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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Donphan - Aquapolis


Date Reviewed: 04.30.03

Ratings & Reviews below

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.


TwInSeN21
Donphan (Aqua)

80HP for a Stage 1 is not too bad. Earthquake is an undercosted attack but the side effect hurts a lot. I wouldn't really bother with this attack. Double Stab is decent as it averages 40 damage per turn for 3 Colorless Energy.

In Unlimited, I don't think it's playable at all here. There are a lot more better Pokemon out there. Rating: 1.5/5

In Modified, there are still other better Fighting Pokemon. Rating: 2/5

In Draft, this card is decent. It has a resistance which is always nice. The 2nd attack is also splashable and does a decent amount of damage. Rating: 3.2/5
X- Act
Aquapolis Donphan
 
This card is good, I daresay. It's not just because it's the Donphan with the highest HP of all Donphans available in the TCG. Right now, the Neo Genesis Donphan actually overshadows it. However, it will be much better once Modified again rotates out next June (although I'm now doubting if it will, seeing that Skyridge will be the last set that WotC will print). Why will it be better? This will be a Lightning hoser instead of Tyrogue. Won't Best-Of Promo Hitmonchan be that too? Well, yes, but consider that Donphan has the added advantage that, besides hitting a Lightning Pokemon for twice the damage, it is also resistant to lightning itself. (Actually, Hitmonchan won't be that good to beat lightning, seeing that it forces you to put Fighting energies in your deck. So you're better off building a Fighting deck in the first place.) Think about it. If Tyrogue will be banned, then Lightning will be a force to be reckoned with. For just one Fighting Energy, Earthquake does a massive 60 damage to a fighting-weak Pokemon, at the expense, however, of doing 10 damage to all of your Benched Pokemon. But you could use that bench damage to your advantage, for example, using Expedition Machamp with this card. When (or if) Modified rotates out, I'll warn you in advance: fear this card.
 
Unlimited: One word: Tyrogue. Use it over this card. I can think of 4 reasons why you should: (1) Tyrogue doesn't need to evolve, Donphan does. (2) Tyrogue has the baby rule protecting it, Donphan doesn't (3) Tyrogue doesn't require a Fighting Energy to attack, unlike Donphan for Earthquake (4) Tyrogue doesn't damage your own bench, again unlike Donphan. Calm down, I didn't forget about the second attack. It does 40 on average for 3 colorless, which actually isn't that bad. But Tyrogue can do 30 for 1 colorless and you only hit it 50% of the time. Whoops, I guess Tyrogue wins again. Not to mention that Scyther eats Donphan alive, since it does to it what Donphan does to Lightning Pokemon: Scyther hits Donphan for twice the damage and takes 30 less damage from Donphan.
1/5
 
Modified: Well, right now it's pretty useless since Tyrogue, again, can hose Lightning Pokemon much more efficiently. Here, Donphan has to contend with cards such as Promo Scyther, Crobat or Jumpluff (the Neo versions). (These are the Scyther in Unlimited.) Admittedly, grass Pokemon as a whole are not too common in Modified. When (or, if) Tyrogue is rotated out, this card will see play, as I said at the beginning of this COTD. So I won't needlessly repeat myself here.
2/5 (for current modified)
 
Draft: This is another card from that seemingly endless list of Rares that Aquapolis boasts. Well, it does have a colorless attack, and a nice [F] for 30 attack, although that bench damage would be tough to get rid of. I dunno. Phanpy, at 40HP, is quite weak, but you might like to risk it. I wouldn't, but whatever floats your boat.
2/5

The Poke`mon Master 1110
Donphan:

This guy isn't that bad.  Granted he wont see any competetive play, he can still do some decent damage.  The first attack, while it does do damage to your bench, must receive some credit due to the fact that it only costs one energy and does 30 damage to the defending.  The second attack averages 40 for 3 colorless, which isn't bad.  Overall, a very average card.

Unlimited:  1.5/5

MMF:  2.5/5

Limited:  4/5

The Bottom Line:  2.5/5

 


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