Seismitoad (Noble Victories NVI 24) – Card of the Day

pokebeach.comAs per request by sonicboom on the forums, this is all about Seismitoad NVI. (And as a bonus, it’s almost a dual-review with Wigglytuff NXD.) As a rare, this is one of those that you might get half-heartedly optimistic about when you pull it. It’s not entirely useless, it makes what sounds like a good deck between theorymon or just fun, and maybe somebody will want to trade you for it.

At the very least, it’s better than getting Zebstrika or Reuniclus from the same set. But unfortunately it’s barely worth a dollar, so if somebody wants them, there’s a good chance they already have the ones they need.

But why would this be a mentality at all if it’s so cheap? Lots of “fun deck” rares are incredibly cheap compared to a playable rare, which generally has a maximum price of $10 USD (not counting ultra-rares and cards no longer in print).

And this is because if you want to take a winning deck to a tournament, you’re most likely going to be using more expensive cards. If you go to have fun or are just playing at league, there are no prizes at stake. It’s a card that probably won’t win anything and isn’t much different than buying a tournament fighter that you don’t play competitively.

Base Stats

One of the hardest things about a deck built around Seismitoad is that it’s a Stage 2 in a format where fast Basics are the best way to win. It has 140 HP, not the highest total around but it’s nothing to scoff at. Blue Flare, Bolt Strike, Volt Bolt, Psydrive, Brutal Bash, and many other common attacks won’t be 1HKOing this guy without at least two PlusPowers.

No Resistance, kind of boring. Come on Nintendo, it’s a Ground type, too. It can’t resist Lightning? It has enough HP that it won’t make a difference with the 2HKOs, but it’s the thought that counts. (I am of the very strong opinion that they need to do more with Resistance, not just the few types that all have the same Resistance.)

pokemon-paradijs.comOne of its advantages is a Grass Weakness. The Grass types we use aren’t made for attacking, or deal very little damage. A teched Virizion EPO with Sacred Sword is most likely going to be the only thing giving you trouble in terms of Weakness, and it has low enough HP that Catcher is more than enough to get it out of your way. The three Retreat Cost sounds like a bad thing, but it’s actually an advantage I think.

Most important is that in can be searched out by Heavy Ball, and this deck concept needs all the speed it can get. Another advantage is that Seismitoad is going to be the strongest thing in this deck so you don’t want to retreat it, and if an unpowered Seismitoad is Catchered, it only takes a DCE to attack, but more on that soon.

Second Attack: Hyper Voice

I said in the recent Kyogre EX CotD that an offensive card’s biggest merit is usually going to be the second attack. This is a rare exception in that you don’t want to use the second attack, but we’ll go over it anyway.

Hyper Voice costs WWC and deals a vanilla 70 damage. Kind of a high cost for that, but it could be worse. Assuming none the following have Defender or Eviolite, it 1HKOs: Durant, Reshiram BW, Typhlosion Prime, Donphan Prime, Landorus, and several other Pokémon that you won’t often see outside of league, like Chandelure NDE 20. But for the most part, this really is unimportant and if you’re using this attack, you’re falling behind or setting up too slowly.

First Attack: Round

We’re done dilly-dallying around this subject like you don’t know what this card does by now. This attack is the reason you’d ever consider playing this deck. It costs CC meaning it only takes a DCE to power up, or you could even use a Rescue Energy and any colored Energy type to preserve Seismitoad and evolve a Benched Palpitoad immediately after it’s KO’d. Round deals 30 damage times the number of Pokémon with the Round attack on your field.

pokemon-paradijs.comThis doesn’t sound like a big deal at first, but it might be. Spoilers, you won’t need four Stage 2 Seismitoad on your field to pull this off. It’s possible to have six Pokémon on your field with the Round attack. At 30 times every Round, that’s 180 base damage for just a DCE! Unless I’m missing something, this 1HKOs every single Pokémon in format, not counting cards like Eviolite included.

Is this hard to pull off? Yes, this deck is hard to get consistent when faced with all the fast cards we have now. But does it feel good? Go ahead, go 1HKO Mewtwo EX with just a DCE and tell me it’s not a great feeling. It’s restricted mainly to a fun deck because, unlike a card like Cinccino BLW, it’s powered by one attack on all of these Pokémon rather than just the presence of Pokémon on your Bench. But there are other Pokémon than just Seismitoad, or this combination would be impossible.

Tympole and Palpitoad

Neither Tympole has Round, they are unimportant. (Both have 60 HP, one Retreat Cost, a Grass Weakness, and no Resistance.) Palpitoad DEX doesn’t have Round, it’s unimportant. The stats are the same, but even if they weren’t, this deck needs as many Pokémon as possible to fuel this attack; you don’t want to rely on setting up four Stage 2s.

Palpitoad NVI is a basic NFE Stage 1. 80 HP means it can be searched out by Level Ball, perfection. Grass Weakness and no Resistance aren’t any different. A two Retreat Cost hurts a little compared to Seismitoad’s three, actually. Since its Round has a higher attack cost (see below), it makes a much more likely Catcher target if they don’t outright 1HKO it. Unless you have a Seismitoad in your hand, or Energy on Palpitoad, it’s gonna be a pain. A one retreat would make it, well, retreatable, and three would make it searchable with Heavy Ball.

Palpitoad’s Round is weaker than Seismitoad’s, so while it gives a faster attack, it’s only a Stage 1 and the stats reflect that. Its cost is CCC, somehow higher than Seismitoad’s. This would be okay, but it also only deals 20 damage for every Pokémon with Round. The damage cap for Palpitoad is set to 120 damage, which is fairly significant for having no drawbacks, but isn’t enough to live on its own.

Wigglytuff NXD

pokemon-paradijs.comThe topic is Wigglytuff, so I’ll just get this out of the way. Neither Jigglypuff has Round, and Wigglytuff HS doesn’t have it, so they’re also mostly unimportant. Jigglypuff HS has 60 HP, one Retreat Cost, no Resistance, and a Fighting Weakness. Jigglypuff NDE is a bit different, with 70 HP, two Retreat Cost, no Resistance, and a Fighting Weakness. Both can put the opponent to sleep. You preferably won’t spend much time attacking with either, so we’ll just get to Wigglytuff NDE.

The third Rounder in format, Wigglytuff has 90 HP, which sounds low for a fully-evolved Stage 1, but Level Ball. Personally I think it would be better with more HP and a higher Retreat Cost for it to work with Heavy Ball, but as it stands now, two Retreat Cost. Yet another no Resistance and I’m getting sick of typing that. The Fighting Weakness kind of bites, because now that Lightning decks are getting bigger and bigger, Fighting Pokémon are getting more and more prominent.

However this won’t always come into play since Terrakion NVI is the most-used Fighting type at the moment, and it will either hit Jigglypuff for 30 or 90 before Weakness. Not enough to change the circumstances other than Retaliate becoming a possible 2HKO instead of a 3HKO.

Like Palpitoad, it has a different variation on the attack. It costs CC again, ditching that third Energy that Palpitoad needs. But like Palpitoad, it only does 20 for every Pokémon with Round. In an ideal situation it will only stick around to power up a Seismitoad, but it makes a better attacker than Palpitoad. The attack cost is cheaper, and you don’t lose out on a potential Seismitoad by losing a Wigglytuff.

It has a second attack that you should never use, but I’ll bring it up. Hypnoblast does 60 damage and puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep for head on a coin flip and costs CCC. Not a terrible attack to be honest, but a little bit wasted when in a Round deck unless you get a slow start.

Deck Theory and the Professor Cup

pojo.comThere haven’t been many super-successful Round lists distributed, if you want it to hold up in the current meta. It’s slow and a little bit clunky because you need to set up six Stage 1s and Stage 2s, all while dodging Catcher. The most important part is getting all of your Basics out as soon as possible, but Pichu is considered a bad idea for this because it gets your opponent’s big Basic and EX main attackers out while you’re hoping to set up. Collector, Dual Ball, lots of digging Supporters, a solid Ball Engine, more than one recovery card, and thick Pokémon lines with Rare Candy. There’s more wiggle room if you’re using it as a fun deck.

If you’re participating in the Professor Cup this year, you probably don’t need me to give you advice. But some leagues play with the format for fun, and this is very relevant to the deck. For those of you who don’t know, this year the legal Modified sets are CoL-on, so that blocks out most decks. The catch is that all Basics are banned, blocking out every other deck. Instead, Stage 1s are treated as Basic, and Stage 2s are now Stage 1s. This means that new decks need to be made.

Round’s problem with being too slow in a format of big and fast Basics? Wigglytuff and Palpitoad are now Basics, which looks a lot better from where I’m standing. I don’t know how it stands up to any other deck that could be used, but if this deck had a place anywhere, it would most likely be in the current Professor Cup format.

However I have heard that Accelgor DEX is one of the most popular techs in Professor Cup. A Grass-type Basic that does 50 damage, Poison, Paralysis, and then hides in the deck with only a DCE? It’s going to shred Seismitoad, and will 1HKO it (including Weakness and Poison damage) if they drop a PlusPower. It might not be enough to worry about chasing it out – I honestly don’t know a lot about what people are building for it – but it’s a lot like watching for opposing Mewtwo EX when you play your own Mewtwo EX.

Zoroark DEX and Other Rivals

BulbapediaI can’t talk about this card without talking about similar cards. “Do the Wave” has been a concept since Base set, and Round is just a specific variation that does more damage at the cost of a more demanding condition. The current best literal Do the Wave is Cinncino BLW, which caps at 100 for a DCE; 20 for each Benched Pokémon. This was a fairly successfully deck because it was fast and could take cheap KOs.

Jumpluff HS is mostly only used with Mew Prime now that Broken Time-Space is rotated, which is good because Seismitoad is weak to Jumpluff. It did 10 damage for every Pokémon in play, capping at 120 if both players have a full field. Jumpluff itself won World’s in 2009, but isn’t the same as it used to be anymore.

Empoleon DEX has Attack Command, which is the exact same as Jumpluff’s Mass Attack, but it also has a draw engine Ability. It’s a Stage 2 like Seismitoad and has a lower damage cap, but the Ability and reliance on just a Bench might be enough to outclass it Tournament results have yet to come in, but in testing so far, he’s proving to be a tough contender.

Zoroark DEX is the most hyped of the similar cards. It’s more specific than Do the Wave and Mass Attack, like Round. For CC, Brutal Bash does 20 damage for every Dark Pokémon they have in play. This caps it at 120, 140 with Dark Claw, and potentially higher with Special Darks. Again, no tournament results until Battle Roads, but the concept of a Zoroark rush Dark toolbox has been made possible and very viable with Dark Claw, Dark Patch, and various Dark-type Pokémon from the Dark EXplorers set.

Unfortunately for Seismitoad, this means that its viability even as a fun card is outclassed by this fast meta, because there are other less-than-top-tier decks with the same concept that can place in tournaments. Completely out of the running? Maybe not, that’s still a wonderful potential damage output. But likely to win anything? It’s going to take a lot of work to keep that output consistent.

Artwork

savagechickens.comBecause I am a person who looks at the picture before the attacks. This art was done by Masakazu Fukuda, whose style is very similar to Ken Sugimori’s other than a variation in coloring and less defined lineart, saturating the color so that it’s brighter and more eye catching. The similarity to Sugimori is a definite personal plus side.

Unfortunately, while Seismitoad’s design is pretty creative (speaker-warts for a sound-based toad, that’s cool), it’s ugly. The picture is very nice and the background is great (grass detail oh man I love it), but I just have trouble with the Popeye arms and lumpy nose and I’m just not a fan. Probably great for Seismitoad fans.

Overall

Seismitoad would have potential if there weren’t at least four other cards that do its job better, or if there were a more efficient way of powering it. But for now, he’s restricted to the binder or league matches. I’m not fond of number ratings since the above covers it a lot better, but if I have to, a possible 4/10 in the current metagame, points gained for the synergy with Wigglytuff and Palpitoad, but points lost for being outclassed in all but a damage cap.