Froslass – Unified Minds Pokemon Review

Vince

A YouTuber under the name ZapdosTCG went to Worlds with his rogue Froslass/Lucario-GX. He scored 5-3, which didn’t make him proceed to Day 2. That got me wondering, is this really anti-meta, or is this trying to get some recognition that this may be a thing? Considering that the format Worlds 2019 used was Ultra Prism onwards, there wasn’t much to work with, though it’s nice to see it in action.

Well, it’s not because of Icy Wind, which does 40 damage for one energy and induces Asleep, though that might be somewhat useful. No, it must have to do with Spiteful Sigh, which also costs one energy to use. This lets you put up to 7 damage counters to itself so that you get to deal 20 times the damage for each damage counter you placed on this Pokémon. This would be a maximum of 140 damage before factoring in boosts. Against Fire Pokemon and some Fighting Pokémon whose weak to water, that’ll be 280 damage! It’s somewhat risky to use, though that probably doesn’t matter to Froslass as its going to be KO anyway with 80 HP, so why not self damage Froslass for maximum input?

And this deck uses THREE different energy types: Water, Psychic, and Fighting energies! Although it would be extremely inconsistent, Viridian Forest can fetch for any basic energy. And you have other attackers – which is hard for me to tell which ones, I can only clearly see Aerodactyl-GX – that can supplement Froslass/Lucario. Anyhow, even if that rogue deck didn’t make it to day two, it almost made it, but it’s a mystery to wonder how playable Froslass would be elsewhere.

Standard: 2/5

Expanded: 2/5

Limited: 3/5

Otaku

Note: My review for yesterday is finally up.  Sorry about the delay!

Our third card this week is Froslass (SM – Unified Minds 38/236) and we’re starting with her effects. She has two attacks, each priced at [W] to use; reasonable to splash into a deck. “Spiteful Sigh” has you place up to seven damage counters on Froslass herself, then does 20 damage per damage counter you just placed to your opponent’s Active. “Icy Wind” does 40 and leaves your opponent’s Active Asleep. Icy Wind is a decent fallback option, but Spiteful Sigh is why we’re looking at Froslass. Up to 140 damage for one Energy is enough to 2HKO most targets, at least before protective effects, healing, etc. If you can exploit Weakness, you can OHKO something with up to 280 HP.

Froslass is a Stage 1 [W] Type Pokémon. Being a [W] Type is good right now, but because the [R] Type is riding high and almost all of them are [W] Weak. [W] support (for both Pokémon and Energy) still exists while nothing is [W] Resistan nor are there any purely anti-[W] effects, and that could help, but it is Weakness exploitation that matters most for Froslass. Being a Basic wouldn’t have made sense but – all other aspects of the card being the same – would have made Froslass better but we can still work with her being a Stage 1. Whether you want to run a fleshed-out line, a minimal line, or even just run her as TecH via Ditto {*], many decks can accommodate at least one of these.

Froslass has 80 HP, so a full-power Spiteful sigh leaves it with only 10 HP; in other words, Froslass is going for a “glass cannon” approach to battle. The good news is that this means the [M] Weakness should rarely matter, and the lack of Resistance even less significant than it usually proves. Should Froslass end up Active at the wrong time, her Retreat Cost of [C] is easy to pay, and if you can spare Escape Board or U-Turn Board, it becomes free! Froslass (normally) Evolves from Snorunt, and Snorunt can also Evolve into Glalie. There’s only one Standard-legal Snorunt and no Glalie, and even in Expanded, none of the Snorunt, Glalie, or other versions of Froslass are likely worth it. Froslass (Generations RC8/RC32) and Froslass (BW – Plasma Blast 23/101) do come close, though, thanks to their Abilities.

Froslass is one of those cards we’re looking at because it has already seen a little success. No tournament-winning decks built around it, but we see some decks using it. James Cox managed a 15th-place finish with a Naganadel Box deck that also incorporated Froslass, to smash Reshiram & Charizard-GX (and other [R]) decks at the Melbourne, AU SPE, while Xander Pero won the second DC Open Flight event with his Naganadel Box deck. Two Snorunt, one Froslass, and the option of using Ditto {*} if you have to, but there are other Stage 1 cards in the deck wanting Ditto {*}.

Possibly, we might be able to exploit Froslass as part of a Hustle Belt deck… but I’m not sure about the timing and resolution of effects. For example, if you go to attack with Froslass and put enough damage counters on it to lower its HP to 40 or less, Blizzard Town will not stop the attack; this is because the HP drops after you would check for Blizzard Town’s effect.  However, I believe you would still gain the bonus damage from Hustle Belt. The bad news is you’re going to almost certainly going to lose Froslass (and all attached cards) next turn, giving up a Prize as well… but you could hit for up to 200 damage in doing so. Speaking of which, there is a ruling that states you can place up to the full seven damage counters even if that is more than enough for Froslass to self-KO. Which matters because – if I am understanding it correctly – you don’t check for KO’s until the attack resolves completely e.g. you still get to do damage.

Expanded offers more support options, including the possibility of spamming Life Dew so that you’re not actually giving up a Prize with Froslass. You also gain access to more useful Pokémon you could promote if Froslass does self-KO. As usual, you also see other decks you could run using similar resources, and many, many counters. In the Limited Format, Icy Wind should be quite handy, and most decks should welcome Froslass even though it means running Snorunt and some basic Water Energy alongside Froslass. Spiteful Sigh is still useful here as well, but save it for a “finishing blow” scenario.

Ratings

Standard: 3/5

Expanded: 3/5

Limited: 4/5

Froslass is all about countering Big Fire decks at the moment, but she might have something to offer in Hustle Belt decks.  I don’t like that I’m uncertain on the rulings for our Card of the Day yet again, but it is what it is.