Skip straight to the scores and summary for a
concise overview.
Please note that while I denote δ Delta Species
Pokémon by adding a δ to the end of their name, but
that said symbol is not actually part of their name
for gaming purposes. For example, a “Pokémon δ” can
Evolve from or into a non-Pokémon δ, so long as no
other rules are being broken. That is, I can Evolve
Dratini δ into a Dark Dragonair, plain
Dragonair, of the “Dragonair δ”. I
cannot, however, Evolve a Dark Dragonair
into a Dragonite δ or a Dragonair δ
into a Dark Dragonite.
Name:
Espeon δ
Set:
EX Delta Species
Card#:
4/113
Types:
Psychic, Metal
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Eevee)
HP:
70
Weakness:
Psychic
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Poké-Power:
Delta Heal
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may
remove 1 damage counter from each of your Pokémon
that has δ on its card. You can’t use more than 1
Delta Heal Poké-Power each turn. This power can’t
be used if Espeon is affected by a Special
Condition.
Attack:
(PM) Psyshock [30]
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is
now Paralyzed.
Name:
Eevee δ
Set:
EX Delta Species
Card#:
68/113
Type:
Metal
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack:
(C) Metal Scoop [10]
Search your discard pile for a (M) Energy card
and attach it to Eevee.
Name:
Eevee
Set:
EX Delta Species
Card#:
/113
Type:
Colorless
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(C) Call for Family
Search your deck for a Basic Pokémon and put it onto
your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Attack#2:
(CC) Rear Kick [20]
Attributes:
Espeon δ is a Stage 1 δ Delta Species
Pokémon. It Evolves from Eevee. This set
contains two different Eevee: one normal
Colorless version and one δ Delta Species version.
Both have 50 HP, a Fighting Weakness, and a Retreat
Cost of one. Of the actually Eevee δ, Metal
Scoop suffers since it is an attack, and the most
likely time to use it is early game before any
Metal Energy are in the discard pile, and it
only affects actual Metal Energy cards. The
“plain” Eevee has two “okay” attacks. I
recommend neither, due to the superiority of EX
Unseen Forces Eevee with “Energy Evolution”
for Modified. Said Poké-Power allows you to search
for an Evolution matching an Energy card you attach
from your hand to said Eevee. Using Metal
Energy (or any card that provides it), you may
search for any Eeveelution that is part Metal (which
is all five Eeveelutions that aren’t
Pokémon-ex in this set). Just be careful since this
Eevee has only 40 HP. For Unlimited use, the
Blackstar Promo with Chain Reaction or Neo Discovery
version with a coin flip determined Energy Evolution
may be better: note that the Chain Reaction Eevee
is to be run alongside either of the Energy
Evolution Eevee. The question is whether or
not to risk the slightly lower HP for the better
reliability of the newest version (I feel it is:
Tyrogue and most Pokémon threats can OHKO both
of them anyway).
Returning to Espeon δ itself, it is a
Dual-Type Pokémon: both Psychic and Metal. Psychic
Weakness is the second most common (150), while
Psychic Resistance is limited to 20 Pokémon (roughly
the middle of the pack). The Metal aspect increases
the amount of vulnerable Pokémon by 17, and adds 25
Resistant Pokémon, which is somewhat disappointing.
Thankfully, we get the wonderful bonus of Metal
Energy’s defensive boost. Additionally, there
are no Dual-Resistant or Dual-Weak cards that match
both types.
Espeon δ
has a mere 70 HP. While not the lowest for a Stage
1, even in Modified, those that are lower tend to
have fantastic or unique Abilities… or else are a
major hindrance for the card, often making it
“bad”. Looking at the actual figures, 70 HP is the
most common for a Stage 1 Pokémon that isn’t a
Pokémon-ex and doesn’t Evolve. That still doesn’t
make it good, though. This low means most serious
attackers will be able to OHKO you unless you are at
full health, and many even if you are.
Additionally, the effect of Metal Energy
becomes more critical for defending against the
weaker, early game attacks as they can more easily
overwhelm you while at the same time you get less of
a benefit late game since the Metal Energy
will likely be superfluous. That is, you are
dependant upon Metal Energy to survive early
in the game, and late game it won’t offer any real
safety.
With such a low HP, the Psychic Weakness of
Espeon δ becomes a serious concern: most Stage 1
Psychic Pokémon who rely mostly on doing damage – as
opposed to things such as Special Conditions or
damage counter placement – will also score a OHKO.
Likewise, supporting attacks on a Psychic Pokémon
that is a deck focus will also be very, very likely
to score a OHKO. 10 to 20 more HP would greatly
reduce the impact.
The low HP also increases the need for a
Resistance. Why is it different from, say, Metal
Energy? Since Resistance is built in and a
guaranteed 30 point reduction in damage (at least as
guaranteed as it can be in Pokémon), even though
it’s only against one type, it will almost
completely shut out early game damage and
significantly reduce late game damage (though a OHKO
would still be likely). More over, since this is a
part Metal Pokémon, the combination of the two would
have created at least one favorable type match up
based on Defense.
Finally, we come to a Retreat Cost of one. This is
the second best retreat cost in the game; even if a
“naked” Espeon δ is forced active, you should
be able to bench it with ease. Of course, given the
HP score and Pokémon, a free retreat cost really was
needed.
Abilities:
Espeon δ has a Poké-Power and an Attack. The
Poké-Power, Delta Healer, is fairly nice: even
though it is worded so that multiples of it won’t
stack, on its own it is impressive: each of your
Pokémon δ gets to remove a damage counter. The
attack, Psyshock, is disappointing. It requires two
different Energy types, so the amount of Energy put
into it should yield base 35 damage, possibly base
40. We get 30 points of damage with a 50% chance of
Paralysis. That just meets my lower estimate. Of
course, this is a Stage 1 and this card’s only
attack. As such, the Poké-Power must be expected to
be potent and the card to be a “bench sitter”.
Personally, I would have liked an attack with a bit
more synergy to the Poké-Power, even if it wasn’t
especially good.
Uses and
Combinations:
Here is where the card falls somewhat flat. The
good new: it is an easy to incorporate Stage 1 line
for most Pokémon δ decks. The bad news: none of the
Pokémon δ possess attacks that place a small amount
of damage counters on your Pokémon. That may seem
odd, but remember such a drawback often offsets good
damage or the same effect being done to the
opposition. Instead, we Rayquaza δ who
places 7 counters on itself; too much for Delta
Healer to really offset and Rayquaza δ has a
Poké-Body to prevent that drawback, anyway.
As such, Espeon δ has very little going for
it. I can think of four uses for it:
1)
If you somehow end up with at least four extra slots
in a Pokémon δ heavy deck and can’t find anything
better to use for it.
2)
If you are running a Pokémon δ heavy deck and facing
a lot of widespread bench damage in your area.
3)
If you are running an Eeveelution δ deck.
4)
If you are running something like Blastoise ex
in an otherwise Pokémon δ heavy deck.
Ratings
(assuming a Pokémon δ heavy deck)
Unlimited:
1/5-Even if you want to do a Pokémon δ deck, you’re
better off backing it with Neo Genesis Slowking.
Run a single copy for an Eeveelution δ deck.
Modified:
2/5-Healing can help some, so it does have a place.
Limited:
3.5.5-It won’t make you invulnerable, but more than
likely it will make your Pokémon amazingly durable,
especially if you can pull the normal “tricks” for
this format (namely retreating at the right moment).
Summary
Don’t let the low scores fool you: for a deck built
around the δ Delta Species Eeveelutions, a
single copy is a staple. It isn’t a useless
card, but it is confined to a very, very small
niche. If we get a δ Delta Species Pokémon with a
good Ability that has the drawback of damaging
several of your own Pokémon put towards a good
purpose. Ironically, the one Pokémon that from this
set I’ve heard has had some success being run with
Blastoise ex is Steelix ex, which
can’t take advantage of Delta Healer.
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