Arise…
Donphan Prime!
You’ve got the touch…
you’ve got the power…
yeah!
Mmmm… Transformers.
Yes, recycling
the same joke because a)
I really, really love
Transformers and b)
getting hit by
Donphan probably
feels like getting hit
by a semi, again
connecting it to Optimus
Prime from several
series.
Name:
Donphan
Set/#:
HeartGold and SoulSilver 107/123
Rarity:
Prime
Type:
Fighting Pokémon
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Donphan)
HP:
120
Weakness:
Water x2
Resistance:
Lightning -20
Retreat Cost:
CCCC
Poké-Body:
Exoskeleton
Any damage done to
Donphan by attacks is
reduced by 20 (after
applying Weakness and
Resistance).
Attack#1:
(F)
Earthquake [60]
Does 10 damage to each
your Benched Pokémon.
(Don’t apply Weakness
and Resistance for
Benched Pokémon.)
Attack#2:
(FFF) Heavy Impact [90]
Name:
Phanpy
Set/#:
HeartGold and SoulSilver 77/123
Rarity:
Common
Type:
Fighting Pokémon
Stage:
Basic
HP:
70
Weakness:
Water x2
Resistance:
Lightning -20
Retreat Cost:
CC
Attack:
(C) Flail [10x]
Does 10 damage times the
number of damage
counters on Phanpy.
Name:
Phanpy
Set/#:
Secret Wonders 98/132
Rarity:
Common
Type:
Fighting Pokémon
Stage:
Basic
HP:
60
Weakness:
Water +10
Resistance:
Lightning -20
Retreat Cost:
CC
Attack#1:
(C) Flail [10x]
Does 10 damage times the
number of damage
counters on Phanpy.
Attack#2:
(FC) Take Down [30]
Phanpy does 10 damage to
itself.
Attributes:
Donphan Prime has to come from
somewhere, so let’s look at our choices
for
Phanpy.
You can go with the newer
version, which has 10 more HP or the one
from Secret Wonders which has an extra
but so-so attack (Take Down) and
compensates for its slightly lower HP
score by having Water Weakness +10
instead of x2.
If
you’re encountering a lot of Water, the
Secret Wonders version might be a safer
choice.
Otherwise, Take Down isn’t that
great of an attack so 10 more HP is
probably worth it.
Being a Fighting Pokémon is pretty nice:
it is the most common Weakness in
Modified.
Being a Stage 1 Pokémon makes it
fairly easy to get into play.
As a Stage 1 Pokémon, 120 HP is
great.
Water Weakness x2 is not: any
serious Water attack can OHKO
Donphan.
Lightning Resistance -20 isn’t
much, but at least it’s something.
Anchoring the bottom stats is a
Retreat Cost of four.
This is massive, and you will
have to pack something to switch out
Donphan or just accept that it isn’t
retreating.
Abilities:
Exoskeleton is a solid Poké-Body since
the small drop in damage is combined
with good HP and potent low Energy
attack, Earthquake.
Earthquake lets
Donphan hit for a solid 60 damage
and minimal Energy.
The downside is it will hit your
Benched Pokémon for 10 damage.
Of course if they are more
Donphan… the wording on Exoskeleton
should protect them.
You can also drop two more Energy
to power up Heavy Impact, which hits for
a flat 90.
All the attacks require Fighting
Energy, which is a bit of a drag:
Donphan can’t make use of most
Special Energy cards like
Double Colorless Energy, except to
pay for its Retreat Cost.
So while none of these abilities
are revolutionary, they do compliment
each other and allow
Donphan to hit hard and fast.
Uses and
Combinations:
Donphan seems designed for first and
second turn Knock Outs.
Risk an
Expert Belt and you all but
guarantee you’re scoring a KO second
turn.
Your opponent will eventually
take
Donphan down, but you should have a
second and third ready to go by then.
A few
Plus Power to help with extra large
Pokémon and all you’re really going to
have to worry about are rival speed
decks and Water decks.
Here is why I think
Blissey Prime is a good partner in
crime.
While you’ll have to pack plenty
of cards to Bench your nearly KO’d
Donphan, a well timed
Blissey will flush all the damage
away, and a single Fighting Energy let’s
Donphan resume beating on your
opponent.
Best of all, there is a
Chansey with Pulled Punch available.
While no where near as good as
Donphan,
Chansey is certainly then a better
attacker than
Phanpy.
If you have to, you can drop a
Double Colorless Energy and again,
Expert Belt and start racking up
OHKOs.
If you had to start with
Chansey, you can then eventually
Bench, bring up
Donphan and Evolve
Chansey into
Blissey when the time is right to
get back to the core strategy.
I haven’t had a chance to really
develop the deck: this is just the basic
idea for it.
Ratings
Modified:
3.5/5 – As stated, I see the foundation
of a speedy, almost cheap feeling deck.
Well have to see if better
players will figure out what best goes
with it and run it.
Limited:
4.5/5 – Just watch Weakness and that
Bench damage: you don’t want to lose
because you can’t get
Donphan out of a Water Pokémon’s way
or because you KO’d your own Bench.
Summary
Donphan
does not seem to be an especially
complicated Pokémon.
Rather, it seems like a
straightforward brawler that just needs
the right back-up so it can go the
distance.
If you want to run it, hit hard,
hit fast, and watch out for Water.
