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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Crobat Prime #84/95 HS Unleashed Date Reviewed: June 16, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 3.25 Limited: 3.75 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst.  3 ... average.   5 is the highest rating. Back to the main COTD Page
Combos With:

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Crobat Prime (Unleashed)   Now this is a card that has got a LOT of hype. Until very recently though, all I had seen people make of it were bad decks that were easily countered and wouldn’t stand a chance in today’s metagame. Now one or two possibilities have started to emerge and I may have to revise my opinion a little. But let’s take a look at the card and see what is both good and bad about it.   First of all the good stuff.   Crobat has 130 HP, which is pretty much the norm for Stage 2 Pokémon, but given that Crobats tend to be weaker than average in this respect, it’s nice to see. Resistance to Fighting is good to have, making Crobat a tough KO for cards like Donphan and Machamp. It also has free Retreat which is great as it means you don’t have to worry about wasting Energy or packing your deck with switching cards. Best of all it has fast, cheap attacks, both costing only the one Psychic Energy. This means you are free to run a low Energy count (more space for techs and trainers) and can attack very quickly (hopefully on your first Trainer turn).   The attacks themselves aren’t too bad either. Severe Poison will auto poison the Defending Pokémon and put FOUR damage counters on it between turns. That’s a pretty nice effect, netting you at least 40 damage for one Energy and putting your opponent under pressure to retreat or heal their active Pokémon immediately. Crobat’s second attack, Skill Dive, has good Synergy with Severe Poison too, as it offers a cheap snipe for 30. Useful for finishing off retreated Pokémon that have taken enough Poison damage to put them in range of a KO.   Now let’s look at the bad . . .   - Unown G prevents the Poison effect (as do Steelix Prime and Toxicroak G with their Body) - Crobat is an easy OHKO for Luxray thanks to Lightning Weakness - Free Retreat Pokémon are very common - Poison can also be removed very easily by Evolving/Levelling Up/Super Scoop Up/Poke Turn - Nidoqueen RR will heal some of the poison damage, and Garchomp C LV X will remove it altogether with its Healing Breath Power - Crobat cannot OHKO anything (except Hoppips and Magikarps). The best decks can OHKO almost every turn. - Crobat struggles to KO high HP Pokémon that can switch easily, either because they retreat for free, or they abuse Flygon RR’s or Metagross UL’s Body.   Those are some pretty serious drawbacks, but do they make Crobat completely unplayable? Hmmmm . . . I think that it definitely needs a cast of supporting Pokémon – something to make it harder for your opponent to Retreat and something that can snipe for more damage than Crobat itself is able to (those are hints btw). It will also benefit from Unown G being rotated out in September.   Crobat Prime certainly doesn’t deserve all the hype it gets, but it doesn’t deserve to be forgotten about either.   Rating   Modified: 2.75 (has as many problems as it does potential) Limited: 3.25 (good, but it’s a Stage 2)
virusyosh	Happy midweek, Pojo! Today we are reviewing the last Prime in Unleashed that we had skipped over before, and this one had a bit of hype before the set's release. Today's Card of the Day is Crobat Prime. Crobat Prime is a Stage 2 Psychic Pokemon. 130 HP is just about standard for a Stage 2, and should allow Crobat to take a few hits. Double Weakness to Lightning is terrible, as Luxray will have lots of fun KOing this quickly. Fighting Resistance is definitely welcome, even if there aren't that many Fighting types currently seeing play. Finally, a free retreat cost is the best kind, allowing Crobat to retreat pretty much whenever it wants. Crobat Prime has two attacks, both for the bargain price of a single Psychic Energy. The first, Severe Poison, doesn't deal any damage, but instead Poisons the Defending Pokemon. However, instead of 1 damage counter being placed between turns, a whopping 4 are placed instead! Not many Pokemon can handle the pressure of taking 40 damage in between turns in addition to normal attacks, and most will fall after 2 or 3 in between turn placements. However, there are quite a few ways to get around Poison, as there are with any other type of Special Condition, such as evolving, retreating or Super Scoop Up, to name a few. However, many common decks only run a few Switches and Warp Points to go with their attackers with huge Retreat Costs (with a few notable exceptions), many things won't like being hit by this attack. Severe Poison works really well with Gengar Lv. X, provided that your opponent retreats, as Compound Pain will probably be able to pick off a few of your opponent's Pokemon. Additionally, Crobat may work with Gliscor Lv. X, in a deck based around Special Conditions. The second attack, Skill Dive, allows you to snipe any one of your opponent's Pokemon for 30 damage. This would allow you to pick of a weakened opponent that has retreated after Severe Poison, and still works nicely for the cost. Modified: 3.5/5 Crobat Prime definitely has some potential, even though Special Conditions are generally thought of as being a waste of time. 4 damage counters for Poison is nothing to scoff at, especially if you are up against something with a huge retreat cost like Dialga G or Gyarados and your opponent doesn't have any Super Scoop Ups, Switches, Warp Points, or PokeTurns handy. However, not all is good for Crobat: Lightning weakness really brings it down, as Luxray can easily OHKO it with a little help from Crobat G. Still, if you want to try something a little different, Crobat Prime could definitely be worth it. Limited: 4/5 While not perfect for being a Stage 2, the high HP, cheap attacks, and free retreat make Crobat Prime and excellent choice here. Severe Poison is also REALLY problematic here, as most Pokemon don't have an easy way of retreating. If you get it out, you'll probably win, and fast. Combos with: Gliscor Lv. X, Gengar Lv. X
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Crobat Prime (HS Unleashed) Hello, I'm back with the review for the right pokemon this time! Crobat gets 130 HP (great compared to other Crobats, a healthy average compared to other Stage 2 Pokemon) with Lightning weakness, Fighting resistance and free retreat. Nice stats, though Luxray and Lanturn will give you trouble. Now the fun part. Crobat comes with 2 attacks, both of which cost P. As it stands currently, Crobat G could be fully powered on the first turn you can play trainers, which gives you a lot of options for how to start your attack, going for a snipe or damage over time against the active. Severe Poison is the first attack, and cauases an auto-poison that deals 4 damage counters in between turns. This damage could stack very quickly, and will do very nasty things to your oppoent if you can somehow stop them removing the effect. Sadly, that is the problem with Special Conditions: far too easily removed or avoided all together. Still, it is possible to get this out on your first turn (if you go second) which would give your opponent very little reaction time before they lose their Active, and later on it will still annoy your opponent and put time pressures on them. Even better, with the right timing you can cause a KO at the end of your opponent's turn, forcing them to put up a sacrificial lamb and give you the first hit. Poison is the strongest of the Special Conditions we have, and against the right target it can prove very effective in setting up a later KO with a cheap snipe. Skill Dive is one of those cheap snipe attacks. Dealing 30 damage to any one pokemon, it can help set up for a later KO against an attacker being built on the bench or for going after the one that got away from the poison. Sadly, the reason that Crobat has been so heavily hyped is also the reason that he won't see widespread play: it's a big pokemon that is great at early harrassment. The cost of getting Crobat out can generally be better spent on quickly building the main attacker or an important tech (read: Nidoqueen and Flygon). Crobat is excellent at doing what it is designed for, but there aren't currently any decks that require a Stage 2 light sniper with heavy poison damage. If a deck build that focuses on Poison becomes viable (the way Blaziken PT/Blaziken FB focus on Burn), then Crobat will definitely be the mainstay. Until then, you'll only see Crobat in rogue decks that specifically aim to frustrate the opponent, rather than actually win the game. On a side note, I happen to very much believe that it isn't whether you win or lose, it's how much you (censored) off you opponent that matters! *insane giggling* Modified: 3 (does what it is made for very well, but not many deck opening available to the big bat) Limited: 4.75 (Plenty of Psychic, Rare Candy and less Poison stoppers. Go nuts!) Combos with: Gliscor Promo (Bind Eye Pokebody), Toxicroak G (non-promo)