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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Magnezone #46  

- Plasma Storm

Date Reviewed:
March 1, 2013

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 2.67
Limited: 3.25

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being the worst. 
3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.

Back to the main COTD Page

Combos With: See Below

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Magnezone #46 (Plasma Storm) 

We end the week with another Pokémon that has an interesting Ability, designed to help decks out with consistency issues. This is something that the current format is definitely lacking. We have nothing really comparable to cards like Uxie LA, Claydol GE, or even ones like Chatot MD, Cleffa HGSS and Smeargle UD. Those were all Pokémon that could be used to provide draw and/or give players an out when they had a bad hand. 

So . . . what do we have here then? Magnezone is a Stage 2 Pokémon with a decent 140 HP and Fighting Weakness (not great, but could be worse). It has a Retreat cost of three which at least makes it searchable via Heavy Ball. The attack . . . isn’t that bad. Yes, you do only get 80 damage for the considerable cost of two Lightning and one Colourless Energy (meaning you can’t even two-hit KO an EX), but it is a ‘hit and run’ attack so you could always switch out to a Pokémon that can block damage like Sigilyph DRX, I suppose. Gyro Ball also forces your opponent to switch which may or may not be what you want, depending on the situation. I consider the attack good enough to use when needed, but not something to build a deck around. 

The main reason why this card was a runner up in our Top 10 countdown is its Ability: Dual Brains. The name of the attack does make me wonder what happened to the third Magnemite’s brain when it evolved, but it’s probably better if I don’t know. Dual Brains’ effect is quite simple: during your turn, you may play two Supporter cards. 

Sounds great in theory, doesn’t it? We rely almost exclusively on Supporters for all of our draw (Juniper, Bianca, Colress etc) and one of our best search cards (Skyla). Surely being able to play two in a turn would greatly improve deck consistency and even open up the option of building a deck with the risky ‘tails fails’ disruption Supporter, Hooligans Jim & Cas? Unfortunately, I have two big problems with the theory. 

Firstly, Magnezone is a Stage 2. Working this, plus Rare Candy into your deck means that consistency is taking a hit before you even start. The time when you really need the consistency boost is when setting up, and Magnezone doesn’t give that boost until you already have a Stage 2 in play. The second objection is that you need two Supporters in your hand on any given turn in order to use the Ability, otherwise all you have is a mediocre attacker occupying Bench space. In order to achieve this in a reliable way, you need to pack your deck with Supporters above and beyond the 12-14 that most decks play and this not only gives you a problem fitting stuff into your deck, it also leaves you prone to very poor opening game hands full of Supporters which you will most likely end up having to discard with Juniper anyway. 

Like yesterday’s card, Clefable, you can see the intent behind Magnezone. It aims to reward you with better consistency if you choose to run an evolution deck. I do think it’s a better card than Clefable, but it still falls short of being a practical option in a format dominated by fast and efficient EX Pokémon. So, nice idea, and maybe in the future someone will be able to make something of it. For now, though, it’s not really all that playable. 

Rating

Modified: 2.25 (good in theory, not in practice)

Limited: 2.5 (unlikely you will ever be able to use the Ability)

virusyosh Happy Friday, Pojo readers! Today we end our CoTD week with a very hyped card from Plasma Storm that doesn't quite have a place yet. Today's Card of the Day is Magnezone (#46).
 
Magnezone is a Stage 2 Lightning Team Plasma Pokemon. Lightning-types have waned in popularity for the time being, with some Eelektrik variants still around occasionally, but other than that, they're not a huge presence in the current metagame. As a Team Plasma Pokemon, Magnezone gets support from Team Plasma cards (though not so much in this set). 140 HP is just about standard for a Stage 2, allowing Magnezone to take at least one major unboosted hit before going down. Fighting Weakness means that Landorus and Terrakion will often have the upper hand on the Magnet Area Pokemon, so that's definitely something to watch out for. Unfortunately, Magnezone has no Resistance, but it does have a massive Retreat Cost of 3, so you'll definitely want to use Switch or Escape Rope to move Magnezone out of the Active position.
 
This version of the Magnet Area Pokemon has an Ability and a single attack. Dual Brains allows you to play 2 Supporter cards per turn, which is fantastic. Playing Supporters is a major strategic part of the Pokemon TCG, and being able to Skyla into a Colress/Juniper/whatever else you may need is a huge advantage. Unfortunately, due to the wording of this Ability, it doesn't stack (it'd be even more insane if it did), but even still, expect to see people playing around with this card quite a bit.
 
Gyro Ball is Magnezone's attack, dealing 80 damage for two Lightning and a Colorless, with the side effect of having both players switch out. While not impressive, this attack is passable, if not a bit heavy on Lightning Energy requirements. Magnezone won't be winning any offensive awards, but even still, as a support Pokemon, you could do much worse.
 
Modified: 3/5 Magnezone is going to see play for Dual Brains, but whether or not it will actually work out has yet to be determined. Dual Brains is absolutely insane, generating you tons of advantage and putting your opponent into a very difficult spot. Of course, Magnezone's being a Stage 2, Fighting Weakness, and large Retreat Cost do set it back a bit, but you can be sure that people will be trying to use/break the Magnet Area Pokemon for the sheer amount of advantage it brings.
 
Limited: 4/5 Magnezone is very good in Limited, too. While Dual Brains won't often make much of a difference (unless you get very lucky and draft a bunch of Supporters), but Gyro Ball is a good attack, even though it's kind of expensive. However, the automatic switching can be a bit problematic in this format, as it can definitely get you into some bad situations. Like many other Stage 2s, Magnezone will often be a game-changer if you get it out, so if you manage to pull a Magnezone line, use it!


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