Relicanth (CL69) [3/1/2012]
- Thread starter Celebi23
- Start date
Alright, I have to admit that, before EP dropped, I might have thrown a Relicanth or two into an appropriate deck as a starting basic just for Prehistoric Wisdom, maybe. Because even then, with Emcee's Chatter in the format for a guarenteed 2 draw and possible 3 card draw for no real sacrifice up against Relicanth's 1 {C} Cost plus the card destruction it really wasn't all that worth it unless you were running something like Mew Prime, in which case Relicanth could be great for early set up towards that.
Beyond that, I can't really think of much use beyond that and, that was a while back now. Now, well now Relicanth is pretty much dead in the water because this.
Cheren from Emerging Powers not only does what Relicanth does, but it's available at the same frequency per turn, there's no Lost Zone burning or Energy Cost the only thing that I can see Relicanth holding over Cheren is the fact that it isn't limited to a set amount of usages (depending on how you run and recycle Trainers) but even then you probably aren't going to have any kind of real time to pull out more than 2 or 3 because of Relicanth's rather limited HP and, all things considered by this point, if you even bothered to keep pumping up to pull out Granite Head, it won't really matter because you're probably dead within the 2 moves anyway, 3 if you're lucky and, if you're running it as a tech for a Lost Zone Deck, none of those run {W}, so I doubt you'd throw any in just for Relicanth so it's kind of a non-factor at the end of the day.
Final Verdict
Relicanth could have been a great card, either just as a Lost Zone tech or even if it's cost and speed had been even just slightly faster. But Lost Zone was here for, what, one or two sets, before other, more hard hitting Decks started popping up with the release of Black and White, even though some Decks still do use things like Magnezone Prime (Most notably Zekrom and MagneBoar) the Lost Zone just isn't as major of a factor as it could have, or should have been and unfortunately for Relicanth, it kind of makes him a little bit redundant.
How Does it Stand Alone - It Doesn't, it really, really doesn't.
Playability - It's iffy, depending on what you use it in and when you play it.
Meta Decks - Considering it's slowly getting pushed aside, I'm not so sure if it's considered Meta anymore but as mentioned, it could be a great early game setup card for Mewperior/Dos/Dra.
Artwork - 9/10. It's fantastic artwork and it kinda makes me feel bad that this card is just so bad anyway.
Overall - I have to rate Relicanth a dissapointing 3/10 and, the only reason it isn't any lower is due to the fantastic artwork and the Mew possibilities.
Beyond that, I can't really think of much use beyond that and, that was a while back now. Now, well now Relicanth is pretty much dead in the water because this.
Cheren from Emerging Powers not only does what Relicanth does, but it's available at the same frequency per turn, there's no Lost Zone burning or Energy Cost the only thing that I can see Relicanth holding over Cheren is the fact that it isn't limited to a set amount of usages (depending on how you run and recycle Trainers) but even then you probably aren't going to have any kind of real time to pull out more than 2 or 3 because of Relicanth's rather limited HP and, all things considered by this point, if you even bothered to keep pumping up to pull out Granite Head, it won't really matter because you're probably dead within the 2 moves anyway, 3 if you're lucky and, if you're running it as a tech for a Lost Zone Deck, none of those run {W}, so I doubt you'd throw any in just for Relicanth so it's kind of a non-factor at the end of the day.
Final Verdict
Relicanth could have been a great card, either just as a Lost Zone tech or even if it's cost and speed had been even just slightly faster. But Lost Zone was here for, what, one or two sets, before other, more hard hitting Decks started popping up with the release of Black and White, even though some Decks still do use things like Magnezone Prime (Most notably Zekrom and MagneBoar) the Lost Zone just isn't as major of a factor as it could have, or should have been and unfortunately for Relicanth, it kind of makes him a little bit redundant.
How Does it Stand Alone - It Doesn't, it really, really doesn't.
Playability - It's iffy, depending on what you use it in and when you play it.
Meta Decks - Considering it's slowly getting pushed aside, I'm not so sure if it's considered Meta anymore but as mentioned, it could be a great early game setup card for Mewperior/Dos/Dra.
Artwork - 9/10. It's fantastic artwork and it kinda makes me feel bad that this card is just so bad anyway.
Overall - I have to rate Relicanth a dissapointing 3/10 and, the only reason it isn't any lower is due to the fantastic artwork and the Mew possibilities.
pokemonjoe said:
Not at all. The only point of Mew Prime in this format is to counter Mewtwo EX. If you lose a Mew or two setting up, you're in for one rough ride and will probably run out of Mews before the opponent runs out of Mewtwo, and due to taking a prize or two as you set up you might not even be ahead on prizes. Relicanth is a great card to use against CMT because with their Skyarrow Bridge out you can retreat for 1 energy and you don't lose a Mew while setting up (drawing cards with it is just a perk). Say CMT goes first against your Mew deck, you lead with Mew. They attach 2 energy to Mewtwo, X-Ball for a prize. They're up a prize, you're down a Mew. You See Off something. They KO you again. They're up 2 prizes, you're down a 2 Mews. That's a really bad place to start at because even if you run 4 Mew you'll run out of Mew and still have 2 prizes left and a Mewtwo EX staring you down. If they start Mewtwo EX against Relicanth, they fail to OHKO it, you use Prehistoric Wisdom, they X-Ball for the KO. Now you bring up Mew for the OHKO, and suddenly they're down the prize and card trade, not you. In addition, if you go first with Relicanth and CMT drops the Skyarrow but misses the DCE/double Celebi you can actually KO their first Mewtwo without going down a prize at all. Relicanth is a very useful card in Mew variants, but as long as you have lots of cards to search for it such as Pokemon Collector, Dual Ball, and Level Ball as well as a Switch/no heavy retreaters then I'd only run 1-2 Relicanth.
Maybe because Mewbox doesn't run Relicanth? If you're up against a CMT, of course you don't lead with Mew. That's a given. Start with a Yanma or something that they can't ko. Attach an energy to Mew, See Off. You spend less resources getting the Pokemon in your hand, and those resources can be used to set up other Pokemon. If they ko Mew, twins. If they don't, you can retreat, attack, etc. You can actually ko them rather than being at the mercy of them killing your Relicanth. A good Mew deck shouldn't rely just on Mew, it *should* have other attackers. Mewbox doesn't run level ball or dual ball, has heavy retreaters (Terrakion), and doesn't run switch.Dark Void said:
You might not necessarily know you are going to be facing CMT right away, and if it does indeed run high retreaters like Terrakion wouldn't you usually start with Mew instead of Terrakion if you don't know what deck your opponent is using? There's also Catcher, and if ou don't lead with a Mew or free retreater yet run no switch how do you plan on getting the turn 1 See Off anyway? A good Mew deck will have other attackers, but the point of Mew is to counter Mewtwo. Because of that, if the deck is using Mew there's a good chance the other attackers won't be very good against Mewtwo.
Actually, in Mewbox, the point of Mew is to be a basic with stage 1 and stage 2 attacks. The fact that it counters Mewtwo is just a bonus. Most decks, even CMT, aren't running more than two Mewtwo, so even if you lose 2 Mew, they will run out of Mewtwos before or at the same time as you run out of Mews.Dark Void said:
The original purpose of Mewbox may not have been to counter Mewtwo EX, but the only reason for it to return now when there are more powerful basics is to do just that. CMT also tends to run Tornadus which can OHKO your Mews while you'll have trouble keeping up in the prize exchange, so you need to KO Mewtwo and to have as many Mew as possible to get ahead in that matchup.