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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

 

 Ninetales #7/123

HeartGold & SoulSilver

Date Reviewed: 03.03.10

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 3.00
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

Baby Mario
Top 4 UK Nats

Ninetales HGSS

 

With the probable disappearance of Claydol and Uxie from the format at the end of this season, players have been scanning future sets to see where the draw power will be coming from when we can no longer use Cosmic Power and Set Up to get our decks working. One possible alternative, at least for some decks, is Ninetales HGSS. Only time will tell if it is the ‘new Claydol’. Let’s see how well it works in the format we have now.

 

The reason for all the attention given to Ninetales is its PokePower, the unfortunately named Roast Reveal (was that really the best the translators could come up with?). The effect is simple: discard a Fire Energy from your hand and then draw three cards. Obviously, drawing three cards with a Power is great. More cards = more options and more options = a faster, better deck. Having to discard a Fire Energy isn’t much of drawback in itself as there are plenty of ways to get back discarded Energy (Fisherman, Night Maintenance, Palmer’s Contribution), or even make use of it (Energy acceleration via Typhlosion Prime, Infernape LV X’s Flare Up attack).

 

The major use-limiting downside of the card is the requirement that it has to be a Fire Energy, which pretty much restricts Ninetales to being themed support for Fire decks. In contrast to Claydol, which could always be used to re-stock the deck, anyone who plays Ninetales also needs to be careful of decking themselves out. Running a few shuffle-and-draw cards like Cynthia, Rowan, or Professor Oak’s New Theory seems like a must. In addition, the large hand sizes which this card generates could end up benefitting your opponent if they run Copycat or Chatot MD.

 

So, until it rotates out, Claydol and Uxie are clearly the superior draw support cards for the vast majority of decks. The only decks which should even consider running Ninetales at the moment are Charizard AR, which benefits from having benched Fire Pokémon, and Typhlosion, which works well with the discard effect. It may be the case that next season Ninetales will offer the best draw support in the format, giving a massive advantage to anyone running Fire decks. Until then, though, its use will be limited due to the existence of better alternatives.

 

Ninetales has decent HP for a supporting Stage 1, and a couple of solid Basics which work well with its Power (Vulpix PL and shiny Vulpix). Its attack, an effect-free 60 for [R][R][C] is too expensive and shouldn’t be used except in emergencies. Although it is outclassed as of now, players should definitely be trading for, and holding on to, a playset of this card for future use.

 

Rating

 

Modified: 3 ( good, but very specialised, draw support. I do expect this rating to rise)

Limited: 4 (draw support is brilliant but be very careful not to deck out)

virusyosh

Happy Wednesday, Pojo readers! Today we are reviewing what has the possibility of being an important support card once the rotation happens later this year. Today's Card of the Day is Ninetales from HGSS.

Ninetales is a Stage 1 Fire Pokemon, with 90 HP, a double Weakness to Water, no Resistance, and a Retreat Cost of 1. 90 HP isn't bad for a Stage 1 but could be better, Water Weakness is bad with Palkia G, Gyarados, Kingdra, and Feraligatr around, and a Retreat Cost of 1 isn't so bad: it won't set you back too much if you have to pay it.

Ninetales has a Poke-Power and a single attack. The Power, Roast Reveal, allows you to discard a Fire Energy card from your hand to draw 3 cards once per turn. This is very similar to Energy Draw Delcatty back in EX, and will probably see some play in Fire decks once Claydol and Uxie rotate out. Drawing cards is always a great thing, and discarding a Fire Energy to net 2 cards is great. However, in order to use this power effectively, your deck should have a way to pull Energy from the discard pile either in play or back to your hand. Typhlosion Prime and Fisherman are great for this, and will probably be used in Fire decks for quite some time to come.

The single attack, Will-o'-the-wisp, deals a vanilla 60 damage for [RRC]. Nothing spectacular here, but you'll mostly be using Ninetales for the Power, anyway.

Modified: 3/5 I feel that Ninetales has a lot of potential as a support Pokemon in Fire decks, especially when Claydol and Uxie rotate out. More Energy is often necessary in these decks to keep Ninetales drawing, but this isn't so much of a problem when you are consistently drawing and there are cards like Typhlosion Prime or Fisherman to get Energy back. Unfortunately, the attack isn't very good and Water is a popular type, so Ninetales will likely be stuck on the bench.

Limited: 3.5/5 Drawing cards in Limited is fantastic, and you probably won't get much more consistent than discarding a single Energy to draw 3. It can be a bit difficult to build a deck around though, as there needs to be a sufficient amount of Fire Energy in your deck to be really effective. The attack isn't so bad here, too.


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