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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

 

Tropius #22/90

HS Undaunted

Date Reviewed:
September 29, 2010

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 1.25
Limited: 3.00

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

Back to the main COTD Page

Combos With:

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Tropius (Undaunted) 

Today’s card features Tropius –  the dinosaur that can fly! Another interesting Tropius fact – its toenails are the same colour as the fruit around its neck! 

Less bizarre, but more relevant, is the fact that Tropius is an unevolving Basic Pokémon that is intended to function in a deck as a tech healer. Unfortunately, it has one glaring flaw that makes it practically useless in that role, as we shall see. 

The most impressive thing about this Tropius is its substantial (for a non-SP Basic) 90 HP, together with its semi-useful Fighting Resistance. The Lightning weakness is, of course, just about the worst in the game, thanks to Luxray, but the real killer is the Retreat cost of two . . .  

Why is that Retreat cost such bad news? Take a look at Tropius’ first attack, Fresh-Picked Fruit. For the cost of a single Grass Energy, you get to remove six damage counters from one of your Benched Pokémon. Even if we leave aside the fact that using an attack to heal is not generally a good strategy, this is where that Retreat cost become such a burden. See, if you promote Tropius in order to heal damaged Pokémon, it will cost you two Energy to retreat it for a main attacker. You  could get around this by running Warp Point or Switch, but bear in mind that those Pokémon which most benefit from healing and tanking strategies (Torterra, Steelix, Tyranitar) tend to have huge Retreat costs themselves. This means that you would need multiple (unsearchable) switching Trainers to use Tropius as an effective healer. The alternative of actually discarding the Energy is even worse as those big tanks tend to be very Energy-intensive themselves. 

Tropius’s second attack, Cutting Wind, barely deserves a mention in a review. If I just tell you that it takes three Energy to do a vanilla 40 damage, then I assume I don’t need to explain why it should never be used. 

So, the only reason to play card would be for its healing properties, which are just too clumsy to use. There are so many better options out there too. Nidoqueen RR, Blissey PL, and Poke Healer + can get the job done without wasting an attack. So can the flippy Trainers Life Herb and Moomoo Milk . . . both of which I would use over Tropius any day. 

It’s not such a bad card in Limited, where walling and Prize denial are viable, easier to accomplish strategies. In a competitive modified deck, however, this Tropius is a no-no. 

Rating 

Modified: 1.25 (so many better healing strategies)
Limited: 3 (decent enough here) 


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