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This week we are looking at some Uncommons that have
shown some potential. Today’s CotD was brought to
my attention by Jaeger as something to experiment
with for a No Rares deck for the Pokémon League.
Name:
Grumpig
Set:
EX Emerald
Card#:
29/106
Rarity:
Uncommon
Type:
Psychic
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Spoink)
HP:
80
Weakness:
Psychic
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CC
Attack#1:
(P) Psyshock [20]
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now
Paralyzed.
Attack#2:
(CCC) Teleport Blast [40]
After your attack, you may switch Grumpig with 1
of your Benched Pokémon.
Name:
Spoink
Set:
EX Emerald
Card#:
66/106
Type:
Psychic
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Psychic
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack:
(C) Lunge [20]
Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does
nothing.
Attributes:
Grumpig is a Stage 1 Pokémon, so it will
require Evolving from Spoink. There are five
Spoink to choose from. The one listed above is
from the same set, and I only chose it since it can
attack with any color of Energy. In reality, I’d
use the Spoink with Bounce at it combos well
with this Grumpig. All Spoink have
the same Attributes, so it is the attacks that
matter.
Back to Grumpig itself: as a Stage 1 with
only one lower Stage and no higher Stages, it needs
to fall into a nice “niche” where it is tougher than
equivalent isolated basics (who are easier to get
into play and fit into decks) but not as strong as a
Stage 2 Pokémon that obviously requires more
effort. It is a Psychic Pokémon: Psychic Weakness
seems to be on the rise, so this is pretty good.
Just watch out for the odd bit of Resistance: there
are a few good Pokémon, like the pure Darkness-Type
Dark Tyranitar, that see a good deal of
play. Grumpig has 80 HP, which is the
minimum you want to see on a non-Evolving Stage 1.
Still, this is solid as long as you aren’t facing
Psychic Pokémon. Why? Because Grumpig is
Weak to Psychic Pokémon, so any such Pokémon that
hits for 40 or more damage can OHKO this little
piggy. Still, it may be for the best: anything that
can hit Grumpig hard, easily, can in turn be
hit by Grumpig hard, easily. Grumpig
has no Resistance. This hurts, but thankfully
Grumpig’s uses will reveal that it wouldn’t be
too useful anyway. To finish off Grumpig’s
Attributes, we see that it has a Retreat Cost of
two. This is low enough you can retreat, but high
enough you’ll want to avoid paying for it if you
can.
Abilities:
Psyshock is that simple, small attack that is nice
to use while powering up your big attack. This
version (it’s far from the first time we’ve seen it)
hits for 10 more damage than you pay for. The
chance to Paralyze is also nice since this can
strand something up front and give you a chance to
KO it on the next turn. If you can Evolve quickly
against a Psychic Weak Pokémon, especially if you
have a Strength Charm, you can probably score
a OHKO first or second turn.
Teleport Blast
is yet another blast from the past. Sorry, I
couldn’t resist. First appearing on Dark
Alakazam, it really shows you how the game has
changed. Dark Alakazam, a Stage 1 Pokémon,
only had 60 HP and required (PPC) to hit for 30
damage. That wasn’t very good, but I managed to
make use of it for quite some time. Grumpig
is much more efficient at it, hitting for 40 damage
and requiring only (CCC) to do it. Both versions of
the attack then give you the option of benching your
attacking Pokémon and bringing something else up.
This allows Grumpig to hide, making that HP
last a lot longer.
Uses and
Combinations:
Boost Energy allows you to Teleport Blast
from zero Energy, and of course Scramble Energy
works well if you are behind in prizes. The main
things to remember are Fossils. Claw
Fossil, Mysterious Fossil, and Root
Fossil can be brought up after using Teleport
Blast to basically soak one attack. Just be careful
against bench hitting Pokémon who will just ignore
the Fossil and go after Grumpig.
Ratings
Unlimited:
2/5-You can build the often scarier Baby-Porter deck
using Slowking from Neo Genesis and most
Neo-series Baby Pokémon.
Modified:
3.5/5-I think that this, when combined with the
right cards, could create an annoying rogue deck… so
long as we see as much Psychic Weakness and as
little Psychic Resistance as we currently are.
Limited:
4/5-Fantastic here. It is an Uncommon, as is the
other Grumpig, giving decent odds of pulling
a 2-2 line. You can power up this Grumpig
then hide behind other Pokémon you can afford to
lose. For example, hit for 40, bring up a decent
sized Basic, and if it survives, slap an Energy on
it and start pecking away. You’ll be able to build
a good Energy lead.
Summary
Grumpig
is a very solid card that could lead to a revival of
Porter (hit and run) style decks, at least in
Modified.
