Today we look at another
Muk!
… I like
Muk: it may not be my favorite, but
it reminds me of Marvel Comics Venom in
a weird way.
No, that is not a good enough
reason to look at this card.
We are looking at the
Undaunted version, and this is one
I’ve actually play tested.
Like all recent video game Poison-Type
Pokémon, in the TCG
Muk is represented as being a
Psychic Type.
As you’ll remember, this is
mildly useful: with any luck you see the
Uxie, you OHKO the
Uxie.
Stage 1 Pokémon got the short end
of the stick this format: slower than
the overpowered Basics, smaller and
weaker than the overpowered Stage 2
Pokémon that still see play.
Yes, I know there are some great
Stage 1 Pokémon that carry their own
decks right now but they are usually
crazy broken.
Muk Evolves from
Grimer, and there are only two
Modified legal options: one from
Platinum and one from Undaunted.
Both are Psychic, Basic Pokémon
with 60 HP and a hefty Retreat Cost of
two.
The older version from
Platinum enjoys a superior Psychic
+10 Weakness, while the Undaunted
version reverted back to the standard
damage doubling Weakness.
The Platinum version also
can attack for no Energy, and that
attack searches your deck for another
Grimer and Benches it.
The Retreat Cost and this attack
make it the superior choice: you really
don’t want to have to attack with
Grimer as it is there to Evolve into
Muk, and the other attacks are a bit
pricey for what they do, which is
probably very little before being KO’d.
This
Muk, like yesterday’s card, clocks
in at a solid 100 HP: not good enough to
be a real benefit, but not weak enough
to be a real hindrance.
The Psychic Weakness x2 really
does hurt it, though, since the
Uxie you’d want to OHKO can Level Up
into
Uxie Lv.X and OHKO you instead.
Lack of Resistance is lame in
that it would really bring more depth to
the game, but since it is so rare and
often isn’t a big benefit (Resistance is
usually easy to play around) the lack of
it doesn’t technically hurt the card.
The three Energy needed to
retreat does hurt the card: you’ll have
to pack supporting cards to get it out
of the Active slot, or let it go down
swinging.
This
Muk seems to have less going for it
than what we looked at yesterday: only
two attacks.
The attacks do have some solid
synergy and advantages over what we say
on
Muk Lv.49.
The first attack just requires
(P).
Sludge Drag is a pretty
descriptive name for it, as the attack
allows you to pick one of your
opponent’s Benched Pokémon, force it
into the Active Slot, and inflict Poison
and Confusion on it at the same time.
Pester is the big attack,
requiring (PCC).
It hits for 50 points of damage
base, plus another 30 if the Defending
Pokémon is affected by at least one
Special Condition.
The base damage is a poor return,
but if you get the effect it’s a solid
deal.
The first attack makes getting
said effect easier, and it really does
matter that you can go from Sludge Drag
to Pester with the addition of a single
Double Colorless Energy.
I tried mixing this card with
Vileplume to shut down Trainers and…
I got slaughtered.
My build was horrendous: rushed
and missing some major cards (including
Oddish in my very first build – I
really was in a rush).
Based on what I’ve seen of the
Metagame, this isn’t likely to ever give
you a deck that will easily win a major
event.
However, it does give you a solid
performance as a casual deck, and is
good enough it has a chance of winning
something small.
It is one of those decks that
just can’t match the best of this
format.
At least, when I last tried it.
I didn’t have time to try it
long, either.
Since it is a solid concept, I
really do wonder what could be done:
many Pokémon have the ability to inflict
Special Conditions from the Bench.
In Limited play, this looks like a real
winner; almost all the built in
advantages of
Muk Lv.49.
You don’t have as good a
Grimer this set, but you still have
what is a great HP score and damage
output for Limited play and Sludge Drag
gives you both the all important Bench
Manipulation and dual Special
Conditions: a potent combination here.
Finally, it only requires one
actual
Psychic Energy to get going, so
while you’ll need to run a few more than
that, even a 1-1 line is feasible
splashed into another deck with five
Psychic Energy cards.
Ratings
Modified:
3/5
Limited:
4/5
Just a reminder, I still have eBay
auctions up as I slowly liquidate the
abundance of action figures, comic
books, video games, and miscellaneous
collectables I’ve accrued over the
years.
Click
here to see what is currently up for
bids, but remember that Pojo is in no
way responsible for any transactions,
and merely is kind enough to let me link
to my auctions in my CotDs. ;)
