Electivire – Battle Styles
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 1.00
Expanded: 1.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Yesterday, we looked at an Electabuzz just because it had an attack named “Haymaker”, which is also the name of one of the OG top decks in Pokémon). Today, we look at Electivire (SW – Battle Styles 045/163), largely because we looked at Electabuzz yesterday. May as well see it through, am I right? So we have a Stage 1 [L] Pokémon with 140 HP, [F] Weakness, no Resistance, and Retreat Cost [CCC]. Being a Stage 1 and a [L] is decent, 140 HP is slightly good, but the bottom stats are just bad. Get used to hearing this word today: collectively, its semi-decent. How about the card’s effects?
Two attacks this time around. For [CCC], “Tumbling Attack” does 60 and a coin flip for another 30. Even with shortcuts like Triple Acceleration Energy available, you’re paying for at least 90 damage, but only get 60 half the time. A bad (but still functional) attack. [LLLC] pays for “Lightning Slam” unleashes 180 damage on your opponent’s Active, but places an effect on Electivire (“this Pokémon”) preventing it from using Lightning Slam the next turn. Without the drawback, you’re getting about what you’ve paid for… but the drawback forces switching combos and/or falling back on Tumbling Attack.
All together, even “semi-decent” may be charitable. With the right Energy Acceleration and some damage buffs, Electivire is “alright”. Maybe it stands a chance in Expanded. Not only do you have old-school tricks like Eelektrik (BW – Noble Victory 40/101) and its “Dynamotor” Ability, but we also have cards like Muscle Band and Electropower. If you have access to both Abilities and Items, Lightning Slam can wreck an opponent’s Pokémon. Of course, so can other attackers with the same or similar backing, so that isn’t actually that special.
There is one other reason we kicked off this week with Electivire, but that involves Spoilers. If you’re the type who likes to be surprised when a card debuts in your local language, skip to the Ratings. Still there? That Eelektrik I mentioned earlier? Change its name to Flaafy and you have a card that was just leaked in Japanese. Well, I don’t recall if the Ability and attack names are the same, but their effects and damage output are, as well as the rest of the card’s stats. You still won’t have the damage buffs in Standard, and we’ll need to see the rest of the metagame at the time, but at least there’s a speck of hope.
Ratings
- Standard: 1/5
- Expanded: 1/5
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