Raikou-GX – Pokemon Card Review – COTD

aroramage

And you thought we were done with Raikou. Hah! We’ll never be done with Raikou! Never!! NEVER!!!

…okay we just have this one card.

Raikou-GX is a Basic Lightning Pokemon, 170 HP, with a Fighting Weakness, a Metal Resistance, and a Retreat Cost of 1. His first attack is Dig Claws…it’s boring, it’s 2-for-20 vanilla, and that’s all I’ve got to say about that. Thunder is a 4-for-150 move with a 50/50 chance of dealing 50 damage to Raikou-GX, and then Thunderous Rain costs the same amount (though it all has to be Lightning) and deals 100 damage to every opposing Pokemon with Energy attached to them.

Understandably, there are some similarities between Raikou-GX and Raikou-EX from yesterday – same HP, same Weakness and Retreat Cost, and a move that deals 100 damage wherever you’d like…sort of. Raikou-EX’s Volt Bolt attack was able to hit anything while Raikou-GX only hits Pokemon with Energy, and while EX does cost 1 less Energy, GX can use its move without discarding Energy, albeit once-per-game. Aside from that, though, I’m just not as impressed with the rest of his moves. Dig Claws hardly does anything, and Thunder’s at its best when you don’t accidentally electrocute yourself.

Overall, Raikou-GX is a nice collectible promo card, but I don’t think it’s worth it outside of its GX Attack…and that’s not really a good thing to have as a Pokemon-GX.

Rating

Standard: 2/5 (Thunder’s his best non-GX move)

Expanded: 2/5 (though the spread from Thunderous Rain can be good, it’s dependent on your opponent)

Limited: N/A (and of course, no using promos in Limited)

Arora Notealus: It’s interesting to see how some updates to a card can change their impact on the game while others end up being…less than satisfactory. It’s a sign of how things change, how the game has evolved since the last time an idea like this was good; another great example of this would be the Call to Family attack, which was popular in the early EX era but has since faded out due to the first turn attack clause getting rewritten. In this case, it’s more of a matter of circumstance – the attack itself is improved, but it costs more Energy and can only get used once per game.

Side Review: Spiritomb – again, nothing really comes to mind for Spiritomb to see play. Lightless World is the main appeal, and even with the power of putting 2 Supporters back in your hand, you can’t make real use of them until your next turn – when it might be too late. Terrify doing no damage doesn’t help either, and since it only works on Basic Pokemon, you’re just stalling out your opponent…for no reason? Maybe it’s cause you’re busy powering up your Raikou-GX?

Weekend Thought: What did you think of this week’s cards? Are you excited for the premiere of Infinity War tonight? I know I am! In fact come to think of it, would Raikou be like the Thor of the Pokemon version of the Avengers? Who would be the Avengers of Pokemon? Who would be the insurmountable opponents that they face? And would any of this week’s cards appear in your Avengers-themed deck? Or would they see play in any deck of yours? Just food for thought!

Vince

So after looking at Raikou-EX as our Throwback Thursdays, it time to look at another Raikou card, this time is Raikou-GX! This is actually a promo card (SM Promo 121) and not in a set. It is a Basic Lightning type with 170 HP, weak to Fighting, resists Metal, and a retreat cost of one. Raikou-GX sports three attacks. Dig Claws does a paltry 30 damage for CC. Thunder does 150 for LLCC and a coin flip. If tails, this Pokémon does 50 damage to itself! Then, Thunderous Rain GX costs LLLL and does 100 damage to each of your opponent’s Pokemon that has any energy attached to it.

Unlike yesterday’s card, I cannot think of a strategy for this card. I mean, Thunder hits hard, but not hard enough to reach important numbers. With a Choice Band, it raises to 180, enough to KO some Basic GXs. Thunderous Rain should be reserved for a situation where each of your opponent’s Pokémon has any energy attached to it. This could range between zero to 600 damage.

Standard: 1.5/5
Expanded: 1.5/5
Limited: N/A

21times
PokeDeck
Central

Raikou GX (SM 121) snuck into the meta last week as a promo card.  I actually came up against it in one match where I was playing Glaceon Greninja… and pretty much had my way with it.  My opponent paired it with Electrode and Victini, so you can guess that they were swimming uphill against me.  

I would guess that Raikou might be best paired with Elixirs, Order Pads, and Puzzles to accelerate its huge attack costs.  You could also try Magnezone (although that hasn’t ever worked previously), maybe Vikavolt, there are plenty of options to try with Raikou GX.  Throw in some Aether Paradises and Fighting Fury Belts, and it might actually be competitive, as long as it’s not going up against a Fighting deck.  And Fighting gets a WHOLE lot of love in Forbidden Light.

Rating

Standard: 3.0 out of 5

Conclusion

I’ll be a little optimistic about Raikou.  It’s  not going to win a major tournament, but it could win you some matches on PTCGO.