aroramage |
So now we come to this new
Bug/Electric Pokemon, and he's a powerhouse for sure. At
least, that's what he looks like with the promo print,
the regular just looks okay.
That said, Vikavolt provides us
with a unique opportunity to examine something we don't
see often...if...ever. First of all, Electro Cannon is
basically 4-for-150 with a discard of 3 Energy, which
the last attack I remember with that kind of cost and
discard was Black Kyurem-EX's Black Ballista, which was
more complicated and did 200 damage to be fair, but
still! I want more for my cards dang it!
So how does he sustain that Energy
amount? Black-Kyurem-EX needed some outside help, but
Vikavolt has his own special Ability in the form of
Strong Charge. In fact, it's not just for Vikavolt -
once per turn, he can attach 2 Energy straight from your
deck to any of your Pokemon in any way! That's amazing!
Why doesn't he see-
It's 1 Grass and 1 Electric.
...wh...what?
Yeah, of all the Type combinations,
Vikavolt grabs you Electric...and Grass Energy? I mean I
don't know of any decks that are Grass/Electric at the
moment, props for the creativity, but what Electric deck
is gonna run Grass Energy in it? And for that matter,
what Grass deck is gonna run Vikavolt, let alone
Electric Energy? It's a weird mixing that has potential,
but the odd dual Energies it wants you to run to be
successful is just so...bizarre. But it does beg these
questions, and truth be told, this isn't limited in any
capacity outside of what Types of Energy you retrieve.
And then there's the far simpler question of, "Can
Strong Charge grab just the Electric Energy if you're
not running any Grass Energy and vice versa?"
Vikavolt has the potential to be a
powerful force in the game...but it might not be there
until somebody figures the way to really unlock that
potential.
Rating
Standard: 2.5/5 (it's a bit of a
sleeper hit for now as a Stage 2 with a great Ability)
Expanded: 2.5/5 (but once it hits,
if it hits, it could be a potent threat)
Limited: 4/5 (...IF it hits)
Arora Notealus: Vikavolt is one of
those Pokemon that's really great...but in the games is
extremely hard to evolve. There are a few Pokemon that
only evolve when leveled up in a specific location, and
Vikavolt's is almost near the end of the game (read:
before you beat the last trial). It's nuts!
Next Time: Speaking of trials, who
likes the captains?
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Otaku |
Vikavolt
(Sun & Moon 52/149) is a Lightning Type, which
allows it to exploit a fairly useful bit of Weakness:
Lugia-EX, M Rayquaza-EX (XY: Roaring Skies
76/108, 105/108), Shaymin-EX (XY: Roaring
Skies 77/108, 106/108), Yveltal-EX, and
several other cards all share it and have some (if not a
lot of) presence in the competitive metagame.
Lightning Resistance seems absent on newer releases, but
you can still find it on some of the BW-era Fighting
Types in Expanded play. There aren’t many
anti-Lightning Type effects, and usually, Type-specific
counters are too narrowly focused to prove competitive
anyway. Lightning Type support could prove useful,
though. [L] Pokémon specific tricks aren’t
overwhelming, but Flash Energy is handy and…
actually, the rest isn’t as exclusive to the Type as it
may appear. We’ve got Rough Seas, a healing
Stadium shared with the Water Type, Electrode (XY:
Evolutions 40/108) can now be used to provide [LL]
off Type (but with a lot of effort for the benefit), and
Zebstrika (XY: BREAKpoint 49/122), with an
Ability that only helps fellow Lightning Types, but a
solid enough attack it mostly is used off Type.
The Lightning Energy support is most useful in Expanded
play, where Eelektrik (BW: Noble Victories
40/101) and its “Dynamotor” Ability are still the
driving force behind some worthwhile decks. There
are also some solid, though sometimes niche, attackers
like Jolteon-EX, Raikou, and Raikou-EX.
Overall, the Lightning Type may not be the best Type,
but it’s very good.
Vikavolt
is a Stage 2, and that is not good; you’ll have
to invest at least three cards for it to hit the field.
There is a way to have it in play T1, but it’s
costly; I’ll explain it when we look at the lower
Stages. It also puts the 150 HP into perspective;
Vikavolt has is more likely to survive a hit than
not, but it is far from guaranteed and you’re out at
least a three card (and probably multiple turn)
investment when it falls. Its Fighting Weakness is
a scary thing in either Expanded or Standard play;
pretty much any attack that costs more than a single
Energy is going to score a OHKO and many that do cost
one Energy as well, thanks to the tendency for the Type
to stack damage bonuses. Any Resistance is
appreciated, so Metal Resistance is welcome even if I’m
not expecting a lot of Metal Type decks right now.
The Retreat Cost of [CCC] is chunky; pack some aids for
retreating, because I’m expecting Vikavolt to be
a Bench-sitter. It has an Ability and an attack.
“Strong Charge” is the typical Ability you can use once
per copy, before your attack; you may search your deck
for both an [L] and [G] Energy to attach to your Pokémon
as you wish. Two Energy at a time, belonging to
two different Types, and no attachment restrictions look
pretty good. “Electro Cannon” costs [LCCC], plus it
discards three Energy from Vikavolt itself.
Even with Strong Charge, that’s pricey. It does
150 damage, which is an awkward amount; 2HKOs most
things no problem, but for the cost (again, even
factoring in Strong Charge) I’d want at least 170 HP
Basic Pokémon-EX without Fighting Fury Belt to
fear it. It is a decent enough reserve move,
though.
Vikavolt
Evolves from the Stage 1 Charjabug, which Evolves
from the Basic Grubbin. We only have one of
each available (including Vikavolt). Grubbin
(Sun & Moon 13/149) is a Grass Type with 70 HP,
Fire Weakness, no Resistance, Retreat Cost [CC], and the
attack “Vice Grip” for [CC], doing 20 damage. Not
bad for a twice Evolving Basic but not good, either. Charjabug
(Sun & Moon 51/149) is a Lightning Type with 90
HP, Fighting Weakness, Metal Resistance, Retreat Cost
[CCC], and two attacks. For [LC] you can use
“Shocking Jaws” to do 20 damage and flip a coin; “tails”
means just that 20 damage is done, while “heads” means
the opponent’s Active is also Paralyzed. [LCC] pays for
“Electric Ball”, which just does 50 damage. This
may not even be a mediocre Stage 1 form, and the worst
part about it is its Typing. With Forest of
Giant Plants, Grubbin can Evolve into
Charjabug immediately. If you then follow up
with a Wally, you can have a T1 Vikavolt.
As nice as Strong Charge seems, I don’t think that is
worth the effort. The thing is, in the video
games, Charjabug are Bug/Lightning Types, so if it had
stuck to the Type of its previous Stage, Forest of
Giant Plants could have been spammed to not only get
one Vikavolt into play in a single turn but
multiples.
Strong Charge got
many of us excited when we first saw translations of it,
based on the Japanese release of the card. Though
managing two different basic Energy cards in your deck
meant you needed more room than if it just attached two
of the same Type, it also allowed more versatility in
what could partner with Vikavolt; attackers with
[C], [G], and/or [L] can all enjoy the boost, which
means a variety of Types but mostly Colorless, Grass,
and Lightning Pokémon, plus a few Dragon Types. So
why isn’t this the basis of a new, top archetype?
First, there is the Stage; like I said it is both a
speed and a space issue. The next is anti-Ability
effects; Hex Maniac can leave Vikavolt
decks in a lurch, even if they had an otherwise
effective setup. Far worse, of course, is
Garbodor (XY: BREAKpoint 57/122); still no
effective Tool removal, and without Strong Charge,
you’ve got a slow, Stage 2 attacker and possibly slow
Basics all struggling to keep pace with the game. Beedrill-EX
could easily slip into this deck, at least. The
fact that we haven’t seen Vikavolt decks making
the top cut in recent major events means the deck
probably isn’t all that good for Standard or Expanded
play; Expanded adds more competition as well. Eelektrik
cannot attach extra [G] Energy, but a Stage 1 is easier
to play in multiples, only takes one turn to Evolve
without shortcuts, and your manual Energy attachment can
still be used to supply [G] Energy (or whatever other
non-[L] Energy an attacker needs). I kind-of-like
Vikavolt for Limited play, except there is a
decent Fighting presence to splash into most builds.
Ratings
Standard:
2/5
Expanded:
1.75/5
Limited:
3.25/5
Summary
Vikavolt
needs a [G] Type Charjabug to be released, or
else folks are doing a really good job keeping it in
reserve as a secret deck. The Energy acceleration
is good, but not great, and similar enough cards already
present aren’t rocking the format, either. Keep it
in mind for the future; just getting to a card pool that
is post-Lysandre and Garbodor should help,
and we don’t even need a new Charjabug by then
since Forest of Giant Plants will also be gone
(and not helping other Stage 2 cards be speedy).
I gave Vikavolt
an initial grade of “B”, then “C+” because it is another
card that set the hearts of my inner-Timmy and
inner-Johnny aflutter. My not-so-inner Spike
awarded Vikavolt the above scores, which
corresponds to a “D-”. There is one bit of good
news for proponents of Vikavolt; this is all
based on Theorymon. I haven’t had enough time to
see if I even have enough copies of Vikavolt to
build a deck, let alone test it myself.
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