By JC
Hello Pokeman fans! I recently purchased a Victini Box Gift Set in hopes of pulling a secret rare. It came with 5 black and white booster packs, a promo Zoroark card, and a little Victini figure. Although I pulled an awesome secret rare full art Reshiram (in my first pack!), I want to talk about the Krookodile I also pulled.
At first I didn’t give it much thought. When I pulled it, I said “Oh, that’s nice,” and set it aside. Some people absolutely love Krookodile, but I thought he looked goofy, ferocious no doubt, but still a little goofy. I even chose to go with Drilbur-Excadrill instead of Sandile-Krokorok-Krookodile in the video game. However, I really started to appreciate the Intimidation Pokemon after pulling a second one from a random booster pack.
I haven’t played the trading card game in over a decade, but I’m certain this Krookodile card (65/114 B&W) is a force to be reckoned with. Krook is a ground type with a x2 weakness to water and a -20 resistance to lightning. His two attacks, Torment and Krookoroll, make a deadly combo. This is actually the first card I have seen with the attack Torment. It requires 2 colorless energy cards and does 30 damage and you can disable one of your opponent’s Pokemon’s attacks. Of the new 94 Pokemon cards introduced in the black and white set, 28 of them have only one attack. That’s over a fourth! Torment effectively disables those Pokemon, making them punching bags for our favorite crazy crocodile. Pretty much any Pokemon with an ability is also unable to dish out damage (I’m looking at you Emboar, Serperior, and Samurott!).
Of course your opponent can switch his or her Pokemon, but the retreat costs will add up while you Torment away. Krooks’ second attack Krookoroll requires 2 colorless and 2 fighting energy cards. Krookoroll does 60 damage plus 40 if the defending Pokemon already has any damage counters on it. Not many cards can withstand a Torment-Krookoroll combo dealing a whopping 130 damage. Krooks does have a 3 energy retreat cost, but his 140 hit points ensures his staying power.
Surely this croc has a weakness, right? Well, like all stage 2 Pokemon, Krookodile requires a little luck and time to set up. Say hello to his pre-evolutions forms Sandile and Krokorok. Sandile boasts 70 hit points (for a basic Pokemon, that’s a lot!). Maybe not so much anymore, as I’ve noticed cards are having more hit points and stronger attacks overall, but back in the day, usually the only basic Pokemon with 70 hit points were Haymaker favorites Electabuzz, Hitmonchan, Scyther, etc. Sandile has 2 attacks, Sand Tomb (defending Pokemon can’t retreat next turn and 10 damage) and Bite (30 damage). Nothing too exciting… moving on. Krokorok gets 90 hit points, a weaker version of Torment (10 damage, for only 1 colorless energy), and a stronger version of Bite (50 damage). These are decent pre-evolutions and should be able to handle their own until you can evolve to Krookodile and unleash mayhem.
Like I said, I haven’t played the actual game in over a decade, but with the new Pokemon Online TCG website, I’m looking forward to building a deck with Krooks. For those that are interested, Power Play (a deck based on Krookodile) will be released on August 17th. However, based on pictures of the deck, it seems like the Power Play Krookodile will be a different version—one with a Pokemon ability. Good luck and have fun using this behemoth of a Pokemon!
Tags: Card Collecting, Krookodile