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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

 

Gardevoir δ

EX Delta Species

 

Date Reviewed: 01.11.06

Ratings & Reviews Summary
Unlimited: 2.5
Modified: 3
Limited: 2.7

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  5 is the highest rating.


William
Hung
Gardevoir d

2.5/5 - This reminds me a bit of Team Magma's Claydol. However, this is a stage 2 Pokemon, and the attacks are situational. I do see potential, but I haven't found a combination that really works with Gardevoir d yet at the moment.
ninetales
1234

 

Attacks: Gardevoir δ’s “Black Magic” is similar to Ludicolo’s [DX] “Circular Steps,” only you don’t have as much control over the damage that is done, but still you are getting a lot for (2P).

Playability: Gardevoir δ has the advantages of being metal and δ (benefits from the effect of metal energy, Holon Tower, and Holon Ruins). It has the disadvantage of being a stage 2 (due to attacks that do more damage to stage 2s and Mary’s request), but those disadvantages are few are far between. It also has the disadvantage of being an evolved metal Pokémon (power shut down by Battle Frontier), so make sure you put some counter-gyms in your deck if you want to play this card.

Gardevoir δ is an excellent card. What makes it so good? The same thing that made Dark Dragonite so good. The ability to manipulate energy, even as subtly as Dark Dragonite/Metagross/Gardevoir δ, is invaluable to many decks. “Energy Jump” helps you get energies off a Pokémon that’s about to get KOed on to another Pokémon that could get use out of it. If you attached energy to a Pokémon last turn and realized it was not a good play, you can “undo” your misplay. There are countless ways to use Gardevoir δ, but its greatest potential is in decks with Pokémon that have special energy requirements (D and M).

Card Combinations: A popular combo is using Starmie δ with “Metal Navigation.” Its power put a Metal Energy from your deck on to Starmie δ. Then you use Gardevoir’s “Energy Jump” to put that Metal Energy on the Pokémon you really wanted to attach it to. There are now quite a few playable metal Pokémon who could benefit from multiple Metal Energy (remember, the effect of Metal Energy is cumulative). Perhaps you could attack a Metal Energy to Gardevoir δ.

Gardevoir δ is one of many Pokémon with an attack whose damage is proportional to the amount of damage on Gardevoir. You know what they go good with? Focus Band. If Gardevoir δ’s about to be knocked out, and you get heads for Focus Band, you could be doing 90 damage for (1M)! What I really like about this attack, is that you’re not just restricted to active Pokémon. You can attack benched Pokémon as well. Very few Pokémon can do that much damage to benched Pokémon.

Unlimited: Energy-manipulation decks won’t get very far if Energy Removal and Super Energy Removal are prevalent in your metagame. Bench sizes are usually not as big in Unlimited, so don’t expect to do a lot with “Black Magic.” 2/5

Modified: Lots of energy manipulation in this format. And Gardevoir δ is one of best ways to do it. Unlike some cards like Mewtwo δ, you get to use the effect again and again (once per turn). Even if you don’t intend to use the power, its attacks are good. 4.5/5

Limited: You got Holon Tower to help you out if you can’t draft any Metal Energy. Even if you don’t intend to attack with Gardevoir δ, its power is amazing. And you don’t have to worry about Battle Frontier. It’s a stage 2, so you’re not likely to be able to use it, but when you can, oh yeah! 4.9/5

Questions/comments/corrections? E-mail: ninetales1234@hotmail.com
 

Otaku

Skip straight to the scores and summary for a concise overview.

 

Name: Gardevoir δ

Set: EX Delta Species

Card#: 6/113

Type: Psychic, Metal

Stage: 2 (Evolves from Kirlia)

HP: 100

Weakness: Psychic

Resistance: None

Retreat: CC

Poké-Power: Energy Jump

Once during your turn (before your attack), you may move an Energy card attached to 1 of your Pokémon to another of your Pokémon.  This power can’t be used if Gardevoir is affected by a Special Condition.

Attack#1: (MC) Psychic Rage

Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon.  This attack does 10 damage for each damage counter on Gardevoir to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon).

Attack#2: (PCC) Black Magic [10+]

Does 10 damage plus 20 more damage times the number of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon.

Name: Kirlia

Set: EX Delta Species

Card#: 47/113

Type: Psychic

Stage: 1 (Evolves from Ralts)

HP: 70

Weakness: Psychic

Resistance: None

Retreat: C

Attack#1: (C) Calm Mind

Remove 3 damage counters from Kirlia

Attack#2: (PC) Psychic Boom [20+]

Does 20 damage plus 10 more damage for each Energy attached to the Defending Pokémon.

Name: Ralts

Set: EX Delta Species

Card#: 81/113

Type: Psychic

Stage: Basic

HP: 50

Weakness: Psychic

Resistance: None

Retreat: C

Attack#1: (C) Collect

Draw a card.

Attack#2: (CC) Quick Blow [10+]

Flip a coin.  If heads, this attack does 10 damage plus 20 more damage.

 

Attributes: Gardevoir δ (see Monday’s CotD for an explanation about “δ Delta Pokémon”) is today’s CotD.  First, let me address its lower Stages, since you’ll have to use at least one and probably both in order to get this into play.  We get a new Kirlia and Ralts in this set, and I’ll just evaluate them quickly since they are new and might be better than the old ones (of which only the EX Emerald versions are still legal for Modified).  Ralts is actually pretty good for the Basic of a Stage 2 line.  Since its stats are the same, solid ones as its EX Emerald sibling, I’ll instead focus on its attacks: Collect and Quick Blow.  Collect is surprisingly useful when you are forced to start with a Pokémon like this, who exists solely to Evolve.  Quick Blow is less useful, but if your opponent is in the same boat as you with something like this Active, especially if it’s Psychic Weak, it’s can be pretty handy.  Kirlia also has the same Attributes as its EX Emerald counterpart, so I’ll again move onto the attacks: Clam Mind isn’t bad if you can’t afford the second attack or if your opponent is unlikely to be able to hurt you again during your next turn.  Three damage counters is far from great, but it is almost half this cards HP.  Psychic Boom should give at least a fair return if the opposing Active Pokémon has even one Energy card attached, and if they have none then you can hit them for 20 or just heal with the first attack.  Both attacks are fair for their Stages, and great for Limited play.

 

Gardevoir δ is a Psychic/Metal hybrid, special because the Metal portion is off-type.  We actually have some real Metal/Psychic Pokémon in the TCG though, so it’s nothing new.  It is fairly useful though: Psychic Weakness and Resistance aren’t as common as some others, and Psychic Pokémon even have a Stadium (Magnetic Storm) that lets them bypass the Resistance.  The Metal type is especially nice: Metal Weakness and Resistance are both rarer than it is for Psychic Weakness/Resistance, but it also allows Gardevoir δ to use real Metal Energy cards to block damage.

 

Gardevoir δ has 100 HP.  This isn’t the lowest for the Stage 2 Pokémon, but many Stage 2 Pokémon that are legal for Modified are higher than this, and only a few lower.  It also exaggerates the Weakness this card has.  Gardevoir δ, like most Psychic Pokémon in the TCG, is Weak to Psychic attacks.  With just 100 HP, any hit of 50 or better is a OHKO.  Sadly, there is no Resistance on this card, so I’ll move onto the Retreat Cost of (CC).  This is fairly standard for Stage 2 Pokémon, being high enough to discourage retreating a lot, but low enough that you can if you must without crippling your Energy supply.

 

Coming to the end of this section, I’d say Gardevoir δ are just a hair weak here.

 

Abilities: Energy Jump first appeared on Skyridge Alakazam, and was pretty useful there.  Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by many broken decks in Neon Modified (Neo Genesis through Skyridge) as well as in RS-on (also known as EXon) Modified.  Here it might get a boost, seeing as this card is part Metal.  As a whole, it is a very good Poké-Power, especially since it stacks.

 

Psychic Rage may not seem like much at first: you pay for a good 40 points of damage, even before factoring in this is a Stage 2.  What must be remembered is that this is Pokémon is part Metal so damage will likely build gradually, and that healing cards that seem poor on their own are much better in such situations.

 

Black Magic is yet another returning Ability, having first appeared (at least in English) on Dark Hypno from EX Team Rocket Returns.  This version does a base damage of 10, then an additional 20 for each Pokémon on the opponent’s Bench.  Players are a bit more conservative with their benches due to cards like Steven’s Advice and attacks like this, but you can still expect to average 50 points of damage from this attack.  For the Energy required, and Pokémon’s Stage, this is solid.

 

What is nice is that these Abilities appear to interact fairly well.  Energy Jump allows you to save Energy from being unnecessarily discarded.  This is especially important when you realize Psychic Rage is best used right before you are KO’d, when that 70-90 damage will really hurt something.  So jump an Energy card off that was being used for Black Magic.  Black Magic itself combos well with Psychic Rage in that keeping a bench small to lessen the effect of Black Magic just strengthens the impact of Psychic Rage.

 

Uses and

Combinations: Sorry to sound like a broken record, but we once again have a card that is featured in a deck which is largely inspired by something from the past.  This time though, it’s of a deck that just had its glory days in the last format and is still playable now: Dark Dragonite/Dark Electrode.

 

The version using Gardevoir δ also uses Starmie δ with Metal Navigation, which makes it easy to get Metal Energy (and sadly only actual Metal Energy cards) out of your deck.  Then a third Pokémon is used as the main attacker.  The name I like for this version is Mercury.  Because I’ve seen many players make a fool of him/herself thinking the name makes no sense, I’ll explain: the substance mercury is a metallic silver color and a liquid at room temperature.  This earned it the name “quicksilver”.  And this deck moves around shiny (especially if they are the originals or are foiled) silver Metal Energy.  Another name is “GardMie”, and while I don’t like it as well, at least it’s a real name: sure it uses two parts of the characters names, but it’s pronounced “Guard me”.  Fitting for a Metal deck, don’t you think?

 

Now, the deck is far from perfect.  There is some debate as to what to use in it: Magcargo with Smooth Over, Pidgeot with its Quick Search, and even some with Porygon 2 with Back-Up.  I’ve even seen some without any of them, but I am uncertain of how well those perform.  The deck is very crowded, but at the same time search or at least major draw power seems like it would be needed.  The attacker(s) I see most often are Registeel ex and… Registeel ex.  Many player use two copies of the EX Hidden Legends version, but a few use a split between it and the much less useful but easier to find EX Emerald version.  There is some synergy between the two: the former can hit the Defending Pokémon for 50 but doesn’t hit anything else unless it’s the same Type as the Defending Pokémon, while the latter just hits everything for 20.  Other Pokémon have been tossed around for the deck, including EX Unseen Forces Forretress and Scizor ex (who has a deck that looks to fit it better, anyway).

 

Bringing attention back to Gardevoir δ, it helps the deck by being able to move any and all Energy types (not just Metal like EX Hidden Legends Metagross) and since it stacks, you tend to be able to stand not moving an unlimited amount (the two you average if often enough).  Also, this allows a “TecH” EX Emerald Gardevoir.  That Gardevoir really helps since it has Heal Dance: 20 points of damage healed every turn on top of Metal Energy blocking some really extends the life of a Pokémon, allowing all that bench damage to add up.

 

 

Ratings

 

Unlimited: 2.5/5-The deck’s (described above) vulnerability to Energy Removal is just too much.  However, the classic backing of a bench with Quick Search Pidgeot and four Neo Genesis (Mind Games) Slowking could make it a nasty bench hunter.  Plus, many for ever Pokémon that is popular who doesn’t need a big bench; there’s something that needs a full bench, aiding use of the second attack.

 

Modified: 3.75/5-This is really more a rating for the entire deck, since this card is meant to be the focus of a deck.  It just doesn’t seem as tough as Monday’s card, and I was leery scoring that card so high.  This is clearly better than many of its contemporaries, but doesn’t, at least as of yet, strike me as being as good as Dragonite δ, which means it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s at, say, Medicham ex or Scizor ex level (though it has some good match-ups against those decks, so I’ve heard…)

 

Limited: 4.5/5-Fantastic in this format.  Black Magic doesn’t need Metal Energy and Energy Jump is phenomenal in a format where you often have to juggle many different Energy types in the same deck and controlling your Energy is even more important than normal.  If you can get one of the ways of providing Metal Energy, then you also get to snipe!

 

Summary

Gardevoir δ is a great card with two good attacks and a good Poké-Power.  Its only problem is that it came out when we have so many other great Metal Pokémon who’s Abilities rival and even surpass it.  Much like Dragonite δ, there is at least one deck that can make good use of it, and possibly more.  Its just scores a hair lower in Modified since the known deck (Mercury) hasn’t proven as good as the one for Dragonite δ (Metanite).

 

-Otaku

 

 


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