Old Cemetery – Chilling Reigns
Date Reviewed: July 5, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 3.00
Expanded: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Pokémon doesn’t feature a “fusion” mechanic like some other TCGs (Yu-Gi-Oh) or franchises (Dragon Ball)… but our next Runner-Up almost fakes it. Okay, you can argue that a variety of other mechanics have also faked it over the years, but I’m talking about the card that would have been 18th-Place, Old Cemetary (SW – Chilling Reign 174/198)! The effect of this Stadium is that, whenever an Energy card is attached from hand by either player, that player places two damage on that Pokémon, excluding Psychic types. Yes, it is worded better on the card, but I’m supposed to paraphrase things when I can as you can just read the actual text yourself. It is nice when the card gets it just right!
So… what does this have to do with fusion? Frozen City has the same effect as Old Cemetery except the excluded Pokémon are Team Plasma ones, as opposed to those of a particular type. Miasma Valley places two damage counters on Basics when they are Benched, excluding [G] or [P] Pokémon. Besides giving me a slightly different opening for this CotD, this also explains right away how to use Old Cemetery, based on how these two Stadiums were used in the past. First, this is just a decent choice for [P] decks. The best choice? Sometimes. In Expanded, it is quite obvious; you’ve got Dimension Valley for many (most?) Psychic decks. Apart from those, another powerful Stadium – like Sky Field – may be more appropriate. Still, some of the time, this is an easy way to get a few extra damage counters on your opponent’s Pokémon.
Second, there are the decks that want damage counters on their own Pokémon. As long as it isn’t a Psychic type you need to injure, and as long as you can afford to attach at least one Energy from your hand to it, Old Cemetery can help. Third is to hard-counter decks with multiple Energy attachments from the hand. Unless there is a ruling otherwise, this isn’t just for the manual Energy attachment from hand a player receives during their turn, but any and all Energy attachments from hand. I could be mistaken, but this should mean that Old Cemetery places at least two damage counters on whatever receives Fire Energy from Welder.
So, there’s the good, how about the bad? Another reason I brought up those older Stadiums is that they placed two damage counters… but Frozen City is a little over eight years old, while Miasma Valley over 12! Power creep has most definitely happened, and we (mostly) have higher HP scores across the board, even before factoring in specialty mechanics like Rule Box Pokémon. I believe two damage counters per attachment is just enough to still be a solid addition to your average Psychic-focused deck. It was enough that Old Cemetery was my 13th-Place pick. I can see an argument for lowering it, due to some other cards I left off my list but probably should have included, but not by too much.
Ratings
- Standard: 3/5
- Expanded: 3/5
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