Leafeon VMAX – Evolving Skies
Date Reviewed: December 22, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 4.00
Expanded: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Leafeon VMAX is our 8th-Place pick! That’s right, another Eeveelution! Guess 2021 was the year of Eevee. This is another another Card of the Day where I have to point out how I completely slept on the potential of the card in question. In our original review of Leafeon VMAX, I was stubborn. I’d seen that at least some Leafeon VMAX decks were doing well, but I didn’t want to admit it. There was some justification in my hesitancy to acknowledge my mistake: Leafeon VMAX’s best partners were Inteleon (SW – Chilling Reign 043/198; SW – Black Star Promos SWSH113; SW – Evolving Skies 227/203) paired with Inteleon (Sword & Shield 058/202; Shining Fates SV027/SV122). Yeah, the Stage 2 that seems to be good support for a lot of decks. Still, Leafeon VMAX/Inteleon had a solid showing among the tournaments reported by LimitlessTCG, clocking in at 8th-Place. That link is for the tail end of the 2021 Standard Format (which ended in back in September). Combined or separated, that’s where Inteleon VMAX ranks. Post-rotation, Leafeon VMAX/Inteleon goes up to 4th (5th when we combine closely related archetypes). In the present, the deck is in 12th-Place (8th when related archetypes are combined). Of course, “the present” means when I wrote this article.
I won’t be going over everything about Leafeon VMAX, since we’ve reviewed it before, but I’ll at least cover the high points. Starting with the obvious: it is a Pokémon VMAX, and while not all competitive decks use them, most competitive decks do. While they give up three Prizes when KO’d, the best are so potent it is worth it. Leafeon VMAX is on the smaller side, but that still means it can be tricky to OHKO. In terms of difficulty running, VMAX are like Stage 1 Pokémon that don’t count as Stage 1s (VMAX is a Stage and subclass of Pokémon V). Leafeon VMAX’s [G] typing isn’t all that useful; I’m not seeing a lot of [G] support in the lists I’m scanning, and the only nice [G] Weak target that springs readily to mind is Umbreon VMAX. Its [R] Weakness isn’t safe, but post-rotation, it is nowhere near as dangerous as it once was. Which is almost a bad thing for it, as Leafeon VMAX has access to Snow Leaf Badge, which can negate Leafeon VMAX’s Weakness and Retreat Cost. What I didn’t realize is that Leafeon VMAX has great attacks!
Well, at least one. I’ll be blunt; I don’t know this deck. Maybe the second attack, “Max Leaf” is worth it. 170 for [GGC] ain’t great, but it ain’t bad, either… and with 310 healing 30 damage from itself might actually matter. The attack that seems to make Leafeon VMAX is its first attack, “Grass Knot”. For [GC], this attack lets Leafeon VMAX do 60 damage times the Retreat Cost of your opponent’s Active to that Active Pokémon. This attack didn’t impress me at first, even keeping in mind we have Galar Mine to add [CC] and thus 120 to the damage done. I foolishly thought about it in terms of similar, past attacks. Similar, past attacks that coexisted in the same metagame as Float Stone. Air Balloon can still help but it isn’t like every deck runs it. Same for some of the other Retreat Cost reducing effects; it stinks when your Leafeon VMAX runs into a Darkness type sporting Hiding [D] Energy, but that doesn’t happen often enough to ruin the strategy. With Galar Mine, a typical Retreat Cost of [CC] become [CCCC] becomes 240 damage!
There’s more. Leafeon V did make our countdown for this set, because of its Ability – “Greening Cells” – which lets you attach an extra [G] Energy from your deck, during your turn… but which also ends your turn when used. Turn 1, I guess you might need to use a different turn ending effect, or just wish you could do something else after attaching the Energy. Other than that, though, no real drawback. Greening Cells even searches your deck for the Energy you’re attaching, so you don’t even have to have a spare in your hand! I thought this might turn Leafeon V into a loose staple, at least for decks with at least a [C] or [G] Energy cost in their attacks but nope! Ol’ Otaku got that one wrong. Greening Cells is still a solid play Turn 2, but after that, it is a problem when you can’t attack the turn you use it. This effectively makes Grass Knot cost [C] in Leafeon VMAX decks… or at least, that first Leafeon VMAX’s Grass Knot.
The other big star, of course, are the Inteleons. Attacks like Grass Knot, which can hit harder the larger something’s Retreat Cost is, sometimes over or undershoot key HP amounts. Overkill usually isn’t a problem, but if you need an extra turn to score a KO, that might be all it takes to lose the game. Inteleon (Sword & Shield 058/202; Shining Fates SV027/SV122) has the Ability “Shady Dealing”, which can fetch two Trainers from your deck when you play this Inteleon That would include Stadiums like Galar Mine, Items like Rare Candy (speed another Inteleon into play), and even Supporters is you’re lacking the right one for the turn. Inteleon (SW – Chilling Reign 043/198; SW – Black Star Promos SWSH113; SW – Evolving Skies 227/203) helps more directly, its “Quick Shooting” placing damage counters on targets that might otherwise fall just outside of Grass Knot’s range. Two uses of Quick Shooting will let Grass Knot effectively OHKO anything with 220 or less HP and a Retreat Cost of three. Which doesn’t sound all that great until we remember you’re trying to use Galar Mine. So all the Pokémon with Retreat Cost [C], unless they’re using effects to lower their own Retreat Cost, suddenly qualify.
As for the Expanded Format, I don’t exactly have a lot of data on that. Seems a least two people tried it and… well, I’m not writing Leafeon VMAX off for Expanded, but that’s me being optimistic. For now, Leafeon VMAX scores a four-out-of-five in Standard and three-out-of-five in Expanded. Yeah, even though the deck isn’t as great as it used to be in Standard, it has done enough to convince me it is still reasonably good.
Ratings
- Standard: 4/5
- Expanded: 3/5
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