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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Golduck #35 (Boundaries Crossed) Golduck is one of those Pokémon (like Raichu) that tends to live in the shadow of its pre-evolution. Everyone knows and loves Psyduck as the original derpy Pokémon (move over Stunfisk!), but hardly anyone spares a thought for Golduck. I suppose it doesn’t help that it has never really been very good in either the video game or the TCG. This particular version of Golduck is (as usual) a Stage 1 Water Type with a miserably low 90 HP. That’s a really bad amount of HP to have, as it means this Pokémon is easily one-shot by just about every attacker in the format (Darkrai-EX, Tornadus-EX, Terrakion NVI, Keldeo-EX etc). On the plus side, Weakness to Lightning isn’t much of an issue these days as most Eelektrik decks focus on Rayquaza and Mewtwo, while the free Retreat is always more than welcome. Golduck’s first attack is Amnesia. It’s cheap at one Energy of any Colour, and for that low, low price you get to do 20 damage and choose one of the Defending Pokémon’s attacks and prevent it from using it next turn. These kinds of attacks have been reasonably common in the past and have a certain appeal. Many Pokémon have single attacks (Darkrai-EX, Rayquaza-EX, Keldeo-EX) or at least only one good one, and that means you can create a soft lock on your opponent while whittling away at their HP . . . Except you can’t. Not in this format at least. Most decks will be running Pokémon that can just Retreat easily out of the lock, making it very soft indeed. Those decks that don’t will be running 3-4 copies of Switch and with Golduck’s minimal damage output, and EX Pokémon having 170-180 HP, it’s extremely unlikely that they won’t draw into one of their outs before you do anything significant. There is a second attack to consider, and that’s fairly cheap and not bad as well. Aqua Fall costs two Water Energy, both of which you have to discard to use the attack, and it does 90 damage. That’s a decent return, and one which will two-shot all EX Pokémon (and OHKO a Landorus-EX). I suppose you could manage the discard by partnering Golduck with Blastoise BCR, or just alternate between Amnesia and Aqua Fall. I think we all know that there are better, pony-like alternatives though. Golduck is a very long way from being the worst Pokémon I’ve ever seen, but I think it falls just short of being in the ‘fun League deck’ category. Amnesia isn’t going to be nearly as effective as you would think, but what really hurts the card is the catastrophically low HP. Setting up Stage 1s, just to see them OHKO’d turn after turn is certainly not my definition of ‘fun’. Rating Modified: 2 (Not a bad card, but not really good enough either) Limited: 3.5 (could be good fun here, where counters and OHKOs are harder for your opponent to come by)
virusyosh	Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing yet another card from Boundaries Crossed that you'll probably see around in Limited. Today's Card of the Day is Golduck.   Golduck is a Stage 1 Water Pokemon. The Water-type usage in Modified is dominated by the likes of Blastoise and Keldeo-EX, and while there are a few other Water-types being played, the two mentioned above the far and away the most common. 90 HP is just about average for a Stage 1, and it means that Golduck should be able to withstand a weak hit before going down, while unfortunately being Knocked Out by many of the metagame's prominent threats. Lightning Weakness is not too bad right now (though you'll still have to watch out for Zekrom-EX, Thundurus, and others), no Resistance is unfortunate, and no Retreat Cost is the best you can have, and is quite effectiveon any Pokemon.   Golduck has two attacks. Amnesia does 20 damage for a single Colorless Energy, and disables one of the Defending Pokemon's attacks during your opponent's next turn. In Modified, you opponent will likely just retreat (as this will cure the Amnesia effect), and given how common Darkrai-EX and Keldeo-EX are, switching around shouldn't be that hard for them, making this attack weaker than it would be otherwise. Aquafall does a whopping 90 damage for the low price of two Water Energy, with the side effect of discarding all Energy attached to Golduck. Aquafall has great synergy with Blastoise to guarantee hitting for 90 every turn, but such a strategy works more effectively in Limited, as Keldeo-EX outshines Golduck as a partner for Blastoise in Modified.   Modified: 1.75/5 Free retreat and fast attacks mean that Golduck could potentially make some noise, but the Duck Pokemon's HP is much too low to be competitive in the format, and Keldeo-EX is generally a better partner for Blastoise. Therefore, if you're looking for a hard-hitting Water-type, you should generally stick with Keldeo.   Limited: 4/5 Golduck is quite powerful in Limited. Amnesia can give your opponent fits in a format where switching is rare, and Aquafall deals tons of damage for a low cost. Golduck is a very effective Pokemon in its own right, and if you can pair it up with Blastoise, even better. Overall, if you end up building a Water deck in Limited, Golduck is definitely worth consideration.
Jebulous Maryland Player	Golduck 35   Golduck is a Stage 1 Water Pokemon with free retreat.  It has 90 HP and is weak to Lightning.  It is searchable by Level Ball.   'Amnesia' costs 1 Colorless energy and does 20 damage.  You then choose one of the Defending Pokemon's attacks and they can't use it next turn.  Theoretically this would be good.  It deals damage, which I like because I've seen so many 'Amnesia' attacks that don't.  It is good against most EX Pokemon that are used competitively   Darkrai, Keldeo, Mewtwo, etc... all have 1 attack that people use a lot.  If you deny them that attack, what can they do?  Oh right, change Pokemon.  That is the biggest flaw to 'Amnesia'.  All they have to do is change Pokemon and attack with that one.  Darkrai might not be able to attack, but with free retreat, it just laughs at Golduck.  And then there are Pokemon with 2 attacks... they'll just use the other one.  So this attack gets a pat on the back, not any medals.   'Aquafall' costs 2 Water energy and does 90 damage.  You then discard all energy on this Pokemon.  This attack makes it possible to OHKO a Landorus EX!  Unfortunately you have to evolve to be able to do it (and any good player would target Psyduck if they knew it was coming after Landorus).  And that's about all this attack is good for (and also against Ho-oh).  Against any other Pokemon, you lose your energy and worst case, have to spend 2 turns building it up (unless you use Blastoise).  So Keldeo is definitely a better alternative since you'd be running Water anyway.  With Keldeo, you get the ability and the ability to OHKO Landorus and Ho-oh with its attack.   Modified: 1.5/5 Limited: 2/5 Combos With:  ...