Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Grumpig
(XY)
It’s
forgettable Stage 1 time again on
Pojo’s CotD, and this
time it’s Grumpig who is up
for review. He’s never really had a major part to play
in any kind of Pokémon-related field. Personally, I find
Spoink more memorable as his
Ruby Pokédex entry is, in a
way, one of the most grim
things I’ve seen in the franchise (and that says a lot
considering how much creepiness there is hidden away in
flavour text).
Back on-topic though, and I’m afraid there isn’t a lot
of ‘topic’ to discuss. Grumpig’s
100 HP makes him vulnerable to pretty much anything
(especially with Muscle Band around), and his attacks
aren’t anything to write home about either. True, Tricky
Steps could annoy an opponent by moving Energy off an
attacker and on to a Bench sitter like
Garbodor DRX or Mr Mime, but
how would that be any better than using a Pokémon which
could just KO the Pokémon and send it and the Energy to
the discard pile? Our heavy-hitting format really isn’t
kind to this kind of disruptive, technical attack. The
alternative, Psybeam, is
just an overpriced, relatively low damage attack that
throws in Confusion in a failed attempt to make it seem
more interesting than it actually is.
Totally outclassed by any half-decent Pokémon in the
format (never mind the big guns),
Grumpig is destined for obscurity and the binder.
Rating
Modified: 1.75 (a format of power hitters makes this
look like a useless gimmick)
Limited: 3.25 (not bad at all here as the gimmick is
reasonably effective)
|
HEZ
Intro to
Unlimited 150 |
Grumpig.
Standard.
Another Japanese Uncommon made into a filler Rare for
the international release of XY. The HP is ok for a
Stage 1 and that’s about the only decent thing about it.
The unusual effect of Tricky Steps is the only thing
that draws any attention. You could attempt to stall out
a Pokémon with a high Energy attack by moving all its
Energy to a benched Pokémon that doesn’t need it but
like Simisage on Monday, there’s so many ways to switch
Pokémon out now that trying to stall and disrupt with
such a small Stage 1 isn’t very effective.
Unlimited 150.
Grumpig as a whole isn’t a bad Pokémon. It’s had a few
good cards in the past such as a Power locking version
in Triumphant and the one in Boundaries Crossed has a
decent 110 HP and can deal a fairly impressive 120
damage. The newest Grumpig is actually a step down from
its fairly recent Boundaries Crossed version with less
HP, lower damage output and without any other impressive
tricks to make it stand out. If you really want to play
a Grumpig deck, you can do better than the XY version.
Ratings.
Standard: 1
Unlimited 150: 1
|
