Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Sableye
(Plasma Freeze)
We’ve had some very good Sableye
cards over the years: right now we’ve got
Sableye DEX, with Junk Hunt;
recently we had the infamous
Sableye from Stormfront,
making donk decks possible;
and even the Crystal Guardians version had its uses. The
funny thing is though that all of those
Sableye have been the Dark
Type – whenever it has been printed as a Psychic
Pokémon, the results have been a lot less impressive.
So, I’m not expecting too much from this
Sableye, and that’s just as
well really. An un-evolving Basic of this kind either
has to work as a starter which helps you to set up (Sableye
DEX, Emolga DRX), or have
some kind of function which can help the deck to work
mid-game (such as Celebration Wind
Shaymin in the previous format).
Sableye PLF has no tricks to
offer, though: just two fairly generic, uninteresting
attacks. The first, Scratch does 10 for one Colourless
and will have a negligible impact on any game. The
second, Shadow Cage, does give you Retreat Lock and 20
damage for two Energy, but really isn’t going to bother
an opponent who most likely not need a Switch or a Rush
In from Keldeo-EX to deal
with Sableye: they’ll just
KO it.
So, a short review today, but honestly it could have
been much shorter.
Rating
Modified: 1.25 (practically irrelevant)
Limited: 2.5 (Shadow Cage might be somewhat useful)
|
Ness
Two-Time World Champion
Check out The Klaczynski Open. August 31, 2013 |
Sableye
Sableye has but one useful purpose: It can trap a
Gothitelle active when playing against the popular
Gothitelle/Accelgor deck that won U.S. Nationals. Unable
to retreat, Gothitelle will simply be attacked
repeatedly by Sableye until it is KO'd. Other than that,
though, Sableye is just a weak card. And besides, if you
want to trap a Gothitelle active, Sneasel does the same
for only one energy -- and resists psychic!
Modified: 1.5/5
Limited: 1.5/5 |
|
virusyosh |
Hello once again, Pojo readers! Today we're reviewing
a Pokemon that has been historically very good in the
Pokemon TCG. Will the Plasma version continue this
tradition? Today's Card of the Day is Sableye.
Sableye is a Basic Psychic Team Plasma Pokemon. As a
Psychic-type, it may have a niche in Team Plasma decks
already utilizing Psychics, like Deoxys-EX. As a Team
Plasma Pokemon, Sableye also gets Team Plasma support,
which is quite useful in a metagame where Plasma Pokemon
have a prominent deck. Therefore, all Sableye needs are
some good attacks and abilities. 70 HP is a terrible
start, as this is within OHKO range for nearly
everything in the format. This also suggests that
Sableye will likely be a support Pokemon, rather than a
main attacker. Like in the video games, Sableye has no
Weakness and Resistance, but it does have a single
Retreat Cost, which is easily paid if you don't have a
Switch handy.
Sableye has two attacks. Scratch does a vanilla 10
damage for a Colorless Energy, which is a terrible
attack by almost any metric. You'll probably use this in
Limited, though it still won't be very good. Therefore,
Sableye's Modified playability hinges on Shadow Cage,
which...still isn't very good. 20 damage for a Psychic
and a Colorless, but it does stop the opponent from
retreating. The attack's damage is below average for the
cost, but the locking effect can be useful. However,
your opponent is still able to play cards like Switch,
so the attack still isn't that great without a hard Item
lock. Therefore, Sableye is likely to be relegated to
Limited, as it has very little Modified potential.
Modified: 1/5 Sableye just doesn't really work in
Modified right now at all. Scratch is useless, and while
Shadow Cage has some merit, it doesn't have a partner to
warrant using. If you want a Plasma Pokemon that
prevents retreat, use Snorlax.
Limited: 3/5 Sableye isn't that great in Limited,
either. 70 HP isn't very strong here, but no Weakness
makes up for this. Scratch isn't great either, but the
ability to lock the opponent with Shadow Cage is still
useful, even if the other stats aren't. In summary,
Sableye is great as a supporting staller, but other than
that, you'll want other options to help keep it in its
defined role.
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