It is now time to take out the heavy artillery. That is something that we all want in a match. Though it can be hard to get the big guns out. We can try several things to do that by playing certain cards. Some of these methods are good while others can have heavy costs. Some of these heavy costs include being in the line of fire. That is why on this week’s TCG Jump we are going into the depths of the sea to bring you a card that is bubbling to be used. This week we are going to be featuring Octillery from BREAKthrough.
Octillery is a Stage One Water Pokemon that has 90 HP. This card has an ability called Abyssal Hand which allows you to draw cards until you have five cards in your hand. You can use this ability once per turn. Octillery has an attack called Hug which cost two Water energy and a Colorless. Hug does 40 damage and prevents your opponents active Pokemon from retreating. Octillery has a weakness to Grass types and a two energy retreat cost.
The Pros
It is all about that ability when it comes to Octillery. Abyssal Hand allows you to draw cards until you have five in your hand. You can only use this ability once per turn but that may be all you need in order to draw into something you will need. Even better, if you set up more then one Octillery then you can use each Octillery’s Abssal Hand ability to draw deeper into your deck.
This draw support from Octillery is pretty powerful as you can use it every turn opposed to Shaymin EX’s Set Up ability which can only be used to when you set it down. That makes Octillery perfect for decks who want to keep drawing into their decks for much needed cards.
While we are comparing Octillery to Shamyin EX, Octillery will only cost you one prize. Shaymin EX tends to be a target in the late game due to it’s low HP. Your opponent may wait until they have two prizes left to use their Lysandre to pull Shaymin EX into the active to knock it out and win the game. Octillery is a non-EX Pokemon which means that your opponent could try to knock it out your draw support but they will only get one prize from it. It doesn’t seem worth it when you they could be using their resources to knock out the big attacker that they are facing instead.
One last comparison between Octillery and Shaymin EX is the price. It is much cheaper to purchase an Octillery compare to Shaymin EX. Those who are building a deck on a budget may want to buy a few Octillery for the deck.
Lastly, Octillery can easily be searched out. It has 90 HP which means it can be pulled out of the deck by using Level Ball. It is a Water type Pokemon which means that Dive Ball can be used to search for Octillery.
The Cons
Octillery is a Stage One which means that you need to wait a turn before you can start drawing deep into your deck. That also means that a Remoraid needs to survive a turn before it can evolve. A lot can happen in a turn such as your opponent using Lysandre to put your 60 HP Remoraid into the active and knock it out before you can get the chance to evolve into Octillery.
Waiting a turn will also mean that you can’t use Abyssal Hand right away. That is maybe the main thing that Shaymin EX has over Octillery. You can use Shaymin EX on your first turn to draw into your deck. Meanwhile, you will need to wait a turn before you can take advantage of Octillery’s Abyssal Hand. That could especially slow you down if you can’t evolve into Octillery on your second turn. There are ways to speed up the process such as using Wally but that also means using your Supporter for the turn.
How to Play It
You will want to keep Octillery on the bench and make sure it stays there. Attach a Float Stone because your opponent may want to slow you down by using Lysandre to stall the game and maybe even knock it out. That Float Stone on Octillery could get the heavy octo out of the active. It could be used as pivot switch after one of your Pokemon was knocked out. You can simply put Octillery in the active and then retreat it once you have a Pokemon ready to battle.
Octillery can be splashed into any deck who has room for a 2-2 line. Though the deck that has seen the most benefits from Octillery will be Magnezone-Raikou.
Magnezone has the ability Magnetic Circuit which allows you to play down as many Lightning energy as you like. Meanwhile, Raikou gets to use Thunder Lance which does more damage based on how many Lightning energy is attached to it. This deck wants to keep digging into it’s deck and Octillery can help with that. You can use Abyssal Hand every turn to draw into Lightning Energy to attack to Raikou, Energy Retrieval to get energy from your discard to attach to Raikou or Rare Candy to evolve your Magnemite into Magnezone. Octillery allows this deck to charge itself quickly to go into battle.
If you are tired of your Shaymin EX getting knocked out or simply want an affordable form of ability base draw support then try out Octillery. This card is not drain your wallet like Shaymin EX and can always help you reach the depths of your deck.
The post TCG Jump: Featured Card- Octillery appeared first on Pokémon Crossroads.


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