Baby Mario
Top 4 UK Nats |
Arceus – Water Type
After a week where we paused to look at some other new
cards along with the Arceus LV X, we return this week to
finish reviewing the Basic Arceus.
As I said when we started reviewing Arceus, I think the
cards work best in a dedicated list so I will be rating
them based on using them in an Arceus deck. The strategy
behind the deck is to use the Arceus LV X together with
the Basic Arceus to select the best attack and always
try to hit your opponent for Weakness. Because of this,
when reviewing, I will concentrate on the effectiveness
of the attack, and how useful the Basic Arceus’s typing
is.
Water Arceus has a decent 90 HP, a bad Retreat cost of
two, and a terrible Weakness to Luxray GL (ummm . . . I
mean Lightning). Not to worry, as Levelling it up will
solve both problems to some extent.
It’s attack, Fastwave, does 50 damage for [W][C][C]. Not
very impressive, I know, but read the effect text . . .
Water Arceus’s damage goes through regardless of any
Resistance, PokeBodies, Powers, or effects. This is an
extremely useful ability to have. There are a number of
Pokémon that use Smokescreen-like effects to make you
flip for damage (Horsea LA, Luxray AR), plus others
which aim to reduce the damage they take in some way (Abomasnow
SF’s Snow Veil Body, Garchomp SV’s Guard Claw attack).
Fastwave will do 50 damage regardless.
The main reason to play this though is that it gives the
deck a way of dealing with Mewtwo LV X. Mewtwo LV X is a
fairly common play these days as its PsyBarrier Body
blocks attacks from Basic Pokémon, and that includes SP
Basics. Normally an all-Basic deck would need to run a
Stage 1 counter (such as Ninetales MT or Banette PL) to
deal with Mewtwo. That would be very hard to do in an
Arceus deck. The other option, shutting off the body
with Dialga G LV X, would be just as difficult. So,
luckily for Arceus, the deck has a built-in answer to
Mewtwo. With a Water Arcues on the bench and a Levelled
Up Psychic Arceus active, you can hit Mewtwo LV X for
100 damage. A PlusPower or a Buck’s Training would turn
that into a OHKO.
As far as its type is concerned, there are enough Fire
Pokémon in decks at the moment to make Levelling up a
Water Arceus worthwhile. Blaziken FB and Infernape 4
still see play, and Charizard AR is bound to be tried as
well. This, together with its anti-Mewtwo attack, make
Water Arceus an essential inclusion in an Arceus deck.
Rating
Modified (Arceus deck): 3.5 (a useful type and a tech
you will almost certainly need)
Limited: 2.5 (Weak attack for the cost)
Arceus – Colourless Type
This is possibly the most interesting of all the Arceus
cards, and is one that you want to take a good look at
if you are building a deck around them.
Actually, take a look at it anyway. The art is by far
the best of any Arceus card, with Arceus posing in front
of an eclipse.
The HP of 80 and Retreat cost of one are nothing
extraordinary. The Fighting Weakness won’t be much of an
issue, hopefully. What sets this Arceus apart is its
Ripple Swell attack.
For the low, low cost of no Energy whatsoever, Ripple
Swell lets you search your deck for up to six Basic
energy of your choice and attach them to a different
Pokémon that you have in play. Remember those high
Energy costs and various Energy needs that all the
Arceus Basics have? Well, here is your solution, an
attack which can get SIX Energy in play, which you can
then move to your active Arceus with the Ultimate Zone
Stadium card. That has to be the biggest Energy
acceleration in the game. Of course, it comes at a hefty
cost: you need six different Arceus types in play. It
seems daunting, but it is perfectly possible with cards
like Beginning Door, Roseanne, and Great Ball in your
deck.
Colourless Arceus also comes with a damage-dealing
attack, Sky Spear. For [C][C][C], this will do 80 damage
to any of your opponent’s Pokémon, which makes it a very
nice snipe attack (can it really be coincidence that
Claydol has 80 HP?). Unfortunately, it comes with the
heavy cost of having to send all three Energy to the
Lost Zone, meaning that it is gone for the rest of the
game. If used carefully, and together with Ripple Swell,
it could be an effective attack.
With Ripple Swell, Colourless Arceus opens up a lot of
possibilities for the deck. It can be run in multiples
to maximise the chances of a massive Energy boost on the
second turn, or it could be run as a tech to Energy
accelerate when needed and to exploit the Colourless
Weakness of the ever popular Flygon, as well as decks
built around Salamence and Garchomp.
However you run your Arceus deck, you are going to need
some of these.
Rating
Modified (Arceus deck): 4 (Acceleration, good typing,
and a potentially useful attack)
Limited: 1.5 (never going to use Ripple Swell, losing
Energy is painful)
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Guy |
Arceus water type
Im glad we are on this Arceus kick lately! Hopefully
there will be more to come. First of all, let me just
say that I believe that one should play at least one of
each of the Arceus in every Arceus deck. The point of
Arceus is to either hit your opponent's weakness and hit
it fast, or to snipe the bench with the ripple swell
Arceus + Ultimate Zone. The deck should have about 3-4
ripple swell Arceus, 2-3 Arceus dark type (to fight for
you when you are down), probably 2 grass Arceus (to heal
you), and at least one of each other type. It should run
1 maybe 2 of the psychic bolt lv. X (to hit the weakness
for 100+) and 2-3 of the omniscient lv. X (to use any
attack and hit for weakness every time). Obviously one
should play 4 roseanne, 4 bebe, 4 beginning door, 4 call
energy, 3-4 ultimate zone, etc. etc. With that in mind,
the deck needs a water Arceus so you can hit your
opponents water weak pokemon with either Arceus X. So
definitely play it, and potentially test the deck with
a few Lake Boundary or 2. Remember, the lv. X don't have
weakness, so you could in theory hit the opponent for
double weakness every turn with the right Arceus in play
and lake boundary. This would only be done late in the
game in my opinion, but it may not work. I don't have an
Arceus deck, so its up to you to try it. Play the water
type.
Modified:
In Arceus: 3.5/5
Not in Arceus 1.5/5
Limited: 2/5
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