Baby Mario
Top 4 UK Nats |
Alakazam 4 LV X
Wow, they re-made Base Set Alakazam, only this time just
for . . . you guessed it . . . SP Pokémon.
We can skip over Alakazam 4’s not very impressive
attack, Mind Shock. [P][P][C] for 50 is nothing special
these days. Besides, Alakazam 4’s job is to sit on the
bench and help your SP Pokémon to stay in the game for
longer by using its Damage Switch PokePower.
There are a number of cards that combine well with
Alakazam 4. The obvious one is Poke Turn: simply move
damage on to a Pokémon you with to re-use (such as
Crobat G), and Poke Turn it back to your hand. It also
works well with Palkia G LV X’s Lost Cyclone Power: you
move damage on to a used Mesprit or Azelf and send it to
the Lost Zone, freeing up a bench space and denying your
opponent a prize. Using it with Turtwig GL is another
possibility. Turtwig GL’s Overgrow PokeBody allows it to
do 30 more damage if it has less than 60 HP remaining.
What is more, its Giga Drain attack then lets you remove
damage equal to the damage you have just inflicted on
your opponent.
The great thing about Damage Switch is that you can use
it as often as you like during your turn, making Power
Spray useless against it. This really helps the big,
powerful SP Pokémon like Dialga and Palkia to survive
for longer. There are some drawbacks and limitations
with the card, however. Being a LV X means that it isn’t
that easy to get out. Firstly, unless you find room in
your deck for Level Max, and hit your coin flips,
Alakazam 4 needs to be active in order to Level Up.
Seeing as it has a Retreat Cost of [C][C], that means
you will most likely want to play Switches and/or Warp
points rather than waste Energy retreating it to the
bench. Secondly, Alakazam 4 is extremely vulnerable to
Flygon LV X’s Extreme Attack, which can do 150 damage to
it, even when it is on the bench. As Flygon is so
popular now, it might even be worth teching a Manectric
PL in your deck, just to give it protection.
Rating
Modified: 2.5 (great power, but not easy to get out, and
a free prize for Flygon decks)
Limited: 3 (you will have to retreat it by discarding
Energy, but it could keep you in the game long enough to
win) |
