Eldegoss V – Champion’s Path
Date Reviewed: December 22, 2020
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 4.00
Expanded: 3.00
Limited: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Note: An incomplete version of this review was originally posted.
Our 9th best card of 2020 is Eldegoss V (SW – Rebel Clash 019/192, 176/192; Champion’s Path 005/073). It was also our 2nd-Place pick from SW – Rebel Clash, back when that set was new. Eldegoss V’s claim to fame is its Ability, “Happy Match”. When you Bench Eldegoss V, from your hand, during your turn, Happy Match may be used. It lets you add a Supporter from your discard pile to your hand. This is the effect that continues to make VS Seeker a powerful staple in Expanded… is it worth it as a coming into play Ability? While the answer is pretty obviously “Yes!” given its ranking, let me explain why, and how the rest of the card affects this.
Eldegoss V is a Grass type and… it doesn’t really matter. You’re not using this to attack unless desperate, and even then, probably not for the damage. Nor does the available Grass support (let alone semi-obscure Grass counters) really make a lot of difference to Eldegoss V and how it is used. Much more relevant is its status as a Pokémon V. Being worth two Prizes when KO’d, and being unable to use Scoop Up Net or Twin Energy does hurt. There are times when being vulnerable to anti-Pokémon V effects (as opposed to just being excluded from beneficial effects) will be a problem as well.
It was still a vital deal for Eldegoss V, though, as Eldegoss are normally Stage 1 Pokémon, with less than half the HP of this Pokémon V version. There’s also a good chance the Ability itself was only allowed because it is a Pokémon V. Being a Basic is the best; you’ll have to worry about anti-Basic effects (especially in Expanded), but not only are three bits of Basic-exclusive support, they’re easy to run and field. If you have an Eldegoss V in your deck, a space on your Bench, and a Supporter in your discard, every compatible Pokémon search becomes an out to that Supporter.
Getting back to the HP, its 180 may be more than twice that of the Stage 1, baseline Eldegoss cards but it is still one of the lowest found on a Basic Pokémon V. Normally they clock in around 210 to 230 HP, but Eldegoss V as as fragile as Crobat V against neutral damage. The card has no Resistance, not that it would likely help a lot, but it does have Fire Weakness, which is definitely a dangerous one to have right now. Eldegoss V is a relatively easy two Prizes, and that is more than enough to end games more quickly than normal. At least the Retreat Cost of [C] means you can get Eldegoss V out of the Active slot with relative ease.
While the attack is one of the least important facets of the card, it can still matter. “Float Up” requires [CC] to do 50 damage, but the damage is practically a bonus. Float Up’s effect lets you shuffle Eldegoss V and all cards attached to it back into your deck. You won’t be able to easily reuse Eldegoss V… but it means all compatible Pokémon search is once again an out to a Supporter from your discard pile. Between having to sometimes discard your own hand due to Professor’s Research or either player’s Marnie forcing current hands onto the bottom of your deck, sometimes Eldegoss V – and whatever was attached to it – are better off in your deck than in your hand. Still, you really don’t want to have to burn your attack on Float Up.
Eldegoss V is a good, potent card but not in the same league as cards like Dedenne-GX, Crobat V, or Shaymin-EX (XY – Roaring Skies 77/108, 77a/180, 106/180). One obvious difference is that, while Eldegoss V is letting you access a Supporter from your discard pile, the other three give you Supporter-quality effects in the form of an Ability. Turn 1, Eldegoss V likely has no target in your discard pile, and even if it doesn’t, you can’t use it. Turn 2, there’s still the question of how your Supporter hits the discard pile without you having used it first… and if you already used a Supporter that turn, the reclaiming one from the discard pile is about prepping for next turn.
I’m not sure if Eldegoss V has much of a use in Expanded. I haven’t played Expanded most of this year, and there’s no major tournament data available to me for it. Hazarding a guess, I don’t think Eldegoss V is worthless, but I do think it isn’t a high priority inclusion. We have VS Seeker in Expanded; a Trainer-Item that lets you retrieve a Supporter from your discard pile. No (relatively) easy two-Prize target taking up space. However, VS Seeker is – brace yourself – not a legal target for Pokémon search. Anti-Item effects are also stronger here. So there just might be room in your deck for yet another generic, useful search support target. As for the Limited Format, if you get Eldegoss V, run it. Do not run it in a Mulligan deck, but back up just about anything that isn’t a Mulligan deck with it.
Ratings
- Standard: 4/5
- Expanded: 3/5
- Limited: 4/5
Eldegoss V is at least a loose staple in the Standard Format, and so just qualifies as a four-out-of-five card in my book. It is less impressive in Expanded, but I’m going to be generous because of my paranoia about Item-lock. I had Eldegoss V as my 8th-Place pick, so 9th-Place still seems rather fair.
Vince
Vince had this at #13 on his best new cards of 2020.
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