Review too long?
Skip straight to the scores and
summary.
Yes, this is going up late: I’ve been busy with
work, figuring out some Student Loan issues, and
trying to figure out what’s wrong with me health
wise. Then my comp gets weird. @_@ As I write this,
a thunderstorm is close enough to be a real concern,
meaning I shouldn’t even be on the computer. This
means I may have to wait yet another weekend to try
and deck test the last two Liability variants, which
would further delay their reviews. Fortunately I
ran Exploud ex as a Liability deck at the
Iowa State Championship, going 3-3. I am roughly
average as a player (sometimes I fear a bit sub
par), and considering we had a large amount of out
of State players boost our attendance to 77 (with
almost 50 in the 15+) that included several who won
other State Championships this season, I’d say I
faced quite a spread of competition. It doesn’t
“prove” the deck, and even I admit that most of my
wins were due to good fortune. I won against
someone unfamiliar with how my deck works and
running a Pokémon-ex heavy deck, someone playing the
game again for the first time in years because a
friend begged him and being Grass Weak, and a local
opponent who I know well enough to have a definite
edge. My losses included a State Champion and a
“weird” game where we were both extraordinarily slow
at setting up.
Name:
Exploud ex
Set:
EX Crystal Guardians
Card#:
92/100
Rarity:
Pokémon-ex
Pokémon-ex Rule:
When Pokémon-ex has been Knocked Out, your opponent
takes 2 Prize cards.
Type:
Colorless
Stage:
2 (Evolves from Loudred)
HP:
150
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CCC
Poké-Body:
Extra Noise
As
long as Exploud is your Active Pokémon, put 1 damage
counter on each of your opponent’s Pokémon-ex
between turns.
Attack#1:
(CC) Derail [40]
Discard a Special Energy card, if any, attached to
the Defending Pokémon.
Attack#2:
(CCC) Hyper Tail [60+]
If the Defending Pokémon has any Poké-Powers or
Poké-Bodies, this attack does 60 damage plus 20
more.
Name:
Loudred
Set:
EX Crystal Guardians
Card#:
23/100
Rarity:
Rare
Type:
Colorless
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Whismur)
HP:
70
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(CC) Surprise [20]
Choose 1 card from your opponent’s hand without
looking. Look at the card you chose,
then have your opponent
shuffle that card into his or her deck.
Attack#2:
(CCC) Bass Control
Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This
attack does 40 damage
to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and
Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
Name:
Whismur
Set:
EX Crystal Guardians
Card#:
69/100
Rarity:
Common
Type:
Colorless
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(C) Supersonic
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now
Confused.
Attack#2:
(CCC) Hyper Voice [30]
Attributes:
Exploud ex is a Stage 2 Pokémon-ex, meaning
it requires a lot to be a good card. Let’s start
our evaluation with where it comes from: Exploud
ex evolves from Loudred. The last
Loudred we got was a Set-mate for Exploud ex.
Its stats are standard Stage 1 Colorless fair (as
seen above) but it can disrupt the opponents hand or
hit any of the opponent’s Pokémon in play for a
reasonable Energy investment. It’s a “normal” Rare
which is a bit odd, but there is an alternative
option in the Uncommon Loudred from EX
Emerald. The EX Emerald version has 10 more HP and
its second attack hits hard, but the first is near
filler level and the second does a little self
damage. Loudred itself
Evolves from Whismur. The newer
version and older versions have the same, expected
stats for a Colorless Basic that can Evolve, but the
one from EX Crystal Guardians can attempt to Confuse
with its first attack or hit harder with its
slightly more expensive second attack. The old
version just does straight damage, and not as much
(though still fair for the Energy involved). I
would recommend the newer Loudred from my own
play testing, and choose your Whismur based
on the deck: with Liability, I actually split the
evenly between the Whismur just because
Confusion is a decent defense mechanism but
sometimes you’d want the 10 damage in case a
Weezing had to Liability early. Neither
are good situations and
so shouldn’t be dwelled upon too heavily: if it
happens a lot your deck is setting up correctly.
Loudred ended up attacking a lot and was
surprisingly handy: I originally split with it but
after testing it became clear the EX Crystal
Guardians version was the better Pokémon.
Exploud ex
itself is Colorless. So far, it seems like
Colorless Weakness won’t be a critical factor, but
Resistance is also rarely seen. The main annoyance
is that Crystal Shard exists. So it would be
so much better, unless the format is inundated with
Colorless Weak decks, to be another type and still
enjoy exploiting Colorless Weakness and not caring
about Resistance with a slot or two for Crystal
Shard. Hardly crippling
though, and largely ignoring
Weakness/Resistance (as an attacker) is handy.
Exploud ex
has 150 HP, the second highest on any currently
legal Pokémon, and the third highest score every
printed. In other words, this is a great HP score
that should give Exploud ex quite a bit of
longevity. A Fighting Weakness is of course an
issue: Fighting Pokémon always
seem to pop up when you least expect it. I
mean, Team Magma won a World Championship
when everyone had written of Fighting Pokémon in
that format, Nidoqueen did the same, and
basically you just assume that they are out there.
I’ve repeatedly mentioned the return of the
Overzealous Machamp, so I might as well say
it again: that thing will mince you and fast. At
the Iowa State Championship, I was surprised at some
of the Fighting Pokémon-ex that showed up, and both
times it did it caused me grief.
There is no Resistance to balance out the Weakness,
but since this is big enough that it might have
gotten stuck with a double Weakness had it had a
Resistance, even I won’t complain about it. Moving
on, the last bottom stat is Retreat Cost of three.
This is large enough you should be running two to
three cards to switch it out (like the appropriately
named Switch) since retreating will rarely be
an option.
Abilities:
Extra Noise is a solid Poké-Body: it won’t help
against every deck, but it’s a terrifying sight if
someone runs something Pokémon-ex heavy. It won’t
be apt to score Prizes on its own, so if you refuse
to build even a few combos into your deck, it’s just
nice on the occasional match up.
The first attack, Derail, is a real winner in the
current Modified format. Most decks run Special
Energy. What’s more, perhaps the most commonly used
Special Energy right now is actually a Pokémon when
not using its “play-me-as-Energy” effect, Holon’s
Castform (and Holon’s Electrode, and
Holon’s Magneton). Since it provides
two Energy (that count as all
Types) but bounces one already attached
Energy when you play it, it’s a forced merger of two
Energy attachments (unlike most other multiple
Energy providing cards). Many decks use it as their
primary source of an Energy Type, and sometimes the
only source. While they aren’t
to hard to recycle or search out, it still
hurts a lot when they get discarded. Discarding
such Energy (and most other Special Energy cards)
should slow down the opponent’s attacks and in turn
prolong Exploud ex’s life.
Hyper Tail is something of a “small” big attack.
It’s the most that Exploud ex can do in terms
of raw damage, and
against many Pokémon its 60 points of damage for
three of any Energy. This would be great for a
Basic and even a Stage 1 Pokémon-ex, but seems a bit
puny for a Stage 2. The additional effect of 20
extra points of damage if the attacked Pokémon has a
Poké-Body or Poké-Power helps some, but even 80 for
three isn’t much compared to what a lot of
Pokémon-ex can do for just one more Energy (or with
colored Energy, or with discards, etc.). If this
were just the penultimate attack, it would be good
bordering on great, as is it’s a bit more than solid
but not really “good”. That is to say, you won’t be
playing the card just for Hyper Tail.
Fortunately, all three abilities have each other.
Extra Noise needs time to accumulate. Derail is
largely wasted if there is nothing bigger (even if
only slightly) to back it up or a continual effect
like Extra Noise racking up damage on all opposing
Pokémon-ex. Hyper Tail will finish off many Pokémon
quite nicely: a non-Pokémon-ex can’t survive a
Derail followed by a Hyper Tail (if it has a Poké-Body/Poké-Power)
without help. A Pokémon-ex has to deal with the
accumulated Extra Noise damage. Finally, notice
both attacks can be fueled by a Boost Energy,
allowing for surprise comebacks and miraculous (but
unsustainable) “boosts” in speed.
Uses and
Combinations:
As stated, on its own this card isn’t so great.
With the last two CotDs, I saved Liability for last,
but this card truly needs Weezing. Not just
the EX Deoxys version with Liability, but the EX
Delta Species one looked at in the previous CotD.
The last major “Liability” component then is
Cursed Stone. Poké-Bodies, Poké-Powers,
Pokémon-ex, and Special Energy intensive decks all
suffer from this potent combination. Boost
Energy means your opponent won’t feel safe until
four of them are in your discard pile (and when I
tested it, four copies of Boost Energy proved
a must). Loudred hitting the hand or the
Bench also throws opponents for a loop. In such a
deck, Liability is held in reserve. Unlike our next
CotDs, which use Liability as much as they can then
try to slug it out with the opponent’s surviving
Pokémon for the last Prize or two, Exploud ex
is like Typhlosion: you won’t use Liability
unless they have something big and juicy that will
ooze advantage if it’s KO’d by the trick (a large
Stage 2, something Energy intensive, a Pokémon-ex,
etc.) or of course if it will safely net you the
win. Instead, you’ll adapt to the situation and
play that game of catch-up to ensure Scramble
Energy doesn’t spoil things. If they have a
large bench, open with Weezing from Delta
Species and Mist Attack until you’re KO’d. This
should soften most Pokémon to the point that all the
other little tricks (Extra Noise, Cursed Stone,
and Body Odor) go from irritating to threatening.
If they don’t actually amount to KOs, they should
set up Exploud ex or even Weezing DS
itself to score some Knock outs with their attacks.
On the other hand, if the opponent doesn’t have a
lot of Pokémon in play, then they are that much more
vulnerable to Liability and Derail. You can’t power
up something that isn’t in play.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5 – Fighting Weakness and being a Stage 2
Pokémon-ex means it just isn’t worth it, no matter
how many little combos go along with it (many
Colorless Special Energies, discarding opposing
Special Energies, etc.).
Modified:
4/5 – On its own this would be scoring it high, but
with the support it can tap into I truly believe
this can be a tournament winning deck.
Limited:
2.5/5 – Rarity issues and the lack of Special Energy
reduce the return you’d get from it, though if you
can run it you should still get at least a few ones
due to it.
Summary
Exploud ex
may be the new face of Liability. It’s just a bit
above average for a Pokémon-ex, but with Liability
to handle anything bigger or tougher and even the
occasional thing that is faster, it is something
that can beat you even if your opponent isn’t quite
on your level.
-Otaku
