One Hit KO

Hello there to all members of Omar Nation. This is Pikkdogs here to Pikk three cards.  This weeks “Pikk Three” will  be a little bit different.  Instead of highlighting a popular card, an underused card, and a new card; I will instead review 3 cards that have the same theme.

This weeks theme is “Hand Refresh,” so if your looking for a card that can help your deck recover from bad hands hopefully you will find what you are looking for here.

Just for clarification a Hand Refreshing Pokemon is a Pokemon that has an attack that allows you to draw cards.  It is kind of like a starting Pokemon because it speeds your deck up, but it is mostly used towards the middle of the game, whereas a starter is used right away. A hand refresher also normally takes only 1 slot in your deck, where as a person normally runs 4 starting Pokemon.  Having a card that can refresh your hand is really important if you have a bad start, it is sometimes worth sacrificing a Pokemon.

Card #1 Chatot Md

Description– Chatot is basic normal type Pokemon with 60 HP.  He has free retreat, a +20 lightning weakness, and a fighting resistance. It has two attacks.  The first is called “Mimic”, this attack has no cost lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw as many cards as your opponent has.  Its second attack is called “Chatter,”  this attack does 20 damage and prevents your opponent from retreating for CC.

Analysis– Of all the hand refreshers in the format right now, there is no doubt that Chatot is the most popular.  He is most often found in SP and Jumpluff decks.  “Mimic” is a great attack that lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw a new hand with the same amount of cards as your opponent, which makes it like the supporter “Copycat.”

Its second attack is also of use.  20 damage for two energies doesn’t seem that exciting, but it also prevents your opponent from retreating.  It is most useful against Spiritomb AR, if your opponent promotes Spiritomb you can just Chatter Lock it, so it can’t retreat,  and then knock out the spiritomb with another Pokemon before time expires.

There are some draw backs to Chatot though.  One drawback is you don’t always want to shuffle your entire hand back into your deck.  The other drawback is that in a format without Claydol hand sizes are probably going to get smaller.  So drawing as many cards as your opponent has won’t be that great if your opponent only has two cards.

Rating: 7.5/10– All in all this common is an uncommonly good card.  Even though “Chatter” makes you shuffle all of your hand back into your deck, there are times when you don’t wish to do this, it is still a really good hand refresher.  Also this card is excellent for decks that don’t have anyone that has free retreat.

Card #2 Plusle SV

Description– Our next hand refresher is my favorite rabbit Pokemon that has a plus sign on its cheek, yes its Plusle.  It is a lightning type basic Pokemon with 60 HP.  Its has a 1 retreat cost, a +10 weakness to fighting, and a -20 resistance to metal.  Its first attack is called “Greedy Draw.”  This attack  is free and lets you draw one more card then your opponent has in his hand.  His second attack costs one lightning energy and does 10 damage and allows you to attach a lightning energy from your hand to a benched Pokemon.

Analysis– I think that Plusle Sv is my favorite Hand Refresher.  “Greedy Draw” lets you draw 1 more card than your opponent has, and you get to keep your hand.  In most cases there are at least 1 or 2 cards in you hand that you won’t mind holding on to, so this is a good thing.                                                     

I know there is one big drawback here, the 1 retreat cost.  If Plulse isn’t knocked out by your opponent you will have him stuck in the active spot next turn, this isn’t good.  But you can always use Unown Q’s Poke Power “Quick” to give Plulse free retreat, but this wastes one card in your 60 card deck.

Its second attack is also rather useless, unless you are running a lightning deck.

Final Rating: 7.5/10-  I love plusle for decks that either already use Unown Q or have extra room for Unown Q.  The only time in which I favor Chatot is in SP decks where deckspace is extremely limited.  Looking at the big picture, I think Plusle’s rewards out weigh the risks, but I sure would love free retreat on this guy.

Card #3- Manaphy UL

Description– Manphy is a newcomer to the Hand Refresh game, coming aboard in the last set.  It is probably the worst hand refreser of the three, but has decent potential. Heres why.

We’ll start with the basics, it is a basic Water Pokemon with 60 HP (why do all hand refreshers have 60 HP?).  It has a lightning weakness and a free retreat cost. Its first attack, “Deep Sea Swirl”, lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw five cards, but it costs one colorless energy.  Its second attack, “Wave Splash” does 20 damage for 1 water energy.                                   

Analysis-  Finally we have a hand refresher that doesn’t care what your opponent is doing.  Even if your opponent has 1 card in their hand, you can still draw 5 cards after you shuffle your hand into your deck.  And this card has a free retreat, which is always an awesome thing to have.

There is a negative about this card; its main attack costs one energy, while the other two hand refreshers have free attacks.  To use Manaphy you will have to waste an energy card from your hand an attach it to Manaphy.  You wouldn’t be able to attack that turn anyway with anyone other than Manaphy, but it still is nice to have the option of keeping the energy in your hand.  Another negative is a x2 lightning weakness, luxray gl can knock it out with only a double colorless energy. And the final negative of Manaphy is one it shares with Chatot, you need to shuffle your hand into your deck and give up all certainty and leave it all to luck.

Right now Manaphy probably isn’t the best of the three Hand Refreshers, but he does have some potential.  As mentioned Claydol GE is retired and so hand sizes could go down, and all the other Refreshers rely on your opponent having a lot of cards in their hand.  Manaphy is also from the new UL set meaning that it will be in the format long after Chatot has rotated out.  So there are some drawbacks but it is playable now, and will be more so in the future.

Final Rating: 6/10– I wanna give this card a better score for its potential, but I have to score it based on the current format.  And based on the current format there are better options then Manaphy.  But these three cards are so close it almost depends on a personal choice.

So since it depends on personal choice, I’d like to hear what you guys think is the best card.  Please leave a comment in the comment box and tell me what you think.

So this is Pikkdogs signing off, saying “So long and thanks for all the fish.”

Category: Pikks Three | Tags: Chatot Md, Manaphy Ul, Plusle Sv