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- ↓ 1.19
- ꩜ 3.66
- ↑ 19.95
Ability ⇢ Counterattack
If this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon and is damaged by an opponent’s attack (even if this Pokémon is Knocked Out), put 3 damage counters on the Attacking Pokémon.
{F}{F}{F} → Seismic Toss : 120
illus. Ken Sugimori · LV.67
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Its four ruggedly developed arms can launch a flurry of 1,000 punches in just two seconds.
David Peters
Just look at all the changes from the original card: 60 more Hit Points, 3 times as many Damage Counters through its Ability, a 3-Energy Attack Cost instead of 4, and twice as much damage per attack. Yet, this card is completely unplayable in both Standard and Expanded.
Ambassador
In the JP edition of the game, Counterattack has the same name as the 1st Expansion (i.e. Base) Machamp, both are “はんげき”. However, starting with FFI Hawlucha, はんげき began to instead be translated as “Counterattack” for the EN edition, same as it is here. I think it would’ve been nice to actually just break protocol and name it Strikes Back for consistency’s sake.
They will break protocol on some future spiritual reprints/retrains – for example, CES Lanturn’s “Lighting Strike” came after the English edition changed the name of Lighting Strike to Electricannon, but they gave it the original name so as to better match up with HL Lanturn. Perhaps the localization team felt the Base Set cards were more iconic and recognizable that a little tweak like this wasn’t going to undermine Machamp, but HL Lanturn is a relatively more obscure card so they went out of their way to ensure more people would have a chance of picking up on it.
Ambassador
* The first appearance of はんげき being translated as “Counterattack” instead of “Strikes Back” is on FFI Hawlucha-EX, not the non-EX Hawlucha. Sorry for that error. (FLI Qwilfish probably also deserves a mention, with はんげきばり being translated as “Counterattack Quills” instead of “Strikes Back Quills”.)