Don’t skip today: I noticed at least three CotD
staffers insulted my boy here: time to explain
why those people need glasses. Or a math tutor.
;)
Name:
Rocket’s Snorlax ex
Set:
EX: Team Rocket Returns
Card#:
104/109
Rarity:
Pokémon ex (yeah, it’s also a rarity)
Type:
Darkness
Stage:
Basic
HP:
100
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CCC
Poké-Body:
Dark Healer
As long as Rocket’s Snorlax ex has any (D) Energy
attached to it, remove 1 damage counter from
Rocket’s Snorlax ex between turns.
Attack#1:
(CC) Poison Claws [20]
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now
Poisoned.
Attack#2:
(CCCC) Collapse [60]
Rocket’s Snorlax ex is now Asleep.
Attributes:
First things first: this card has Rocket’s in
its name. This automatically allows it to combo
with nearly all Rocket’s supporting cards.
The downside is a few cards won’t work with it since
it has an “owner” in its name. Second, this is a
Pokémon-ex. That means it needs to be roughly twice
as good as an equivalent Pokémon. Not exactly,
since being a single Pokémon instead of two is
inherently advantageous in that it’s one less slot
in your deck, you need less attached cards (like
Energy and Pokémon Tools). Of course, that’s all
more than offset by losing two prizes, so the card
still needs to be pretty potent.
Rocket’s Snorlax ex
is a Basic Pokémon that has no pre-Evolutions or
Evolved forms. Being a Basic is great: you can just
drop it into play so long as your bench isn’t full.
Not having any “supporting forms” means that this
card needs to be a bit buffer than those with such
forms: Rocket’s Snorlax ex is on its own in
this respect. Being a Rocket’s Basic
Pokémon-ex is fortunate in that many of the
disadvantages associated with being one carry over
to the other, but don’t stack. Mainly I am speaking
in terms of card interaction: many things that won’t
work for a Pokémon with an owner in its name also
won’t work for a Basic Pokémon or a Pokémon-ex.
There’s no kooky combo to get around any one aspect,
so after the first “disqualifier” the others don’t
matter.
Rocket’s Snorlax ex
is a Darkness Pokémon. This means there is nothing
Resistant to it, but a few things that are Weak. It
also means it can use Darkness Energy for
extra damage. Darkness is more or less tied with
Metal for being the best type in the game, so this
is a definite plus. Also, the handful of Colorless
Resistant Pokémon won’t bother you, and as I’ve
pointed out, with Crystal Shard, everything
can hit Colorless Weakness anyway. Oh, and since
Rocket’s Snorlax ex is a Basic, Battle
Frontier can’t touch it.
Unfortunately Desert Ruins can since it’s at
100 HP. Personally I think they should have gone
for 110 or even a full 120 since in the video games,
Snorlax are known for having great HP and a really
good DEF (unlike Chansey who is know mostly for just
having the obscene HP). That is, both are insane to
KO there so why give it such a substantial
difference here (Chansey ex has 120 HP if you
had forgotten).
Rocket’s Snorlax ex
is Fighting Weak, and while appropriate it really
does hurt: any big Fighting Pokémon worth its salt
can OHKO it with little effort thanks to the damage
doubling. It has no Weakness, which is annoying, as
always, and the retreat cost is a hefty three Energy
(though it should be noted that this is one less
than normal for a Snorlax). Personally, if
it’d have meant another 10 or 20 HP, I’d have rather
had the four.
Abilities:
Rocket’s Snorlax ex has a Poké-Body and two
attacks. The Poké-Body is pretty nice: Dark Healer
triggers if you have any (D) Energy (so anything
providing (D) Energy) attached to Rocket’s
Snorlax ex. It lets you remove a damage counter
from Rocket’s Snorlax ex between turns: sort
of like a “Reverse-Poison”. It also essentially
cancels out the effects of Desert Ruins.
Given its solid 100HP, this Poké-Body could heal
quite a lot of damage… or it might do nothing, given
the OHKO-oriented nature of most formats. Overall,
it still proves useful. The first attack is a great
opener. (CC) for 20 is a fair trade, and you also
get a nice “Basic Pokémon-ex” bonus: a flip to
Poison. As stated, it’s good since it gives you
something to use while powering up Rocket’s
Snorlax ex’s second attack. The second attack
is pretty solid on its own: Collapse hits for 60
damage. For four of any color Energy, that’s pretty
good. Yes, it puts you to Sleep, but that’s a 50%
chance of meaning nothing to you. In very rare
circumstances, namely if you are anything but
already Asleep or Paralyzed, it is actually helpful:
if you successfully attack, you get rid of the
current Special Condition, and have a 75% of being
totally healthy by your next turn… well, assuming
the opponent doesn’t hit you with something else.
Now, an attack requiring four of any type of Energy
is good for 40 points of damage, base. Putting
one’s self to Sleep is probably good for five more
points of damage. So we are clearing 15 points
extra, though for a Basic Pokémon-ex that just makes
it fair.
Individually, we have three passable-to-good
abilities for Rocket’s Snorlax ex. Together
they have a decent bit of synergy. After all, open
with Poison Claws and get something to trigger Dark
Healer and you have a slow gap being formed between
Pokémon in terms of HP… which a Collapse a turn or
two later will changed into a Prize’s worth of
advantage.
Uses and
Combinations:
This is where Rocket’s Snorlax ex really
shines: it can take advantage of nearly all the
supporting Rocket’s cards. It can’t make use
of Rocket’s Poké Ball, but it can get a
precious extra 20 HP from Rocket’s Hideout.
So does every other Dark and Rocket’s
Pokémon, but Rocket’s Snorlax ex gets an
extra boost since it can heal it self. A 120 HP
Basic that removes a damage counter between turns
actually has some staying power. Being a Darkness
type Pokémon is similarly more beneficial since you
can optionally use all Darkness Energy to
power your attacks. 40 damage with a shot at
Poison, thanks to two Darkness Energy cards, is
actually pretty nice. 100 damage a turn, through
Collapse and four attached Darkness Energy cards, is
also pretty potent. Also important is that you can
make great use of R Energy: you can go from
having no Energy to hitting for 30 points of damage
and a 50% chance of Poison. If you already have two
Energy attached, you can jump up to a solid 70
damage (more if there are any real Darkness
Energy cards attached). It also makes a nice
“throw away” card for Rocket’s Mission.
Many think this is just a poor man’s substitute for
Rocket’s Sneasel ex in Dark Dragonite/Dark
Electrode decks, and they are half right.
Rocket’s Snorlax, while greater than the sum of
its parts, hasn’t scene much play. I created an
experimental deck a while ago I am thinking of
reviving called REBA: Rocket’s Extremely Basic
Assault. Properly combined, a few of the Basic
Rocket’s Pokémon are quite, quite obnoxious and
difficult to deal with. The important thing to
remember in Modified is that this is a Basic
Pokémon and thus potential TecH. It isn’t like
you have to build your entire deck around it.
I have found a use for this card in Unlimited. My
old Turbo Snorlax deck is now Dark Turbo Snorlax.
Simply put, Turbo Snorlax had a Jungle Snorlax
up front while Dark Gloom tried to Confuse
the opponent with its Pokémon Power from the Bench.
Snorlax’s Think Skin keeps it
from becoming Confused and it also has a 50% chance
of Paralyzing with its Body Slam attack, so it
really made it hard for the opponent to get in a
good attack. You of course would also have Dark
Vileplume keeping Trainers from being played so
your opponent could goof things up for you.
Rocket’s Snorlax ex has a way to keep healing
itself without Trainers, can use a Darkness
Energy as a permanent Plus Power, doesn’t
have to worry about Sprout Tower, and since
Collapse puts yourself to Sleep, a way to deal with
Confusing one’s self. The probably won’t win any
big tournaments, but its incredibly fun, especially
when the opponent is using Slowking from Neo
Genesis… you’re deck is designed to make do without
Trainers. Theirs isn’t.
Ratings
Unlimited:
3.5/5-Turbo Snorlax is actually an interesting deck
in Unlimited; not strong enough to be a top
“archetype”, but not weak enough to be just another
“gag deck”. With a little tweaking, we now have a
bolder Rocket flavored variant. ;) Oh, and
on its own, it wouldn’t be too Energy Removal
weak as it can attack with either a Double
Colorless Energy or R Energy…
Modified:
3/5 – I doubt it will ever make any decks but
it might be some help. There are, however, other
alternatives that can be just as good or better.
Limited:
3.75/5-On it’s own, it will just be a solid big
Basic Pokémon ex that can try to Poison while
building up for a solid hit and fits in pretty much
any deck. If you pull some Rocket’s
supporting cards, it gets a little better. Probably
+0.1 for each of those cards you pull. This means
if you get lucky and pull more three or more related
cards (Dark Metal Energy, R Energy,
Rocket’s Hideout, etc.), you’ll have a sick,
sick monster.
Summary
Rocket’s Snorlax ex
is a solid Basic Pokémon ex that relies on its
bonuses from being a Darkness Type Pokémon and being
a Rocket’s Pokémon to put it over the top.
Unfortunately, it’s not enough to give it a great
score, but it clearly shows it’s far from useless.
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