pokebeach.comWow, I haven’t written an article in almost a month! I need to get back into the groove! It’s gonna be kinda hard for me, due to school starting and all, but I’m gonna try my best! So let’s get straight to the article!
Today’s card of the day is Tornadus from the brand-new Emerging Powers set. Let’s take a look at his stats: he’s a Colorless Basic with 110 HP. It has a x2 Weakness to Lightning, which doesn’t really matter because its main threat, Zekrom, already 1HKOs it with Bolt Strike.
The -20 Resistance to Fighting is nice, but I don’t think many people will be using Donphan due to the threat of Beartic. The single Retreat is also very helpful. Overall, he has OK stats. Let’s hope his attacks help.
Well, not really. His first attack, Energy Wheel, costs a single Colorless, and tells you to move an energy from one of your benched Pokémon to Tornadus. Meh. His second attack, Hurricane, costs 3 Colorless and does 80, but tells you to move an energy from Tornadus to one of your benched Pokémon.
Respectable, but just can’t compare to Reshiram and Zekrom. Now, obviously the two attacks were meant to be used together, but it doesn’t really work.
Now so far, it seems like I’m bombing the card. And that’s because I am. I hate to do it, but the card just does not work in this format. It’s amazing in Prereleases and Booster Drafts, but that’s pretty much it. Perhaps in a future format someone might be able to use it to success, but that time has yet to come. So, as much as I hate to say it, I’m going to give Tornadus a 1.5 out of 5. It just can’t compare to the likes of Reshiram and Zekrom.
For a rating based on how awesome he is, I’d say 6 out of 5, because, y’know, ya gotta love a flying mutated hamster. :D
Check out my website at http://dcdane.webs.com/ !!!
I’m sorry, but I have to give this one a thumbs down. Normally I enjoy your CotDs. You said that Donphan will not see a bunch of play because of Beartic. I honestly do not think that could be more backwards. Beartic is mostly hype in mine and many other’s opinions and Donphan will be stronger with this set. So, while I am not real high on Torndaus, I do think it will see play as a Donphan counter. I especially think that people will be playing it in Zekrom.
I honestly feel that at the beginning of this format the deck to beat will be Zekrom. So with that as a starting point, I think that Donphan will see a good deal of play.
the fact that people see it as a donphan counter, while real, is just a misconception IMO.
Its a BAD donphan counter, or a cheap man`s yanmega, at best.
Still, i agree that beartic is hyped and it will not hinder donphan :P
How is it a bad counter? I feel it’s about equal to yanmega as a counter. Plus it 2 shots donphan and is a basic.
equal to yanmega
true. but not equal to the water cards that OHKO Donphan.
it’s a great donphan counter for multiple reasons
it can 2 shot donphan rather than 3 shot donphan or 2 shot with a pluspower drop like yanmega
it is a basic so you can set it up turn 1 with pachirisu and shaymin to KO a phanpy or donk
you can use it more consistently than yanmega because you don’t have
to match hand sizes and it says move a basic energy to your benched
pokemon so if you attach a dce and a rescue you don’t have to move energy
it really can’t two shot phanman unless you have an enery in hand though, and if you facing a donphan deck eventually you’ll get over run. its more like a donphan stall/wall if anything
if you attach a dce and a rescue you dont have to move energy
how do you figure? unless we’re looking at two different cards you do have to.
you comparing it to Yanmega is like Toyota comparing itself to Honda: Toyota may have better __________ than Honda, but Ford may have better ___________ than Toyota and Infiniti may have better __________ than Ford.
In this case, there are MANY cards that OHKO Donphan for two energy including DCE, such as Samurott, Azumarill HS with PlusPower, Kingdra UL, Suicune&Entei Legend, Basculin EP and Swanna EP
and Zekrom can donk and hit for 120 the same way.Tell me if that doesn’t OHKO Phanpy.
It does OHKO phanpy, but can it KO Donphan? No, it cant, and neither can tornadus. Can it be KO’ed BY Donphan? Yes, easily, just pop down a pluspower. Can Tornadus be KO’ed by Donphan? No, it takes 3 hits for it to be knocked out. Now I will explain why the other cards you mentioned dont work at all. All of the other cards, yes, can KO donphan, but if the only reason to play it was to KO Donphan you could just use Zekrom. It needs to survive against it as well…
did you see what I was replying to?
you’re missing the huge point. This is a BASIC that counters a Stage 1 and has no specific energy requirements. Well, you’ll all find out soon enough, but I think it has a spot in my decks.
I’d rather take up a few extra deck spots to do the job right.
but its a donphan counter trollololol
no it isn’t. ok, i was thinking the same thing about the card that he said. it isn’t a donphan counter, counters OHKO the card or stop it from working. I think that the Pokemon world has gone insane.
i know it isnt a donphan counter hence the trollolol
you sir are a digital dummy. Tornadus is an awesme card. Donphan will dominate since Zekrom is now BDIF and yanmega just doesnt compare as a donphan counter. go learn to smarts.
yanmega? ESL.
Sorry dude, gonna have to agree with the majority, you’re off on this one. After I killed you with it in our limited EP rounds, you should have at least seen the light :~)
That aside, guys, try to keep to criticism in a constructive light, as most of you have been so far.
I give YOU a 1.5/5.
It is going to have it’s place in the format. It combos well with some other cards if you look hard enough.
Also:
-Counters Donphan (who is still huge)
-Splashes into any deck (even if it’s just a one off)
-One shots RDL
-Abuses DOCO (80 for technically 2 energy I’ll take all day)
Id say more like 3.5-4/5
ok, counters Donphan, hmmmmm, not well
splashes into any deck to do what? troll?
one shots RDL who comes into the game to pick up the final 2 prize cards. people that use it also use emboar so they can set it up in one turn.
abuses DCE, i can think of a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG list of things that do.
So i do like this article. The card may deserve a bit better rating, but this makes sense.
Beartic is 1.5/5, Tornadus will be the next meta (Think in ZPS)!
Tornadus is inferior to Zekrom. If you want a 5th Zekrom, use Revive.
Coolestman HATES Tornadus.
Ya, Haters gonna hate forever and ever.
u just don’t get it. OK, lets look at the card one more time. There are much better Donphan Counters, RSL is a better Donphan Counter than this even in Cinccino because you should play fire to draw with Ninetales.
RSLl has to do use it’s attack for 150 to 1 shot donphan, and when that happens another donphan will take it’s place and one shot it for 2 prizes. Did you mean SEL?
i meant ESL my bad
Leave the guy alone we all have opinions
hey, don’t you hate joltik? what’s the difference.
If this 5th Zekrom could make Donphan a little dog, yes a would do it.
run an ACTUAL Donphan counter then. God I miss Glalie.
Seriously i quit! You have a big problem, think in tornadus beeing usefull in ZPS, he can use pachirisu+shaymin combo and he IS A COUNTER OF DONPHAN, REALISE THAT!
that really isn’t what I remember counters as. I remember people used Toxicroak G as a counter to Luxray GL because it OHKOed it. Not because it 2-shot it.
Instead of hopping into one side of this arguement or the other, please simply tell me what you define as an “actual” donphan counter in the HGSS on format.
It’s not a Donphan counter as such. It won’t destroy Donphan (like counters are supposed to).
But it can be a problem for Donphan, and a nice card to be using when everything else you have is getting one-shot by it (eg Zekrom/Cinccino/Zoroark).
Fact is that this format lacks a really solid, splashable Donphan counter. Samurott is too slow, LEGENDS are not easy to play, Kingdra is nerfed if they tech Reshi . . . even Beartic won’t fit into just any deck. I guess we will just have to wait for Cryogonal.
It the meantime, Tornadus can do a job vs Donphan and unlike Yanmega it’s a splashable Basic.
Can everyone ripping on Tornadus for not being able to survive 5 Earthquakes while one-shotting it with a free attack please point me to a Pokemon that can? No? Until then, you’re going to have to accept that Tornadus does a decent job versus Donphan.
Samurott, ESL, Azumarill+PlusPower, Swanna EP, etc.
But 2 shotting doesn’t work for a counter.
Glalie was never good.
oh, so a card that could ohko Donphan for ONE DCE with NO FLAWS isn’t as good as a card that 2HKOes it for TWO energy with DCE and gives time for it to HEAL?
oh, so a card that could ohko Donphan for ONE DCE with NO FLAWS isn’t as good as a card that 2HKOes it for TWO energy with DCE and gives time for it to HEAL?
Does using a Revive increase your chances of starting with a Pokemon that can donk with the Pachi/Shaymin combo?
Does using a Revive decrease your chances of an unwanted Pachi or Shaymin start?
I think not, sir.
that’s not the point. it’s not my problem. go play it and see how well it fails. but don’t tell me it’s my fault.
using a revive can mean 5th and 6th with junk arm which you should alerady play.
It doesn’t increase the likelihood of starting with a high level attacker for a donk.
it increases the likeliness of OHKOing
So if I have 4 Revive and 4 Junk Arms . . . that means I get TWELVE Zekroms.
Wow . . . thanks!
Nothing’s going to beat that, that’s awesome!
that’s not what I meant and you know that.
this is a reply to this comment:
It’s not a Donphan counter as such. It won’t destroy Donphan (like counters are supposed to).
But
it can be a problem for Donphan, and a nice card to be using when
everything else you have is getting one-shot by it (eg
Zekrom/Cinccino/Zoroark).
Fact is that this format lacks a really
solid, splashable Donphan counter. Samurott is too slow, LEGENDS are
not easy to play, Kingdra is nerfed if they tech Reshi . . . even
Beartic won’t fit into just any deck. I guess we will just have to wait
for Cryogonal.
It the meantime, Tornadus can do a job vs Donphan and unlike Yanmega it’s a splashable Basic.
you said Kingdra is nerfed if they teched Reshi…
1: Who has a crazy enough head to tech Reshiram in Donphan
2: I was talking about the OTHER Kingdra.
Tornadus is great. He adds a speed (T2) option to any deck that already runs DCE–a nice alternative to Yanmega.
Yeah, you’ve got this one wrong. Tornadus is very good.
Abuses DCE, fits nicely into Zekrom decks, gives Donphan a tough time (and I bet you will be seeing a lot more Donphan than Beartic at BRs).
I think this card will have a time to shine, but that isn’t now because it isn’t a Donphan counter. It would be a good Garchomp/Flygon/Rayquaza/Salamence counter if a format dominating version came out. Until then, the card looks pretty and that’s it.
looking at the bug scan of this card reminds me more of a yu gi oh character/card than a pokemon. other than that this card is kinda bad and i mainly agree with the reviewer
Was a lot shorter than I expected. You didn’t go into enough detail with this TBH.
I’m not gonna get mad over a rating (since it’s just an opinion) but you can’t just say ‘gets 1 shot by a popular card, bad”.
I could easily say ‘samurott 1 shots reshiram and donphan so give donphan a 1/5’.
This card if definitely playable. This + Eviolite = 20 damage from Donphans EQ! Not to mention he also 2 shots Donphan”
the format isn’t about 2 shots, it’s about 1 shots.
Yanmega disagrees.
Yanmega’s Overrated. Oh, and what’s that other prime called? You know, the one that pairs up with Yanmega? Oh right. MAGNEZONE.
Are you kidding me? This can’t be serious.
this IS serious, so go take this to br’s and go 0-6, but don’t blame me.
I don’t see what people see in this card. Yes, it can counter Donphan, and yes, it is splashable. But one card out of what is basically a 3-card meta means it gets a 1/3 – about 1.5/5. I’ll give you that it one-shots RDL but if you’ve given your opponent time to set that thing up your game should be over anyways. Double Colorless abuse is nice, but negated due to it’s really bad attack- you’ll have to put a third energy on it regardless after you attack.
RDL can hit the board fairly quick in magneboar, especially if they are behind a prize and need to regain the foothold.
magneboar is pretty much been dead since well… ya know the meta shifted. i don’t see RDL as anything more than eye candy now. you are right about it killing it in one shot but i wouldn’t use RDL till i have two prizes left to secure the game.
*cough* first place worlds this year master division *cough*
take a ricola
Attach a DCE on turn 1 & a Special Dark or Rescue on turn 2, and start hitting for 80 without having to transfer energy off of it. Several decks run both DCE & Special Dark and/or Rescue, Tornadus might be a good addition for them if needed. Definately not 1.5/5 if only because of usability.
usability. List 3 Decks that run DCE and Spec Dark/Rescue.
I’ve got this
Shit deck 1, shit deck 2 and TTar
Kingdrabuzz… not sure if its going to be viable anymore with catcher out though.
it wasnt viable anyways lol
Yeah, but it was fun to play at league :)
TTar, Cinccino/Zoroark (not top, but still enough easy to acquire and play)… Uh… Mew/Absol toolbox? Umbre… no… Mandib… um…
reply to all
You SEE MY POINT NOW?!?!?!
Such a good card
It may……. be better than zekrom :o
Honestly, this review was disappointing but not even because of your opinion or rating. Frankly, it was just really short and lacked depth and detail.
all COTD’s are
I’d like to disagree. The Macgargo + Slugma CoTD was very in depth and well-written. Kn3ll writes good CoTD’s and I like to think I do too. There have been plenty of other good Card of the Day articles other than that, some of which were by Dane Carlson.
honestly, the only differences i see are that there are people ranting about this one
Because it’s shorter than usual and the review completely overlooks several uses for the card. For now, it’s probably the best Donphan counter there is because it’s easily splashable, can abuse DCE, will survive several hits from Donphan especially if Eviolite is used (when that comes out) and it also happens to 2-shot Donphan.
and I could go on and on about all the cards that OHKO it, not giving enough time for heal cards.
come on guys, don’t rate the article bad just because the card is…
you’ve got it backwards……
This card stalls Donphan HARD, a lot better than yanmega because it takes up less space and is a basic. Also does not take much to setup, just do shaymin/pachi combo and use on him instead of zekrom.
5/5 In ZPS, 1/5 in everything else (unless for some reason you need a counter for Donphan)
2HKO on Donphan. Staple in Zekrom.
How can you give it 1.5/5 ? :/
because it 2hkoes it, enough time for donphan to play a max potion.
You’re creating scenarios that are situational just to prove your point. You’re actually weakening your argument. The Donphan/Tornadus matchup isn’t as one-sided as you think.
dude, I’m on the author of the article’s side
The wrong side! you know this but continues on your argument totally overmind.
it’s not my problem you overrate this card. It isn’t a Donphan counter.
What I find hilarious is that if this card had been in Call of legends it would have been called amazing.
So a basic with 110 HP and an attack that does 80 for 3 colorless energy without any major drawbacks. Plus it has a nice resistance and it works Great along with Cinccino in a very quick deck. Its not a target for Catcher, it will get better with the tool in the next set and its splashable in almost any deck. I think it doesn’t suck.
This review is an outrage (no pun intended), based on your lack of content and evidence. His first attack is useful for getting a consistent T2 Hurricane, Zekrom will one shot the card without weakness. Hurricane only effects basic energy cards. Don’t forget the card will become better when we get Evolite, and Hurricanes effect has useful synergy with many decks.
k, Cincinno gets a donphan counter, but Zekrom rarely plays DCE.
The Nats winning Zekrom had DCEs, so I’d expect it to pop up at least sometimes. Not that it really 100% needs DCE in Zekrom, it can just grab a Lightning from Pachirisu with Energy Wheel if you can’t get the t1 Hurricane.
rare·ly
adverb 1. on rare occasions; infrequently; seldom: I’m rarely late for appointments.
Oh, so time to Fighting Tag and Champ Buster? That’s funderful.
Machamp: one of the few things more rare than DCE in Zekrom.
Machamp: one of the few things more rare than DCE in Zekrom.
it’s one of many things that could happen.
Why does everyone automatically assume moving the energy is a bad thing? It’s actually one of the things this card has going for it. Instead of powering up a benched donphan or zekrom, you can power Tornadus up, attack, and move the energy on to one of your bench sitters.
This means you can continually hit for 80 on turn 2, while powering up your bench simultaneously. The attack also saves an energy when Tornadus gets knocked out since it moved it to another pkmn already.
This review lacks depth, imagination and a solid understanding of the card. It’s just plain bad.
Also, if Reshiram and Zekrom are your benchmarks when comparing basics, then you have no business discussing the TCG as a whole. You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. Like someone already said, if Tornadus came out in CoL, everyone would be all over this card. It’s a must play in Zekrom and a FANTASTIC tech in Megazord. Turn 2 80 is nothing to Scoff at, AND you don’t have to worry about matching hand size with Yanmega while powering up your benched donphan/Phanpy with his attack.
I agree with most of what you said, but I’d like to note that it’s not hard to see why Hurricane gets him a bad rap. Being forced to reattach to Tornadus after every Hurricane can be annoying, especially if you run out of Energy/Shaymin/Energy Switch in your hand. That said, if your opponent can’t KO Tornadus after it has Hurricaned multiple times, they are probably in trouble anyway.
If you’re playing a ZPS deck and can’t manually attach a lightning EVERY turn then Tornadus isn’t your biggest problem, your deck build is. You’re already expected to power up a SECOND Zekrom immediately after the first Bolt Strike or Hurricane so reattaching to Tornadus isn’t bad by any means. In fact, it helps keep the energy in play if Tornadus gets knocked out since it would have been moved to a benched Zekrom already.
I think a big reason people don’t like this card is the same reason people don’t like catcher. These new cards put people out of their “comfort zone” and forces new innovative strategies. Embrace the change people, it’s good for the game.
with the possible exception of catcher.
Tornadus gets a bad rap because a turn 2 80 with 110 isn’t as good as a turn 2 60 with 120 hp and Exoskeleton with an attachment requirement of 1.
Don’t give Dane a bad rating, this guy is an awesome writer and does not deserve a bad rating, THUMBS UP!
thumbs up begging gets an automatic thumbs down from me when i see it. unfortunately, that feature is not implemented here…
also, even if he was a tremendous writer, he still put out a terrible individual review of an important card. those 31 dislikes are not for him personally, or for his other articles. they’re for this one.
important card? ok, how well does it pair with joltik? terrible review, that depends on your definition of terrible. A 1.5 of 5 is what I’d give the card in modified. It would be a good counter if they ever release a playable Garchomp or Flygon in this format. Until then, the answer is no.
Thanks a TON for the nice compliment, but the rating actually is pretty bad (I realized that after reading through it when it was posted).
Your welcome I think your articles are great dont let a rating get you down.
are you really going to let these people change your mind? This article speaks the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth and if you’re denying it than you’re denying that the format offers hope.
No problem dane I just think you shouldnt be harassed for a good article. I love your cotd’s they’re always fun to read. Just helping a fellow pokemon fan out. I think we should be encouraging are writers instead of putting them down. Thanks for your service to the site.
The only interesting part of this cotd is reading coolestman22’s comment. haha!
I still think it deserves at least 2.5 and yes it’s not exactly a donphan counter but it can at least donk phanpy, (yes i know zekrom can also donk phanpy). But if you ever played zps then you should know starting with zekrom doesn’t always happen, and upping up the basic number who can actually donk (and somewhat stall and semi counter donphan) will help the deck imo.
I will give you this, but I’d much rather do the extra 40 damage. Tornadus can’t donk a Reshi/Zekrom with a PlusPower, Can’t donk Bouffalaunt without 2 pluspower, and can’t donk audino without a PlusPower (that will see some play. It may be helpful to play this, but I’d rather play thundurus sometimes because i think it would fit better into the deck so you don’t have to add dce.
Which part of “But if you ever played zps then you should know starting with zekrom doesn’t always happen, and upping up the basic number who can actually donk will help the deck.” that you don’t understand?
Of course you want to start with zekrom and donk, but if you ACTUALLY PLAY then you will know that pachi, shaymin or even unown D will start the game at one point, so upping the number of basic will decrease the probability, geez do your math.you should play some more, err.. a LOT more before replying to everyone.
bouffalant, audino? seriously?! you can’t find anything better? tornadus and thundurus have different properties and you may use them in zps according to your meta or even split them. 3 Colorless doesn’t mean that you have to play DCE, especially in ZPS.
i’m trying to find basics. I’m sorry they suck.
Yes, I understand that upping the number of basics=good, but I also think Thundurus is better than Tornadus. You want a 5th basic, use Thundurus. You want a well suited Donphan counter, use Basculin/Rainbow or something of the like.
Hey who ever said tornadus is better than thundurus? As a card thundurus is better cause of the 1st attack, but in a donphan matchup of course tornadus is better. Simple as that.
I’d like to see a zps built with thundurus and basculin, in a format with catcher and pluspowers it will never be a good card or even a donphan counter at all. Unless you’re crazy enough to use the 2nd attack or the donphan player is stupid enough to actually earthquake a basculin.
crazy? once fliptini comes out there’s a 6.25% chance you die and even without it you’re only going to use it once or twice.
Would you rather your Zekrom die oryour Basculin and thier Donphan die anyway?
why can’t i reply your latest comment?
anyway fliptini and basculin, really?
Do you think it’s ideal to tech in victini for basculin’s suicide attack? not to mention it cost at least 1 WATER and 1 dce, with a chance it will get ohkoed before it can even suicide. So you will also have a rainbow & dce in your zps? wow. Basculin is just something to wall a turn or two but never a counter.
6.25%? math?
you might want to stop replying and save some dignity.
ok, 2-3 cards to Tornadus’s 1-2 sounds good to do it right. I’m saying for future reference, not for right now. But right now it’s still better than Tornadus. my bad, 12.50%
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU ARE SOOO FUNNY! THUNDURUS, BETTER THEN TORNADUS? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
well I think that the 1st attack would be a good option if you don’t start Zekrom unlike Tornadus, since it can be moved with Shaymin and gets going T2 without Pachimin.
Hm, seems like there’s a little problem here LoL. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that Torndaus does deserve more than a 1.5, maybe around a 3, 3.5 or so. I’m still not a big fan of him (the card that is, the Pokemon’s awesome), but I do see that I rated him a little bit too low. Thanks for the criticism, it helps me make my articles much more enjoyable. I will put much more thought into the rating of my next card. :) See ya later!
The only thing I learned from this biased, incorrect appraisal of the card is that coolestman22 is a troll.
lol. 115+ comments. LOL.