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)
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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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