Flareon
is a hot
Eeveelution.
…
Sorry, it’s just so hard
to resist the puns!
I mean, this is a
written article: I could
theoretically go back
and delete that at any
time, but I won’t.
I love puns too
much!
Despite this rather
silly start, this might
not be a bad card.
On its own, this
is a pretty standard
Fire Pokémon.
It is a Stage 1
with 90 HP, so if your
opponent gets something
up and swinging you
might survive a single
hit… barely.
Double Water
Weakness is standard for
Fire Pokémon and could
be problematic, since
the big complaint about
the “big” Water Pokémon
from the last few sets
amounted to “killer Poké-Power,
but I can’t find a good
attacker to go with it”.
Cards like
Feraligatr Prime
from HeartGold &
SoulSilver, for example,
will of course OHKO this
card.
Those that are
great attackers (like
Gyarados) have the
option of scoring a OHKO
with inexpensive, early
attacks.
The lack of
Resistance is of course
disappointing and the
single Energy Retreat
Cost is manageable: make
sure your deck runs
enough Energy or pack
something to help
Retreat.
Flame Tail is a decent
opening attack: for one
of any Energy, you can
score a quick and easy
30 damage.
Like I said, this
is decent: you use it
when you have to or when
type matching yields a
lucky OHKO.
That’s it.
The second attack
is Flamethrower is a
little better: you need
two Fire Energy and a
third of any type, and
you have to discard an
Energy for the attack.
You then do a
good 90 damage.
It won’t OHKO
anything big, but if you
combine
Flareon with the
right cards, you might
be able to take control
of the game before the
opponent can get
anything big out.
This is a common Fire
tactic so I don’t know
that Flareon offers much
besides being adorable
over other promising
Fire Pokémon, even
restricting yourself to
Stage 1 Pokémon.
The art on this
one is almost painfully
cute.
Cue combo time.
Just like
Umbreon, this cards
best bet lies in being
an
Eeveelution.
Espeon Prime can’t
copy its attack as
easily as some of the
other
Eeveelutions, and
that does hurt a bit.
However, if you
can afford to run Fire
Energy alongside
Espeon, the discard
requirement is generic.
That gives you a
nice big, otherwise
reliable hit to drop
something after using
the more tactical
attacks of other
Eeveelutions.
Looking at the
other legal
Flareon, most don’t
combo well with
Espeon Prime.
The exception is
the earliest legal
candidate from
Majestic Dawn.
Its big attack
needs only one Fire
Energy, still hits for
70, and you get to
choose and discard an
Energy card from both
Flareon and the
Defending Pokémon!
I am thinking
this is what really will
keep
Flareon out of
decks: since the new
version only hits for 20
more than the last,
unless the newest
Eeveelution deck
needs that 90 damage
then it is better off
with such a brutal and
effective control
strategy.
Still,
Flareon has one last
advantage that many
cards, including its
fellow
Eeveelutions lacks:
Ninetales from
HeartGold & SoulSilver.
By simply being a
Fire Pokémon it has that
basic synergy with the
card.
Coupled with a
Typhlosion Prime you
can discard an Energy,
draw three cards, attach
it from the discard to
Flareon, manually
attach, and pull off the
90 every turn at the
price of an extra damage
counter on
Flareon.
An extra 10
damage that won’t matter
if you’re facing
something big (it’d OHKO
you anyway) and can be
safely dealt with via a
few healing cards if
you’re facing a swarm of
tiny Pokémon (that will
take at least two
attacks to KO
Flareon anyway).
Too bad so many other
Pokémon can work in that
set up.
Ratings
Modified:
3/5 – Perhaps a bit
generous, but it’s a
case of “other stuff
does it better” and not
this card doing it
“bad”.
Limited:
4/5 – Strengths of being
an
Eeveelution combined
with the strength of
hitting hard and fast in
this format.
I am still selling quite
a bit of my stuff on
eBay. I’ve had a
lot of hobbies over the
years, so at various
times I’ll have comic
books, manga, action
figures, and video games
on the auction block.
You can take a look at
what’s up for bids
here. I usually add
new stuff on Wednesdays
and Saturdays.
Just a reminder, Pojo is
in no way responsible
for this and was merely
kind enough to let me
mention the auctions
here. ;)
