Regirock – XY Promo Pokemon Throwback Thursday

Vince

Ah, here’s another Throwback for you from the XY Series: Regirock (XY Promo 49). You can read an older review here. It’s not often we get to look at a bygone mechanic which lasted for just three expansions (Primal Clash, Roaring Skies, and Ancient Origins); Ancient Traits looks like Abilities, but they’re not! So far, nothing shuts down Ancient Traits, but neither support for those are there. Most of the time, cards with Ancient Traits gets promoted by making it one notch rather than regular Pokémon. Torchic with Omega Barrage is an Uncommon card instead of Common! Cards that are already Rare (like Sceptile or Swampert)…will stay as Rare. But enough about this mechanic, this is Regirock we’re talking about today.

Omega Barrier Ancient Trait states that if your opponent plays a Trainer card (excluding Tools and Stadiums), prevent all effects done to this Pokémon. For the most part, this means that most Items and all Supporters cannot affect it. During its time, it is safe from Lysandre (regardless of being Active or Bench) and Hypnotoxic Laser, just to name a few. It does not protect from opponent’s Abilities, so even if they can’t use a trainer card, they can use an ability for a similar effect, which still means Regirock can risk getting OHKOed and it’s investment wasted. At 110 HP, this must be one of the most bulkiest Omega Barrier users out there, because Eelectrike is way too frail at 50 HP. Perhaps one of the best uses for Regirock is to load up energies to itself, hence the investment, so that attacks who rely on energy on the field get to make a huge impact.

But that’s not what Regirock can only do….if it does make use of that Trait. Land Maker costs F and retrieves two Stadium cards from the discard pile onto your hand, so that you can eventually get to play them. Stone Edge is a terrible attack back then, and still is now, doing 80 for FFFC, plus 40 more if you flipped heads on a coin flip. Even with heads, this is still an expensive attack. I doubt Regirock would be an attacker like this, so looks like it’d be more suited to be on the bench with its Ancient Trait operating. Even then, this is not complete protection against other sources; it takes just a Lycanroc-GX with Midnight Eyes to ruin your investment and finish it off. Sure, it’s be pretty hard to obtain copies due to being a promo card, but it’s not something to worry or forget about either.

Ratings:

Standard: N/A (In it’s time, it’d be a 3/5.)

Expanded: 2.5/5 (In it’s time, it’d be a 3.25/5.)

Limited: N/A

Otaku

Hey, all.  A family crisis came up so if I get a full review posted, it will have to be much later.  Even this mini-review is late.  This Regirock is the star of its own deck in the Expanded Format, and saw a decent amount of play when it was Standard legal.  As recently as the Hartford, CT Regional Championship back on May 4th, a Regirock deck took 13th place!  Why?

The key factor is its Ancient Trait, Ω Barrier, which prevents your opponent’s Trainer cards other than Tools and Stadiums from affecting this Regirock.  This pervents stuff like Lysandre or Guzma from directly doing anything to Regirock, but also protects any Tools or Energy attached to Regirock.  Which brings forth many combos.  Decks that need to retain basic Energy in play can slap a copy of Exp. Share and soak in basic Energy in relative safety.  Not total safety, but enough.

Regirock is also a [F] Type Basic Pokémon, letting it take advantage of Strong Energy, Focus Sash, and Scramble Switch.  The deck used to be even stronger, due to Puzzle of Time, but has apparently adapted, as you can tell by Michal Catron’s list.  Between its role in supporting decks that need to keep basic Energy in play, and its own deck in particular, Regirock was and still is a very good card!

Ratings

Standard: N/A

Expanded: 3.5/5

Limited: N/A (promo)