Instead of annoying
people by linking to my
auctions, instead I’d
like to make an appeal
for those who are on
Facebook to head over to
Toyota 100 Cars for Good
on Facebook and
vote.
My preference is
that you vote for
Feeding South Dakota
as that is a charity I
personally work with
(and have benefited
from).
As for the actual
review,
Herdier is a
transitory Stage 1 that
bridges the gap from
Lillipup to
Stoutland,
tomorrow’s CotD.
Herdier is
Colorless, like the rest
of the line, and since
the MD-On format is
almost officially dead
but the new one is still
in its infancy, it is
hard to place where
Colorless falls on the
scale of Types.
Given that I can
think of one Colorless
Resistant Pokémon line
that might still see
competitive play next
format (Gengar),
but no Colorless Weak
superstars have risen
(yet), the outlook is a
bit dim.
The 80 HP doesn’t
help either:
non-Evolving Stage 1
Pokémon need to clock in
with at least 100 HP to
really stand a chance.
Even those that
can Evolve really need
at least 90, probably
that same 100 HP
benchmark: even in
HGSS-On it is still well
within reason for a
decks primary attacker
to dish out 70 points of
damage a turn reliably
and fairly early in the
match, which means we
just need to top it all
off with a
PlusPower for a
OHKO.
Fighting-Type
decks will find it even
easier due to the
Weakness: only the
weakest attacks won’t
take
Herdier down in one
shot.
The lack of
Resistance is depressing
but won’t ultimately
hurt playability because
so many cards lack it as
well, and the single
Energy Retreat Cost is
easy to pay.
Herdier
actually has two solid
attacks that border on
being “good”.
Collect is a
familiar sight and looks
a bit steep at (CC), but
as a Stage 1 Pokémon
you’ll probably have had
two turns to attach
Energy and even if you
haven’t, you can use
Double Colorless Energy
to pay for it in one
shot.
The reward is
drawing three cards.
Hardly game
breaking, but like I
said a solid use for
what could have been a
wasted attack.
Bite is just a
hair less sturdy but
still useful: (CCC) for
50 points of damage.
Since you’ll
rarely enjoy the benefit
of striking Weakness,
most of the time this
will (barely) OHKO a
small Basic, but it is
still enough damage in
one shot to annoy all
but the largest Stage 1
and 2 Pokémon, or those
with healing or
protection backing them
up.
Especially when
factoring in the HP,
both attacks could have
been a little stronger,
and at least one of them
should have been.
As we will look into
Stoutland more
thoroughly tomorrow,
I’ll just say that
barring the low HP this
is actually a solid
lead-in to the card.
Lillipup turns in a
similar performance with
two options, one 50 HP
and one 60 HP.
Both are Fighting
Weak, lack Resistance,
and have single Energy
Retreat Costs.
The 50 HP version
(Black & White
80/114) has two attacks,
both costing (C).
One attack does
10 points of damage just
for the sake of being
able to do any damage,
and the other allows you
to return an Item card
from your discard pile
to your hand.
Not really good,
but not bad.
The 60 HP version
(Black & White
81/114) looks to be the
real winner as for (C)
it can draw a card and
for (CC) hit for 20
points of damage.
“Winner” is
relative here: while
neither is bad, both are
mostly “acceptable”.
With a small
boost, I’d actually
consider this to be an
interesting “opener”
line with what we’ve
seen so far, as
Lillipup and
Herdier both have
somewhat sturdy set-up
uses.
In Unlimited, we have
better card for setting
up and better Stage 2
lines (Colorless or not)
than
Stoutland.
In Limited play
the bigger
Lillipup is actually
a decent filler Pokémon
for most decks and the
smaller could be useful
if you pull a few Items
for your deck.
The fact that
there are two Basics for
Herdier to Evolve
from makes it more
likely for you to pull a
workable Evolutionary
line and thus improves
its effective
performance.
As always, the
average HP and damage
yields are lower here,
and on top of the
potency of any draw
power, turns
Herdier into a great
pull for Limited.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified (MD-On):
1.5/5
Modified (HGSS-On):
2/5
Limited:
3.75/5
Summary
Another Stage 1 Pokémon
you’d rather skip with
Rare Candy than
play, if you want to run
Stoutland you really
should play at least one
or two copies in case of
Trainer denial.
That being said,
this card was
very close to being
playable in its own
right: notice that those
are general scores I
posted above!
One big boost or
small boosts to two or
more of HP, cards drawn
with Collect, damage
from Bite, or a
similarly improved
Lillipup and we
could have gotten a
supporting Stage 1 line
that
optionally ran its
Stage 2.
