Steelix – Sword & Shield Fusion Strike 139/264
Date Reviewed:
January 7, 2022
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 2.00
Expanded: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Vince
Looks like it’s been a long while since we’ve reviewed a baseline Steelix card.
For a Pokemon that has a naturally high physical defense, 190 HP on a Stage 1 is pretty good, only a little short from Wailord. From there, it has two attacks which may or may not be used depending on the situation. Powerful Rage costs CC and does 20 damage for each damage counter on this Pokemon. With 190 HP, Steelix can store up to 18 damage counters, which can enable Powerful Rage deal 360 damage, which is enough to OHKO anything in the game regardless of if they’re weak to a certain type or not, though against someone with Fighting Weakness, it’ll make the job easier, needing nine damage counters for the OHKO. Earthquake costs FFC for 180 damage and also deals 30 damage to each of your Benched Pokemon.
Meeting the attack cost of Powerful Rage is easily fulfilled with Twin Energy while Earthquake might need some help to meet the attack cost, such as Swampert that we’ve looked at a few days ago. With two Swampert and a manual attachment, you can ready the Earthquake attack in one turn, and Swampert’s 170 HP means it can stay on the field for five instances of Earthquake at most. Whether it is worth having a Stage 1 and a Stage 2 evolutionary line is up to the player, but Steelix doesn’t always need Swampert if all they’re doing is to keep using Powerful Rage.
Powerful Rage is not that reliable because you’re hoping that the opponent falls short of a KO. And while 190 HP is a good amount (and can be further increased to 220 via Big Charm), there are certain attacks that can deal 200+ damage with or without Weakness. Even if Steelix scores a OHKO against Pokemon VMAX and take three prizes, your Steelix is already on the brink of being KOed in retaliation, and then you have to replace with another Steelix, or another attacker. Steelix just can’t rely on that in Standard, but there is one card in Expanded that can make Steelix survive with 10 HP whatsoever. Focus Sash from XY Furious Fists is a Pokemon Tool card that states that if your Fighting type Pokemon is at full HP and is about to be Knocked Out by damage from your opponent’s Pokemon, it is not Knocked Out and its remaining HP becomes 10. Then Focus Sash discards itself. Unless it gets KOed between turns due to Poison or Burn, Steelix’s Powerful Rage will guarantee to deal at least 360 damage on your next turn. As such, Steelix can trade prizes very well with the help of Focus Sash. It might sometimes struggle against other Pokemon that only gives up a single prize.
Looking at all the past baseline Steelix cards, this is perhaps the best one so far!
Ratings:
Standard: 2/5
Expanded: 3/5
No deck lists for Steelix yet (in Limitless), though I might have an idea how to use it due to some of the cards that benefit today’s card.
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