One Hit KO

Hello to the Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs again, and I am once again Pikking three cards.  One card that is a staple, one card that I feel is underrated, and another from a new or unreleased set.

Sorry for the lateness of this post. Final exams mixed with an illness and my moving to forced me to miss a post last week.  But, this week I am back to give you a little insight into the Pokemon TCG. As always, feel free to post your thoughts, comments, or reviews of the cards in the comment box.

The Staple- Dusknoir Diamond and Pearl

Description-Dusknoir of course is a stage 2 Pokemon, it has 120 HP, a 3 retreat cost, a +30 weakness to Dark, and a -20 resistance to Normal.  These stats aren’t too impressive, but aren’t that bad either.  120 HP is decent and the resistance helps against Flygon and Garchomp C  But that retreat cost is pretty high.  It has 1 attack called “Hard Feelings.”  This attack for PPC places five damage counters on the defending Pokemon and one more for each prize your opponent has taken.  “Hard Feelings” is nothing special, its damage output will only average around 70, it is very expensive, and the attack can be nullified if your opponent attaches an Unown g to the defending Pokemon.  So the stats can only be described as decent and the attack is only useable as a desperation attack, so why is it so good?  The answer is that this Pokemon has a game changing Poke-Power.  Its called “Dark Palm.”  If your opponent has more than 4 benched Pokemon, this Poke-Power lets you choose one of them and all cards attached to it and have your opponent shuffle it in your opponent’s deck.

Comments-  Dusknoir DP has been some what of a staple since it was released about three years ago.  Two years ago all the best decks were playing Dusknoir to disrupt the opponent.  It has lost some of its momentum in the last year as the format has become faster, but it is still a prevalent card in a lot of decks.

Today a lot of decks like Jumpluff, Gengar, and Gyarados rely on a large bench.  Dusknoir DP can be used as a tech to deal with these decks and slow them down.  It can be debilitating to lose your Claydol or primary attacker midway through the game.  “Dark Palm” can be just what you need to turn the game around.

8/10-  Its a great tech card, but it can be hard to establish a benched stage 2 Pokemon.  Some decks like LuxChomp can also play around this card by limiting their bench.

The Underdog- Poke-Radar LA

Description– Poke-Radar is a simple trainer.  All the user does is plays the card, then looks at the top five cards of his/her decks, and chooses as many Pokemon there as he/she wants and put it into his/her hand.

Comments– I love Poke-Radar.  Some people hate it and group it with Potion and Switch as unplayable cards.  But, I contend that every deck should have room for one Poke-Radar.  It lets you grab a hand full of Pokemon and it’s a trainer so you can still use a Supporter that turn.  Yes sometimes you will not reveal any Pokemon in the top 5, but more times than not, multiple Pokemon appear.

There are a couple of drawbacks of this card.  Some decks, like SP decks, don’t run a lot of Pokemon and use other trainers and supporters to get the Pokemon they need.  Also the card is not as useful in the first turn or two, and is very useless late game when you are all set up.

8.5/10-  Like I said before I just love this card.  Most of the times that I have used it in games I have revealed useful cards.

The Young Gun- Judge

Description– Judge is a supporter card from the new Unleashed set that instructs both players to shuffle their hands into their deck and draw 4 cards.  In this way it is a supporter version of Giratina’s Poke-Power “Let-Loose.”

Comments– This card is the latest in the long line of hand disrupting Supporter cards.  Other similar cards include Team Galactics Mars, Team Galactics Wager, Cyrus’s Initiative, and Lookers Investigation.  This card is unlike the others in the fact that it makes both players shuffle their entire hand into their deck and only draw 4 cards.  It can be used to kill your opponents set up, but at times it could help your opponenet.  It can be especially efficient in SP decks, because Cyrus’s Conspiracy can search out a Supporter from your deck. 

But, as I mentioned before this effect can be used by playing Giratina Pt, and saving your supporter for something else.  It is more advantageous to use “Let Loose” and then use a card like Cyrus’s Initiative or Team Galatics Mars.  But, Judge can be used later in the game when you have filled your bench, while “Let Loose” can not.   Im sure that the really good players will find room in their deck for this card.  This card can also fit into a Sablelock or an Empoleon Deck rather easily.

6.5/10- Giratina does this effect a little better, but this card should fit into the popular Sablelock deck pretty easily.  It also is an excellent card to upset Judges at a tournament.  Just say the name of the card loud when you play it and you’ll have 2 or 3 judges scrambling to your table for no reason, haha.

Well thanks for listening to my ramblings, and I look forward to your reactions.

Category: Card Discussion | Tags: Dusknoir DP, Judge UL, Poke Radar LA