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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Gallade  

- Plasma Storm

Date Reviewed:
March 25, 2013

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 2.50
Limited: 4.13

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

Combos With: See Below

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Gallade (Plasma Storm) 

Hello and welcome to a new week of reviews on Pojo’s CotD. We have some interesting cards for you this week, kicking off with the new Gallade from Plasma storm. It seems like a very long time since we saw this Pokémon in the TCG, in fact you have to go all the way back to Rising Rivals in 2009 to find the last Gallade to see print. Of course, long time players will have the memory of Gallade and Gardevoir from Secret Wonders etched into their brains forever: no deck has quite matched that level of dominance since. 

This version is a Stage 2 Psychic Type Pokémon with 140 HP. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, 140 has just become a little bit of a magic number recently: it’s what Darkrai can do with a Dark Claw attached and a Hypnotoxic Laser/Virbank City Gym combo. I know that seems like a lot of cards, but don’t go thinking that Darkrai decks are not very capable of pulling that off. 150 HP is much safer these days. The Psychic Weakness isn’t so much an issue for Gallade himself, as he can trade with the almighty Mewtwo (as we shall see), but it is a real problem for Gallade’s pre-evolutions, which are all OHKO’d by Mewtwo/Double Colourless. 

Let’s get Gallade’s second attack out of the way first because it isn’t going to be the attack you will be using. Swift Lunge costs one Psychic and two Colourless Energy, does 80 damage, and forces your opponent to switch the Defending Pokémon with a Benched one (of their choice). It’s not a horrible attack by any means: the damage return is ok and there are situations where the disruption is useful. However, this is nowhere near enough to tempt anyone into playing a Stage 2 these days. For that, we have to look elsewhere. 

Powerful Storm is the real star here. For two Energy of any Colour, it will do 20 damage times the amount of Energy attached to all of your Pokémon. This may not sound anything special in itself (40 damage for a Double Colourless on a Stage 2?), but there are a lot of options when it comes to combining Gallade with some kind of Energy acceleration to really make this attack work. Remember: the Energy doesn’t need to be attached to Gallede, so you are free to stack it on benched Pokémon . . . preferably ones which are tough to KO. 

The most obvious partner is Gardevoir NEX, which is part of the same evolutionary line as Gallade and has an Ability which makes all Basic Psychic Energy count double. But why stop there? You could also try Emboar BLW or Blastoise BCR to accelerate as much as you can from the hand; or Eelektrik NVI to grab Energy from the discard; or Colress Machine/Plasma Energy/Plasma Pokémon (I suggest Snorlax PLS or Lugia-EX); or how about Darkrai and Dark Patch . . . or even some combination of these methods? The nice thing about Gallade is that he doesn’t care what Energy Type he uses, or what Pokémon you attach it to: just get enough of it on the Field and Powerful Storm really starts living up to its name. 

So . . . does this mean we have a tournament-winning card in Gallade? Eh . . . not quite. I actually think it’s a pretty good card and Powerful Storm is an amazing attack in a format with so much Energy acceleration available. The trouble is making a Stage 2 work when his Basic is so easily OHKO’d by Mewtwo-EX, Tornadus-EX, Landorus-EX with Laser and Virbank etc. It’s also difficult to keep up a stream of Gallades to attack when he is being OHKO’d himself: even though the Prize trade against EX Pokémon is in his favour, you still have to keep the Gallades coming. Finally, there is the issue of getting and keeping enough Energy in play. To OHKO a clean EX, Gallade will need the equivalent of nine Energy on the board, and that isn’t always easy to achieve or maintain. 

I’ve seen a few Gallade decks over the past few weeks and they can pick up wins against the established tournament decks if things go their way. I wouldn’t recommend them to people who are desperate to win, but if you want a semi-competitive deck that’s fun to play around with, then you could do a lot worse than take a look at Gallade. 

Rating 

Modified: 3 (one of the better Stage 2s in the format)

Limited: 3.25 (if you can get him out, he will do dome damage)

virusyosh

Welcome back, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing a Stage 2 that could be an amazing attacker in a slower format. Today's Card of the Day is Gallade from Plasma Storm.

Gallade is a Stage 2 Psychic Pokemon. Mewtwo-EX is the most commonly played Psychic-type these days, so Gallade will have to do something pretty great in order to find a niche that the genetic cat doesn't fill. 140 HP is standard for a Stage 2, and this value unfortunately isn't quite enough to deal with the heavy hitting Pokemon-EX in the current Modified metagame; Gallade will be lucky to take at least one hit. Psychic Weakness is a problem against the omnipresent Mewtwo-EX, who will easily OHKO with X-Ball; no Resistance is unfortunate but very common; and a Retreat Cost of two is payable when necessary, but you should still probably Switch or Escape Rope most of the time.

Gallade has two attacks. Powerful Storm deals 20 damage times the number of Energy attached to ALL of your Pokemon for a Double Colorless. This attack is a "balanced" version of Mewtwo-EX's X-Ball, but since Mewtwo-EX is still around, that's generally better. However, in the right deck, Gallade can shine. Gardevoir is a natural partner here, as the ability to double Psychic Energy will really raise the output of this attack. Of course, Gardevoir and Gallade share the same Evolutionary family, so you'll want to really make sure that the deck has ways of getting Ralts and Kirlia back from the discard pile. That being said, this attack has the capability of being absolutely monstrous in the right build.

Swift Lunge is Gallade's second attack, dealing 80 damage and forcing a switch for a Psychic and two Colorless. While not as powerful as Powerful Storm, Swift Lunge can still be great in a pinch if your opponent has a really annoying Active Pokemon (or if you won't be dealing more than 80 damage with Powerful Storm). This attack also works very well in Limited, as this sort of disruption can be very problematic for your opponent.

Modified: 2/5 Gallade has a lot of Modified potential, but falls short because of its "low" HP (compared to Pokemon-EX) and unfavorable Weakness. In a format where there are no Pokemon-EX, Gallade would probably see quite a bit of play. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen with our current tournament setup.

Limited: 5/5 Gallade is an absolute powerhouse in Limited. Powerful Storm should easily KO almost everything in the format, and the fact that it has only Colorless requirements means that there's no reason you shouldn't be using Gallade if you pull its evolutionary line. Swift Lunge is also pretty good here too for disruption and good damage output.

Combos With: Gardevoir


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