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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Krookodile 65/114  Out of all the new Pokémon, Krookodile is one of my favourite designs. It’s about time we had a crocodile Pokémon. Hopefully, it will be playable too.  Krookodile gets off to a good start with a nice 140 HP. Water Weakness isn’t fun at the moment thanks to Gyarados, but it may even be one of the better Weakness to have once that card rotates out of the format. Lightning Resistance is good now, and will probably continue to be in future (it makes Krookodile a tough KO for Zekrom, for example). The Retreat cost of three will almost never be worth paying, so either run switching cards or be prepared to let Krookodile fight to the death.  A reasonably costed attack is something that we all like, even on a Stage 2, and Krookodile obliges with Torment. For two Colourless Energy this does 30 damage (meh), but has a very useful ‘Amnesia’ style effect where you get to choose one of the Defending Pokémon’s attacks and block them from using it next turn. Actually, ‘very useful’ is a bit of an exaggeration. It’s pretty situational to tell the truth, being only really good against high Retreat Pokémon that only have one decent attack when your opponent doesn’t have any switching cards. Nevertheless, it can be mildly annoying for your opponent, and it’s better than some overpriced vanilla attack for sure.  Krookodile’s second offering, Krookoroll, costs a hefty [F][F][C][C] and only has a pitiful base damage of 60. However, if the Pokémon is already damaged, it will do 100, which is . . . just about ok. Now you could use Torment, then Krookoroll for the KO on most Pokémon, but it would be more efficient to partner it will something that will spread the damage around first. That could be a Pokémon with a spreading attack like Simisear BW, but it would be more efficient to use something like Crobat G, which places damage counters with a Power and doesn’t need to waste an attack.  Even so, considering all the effort, support, and Energy you need to accomplish this, I doubt that Krookodile offers enough of a return on your investment. Like yesterday’s card, Scolipede, Krookodile isn’t exactly bad . . . it’s just not good enough when compared to other Pokémon that can do more for less.  Rating  Modified: 1.75 (fails to make the grade) Limited: 3.25 (slow, but high HP and useful attacks if you can get it out)
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Krookodile (Black & White)   Today we have another Stage 2 that looks nasty. Hopefully Krookodile will do better than Scolipede, especially as it is a new type combination of Ground and Dark (that must be interesting in the videogames).   Krookodile is obviously a mean Poke'mon, both by virtue of being a crocodile and by being a crook (slang for criminal). I know they spelt it 'krook' because it looks better in print ('C' isn't a very impressive looking letter), but some of our younger readers may have missed the reference.   Are the stats cruel and evil to match? Krookodile is a Fighting type Stage 2 with 140 HP, Water weakness, Lightning resistance, a retreat cost of 3 and two attacks.   The stats seem to be just about right for this Poke'mon. It seems 150 HP is the new upper limit but as always not every Poke'mon gets that far up the scale. For Krookodile that isn't so bad though, as the Lightning resistance is awesome against Luxray GL (it's been a while since we mentioned that card), all Magnezones and the new Zekrom. The tradeoff is the expected Water weakness, which makes life difficult against Gyarados, Rain Dance and Kingdra.   The retreat cost is painful but to be expected, although as crocodiles are deceptively fast so it should have been lowered to 2, to give the proper feel if nothing else. Instead just pack some Switch or Flygon RR to cover the cost (why has Flygon dropped off the radar? It is still both powerful in attack and useful in support, yet so many players are ignoring it).   Still, if good stats were all that was important on a card Wailord would be a lot more popoular. What are the attacks like?   Torment does exactly what every clone of this attack has done before it and disables one of your opponent's attacks so that they cannot use it during their next turn. The cost is [c][c] (hello Double Colourless Energy) and you also deal 20 damage, which is great for stalling while you build something better. Provided your opponent can't switch out or evolve, you can control what your opponent's next move will be but sadly cards like Poketurn, Switch, Warp Energy and Super Scoop Up all exist solely to ruin your day. Torment is cheap and annoying provided you have access to DCE but you had better build up to an alternative Attack quickly.   Since Torment is a nice starting attack but won't make the cut for continuous use due to the low damage and massive variety of counters available, we need something powerful for our second attack.   Krookoroll weighs in at a cost of [f][f][c][c] and deals 60 damage, with a bonus 40 damage if the Defending Poke'mon already has at least 1 damage counter on it. While 100 damage is great, the cost is pretty steep when you consider the extra resources you have to spend putting the damage counter on the target before you attack. Either Crobat G, Gallade E4 Lv X or Kingdra Prime could do it with their Poke-powers but all of those cards have better partners than Krookodile.   It seems that Krookodile shares the same design as yesterday's card. Krookodile has good synergy with DCE and a lot of Poke'mon are weak to Fighting, but you will also encounter resistance quite often and the Water weakness is easily exploited. The sub-par attacks destroy the credibility given byt the stats so Krookodile is sentenced to eternity in the binder.   Modified: 3 (Krookodile has some good points, but they aren't enough to stand out so the average mark is the best I can give. At least the designers are listening to us when we say we want cards with 2 attacks that can use DCE)   Limited: 3.25 (Krookodile gives you decent odds for taking out an opponent's Zekrom and plenty of other cards in the set have a Fighting weakness. Also, between Professor Juniper, Poke'mon Communication, Poke'ball and Energy Search you should be able get a decent build going. Unfortunately for anyone who pulled this card Reshiram and all of the Water Poke'mon in the set will keep Krookodile in check)   Combos with: the binder after finishing the prerelease
conical Deck Garage	4/27/11: Krookodile(Black & White)   The Sandile-Krokorok-Krookodile line is personally one of my favorite evolutionary families in the new generation. I mean, it's a sand crocodile, what's not to like?   Well, since I asked, what's not to like is what they did with his introduction to the TCG. Granted, the 140 HP looks nice, at least for now. And Torment-styled attacks have always had their uses, going back to Neo Genesis Wooper. But you'd still expect something better from a Stage 2. Yeah, Wooper and the like are useful cards, but part of the reason why they're good is that they were only basics, or in Bibarel SF's case, a Stage 1. And then there's Krookoroll, and I said this yesterday with Scolipede, and I'll say it here: 4-energy attacks by themselves do not make a good card. They can be useful if there's other aspects of the card that make it good, but all Krookodile has is slightly above-average HP and an attack with limited usefulness. The fact that the effect of the attack isn't superbly awesome doesn't help it either. Hopefully they'll make a playable Krookodile in the future sometime, as I do like the Pokemon. Or Krookodile could become the new Rapidash, just to spite me. Who knows.   Modified:2.5/5 Limited: 2/5
Otaku	Today’s CotD makes me want Cookie Crisp. Krookodile would make a pretty cool cereal mascot. Granted I first saw it all of sixty seconds ago, as I have been struggling to catch up, so this is purely based on his name, appearance, and the fact that Cookie Crisp used to be represented by the Cookie Cop and Cookie Crook, then they gave the latter a dog named Chip, then they just focused on Chip and dropped the human characters, and now apparently they use a wolf. Wait, didn’t I annoying try to blame any recent past mistakes on catching up? Am I saying I got behind again? Pretty much; I never technically did completely catch up since I just don’t have the time or money (mostly money) to play right now, except with older cards or online. Likewise I haven’t played the games and figured if the video game’s new roster of Pokémon were to be spoiled, it might as well only be by the TCG. Still, like you readers I’ve tried to pay attention to the CotDs and keep abreast of the game. At the very least, I still know how to read, write, use Pokepedia.net, and brainstorm so I can provide some entertainment and hopefully some insight with my reviews. Getting back to the card at hand, Krookodile if a Fighting-Type Pokémon, though in the video games it is a Ground/Dark hybrid. In the TCG this should give some interesting match-ups: Weakness is almost universal in the TCG and Fighting Weakness is usually one of, if not the most common Weakness in any given format. Resistance is much more uncommon, but of the cards that have it Fighting Resistance is again one of the most, if not the most, common in any given format. Krookodile has 140 HP, which appears to be solid under the new standards, and is good compared to the “old guard” still left. It’s going to take some big attacks to OHKO Krookodile, a significant combo, or exploiting its damage doubling Water Weakness. Do I even have to warn you about Gyarados decks? Well, just in case someone isn’t paying close attention, Gyarados decks will not only score double damage (for an almost guaranteed no Energy OHKO unless their set-up is horrible), but Gyarados is also Fighting Resistant. At least Krookodile itself has Lightning Resistance -20; I am always happy to see Resistance and this should be quite handy since we have both an established (Luxray GL) and rising (Magnezone) deck. You do face a steep three Energy Retreat cost, and that is pricey enough you need to pack Retreat alternatives like Switch, though if you absolutely had to, you might be able to get away with paying it in times of desperation. Krookodile Evolves from Krokorok, which in turn Evolves from Sandile. We only have one of each in English, and peeking at some Japanese translations if we get the promo versions… they won’t really affect how you play as they look to be inferior, if only because they lack Lightning Resistance. Sandile is a Basic Fighting Pokémon with a sturdy 70 HP, worrisome Water Weakness, likeable Lightning Resistance, rankling Retreat Cost of two. It has two attacks. Sand Tomb is the inexpensive opening attack for (F) that does 10 points of damage and blocks the Defending Pokémon from retreating. Occasionally, that will let you protect it by keeping something puny up front when your opponent would otherwise retreat out and KO Sandile. Usually it will just be the damage and the effect won’t matter. For another two of any Energy you can use Bite for 30 points of damage. This is quite bad, but at least you could use Double Colorless Energy on it if you had to. Krokorok adds 20 HP but retains the same stats, which means the HP goes from the happy side of “good” to the unhappy side. Its big attack is Bite for (FCC), which isn’t good enough for competitive play now, but might be tolerable (especially on a transitional Stage 1) in the next format. The smaller opening attack is named Torment, and because I am an awful person who watches Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged series, which alone makes me want to use this card. From a practical standpoint, again if your opponent doesn’t retreat/change/Evolve out of the effect ,it can keep Krokorok alive: it only hits for 10 points of damage but it lets you select one of the Defending Pokémon’s attacks and that Pokémon can’t use that attack during your opponent’s next turn. For just (C), that is decent trick. So now that we’ve seen where Krookodile comes from, I’ll move onto the attacks. We see… hurray! Torment! Krookodile needs (CC) to use it, but that’s low enough for a single Double Colorless Energy to power it. It now hits for 30 points of damage and still lets you nix your choice of the Defending Pokémon’s attacks. Again your opponent will probably find away around it, but if you are fortunate they will have to burn resources to do it. The big attack for the card is Krookoroll. It requires a sizable investment of (FFCC). The good news is that this means both attacks can make solid use of Double Colorless Energy, something a few recent cards have dropped the ball on. For this sizable investment you do 60 base points of damage, which is junk. Fortunately if the Defending Pokémon has any damage on it, it does another 40 points of damage for a total of 100 points of damage to an already injured Pokémon. At first I thought this was cool, then I though it was too weak, then I really thought about the format. What if this was paired with SP? Well, if it wasn’t for established SP decks that are probably better choices, you’d have an army of supporting Basics that could both open for Krookodile and then spread damage to set up for Krookoroll… which in turn would be quite good against the many (comparatively) low HP Pokémon that dominate the format. In Limited play I don’t think there is any question. 28 of the 94 Pokémon I saw for this set have a single attack. Since this is Limited play your opponent can’t Evolve, retreat, or change out their Pokémon as easily to shake the effect. For those 28 Pokémon, this could result in a soft lock your opponent has to expend precious resources to break, or may simply be unable to break at all. Even amongst the remaining Pokémon, some have only one attack that does damage or won’t have the correct Energy for the other attack, again frustrating their set-up and counter-offensive. I counted 31 Fighting Weak and nine Fighting Resistant Pokémon in the set, though this spans all Stages and rarities, so for example two of the Weak Pokémon were “secret” Rares and many of both categories features multiple members of the same Evolution line. Still, I’d say as a whole that is positive. Obviously the second attack isn’t going to score a true OHKO most of the time, since it only hits for 60 against an uninjured Defending Pokémon. You will find two-hit KOing to be a viable strategy against most of what this set has to offer. Your own Weakness is a concern as only Metal Pokémon are under-represented this set and thus you should expect to encounter Water Pokémon more than once during a tournament. Again, this “con” comes with a “pro” as Lightning Pokémon will be tempting to run for all decks to counter the Water presence (every Water Pokémon is Lightning Weak). Oh, and while all stages want some Fighting Energy, they have enough Colorless requirements to make them reasonable to splash into a multi-color deck. Ratings Modified: 3/5 – Putting this into perspective, remember that this is a format where the average competitive deck focuses on cards that are at least a half a point higher. Limited: 4/5 – It does require a lot of Energy for its large attack, and a careful opponent can minimize what Krookoroll can do. However, the Type-matching possibilities are high, you don’t have to make your deck strictly Fighting to run it, and Torment looks to live up to its name in Limited. @_@ Still with me? Yeah, I am still selling off my stuff on eBay. I had to slow down due to some job issues, but I am back at it again. I will be selling off a variety of collectibles. Right now I am focusing on chipping away at the various Transformers I’ve been collecting (or at least receiving) for the last 25 years. Click here to see what I have to offer right now, and please check back as I list more items when I can. Just remember that Pojo.com is in no way responsible for any transactions, and merely is kind enough to let me link to my auctions in my reviews.
virusyosh	Happy midweek, Pojo readers! I hope that your weeks are going well. Today's Card of the Day is a new Stage 2 from Black and White that has gotten quite a bit of attention around here for a number of reasons. Today's Card of the Day is Krookodile. Krookodile is a Stage 2 Fighting Pokemon. Aside from Machamp, Promo Toxicroak G, and the occasional Donphan, Fighting-types aren't all that common in today's metagame, probably due to the prevalence of Psychic-types. 140 HP is great for a Stage 2, meaning it should be able to take at least two hits before going down, if not more. Water Weakness isn't so bad right now (although that may be a bit counterintuitive, I'll explain later). Lightning Resistance is also great, given the popularity of Luxray GL and Magnezone. Finally, a Retreat Cost of 3 is less than ideal, but it's somewhat expected for a large sand crocodile. Krookodile has two attacks, Torment and Krookoroll. Torment, for the cost of a Double Colorless Energy, does 30 damage and allows you to choose one of the Defending Pokemon's attacks, and they can't use it during your opponent's next turn. This is significant for a few reasons. First of all, there are several Pokemon in the Modified metagame that rely on a single attack to be very effective (Gyarados's Tail Revenge, Luxray GL Lv. X's Flash Impact, Garchomp C Lv. X's Dragon Rush, Gengar's Poltergeist, among others), and Torment simply shuts them down. However, one major problem with this is that the format is also full of all kinds of ways to switch or retreat Pokemon, meaning this effect isn't quite as good as it could be. However, in the much slower HGSS-on format that we will get at some point. Krookodile can easily shut down Primes such as Feraligatr, Typhlosion, and Magnezone, as well as making life significantly more difficult for others like Gengar and Steelix. That being said, this attack is especially great due to its cost, as Double Colorless is easily payable and can even be teched into non-Fighting decks. Krookoroll, Krookodile's second attack, does 60 damage for two Fighting and two Colorless, but does 40 more if the opponent has any damage counters already. This works perfectly with Torment, as you will be able to Torment on one turn, and then Krookoroll the next for the KO. If the Defending Pokemon is not damaged however, this attack is quite expensive for the cost, so you're going to want to damage them somehow beforehand (like with Crobat G before it rotates, or something else that places damage counters/does damage). Modified: 3/5 Krookodile has a shot to be really good in Modified, if only because Torment has great potential. Gyarados and Kingdra will still be problematic, but Torment can still put them in a tough situation if they can't retreat. Once the HGSS-on format comes around, Krookodile will be even better, since there will be less retreating, at least at first. However, it still is fairly slow and energy-dependent, so make sure to power it up before it gets KOed. Limited: 4/5 Torment and Krookoroll are both good here, but like Scolipede yesterday, you need to be able to get the entire Stage 2 line out and power it up. Still, a very high pick.