One Hit KO

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a second look at the Call of Legends set and the HS  promos. The purpose of this series of articles is to review the playable cards, and take a look at promising cards, to see if they might be playable.  I will not tell you if these cards are playable, for that you must judge yourself.  Its up to you to see if you can make a great deck out of some cards that are under the radar.

Before we get there I just want to remind you guys that unless you guys say you want me to, I will not be doing this with the Black and White set, since it is fresh in our minds.  So that means this is the last of this series of articles………….you guys in Minnesota can stop clapping now.

Call of Legends

There are two schools of thought with Call of Legends.  One school is that it is the worst set ever.  The other school is that it contains a lot of good value cards.  The set was released as a filler set between the HGSS and BW blocks.  It contained cards from the Lost Link mini set, and some cards from the Clash at Summit set.  It also contained many re-prints from other HGSS sets, including 2 versions of a lot of the popular legendary Pokemon.  Like all of these articles, I will not review the baby Pokemon.  Also, I will not review any card that I have reviewed in other articles.  This explains the very short article we have.   So lets see if we can find any  good cards among this small pool.

The Big Guns

Here is a look at the cards that are known and played from this set and the promos.

1. Lucario

What it is – A main attacker.  This card has not received a lot of play, but thanks to the promotion from my friend Jwittz, it has received some hype.  Its attack costs CC, and does 30 damage plus 20 more for each Pokemon in the Lost Zone.  Its second attack does 70 for 2 fightings and a colorless.

Why to play it– Fighting is a good type to have right now with Lightning being played so much.  It also works well with starting Pokemon like Absol Prime and Relicanth.  It also combo’s with Mew Prime fairly well.  You can make a pretty cool and fun Lost Zone deck with these guys.

Why not to play it– It’s 90 HP is easily OHKOable by almost everyone that is being played right now.  And it will take a lot of setup for Lucario to do any OHKOs.

2. Pachirisu

What it is – An energy accelerator.  His Poke-Power lets you attach to electric energies to Pachirisu as you play him down.  His attack does 50 damage for LL, and all energies go to the Lost Zone.

Why to play it– It is a staple in the ZPS deck.  Just pack Pachirisu with 2 energies, use Shaymin to switch them to Zekrom, attach one energy for your turn to Zekrom, and badabing badaboom Zekrom is doing 120 damage.

Why not to play it– I’ve never gotten it to work, but apparently a lot of people are thinking the ZPS deck is one of the best in the format, so there is not much wrong with Pachirisu.  A lot of people think ZPS might be well represented in the later rounds of top cut at U.S. nationals.  The only bad things I can think of is that he only has 60 HP,has a retreat cost, and you don’t want to start with it.

3. Mr. Mime

What it is -A staple in all Lost World and Mismagius decks.  Its Poke-Power makes both players reveal their hands to each other.  His attack costs PC and lets you flip 4 coins and do 10 damage for each heads.

Why to play it– Do not play a lost world or Mismagius deck without it.  It is a staple in those decks and is a great card.  I think all around it is an awesome card that can be used in a good deck.

Why not to play it– Well right now its only good for those two decks, and it stinks if it gets active.

4. Shuckle

What it is – A draw engine.  Its Poke-Power lets you draw 1 card each time you attach an energy to Shuckle from your hand.  Its attack does 20 damage for GC and lets you flip a coin, if heads Shuckle cannot be effected by an attack during your opponent’s next turn.

Why to play it– I don’t like it in a Reshiram deck, but it is amazing in a Magneboar deck.  It gives a deck that has draw power, even more draw power.  You just attach fire energies to Shuckle, and then Lost Zone them for a OHKO.

Why not to play it– It is awesome in a Magneboar deck, but thats about it.  It also stinks to start with it and has no attack.

The Hidden Gems

Here are the cards that are not talked about, but could be playable in the right circumstance.

1. Pikachu

What it is – Its the Pikachu to play.  For one energy you can flip a coin, and if heads attach an energy to the deck to Piakchu.  Its second attack costs LLCC, and does 100 damage with a full discard.

Why to play it-  Its the answer to the trivia question, “What is the only HGSS Pokemon to have a weakness that is not x2?”  For some reason Pikachu only has a +10 weakness.  So if you wanna play Raichu, this is the Pikachu to run.

Why not to play it– Raichu is not played much, and your opponent probably will not be impressed by the weakness if you lose.

2.  Relicanth

What it is – A starter.  For 1 energy you can Lost Zone a card from your hand and draw 3 cards.  Its second attack costs WCC and does 30 damage while preventing 30 damage to him next turn.

Why to play it– If you are tired of Cleffa getting sniped, tell your opponent to snipe an 80 HP Relicanth.  Plus, drawing 3 cards is always nice.  It is great for a water deck, though it is splashable in any deck.  It also lets you draw cards while keeping your hand, great for stage 2 decks.

Why not to play it– The big drawback is the 2 retreat cost.  If your opponent does not knock out Relicanth, you will have to waste 2 energies on retreating him.

3.  Pidgeot

Note: I just saw an article from out friends on www.sixprizes.com (it was kind of a very condensed version of this article series) and it had Pidgeot in it.  I don’t think I ever looked at this card before, but the author showed me how good this card could be, so I will pass the info on here since the card was reprinted in CL.

What it is– It is a weird stalling tech.  It is a stage 2 that has an attack that does 30 damage and increases the attack cost of each of your opponent’s Pokemon by CC.  Its second attack does 40 for CCC and lets you flip a coin, if heads the attack does 30 more damage.

Why to play it-  It will be very hard for any attacker to attack as planned if you add CC to the attack cost.  It’s possible that your opponent might have a DCE in hand or 2 fire energies that can be Inferno Fandagoed, but all in all its a really good way to stall.  Pigeot also has a fighting resistance which is great against Donphan and Machamp.  Pidgey is also a great starter to have in your deck.

Why not to play-  Deck space is tight right now. It’s hard to fit in a stage 2 line without contributing to a OHKO.  Unless you really need a Donphan counter or something to stall, I would wait on Pigeot.

Trainers

1. Lost World

What it is – The most hyped card in a long time, a card that everyone said would ruin the format.  It lets you choose to win the game if your opponent has 6 Pokemon in the Lost Zone.

Why to play it– Well if you are playing a Lost World deck, this is of course a staple.  Lost World decks are kinda slow, but are really fun.  They also can be disruptive and take people by surprise. 

Why not to play it– These decks are just a little slow right now, but if you can make a good deck, you could do well with it.

2. Lost Remover

What it is – A trainer that lets you discard a special energy to any of your opponent’s Pokemon.

Why to play it– It can be very disruptive to take away a DCE or a special Metal or Darkness energy.  If you got room its  a very versatile card that can do a lot.

Why not to play it– Right now, not many good decks play special energies.  If you worry about rogue decks, this is a great card.  If not, than wait on playing this card.

Well that was a really short set.  Usually these articles take a long while to write, this time it did not take me long at all.  This will probably be my last article in the series.  So I hope you guys liked it and learned a bunch.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

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