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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Top 5 New Legendary Treasure Cards

#2 - Spiritomb 

- Legendary Treasures

Date Reviewed:
Nov 7, 2013

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 3.38
Limited: 4.70

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

#2 Spiritomb 

This is the card I had at #1 on my top 5 list. Not that I think it’s anything major or special – the new cards in the set don’t offer anything like that – but because it has decent all-round utility. 

In fact Spiritomb offers two things that a player can make use of. The first is the Ability, Sealing Scream, which prevents either player from playing ACE SPEC cards from their hand. Obviously, this is a double-edged Aegislash (new Pokémon reference!), but there are a few ways you can make it work for you such as using your ACE SPEC before benching Spiritomb, or simply by playing a deck without one in the first place (use the space for another draw card, maybe). Sealing Scream can also be handy against particular decks too: Darkrai loves to use Sableye’s Junk Hunt for multiple Computer Search usage and Pokemon which rely heavily on specialist Tools (G Booster/Genesect EX, Victory Piece/Victini EX) will positively hate this card. 

The second thing that Spiritomb offers is a shuffle/draw effect with its Hexed Mirror attack. For the low, low price of one Energy of any Type, you can shuffle your hand into your deck and draw cards so that you match your opponent’s hand size. Long(ish) time players will recognize that this is the same attack as Chatot MD’s Mimic, which saw extensive use when it was legal. Spiritomb however is not quite as good as the older card – it lacks the free retreat and zero cost attack – and of course we are in a different format now which is even more fast-paced than the old one. Despite this, and despite the fact that you can’t use Hexed Mirror on the first turn of the game under the new rules, it’s still a nice hand-refresh move if you need it, and especially good if your opponent has used Tropical Beach to fill their own hand. 

I don’t expect every deck to have a Spiritomb in it from now on, but it’s a card I like quite a bit and good enough to pop up now and again in competitive decks.

Rating 

Modified: 3.5 (the best of a very mediocre bunch of new cards)

Limited: 4.5 (no ACE SPECs in the set, but I’ll take the hand refresh every single time)


Otaku

The new set, BW: Legendary Treasures, is upon us so it is time for a new Top 10 list!  Last time we expanded to a Top 12 because of scheduling: this time the nature of the set itself demands we “adjust” our usual practice.  When we select cards for a Top 10, we don’t normally consider “reprints”… but that would exclude most of Legendary Treasures.

 

With the set being mostly reprints, the new rules about to go into effect tomorrow and the still relatively recent rotation we’ll be doing two Top 5 lists: the Top 5 Promising Picks of Legendary Treasures followed by the Top 5 Reprints of Legendary Treasures!  The review will be based on the format post rule changes.  Today we look at a card that has been getting a fair amount of hype, Spiritomb (BW: Legendary Treasures 87/113).

 

The card’s Ability and attack are what excite people, but first things first: it is a Basic Pokémon, which is still the best it can be.  It is a Darkness-Type, which is normally great but Spiritomb but of which Spiritomb won’t really take advantage.  It has 80 HP: “okay” but 10 more and it still would have been a legal Level Ball target.  No Weakness is the best Weakness but 80 HP is still just 80 HP.  No Resistance is the worst Resistance, but for most cards it is lacking and even when present, is just a small bonus.  The single Energy Retreat Costs good but not great; easy to pay but most decks are going to bypass it anyway.

 

Sealing Scream, the Ability, prevents either player from playing Ace Spec cards from hand.  Ace Spec cards enable some powerful plays but are one card out of 60.  Most decks run an Ace Spec and I believe this is the first (and so far only) card to specifically reference them.  This means you’ll disrupt almost every opponent (most a little, some a lot), but it also means you’re disrupting yourself by either by not running an Ace Spec, denying yourself access to your own Ace Spec, or constraining yourself to “play around” Sealing Scream.

 

It should also be noticed that the wording explicitly only prevents playing Ace Spec cards from hand; if an effect plays the card from any other location, duplicates the effect, etc. Sealing Scream does nothing.  If there is a current card that does this I am drawing a blank, but we’ve seen this many times in the past so if it happens before this card rotates out, don’t be surprised.  So what about this card’s attack?

 

Bittersweet is how I would describe it; for (C) you can use Hexed Mirror, allowing you to draw a number of cards equal to the number of cards in your opponent’s hand.  This would be a great thing to use first turn of the game; too bad that isn’t legal anymore.  Aggressive decks are going to want damage while slower, set-up decks are apt to have cards in hand they don’t want to shuffle away; regardless you’re at the mercy of your opponent’s hand size and not every has Tropical Beach or needs to make use of first turn.

 

Today’s card is a toned down version of Spiritomb (Arceus 32/99) but doesn’t lend itself as well to Item lock decks or contain an incredibly potent set-up attack.  I can write several paragraphs detailing how I “believe” things will go down with this card, but it is speculation.  Looking it at it from your opponent’s side, Ace Specs are a single card that it may hurt to lose access to, but if my opponent is running a small, easy to OHKO Basic and expending resources to get it out might be a worthwhile trade.

 

I’ve read more than one comment talking about running Spiritomb and Mr. Mime (BW: Plasma Freeze 47/116) in every deck… forgetting that is at least two slots from your deck, two “meh” opening Pokémon, and two spaces on your Bench.  The way the game is shifting, you might have to choose one or the other, and remember using either means a deck already running a non-Pokémon-EX can’t pull off the “seventh Prize” trick.

 

Even though I am sounding pretty harsh over this card, it is merely because it has been really built up on the threads in which I’ve seen it being discussed.  It is a good card but it won’t turn a match-up into an auto win.  Most decks don’t heavily rely on an Ace Spec, and the ones that do don’t fold when they can’t use it or may be better countered through more conventional means of disruption.  I even could be wrong; perhaps a single TecH copy will be played in nearly every deck.  Insurance against an opponent pushing for the win or turning a game around with an Ace Spec is very tempting.

 

For Unlimited, just use older Trainer denial that blocked more cards (the best block all kinds of Trainers!) but for Limited, this is a great pull.  Not because of the Ability: there are no Ace Spec cards.  Even with the new rules, Hexed Mirror is useful here because it is usually too hard (or telling) to play out your hand in Limited, and all draw power becomes vital.  Even though this can’t attack offensively, and even with the new rules in effect, you’ll probably be able to use Hexed Mirror at least one while soaking two hits.  Just skip it if you are going for a Basic+39 deck.

 

Ratings

 

Unlimited: 1/5

 

Modified: 3.25/5

 

Limited: 4.9/5

 

Summary

Ultimately Spiritomb is one of the best new cards in this set but remember competition was light.  Expect it to see play, but make sure it is worth the space in your own deck; just because it isn’t easy to force it Active via Pokémon Catcher doesn’t mean it is invulnerable, and your opponent already be planning to use their Ace Spec ASAP.

 

I had Spiritomb in my number three slot, just below Meloetta EX; I wasn’t sure of that decision then, nor am I now.  Spiritomb is probably the best “general usage” new card we received, but the impact of other cards may be deeper even if their usage is narrower.


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