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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Vaporeon #25

Dark Explorers

Date Reviewed: June 12, 2012

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 2.00
Limited:  4.13

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

Back to the main COTD Page

Combos With: See Below

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Vaporeon (Dark Explorers)

Today’s Eeveelution up for review is probably the strangest-looking one of them all: Vaporeon. Seems to me like a weird cross between a cat and a mermaid. Like all Eevee cards, though, it has its fair share of fans.

As it is the most tank-ish Eeveelution in the video games, you would expect Vaporeon to have more HP than the others, and you would be right. 110 HP is historically pretty good for a Stage 1, even though it is now beaten routinely by Legendary Basics. Lightning Weakness is still an issue for this card, with Zekrom/Eelektrik decks losing none of their popularity. The Retreat cost of two is probably fair for a Pokémon like this, even though it would be a pain to actually pay it.

Like yesterday’s card, Flareon, this one also has a nice, cheap first attack. For one Energy of any Colour, Muddy Water does 20 to the Defending Pokémon, plus a 20 snipe at the Pokémon of your choice on the Bench. For the cost, this is excellent, putting an extra 20 on a benched Pokémon could help develop a OHKO later in the game, or take a Prize from a low HP Basic like Tynamo in a couple of hits. It’s nowhere near enough reason to want to play Vaporeon by itself, but Muddy Water is a really good option if the rest of the card stacks up.

But . . . yeah, you guessed it, the second attack lets Vaporeon down. For one Water and a Double Colourless, you get Spiral Drain: an attack which does just 60 points of damage to the defending Pokémon, while healing 20 from Vaporeon itself. Yes, this is nicely on-theme with the video game, but next to useless in the TCG. 60 damage is nothing these days unless it costs one Energy, or is hitting for Weakness (which Vaporeon seldom does). Similarly, healing 20 is virtually irrelevant when it comes to 110 HP Pokémon: if they aren’t getting KO’d in one shot anyway, it won’t save them from the two hit KO.

Much like Flareon, Vaporeon is not a card that deserves to be called bad: there is stuff to like about it, especially the first attack. However, the big bad cards of the modified format leave it looking very small and underpowered indeed. Not competitive at all outside of limited, I’m afraid.

Rating

Modified: 2.5 (Muddy Water is great, but the rest is too mediocre to see play)

Limited: 4.25 (Excellent here, with Colourless attack costs, durability, and sniping)

virusyosh

Greetings, Pojo! Today we're reviewing another Eeveelution from Dark Explorers. Today's Card of the Day is Vaporeon.

Vaporeon is a Stage 1 Water Pokemon. Water is largely unseen in Modified today, as most Water Pokemon with a Lightning Weakness are scared off by Zekrom/Eelektrik builds, and many of Water's big basics (e.g. Kyurem) have fallen out of favor for more powerful Pokemon with different types. 110 HP is great on a Stage 1, and it's nice to see that the card follows Vaporeon's huge HP stat in the video games. Lightning Weakness is bad times, as Zekrom, Thundurus, Zebstrika, and most other commonly played Lightning-types will OHKO, even in spite of Vaporeon's nice HP. Sadly, Vaporeon has no Resistance and a somewhat costly Retreat Cost of 2, so try to be selective when retreating. Sadly, Vaporeon isn't searchable with either Level Ball or Heavy Ball, but can be obtained with Ultra Ball.

Like most Pokemon in the TCG, Vaporeon has two attacks. Muddy Water does 20 damage for a Colorless Energy, while also sniping the opponent's Bench for 20 damage. You're probably better off sticking with something like Darkrai, Raikou, or even Zebstrika for powerful sniping attacks in Modified, but this attack can be quite handy in Limited, where hitting two Pokemon for a single Energy is fantastic for the cost. Spiral Drain is the Bubble Jet Pokemon's second attack, doing 60 damage for a Water and two Colorless while healing 20 damage from Vaporeon. Much like Muddy Water, Spiral Drain is better suited for Limited play, as 60 damage with a marginal healing effect won't get you very far in Modified for three Energy, as other Pokemon can easily do upwards of 120 damage for the same cost.

Modified: 1.5/5 Vaporeon has a great HP stat, but very little else going for it in Modified. Lightning Weakness is absolutely terrible right now with all of the Eelektrik builds, and neither attack is all that strong for competitive play.

Limited: 4/5 Vaporeon is very nice in Limited. 110 HP will ensure that Vaporeon survives weak assaults by your opponent, and Spiral Drain can help with this by healing off 20 damage each turn. Additionally, Muddy Water is also great, with a very favorable damage to cost ratio and Colorless Energy requirements to boot. Overall, with its high HP and decent attacks, Vaporeon is an excellent addition to most Limited decks, even if Water isn't one of your primary types.


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