|
Ivysaur (Dark Explorers)
This week is all about the Grass Poke'mon, with our
first being an evolving Stage 1 that has been with us
since the beginning. Bulbasaur and company were the
starting Poke'mon of the great Pojo himself when he
first put his hands on the original Poke'mon, as well as
many other players so you know the nostalgia is running
high.
Unfortunately, if you are a long-time fan then you
also know that the words "evolving Stage 1" mean "loses
out to Rare Candy" in 99% of cases. This is no
different.
90 HP, Fire Weakness and a retreat cost of 3 are all
major obstacles to Ivysaur surviving a
Catcher-hit-and-run, so if at all possible you'll want
to have Rare Candy available to skip straight to
Venusaur. The Water Resistance is helpful, but not
enough to save Ivysaur from the binder.
The attacks don't do a great deal to help the
situation either. Sleep Powder is decent enough, dealing
20 damage and auto-Sleep, but at [g][c] it's a little
expensive, considering that Venusaur (whom we will
discuss tomorrow) is a bench sitter. Poison Powder is
more of the same, costing [g][g][c] to deal 50 damage
and auto-Poison, which will likely never get used in a
Modified match. In Limited though, this card can shut
down and destroy anything you face provided you get
lucky with energy draws and coin flips
In the end analysis, Ivysaur would be an
above-average Stage 1 if it evolved into a Poke'mon
intended as a main attacker, but as-is it feels like a
waste of energy. Pack Switch and expect to lose at least
one Ivysaur to Poke'mon Catcher.
Modified 3.25 (better than many evolving Stage 1
Poke'mon I've seen, but still not a cause for
excitement)
Limited: 4 (if you get lucky enough to pull
multiples, you have a very good response to the Poke'mon
EX in this set, who generally hate Poison taking away
their health. Tornadus and Entei will still fry you, but
for an Uncommon card this is a really good response to
big threats and having a Venusaur is just icing on the
cake)
Combos with: an aggressive Venusaur
|
