Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Skarmory
(Plasma Storm)
According to Bulbapedia,
Skarmory is responsible for
more abductions of people and
Pokémon in the games and anime than any other Pokémon.
For some mysterious reason, they choose not to make a
thing of Drifloon’s serial
child-napping I guess (see the creepy flavour text for
details). Another mystery is how a 100 lb metal bird can
fly . . . but this
is the
Pokémon world we are talking about, where anything is
possible.
Skarmory
is a Metal Type Team Plasma Basic. Plasma Pokémon are
going to get more and more support in future, so that’s
maybe something to bear in mind, though I don’t see how
this card makes the best use of it exactly. The 90 HP is
solid enough for an unevolving
Basic, and will likely mean it survives the first turn
(barring an amazing turn one for an opponent, usually
involving Darkrai or
Tornadus), which is good
because it means that Skarmory
will get to do its job at least once.
But what is Skarmory’s job?
Well, it certainly isn’t doing damage.
For three Energy, two of which must
be Metal, Steel Wing does a pathetic 40 damage
while reducing damage it takes next turn by a pretty
negligible 20 points. You won’t be taking any KOs with
Skarmory or walling for very
long with it, that’s for sure. Nope, the main attraction
here is Cargo Jet, costing just a single Colourless
Energy and enabling you to draw three cards at the cost
of discarding a Team Plasma card from your hand.
Skarmory
is obviously intended to function as a starter in a
dedicated Team Plasma deck which can manage the discard
cost. Although drawing three is pretty good, Plasma
decks don’t
really exist at the moment as we simply don’t have
enough of the relevant cards yet. That is all set to
change with the release of the Plasma Freeze set in May,
but even then Skarmory isn’t
going to get a chance to shine as Plasma decks will have
much better
things to do on turn one (if you’re interested, look up
spoilers for Thundurus-EX).
In general, this format is too fast for starter Pokémon
anyway, and when it does use them it is for guaranteed
effects right then and there, like
Emolga DRX’s Call for Family. Top decking three
cards would have made for an amazing starter in previous
formats, but now? Not so much. Not outside of Limited
anyway.
Rating
Modified: 1.75 (a starter for a deck that doesn’t need
one)
Limited: 4.25 (very good here – plenty of useless Plasma
Pokémon to dump for lovely draw)
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virusyosh |
Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're going to look
at new version of a Generation II Pokemon. Today's Card
of the Day is Skarmory from Plasma Storm.
Skarmory is a Basic Metal Team Plasma Pokemon. Metal is
a great type to be right now in Modified, as Klinklang
is a pretty popular archetype; as such, Skarmory may be
able to fit into that deck. Additionally, Skarmory is a
Team Plasma Pokemon, meaning that it gets Plasma support
like Colress Machine, and could also potentially have a
niche in a Team Plasma-based deck that could arise. 90
HP is pretty decent for a non-evolving, non-Pokemon-EX
Basic, and Skarmory will hopefully be able to take at
least one hit before going down in the early to
mid-game. Fire Weakness is unfortunate, but not too bad
right now; Psychic Resistance is good against Mewtwo-EX;
and a Retreat Cost of 1 is easily paid for.
Skarmory has two attacks. Cargo Jet allows you to
discard a Team Plasma card from your hand to draw 3
cards for a single Colorless Energy. I personally think
this would have been much more useful as an Ability, as
this sort of effect uses an attack on an effect that is
even weaker than Team Plasma Grunt, a Supporter that
doesn't see much play. As such, you'll want to be doing
better things with your time in Modified. However, card
draw is always good in Limited, so Skarmory is a great
opener in that format if you manage to run a lot of Team
Plasma cards. Steel Wing is Skarmory's form of offense,
dealing a rather pathetic 40 damage for two Metal and a
Colorless while also giving it 20 points of damage
reduction during your opponent's next turn. There are
two points to be made about this attack. First, three
Energy, two of which have type requirements, is way too
expensive for 40 damage in most cases. Second, Skarmory
will likely be OHKO'd in the current Modified metagame
regardless of this damage reduction, so you probably
shouldn't be using it there. In Limited, Steel Wing is
actually very nice, but still takes a little too long to
power up. However, if you're running Metal, you could do
much worse.
Modified: 1.25/5 Skarmory isn't totally useless in
Modified, but it's close. Cargo Jet is worse than Team
Plasma Grunt most of the time (and that card doesn't
even see play), and Steel Wing is way too expensive for
its damage output and meager protective effect. Stay
away.
Limited: 3/5 On the other hand, Skarmory is decent in
Limited, but only if you're playing Metal or a lot of
Team Plasma Pokemon. Cargo Jet is actually quite good
here, as Supporters and card draw are rare. Steel Wing
is still incredibly expensive for 40 damage, but once
powered up, your opponents could have fits breaking
through the damage reduction, which is much more
important in this format than it is in Modified.
Overall, Skarmory works nicely in two niches: as a card
draw engine if you can Cargo Jet effectively, or in a
Metal deck as a secondary attacker/staller/set-up
Pokemon.
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