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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Druddigion

Dragon Vault

Date Reviewed: Oct. 16, 2012

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 1.67
Limited: 2.50

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

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Druddigon (Dragon Vault)

Ah . . . Druddigon. Probably my least favourite Dragon. It kind of looks like someone asked a 5 year old what a dragon should look like . . . and then got the kid to colour it in as brightly as possible. Props to the artist kawayoo though. He does his usual superb job and makes a silly cartoonish Pokémon actually look a little bit awesome on this card.

But not even kawayoo’s amazing artistic skills can make Druddigon playable. That’s up to the card designers. Here they have given him a decent 110 HP, meaning that he isn’t very easy to OHKO without damage boosters like Dark Claw or PlusPower. The Dragon Typing means Druddigon has lots to fear from running into his own Type, but non-Dragon decks won’t find it so easy to get rid of him. But is this the kind of Pokémon that can make good use of a couple of turns on the Field? Let’s find out.

Sadly, there’s no Ability to discuss, so it’s all down to the attacks. The first, Tight Jaw costs two Energy of any Colour (or a handy Double Colourless) and does 20 damage with a coin flip for Paralysis. The output is worse than mediocre, but spamming Paralysis can be a useful method of buying time to set up. It’s not worth playing the card for in itself, but if the second attack was any good, it would be a nice bonus. Unfortunately, Dragon Tail has a silly attack cost (Water/Fire/Colourless) and for that you get . . . yet more flips! This time two, and you get 80 damage for each heads.

Yes, here is another unworthy partner for Victory Star Victini. He does make this card a little better but, honestly, it still doesn’t stack up in tournament conditions. Poor and/or unreliable damage output is not what you need these days and if you are looking for a Dragon tech for your deck you can do a lot better elsewhere with non-EX Rayquaza and even the very ordinary Kyurem from Dragon Vault.

Admire the art in pristine condition, kept safely in your binder.

Rating

Modified: 1.5 (another one for the collectors, I think)

Limited: N/A (mini set)

virusyosh

Hello once again, Pojo viewers! Today we're reviewing yet another new Dragon from the Dragon Vault mini-set. Today's Card of the Day is Druddigon.
 
Druddigon is a Basic Dragon Pokemon. As a Dragon, Druddigon will find still competition of Garchomp, Hydreigon, and especially Rayquaza as a Dragon-type in decks, as each of these Dragons are commonly played in Modified right now. 110 HP is great for a Basic, as Druddigon should be able to take at least a medium-sized unboosted hit before being Knocked Out. Dragon Weakness is a problem against Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Rayquaza-EX, which will OHKO, as well as Rayquaza, which will deal a significant blow. No Resistance is unfortunate as always, and a Retreat Cost of 2 is payable if necessary.
 
This Cave Pokemon has two attacks. Tight Jaw does 20 damage for two Colorless Energy, and also Paralyzes if you win the coin flip. This attack is notable for having all Colorless Energy requirements, which is very useful if you are playing Dragon Vault Limited. In Modified, while the Paralysis chance is nice, you'll probably use something that hits harder. Dragon Tail is Druddigon's second attack, allowing you to flip two coins and deal 80 damage times the number of heads for a Fire, a Water, and a Colorless. This Energy spread means that Druddigon will fit well in decks using Salamence (since it also uses Fire and Water Energy), but it's also important to note that Druddigon can also make use of Prism Energy to maximize effectiveness. Being a standard flip attack, Dragon Tail will be unreliable most of the time, and will average 80 damage, which is decent.
 
Modified: 1.5/5 Druddigon has fairly good HP, and that's about it. Tight Jaw is a bit too weak for its cost, and while Dragon Tail has the potential to be very powerful, the inherent unpredictability in flip attacks make it hard to recommend Druddigon for Modified play. If you're looking for a hard-hitting Dragon-type Basic, try Rayquaza or Rayquaza-EX.
 
Limited: 3.5/5 Druddigon has a few things going for it in Dragon Vault Limited. First of all, 110 HP is great on a Basic, and this score should allow Druddigon to stand up against many of the weak attacks in the format that would normally KO unevolved Dragons due to Weakness, such as Rayquaza's Dragon Pulse or Latias's Sky Heal. Second, Tight Jaw has Colorless Energy requirements, making it an attack that is very quick to power up. Finally, despite Dragon Tail's unreliability and somewhat hefty Energy cost, a single flip in your favor will OHKO every Pokemon in the set. Overall, Druddigon is a solid choice for your Dragon Vault Limited deck.


Otaku

Today we look at Druddigon (Dragon Vault 17/20); will it be as rough as its predecessor?

Stats

Druddigon is a Basic Dragon-Type Pokémon, enjoying all the perks of being a Basic Pokémon (speed, minimal deck slots, Stage support) plus all the perks of being a Dragon-Type; hitting its own, popular Type for Weakness while never worrying about Resistance and having at least some potential Type support.

110 HP is very good, only 20 below the maximum printed on Basic Pokémon (barring special mechanics like being a Pokémon-EX). Unless Druddigon is hit for Weakness, it will probably be able to take a hit and keep on standing; Eviolite is perhaps more important than normal as 110 is just below what I consider the current threshold for “big” attacks. It may seem a bit arbitrary, but so many decks can hit for a good 80 to 100 in a turn that I prefer to be out of the range of both PlusPower enhanced strikes and spread damage setting up for a KO the next turn.

The Dragon-Type Weakness may is… odd due to the HP; for the hardest hitting Dragon-Type Pokémon, it is usually saving resources (like requiring less Energy or voiding the need for a combo) to score the OHKO. That is to your opponent’s benefit, but it isn’t huge. It will matter more when cards that don’t normally attack do attack and get an unexpected KO, but that often entails taking a risk on the opponent’s part. A lot of lower Stages still fail to score a OHKO, so while taking double damage from them is not good, you’re going to have a return shot at them.

The lack of Resistance is common to all Dragons (and indeed most Pokémon), so I won’t consider it damaging so much as a missed opportunity; while Resistance hasn’t kept pace with the increased damage, HP, and speed of the game over the years, it still is nice to have for the odd times when it does matter. That leaves just Retreat for the stats; two is too low for Sky Arrow Bridge to completely cancel out, but dropping to one could still be handy.

Effects

Druddigon has two attacks, Tight Jaw and Dragon Tail. The former requires just (CC), making it easy to pay in most decks, which is good because it just does 20 with a chance of Paralysis. Since this is a non-Evolving Basic Pokémon I really expect a little more; maybe it would have been better off with a specific Energy requirement in there so this couldn’t become an easy splash to counter other, Evolving Dragon-Types; just 10 more points of damage would have allowed the card (otherwise as is) to be splashed around to harass a lot of Dragon-using decks.

Dragon Tail, the second attack requires two coin flips and scores 80 points of damage per “heads”. If the Energy cost wasn’t (RWC), this wouldn’t be bad; not sure if I could bring myself to call it good, but it could have been adequate. Like a lot of players, I am leery of counting on an attack where one in four of the possible results will be that I wasted my attack for the turn.

Still, half the time (two of four possible results) Dragon Tail provides a decent 80 points of damage, and attempting to balance out the “double tails” results, the last outcome that is also one of four possible results is the “double heads” that scores a fantastic 160 points of damage. Even before thinking about combos, that’s solid damage, taking down anything that isn’t Wailord (BW: Dragons Exalted 26/124), sporting Giant Cape, “protected”, or most Pokémon-EX.

Factoring in that all Dragon-Type Pokémon are also Dragon Weak, Dragon Tail threatens all of them on a result of “double heads”, and only the Dragon-Types that are Pokémon-EX can withstand even a single result of heads. What keeps this card from being an obvious choice for most decks will be the pesky combination of both a Water and a Fire Energy requirement in the attack; they don’t share a common Blend Energy so it will have to be a Prism Energy or the actual basic Energy meeting the need.

With the just-barely-too-low damage of Tight Jaw, fact that a Double Colorless Energy is great for Tight Jaw but just left to fill a lone (C) requirement in Dragon Tail, and painful “opposing” Energy-Types in the requirements for Dragon Tail, this card feels like it was… nerfed. Still, it might have some use.

Usage

There is only one other Druddigon available, BW: Noble Victories 89/101; it would have been awesome as a Dragon-Type, but it came out before they were ready for that mechanic so it is a Colorless-Type Pokémon. As a 100 HP Basic it is just a little more vulnerable to being OHKOed, but it also has no Weakness. It has no Resistance either and the same two Energy requirement to Retreat, but overall these are decent stats.

Had it been a Dragon-Type, the Ability and attack would have been pretty good, instead of near misses. Rough Skin places two damage counters if it is damaged while Active by an attack from your opponent’s Pokémon, and for (CCC) it can use Clutch; hitting for 60 points of damage while preventing the Defending Pokémon from Retreating. Like I said, as a Dragon-Type it would have been useful since a lot of Dragon-Type Pokémon, if they survived Clutch, would end up KOing themselves if they attacked into Rough Skin.

It isn’t a Dragon-Type, though, so no worries; it only sees plays in decks built around Rough Skin (possibly fun, but so far not overly effective) and will almost never be competing with today’s version for space in a deck. Instead, we get the almost awkwardness of either coming in just shy of critical damage levels with Tight Jaw as an off Energy Dragon-Type splash or with some actual support geared towards it, a “flippy” attacker who is just a bit small to warrant such an investment.

I really want to find a good use for this card in Modified, but Tight Jaw doesn’t hit hard enough to really threaten most Dragons, and the combos I can think of to make it hit hard enough are better spent on other Pokémon. I guess one could try to build a Water/Fire deck that was flip heavy and back it up with Victini (BW: Noble Victories 14/101, 98/101) so that you’re hitting three different forms of Weakness.

For Unlimited, you know the routine; the format favors decks that win first turn or at least form some sort of lock, and even when you resort to more traditional strategies, you’ve got access to the great from the whole history of the game. Since this is a mini-set, it really isn’t meant for Limited play, but if this were re-released in another set, Druddigon would be a great pick; you might be able to put it into a deck that can reasonably meet the costs of Dragon Tail, but if not, its HP and capacity to use any Energy for Tight Jaw would make it a welcome pull for any deck.

Ratings

Unlimited: 1/5

Modified: 2/5

Limited: N/A

Summary

Druddigon legitimately feels like a calculated attempt at a near miss; it is hard to believe the design team intended for it to be anything but a tease, but since this is a mini-set I can almost understand why. I am grateful that at least it does look like it almost could have been useful; besides showing some effort, it may simply be that a later card could give it new life. Here’s hoping!

Jebulous

Druddigon
 
Druddigon is a Basic Dragon Pokemon with 110 HP  It is weak to Dragon and has a retreat cost of 2.
 
'Tight Jaw' cost 2 colorless energy and does 20 damage.  If you flip heads, they are Paralyzed.  Not that great, especially with the cost.
Mewtwo EX does how much for a DCE?  Even hitting Dragon weakness doesn't do much.
 
'Dragon Tail'  costs 1 Fire, 1 Water, and 1 colorless energy.  It does
80 times the number of heads, after flipping 2 coins.  Still not a great attack.  You'll average 80 damage per attack, and that won't OHKO much.  Maybe if it was 90 it'd be a little better.
 
I don't really see much happening with this card.
 
Modified: 1.5/5
Limited: 1.5/5
Combos With:  ...
 
Questions, comments, concerns: jebulousthemighty@yahoo.com


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