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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Metagross  We have quite a few Metagross legal for Modified play and, even if you don’t see them much, they are usually at least interesting cards. Look at Metagross LA with its built in Pokémon Reversal-style Power, or the recent Metagross UL that has a nice spread attack. These are the sort of cards that appeal to creative deckbuilders and, even if they don’t always work competitively, they are fun to play.  Today’s Metagross couldn’t be more different.  No Powers, no Bodies, depressingly overpriced vanilla attacks.  Even the attack names didn’t take much effort. Strength costs [M][M][C] and does 70 damage, while Quad Smash is a flippy attack that will do 0-200 damage for [M][M][C][C]. The possibility of 200 is vaguely attractive for about two seconds, but wise players know that relying on flips does not give you the consistency and predictability that a main attacker needs. Is there anything good to say about Metagross? Well, the 130 HP is ok (but only standard for a Stage 2) and Psychic Resistance is nice. Steel typing is always great because of the extra protection you get from Special Metal Energy. The Fire Weakness isn’t the worst either, but the Retreat cost is a nightmare.  There’s plenty of reasons to dislike this card . . . it’s slow with an unreliable damage output for a start. Even worse that that though, it’s boring . . . I kind of expect that from some Pokémon, but not from Metagross.  Rating  Modified: 1.25 (there are three MUCH better Metagross in the format, and they don’t get played) Limited: 2.25 (considering the effort needed to get it out and power it up . . . meh)
virusyosh	Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing Metagross from Undaunted. Wow, Nintendo really loves printing Metagross. There are currently four Metagross cards legal for Modified play (LA, SV, UL, and this one). Both Metagross LA and SV do occasionally see play, with Metagross SV being a bit more common. How does this one compare? Metagross UD has 130 HP, which is pretty good for a Stage 2. It also gets access to Special Metal Energy (being a Metal type), which should allow for this Metagross to take a few hits before going down. Fire Weakness isn't terrible, as there aren't too many Fire Pokemon played outside of Blaziken FB, Charizard AR, and the random Infernape 4. Psychic Resistance is nice against the pixies and other support Pokemon. Finally, a Retreat Cost of 4 is abysmal: please use Switch or Warp Point. This particular Metagross has two attacks. The first, Strength, does a straight 70 damage for [MMC]. Average at best. The second attack, Quad Smash, allows you to flip four coins and deals 50 times the number of heads for [MMCC]. Even though it can do up to 200 damage, there are generally cheaper and more efficient/regular ways to getting a lot of damage for a KO. Modified: 1.5/5 The attacks are overpriced and don't really do anything special. If you have to use a Metagross, use Metagross LA or SV. Limited: 2.75/5 Metagross is pretty decent here. 70 damage for 3 is largely sufficient for taking out many Pokemon in this format in a single blow, and Quad Smash can be really powerful if you manage to flip well. High HP is also very nice. However, there are a few drawbacks: Stage 2s are hard to get out in Limited, and the energy requirements are rather committed to Metal. Even still, Metagross is a solid choice.
conical	Metagross (HS Undaunted)   Metagross is a much-loved Pokemon, something to do with the mixture of good video game stats and some of the excellent card versions that have come out. That and the look on Metagross’ face is just genius! Kudos to both the artist and the designer!   Sadly, while the last 3 incarnations of Metagross in the TCG (Legends Awakened, Supreme Victors and Unleashed) have all appeared in tournament viable decks (even if only for a short time), this version  won’t be classed as playable by anyone but flip-happy newbies.   The stats are good, with 130 HP (standard, but I’m not complaining) and Metal typing giving good survivability but the retreat cost is just as heavy, weighing in at 4 energy (where in my deck is my Switch?). Psychic Resistance is also good though the Fire weakness, while expected, goes from bad to very bad since Ninetales HGSS is a very common tech now (and occasionally deals 60 damage, so don’t get complacent!). So far, so good.   The snag is the lack of abilities, and the lacklustre attacks. The 3 previous versions have all seen play because they had an interesting pokepower or pokebody (flip-to-switch-opponent’s-Pokemon on the LA version which was nice before Luxray GL, health reduction for the SV version and a free retreat scheme for the UL version) with an okay to good attack to back it up (though none were main attackers). This version has none of those things.   Instead, we get Strength and Quad Smash. Strength is vanilla and useless, dealing 70 for MMC (no DCE, so too slow to be useful). Quad Smash deals a far more interesting 200 damage for MMCC (3 turn minimum to play, unless you use the Electric type Magnezone from Stormfront). However, you only get that massive damage if you flip 4 heads, since the attack text is “50 damage per Heads”. This is incredibly flippy, so no one who has tournament experience is going to bother with it. Let the nebies cut their teeth ion this Metagross at League, then introduce them to the concept of dependability.   Modified: 2 (Probably the toughest Metagross to kill, but that doesn’t save it) Limited: 3 (if you have an abundance of Metal basic energy and more than a 1-1-1 line, go with it) Combos with: the binder
RocketProf	10/6 Hello All!! Today's COTD is Metagross from the Undaunted expansion, a Stage 2 Metal Type with a solid 130HP (nice), a 2X weakness to Fire (depends on your Meta), a -20 Psychic Resistance (yay) and a Retreat Cost of 4 (oof).  He'll certainly be able to take a hit, especially if you load it up with Special Metal Energy, but having it sit there and wall may be the only real pro to this card considering its less than admirable attacks, Strength hits for 70 with a cost of MMC and Quad Smash is flippy, doing anywhere from 0 to 200 damage for MMCC... way too flippy... Plain and simple, there are better attackers and better walls than this Metallic Beast... Modified-1.5/5 Limited-2/5 May be useful, but way too hard to get out in this format.
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	10/6/10: Metagross(Undaunted)  You notice how many interesting Metagrosses there are? There's Metagross LA and it's Gust of Wind-Power on a coin flip, there's Metagross SV and its HP-reducing Body, and then Metagross UL gives Psychic-types free retreat and has a usable attack to boot! This Metagross? Not terribly interesting. 1MM for 70 is...meh, especially when Scizor Prime does 1M for 70. And then Quad Smash...well, it can do 200 damage on four heads! That's something. Though, it's likely to get knocked out before it attacks, and especially before it flips four heads, statistically speaking.   Of course, being Metal-type, it does get access to Special Metal energy, and thus could be used as a tanking Pokemon. Steelix and Scizor Primes are both superior attackers, but Metagross does have the benefit of having Metagross LA and SV as easy techs, belonging to the same evolutionary line (Metagross UL is pretty much a psychic-only option.). I don't believe it's enough to use it over Steelix or Scizor, but I feel that the card does have its slight advantages. And hey, if it actually does prove to be better, I can claim that I was the originator of the idea! Surprise, foolish creative players!  In Limited, the slower play helps Metagross out, but it is a Stage 2, and Stage 2s are generally hard to get out. Someone could probably do it, but they'd need a solid number of Beldum and Metang to effectively use it.  Modified: 2.25/5 Limited: 1.5/5 Combos With: Metagross LA, Metagross SV
Otaku	Today we look at a heavy hitting Pokémon, Metagross.  Today’s version is from HS – Undaunted.  It is a Metal-Type Pokémon, allowing it to soak damage with the Special Energy version of Metal Energy.  This enhances the usefulness of its already impressive 130 HP; even for a Stage 2 Pokémon, that is good.  The doubling Fire Weakness isn’t so hot, pardon the pun, but at the same time is not the worst Weakness we’ve seen sported by competitive (or failed) Metagross, and is in line with its typing.  Be wary of it, since it will allow even Metagross to fall prey to OHKOs against strong Fire Pokémon.  The presence of any Resistance is welcome and Psychic -20 (while not the best), is useful to have and greatly appreciated.  The last of the bottom stats is the retreat cost, and it is a doozey: four Energy!  Pack something to bypass this, as being stranded in the Active slot sets up for many effective counterstrategies to tanks like Metagross.  This version of Metagross is meant for damage.  For (MMC) you can use Strength to do a reliable 70 damage.  No added effects, no restrictive clauses.  Like many attacks, it would have been better if that second Metal Energy requirement had been another Colorless Energy requirement: this attack can’t use Double Colorless Energy for extra speed, and after a minimum three turns of setting up, I want to hit for more than a flat 70.  Quad slam fairs a little better.  It has an extra Colorless Energy requirement, but that means many times you’ll just be able to drop a Double Colorless Energy an go straight from being unable to attack into using Quad Slam, skipping Strength unless you need a reliable 70 damage.  Quad Slam is coin flip based: four flips with 50 points of damage per “heads”.  Statistics and probability are sticky subjects and when trying to speak in layman’s terms I usually am technically wrong.  When trying to use precise probability calculations… I just tend to be wrong. ;)  To keep things simple, you’re either going to get all “heads” for a massive 200 points of damage, three “heads” for a respectable 150 points of damage, two “heads” for a passable 100 points of damage, a single result of “heads” for 50 points of damage, or an awful result of no “heads” which means zero damage.  The amount of damage per successful result is high enough that I feel it outweighs the risk of the two lowest results.  It isn’t really worth going into any more depth on Quad Slam, or sadly on this card, because right now it just isn’t worth playing in the Modified format due to three other useful versions of Metagross being available. First is the version from DP – Legends Awakened.  It has arguably superior stats coupled with a magnificent Poké-Power called Magnetic Reversal and a good attack.  Magnetic Reversal acts like a once-a-turn re-usable Pokémon Reversal.  There is no penalty for failing and multiple copies can be included if you want to increase the odds of success… and have spare attackers.  The version from Platinum – Supreme Victors has an interesting and I believe useful Poké-Body that drops maximum HP for all Pokémon by 20 and bench hitting attack.  The Poké-Body doesn’t stack so one could probably run a single copy with any other Metagross.  The final Modified legal Metagross is from HS – Unleashed.  It has worse stats, as it is a Psychic Weak Psychic Pokémon, but it has a useful Poké-Body that drops the Retreat cost of any Pokémon with a Psychic Energy attached to zero, plus one really good and one poor attack.  I’d be inclined to run mostly the first one, maybe with a single copy of Platinum – Supreme Victors version.  This Metagross just doesn’t seem fast enough to be useful in any current decks.  Now, if we get a Metagross that once again grants Metal Energy acceleration and/or discard pile retrieval, that could galvanize this version enough to be a useful attacker.  At least you can enjoy it in Limited.  Yes, it will require running a lot of basic Metal Energy and will probably have to run at least one other type, if not two.  Even without lucking into a Special Energy version of Metal Energy, Metagross hard hitting nature and high HP should let you generate significant advantage.  With just four Prizes to begin with, only bad luck with coin tosses are apt to keep you from taking two prizes for one Metagross.  Still, it is slow to set up and Metang is merely adequate; you may be at a Prize deficit by the time it gets out.  Ratings  Modified: 2/5  Limited: 3/5  I am still selling my former collectables on eBay.  I’ve had a lot of hobbies over the years, so at various times I’ll have comic books, manga, action figures, and video games on the auction block.  You can take a look at what’s up for bids here.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for any transactions and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auctions here. ;)