Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Articuno
(Next Destinies)
So, we come to the last of the Legendary Birds from the
Next Destinies set. Ironically, it’s
Articuno,
so technically it should have been the first.
Articuno
is a Basic Pokémon with 120 HP. These are both pretty
good things: being a Basic means that it gets the
benefit of easy searchability
(Collector and Dual Ball) and the support of cards like
Prism Energy. True, the HP, though very good for a
Basic, still leaves it in range for an
unboosted
Zekrom or
Reshiram KO, but there is
always Eviolite to help with
that. One thing that really stands out about this card
is its excellent Typing. Being a Water Pokémon is decent
enough (hitting popular cards like
Donphan, Reshiram and
Landorus for Weakness), but
what I really like is the Metal Weakness (only the
rarely played Cobablion
threatens) combined with the Fighting Resistance (making
an Articuno with
Eviolite a really tough KO
for Terrakion among others).
In fact, the only thing I don’t like about this card’s
stats is the Retreat cost of two which, as usual, seems
inappropriate for a Pokémon that can actually fly.
Of course all that means nothing if
Articuno can’t back it up with a couple of decent
attacks, so let’s see what’s on offer. The first, Ice
Beam, costs one Water and two
Colourless Energy, does 50 damage, and offers a coin
flip for Paralysis. Hmmm . . . that’s a little expensive
for what it does, even if you can improve chances of
hitting Paralysis with Victory Star
Victini. Without a Vileplume
lock to prevent Switch, and with such massive HP Pokémon
dominating the game, you would have to get very lucky to
keep Paralysing your opponent
until you took the KO. Articuno’s
second attack, Ice Wing, is much less interesting: [W][C][C][C]
is a pretty hefty cost for just 80 points of vanilla
damage. In combination with Ice Beam, though, it does
hit the ‘magic number’ 130. Trouble is that, since the
release of the –EX Pokémon, 130 has become a lot less
magic.
It’s really hard for me to face up to the fact that
Articuno is not a really
competitive Pokémon, as there is so much to like about
the card: decent HP, fantastic Typing, and even the
attacks aren’t too bad. In the end though, it’s just too
underpowered to be truly viable in today’s format, which
actually says more about other Pokémon being overpowered
than it does about Articuno
being bad. This is yet another card which could have
been absolutely stellar in a previous format, but is
sadly outclassed in the one we have now.
Rating
Modified: 2.5 (I like the card but the format doesn’t)
Limited: 4 (high HP Basic with Status Condition attack
and decent damage for this format)
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virusyosh |
Hey there, Pojo! Today we're reviewing a legendary
bird from Generation I that many people really like.
Today's Pokemon Card of the Day is Articuno from Next
Destinies.
Articuno is a Basic Water Pokemon. Water isn't common at
all in Modified right now, but Articuno's being a Basic
may allow it to see some play, given that it has good
enough abilities and attacks. For starters, 120 HP is
quite nice for a Basic, allowing Articuno to take a few
weak hits. Unfortunately, the dragons and other heavy
hitters still OHKO in Modified (though it's not OHKOed
by Terrakion, which is notable). Metal Weakness is great
as Cobalion is quite rare these days, Fighting
Resistance is amazing against Terrakion, and a Retreat
Cost of 2 is payable, even more so with Skyarrow Bridge.
Articuno has two attacks. Ice Beam deals 50 damage for a
Water and two Colorless, Paralyzing on a coin flip.
Paralysis is great regardless of format, but 50 damage
for three Energy really won't cut it in Modified,
especially when you can do 120 damage for the same cost.
In Limited, however, this attack is fairly good.
Likewise, Ice Wing's vanilla 80 damage for a Water and
three Colorless really won't cut it in Modified, but the
attack is strong in Limited with a consistent damage
output. Overall, Articuno has nice top and bottom stats,
but very, very mediocre attacks.
Modified: 1.5/5 Articuno is below average in Modified.
Both attacks cost way too much for the damage output,
and having 120 HP isn't great. There are simply many
more options in Modified.
Limited: 4/5 On the other hand, Articuno is awesome in
Modified. 120 HP is great in this format, being able to
stand up to most assaults aside from the Pokemon-EX.
Even though they are uninspiring in Modified, both Ice
Beam and Ice Wing are good in Limited. Colorless Energy
requirements make splashing Articuno into decks even
easier, although it does require a single Water Energy
(or a Prism, if you're lucky enough to draft one).
Overall, Articuno is a strong Basic that could easily
see play in your Limited deck.
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