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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Klefki - Steam Siege

Date Reviewed:
Aug. 26, 2016

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Standard: 2.75
Expanded: 2.50 
Limited: 2.13

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being horrible.  3 ... average.  5 is awesome.

Back to the main COTD Page


aroramage

So now here's an interesting card - Klefki! The 70 HP 2-for-30 vanilla Fairy Wind-wielding...Fairy-type! 

So what does Klefki then do? Well once a turn, you can get rid of all the other cards attached to Klefki and equip it to one of your Pokemon - like a Pokemon Tool! Heyyyyy, that's pretty cool! On top of that, Klefki prevents all damage done to the Pokemon it's attached to by Mega Evolutions! Not too shabby. After all, there aren't too many who can stand up to the POWER OF M TYRANITAR-EX!! 

...cause that guy...he rotated...so uhh...yeah... 

Alright, so Klefki can manage Mega Evos for you and...that's about it. It's a niche appeal, but given the emphasis on Mega Evos with cards like Mega Turbo and Clawitzer, it looks like there will be a few Mega decks hanging around. Which is good, cause that means Klefki could easily see use as a tech against them. Unfortunately, since that's all Klefki can do, that's about where all the good stops. Aside from the fact that he's only countering a specific group of cards, Klefki is also going to have to compete with the other Tools you could be attaching to your Pokemon. Just a little something to keep in mind. 

Still, as far as unique cards go, Klefki's got his name written down on the ever-extending list! 

Rating 

Standard: 2.5/5 (a good tech against a powerful group of cards) 

Expanded: 2/5 (I mean, it's hard to argue against that kind of power) 

Limited: 2.5/5 (although being so specifically designed does make him a sort of "in-or-out" kind of card) 

Arora Notealus: Klefki just seems to inspire some of the more interesting cards. The Resistance one from Furious Fists, the Item searcher from Roaring Skies, and now the Mega-Evo Tool from this set. I wonder what they'll do with Klefki next design... 

Weekend Thought: What did you think of this week's cards? Think there's potential for some? Think there's a few with better incentives? Are you in or out? If you're with me give a shout! I'll lead you all the way into the glory days-wait, what was I saying?


Otaku

Our final review subject this week is Klefki (XY: Steam Siege 80/114).  Normally I follow a step by step breakdown, but one of the things I’d cover in the middle of the review is so important it shapes the rest.  So, Klefki has an Ability known as “Wonder Lock”, which may only be activated while Klefki in on your Bench; you discard all cards attached to it and then attach Klefki itself to one of your Pokémon as a Pokémon Tool card.  That means if a Pokémon already has all of its Tool slots used up, Klefki can’t do its thing.  While attached in this manner, Wonder Lock prevents all damage from attacks by your opponent’s Mega Evolutions.  At the end of your opponent’s next turn, the final bit of this card’s effect discards it from the Pokémon to which it was attached.  This interacts with many other effects in an almost odd manor.  For example, once Klefki becomes a Tool, effects that apply to Tools work on it, so (for example) Startling Megaphone can discard it while the “Tool Concealment” Ability of Banette (XY: Roaring Skies 31/108) will also negate its effect.  Before it becomes a Tool, effects that prevent Abilities from working will apply, but I do not believe this to be the case after Wonder Lock has already been used.  So it dodges some counters, but not others.  Which is part of the effect’s appeal.

The second biggest concern I think is that Wonder Lock won’t work while Klefki is Active, allowing it to potentially get stuck up front.  The most important thing though is that Wonder Lock only matters to Mega Evolutions: many decks don’t use them and even the ones that do may be able to just not Mega Evolve and attack with the Basic Pokémon-EX that goes with that deck’s Mega Evolution(s).  At the same time, the cost is just Klefki not filling up your Bench.  So with all that understood, now we’ll cover the rest.  Being a Fairy Type means little to Klefki; besides their best tricks being based on the Energy and not the Pokémon Type (and thus being accessible to other Types), we’ll almost never attack with Klefki so Weakness and Resistance aren’t a concern.  Fairy Type support doesn’t really apply because of how this card is to be used and Fairy Type specific counters either don’t exist or I am missing them; either way they aren’t part of the metagame right now.  Being a Basic does matter; Wonder Guard must be used from the Bench, so while you risk opening with Klefki this is better than having to Evolve to use Wonder Guard.  Remember though this means Silent Lab becomes a danger.  70 HP is low and a quite probable OHKO but Klefki should seldom be vulnerable; unless you need Bench filler, Klefki won’t be in play long enough to be attacked.  For the same reason, Metal Weakness isn’t a big deal either and Darkness Resistance - while appreciated - will rarely matter.  The Retreat Cost of [C] is technically good, but if you’re stuck with Klefki Active it could be a pain.  Oh, and for [YC] Klefki can attack using Fairy Wind, which is better than something more expensive and/or less Energy efficient, but is otherwise filler. 

There have been a few other Klefki released: XY: Furious Fists 73/111, XY: Phantom Forces 66/119, and XY: Roaring Skies 48/108.  All are Basic Pokémon with Retreat Cost [C]: other than that we’ve got a little variety.  XY: Furious Fists 73/111 is a Fairy Type with 60 HP, Metal Weakness, Darkness Resistance, the Ability “Secret Key” and the attack “Fairy Lock” for [YC].  Secret Key causes the Resistance on Fairy Types to subtract 40 damage instead of 20 from attacks, while Fairy Lock does 30 damage while preventing the Defending Pokémon from retreating.  Decent Ability and attack, but not great; we reviewed it here and I stand by my review; if mono/mostly Fairy Type decks had more of a presence and didn’t need the Bench space for other cards, this would be an auto-inclusion but they haven’t been and they do so this Klefki is just a nice trick for a select few, and not so brilliant of one to offset being niche (in terms of ratings). 

XY: Phantom Forces 66/119 is a Metal Type with 70 HP, Fire Weakness, Psychic Resistance and two attacks: “Call for Family” and “Dull Light”.  For [M] Call for Family allows you to search your deck for two Basic Pokémon and place them on your Bench.  For [MC] Dull Light does 20 damage and Confuses the opponent’s Active.  Great for Limited, not so much for Standard or Expanded, even in Metal Type decks that need to set up a heavy Bench presence.  I thought I’d reviewed it before, but it looks like only aroramage covered it.  Good thing he got it right.    Finally we have XY: Roaring Skies 48/108 which is another Fairy Type with 60 HP, Metal Weakness, and Darkness Resistance, but this one is like its Metal sibling by having two attacks.  The first is “Look for Keys” which costs [Y]: you reveal the top cards of your deck until you hit an Item, which is added to your hand.  The other cards are shuffled back into your deck.  Cute name, but not worth giving up an attack or potentially revealing a lot about your deck to your opponent.  For [YC] “Play Rough” does 20 damage and has you flip a coin to… do another 20 damage on “heads” for 40 total.  “Tails” just means the base 20 damage.  We looked at it here and none of us were impressed. 

So the only real competition for Klefki (XY: Steam Siege 80/114) is other cards.  I mean just maybe you’ll have a Fairy or Metal deck where the other might be useful, but odds are you’ll either be using this Klefki or no Klefki at all.  Now “other cards” compete with “other cards” all the time, so that isn’t a particularly useful statement.  Since it acts like a Tool, Klefki is competing against those but then again since it discards itself, it is less of a bother than most other Tools are against each other.  As such I believe Klefki has a nice general usage niche to it; if Mega Evolutions become heavy in your area this can help you beat them; an already favorable match becomes more favorable, while a difficult match-up becomes a little easier… unless your Abilities are turned off.  For specific usage, this is another Pokémon with an effect, which means it can be used to fuel things like the “Bee Revenge” attack from Vespiquen (XY: Ancient Origins 10/98); just attach it to anything one turn and the next, it will hit the discard.  If you don’t want to wait, try attaching it to an Unown and then using that card’s effect to discard itself, which also discards all cards attached.  If you need disposable bench filler, such as for an M Rayquaza-EX (XY: Roaring Skies 76/108, 105/108) deck, it also serves there, and is as easy to recycle as any other Pokémon.  Which matters because Karen is eventually coming; not so good for Vespiquen (unless we get more cards like Unown and this Klefki, in which case it might not matter), but definitely good for M Rayquaza-EX and replenishing itself after Sky Field is discarded and many Pokémon removed from the Bench. 

Give this a try in Standard and Expanded unless Mega Evolutions are insignificant your metagame.  For Limited, odds are you won’t face many Mega Evolutions due to their rarity; normally I am all for being prepared, but this seems excessive even to me… unless you’ve just got the room, then go for it. 

Ratings 

Standard: 3/5 

Expanded: 3/5 

Limited: 1.75/5 

Summary: Disposable protection for a threat you might not face, and only lasting one turn when you do run into Mega Evolutions, nonetheless Klefki is an okay card.  Specialized is not bad, it just means you don’t see as much play, and this card isn’t even that specialized; it just depends on the metagame and if/when Mega Evolutions next become a major presence, expect to see this Klefki popping up.  Post rotation, some are expecting just that to happen, though I don’t know myself. 

Klefki received two voting points from me, as I ranked it the 9th best card of the set.  I was even worried I ought to have ranked it higher; I mean it is amazing when you’ve got something like Vespiquen staring down an M Manectric-EX or M Rayquaza-EX… but that’s one of the best care scenarios.  The one card it beat on my list (but not the final Top 10), Magearna-EX, has already proven its worth at Worlds, where Klefki did not (at least, not in the lists of those who managed to Top 8).  So for the time being, yeah, I overrated it.  Thankfully aroramage didn’t.


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