aroramage |
Did you want Sky Field in the form
of a Pokemon?
Here's Sudowoodo.
Basically use him for Roadblock,
which restricts your opponent's Bench down to 4 Pokemon
instead of 5. It can be useful to limit their options or
else force them to discard a Pokemon if they have a lot
on the Bench, as well as limit the power of Pokemon like
M Gardevoir-EX, but right now, I don't know if the
Ability will be that powerful. It's hard to gauge it.
Rock Throw's 2-for-40 vanilla.
Bleck.
I don't think Sudowoodo will see
much play, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Rating
Standard: 2.5/5 (very niche use)
Expanded: 2/5 (but if Benched
Pokemon are a problem)
Limited: 3/5 (he can be a solution)
Arora Notealus: Sudowoodo speaks to
me and tells me to stop. He tells me I should quit
writing reviews at 4:30 in the morning...I'm not good at
listening, cause I can't speak Sudowoodese.
Next Time: DOUBLE POWER
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21times |
Sudowoodo
(Guardians Rising, 66/145) got a new incarnation
in the Guardians Rising expansion set.
It found significant popularity early on because
of its ability
Roadblock.
Roadblock
limits your opponent to only putting four Pokemon on
their bench.
It has seen some use in several top eight decks since it
has become Standard legal (Masters Division):
·
Seattle: 3
·
Birmingham: 3
·
Madison: 0
·
Indy: 1
How much of a difference does
it make? I’m
not sure, and I didn’t do any testing on it.
Theorymon would
dictate that it probably increases your win percentage
by some amount.
Certainly, it devastates
Mega Rayquaza EX (Roaring Skies, 76/108) and
Mega Gardevoir EX
(Steam Siege, 112/114), and it greatly limits
Decidueye GX (Sun
& Moon, 12/149) and
Volcanion EX (Steam
Siege, 26/114).
On the other hand, its two retreat cost makes it
a liability as a
Lysandre (Ancient Origins, 78/98) target
(meaning you need to add not just
Sudowoodo but
at least one or two switching cards as well), and it
adds no value as a potential attacker.
Granted, a number of top eight decks have
employed it, but more have not and done as well if not
better in most cases.
And how do you decide what to
take out of your deck if you choose to run it?
Plus, what if you only have six or eight basics?
Getting this guy stuck in the active in your
opening hand would immediately decrease your chances of
winning.
Roadblock
definitely has an upside – how much of an upside that
is, I just can’t tell you.
Rating
Standard: 2 out of 5
Conclusion
So what’s the answer here?
In my opinion – and again this is all Theorymon
because I’ve never teched it into a deck even once – it
does nothing against
Garbodor (Guardians
Rising, 51/145).
Whether its
Grampa, Espeon GX (Sun & Moon, 140/149), or any other Pokemon you
might want to pair with it,
Sudowoodo does
pretty much nothing to limit
Garb’s
effectiveness.
Maybe it might limit your opponent from playing
more than two Tapu
Lele GXs (Guardians Rising, 60/145) as you
could put two
Leles down and still have room for a
Garb on the
bench and its partner as well.
Therefore, as everything right now must first be
viewed through the prism of
Garbodor, I’m
giving Sudowoodo
a two out of five.
It can help against some really good decks – but
it’s a waste of a slot against the best card in the
format.
|
Otaku |
Sudowoodo
(SM: Guardians Rising 66/145) is a Fighting-Type
Basic Pokémon with 100 HP, Water Weakness, lack of
Resistance, Retreat Cost [CC], Ability, and one attack.
The only other currently legal Sudowoodo is
XY: BREAKpoint 67/122, which we reviewed
here,
so I may as well compare and contrast the two as we go.
Being a Fighting-Type could matter if you end up
attacking with Sudowoodo, as Fighting Weakness
tends to be somewhat common and it is a Type good
at stacking damage bonuses, but the big deal here might
be working with Brooklet Hill, especially
if it ends up being your opponent’s Stadium and not your
own. Speaking of
that Stadium,
hopefully my super late CotD for it is up by now
(I submitted it right before this one). Being a
Basic is the best, even if the designers try to
compensate with various anti-Basic card effects. 100 HP
is mediocre, as it is a probable OHKO for most decks,
and not a particularly strenuous one. The
previous Sudowoodo did it better by having 10
less HP; if the increase isn’t significant, might
as well be a legal Level Ball target. Water
Weakness can be slippery; one moment I think they’re on
the way out, and the next the Type is back in action.
Lack of Resistance is the worst, but so common (and
unlikely to matter with 100 HP and so many Types), it
probably won’t matter. The Retreat Cost of [CC]
does, though; while it is low enough you’ll probably be
able to pay it but high enough you’d rather not.
The Ability
“Roadblock” caps your opponent’s Bench-size at four
Pokémon, forcing them to discard down until they hit
that amount if they had more in play before Roadblock
went into effect. The wording means multiples are
redundant but also means it overrides effects
that would permit a larger Bench. So not only can
it counter a deck that wants a full Bench, even
if they are using Sky Field, it also could
be used with your own Sky Field to deny your
opponent the Stadium’s benefits! That’s
impressive, unlike the attack. Just remember,
while you leave your opponent with no space to Bench
Pokémon he or she needs, you might have to hold off if
they have something he or she wants to discard.
“Rock Throw” requires [FC] to do 40 damage. This
is filler, but it might be adequate filler; if you
need to attack with Sudowoodo in a Fighting
deck you can, and even deliver a solid hit with a
Strong Energy or two added to the mix. Sudowoodo
(XY: BREAKpoint 67/122) pales in comparison, as
all it has is “Watch and Learn”, an attack that also
costs [FC] and duplicates damage and effects of whatever
attack your opponent used the turn before. It
isn’t that Watch and Learn is bad, it is just trickier
to use than either Roadblock or Rock Throw, and could
really have used an Ability or even another attack;
after all, what happens if your opponent has an attack
that isn’t worth you copying?
Sudowoodo
(SM: Guardians Rising 66/145) is already showed
up in some of the top 8 decks from the various age
brackets at the North American International
Championship, but I’m not sure if they will stay
there. Several of the winning decks look like the
type that can deal with a four Pokémon Bench, Abilities,
or both. Still, it looks like a good, solid card
so long as we have Pokémon that feed off a big, Bench.
The same goes for Expanded play. A very nice pull
for Limited play, as it is a decently sized Basic, works
reasonably well in mixed company, and probably messes
with an opponent (if only just a little).
Ratings
Standard:
3.15/5
Expanded:
3.15/5
Limited:
4/5
Conclusion
Sudowoodo
is some nice TecH, and would score higher except
it is countering something that isn’t currently an issue
right now, plus you might prefer its slot go to
Parallel City instead. It eats up your
Stadium slot but your opponent is down to three
Bench slots or you can slightly nerf the damage
done by Fire-, Grass-, or Water-Type Pokémon. When
big Benches become important again, another nice thing
is that Sudowoodo can act as insurance for
Parallel City.
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