Viridian Forest – Team Up
Date Reviewed: August 14, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 3.00
Expanded: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Viridian Forest (SM – Team Up 156/181; SM – Unified Minds 256/236) is our 9th-Place pick. As usual, it offers the same effect to both players: once during their turn, they may discard a card from their hand to fetch a basic Energy card from their deck. As usual, you reveal the basic Energy card to your opponent before adding it to your hand. Viridian Forest is one of those cards that is fortunate its drawback can often be a small perk; discarding a card from your hand you want in your discard pile, either for a specific effect, or general hand/deck thinning. Most decks run at least a few basic Energy cards, but only certain decks really optimize Viridian Forest. The thing is, it is a pretty generic set of requirements:
- Don’t run better with something else
- Run enough basic Energy that they’re worth searching out
This is why I didn’t even think of Viridian Forest when composing my Top 15 at first. Fortunately, Vince had it on his list, so when I went to revise mine, I realized I should see how often played Viridian Forest was and… a decent amount, it seems. Right now, it seems like different Darkness-focused decks are running it, and often in multiples. Then I realized… that seems to be the history of the card. Probably never the most eye-catching Stadium, but a real workhorse of a card, helping to meet a basic need (basic Energy), with a cost that is sometimes a bonus effect (discarding a card from hand). Viridian Forest not only made my list, but was my 7th-Place pick!
Which may have been a bit much, but yeah, easily worth 9th-Place, maybe a little higher. Viridian Forest may still have a place in Expanded; there are better Energy fetching effects, certainly better discarding options, and some high-power, high quality Stadium cards but… when you need a basic Energy, you need a basic Energy, and if you also could benefit from discarding a particular card, you may as well! The final thing is… even though I am telling you Viridian Forest is good, its score is pretty average. Some of that is rounding, some of that is because Viridian Forest has waxed and waned in its usefulness. It is weird but sometimes… cards are more or less useful than their score indicates.
Ratings
- Standard: 3/5
- Expanded: 3/5
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