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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

 

Beedrill #12/95

HS Unleashed

Date Reviewed: May 26, 2010

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 2.00
Limited: 3.50

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
Top 4 UK Nats

Beedrill (Unleashed)

 

The last two Beedrills that we got won the 2009 World Championship! (Beedrill G doesn’t count – at all). This means that this Beedrill will have to be pretty amazing to force its way into any Beedrill-based deck.

 

Like the other Beedrills, this one has Fire Weakness, low Retreat cost (you can’t get lower than zero), and 110 HP. Which isn’t great for a Stage 2, but that’s not Beedrill’s strength. What Beedrill is good at is speed, with low Energy hard-hitting attacks, and that is something that this one tries to do.

 

For one Grass Energy, Twineedle lets you flip two coins and do 50 damage for each heads. Yep, that means a potential 100 for one Energy, which would be just ridiculous . . . and that’s why the coin flip is there. You are just as likely to do 50 damage (still not bad), or nothing at all (horrible). This kind of high-risk/high-reward is usually shunned by players who will look instead at cards that can produce a similar damage output and do it in a controllable, consistent way. They know that failing flips on a Twineedle could cost you a match, which is why attacks like this rarely, if ever, see play.

 

If you aren’t feeling quite so lucky, Beedrill does have another, slightly more expensive, attack. For [G][C] Paralyze Poison does a pathetic 20 damage, but also auto-poisons and gives you a flip for Paralysis (the clue is in the attack name). Paralysis is a very good Status Condition, but Poison isn’t, as it is easily worked around. In theory, if you kept hitting Paralysis flips, you could lock any Pokémon active (as long as your opponent didn’t draw a switching card) until Beedrill managed to get a KO. Relying on a constant stream of flips is not really a killer strategy though.

 

In the end, this Beedrill seems like a lesser version of the GE one. It can hit big damage for one Energy, just like its GE cousin, but it introduces a huge element of luck, while Beedrill GE’s damage output is dependent on your set up (something you can more easily control). With RR Beedrill needed for speed and recovery, and GE Beedrill providing more reliable big hits, it doesn’t seem like there would be room for today’s card in any Beedrill deck. The fact that Beedrill decks themselves seem to have been outclassed by Jumpluff makes it even less likely that anyone will want to use Beedrill UL.

 

Rating

 

Modified: 1.5 (Beedrill decks just have better options)

Limited: 3 (fast, and won’t get KO’d as easily as it would in Modified)

 

Combos with . . .

 

Beedrill RR . . . but you really shouldn’t

virusyosh

Hello again, Pojo readers! I hope your weeks are going well. Today's Card of the Day is Beedrill from Unleashed.

Beedrill is a Stage 2 Grass Pokemon. Being a Grass-type isn't so bad right now, as support is very good and the popularity of Fire, Grass's main weakness is dropping. 110 HP is solid, though a little low for a Stage 2.

Double Weakness to Fire and no Resistance are to be expected, and a free Retreat Cost is excellent.

Beedrill has two attacks. The first, Twineedle, flips twice and does 50 damage times the number of heads for [G]. This attack is cheap but fairly unreliable, so if you want a low HP Grass Stage 2 with a cheap-but-solid damage output, use Jumpluff instead. The second attack, Paralyze Poison, deals 20 damage and can paralyze on a flip for [GC]. Automatic Poison is quite nice, and the chance for Paralysis is great, though the damage output is unimpressive.

Modified: 1.75/5 This Beedrill might possibly be played in a random Speedrill still around, but you're still probably better off using Beedrill GE, or even Beedrill RR for support.

Limited: 2.5/5 Unlike most Stage 2s in this set, Beedrill doesn't have a reliable damage output. However, if you get it out, chances are Paralyze Poison's disruption should do well, and Twineedle is still cheap if you are willing to take chances.


Otaku

In a hurry?  Skip to the Ratings and Summary for a concise overview of the card!

 

Name: Beedrill

Set/Card#/Rarity: HS – Unleashed 12/96 Rare

Type: Grass

Stage: 2 (Evolves from Kakuna)

Hit Points: 110

Weakness: Fire x2

Resistance: None

Retreat: None

Attack#1: (G) Twineedle [50x]

Flip 2 coins.  This attack does 50 damage times the number of heads.

Attack#2: (GC) Paralyze Poison [20]

The Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.  Flip a coin.  If heads, the Defending Pokémon is also Paralyzed.

Name: Kakuna

Set/Card#/Rarity: HS – Unleashed 32/96 Uncommon

Type: Grass

Stage: 1 (Evolves from Weedle)

Hit Points: 80

Weakness: Fire x2

Resistance: None

Retreat: CC

Attack#1: (C) Speed Evolution

Search your deck for a card that evolves from Kakuna and put it onto Kakuna. (This counts as evolving Kakuna.)  Shuffle your deck afterward.

Attack#2: (G) Poison Sting

The Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.

Name: Weedle

Set/Card#/Rarity:

Type: Grass

Stage: Basic

Hit Points: 40

Weakness: Fire x2

Resistance: None

Retreat: C

Attack#1: (C) Speed Evolution

Search your deck for a card that evolves from Weedle and put it onto Weedle. (This counts as evolving Kakuna.)  Shuffle your deck afterward.

Attack#2: (G) Sting [10]

 

I don’t know exactly why, but I have a soft spot for Beedrill.  I suspect part of that is because Waspinator rules!  Let’s see if Beedrill will be the bomb, like Waspinator… or will get bombed, still like poor, poor Waspinator?

 

History: It’s been a while since I submitted a “full” review for a card, but those who remember will know this is a new category.  Pokémon has been around for a long time in a variety of forms (video games, TCG, supplemental fiction) and sometimes there are some interesting tidbits that someone only familiar with one aspect or new to Pokémon as a whole won’t know.  Most importantly, this is an area to give an idea of what’s worked in the past for Beedrill.

 

In the video games, Beedrill was an early pick because it was an early Pokémon: Weedle were abundant in early parts of the game and quickly Evolved into Weedle and then Kakuna.  It was also a bit fiercer looking than many of the other early Pokémon like the Pidgeot and Butterfree lines.  Yes, “Transformers Beast Wars” was a new property at the time, so I wasn’t the only one with a Beedrill named Waspinator.

 

Beedrill in the TCG mostly have been an example of refinement: the basic strategies seen in earlier examples have been repeated (and usually tweaked).  Most Beedrill can inflict Poison (sometimes with Paralysis) and have a hard hitting attack that requires lucky coin tosses or having more Beedrill in play, with one Beedrill with an attack that did more damage to Evolved Pokémon, though by modern standards that damage yield against Evolved Pokémon would only be considered “fair”.  Beedrill is usually used in the “Speedrill” deck, because most modern Beedrill are good at swarming, possessing inexpensive attacks and/or rewarding you for having multiples in pay (as stated earlier).

 

Attributes: To start this section, this Beedrill is a Stage 2 Grass Pokémon as would be expected.  You’ll have to work your way up from a Weedle and possibly a Kakuna.  The two newest versions aren’t game breaking but do have their use: both possess Speed Evolution, an attack for one of any Energy that lets you search your deck for the next Stage of the line and Evolve them into it.  The bad news is that since it is an attack it’s only a small speed boost and so you’ll still want to pack the appropriate Trainers to “cheat” at Evolution.

 

The 110 HP is a bit low, but seems to be the current standard for this Pokémon.  The double Fire Weakness could be a problem, since Fire Pokémon often possess good damage-to-Energy ratios.  At least most such attacks are balanced by Energy discards or other costs; still well worth a Prize but at least it isn’t Weakness to a more played Type.  The lack of Resistance is irritating, but the free Retreat Cost is very nice and should make creating combos a bit easier.  All in all, we have a small but “fast” Stage 2 Pokémon.

 

Abilities: For a single Grass Energy, you can flip two coins and get 50 a pop with Twineedle (which has appeared in more expensive forms on older Beedrill).  That’s not too bad.  Yes, one-in-four times the attack fails, but quick Evolutions mean you might be able to score an early OHKO, and could even add a Plus Power or two so that you only need a single heads.  Its simple and not guaranteed, but its good damage about three quarters of the time.

 

The second attack is a less common sort, but not quite as effective.  For just one Grass and one of any other Energy you get 20 damage, automatic Poison, and a 50% chance of Paralysis.  If something has just 30 HP left, this guarantees the kill.  The damage is abysmal but when you score the Poison plus Paralysis, it’s very annoying.

 

It’s a shame both attacks are luck reliant, and I don’t know if they really compliment each other all that well.

 

Uses and

Combinations: I’d say it’s meant for a new Speedrill deck.  The bad news for this Beedrill is that we still have the Great Encounters Beedrill with Band Attack.  For a single Grass Energy, Band Attack will score 30 damage per Beedrill you have in play.  A well made deck will be doing a reliable 60 or more damage (and usually 90 or 120).  You also have the Rising Rival Beedrill which has a less damaging and quite frankly too-expensive-to-be-useful attack but a Poké-Power to aid in set up.  So the new Beedrill has to oust both of them.

 

Still, there are two reasons to hold onto this.  First, maybe, just maybe, you can find a build for Speedrill that can make use of a single copy.  I haven’t run the deck in a while… maybe there’s a stronger build that will need this new Beedrill.  Why would it?  Perhaps because it’s better to have a 25% chance at 100 damage than just hitting for 30 when your deck set up has a hiccup.  The second reason is more likely, though: eventually Great Encounters Beedrill will be gone, and then this becomes the best Speedrill attacker.

 

Ratings

 

Unlimited: 2/5 – I included an Unlimited score, because this actually has a prayer here.  Like many Pokémon, with a solid back-up (good Trainer engine, maybe Slowking with Mind Games) you can put the hurt on the usually smaller Pokémon run here. If only it were Fighting Resistance to annoy Tyrogue from Neo Discovery.  At the same time, it isn’t the top Beedrill available but a back-up.

 

Modified: 2/5 – I haven’t heard of a lot of Speedrill decks, maybe because Feraligatr Prime isn’t making enough waves or because Fire keeps threatening to ignite or because we have an alternative like the Jumpluff. Plus, even in a Speedrill deck, it’s still just TecH.

 

Limited: 4/5 – The best Fire Pokémon look hard to pull.  While there isn’t any Grass Weakness to help you, I didn’t see Grass Resistance either.  So self-Evolving, low Grass Energy requiring attacks plus Special Conditions make this a great pick.  As long as you can justify four or five Grass Energy in your deck, even a 1-1-1 line should work.

 

Summary

 

A solid Pokémon outclassed in the speed department and even the Beedrill department by the current card pool, it might be worth a look after the next rotation.  For now, just enjoy it at Limited events.  Or Beast Wars themed decks.

 

-Otaku

Mad Mattezhion
 Professor Bathurst League Australia
Beedrill (HS Unleashed)
 
Beedrill has long been a favourite Pokemon of mine, though he doesn't get nearly as much love as Butterfree. Where's the justice?
 
The stats are 110 HP, which is poor for a Stage 2 but consistent with other Beedrill, and x2 weakness which hurts it in comparison to the other Modified legal Beedrill. Free retreat makes up for that somewhat, as does the apperance of Metapod HGSS.
 
Now the attacks. Without powers, Beedrill is definitely an attacker, though the inconsistent dmage means it will probably bee the backup more than the main. Twineedle is an old standard on Beedrill since Base set, and here it offers 2 coin flips with 50 damage for each Heads, all for the low cost of C. Flippy = bnad generally, but at that cost and payoff I'd risk it more than once.
 
Paralyze Poison is unfortunately much less useful. For GC you get 20 damage and auto Posion, with a coin flip for Paralysis. Unown G is obviously the biggest counter for this attack, followed closely by how easy it is to play Switch or evolve the target. This attack really lets the card down, and I'd much prefer if they either upped the base damage or made the attack deal no damage and give auto Paralysis as well. Or even just Paralysis every other turn like the RR version has.
 
This card has a chance to see play in some Speedrill decks, because it has such a cheap pair of attacks with free retreat for when you want to bring out Beedrill GE. However, most players won't use it because they prefer to have 2 GE and 2 RR versions, with no room for the HSU version. When you consider the x2 weakness and the flippy first attack, alongside all of the nerfing Special Conditions have suffered over the years, Beedrill HSU looks bound for the binder. Which really sucks, because Beedrill is so damned cool and I really wanted to give this one a brilliant score.
 
In the end, this card is one for the gamblers. It may pay off, but most people like damage they can count on.
 
Modified: 2.75 (I can't score it higher when I know the danger of flips, even though I really, REALLY want to)
Limited: 4 (Stage 2 Pokemon rule in this set and 100 damage for C is way too good to pass up in this slower format)
 
Combos with: Beedrill GE and Beedrill RR
 
PS: I'd like to say that I've been a bit harsh on some of my previous reviews (sorry Shaymin and Metagross) though I stand by the general idea of what I was saying. I'll leave it up to you, the readers, to prove me wrong (though Tauros is still just a coaster, good call Baby Mario!). In future I'll try to consider my reviews a little more before I hit Send. Thanks for reading!


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