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Dark Explorers Countdown
#4 Tornadus-EX
This was actually my #1 card from the set, so I’m mildly
surprised to see it place as low as fourth on our
compiled top 10.
Tornadus-EX
is a Colourless Type Basic EX with a very solid 170 HP.
It has one of the worst Weaknesses in the game right now
(Lightning) but it also has one of the best Resistances
(Fighting). The Retreat cost of one is very good for
such a high HP EX and can be removed completely with the
aid of Skyarrow Bridge.
That’s just one of the cards in the format that give
Tornadus a helping hand:
Eviolite and Double
Colourless also come to mind.
Blow Through is Tornadus-EX’s
first attack, and it’s pretty good too. For the cost of
a single Double Colourless Energy, it gives a base
damage of just 30, but when a Stadium card is in play,
that is boosted to 60. Skyarrow
Bridge would be the obvious thing to run with
Tornadus, but the new Twist
Mountain Stadium is another candidate: it can be used to
try and Bench copies of Aerodactyl
DEX which boost Tornadus’
attacks still further. This ability to hit for 60 on the
very first turn of the game is amazing. It will OHKO
most evolving Basics and, if you have a
PlusPower or an
Aerodactyl, even some
non-evolving tech cards like
Shaymin UL and Smeargle
UD. It’s certainly enough to set up most Pokémon for a
two-hit KO when followed up by
Tornadus’ second attack, Power Blast. This
delivers a big 100 damage for just three Energy of any
Colour, with the only downside being that you flip a
coin and discard an Energy from
Tornadus on tails. Of course even this downside
can be turned to your advantage when played in a deck
that uses Dark Patch or Eelektrik NV for Energy
acceleration.
Tornadus’
attacks are solid enough but maybe not quite up to the
standard we expect from an EX in terms of damage output.
However, Tornadus has two
very big things going for him which overcome this
drawback. Firstly, his Colourless Energy needs mean that
he is splashable into just
about any deck. This makes him incredibly versatile.
Secondly, the Fighting Resistance makes him the ideal
partner for Fighting-Weak Pokémon such as
Darkrai-EX or
Zekrom/Eels. A
Tornadus with an
Eviolite attached is very
difficult for something like
Donphan or Terrakion
to knock out and can take multiple Prizes before it goes
to the discard pile itself.
The Lightning Weakness balances things out a bit and
means that dropping him when playing against
Zekrom/Eelektrik is a pretty
bad idea. Nevertheless, Tornadus
has the speed and the splashability
to make him a solid Fighting
counter and a great opening play in decks running
Stadiums and Double Colourless Energy.
For these reasons, I expect
Tornadus to be used in competitive decks now and
for the foreseeable future. In fact, he might well
remain playable for longer than any of the other EX
Pokémon that we have seen so far.
Rating
Modified: 4.5 (a splashable,
very efficient attacker that counters the dangerous
Fighting Pokémon)
Limited: 4.75 (can win games on its own, especially if
you pull the Stadium in the set)
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