In an effort to speed up the COTD releases, I decided to write one about one of my favorite disruption cards: Slowking.
Let’s take a look at his stats: 80 HP is only OK nowadays, and the x2 Weakness to Psychic isn’t any better. A two retreat cost isn’t too fun either. Its attack, Psyshock, is crap as well, doing 30 damage for a Psychic and a Colorless with a coin flip for paralysis. So why review this card? It’s his Poke-Power that makes him shine. :)
Slowking’s Poke-Power, “Second Sight,” is like using a Chatot G’s “Disrupting Spy” — every turn. It reads: “Once during your turn (before your attack), you may look at the top 3 cards of either player’s deck and put them back on top of that player’s deck in any order. This power can not be used if Slowking is affected by a Special Condition.”
It also reminds you of Ralts’ (PL) “Future Sight” attack, huh. Only this is much better as it’s a Poke-Power.
It gives you great disruption throughout the game, especially with the addition of Trainer Lock, as you can give your opponent Trainers, leaving them with a heaping hand of useless cards. Oh yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. :)
Slowking would be a nice addition to any Trainer Lock deck, including VileGar, LockChamp, LostGar (w/ Vileplume), and much, much more! And not to mention all disruption-based decks a.k.a. Sablelock, Chenlock, and ???lock (<— any lock deck).
Unfortunately, it is Garchomp C bait, so you’ll have to be tricky. Maybe you should try this card with a high-hitter, such as Gyarados, who can one-shot (with an Expert Belt) Garchomp C LV.X. Or maybe (like I suggested above) VileGar, who can also easily one-shot Garchomp C LV.X, and even the occasional Palkia G LV.X, another sniper.
I would not underestimate this guy’s power. Next format, even with Garchomp C in the metagame, we will definitely see more of this card being played, as Power Spray will be gone (both “YES!!!” and “Awww…” … I have mixed feelings about seeing Power Spray, the king of disruption, go).
So, seeing all of the ups & downs, I rate this card’s playability as a 4.5 out of 5. It has great disruption power, and it can un-disrupt yourself, but it does have the downside of being “Dragon Rush” bait. Thanks for taking the time to read my first review, and please, feel free to critique this article as much as you’d like (please rate it thumbs up, though! :D)
