
other Growlithe with 70 HP and Retreat Cost [CC],
and while its attacks are again underwhelming, they
aren’t totally without merit. “Hind Kick” costs [C] and
does 10, then sends Growlithe to the Bench; this
makes it more likely to survive to Evolve and helps set
up for Burning Road. “Flare” costs [RC] and does 20,
which is overpriced like most of these attacks, but at
least it doesn’t require a coin flip. In Standard
and possible Expanded play, use XY: Evolutions
17/108 even though it has 10 less HP; you never want to
attack with these, and on the Bench the 10 less HP means
even less, so as an insurance policy it is the best of
the bunch. So putting together Growlithe (XY:
Evolutions 17/108), Arcanine (XY:
Evolutions 18/108), and Arcanine BREAK, do we
get a competitive deck? Probably not, but it might
be functional.
The big issue is you just don’t have enough room for all
the Pokémon, Trainers, and Energy it would need to cover
its bases. Expanded makes this a bit easier as you
can use Keldeo-EX with Float Stone to
easily Bench, then Retreat back into Arcanine BREAK;
unless some Energy was discarded or you failed to attach
two basic Fire Energy with Turbo Flame, you
should have what you need to use Scorching Breath, and
if both attacks hit the same target, that’s 230 damage.
Muscle Band or Silver Bangle are options
here for an added damage buff, and you might have enough
room for a Vespiquen (XY: Ancient Origins
10/98) to handle most Water threats. You could
just use M Manectric-EX for a deck without
Burning Road and Scorching Breath, but more likely to
score 2HKO’s while attaching Energy, and proven to work
with a variety of partners… Basic Partners at that.
Standard has less direct competition, but now you’ll
need Zoroark (XY: BREAKthrough 91/162) to
replace Keldeo-EX, or else just replace the
entire line with Trainers to change out your Active. Zoroark
provides a useful alternate attacker, but again space is
limited. No Muscle Band or Silver Bangle
either, but we are slated to get a Tool that might
replace those, and until then you might try Bursting
Balloon.
I’ve run into an Arcanine BREAK deck once or
twice; it might be functional for Expanded and Standard
play, but probably not competitive. If you’ve got
the cards, though, feel free to give it a try.
Maybe the person using it (and myself in the analysis)
missed something, or maybe some future releases will
address the areas where the deck is lacking. Yet
again, I’m going to score a card the same in Standard
and Expanded, and yet again doesn’t mean they work out
exactly the same, but that the net positives and
negatives of the Expanded card pool result in an
approximately equal performance. Arcanine BREAK
is a promo so it cannot be used in Limited play, but if
it were surprisingly released in a set, it would be
solid; it is effectively a Stage 2, so it will take some
effort to run, but after that is it a pseudo-Stage 2
that can set up your next attacker and has good HP.
Ratings
Standard:
2.75/5
Expanded:
2.75/5
Limited:
N/A
Summary:
Arcanine BREAK looks like a near miss, which
actually is not bad for a BREAK Evolution. A bit
better damage, HP, or lower Stages and it might have
been a contender; two of those three and I believe it
would have been.
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