11/3 - COTD - Tyranitar (EX: Dragon Frontiers)

[Gokey Shuckle]

Rate & Review.

Thanks to Water Pokemon Master from www.pokebeach.com for the scan.

 

[Hayate]

Holy c**p!! The legend, the ultimate card!! Nah, without kidding yes i know this card, and it's very great.

Place a shockmarker on a opponents pokemon, then use Shock-Wave to OHKO it, REGARDLESS OF HP. Can you imagine? T-Tar EX who happily blows a full charged Wailord EX to discard pile? You also don't need to throw away evergy--just a pefect attack.

If you have no time for Shock Markers laugh and Hyper Claw them away. HP is 150, electro-> just perfect card. I can really recommend it.

9.5/10

 

[Jaimes]

Bwohohoho - the release of another stupidly powerful ex card!

Stats: Nice solid 150 HP even for an ex. The [L] type isn't really much, however considering it's attacks, theres not much difference anyway. Its also a delta card, as stated before the amount of trainers that benefit d types are so numerous that its quite a good thing these days.
The biggest disadvantage this card has of course is its ex status, meaning that it cannot be played quickly using Celios or cannot benefit from many other trainer cards such as Brineys.
The bottom stats are ok. Being weak to [G] isn't bad, since there are very few heavy played [G] types in modified. No resistance is disappointing for a ttar and there is an expected huge retreat cost.

Tyranitar: Tyranitar as the name suggests, has been renown as a big chunky heavy hitting Pokemon card. It's preevo stages - Larvitar & Pupitar are also quite a benefit. The best preevos imo would be the Larvitar from DS and 2 Pupitars from DS (or the d [L] type) using Rare candy to get this card out as fast as possible. Best of all, a good idea would be to add its non ex counterpart in as well to speed up the attachment of energy cards and as a good back up attacker if necessary.

So something like 4 Larvitar d- 2 Pupitar d- 3 Tyranitar d ex / 1 Tyranitar d with Rare Candies.

EDIT: Forgot there was UF version's as well - which is just as good to run in the evo stages - don't run the 2 exs together tho! Very risky with that many exs and the energy requirements will be a nightmare.

Attack: Seriously, what where they thinking when they designed this card?!!! The ability to KO ANYTHING for only 3 (2[L]1[C]) energies with no discard- is amazing! Even if it does span 2 turns. If you know about how annoyed people were with Blaziken ex, lets just wait for this.
And if not, Hyper Claws is just as brutal for 3 energy. If one of these is active ASAP, Shockwave and Hyper Claws will stop your opponent from setting up and even having a chance of winning.

In conclusion if you have this card -play it OR trade/give it to me so I can. Do remember though, despite this cards brokeness, it IS an ex and its VERY HARD TO GET HOLD OFF. So theres no need to be afraid to go to tournaments.
And if it does become to popular, fingers crossed they'll do what WotC did to Sneasel, Slowking and ER. Ban it from modified. xD

9/10

 

[~Solarys~]

OK, this thing is weird, I say... although its attack can KO anything in 2 turns, it's often not worth it unless the opponent is an evolved ex, because normally its 70 attack does the job in 1 or 2 turns anyway.

Now the question is: how do you get rid of the KO marker? If it's just by evolving, then a good way to counter it is to keep a good number of evolution cards in your hand ready, or use (super) Scoop ups.

Anyway, it seems over-rated to me, because most times the use of the KO marker is impractical, when the opponent has no ex's and a bunch of basics on their bench. But its obvious this card is designed for LATE GAME not early-mid, so some late game cards like stage 2's can do 70 or 80 damage for some cost. Then it all depends on who gets the first hit, because its 150 HP might not last 2 turns at late game, and its not a metal type. Even if it does last 2 turns and KO something, keep in mind its an ex itself, so unless it KO's an ex while sacrificing itself, it's not worth it.

If you have the chance to rush it out in early-mid game, you're not that lucky as you think, because there are other cards just perfect for early-mid game, namely, the Registeel ex from EM (1 of my favorites) that does 20 to EACH of your opponent's pokemon. so if you can get that out in the first 5 turns and have it powered up (not that hard with Holon Tower and heaps other things), its Wide Laser is devastating as it KO's ALL 40HP basics in 2 turns. It's just a faster version of the Sandstorm's Aggron ex.

So, in conclusion, this card is excellent, but too dependent on what deck your opponent plays. But IMO it should have a multi-hitter (damages multiple targets) instead of the 70 attack, then it's much more versatile. Well, as the above person said, it'll get banned if it's made too unreasonably strong...

7/10

(PS: Why did they not ban the Gardevoir ex from Sandstorm? That's a 1HKO every turn at late game!)

 

[Jaimes]

Now the question is: how do you get rid of the KO marker? If it's just by evolving, then a good way to counter it is to keep a good number of evolution cards in your hand ready, or use (super) Scoop ups.

* Imprison & Shock-wave Markers are special markers that were introduced in EX: Dragon Frontiers and will be included in theme decks for that expansion instead of the regular Burned and Poisoned Special Condition markers. After one these markers has been attached to a Pokémon, they are removed ONLY when the Pokémon evolves or devolves. Pre-existing cards such as Double Full Heal or Heal Energy do not remove these new markers an effect would specifically have to mention Imprison or Shock-wave markers for that effect to remove these markers. (EX:Dragon Frontiers FAQ; Oct 26, 2006 PUI Rules Team)
And I theres Tropius from DF to remove them and Holon WP energy would also prevent its effect.


I also strongly disagree with your comment on it being played for late game only. The card does enough damage to KO the majority of basics and stage 1s using Hyper Claws and the ability to snipe the bench before your opponent sets up is very pressurizing.

If you wait for this to be played late game, then your probably going to lose. Why would you want to do that anyway? I doubt cards are made- considering whether they should be played as late as possible. Please explain how 'obvious' it is.
By playing the card deliberately later on it gives your opponent sufficient time to set up and to build something that could be a potential threat against TTar. Also what to stall with? To run a large TTar line and not even play it until your opponent is beating you is just absurd. Every player wants to set up as fast as possible to KO as much stuff as possible to take control of the game by reducing your opponents pokemon, trainers, energy. An early TTar d ex can easily do this by being able to smash anything with a low HP or KO any potential threats on the bench.

The most important factors for building a competitive deck is Consistency, Speed and Power. By playing a strong evo line and deliberately playing it late will often result in your loss.

P.S - Registeel ex isn't really such a good example. Its HP is still quite low even for an ex and with Metal Energy. Wide Laser is very dodgy attack - it can only do 20 and does not have the same back up options that Spinning Tail Tyranitar did (such as additional attacks/evo lines/ATM Rock). If you did get this set up in T5, chances are your opponent will have something bigger active that can do more than 20 damage to you back. Being able to KO your opponents bench isn't handy when theres nothing useful on there and a threat is active. Also the energy cost is very unpredictable to get on T1 - (Rainbow, [M] or [DM] are the only viable choices, once it gets KOd then they will be discarded). Holon research tower only works on d Pokemon. More importantly Aggron ex isn't a good card either - but I can't be bothered to explain right now. :/
P.P.S - Gardy ex never needed to be solely a late game attacker. As well as counting your opponents energy, it also made use of Gardevoir RS's power, Double Rainbow Energy on the bench and Boost energy. As soon as this card was set up (even in early game) it could do massive damage if played correctly. It wasn't a 'game wrecker' like Sneasel/Slowking/ERs and required a LOT of experience and ability to play well so did not deserve to be banned.

 

[Forci Stikane]

O.O Well...and I thought HP Kabutops was powerful...looks like Electric decks are getting major boosts now...

Do I really need to go over anything?

9.5/10

 

[~Solarys~]

Well, by LATE GAME I mean after each player's, say, 10th turn, as most evolution cards would be out by then (unless you're playing against newbs that don't play trainer cards), not like after 4 prizes are gone as how you interpret it...

And by EARLY GAME I mean the opening rounds, maybe before the 5th turn. "Mid-game" is self explanatory.

Well, my Registeel ex wasn't a good example, but I couldn't think of anything else at that moment. And I was wrong about the tower stadium wasn't I - it only works on those new types after that set. Anyway my point is that Registeel is made for annoying people, not KOing 100HP actives, so that they won't needlessly put 40HP basics onto the bench. (Mind you, you DO take a prize card whenever you KO a benched! That's why most of my decks are focused on bench attacking, and it actually works against whoever that's not prepared.)

Still, I wouldn't give too much credit to this thing, it's not yet a game wrecker, but close enough...

PS: Can you please explain what you mean by these cards being game wreckers? (Sneasel/Slowking/ERs) And where they are from? I really don't know much about those pre-ex sets as I never played this game before R/S came out.

 

[Forci Stikane]

PS: Can you please explain what you mean by these cards being game wreckers? (Sneasel/Slowking/ERs) And where they are from? I really don't know much about those pre-ex sets as I never played this game before R/S came out.

Sneasel's from Neo Genesis, and was mainly gotten rid of because of its second attack, Beat Up, which lets you flip a coin for EVERY Pokemon you have in play and do 20 damage for each heads (two dark energy required, too, so the first one's basically 40). ER's Energy Removal, and if you can't guess what that does, STOP PLAYING THE GAME.

As for Slowking, though, I'm guessing that's the Neo version, which confuses me as it wasn't that good...

 

[Jaimes]

As for Slowking, though, I'm guessing that's the Neo version, which confuses me as it wasn't that good...

You've got to be kidding me....:\

 

[Cipher 2008]

Yeah...I mean, it practically blocked you from drawing any cards from your deck at all.

 

[Jaimes]

Yeah...I mean, it practically blocked you from drawing any cards from your deck at all.

As well as its power being cumulative (25% if 2 are in play, 12.5% if 3, 6.25% if you're crazy enough to get 4 out) AND stopping at least 50% of trainer cards being played, preventing your opponent from setting up quickly with Bills, Computer Search, Oaks etc, disrupting you with GoWs, ERs and helping there own Pokemon, with Switch, Scoop up etc. A NG Slowking on the bench would often bring your opponents game to an end.

 

[Forci Stikane]

As well as its power being cumulative (25% if 2 are in play, 12.5% if 3, 6.25% if you're crazy enough to get 4 out) AND stopping at least 50% of trainer cards being played, preventing your opponent from setting up quickly with Bills, Computer Search, Oaks etc, disrupting you with GoWs, ERs and helping there own Pokemon, with Switch, Scoop up etc. A NG Slowking on the bench would often bring your opponents game to an end.

None of which matters if you don't really use Trainers, like everybody I played.

 

[~Solarys~]

WTF? No trainers? Then it's not a game, period.

 

[okothnuva]

Only n00bs play without trainers unless theyre playing Mewtwo mulligan.

Back to tyranitar

Ok, maybe this card looks awesome at first sight, but it's not amazing to me. Evolving gets rid of the counter, so If I see a larvitar, I'll just refuse to evolve until they shockwave me. THe knocking out takes 2 turns as well, in that time, I could easily knock it out with Feraligatr or some grass poke like Quagsire (which completely kicks tyranitar's *** with a strength charm), taking 2 prizes too. Heck, if I were forced to play this, I would just keep using Hyper Claws because it's pretty much the best thing to do. The 3 retreat makes it even worse, considering it gives your opp 2 prizes.

This won't win anything higher than a Cities.

4.5/10

 

[~Solarys~]

Yup, I COMPLETELY agree with you, oko!

It's not as awesome as people think, especially when the KOing takes 2 turns and can easily be nullified by evolving/devolving etc.

On the other hand, the Gardevoir ex (Imprison) is much more useful, although its attack isn't overly great, it's power is far more annoying.

 

[Forci Stikane]

Only n00bs play without trainers unless theyre playing Mewtwo mulligan.

Back to tyranitar

Ok, maybe this card looks awesome at first sight, but it's not amazing to me. Evolving gets rid of the counter, so If I see a larvitar, I'll just refuse to evolve until they shockwave me. THe knocking out takes 2 turns as well, in that time, I could easily knock it out with Feraligatr or some grass poke like Quagsire (which completely kicks tyranitar's *** with a strength charm), taking 2 prizes too. Heck, if I were forced to play this, I would just keep using Hyper Claws because it's pretty much the best thing to do. The 3 retreat makes it even worse, considering it gives your opp 2 prizes.

This won't win anything higher than a Cities.

4.5/10

1. Or unless it's before Light Pokemon cards even existed and trainers didn't have as much depth to them (Bill, Prof. Oak, Moo Moo Milk...*snore*).

2. You don't give the card enough credit. What if your opponent CAN'T (d)evolve their Pokes? Then they're stuck, leaving you to just pretty much take your time.

 

[Drifblim]

Any card that delivers an automatic Knock Out, this included, sucks. The Base Set Gastly had Destiny Bond, this has Shock-wave. The chances that the attacks will be successfully carried out are the same for each card, as Gastly has 30 HP and Tyranitar ex is excluded from the effects of many Trainer cards.

Luckily, Hyper Claws more than makes up the slack, so I'll find myself using that more.

6/10