Today we look at my favorite second generation
Pokémon, Wobbuffet. Specifically the
impressive EX Sandstorm version that was a common
deck site when it was first introduced. Originally
reviewed
here, this Wobbuffet was popular because
it was a sound counter to Pokémon-ex, which players
were greatly afraid of at the time. This
Wobbuffet has good stats for a Basic, a Poké-Body
that was either useless or magnificent depending
upon what your opponent played, and good, solid
attack that only had a specific type requirement for
one of its three needed Energy. The thing that
really pushed it over the top, though, was Wynaut
from the same set: it had an attack that let it
search your deck for one Pokémon per Energy card
attached and the Poké-Body that allowed it to
“Evolve” into Wobbuffet also removed all
damage from it. Together, this made them the
perfect opener/cleaner combination for Gardevoir
with Psy-Shadow. That Gardevoir could attach
extra Psychic Energy from the deck, but at the price
of placing two damage counters on the Pokémon you
attached the Energy to. A good deck built around
them at this time would try to open with a Wynaut
or two, attaching extra Energy as Wynaut
could search out more Pokémon with more Energy
attached to it, and then if your opponent didn’t
focus on KOing it, you could “Evolve” it into
Wobbuffet and flush away all that damage for a
healthy, solid beatstick immune to the much feared
Pokémon-ex of the time.
In the modern Unlimited format, it doesn’t do a
whole lot though it suppose I could be a decent
choice in the right deck, or if Pokémon-ex are a
problem in the area. If you actually can spare a
slot for one copy, you really, really need to study
your metagame to eliminate it as a candidate. I
have learned (and sometimes taught) players how you
never know what you’ll face in Unlimited. While
most of us accept certain decks as “the norm”
because they are strong, proven, and as reliable as
anything can be in Unlimited… it is Unlimited, and
we have the cards to make anything “functional”.
Yesterday we looked at my all time favorite Pokémon
Rocket’s Snorlax ex. When a Snorlax
goes bad, it actually gets quite good. ;) Good
enough to sneak a win at some local events, and
that’s about all that is left for Unlimited play.
In a format where decks may be two thirds Trainers,
a self healing big beatstick with utter Trainer
denial on the Bench is actually a force to be
reckoned with. This is true for a whole category of
“functional” decks not good or reliable enough to
truly be rogue, but the instant you count them
totally out they get you. It isn’t exactly a
rock-paper-scissors relationship between “dominant
archetype”, “rogue”, and “functional” decks, but it
really is refreshing how well it holds up in the
“broken” Unlimited format. I mean, a lot of cards
are still sadly useless here, but long gone are the
days when Unlimited was a one-deck format.
As Pokémon-ex have been retired from Modified, it
wouldn’t really do much there, though similarly
talented Pokémon have and will continue to pop up,
adjusted to whatever the new “gimmick” Pokémon is
(like Level X Pokémon). I took to Wobbuffet
in the video games because it was just an
interesting idea for a Pokémon: something that can
only fight back by responding and mostly just stood
there, taking hits so it could hit hard back. Also
I just like “big” Pokémon and while Wobbuffet
aren’t as big as Snorlax, they are indeed one
of the higher HP Pokémon options.
I realize that this was somewhat rambling, but as
this may be my last article for a long time, I
indulged in some tangential thinking. I suppose,
given the date that it is going to be posted, it is
a very appropriate day to end things. Have a Happy
New Year and keep playing as long as you can.
J
Ratings
Unlimited:
2/5
Modified:
N/A
Limited:
3.5/5
