Dialga’s first appearance in the TCG was a long time ago, way back when the first Diamond and Pearl cards were released. Along with Dialga came its partner in crime, Palkia, both of which were legendary Pokémon. While we all know how powerful Dialga G LV.X and Palkia G LV.X are, today’s review will be of Dialga PL-5.
pokemon-paradijs.comFor starters, Dialga is a Basic Pokémon with a nice Metal typing and a sturdy 100 HP, which means that any Non-Fire Pokémon will have difficulty 1HKOing it. The Psychic resistance is nice with the abundance of Gengar in the format and helps against Uxie Donk decks as well (they aren’t too big at the moment, but they gained a lot of traction with Triumphant). The Retreat Cost of three means Dialga could be a liability in decks that don’t run Warp Energy/Point.
When Dialga is put into play, you can activate its Poké-Power, “Reverse Time”. When used, it allows you to take 3, in any combination, of Pokémon and basic Energy Cards in your discard pile and put them on top of your deck. After I finished reading it for the first time, I immediately saw a ton of cards in which Dialga has combo-potential with.
While almost every deck could use Dialga’s recovery Poké-Power to some extent, a deck that really takes its usefulness to the next level is Mewperior. While there are a lot of ways you can adapt your deck to make “Hard Crush” more effective, ultimately it is up to chance of what cards will be discarded, and in turn, the damage output. However, with Dialga, you can place three Energy from your discard pile to the top of your deck, guaranteeing a minimum of 150 damage.
Note: Delcatty can do this as well, but only guarantees 100 damage and is a Stage 1.
In addition to this powerful Poké-Power, Dialga also comes with an attack, “Time-Space Traveling”. For MCC (very manageable cost, if I do say so myself), “TST” does 50 damage and allows you to draw until you have 7 cards in your hand. Unfortunately, Dialga’s attack isn’t even in the same league as its Poké-Power.
My Recommendation: Definitely play 1-2 Copies of it in Mewperior lists. Also, trying out a copy of this card in other decks as a form of recovery isn’t a bad idea either, especially if it runs Seekers/SSUs (for extra recovery and to force through Power Spray).
My Rating: 3.75/5 (I think its a pretty good card, but would be better with a cheaper Retreat Cost and a somewhat useable attack, like Uxie)
If anyone would like some help constructing their deck for States, I’m always more than happy to help, just send an email to dstreck96@yahoo.com and I’ll be sure to get back to you asap.
Another possible combo is with Blastoise PL, netting you an assures three water energies without discarding anythign else.
delcatty IMO is better. as it can be used every turn. but there are a lot of rogish decks that can use it with delcatty. use dialga while your setting up delcatties.
i never heard delcatty could get pokemon.
well decatty PL cant. its just that all the combos i can think of need the energy on top of deck. not pokemon.
Yes, but recovering pokemon that died can be another good use for it.
OK guys, we’ve got this down.
Delcatty: Energy Only, 2 cards, stage 1, usable once per turn, does self-damage
Dialga PL5: Energy AND Pokemon, 3 cards total, basic, usable only upon entering play, no self damage
Now that we’ve argued over the obvious, can we PLEASE move onto talk of their roles in their respective deck(s)?
Kthnxbai
I heard that Jimmy once used this with Delcatty in his MewPerior deck to OHKO a Belted Steelix Prime with four special metals on it. Scary thought.
Works great with Octillery PL as well.
who discards energy in octillery?
I’ve seen that deck ran on both the Ninetails and Engineer’s adjustments engines for draw. (At my league, not in anything official.) So it’s not completely unbelievable. Just unlikely to work that well.
As already mentioned, Engineer’s Adjustments, but also Sage’s Training can do it when you look at the top five – just don’t choose the Energy you find and they will get discarded.
A kid uses this with regigigas and Legend box to ensure KGL and kick some noses
I run this card. Not a bad wall to take hits while you set up.
Decent attack if you have the spare resources.