Now it is time to find out if this
Gurdurr builds
Conkeldurr decks up or is going to
just sit around drinking coffee while
trying to look busy.
Stats
Being a Fighting-Type is a good thing
right now; two Types (Darkness and
Lightning) are often Fighting Weak, and
said two Types are the basis of some
strong decks… plus the Weakness is just
reasonably common to begin with.
Being a Stage 1 Pokémon is not so
helpful, especially in a fast format
where
Rare Candy is an option; you may not
have time to use
Gurdurr.
Its 80 HP doesn’t help; why are
“beefy” Pokémon stuck with a score that
would be bad even in most past formats?
It’s a Stage 1 that Evolves into
a Stage 2… you don’t have to top-load
the HP score… in fact it would be better
if it was the opposite, with your
average 150 HP Stage 2 having a Stage 1
with around 100 HP and a Basic with
around 70.
My desires to rethink the game
aside, again let me say 80 HP is bad in
the current format and a probably OHKO
most of the time.
Psychic Weakness is bad; even though I
said this was a probable OHKO, I was
implying against a deck that was already
set-up and in motion.
With Psychic Weakness, anyone can
drop a
Mewtwo EX, slap a
Double Colorless Energy, and promote
it to then X-Ball for 80+ points of
damage and the KO.
Nor does
Gurdurr get any Resistance to offset
this, but then again -20 only goes so
far and Resistance isn’t all that common
anyway.
The two Energy Retreat Cost is
also too small for
Heavy Ball, but about “average” in
terms of difficulty to pay; you’ll often
be able to afford it, but it will set
you back enough you really won’t want
to.
Effects
Gurdurr
has two attacks and
neither help set-up for
Conkeldurr outside of softening up
the Defending Pokémon.
Low Kick does 20 for (C) which
would be good on a Basic, but even on an
Evolving Stage 1 feels a little
underpowered… especially when an attack
with that cost would be better spent
building your set-up or sabotaging your
opponent’s.
Steel Swing actually is a solid
attack, at least for a transitional
Stage 1 Pokémon.
If you have to attack for damage
with
Gurdurr, it won’t be reliable, but
for (FCC) you’ll average an acceptable
60 points of damage, with a 0/60/120
split.
With what I said about Weakness
earlier, this can threaten some really
important Pokémon.
Also, with most forms of Energy
acceleration, by the time
Timburr Evolves into
Gurdurr, you likely can already use
Steel Swing.
Usage
There are two other
Gurdurr.
All three have identical stats
except for Retreat Costs; BW: Noble
Victories 63/101 has a three Energy
Retreat Cost, which while worse would
make it a legal target for
Heavy Ball.
If the deck is using those, run
that version, but I warn you its attacks
are poor.
I like the attacks best on
today’s, though: since this card is
being run ultimately just to Evolve, and
thus you’re probably going to only
attack once, Black & White 60/114
likely won’t enjoy the additional effect
of it’s identically priced and damaging
attack, Bulk Up.
Plus its big attack requires
(FFC) and only hits for a flat 60.
Gurdurr
has to come from somewhere since it is a
Stage 1, and that would be
Timburr.
Four versions, and to keep things
simple I’ll just state all have mediocre
attacks; not useless but nothing to
really help the Evolution line (or
threaten the Defending Pokémon unless it
is Fighting Weak and very small).
So it comes down to stats, and
I’ll take bulk; Black & White
58/114 has 70 HP, while the other three
each have just 60.
Now for the real clincher… do we have a
Conkeldurr that can support a deck?
The short answer is… no.
Both have been reviewed by the
CotD crew, including myself.
I might not score them quite as
harshly as I did: the reviews went up
the day BW: Next Destinies was
officially released (and thus tournament
legal), and I already knew how bad
Psychic Weakness was going to be thanks
to
Mewtwo EX.
Now while the format is currently
seeing a few Evolutions (mostly in
supporting roles) do quite well, the
Conkeldurr are meant to be Active.
Likewise, the abundant Fighting
Weakness can only do so much.
Now, once we get to BW-On, since
we will also then get a new set with a
card that can help set-up
Conkeldurr BW: Noble Victories
64/101,
Gurdurr might qualify as a one-of or
two-of in a mostly fun deck… though I
wouldn’t mind being wrong and it doing
better.
Unless you’re running
Heavy Ball, then use the version
with the higher Retreat Cost instead.
In Unlimited, as usual once we get past
things like first turn win decks or lock
decks, we have things like
Broken Time Space making
Gurdurr little more than a
placeholder… in which case it all
depends on if you’re bothering with
Heavy Ball.
If so, again use the version that
Heavy Ball can target.
Otherwise use this one.
Still, I get the feeling this
would be purely a “for fun” deck, and
not an overly strong one with all the
help it would require.
At least in Limited, it finally
gets to be a good pull.
Both it and the
Timburr in the set are easy to work
into a multi-Type deck, though at least
a little
Fighting Energy is recommended so
you can use the bigger attacks on the
cards.
The usual reasons make
Gurdurr better: lower average HP
scores and damage output.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified:
1.75/5
Limited:
3.5/5
Summary
I didn’t scoring the current and coming
Modified formats separately, because as
a transitional form for a Pokémon that
at best will be a fun deck next format,
I didn’t find it necessary, and I’ll say
it again for people skimming: if you’re
using
Heavy Ball play the
Gurdurr it can target, not this one.
Otherwise if you’re stuck
attacking out of desperation, you could
threaten some medium-sized and/or
Fighting Weak Pokémon with the card’s
big attack.
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clicking
here.
It’s me whittling away at about
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collecting, spanning action figures,
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Exactly what is up is a bit
random.
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