|
And now we come to a card based off
of a living legend, a man fascinated by stones and
ancient lore, loves to hang around caves, and
appreciates the finer things in life...like being the
Champion and having a Mega-Metagross. That's right,
today we review STEVEN!!
Still not as good a Champion as
Lance, but what can you do...
Steven here is, naturally, a
Supporter! And what kind of Supporter you may ask? Well
he's one of those "fetch" Supporters like Skyla and
Korrina - he grabs something out from your Deck that you
need based on the situation and puts it into your hand.
It's a pretty essential concept to have, and in some
decks it can even lead to essential cards; Skyla would
be run in Empoleon and Dusknoir decks for that Rare
Candy while Korrina is definitively Fighting-support. So
what does Steven grab?
Another Supporter and a basic
Energy card!
...alright, that's not terrible.
Maybe you got cheated out in the first hand and don't
have any Energy to play - which by the way, if you've
got the right Supporters, that should never be
the case. So you need to grab yourself a Supporter to
get the card you need, right? Right! There's just one
problem: you just played your Supporter for the turn.
What's his name? STEVEN
In an environment where Supporters
play a very particular role, Steven ends up supporting
Supporters. That's like Trainers' Mail in a way, only
you can only one per turn and you can't play the card
you just added to your hand. It's TERRIBLE!! There's
also the idea that it's a deck thinner by about two
cards, but you know what does it better? Battle
Compressor, and at least it has the decency to be an
Item!
I would've though Steven could go
places - he was one of my lower picks for the Top 10 -
but just thinking about the way Steven works is
just...no! NO! Steven shouldn't be hindering you like
this! Maybe if he grabbed any Energy - just that on its
own - that'd be fine, or better yet he helps bring out
your Megas - kinda like how he was helping the player in
ORAS in terms of working on that Mega Evo, he hands you
the stone your starter Mega-Evolves with for crying out
loud!
But nope, he's just a Supporting
Supporter for Supports with a little Energy grab, and in
an environment where Supporter spaces are contributed to
stuff that actually aids the deck in terms of
consistency, Steven is just not worth running.
Rating
Standard: 1.5/5 (the .5 is only for
the Energy grab and the deck-thinning, and even then,
let's be honest, there are much better options for both)
Expanded: 1/5 (NOPE)
Limited: 3/5 (alright, he's...I
dunno, okay here? He can nab you a Wally or Winona for
the Supporter, which is...well, limited, let's be
honest. Deck thinning I suppose is its biggest
contribution here)
Arora Notealus: Don't get me wrong,
Steven's a cool guy. Knows a lot about the Hoenn region,
and he's a lot more active as a Champion, which is
something few other Champions can speak for. In fact, I
think only Cynthia, Lance, and heck even Blue in a way
are like that. Alder...well, he's around, but you don't
fight him till post-game, Iris isn't as active in B2W2,
and you only really see Diantha once. Let this be a
lesson to GameFreak: BRING BACK ACTIVE CHAMPIONS WHO DO
STUFF!!
Next Time: Speaking of a rival like
Blue!...except for the whole Blue-part of it.
|
