Today’s COTD was requested by… Dane Carlson. Hey, that’s me!!! :O Cool.
ZOROARK (BLACK & WHITE #71)
Yep, today’s CoTD is on Zoroark from Black & White. Zoroark is a Stage 1 Darkness type with 100 HP. He has a x2 Fighting Weakness & a -20 Psychic Resistance, standard for a Dark type. The 100 HP is OK; it can stand a few minor hits (10, 20, 30, 40 damage), but it is still quite easily OHKO’d, especially because of its Weakness (some examples of Pokemon that can OHKO Zoroark are Donphan Prime, Reshiram BLW, and Zekrom BLW).
The -20 Resistance to Psychic doesn’t really help much, as not many Psychic Pokemon are being played at the moment (besides Mew Prime and Gothitelle). Zoroark also has a nice 1 retreat cost, which can let you easily move him around the field. OK, so his stats are meh, but what about his attacks? Let’s take a look.
Zoroark has two very interesting moves, the first being called Nasty Plot. It tells you to search your deck for any card and place it into your hand and shuffle your deck afterwards. All that for a single Darkness Energy! For you veteran players, this card may remind you of a weakened-down version of Pidgeot RG‘s “Quick Search” Poke-Power (weakened because this time it’s an attack, not a Power).
But in most of the lists where Zoroark is included that you see online don’t have a single Darkness/Rainbow Energy! Why is that? It’s because Zoroark owns a second, much more dangerous attack…
“Why so sad?”
“Because your Zoroark plays foul.”
“What do you mean, sir.”
“He used Foul Play; therefore he is playing foul.”
“Yes, yes he did. And he gave me a well-needed prize on your Reshiram.” >:D
If you look at the card on your upper right, Zoroark indeed holds a second (not to mention foul) attack called Foul Play. For a single DCE, it says you can copy any attack your opponent’s active Pokemon has. So you can easily one-shot Pokemon like Reshiram and Zekrom (with a PlusPower, of course). More Pokemon that Zoroark can counter inlude Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND & Bad Boar. Zoroark’s main job is to counter these Pokemon.
Now there really is no deck that Zoroark “belongs” to. He’s usually played in Stage 1s, but those decks vary a lot; the Pokemon that are often played in Stage 1s (not necessarily together) are Donphan, Yanmega, Cinccino, Simisear, and, obviously, Zoroark. Nevertheless, this is the most common deck with Zoroark. Even I play a Stage 1s with Zoroark, and I do NOT like to play metagame cards!
Zoroark is also played in Mewbox, which, according to Esa Juntunen‘s Eye on Japan article, is often used in Japan as a Mewtwo ex counter. I assume that when the ex’s are released everywhere else, this will be a common play.
Conclusion
As of now, Zoroark is not used in many metagame decks, but in the decks he is used, he plays a very important role. In my opinion, Zoroark is a very good card. What do you think? Did I miss any common decks with Zoroark? Have you ever had any success with Zoroark? Please leave a comment in the section below. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see ya next time. Bye!
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