At last we break into the top three
promising cards of BW: Next Destinies,
and number three
Gardevoir.
After all those Pokémon EX and a
few Trainers, at last we finally hit a
Pokémon that isn’t a Basic Pokémon or a
Pokémon EX!
I will also enjoy one of the
fringe benefits of writing for Pojo by
wishing my sister, Jennie, a happy
birthday!
We are even fortunate enough to
be reviewing a Psychic card.
Purple is her favorite color. ;)
Now let me share my mind with you.
Stats
Gardevoir
is a Stage 2 Pokémon, which means it
will struggle in the current format.
You’ll never get it into play
before your second turn, and even that
requires using
Rare Candy on a
Ralts.
If you have to manually Evolve
you’ll have to not only go through
Ralts, but also a
Kirlia.
If you don’t have some form of
Item denial ready, odds are you’ll go
through at least one extra
Ralts during this process (unless
you already have something in play
requiring your opponent’s attention).
This is a pretty brutal format
for Stage 2 Pokémon to compete in.
Being a Psychic Type would be useful,
except if you’ve read the full card you
know its one attack doesn’t apply
Weakness or Resistance… and there isn’t
really any direct Psychic-Type support
(other than itself).
Support for Psychic-Type Energy,
but not the actual Pokémon Type.
So ultimately being a Psychic
Type is meaningless to the card.
110 HP is poor indeed for a modern Stage
2 Pokémon.
The premiere non-Pokémon EX
beatsticks,
Zekrom and
Reshiram, are capable of OHKOing
Gardevoir, and the next level down (Landorus,
Tornadus,
Thundurus,
Cobalion,
Terrakion and
Virizion) just need to spam
PlusPower or drop the unexpected
Black Belt to score a OHKO.
Hopefully this indicates how
powerful the Ability is anticipated to
be by R&D.
Thanks to
Mewtwo EX Psychic Weakness is the
worst right now, and
Gardevoir will go down to 60 points
of damage since Weakness turns that into
120.
The lack of Resistance is
disappointing, but not as much as the
Retreat Cost.
One Energy requirement higher and
(besides perhaps justifying a little
more HP or some other small benefit)
Gardevoir could have been a
Heavy Ball target.
At least as it is, when coupled
with the card’s Ability (as we will see)
the two Energy Retreat Cost on
Gardevoir acts more like a single
Energy Retreat cost, which is pretty
easy to pay in most decks.
Effects
Gardevoir
possess the Ability Psychic Mirage,
which unless something is negating it is
always on.
Simply put, basic
Psychic Energy cards are treated as
providing (PP) while attached to
Psychic-Type Pokémon, and if there was
any question the attack clearly states
you can only apply one Psychic Mirage at
a time, so it doesn’t stack.
Energy multiplication is a kind
of Energy acceleration and can be both
easier and harder to utilize than extra
Energy attachments.
On the bright side, it affects
the Energy being provided from the cards
themselves, so you don’t have to worry
about supplying extra Energy for more
traditional forms of Energy
acceleration, like those that grant
extra Energy attachments.
The downside is that means unless
you combine it with another form of
Energy acceleration, you simply double
the amount of Psychic Energy a
particular Pokémon has access to in a
turn: you can’t spread it around
(something gets an effective (PP) or it
gets none), and if your opponent has
some
Crushing Hammer it sets you back
fast.
Still it is a great effect
overall; just try to find some extra
Energy acceleration to combine with it
and watch the exponential growth!
Mind Shock, in and of itself, is a bad
attack.
For four Energy, you generally
need to be hitting for at least 80 and a
good effect, and you’re probably better
off with raw damage.
Instead for (PPCC) Mind Shock
hits for just 60 points of damage, and
has the mixed blessing of ignoring both
Weakness and Resistance.
Ignoring Weakness is a drawback
that often outweighs ignoring the
(rarely present) Resistance on a card,
so really the Energy is paying purely
for damage.
On a Basic Pokémon that can
Evolve twice more, I’d expect 50 points
of damage for that much Energy, so a
measly extra 10 points of damage is a
miserly bonus.
Things are a bit better when you
factor in the Ability: you can pull off
Mindshock for just two actual
Psychic Energy, but this also means
the Colorless Energy requirements might
as well have been two more Psychic
Energy requirements (and had the attack
do more).
No sense burning a
Double Colorless Energy on this
unless we get something that shuts off
Abilities
and you were desperate to attack
with it.
When everything is going well and
you’re paying for it with just two
Psychic Energy cards you’re maybe
getting what you pay for.
On a Basic Pokémon that could
Evolve twice more, I’d expect 30 points
of damage for that much Energy, and like
I said the effect pays for itself so
another 30 points of damage isn’t
horrible, but especially for the card’s
only attack it still isn’t good.
Usage
Since this is a Stage 2, let’s break
down its previous Evolutionary Stages.
There is only one currently
Modified Legal
Ralts and
Kirlia, though of course you could
skip some or all
Kirlia if you aren’t concern about
your Items being locked down.
Still let’s examine them quickly
so we know what
Gardevoir has to work with.
Both are Psychic Types so at
least you’ll get a boost if a
Gardevoir is already in play.
Given that
Gardevoir is intentionally on the
small side, I find the 60 HP on
Ralts impressive, though the 80 on
Kirlia is depressing since as usual,
the Stage 1 is being shortchanged on the
HP “bump” it needs more than the Stage
2.
Psychic Weakness is a concern for both:
the few Psychic Pokémon that are about
straight up damage jump to OHKO status
against them, including the
oh-so-popular
Mewtwo EX.
In fact
Mewtwo EX just needs a
Double Colorless Energy and either
is gone in one shot due to that
Weakness.
The lack of Resistance is
irritating but nothing more since
neither really had the HP to survive
anything important (unless TPC suddenly
decided to make the Psychic-Type
resistant to its self like in the video
games).
The single Energy Retreat Cost is
expected of
Ralts, but useful should either
player be running
Skyarrow Bridge, and a little less
likely but useful without any combos for
Kirlia.
The attacks are nothing special, but
adequate.
Sadly they don’t capitalize on
the Ability of
Gardevoir.
If pair of
Ralts and
Kirlia should have had Energy hungry
attacks, it was this set.
Instead each is
Double Colorless Energy compliant;
go figure.
For one Psychic Energy
Ralts can do a paltry 10 points of
damage, which is a little overpriced; it
should have gotten a tacked on extra
effect and since it
needs to survive getting gypped out
of even a token flip for a Special
Condition stings.
Both Pokémon can do 20 for (CC),
which is solid but since they might have
this
Gardevoir backing them, this was
probably the time to have attacks
requiring (PP).
The big attack on
Kirlia is still
Double Colorless Energy friendly,
requiring just (PCC) and has a slightly
underwhelming base damage of 40.
The effect isn’t bad though: 10
extra damage per Energy attached to the
Defending Pokémon.
Again it is a bit disappointing
since
Kirlia since
Gardevoir is likely in the
background and
Kirlia is a sacrificial attacker,
but being independent isn’t totally bad
either.
Plus while it can’t OHKO
Mewtwo EX, after all is said and
done
Kirlia can probably finish off an
injured one.
With all that focus on the lower Stages,
you might be worried that means I don’t
have a lot to say about actual
Gardevoir usage, but don’t worry
it’s just me being thorough.
Almost every Psychic-Type Pokémon
every printed has synergy with this
card, but I’ll try and focus on the
highlights.
Something common to
most of these is you’ll need to look
into an additional form of Energy
acceleration and/or retention, and in
many cases unless you also run those
cards you won’t generate advantage fast
enough to matter.
-
Darmanitan
(BW: Next Destinies
60/99) – It may be coin
flip dependant, but
you’ll hopefully average
what you need at a coin
toss per Energy, and 50
points of damage per
“heads”.
Still with its HP
and potential to be
thwarted by an abundance
of “tails”, I’d consider
this a long shot.
-
Drifblim
(HS: Undaunted
12/90) – Even a deck
with just
Double Colorless Energy
is just as fast, but
backed by
Gardevoir the first
attack becomes a
realistic option, and
that small edge matters.
Plus since it
gets out of the way
after attacking, it can
work with
Gothitelle (see
below).
-
Gengar
(HS: Triumphant
94/102) –
Lost World decks
could make a comeback.
If your opponent
can’t shut you down
before you even begin,
it’s pretty hard to
outpace the sheer amount
of Pokémon a good deck
will remove before
Lost World hits play
for the win.
-
Gothitelle
(BW: Emerging Powers
47/89) – While
Gothitelle will
probably fall quickly to
Mewtwo EX, if you
maintain the lock and
can keep replacements
coming,
Mewtwo EX falls just
as face to
Gothitelle.
Against
everything else, it’s
all a question of how
badly the deck needs its
Item cards.
-
Jirachi
(HS: Unleashed
1/95, Call of Legends
11/95) – Besides even a
single “heads” on
Stardust Song making for
a solid combo with
Shaymin(HS:
Unleashed 8/95),
should you encounter an
Evolution heavy deck you
could score a mass
Evolution like we having
seen since
Ancient Technical
Machine [Rock] was
legal.
-
Mew
(HS: Triumphant
97/102) –
Mew Toolbox decks
are unlikely to See Off
something with a massive
Energy requirement, but
every little bit helps,
plus
Mew is likely to be
the actual attacker when
using the
Gengar strategy
above; just See Off one
first turn.
-
Mewtwo EX
(BW: Next Destinies
54/99, 98/99) – Honestly
I don’t think this
matters enough to make
the two a strong deck,
but they leave plenty
off room for another
Evolution line and/or
few other Basic Pokémon.
Try to build a
massive X-Ball or just
settle for a steady
stream of Psydrive
shots; either will give
the opposing deck a run
for its money.
-
Muk
(BW: Next Destinies
53/99) – Toxic Secretion
might actually be good
enough for two Energy,
and even if
Gardevoir can be
forced forward to OHKO
in retaliation, can your
opponent afford Gentle
Wrap the next turn
(which you should be
able to afford even
without Psychic Mirage)?
Before someone
thinks I’ve lost it,
this one is quite the
long shot; I just feel
like I’m missing that
last piece of its combo.
-
Weezing
(HeartGold/SoulSilver
34/123, Call of
Legends 38/95) – The
Mewtwo EX counter we
all know isn’t quite
good enough, but backed
by
Gardevoir and being
succeeded by a
Gothitelle it does a
respectable job.
As I said, a secondary source of Energy
acceleration (including Energy
retention) is a big part of making
Gardevoir work.
Electrode (HS: Triumphant
93/102) may be pricey (costing itself, a
Prize, and the top seven cards of your
deck), but the potential payout is
immense: each basic
Psychic Energy you hit provides (PP)
to the recipient after all, and if
something doesn’t need a lot of Energy
that turn there is no harm in spreading
it out and possibly having your next
three attackers all at their minimal
Energy requirements to attack.
Another card to remember is
Exp. Share: if you’re not dealing
with Basic Pokémon (that should be using
Eviolite), then your Evolutions
should have
Exp. Share.
A single one in play for a single
KO is good for (PP) with Psychic Mirage
doubling that basic
Psychic Energy card, but remember
this nifty little Pokémon Tool can
stack, and in more ways than one.
If you’ve got two Pokémon in
play, each with an
Exp. Share in play, they each can go
off when your opponent KOs one of your
Pokémon, and if there were at least two
basic
Psychic Energy attached to said KOed
Pokémon, each of the Pokémon with
Exp. Share get one of those basic
Psychic Energy cards.
On top of that,
Exp. Share sticks around and
triggers over and over again, provided
all other conditions for it are met.
If you’ve got a string of
Gothitelle falling in battle after
getting off an attack of their own, you
can have your final
Gothitelle soaking up the Energy of
her sisters, so that she’s stepping up
with three our four
Psychic Energy cards that
Gardevoir has doubled to count as
(PPPPPP) or (PPPPPPPP).
With that kind of investment,
Madkinesis hits for 150 or 190,
respectively.
Shaymin(HS:
Unleashed 8/95) could show up as
well, since something like
Mewtwo EX is likely to survive a hit
or two
and you can move any accumulated
Energy off of it to a back-up attacker
(even if it is another
Mewtwo EX).
If that doesn’t sound likely,
even a clutch
Energy Switch (HeartGold/SoulSilver
91/123, Black & White 94/114) can
do wonders (especially since most decks
would already have
Junk Arm (HS: Triumphant
87/10) to reuse it if you did need more
than one copy).
All this probably sounds too good to be
true, and of course it is: everything I
just listed won’t all fit into one deck,
though many can fit into a single one.
A
Gardevoir/Gothitelle
deck should be running
Exp. Share,
Jirachi (for the ability to Devolve
– possible Energy acceleration is a
bonus),
Mewtwo EX (as the back-up attacker),
and hopefully that leaves room for a 2-2
line of
Electrode.
Keep in mind we are talking a
single
Jirachi and probably just two
Mewtwo EX: both are only for
desperate situations and surprise final
shots where breaking the lock doesn’t
matter because you just won.
Of course if you can’t get a hold
of some of what I just said, you
probably can squeeze in a surprise 1-1
Weezing or
Drifblim line.
So what about Unlimited?
There are plenty of famous
Psychic-Type Pokémon from formats past
that would love the boost.
In fact, other
Gardevoir (and alternative
Kirlia Evolution,
Gallade) are probably the top
candidates.
The first
Gardevoir we received was EX:
RubySapphire 1/109 (reprinted as
EX: Power Keepers 9/108) possesses
the Poké-Body Psy-Shadow, which snags a
Psychic Energy from your deck and
attaches it to your choice of your in
play Pokémon, at the cost of also
placing two damage counters on it.
So a pair of them on your Bench
would mean an instant (PPPP) to whatever
other Psychic Pokémon you ran.
While others aren’t bad, the real
prize is
Gardevoir LV.X.
It’d bump up today’s card to 130
HP, and according to a reasonably
reliable source (the
Ask The Masters forum on
Pokegym.net) a Level X version of a
Pokémon
can access an Ability on the Pokémon
it was Leveled Up from!
So for a single basic
Psychic Energy (if you Level Up
today’s
Gardevoir), you could use the attack
Bring Down.
Bring Down has you choose the
Pokémon with the lowest HP (that
includes yours and your opponent’s) and
KO it (the
Gardevoir LV.X that uses the attack
is excluded).
This gives excellent odds of
creating a “donk” deck, and with the
right back-up cards one that can fight
back when it fails.
You’ll need
Broken Time-Space,
Ralts,
Kirlia,
Gardevoir (today’s version),
Gardevoir LV.X and a basic
Psychic Energy at minimum, but for
Unlimited that’s pretty good.
So what about Limited?
As long as you pull enough
Psychic Pokémon to support it, it’s a
great.
Ralts might barely make it into a
deck as a filler basic/weak Psychic
Splash, and if you can afford a few
Psychic Energy cards
Kirlia is actually a good attacker
here (especially if you can keep it on
the Bench while your opponent tries to
power through something else up front).
Gardevoir is almost the icing on the
cake in this case, since things get
quite sweet once you have it backing the
solid selection of Psychic-Type Pokémon
in this set.
If you just get a 1-1-1 line and
no other Psychic-Type Pokémon, I’d pass,
and even a 2-2-1 line if you don’t have
any worthwhile Psychic-Type Pokémon to
run with it isn’t being run for the
Ability, but because it’s a 2-2-1 line
that just needs one
Psychic Energy to cover its Psychic
Energy requirements for its later
Stages.
Ratings
Unlimited:
3.75/5
Modified:
3.5/5
Limited:
3.5/5
Combos With:
Exp. Share,
Gothitelle (BW: Emerging Powers
47/89)
Summary
So there we have
Gardevoir, the number three card of
our countdown, and my number three pick
as well.
Given the scores I just gave,
that probably seems odd.
I don’t like to score something
high just because it combos well; that
matters, but the success or failure of
Gardevoir rests squarely on how well
the rest of the cards that can benefit
from it perform.
Even in the best case scenario,
though, this
Gardevoir is unlikely to define the
metagame, much like all the other cards
we’ve reviewed so far. They’ve been
good, sometimes technically better than
Gardevoir, but their overall impact
will be less than that of
Gardevoir.
They are fine tuning what already
existed.
The last two cards are both great
and should have a significant impact on
the game.
Please check out my eBay sales by
clicking
here.
It’s me whittling away at about
two decades worth of attempted
collecting, spanning action figures,
comic books, TCGs, and video games.
Exactly what is up is a bit
random.
Pojo.com is in no way responsible
for any transactions; Pojo is merely
doing me a favor by letting me link at
the end of my reviews.
