|
Qwilfish
Sometimes cards that seem to be total rubbish can turn
out to have an obscure and creative use. That’s what
happened to Qwilfish, the
card up for review today.
Qwilfish
does not seem a very promising card. An 80 HP
non-evolving Basic that needs two
Colourless Energy to attack for just 20 damage and
poison. He
does have
that Counterattack Quills Ability which basically
functions like Rocky Helmet, dealing 20 damage to your
opponent’s Pokémon if he is attacked while active but .
. . meh,
no-one plays Rocky Helmet, do they?
So, what use is this Pokémon? Well, some Japanese
players have come up with a very innovative use for him,
and it’s to do with Mega Evolution. The massive drawback
of evolving to a Mega is the fact that it ends your turn
without an attack. If you can put
Qwilfish active on the turn you do it, it gives
your opponent a bit of a dilemma: if they have no
switching cards (Catcher, Lysandre),
then they have to either pass their own attack or hit
Qwilfish, and that 20 damage
can put them in range of a KO from your Mega next turn.
Mega Kangaskhan can now OHKO
an EX with a Laser/Virbank
combo and either Muscle Band, or a heads flip on Wham
Bam Punch.
It’s a little gimmicky, and I’m not sure how well it
will translate into the game outside of Japan (where we
play a different format and
Kangaskhan isn’t quite so popular), but it’s a
clever idea and it makes use of a Pokémon that was
otherwise destined to hit the shoebox.
Rating
Modified: 2.75 (cute tech)
Limited: 3.5 (the Ability and the Poisoning can be super
annoying here)
|
