Plasma Freeze Spotlight: Kyurem

zero2exe

Veteran Breeder - Expert Translator
is a Contributor Alumnus
Since I've seen some activity in the forum and the discussion at SQSR is growing I thought it'd be nice to create a thread instead. The idea of these "spotlights" is to bring into attention cards that you believe are interesting enough to shake the current deck archetypes or an already known card whose role has changed due to the shifts in the metagame.

Today I want to share a card that has been recently released with the plasma freeze set: Kyurem.

Stats
130 HP. Water Type. Team Plasma Pokemon
Resistance: none
Weakness: [M]
Retreat Cost: [C][C][C]
Attacks
[W][C] Frost Spear: 30 damage to active and 30 damage to Bench.
[W][W][C] Blizzard Burn: 120 damage. Can't attack during next turn.

My Thoughts on the Card:
I personally like this addition to water types since they have been lacking a proper non-EX attacker for a while that can keep up with the power creep and I think Kyurem fits the role nicely.
130 HP is a beautiful number because most EXes will need at least 2 turns to get the KO: Landorus-EX for example, a pretty common EX would need anywhere between 1-3 turns depending on the energy it has to get a Land's Judgement or if it can use lasers at all. Same happens with Cobalion-EX who 2HKOs anything in the game but can't OHKO those with more than 100 HP. Also Mewtwo-EX needs 7 energy between him and Kyurem to land a clean KO with X-Ball and since Kyurem will never use more than 3 then Mewtwo will have to resort to the 2HKO.
Of course there are exceptions when you factor in Lasers. Tornadus-EX (+ DCE + Energy Switch + Laser + Virbank) can get the OHKO in 1 turn. Same goes for Darkrai-EX (+ Dark Claw + Laser + Virbank).

Moving onto his attacks, Frost Spear is a regular 30/30 snipe attack for the average cost of [W][C] which means Kyurem will usually be able to attack from turn-2. The key point here is the 30 damage that you deal to the bench which means planning ahead. Think about Landorus and Darkrai, what really makes them threatening is the pressure they can put on both the active spot and the bench since they secure "future" KOs should the opponent lack any form of healing.
Blizzard Burn on the other hand is a solid 120 damage attack for [W][W][C] with the side effect of not allowing Kyurem to attack next turn. However as you might have guessed already the combination of Keldeo-EX + Float Stone gets rid of this liability so you can pretty much have your own Water type Bouffalant.
The retreat cost is huge though, 3 energies to retreat means discarding is out of the question unless you absolutely need to. This will be a key aspect to consider for those using the new PlasmaBox archetype, which includes Kyurem as a counter measure for Klinklank decks (where Kyurem can actually KO EXs btw) and Landorus. However unlike it's previous release at NVI the new retreat cost at least allows Kyurem to be searchable by Heavy Ball which I believe is an improvement somehow.
Metal Weakness on the other hand is not very nice since non-EX attackers are usually expected to deal against PlasmaKlang and friends which is fully composed of Metal Types. Good news is that as I explained before their main attacker Cobalion-EX literally can't OHKO anything above 100HP left but must be wary of normal Cobalion NVI's Iron Breaker. Then again Kyurem can just smack it with Blizzard Burn.
Finally Kyurem PLF is also a Team Plasma Pokemon which means many different things:
First, it can be accelerated by Colress Machine so a Turn-1 Frost Spear is actually possible.
Second, it can be boosted by Deoxys-EX, so let's say you get 3 Deoxys on bench, Frost Spear would be dealing 60 damage to active an 30 to bench while Blizzard Burn would be dealing a devastating 150 damage, more than enough to KO a sniped EX.
Third, it benefits from the other main plasma trainers such as the stadiums Plasma Frigate and Frozen City and the item Team Plasma Ball.

And that's my card analysis. Maybe I'm over hyping this card a bit since I haven't tested it a lot yet but that's why I want to leave this discussion open.
Will Kyurem become a staple in Tier 1 decks? Are there better options to fit that role? Maybe there are other uses for the card too? Your turn.
 
It's a $6 dollar card for a reason. I, as well as many I talk to in league and forums, believe this to be a really valuable card for the field. Does its job well, solid HP, and can cause issues for benches and ppl hiding pokemon from damage.
Not much to say, talks the talk and walks the walk.
 

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