Otaku |
It looks kind of
like a Transformer, its makeup reminds me of Cell
(Dragon Ball Z), but its actual origin is supposed to
resemble Norse mythology? Must be our 15th place
finisher, Zygarde-EX (XY: Fate Collide
54/124; XY: Black Star Promos XY151)! So
for starters, this is obviously a Pokémon-EX; as we look
at what it has going for it, don’t forget it’s worth two
Prizes when KO’d, gets to deal with anti-Pokémon-EX
effects, and cannot make use of certain beneficial
effects due to this. Zygarde-EX is a Fighting
Type, which grants it access to the wonderful Strong
Energy, plus even more, proven Fighting Type support
in Expanded. There are Fighting Type counters, but
they usually aren’t worth it (which is good for
Zygarde-EX). Fighting Weakness is found on
many Colorless Types, most Darkness Types, and most
Lightning Types, at least before adjusting to what
typically sees competitive play. Fighting
Resistant is relatively common; this can be an issue if
you cannot stack enough bonuses to punch through it.
All in all though, being a Fighting Type is good for
Zygarde-EX. Being a Basic is the best; minimum
space to run, minimum time and effort to hit the field,
can be your opening Pokémon, and has a natural synergy
with certain effects (plus even the Basic Type has Stage
specific support!). You do have to deal with
counters for Basic Pokémon, but that is the only
drawback there.
Zygarde-EX
has 190 HP, the second highest for Basic Pokémon (Wailord-EX
holds the record at 250) and it’s quite nice. The
Grass Weakness can be dangerous, though it isn’t as
problematic as it was prior to or even shortly after
rotation. Lack of Resistance is typical; with this
card's stats (and effects) Resistance would have been
handy even though it just allows Zygarde-EX to
take 20 less damage in a particular matchup. The
Retreat Cost of [CCC] is chunky and it matters; while
Zygarde-EX shouldn’t be too big of a problem being
stuck up front (due to its attacks), if one does get
stranded, it will be expensive to retreat. Zygarde-EX
enjoys three attacks, instead of the usual two.
For [F] it can use “Land’s Pulse” for 20 damage, but the
attack does an extra 20 if you have a Stadium in play.
For [FC] Zygarde-EX can use “Cell Storm” to do 60
damage, plus heal 30 damage from itself. For [FFC]
Zygarde-EX can use “Land’s Wrath” to inflict 100
damage on the opponent’s Active. None of these
attacks are brilliant, but all are good or very good.
Even the healing effect on Cell Storm has proven useful,
even though normally healing effects built into attacks
just don’t do enough to matter. There is also
Power Memory, a Pokémon Tool exclusively for
Zygarde-EX; it allows Zygarde-EX to use the
attack of the same name, which costs [FFC] and does 200
damage, though it requires discarding three Energy from
Zygarde-EX. If Fighting Fury Belt
weren’t so great, I think Power Memory could
prove more useful, but as is it can be a nice surprise
to take down something big, in one hit, preferably
before Zygarde-EX itself is about to be KO’d
(rendering the Energy discard requirement
inconsequential).
We looked at
Zygarde-EX originally
here;
I expected quite a lot from this card, and it never
really delivered. It isn’t that Zygarde-EX
has never mattered to a competitive deck, it is just
that there haven’t been any stand out examples that have
dominated the format as someone (such as myself) was
expecting. Especially with set-mates Carbink
(XY: Fates Collide 49/124), Carbink (XY:
Fates Collide 50/124), Carbink BREAK, and
Regirock-EX, it seemed obvious we’d have a big, new
Fighting focused deck and no. Some Carbink
BREAK/Zygarde-EX decks and Zygarde-EX/Vileplume
(XY: Ancient Origins 3/98) decks have done decent
in organized play, but it’s not winning a lot of
tournaments. In fact the highest finish I found
with a quick look was second place, but I may
have missed something somewhere. This is still a
card worth having and experimenting with in both
Standard and Expanded play, and it’s a phenomenal pull
for Limited (where you can probably just run it with 39
non-Pokémon cards and win handily).
Ratings
Standard:
3.65/5
Expanded:
3.5/5
Limited:
5/5
Summary:
Zygarde-EX looked like it was going to be the new
top deck when it released, or at least one of them, but
instead it keeps clocking in near the bottom of the
competitive field. That being said, it still can
provide the muscle for a good, competitive deck.
Zygarde-EX
managed to earn four voting points, edging out
last Friday’s
16th place M Scizor-EX by just one point.
It tied tomorrow’s 14th place finisher. It only
showed up on one list, and 15th place seems a bit high,
but not grossly so.
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