Elekid
is a Basic Lightning-Type Pokémon.
In the videogames it can further
Evolve into
Electabuzz and then
Electivire, but since the TCG was
released when
Electabuzz was a non-Evolving Basic
Pokémon,
Elekid is what is often referred to
as a “Baby” Pokémon, and requires text
on either itself or
Electabuzz in order to “Evolve” into
Electabuzz.
This
Elekid lacks such text, so unless a
complimentary
Electabuzz is released in a future
set, it is a dead end: the entire weight
of being “playable” rests on
Elekid.
Elekid
was designed as something of an homage
to the first
Elekid card from Neo Genesis.
Back then, “Baby” Pokémon has
text that gave them two special
abilities that were just rules
text (not a Pokémon Power or attack):
the aforementioned ability to play the
appropriate Basic Pokémon (in this case,
Electabuzz) as an Evolution on top
of it, and “the Baby Rule”, which stated
that a Pokémon attempting to attack a
“Baby” Pokémon required a coin toss in
order to do so, and if the result was
“tails” then that players turn ended
without an attack.
They also all had 30 HP, no
Weakness, no Resistance, and no Retreat
Cost to represent their “simpler”
nature.
They were incredibly powerful, though
for someone new to the game that might
be hard to believe.
It helps to remember attacks
didn’t hit as hard back then, HP scores
neither were as high on average or even
as a maximum (120 HP was tops!), and
Supporters hadn’t been invented.
So, I bring this up to explain
Elekid better.
It has that same minimum 30 HP
(only Trainers that pretend to be
Pokémon have been smaller), perfect lack
of Weakness and free Retreat Cost and
common lack of Resistance.
The type isn’t especially
important due to the rest of the card
(nothing Type related will make a lot of
difference).
The HP is clearly an issue as few
Pokémon won’t be able to OHKO it, as
long as they can get by the Poké-Body.
The Poké-Body and attack are also
inspired by the original
Elekid, and work together in such a
way I’ll start with the attack.
The old
Elekid had a Pokémon Power that let
you flip a coin and do 20 points of
damage to the Defending Pokémon, but
unlike similar, modern abilities it also
ended your turn.
Sparking Ball is an improvement
in that it can hit any Pokémon your
opponent has in play for 20 points of
damage.
It has a “drawback” of putting
Elekid to Sleep, but in this case
that’s a bonus: the Poké-Body is Sweet
Sleeping Face and while
Elekid is Asleep it can’t be damaged
by attacks.
I like what they tried, but as a
stand alone Basic Pokémon it just
doesn’t work.
Half the time, your potential
Bench sniper gives up a Prize before
factoring all the ways around the
effect.
Maybe if it could Evolve into
something bigger, it’d be a worthwhile
opener.
Ratings
Modified:
1.75/5 – If you need a free attacking,
tiny (both in HP and damage) Bench
hitter, I suppose you could do worse.
Limited:
3/5 – Sleep has a good chance of
sticking making the stall aspect
stronger, and Bench hitting attacks are
at a premium here.
Combos With:
Cacturne (Platinum, 42/127) – Not my
first choice, but it would allow you to
potentially built a swarm of
Cacturne on the Bench while stalling
and stinging the Bench.
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