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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Magcargo ex - Dragon EX


Date Reviewed: 2.09.04

Ratings & Reviews below

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

Hedge

Magcargo ex

 

     This card would be ‘the’ stage one for Blaze decks instead of Ninetails and Delcatty, but because of it’s low HP and the fact that it’s ex makes it dangerous to play; besides, people like playing high pressure to bail their Ninetails after an etheral flame  :p

Since the attack says ‘basic nrg’ (not just fire) it could be used with something else…

Can’t think of something right now, my mind is still zinging from a fight over a  Lt. Surge’s Secret Plan ruling yesterday  0_o

 

Besides that, Melting Mountain could be tight with Oracle… I think this card would overall be better with Exp. Typhlosion and Town Volunteers.

 

            Written By:  ~Hedge

Written February 8th, 2004

Otaku

Name: Magcargo ex
Set/Card#:
Dragons #97/97
Type:
Fire
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Slugma)
HP:
100
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CCC
Attack#1:
(R) Melting Mountain [20]

Discard the top card from your deck.  If that card is a basic Energy card, attach it to Magcargo ex.

Attack#2: (RRC) Lava Flow [40+]

You may discard any number of basic Energy cards attached to Magcargo ex when you use this attack.  If you do, this attack does 40 damage plus 20 more damage for each basic Energy you discarded.

Name: Slugma
Set/Card#:
Dragons #72/97
Type:
Fire
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CC
Attack#1:
(C) Ram [10]

Attack#2: (RC) Luring Flame

Switch 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon with 1 of the Defending Pokémon.  Your opponent chooses the Defending Pokémon to switch.  The new Defending Pokémon is now Burned.

Attributes: Magcargo ex is the only one of its kind.  It does share a common lower stage with the normal Magcargo, but for time concerns, I leave it to you to look those up.  Both are interesting, and could be useful, but it would be next to impossible to do those cards justice in another card’s CotD.

As stated, this is a Stage 1 Pokémon ex.  Evolving from Slugma means slim pickings-Dragons seems the best, as it disrupts their bench and Burns at the same time.  Probably the better one for Unlimited, which is kinda bad.  Still, like most basics that have Evolutions, that’s all it’s for.  As a Stage 1, this card needs to be a bit better than a basic, since otherwise you’d just use a basic instead.  Attributes vary according to Pokémon, so this will usually be seen in abilities.  Similarly, as a Pokémon ex, it needs to be roughly twice as good as a non-ex Pokémon of similar quality.

It’s a Fire Pokémon, which does mean that enjoys a lack of Resistance and being the weakness of Metal Pokémon and most Grass Pokémon.  Its HP is too low, like its set-mate Muk ex.  A Stage 1 Pokémon ex really needs to have 120 HP.  It has Water Weakness, appropriate but predictable.  This can be a big problem-a Suicune can OHKO this slug, and a Wailord can still put the hurt on it.  It has no Resistance, also predictable.  It is also the worst you can have in the “resistance” department.  Retreat is three-a bit awkward.  You will want to avoid it as best as you can.

Abilities: Melting Mountain is a so-so attack.  In terms of damage, it’s good: you pay for 15, and get 20.  The effect can be problematic.  Discarding a random card from the top of your deck is risky.  Fortunately, a deck can be built to maximize the attachments and almost eliminate the needless discards.  If the effect was optional it’d be out and out good, as is, it’s more or less average.  The second attack is a winner though.  Lava Flow is fairly priced for a basic with its base damage: RRC yields 40 (15+15+10).  It’s the optional effect that makes it good: the discard cost is a bit better than you’d expect.  While not “perfect” (10 per energy would kick butt), 10 per basic is still pretty nice.

Uses/Combinations: While I considered it as a partner for Sceptile (along the same vein as Camerupt), I realized that it would be the lesser of the two-twice the prizes but not twice the Pokémon.  So perhaps Roselia, as you can discard any basic Energy.  Speed Growth, retreat to Magcargo, then Switch or Warp Energy back so Roselia can re-power… but that seems a touch difficult.  Harvest Bounty Venusaur could keep it going, but again, it works just about as well for most such Pokémon.  Blaziken could power it up, but again, after all that effort of making it active and benching it, you probably should just use something that lacks the same hassle.  The best bet would be to run it in a deck of mostly Fire Energy.  I normally make my Eon decks 18-22 Energy.  You’d probably want the deck to be more like 25, or even upwards of 30 Energy.  Also, you would be running less Pokémon and more Trainers, to filter your deck to almost pure energy so you can maintain a steady assault.  Still, this leaves the deck fairly weak-you have almost no room for error.  Of course, in Unlimited, you could use it in a typical Encargo deck, but the normal Magcargo is superior due to the ex-rule.

Ratings

Unlimited: 1/5-Not even 20 more HP and a fall back attack make this thing worth considering as TecH in a normal Magcargo deck-the card you’d discard would probably be more useful than a mere 20 damage attack.

Modified: 3/5-Originally I had high hopes for it… now I just don’t know.  The combination of low HP and Pokémon ex status really hurts it.  Unlike Muk ex, it does not slowdown most opposing decks, and it’s not as fast as Muk ex either (since Muk ex matches Roselia).

Limited: 3.25/5-Due to the ease of playing a most Energy deck, I suppose it could work… barely.

2-on-2: 2.5/5-I don’t think it can take the beating 

TMP: 2.5/5-Ditto.

Summary

When I first saw it, I thought it was overrated, then feared it, then discovered AQ Suicune, then had that “taken” away by the original Pure Body rulings, then got it back when Nintendo corrected WotC’s ruling, then… well, this card keeps flip-flopping in my mind.  If someone finds a way to make it work, e-mail me.

-Otaku (nintendotaku@hotmail.com)

 


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