One Hit KO

I recently made a deal in which I received a bunch of HeartGold SoulSilver Promo Hoothoot and Promo Noctowl. These are numbered HGSS05 and HGSS06. I bring this up, because I want to know what they are worth (in various ways).

The simple “worth” is monetary worth, so I want to know if anyone is looking for these cards. We’re not running this site to help sell cards, but I feel no shame in using it to advertise some of my haves. I just figure it’s a side-benefit of running a site. You may have caught on that I am selling some of the cards I just obtained, so here is my eBay listing.

Thanks, I sold ’em all.

I quickly looked at other auctions, and I tried to price mine below them all. That’s my only sense of what they are worth at the moment. If you’re interested in them, please feel free to buy them from me on eBay. I promise, I won’t mind. If, however, you’d like to make some other sort of offer (like a trade, an offer to buy a bunch at a time, or whatever), leave a comment here, and I will be able to email you.

Now, let’s move on to the part that most people will be interested in. What is this card worth to a deckbuilder?

Hoothoot: On the face of it, HGSS05 isn’t that great. In my opinion, the best way to compare him is to his Diamond & Pearl and GS brethren. They all have the same HP, so that’s a wash. The DP and GS versions both have a Hypnosis attack for one colorless that puts the defender to sleep. The promo version’s single colorless attack does 10 with no sleepiness. The DP Hoothoot can do 30 for two, but it’s flippy. The GS can tackle for 20 with two. The real difference, I think, is in the weakness, because they are all -20 resistant to fighting and have a single retreat. The GS weaknesses, as you should know by now, are all X2, so the DP version wins here with only +10 to lightning. The only big difference left is that HGSS05 can not be asleep. Please comment if you have any good use for his Poke Body.

Noctowl: I’m not going to go into all the details comparing the brethren here, because I think that the main issue here are the Poke Powers. DP Noctowl doesn’t have a Poke Power, but the regular GS and promo GS versions both do. The regular one lets you draw a card each turn. It is good, but that’s not what we’re here to discuss. With Poke Powers, it’s not as much about which version is better, but how you can exploit each one for a specific situation or deck.

HGSS06 Promo Noctowl’s Poke Power is called “Night Scope.” It lets you look at your opponent’s hand once each turn. Well, it’s nice to see the opponent’s hand, but is it really worth running a Stage-1 and its basic just to do it? Generally, I’d say “NO!,” but, as is with many Powers/Bodies, it can be used in the right combos. I’ll suggest one, and I’d love to hear your comments about others that you might think useful.

Oh wait, I already told you in the title. There goes my surprise ending, Promo Noctowl + Gengar SF. Gengar’s Poltergeist attack does 30 times the number of trainer, supporter, and stadium cards in your opponent’s hand. On one hand, you can just do the attack, see the opponent’s hand, and do the damage. It’ll do the same whether or not you knew the total before-hand or not, but the advantage that Noctowl gives you is that you get to know ahead of time. That way you can decide if you even want to do Poltergeist or some other attack. Gengar’s Shadow Room is also a good attack, so Noctowl gives you all the data ahead of time so you can properly decide which to do. It also gives you the option of attacking with another Pokemon, if you don’t like what you see in the hand.

Of course, adding Noctowl to any deck has its costs. There’s deck space, bench space, and risk vs. reward costs to consider. You might even consider the monetary cost associated with obtaining the cards (as mentioned in the part where I shamelessly plugged my eBay auction). So, what’s it worth to you? Have you got some combo figured out that offsets Noctowl’s coats?

Category: Card Discussion | Tags: Heart Gold Soul Silver, Hoothoot, Noctowl, Promo