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Jigglypuff13 |
8/7 Leafeon Lv.X (MD)
Hello, and today is the review of the final Lv.X from
MD, Leafeon Lv.X! This has seen a lot of hype, and
rightly so. However, before going on to why it received
such hype, the basics of the card. First, 110HP on a
stage 1 Lv.X is a little on the low side. We've had 120
and 130HP Stage 1 Lv.X's, so it's a shame Leafeon Lv.X
has got a small HP value. Mind you, thanks to Espeon
(MD), that value can increase to 130HP, which gives it
some nice tanking abilities when combined the right
normal Leafeon. The weakness is better than it is on
most Lv.X's, with only a +30 Weakness to Fire. This used
to be a bad thing, but with the popularity of Water
increasing recently thanks to MD, fire, and mainly
Magmortar (SW)'s popularity has gone down, meaning the
weakness shouldn't be a problem. However, here are still
some Magmortar's, Skittles and also Infernape (MD)'s
floating around, which could give Leafeon Lv.X some
problems (though Umbreon (MD) could takew care of that).
Speaking of water's popularity increase, it has a -20
Resistance to Water, which is very useful with Glaceon
Lv.X (MD) and Empoleon (MD) being played a lot. 2
Retreat Cost is a lot for what is esentially quite a
small beast, but Umbreon (MD) can sort that out as well.
Now for the main reason why it's been hyped so much,
it's Poké-Power and attack combined. Energy Forcing
allows you to attached an extra Energy Card every turn.
And it stacks, so having 2 Leafeon Lv.X's out basically
allows you to attach up to 3 Energy Cards per turn.
Also, the fact that it says Energy Cards is very
important, since it means it attach Special Energies
with it's Poké-Power, such as the ubiquitous DRE,
Scramble and Call Energy, but also lesser played energy
such as Boost and Multi. Obviously, it can't be used if
Leafeon Lv.X is affected by a Special Condition, but
that's the same with most Poké-Powers, and with the lack
of Special Conditions in the format, it shouldn't matter
too much. Energy Forcing is nice, and you've probably
thought of some great combos for it already, but it's a
great combo with Leafeon Lv.X's attack, Verdant Dance.
30 + 10 more for each energy attached to ALL of your
Pokémon. This basically means 50 Base damage from the
energies need to be attached to Leafeon Lv.X, and then
you can power up your other Pokémon safe in the
knowledge that you will be doing loads of damage from
Verdant Dance.
Combos, and first of all, there are other Eeveelutions,
such as Espeon and Umbreon that have already been
mentioned, but also just about any of the others from
MD. Vaporeon (MD) or Glaceon (MD) and it's Lv.X could be
good for covering Leafeon's Fire Weakness. Umbreon can
do the same, but they can be more of a revenge killer
sort of thing. Another combo for Leafeon Lv.X is
Sceptile (GE), which allows every Grass Energy attached
to your Pokémon to count as 2 Grass Energies.
Essentially, this allows each Grass Energy to add 20
damage to Verdant Dance, thus gets the attack becoming
very powerful for only a few energies. You can also use
other Eeveelutions as support, or you could use this
effect to power up Grass Pokémon that like a lot of
Grass energies attached to them, for Sceptile's Poké-Body
to take effect, and give even more energies attached to
that Pokémon. With Energy Forcing, that could quickly
become dangerous for your opponent. Good Grass types
that could be used for this combo include Tangrowth (GE)
and Exeggutor (MT), both of which could end up doing
very high damage for realitively low energy costs thanks
to Sceptile and Leafeon Lv.X. The only thing with any of
these combos is they may be a bit slow. Needing a Stage
1 Lv.X and a Stage 2 to give a normal Stage 1 loads of
energies to do loads of damage is just a little slow,
especially have to use a load of turns giving the
Stage 1 enough energy to be satisfied with.
Now, for Leafeon Lv.X's weaknesses, and the first is
anything that turn that Poké-Power off. Gardevoir (SW)
and Cessation Crystal (CG) and the prime examples of
this, turning that Poké-Power off and slowing down what
ever deck Leafeon Lv.X happens to be in. Also, since it
likes the support from the main supporting Eeveelutions,
Lati-Lock could prove troublesome to Leafeon Lv.X,
especially when combined with a Fire Pokémon like Ho-Oh
(SW) or Infernape (MD), to allow them greater ease of
KOing Leafeon Lv.X even when Umbreon (MD) is lucking
around. However, Lati-Lock could be used just to stop
Leafeon Lv.X from getting the HP increase from Espeon as
well if need be. As for Leafeon being able to take a hit
or 2 from the biggest decks around, I'd say it's quite
easy for Leafeon Lv.x to do so. Gallade (SW) in GG can
do so, flipping 2 or 3 prizes depending on if it uses
Plus Power/Strength Charm or DRE. Gardevoir (SW) has
already been covered as being annoying, and 2HKOs
Leafeon Lv.x with Espeon in play and without DRE,
otherwise it's a 3HKO. Skittles needs a maximum of 7
different types of Basic Energy attached to Ho-Oh for a
OHKO, but that's with both Espeon and Umbreon in play.
Empoleon (MD) and only get a 2HKO with Surf Together
thanks to the Resistance, but if the Empoleon player
decided to use Mothim (MD) to counter Resistance, then
it could get a OHKO with a Plus Power/Strength Charm
against a Leafeon Lv.X with Espeon in play. However,
Empoleon can also weaken a Benched Leafeon with Dual
Splash. Garchomp (MT) can get a OHKO with it's attach
and with a Fire attached, but only is Espeon and Umbreon
not in play, otherwise it becomes a 2HKO without help
from it's Lv.X.
However, the biggest problem with some Lv.X's is that
they don't have a good normal form. However, Leafeon
Lv.X does and doesn't suffer from this problem since
there are 2 Leafeon's avaialable at the moment. The non-holo/theme
deck one is rubbish and shouldn't be used under any
circumstances. The Holo one, however, is great, giving
Leafeon Lv.X some brilliant tanking ability from the
second attack, with or without Espeon in play, though
Espeon does help.
Ratings:
Modified: It's a truely awsome card, with a Poké-Power
and an attack that combo extremly well together, and
some great choices for support and secondary attacking
Pokémon. It's a very playable Pokémon thanks to having a
great normal form and even a good basic. Trying to find
a fault in this card is like try to find a problem with
Bill from the original Base Set era. Don't worry, I
have, and that's the fact that getting the Pokémon
powered up for a nice some of damage, or for setting
another Pokémon up for a good amount of damage. However,
that's a very small flaw on an otherwise brilliant card.
4.25/5
Limited: With the right Leafeon, it's a massive tank
here, especially if you can get Espeon and a number
Eevee's. It's nice as it can give Energy Acceleration,
which is rare in Limited, and can end up OHKOing
everything. However, being a Lv.X, it's going to be
incredibely hard to either actually use or get into play
if you can use it. Still, if you pull this, you'll be
increadibely pleased both during the tournament and
afterwards. 3.25/5 |
