Featured Card: Umbreon (Undaunted)

I went to a Prerelease for Undaunted this past Saturday and played in the Theme Deck Challenge that was offered. (I posted a thread on the forums with the lists for both decks here) I decided to go with the Nightfall deck, since it apparently had better cards. The Featured Card this time is the cover card of the Nightfall deck, Umbreon. And yes, the foil in this scan is similar to the one used on the Rotom in Rising Rivals, and this is unique to the theme decks. The Umbreon (and Espeon) you pull from Undaunted packs will have the regular foil background.

Analysis

HP: 90 is pretty good for a Stage 1 Pokemon. Expert Belt will increase it to 110, which can help.

Weakness: Fighting is not a very good Weakness to have, as Machamp (SF) and Donphan Prime can both OHKO it.

Resistance: Psychic is a good Resistance to have, as there are still a fair amount of Psychic Pokemon played.

Retreat: One is good, and since Umbreon doesn’t need much Energy to attack, I’d just pay the cost, although you can use Moonlight Stadium to reduce it to zero.

Moonlight Fang: One Energy for 30 damage is really good for a Stage 1, and you can use Special Darkness Energy to increase the damage done by 10 for each one (up to 70!). Even better, it grants Umbreon the ability to prevent everything done to it by attacks from Pokemon with Poke-Powers and Poke-Bodies. With a majority of popular tournament level Pokemon having either, there’s a good chance you can keep Umbreon in play for a long time. Unfortunately, Machamp still gets right through Umbreon’s defense (unless the opponent leveled it up).

Quick Blow: Just a basic Quick Attack-type attack. 60 is really good for two Energy (more with Special Darkness Energy attached), but suffers from requiring a coin flip. In my opinion, just use Moonlight Fang over and over again. At least it gives Umbreon a chance to stay around longer.

Combos

Pokemon Reversal/PokeBlower: Just use either one of these to drag out a Pokemon with both a hefty Retreat Cost and either a Poke-Power or Poke-Body and just keep using Moonlight Fang. Your opponent’s Pokemon can’t retaliate unless they can switch it out.

Espeon/Umbreon from Majestic Dawn: Espeon gives all Eeveelutions 20 more HP, while Umbreon gives all Eeveelutions no Weakness and no Retreat cost. Since you would already be playing Eevees, why not add these guys to help support this Umbreon?

Ratings

Modified: This card just doesn’t have the muscle to take on Machamp, Gyarados, and Jumpluff, not to mention these Pokemon have no Poke-Powers or Poke-Bodies, so Moonlight Fang just doesn’t work against them. Umbreon, however, can stand up to Gengar, as all Gengars that are used in tournament play have Poke-Powers and are weak to Darkness types, but they can usually go around Umbreon and attack your Bench.  5/10

Conclusion

Umbreon is probably best used as a stalling Pokemon while you build up your main attacker.

Also, don’t forget that you can suggest a card for me to review here.

New Pokémon and CoroCoro leaks

First of note that this news post will most likely be edited as more news is released, so keep coming back over the next day or so for more information. We’ll list any edit’s we make right here first, with the new information being placed towards the bottom of the article. EDIT: 8th Aug New pages with new pokemon details now found at the bottom of the article

First up, a couple of New Pokemon have apeared thanks to eagle eye’d Japanese fans attending the Pokemon Black and White Promo Bus Tour.

First up, Emonga. This is the Flying Squirrel Pokémon, and is an Electric/Flying Type. It stands 0.4m tall and weighs 5.0kg. It will have the Static Ability.

Previously revealed in Owa Suta trailers, this is Gigaiasu, the High Pressure Pokémon and is a Rock Type. It will be 1.7m tall and weigh 270.0kg. It will have the Sturdy Ability.

The Pokémon on the left is Darumakka, it is a Fire-type and is apparently the pre-evolution of Hihidaruma (something I’ve always said was an evolved Pokémon). The Pokémon on the right is currently unknown

There is apparently a Pokémon called Basurao, although we have no Pictures or info for this pokemon other than it will know Aqua Jet and Uproar.

CoroCoro magazine is slowly being revealed. There was a large scan with several Pokémon, however this is looking like it’s a fake (and if true, its a very good fake) – we’ll put it up here if it turns out to be genuine.

For the moment we do have a couple of pieces of info.

Shikinjika, a deer Pokémon previously revealed in various places, will change its apearance depending on the season in the Game. Black and White feature a new feature where every Calender month (using the DS time/date) will be a new Season(meaning it will cycle spring-summer-autumn-winter 3 times during a real world year). During Spring, Shikinjika will be Pink, which is how its been shown in the official artwork we’ve seen previously. During Summer, it will change to Green. It will be Orange in Autumn and it will be Brown druing winter. Shikinjika will be a Normal/Grass type and apperently has the Chlorophyll ability. In addition to Shikinjika, the terrain of Isshu will also change based on the seasons (expect snow in winter, leaves fallin of the trees in Autumn, etc).

This is Aloe. She’s been spoted in one or two of the trailer videos for Black and White. She’s a Gym leader from a city called Shippou City, which we dont quite know where its located in Isshu yet. We also do not know what type of Pokémon she specialises in, or what her Gym looks like…

Edit: 8 Aug First up, some news from Pokemon Sunday last night – they aired another trailer promoting Victini – however this did reveal some facts about the event you will do once you have the Liberty Ticket. Downloading the ticket will allow you to access a house at the Liberty Garden Tower, where you’ll battle (and capture) Victini. It will know the moves Quick Attack, Endure, and Confusion along with the previously revealed new move Complete Burn. Its ability Victory Star raises the Accuracy of its attacks and will also raise the Accuracy of its team-mates attacks when used in a double or tripple battle.

They also revealed sillouetes of Pokémon they promised to reveal next week, but we dont want to wait that long – so we’ll use CoroCoro Magazine to give us some brand new Pokémon Info now.

None of the Pokémon revealed are brand new, we’ve seen them before leaked in other media, but we now have names and some stats for all of these pokemon now

First, this is Moguryuu, the Mole Pokemon. It’s a Ground type, is 0.3m tall and weighs 8.5kg. It has the abilities Sand Throw or Sand Power, the latter of which will increase the power of attacks during sandstorms.

This is Kurumiru, the Sewing Pokemon. It’s a Bug/Grass type (which I suggested it may be). It will be 0.3m tall and 2.5kg in weight. It’s abilities will be Swarm or Chlorophyll. It has a new attack called Bug Resistance which is said to hit two Pokemon at once (and is most likely a bug type move, given the name).

Last of our big pictures, this is Mamambou, the Nursing Pokemon. It’s a Water type, stands 1.2m and weighs 31.6kg. It will have the abilities Hydration or a new one called Healing Heart, which cures teammates of status conditions.

This large page deals with every revealed pokemon currently and shows a couple more details for Pokemon we’ve seen but hardly knew about.

Remeber tha Swan looking pokemon, well that’s Swana is the Swan Pokemon. It is Water/Flying type, will be 1.3m tall and weigh 24.2kg. It will have the Keen Eye or Pigeon Heart abilities. It will have a new attack called Windstorm which changes in accuracy depending on the weather

Miruhoggu is the evolution of Minezumi and is the Precaution Pokemon. It’s a Normal type, 1.1m in height and 27.0kg in weight. it has the abilities Illuminate or Keen Eye. A possible Pokedex entry, Miruhoggu is said “It lights up the pattern on its body to threaten its opponents.”

Lastly, some more info on Shikijika. It is the Season Pokemon, a Normal/Grass type standing 0.6m and weighing 19.5kg. Its abilities will be either Chlorophyll or a new one called Herbivore, which sounds like it is a Grass version of Flash Fire, raising attack when hit by Grass-type attacks.

Other details coming out of CoroCoro magazine states that your hometown will be Kanoko Town. You’ll meet Team Plazma (probably for the first time) in Karakusa Town. The first gym is in Sanyo City and has Dento as its leader while Anole will lead the second Gym in Shippou City.

Yet another new variation on the 3v3 battle has been mentioned, the Rotation Battle is a 3v3 match where you can only chose 1 of your pokemon to attack each turn, meaning not only do you have to attack, but you have to guess how your opponent will attack as well.

The Miracle Shooter is a Wirless Battle option that will allow you to use items in the matches. As you fight, you’ll earn points and when you’ve got enough points you can chose to spend them on an item to help you out in the match.

The Battle Subway is Black and White’s version of the Battle Tower having you face off against 7 trainers. Beat them all to gain Battle Points which you can exchange for various prizes.

Lastly, take a look at this page:

As you can see, there are a vartiation on the standard box art feturing a fringe of the oposite colour on the right side as well as having the tail of the legendary beast light up. Why there is a variation on the box art is currently unknown.

That’s all we have for now, we’ll Edit this article when we get some more info from CoroCoro Magazine.

Isshu Virtual Tour

The official Japanese Pokémon website has just updated to include a full sized map of the Isshu region as well as providing us with some in-game pictures. The tour does not show off many places we have not already seen screenshots from but it does provide us with a full map of the region including what is speculated to be the new starting point for this generation. To get to the virtual tour, click here and then click the white button above the information bar.

A screenshot of the virtual tour

A flat screen TV in the player's(?) bedroom? It's come a long way from a simple NES!

This area to the far left of the map looks a lot like an airfield. Could planes be a new mode of transport?

Yet Another Japanese Wi-Fi Download.

We’re expecting the new issue of CoroCoro magazine to leak any moment now, but before it does, here’s a quick piece of news out of Japan.

In what will probably be the last of the 4th Gen related downloads, Japanese players will be able to download a Manapy over Wi-Fi and nintendo download stations at Pokemon Centers and McDonalds.

Available from August 14th until September 12th, the Manapy will be at level 50, have a mild nature and holding a Lansat Berry. It will know the attacks Aqua Ring, Water Pulse, Water Sport and Heart Swap.

A promotional leaflet for the event from McDonalds also details the Wi-Fi event following this one, the liberty ticket for the new Black and White games letting you get Victini. It states that Victini will have the Brand New move Complete Burn.

We’ll bring you more news when we learn it, which could be any moment now.

Straight from the director’s blog: all new Pokémon in Black/White

While it’s a rather small piece of news, the Gamefreak director’s blog (which used to be updated in English and Japanese but it seems they’ve given up on the English side) recently updated with an interesting tidbit, which you can read here.

In essence apparently Pokémon Black/White will feature absolutely no old Pokémon before getting the National Dex. This means it’s all new Pokémon in Isshu for the first part of your adventure. You could hear the Japanese Pokémon fans cheering across the globe as the news broke at the realisation that, until the National Dex at least, there would be no running into wild Geodude and Zubat in every cave ever. There has been some discontent over this as well as it also means you won’t be able to use any old favourites for a while and if no Pokémon from Generation V interest you then you’re stuck up until you get the National Dex. What do you think of the matter? Leave a comment or tell us on our forums!

Another Leaked Pokémon

With Black and White just over a month away, brand new news could happen at anytime and from anywhere. This time we’ve got a look at a new pokemon curtesy of Yahoo Japan, who accidently put up some Sugimori art earlier today (which was quickly removed).

Unfortunatly we dont have a name or anything else to go with on this guy yet, although he looks like he’s going to be a bug type (and maybe grass as well?). While ordinarily this kind of thing on its own would be taken with a large grain of salt, this was posted on the Japanese Yahoo Server under the usual folders they use for images on thier pages, and there was also Sugimori Art for the yet-to-be named Swan pokemon as well as Shikijika, both of whom were revealed on Oha Suta recently.


Sugimori Art of Shikijina and the Unnamed Swan

One other thing the site revealed was a picture with information on the Victini, numbered #000 in the Isshu Dex. Victini is revealed to be the Victory Pokemon, A Psychic/Fire Type. It will be 0.4m tall and weigh 4.0kg. It has a new ability called Victory Star, which we dont know what that does yet.

There is a chance that all of this is fake, but its a slim chance given that the art matches Sugimori’s very well and the source where these pictures came from. We will however, inform you if these turn out to be fake as soon as we know.

With Oha Suta constantly revealing new pokemon, Pokemon Sunday on every week and a new CoroCoro Magazine due to be released (not to mention there’s only 7 weeks until Black and White is released in Japan), New info could be coming think and fast now and we’ll post it up here as soon as we know it

New Pokémon + Team Plasma Revealed

This week’s Oha Suta has revealed some new Pokémon along with confirming that Pokémon Black/White will follow the standard formula of having an evil organisation – this time called Team Plasma.

Shikijika (シキジカ)

Two Miruhoggu (ミルホッグ), the evolution of Minezumi

Unknown Swan Pokémon, circled

Team Plasma, looking somewhat like mediaeval knights

Shikijika, the small deer Pokémon, may be a pre-evolution for Stantler. They are both deer Pokémon and Stantler’s Japanese name is Odoshishi, lending some similarity. This is all speculation however and has yet to be confirmed – what is confirmed is that Minezumi now has an evolution.

A short video, which you can view here, shows off the differences between Black City and White Forest as well as a look at what’s called the Pokéshifter, what appears to be a touch screen mini-game where you have to ‘catch’ Pokémon by drawing on a bow and arrow on the touch screen as they hop from bush to bush. This is shown to be used in the same manner as Pal Park and has confirmed that you can transfer Pokémon from Generation IV to Generation V.

Black City and White Forest. Also shows off the new larger Pokémon Centre design.

The Pokéshifter building and a screenshot of the minigame.

There is also a 6 minute Pokémon Black/White Promotional Video which shows off just how impressive the games look. The games are using a lot more 3D effects than any past handheld Pokémon game and it seems the development team have found a fondness for large sweeping environments, from huge bridges to trains spanning land masses. It’s worth a look because it reveals a lot of new information about the game. We’ve screencapped pieces we feel important below but it’s recommended you watch the video too to see it all in action.

The Isshu region. It's unknown if this is the entire region or if there is more.

Although difficult to make out as a still, trains are shown passing below the player. Later a shot shows the player boarding a train.

CGear, showing the connectivity the games will utilise between local wireless and Nintendo WiFi. Later the video suggests IR can now be used for linking games.

A close up shot showing character sprites are taller than before.

Dressing up your Pokémon. Curiously shows a signal strength box in the corner.

Your dressed up Pokémon take place in musicals which have apparently replaced contests.

For some reason you can get shot out of a cannon.

Particle effects - not just for intros anymore!

New USA/EUR/AUS Wi-Fi Event

Sorry we’re a couple of days late with this, been kind of a hectic few days personally. The Official HeartGold/SoulSilver pokemon site has announced the latest Wi-Fi event for the 2 games. Starting on July 31st, the Enigma Crystal will be available to download on all American, European and Astraliasia versions of HG and SS.

The Enigma Crystal is a key item that will allow you to catch a Latias or Latios depending on your game. After you get the National pokedex in HG/SS and took a vist to the Pokémon fan club building in Vermillion, Latias will start roaming Kanto in HeartGold, while Latios will do the same for players of SoulSilver. The Enigma Crystal is an item that will allow you to catch the other Lati*s that roams your game.

By taking the Crystal to the Pewter City Museam, some expert will look at it and turn it into a Soul Dew (an item that goes very well held by a Lati*s) – upon exiting the Museam, Latias will show up if your playing SS while Latios will apear if your on HG. They will then battle you, allowing you to capture them.

The Wi-Fi event is available until the 27th August, and the site says you will need to have the National Dex in order to download the Enigma Stone (although I’ll be challenging that statement myself, regardless of the results you will need the national dex in order to do the in game event). EDIT 31st July: Just tried to download the Enigma Stone, I’ve yet to beat Gym 8 so I definatly don’t have the National Dex Yet. You CAN download and pick up the Enigma Stone before you get the National Dex, but obviously you will need the National Dex to take part in the event itself.

We’ll bring you more news when we learn it, and dont forget to drop by the Forums and talk all about the latest news on Pokémon, or to give us your thoughts on anything Pokémon Related.

New Legendary Pokémon Revealed

Pokémon Sunday once again reveales a new Pokémon – and by reveal we mean we’ve actually seen this guy before.

Meet Victini, the latest 5th Gen Pokémon to be revealed by Pokémon Sunday. This little guy actually showed up at the end of the 13th movie currently being shown in cinema’s in Japan at the moment, so his image isnt exactly new, but this is the first time we’ve got a name to the face. Interestingly, this little fellow actualy has one very interesting thing going for it

As shown in the above post, Bukutini actually has the Pokédex number 000 in the Isshu dex, coming in before Tsutaja, a first for any event only legendary (who usually appear a the end of the region’s dex).

Speaking of it being event only, we know exaclty how to get one too. By downloading an item called the Liberty Ticket you will be able to get Victini (possibly through an in game event unlocked by said item). The Liberty Ticket will be available from Black and White’s release on 18th September up till 18th October via Wi-Fi (and the usual Pokemon Center’s and other distrabution points in Japan).

That’s all we’ve got for the moment – we’ll bring you more when we know it

New Pokémon revealed

We know that this Sunday in Japan, Pokémon Sunday is due to reveal even more new Pokémon on its show (after revealing several last week), however Oua Suta, a Japanese veriaty show that has been previewing a lot of Pokémon Black and White Recently, revealed yet another new Pokémon while showcasing the game.

With thanks to Flib.de for the above picture, we see a new Pokémon on the right of the team called Mamanbō, which looks a bit like a Lovedisc – a coincidence or is this a new evolution, only time will tell. The strange rock pokemon in the center of the squad has been previously seen on Oua Suta, but it’s name was shown to be Gigaiasu

We’ll bring you more news when we learn it, hopefully more news will be out this Sunday thanks to Pokémon Sunday, more new Pokémon could be revealed by Oua Suta and there are other sources where new Pokémon could be revealed at any time.