Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Kabutops ex

Date Reviewed: 10.20.03

Ratings & Reviews below

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.

Name: Kabutops ex

Color: Water

Type: Stage 2 ex (evolves from Kabuto)

HP: 150

Weakness: Grass, Lighting

Resistance: None

Retreat: CC

Attack#1: (C) Hydrocutter [40x]

Flip a number of coins equal to the amount of Energy attached to Kabutops ex.  This attack does 40 damage tomes the number of heads.  You can’t flip more than 3 coins this way.

Attack#2: (FFCC) Spiral Drain [70]

Remove 2 damage counters from Kabutops ex (remove 1 if there is only 1).

I am trying a new review style: “Mirror”.  Basically, as many of you have probably noticed, the cards “abilities” (the attacks and or Pokémon Powers) tend to govern a card more than the “attributes” (everything but attacks a Pokémon Powers =P), unless the attributes are extremely bad.

Abilities: Hydrocutter is a sweet attack, and was first seen on Neo Discovery Kabutops.  This is attack has been slightly pumped up though: now it’s per energy and not per energy card, and only costs (C) instead of (F).  This is still a fantastic attack.  It averages 60 damage for CCC, so not only is it about twice as powerful as it “should” be based on energy alone, but it has a nice ability to optionally average 20 for (C) or 40 for (CC).  This is the kind of attack one would expect to see on a Stage 2 or a Pokémon ex.  Spiral Drain is one of those attacks that would be killer on a non-Pokémon ex, but are the minimum you’d want for a Pokémon ex.  It does flat 70 for FFCC.  When we do the math, we only get 50 from energy (15 per colored, 10 per colorless).  As a Stage 2 Pokémon, an extra 20 damage seems a fair compensation for being so hard to get into play.  Similarly, the removing of up to 2 damage counters is also a nice bonus.  It too would be a suitable evolution bonus.  So why do I sound less than thrilled?  Its first attack makes it a pure powerhouse with three of any colored energy, and for two Fighting and two of any other type, it does 70 flat (the “Magic HP number since it is so rare for “straight” damage) and has a nice bonus effect.  Well, we come to that when we view this cards attributes…

Attributes: Where does a Kabutops ex come from?  From a Kabuto, of course.  Where does a Kabuto come from?  Why, a Mysterious Fossil of course… unless its from a Buried Fossil… but that’s it… other than being brought into play by certain Pokémon Powers and attacks… oh, and lastly, in Unlimited there’s Brock’s Ninetales (which should be able to bring in Kabutops ex too) and Fossil Egg too. @_@ So, what should you use?  It really depends on your playing style.  If you plan on jumping straight to Kabutops ex with a Rare Candy (assuming it can do that), the just use Mysterious Fossil.  It’s cheap, it’s easy, and if you need to, you can use the extras as “free” blockers, since they can count as basics during starting play, don’t count as basics when they are KO’d, and are unaffected by Special Conditions.  If you want a more stable “base” (notice that along with Rare Candy we got massive De-evolution in Sandstorm), I recommend the Sandstorm Kabuto, as it can search out either Basics or an Omanyte or Kabuto and put them on your bench for just (C), and has a Poké-Body that reduces damage done to it by 20.  The others tend to act similarly, but only doing one or the other (if either), and not as well.  It even has another attack, Pierce, that lets it do some damage, but is a tad over-priced (forgivable, considering it has two attacks and a Poké-Body).

Now that we know where it comes from, let’s finish of the rest of its attributes:  It’s a Stage 2 Water Pokémon ex.  It is the only such Pokémon, though there are currently three other Stage 2 Pokémon ex and 3 other Water Pokémon ex (2 basic, one stage 1).  There are of course several other Basic, Stage 1, and Stage 2 Water Pokémon, and a decent chunk of them are good enough to build decks around.  So while there is no direct competition, there is a lot of “overlap” from other areas.  The worst of it is from Neo Discovery Kabutops, a Water Stage 2.  90 HP, Grass Weak, and as mentioned above, its Hydrocutter needs F and counts energy cards not just energies, and a retreat of two.  So it has only 2/3s of Kabutops HP, but one less weakness and no ex rule.  The other big difference is that Kabutops other attack is just “Slash” for (C) that does 20 flat.  Why bring this up?  Because it helps explain why I am disappointed with the attributes.  The HP is so-so: doubling it outright might have been a bit much, but 150 HP seems so small given that most normal Stage 2s have 100-120.  Still, it meets my minimum 60% or 2/3s increase, so it will do.  The retreats are the same: CC, which is low enough that you can pay it but high enough to try and avoid.  The lack of Resistance is the worst possible option, but all too common.  The dual-Weakness is the second biggest stumbling block: both are common in Unlimited as either deck foci or support that just need one or two hits to KO Kabutops here, while in Modified its unseen but there.  None of the “big” archetypes that are all but guaranteed are Grass or Electric, but many rogue decks are.  Worse yet, the rogues are across the board, making counters for them tricky.  What’s the point of running Fighting to counter Electric when people are starting to realize E2 Zapdos is pretty good.  Even when they are weak against Fighting, it’s not always obvious: I have experimented with Skyridge Electrode-if you don’t OHKO it, it will probably detonate and KO itself, taking 2 prizes from Kabutops ex while doing a good deal of bench damage.  Grass has varied weaknesses to a greater extent (Fire, Psychic, and a couple of Electric weak too), plus a nasty “Almost” Big Bad Basic in the form of Seviper: for CC, it would do 40 with Auto-Sleep and Auto-Poison.  Ouchies.  So if we put N2 Kabutops against Kabutops ex, we have one that is easier to power with better attacks, but that is fragile: most main attackers will KO the ex version with at most two extra attacks.  Still, it is fairly strong, and if you can find the right support.

Uses/Combinations: Swarm!  Use the inherent abilities of Kabuto to get a bunch n the bench, evolve them, and begin to hit and run (Pokémon Nursing injured Kabutops after benching them).  Boost Energy makes this really easy to set up, and Underground Lake/Lure Ball can resurrect a fallen Kabutops ex with ease.  The thing to watch is your prize count: at two prizes a pop, losing two would only leave you room for one other KO.  Fortunately, unless you are using a two-tailed coin, you should be racking up damage pretty fast.  Best of all, if you opponent can’t put the hurt on you quickly, then you can power up Spiral Drain for a sustained attack.  Super-Scoop up is probably a must in Modified.

 Ratings

Unlimited: 3/5-Best I can think of is to run it with Slowking, given you energy and bench protection.  From there, you can make better use of Underground Lake/Lure Ball thanks to Computer Search, Oak, and Item Finder.  Best of all, you can use Mr. Fuji.  This card is a Godsend for evolved Pokémon ex: shuffle it all into your deck (which is almost like your hand in Unlimited =P), with all the energy and other goodies still attached to it.  Not only do you replenish your deck, but you get to rob your opponent of two prizes!  Probably a viable deck (as the rating is to indicate)

Modified/2-on-2: 3.5/5-Stronger here, but you got to keep it healthy or hidden.  I like using one with Boost Energy to annoy Gardevoir/ex.  It also has excellent speed.  That dual weakness just holds it back.  2-on-2 is more or less the same as far as I can derive.

Limited: 3/5-Seen it in action.  If it gets going, it’s golden.  But that’s a big if.  One thing that helps and hurts is that Mysterious Fossil is an excellent draft pick.  Problem can be getting one (I got three Omanyte and an Omastar but no MFs).  Then make sure you get Spiral Drain Powered up: a flat 70 and healing will keep a 150 HP Pokémon alike for a looong time.  And remember-it’s half your starting prizes if it dies!

Figures, this was one where it was the attributes that kinda hold back the attacks.

-Otaku

("The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the scythe." ~Russian Proverb)

~Bullados

Kabutops EX

   This card is a combination of neo 2 ‘Tops and Fossil ‘Tops. Neo discovery Kabutops was the sole fighter of the turbotops deck, where steelix or scizor was backup. Hydrocutter was a massive attack back then. Now, however, for an ex Pokemon, it’s almost like you want something more. Spiral drain is not it, believe me. Now I never really have fought against or with this card, so again I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think it would be a problem because I’m hardcore Cradily. Also, the old kabutops could be covered with a 3-3 line of onix-steelix, but this one has lightning weakness too. Then you have to run Aquapolis donphan too or something like that, and don’t forget that Garde Ex could be a jam. Methinks this card is a mess, and as for the artwork, black holographic really is crummy.

            Unlimited- My favorite format: 0.5/5  Sorry Tops. Evolves from a trainer, two prize ko, slow, not many weak to water, Electabuzz, Scyther, etc., etc., etc………

            Modified –(EON)—2/5  Maybe some potential. Like I said, do steel for grass, but guess what; you’re other weakness is not only double damage, but resistant to your steel too. Haha. No win situation.

            2-2 – 1.5/5-- what is the benefit here? With a little luck you’ll be facing a lightning and grass Pokemon lol.

            Draft—3.5/5 – Anything that has 150 hp and does 60-70 a turn in this format is just nasty. He’s actually the easiest ex to get from my pack-opening-experience, so go for it.

~Hedge