One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a special edition of Pikk Three.  This round of card reviews will be different, and frankly a little weird.  All three of the cards I am reviewing are cards that are not in the format, but I will review them as if they were.

I decided to do this because for the last couple sets, TPCI have been giving us a lot of re-prints of older cards.  Now in the format we have cards like Bill, Double Colorless Energy, and Pokemon Reversal.  We also have Pokemon cards that have qualities that are similar to earlier cards like Feraligatr Prime, Reuniclus, and the upcoming Archeops card.  TPCI has been giving us a lot of cards that we have seen before, so I thought what would happen if we get some of the more interesting cards from the past.

Before we get into the card reviews I have a reminder for you.  This coming Monday, Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich starts off Guest Writer Week at www.onehitko.com.  That means that for the next week we will have new authors writing articles for the site.  It will be a great week of great writers giving us a lot of different ideas.  Guest Writer week will lead us into our Worlds Reactions, which will lead us into our Emerging Powers coverage.  So the dog days of summer are over, and the www.onehitko.com coverage is just heating up.

Remember for these reviews I will assume that these cards will be entering the format, however THESE CARDS ARE NOT LEGAL.  I’m just reviewing them for fun.

Card #1 Lass from Base Set

Description– Lass was a trainer from the base set that let each player reveal their hand, and force each player to shuffle their trainers back in to their hand.  The challenge with this card coming in to the current format, if it ever does, would be the difference between items and supporters.  Back in the base set days there was no such thing as supporters, items were just a little stronger.  If this card did come to the format, there would have to be errata or a compendium update to rule whether Lass would require you to shuffle just item cards in your deck, or if it would also take away supporters.

Review– Of course the playability of this card depends on if it takes away supporters our not.  If it does, it would be an awesome card.  The perfect pair for Lass would be Slowking Cl.  You could make sure that your opponent had no supporters or items in his/her hand, and then make sure they don’t draw any with Slowking’s “Second Sight” Poke-Power.  It would be a great disruption card, as good or better than Judge. 

The card would be incredibly disruptive since nearly all decks rely on supporters for draw.  The best card in the game today is perhaps Professor Juniper, while PONT and Judge are widely played.  Without these cards, only decks with Ninetales would be able to draw.  Yanmega Prime decks would also be out of luck because it will be very hard to equal your hand size without Junk Arm, Judge, and Copycat.

If this card would not shuffle in Supporters, the card would still be semi-playable, but not nearly as good.  It would still be very disruptive, taking away cards like Junk Arm, Pokemon Catcher, and Switch; but not as great as it would be if it would take away supporters.

Rating–9/10 if it would take away Supporters, 7/10 if it only took away Items.  This card has the potential to be a staple in the format if it did come out.  It is so disruptive that this card would help usher in some of the best disruption decks we have seen in a while.

Card #2 Pidgeot from Fire Red and Leaf Green

Description– Pidgeot was a 100 HP stage 2 Pokemon.  It had free retreat and a weakness to lightning.  It’s attack, “Clutch” did 40 damage for CC and prevented retreat on the following turn.  It’s Poke-Power, “Quick Search” let you search your deck for 1 card and then shuffle your deck after.  You could only use one “Quick Search” Power each turn.

Review– There is no need to say that Pidgeot was a great card back in the day, and was used in a lot of the best decks.  The ability to get any card from your deck is amazing in any  format.  It would probably be a staple in any format it was stuck in to.

The current format does not have Broken Time Space or a favorable Rare Candy rule, but this card would still be awesome.  It is well worth a 2-1-2 line in every deck with 2 rare candies. The ability to get any card you need would give you an awesome edge over a deck that did not have Pidgeot.  Plus, Pidgeot has free retreat, which is great in a format with Pokemon Catcher.

The free retreat means that your opponent cannot bring up Pidgeot and stall.  They could still pull it up and knock it out, 100 HP is not a lot.  If this card was not a straight re-print, and instead had the “Quick Search” power on a different card, the HP would probably be around 120, which isn’t terrible but still OHKO able by Reshiram and Zekrom.  So there are drawbacks to this card, but the Poke-Power is so good that you can live with them.

Rating–9.5/10- It is tough to get a stage 2 out, but this card is worth it.  If it did ever get re-printed, I would be all for it.

Card #3-Broken Ground Gym from Neo Destiny 

Description– This was a stadium card.  Remember kids back in the day when we had stadium cards, you know those trainer type things that always stayed in play? I jest, but stadium cards today stink compared to what they were previously.  This specific card added one to the retreat cost of each basic and baby Pokemon.

Review– This card doesn’t seem that great, but it would be a good counter to the current format.  Starters like Cleffa, Manaphy, and Stantler will be much worse with this card in play.  This card would hurt the consistency of a lot of decks if it could eliminate starters.  It could also hurt decks like Zekrom, Reshiram, and any more basic Pokemon that are used as main attackers.  It would not kill these decks, but it sure would not help them.

Rating–7.5/10-  It would be hard to get this card early in the game when you need it, but if you can lock your opponent’s starter in place it would be worth a couple slots in most decks.

So what do you guys think of this type of article?  I don’t want to make this article a regular occurrence cause it could be confusing, but I think it could be fun looking at some older cards.  Please leave your thoughts about these cards and this type of article in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Category: Pikks Three | Tags: