[Custom Card] Attack Question

[HRBEK2019]

Hi there. I am working on a custom card called Pryce's Articuno, but I was hoping for a bit of guidance regarding attack power/effects.

The card is supposed to adopt the old Neo-set format, where the maximum HP-value was 120, and so on; hence, I am looking to keep attack effects consistent with cards from that time. One of the Articuno's attacks was going to be Sheer Cold, and I want it to have a 'One-Hit KO' effect, but I am undecided on how many coins should be flipped and whether discarding Energy cards should be required. I have provided 3 alternative forms for the attack to take, and I am hoping some of you could tell me which you think fits best within the parameters of the Neo format. I am confident that 3 Water Energy cards should be the attack cost, but the other factors are a bit uncertain.

1. Discard 1 Water Energy card in order to flip 2 coins. If both are heads, the Defending Pok'emon is Knocked Out. If either is tails, this attack does nothing.
2. Flip 2 coins. If both are heads, the Defending Pok'emon is Knocked Out. If either is tails, this attack does nothing.
3. Flip 3 coins. If all 3 are heads, the Defending Pok'emon is Knocked Out. If any are tails, this attack does nothing.

I am leaning towards option 2, as it grants only a 25% chance of landing, and given that the maximum HP-value of the time was 120, that would average out (at an absolute maximum) at 30 damage per turn, which is actually a poor return for its Energy cost (in the Neo era, coloured Energy cards seemed to be worth the equivalent of ~15 damage). For that reason I think option 3 is a bit unfair, as the odds of the attack ever working would be very poor. Option 1 is less harsh on the attacker, but it does make the attack seem even more wasteful. That being said, the ability to Knock Out the Defending Pok'emon immediately (and this being an 'effect' rather than a damage attack), means that this isn't an average attack, so the typical rules might be inappropriate. Recalling that Sabrina's Kadabra's Life Drain attack (from the Gym Challenge set) required only 1 Psychic Energy card and allowed you to flip a coin in order to reduce the Defending Pok'emon's HP to 10, however, seems to make this a moot consideration.

Would you guys agree that Option 2 is the soundest choice? Or does 1 of the other options take the cake? Or do you think a different format altogether might be appropriate (e.g., maybe you think Option 2, but with 4 Water Energies as the cost)? Any help would be much appreciated, and sorry for the long-winded post. I print these and am trying to make a full set, so I want to get them right!

 

[donavannj]

So, a fake card enthusiast with familiarity with the Neo era and myself were chatting briefly about this on the PokeCommunity Discord and the consensus they arrived at (which makes sense to me), was if you're going the 2 coins route, you need to up that energy requirement to 4 energy. 3 energy is far too low for a variable attack with that fantastic of a possible outcome.

 

[HRBEK2019]

I can certainly see the logic there. The more I think about it, it seems obvious that option 1 should have been a 4-Energy cost, rather than having to discard an Energy card. It's just that the Energy cost still becomes the equivalent of 60 damage for an attack that - at best - can reasonably hope to produce 30 damage per turn on average. Attacks that do damage via effects almost invariably do less outright damage than an explicit damage-value attack would do, but a difference of 30 seems ultra high, even given the One-Hit KO effect.

And then when you compare it to the attack of Sabrina's Kadabra, all of a sudden it seems much less unreasonable. I suppose the question then arises as to whether Sabrina's Kababra's attack was also over-powered. I find myself stuck. But it certainly seems like a toss-up between 3 and 4 Energy cards, rather than between the options I listed above. And then of course, there is the matter that some attacks are underpowered and some are overpowered, so a slight deviation in either direction would not make or break the card. I guess the question is which constitutes the greater deviation from normalcy lol.

Edit: Or maybe a 4-Energy cost, but with 2 Water Energy cards and 2 Colourless Energies would work. That way, the excess cost over expected damage would be 20 instead of 30.