PokeCommunity Card of the Day (July 1st, 2011) - Emboar B/W 20/114

[donavannj]

Welcome to PokeCommunity's (Un)Official Card of the Day series! Last time we had a successful version of one of these was a couple years back, at the very least.

Basically, this will be a series of threads where you rate a given card based on several factors, including how useful it is in various decks, which cards it combos well with, and its art. So, basically, you're rating all aspects of the card.

Card of the Day for July 1st, 2011 - Emboar 20/114 Black and White Set

Spoiler:

(This pic is just being used to show the art. I can't find the power cable for our scanner here at the moment, otherwise I'd have used a scan)

Card details:

Spoiler:

Name: Emboar
Set: Black and White
Collector's Number: 20/114
Rarity: Holofoil Rare
Illustrator: 5Ban Graphics
Pokedex Entry: It can throw a fire punch by setting its fists on fire with its fiery chin. It cares deeply about its friends.
Type: Fire
Evolution Stage: Stage 2
HP: 140
Ability: Inferno Fandango - As often as you like during your turn (before you attack), you may attach a Fire Energy card from your hand to 1 of your Pokemon.
Attack: (2 Fire, 2 Colorless) Heat Crash (80 damage)
Weakness: Water x2
Resistance: None
Retreat Cost: 4

Some questions to get you started:
What decks is this useful in?
What cards does it combo well with?
What do you think about the card's capabilities?
What do you think about the card art?

Now get your rate on!

 

[Warrior Rapter]

this card could help out one of my pure fire decks. lets c..... combine him with the typhlo that gets energies out of the discard and one of my charizards....

sorry, thinking out loud here XD

 

[Rocket_Executive]

What doesn't this card go with? I got smashed at nationals by decks of all kinds running emboar as a super energy-accelerant. Pairing it with a fire pokemon is the most obvious choice, and many people took to the new reshiram to do 120 every turn, as emboar compensates for your having to discard two fires. Then people got creative and starting thinking about magnezone prime, with emboar as an improvement on the original feraligatr. The idea is to dump as much energy onto the field with emboar as possible, then use magnezone prime's attack to lost zone those energy's for 50 damage a piece. The damage output is only limited by how much energy you have on your pokemon, and with emboar that's not a problem. Rayquaza/Deoxys legend skyrocketed in price when this thing came out, as it became a pokemon that could do 150 and take two prizes on the very turn it was played, making a perfect surprise attack and netting two easy prizes. Cards like fisherman are now seeing play as a perfect match with emboar. Even its HP is really high, making it really hard to take down, but conversely its retreat cost is impossible. As for the art.... it's bad lol, but the card is so good that no one cares.
Overall this card is really useful in a lot of decks, and it is definitely dominating the metagame right now. The only thing it has to fear is the upcoming trainer Pokemon Catcher, which may drag out the tepigs and pignites before they can get set up.
Current format: 9/10 (-1 for ugly art and horrible retreat cost)

 

[tranceking26]

I'm unfamiliar with this card/pokemon, but 8/10 rating from me. The shiny part looks cool

 

[Overlord Drakow]

I played a Reshiboar deck a few times today, but I was able to handle it decently. Emboar is pretty silly though in theory. It makes cards like Fisherman and Energy Retrieval pretty nutty. I intend to use him with the Hydreigon that will be released in the next set. He is not without flaws though. That four retreat cost is nasty and I won a one or two games because I Pokemon Reversal'd that Emboar out to the field to buy me some time.

The art work is alright.

9/10

 

[donavannj]

Now for my rating:

I've found this card is apparently amazing with a lot of things (been doing a fair bit of research in preparation for an idea I have for the Deck Reviews section), including the supposed poor-man's version of it, Typhlosion Prime (I've seen lists which recommend teching in the other if your main Energy source is one of these two). I've yet to test it or play against it, myself, but it's basically Rain Dance on a type that has a lot of power in the current format. It will likely be vulnerable to Pokemon Catcher unless someone figures out a way to effectively incorporate Trainer Lock into the deck, or how to efficiently run TyphPrime in it without slowing the deck to a crawl. The art is okay, but could be a whole lot better for a 3D rendering.

8/10.