Otaku |
I’ll resist the gag where I constantly struggle to stay
focused as the review breaks down into “TEH KITTY! =^w^=
D’awww! <3” repeatedly.
So today we look at Meowstic-EX (Generations
37/83) and its art really is kind of adorable if you’re
into cats, but I’m actually not as distracted as I was
going to pretend. It is a Pokémon-EX, so it gives
up an extra Prize when KOed, is explicitly targeted by
certain detrimental effects, and cannot access certain
beneficial effects (with only the last two depending
upon the card pool). Most Pokémon-EX get better
attributes (usually HP) and effects than a “regular”
version of the Pokémon but it isn’t guaranteed.
There is one benefit that was required however and that
is being a Basic Pokémon, even though Meowstic is
normally a Stage 1. Being a Basic Pokémon is the
best right now, even though there are multiple explicit
counters to them, thanks to how the fundamental game
rules work, natural synergy with several card effects,
and even a smattering of Stage specific support.
Being a Psychic Type allows Meowstic to hit a
good chunk of both Fighting Type and Psychic Type
Pokémon for Weakness but also means dealing with Psychic
Resistance on nearly all Darkness Types and Metal Types…
or at least it normally would but as you’ve read the
card by now you know this won’t be the case.
Psychic support can still prove relevant, and the
Psychic Type does offer a few key pieces specific to the
Type without any explicit counters.
Meowstic-EX
has 160 HP, which is about 10 to 20 points below the
typical going rate. This isn’t a deal breaker but
you will notice every now and then when someone scores a
OHKO that under most circumstances would have fallen
just a bit short. It is probably most significant
when your opponent is using a Psychic Type attacker as
Meowstic-EX has the oft seen Psychic Weakness on
a Psychic Type. Night March decks, Mewtwo-EX
decks (any version, whether dedicated or splashed in)
can exploit it for a probable OHKO, as now said attacker
only needs 80 damage. Still a slight chance you’ll
survive if the opponent’s setup is still a bit lacking.
No Resistance is the worst but also the most common, but
the Resistance mechanic particularly impressive when
something is there so it isn’t really a drawback so much
as a non-issue I hate neglecting to at least give a
token nod. The Retreat Cost actually does matter,
but in a good way: [C] is the second best and while it
isn’t exactly rare it is appreciated nonetheless.
Easy to pay and recover from having paid, plus anything
that lowers costs is going to make it into a perfect
free Retreat Cost.
Meowstic-EX
has one Ability (Shadow Ear) and one attack (Mind
Shock); I’m starting with the latter because it mostly
matters to keep the Ability in perspective.
Needing just [PC], Mind Shock does 60 damage without
applying Weakness or Resistance. Exploiting
Weakness is almost always more important than bypassing
Resistance, so this was not a good “trade” for the
attack. 60 damage for two Energy is weak but not
horribly so, and as this is a Psychic Type you have the
option of Dimension Valley to drop the cost down
to just [P], at which point it’s an okay (but still not
great) attack. So what about the Ability I’ve
built up? Shadow Ear requires Meowstic-EX
be Active, but it allows you to move a damage counter
from one of your Pokémon to one of your opponent’s
Pokémon once per turn. This is the “once per turn”
where if you have multiple copies of a Pokémon with
Shadow Ear, you may use each once per turn
provided you can get each of them Active and have a
damage counter to move. Shadow Ear is good but not
great because of the two restrictions: if it was once
per turn but worked from the Bench or as often as
you like even if only while Meowstic-EX was
Active, you’d already know this card from the combos it
would enable. As is, we still have a solid but
unspectacular pairing. Still, there may be
something we can do with this card.
It isn’t worth a space on your Bench and a 160 HP Basic
worth two Prizes to move a single damage counter (if one
is available) from your side of the field to the
opponent’s side of the field. It might be if it
wasn’t for many rivals to that space, but that is what
might have been and not what is. If you did have
space, a single copy of Meowstic-EX could be
handy; something like Skyarrow Bridge would make
it easy to promote it after KOs (assuming something had
damage counters on it) and there are several minor
combos to get Meowstic-EX Active for a bit and
then right back to your Bench. Vanilluxe (BW:
Next Destinies 33/99) and Metagross (XY:
Ancient Origins 49/98) each have Abilities that
allow you to change out the Active Pokémon of both
players. Vanilluxe would have the option of
being Benched via Archie’s Ace in the Hole.
A single manual retreat plus two uses of either Ability
and finally ending on a Meowstic-EX would allow a
full four uses of Shadow Ear per turn. You could
also use Keldeo-EX or Zoroark (XY:
BREAKthrough 91/162) plus Float Stone to
either get a Meowstic-EX Active or out of the
Active slot once each turn.
The big issue is that once you add attackers that might
make such a trick worthwhile, you’ll have less room to
spam Shadow Ear. You might try attacking with
Meowstic-EX itself, but for example let us use the
full combo I’ve been setting up: two Vanilluxe,
four Meowstic-EX, and Dimension Valley.
Toss in a Fighting Fury Belt on Meowstic-EX
as well for +10 damage and (more importantly) +40 HP.
If your opponent cannot take out a chunk of the combo,
you’ll do 60 for [P] with upwards of four damage
counters from your side of the field moved to the
opponent’s side of the field. Once again this
isn’t bad, but for all the effort an effective 100 for
one Energy isn’t as impressive. I still believe
this card has potential because of past experience; less
with the specific effect and more because I’ve made snap
judgments in the past and it turned out maxing out the
card wasn’t the right call, neither was a TecH copy, but
two or three plus something that hadn’t occurred to me.
So give it a try in Standard and Expanded. On the
increasingly unlikely chance you can participate in a
Limited format event for Generations, definitely
give this card a go, probably just running it and 39
non-Basic Pokémon cards. If that makes no sense
remember that the Limited Format usually has you build a
40 card deck from what you pull, and plays with four
Prize cards instead of six.
Ratings
Standard:
2/5
Expanded:
2/5
Limited:
4.75/5
Summary:
Meowstic-EX has a nice trick but using it well is
difficult as I don’t think most decks have room for a
TecH copy they could just promote between KOs and then
get out of the way. I’ve got no solid ideas for it
but it seems to offer so much possibility, it is worth
obtaining when the price is right and then doing some
experimentation.
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