aroramage |
So now here's an interesting card -
Klefki! The 70 HP 2-for-30 vanilla Fairy
Wind-wielding...Fairy-type!
So what does Klefki then do? Well
once a turn, you can get rid of all the other cards
attached to Klefki and equip it to one of your Pokemon -
like a Pokemon Tool! Heyyyyy, that's pretty cool! On top
of that, Klefki prevents all damage done to the Pokemon
it's attached to by Mega Evolutions! Not too shabby.
After all, there aren't too many who can stand up to the
POWER OF M TYRANITAR-EX!!
...cause that guy...he rotated...so
uhh...yeah...
Alright, so Klefki can manage Mega
Evos for you and...that's about it. It's a niche appeal,
but given the emphasis on Mega Evos with cards like Mega
Turbo and Clawitzer, it looks like there will be a few
Mega decks hanging around. Which is good, cause that
means Klefki could easily see use as a tech against
them. Unfortunately, since that's all Klefki can do,
that's about where all the good stops. Aside from the
fact that he's only countering a specific group of
cards, Klefki is also going to have to compete with the
other Tools you could be attaching to your Pokemon. Just
a little something to keep in mind.
Still, as far as unique cards go,
Klefki's got his name written down on the ever-extending
list!
Rating
Standard: 2.5/5 (a good tech
against a powerful group of cards)
Expanded: 2/5 (I mean, it's hard to
argue against that kind of power)
Limited: 2.5/5 (although being so
specifically designed does make him a sort of
"in-or-out" kind of card)
Arora Notealus: Klefki just seems
to inspire some of the more interesting cards. The
Resistance one from Furious Fists, the Item searcher
from Roaring Skies, and now the Mega-Evo Tool from this
set. I wonder what they'll do with Klefki next design...
Weekend Thought: What did you think
of this week's cards? Think there's potential for some?
Think there's a few with better incentives? Are you in
or out? If you're with me give a shout! I'll lead you
all the way into the glory days-wait, what was I saying?
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Otaku |
Our final review subject this week is Klefki (XY:
Steam Siege 80/114). Normally I follow a step
by step breakdown, but one of the things I’d cover in
the middle of the review is so important it shapes the
rest. So, Klefki has an Ability known as
“Wonder Lock”, which may only be activated while
Klefki in on your Bench; you discard all cards
attached to it and then attach Klefki itself to
one of your Pokémon as a Pokémon Tool card. That
means if a Pokémon already has all of its Tool slots
used up, Klefki can’t do its thing. While
attached in this manner, Wonder Lock prevents all damage
from attacks by your opponent’s Mega Evolutions.
At the end of your opponent’s next turn, the final bit
of this card’s effect discards it from the Pokémon to
which it was attached. This interacts with many
other effects in an almost odd manor. For example,
once Klefki becomes a Tool, effects that apply to
Tools work on it, so (for example) Startling
Megaphone can discard it while the “Tool
Concealment” Ability of Banette (XY: Roaring
Skies 31/108) will also negate its effect.
Before it becomes a Tool, effects that prevent Abilities
from working will apply, but I do not believe this to be
the case after Wonder Lock has already been used.
So it dodges some counters, but not others. Which
is part of the effect’s appeal.
The second biggest concern I think is that Wonder Lock
won’t work while Klefki is Active, allowing it to
potentially get stuck up front. The most important
thing though is that Wonder Lock only matters to Mega
Evolutions: many decks don’t use them and even the ones
that do may be able to just not Mega Evolve and
attack with the Basic Pokémon-EX that goes with that
deck’s Mega Evolution(s). At the same time, the
cost is just Klefki not filling up your Bench.
So with all that understood, now we’ll cover the
rest. Being a Fairy Type means little to Klefki;
besides their best tricks being based on the Energy and
not the Pokémon Type (and thus being accessible to other
Types), we’ll almost never attack with Klefki so
Weakness and Resistance aren’t a concern. Fairy
Type support doesn’t really apply because of how this
card is to be used and Fairy Type specific
counters either don’t exist or I am missing them; either
way they aren’t part of the metagame right now.
Being a Basic does matter; Wonder Guard must be
used from the Bench, so while you risk opening with
Klefki this is better than having to Evolve to use
Wonder Guard. Remember though this means Silent
Lab becomes a danger. 70 HP is low and a quite
probable OHKO but Klefki should seldom be
vulnerable; unless you need Bench filler, Klefki
won’t be in play long enough to be attacked. For
the same reason, Metal Weakness isn’t a big deal either
and Darkness Resistance - while appreciated - will
rarely matter. The Retreat Cost of [C] is
technically good, but if you’re stuck with Klefki
Active it could be a pain. Oh, and for [YC]
Klefki can attack using Fairy Wind, which is better
than something more expensive and/or less Energy
efficient, but is otherwise filler.
There have been a few other Klefki released:
XY: Furious Fists 73/111, XY: Phantom Forces
66/119, and XY: Roaring Skies 48/108. All
are Basic Pokémon with Retreat Cost [C]: other than that
we’ve got a little variety. XY: Furious Fists
73/111 is a Fairy Type with 60 HP, Metal Weakness,
Darkness Resistance, the Ability “Secret Key” and the
attack “Fairy Lock” for [YC]. Secret Key causes
the Resistance on Fairy Types to subtract 40 damage
instead of 20 from attacks, while Fairy Lock does 30
damage while preventing the Defending Pokémon from
retreating. Decent Ability and attack, but not
great; we reviewed it
here
and I stand by my review; if mono/mostly Fairy Type
decks had more of a presence and didn’t need the Bench
space for other cards, this would be an auto-inclusion
but they haven’t been and they do so this
Klefki is just a nice trick for a select few, and
not so brilliant of one to offset being niche (in terms
of ratings).
XY: Phantom Forces
66/119 is a Metal Type with 70 HP, Fire Weakness,
Psychic Resistance and two attacks: “Call for Family”
and “Dull Light”. For [M] Call for Family allows
you to search your deck for two Basic Pokémon and place
them on your Bench. For [MC] Dull Light does 20
damage and Confuses the opponent’s Active. Great
for Limited, not so much for Standard or Expanded, even
in Metal Type decks that need to set up a heavy Bench
presence. I thought I’d reviewed it before, but it
looks like only aroramage
covered it.
Good thing he got it right. Finally we have XY:
Roaring Skies 48/108 which is another Fairy Type
with 60 HP, Metal Weakness, and Darkness Resistance, but
this one is like its Metal sibling by having two
attacks. The first is “Look for Keys” which costs
[Y]: you reveal the top cards of your deck until you hit
an Item, which is added to your hand. The other
cards are shuffled back into your deck. Cute name,
but not worth giving up an attack or potentially
revealing a lot about your deck to your opponent.
For [YC] “Play Rough” does 20 damage and has you flip a
coin to… do another 20 damage on “heads” for 40 total.
“Tails” just means the base 20 damage. We looked
at it
here
and none of us were impressed.
So the only real competition for Klefki (XY:
Steam Siege 80/114) is other cards. I mean
just maybe you’ll have a Fairy or Metal deck where the
other might be useful, but odds are you’ll either be
using this Klefki or no Klefki at all.
Now “other cards” compete with “other cards” all the
time, so that isn’t a particularly useful statement.
Since it acts like a Tool, Klefki is competing
against those but then again since it discards
itself, it is less of a bother than most other Tools are
against each other. As such I believe Klefki
has a nice general usage niche to it; if Mega
Evolutions become heavy in your area this can help you
beat them; an already favorable match becomes more
favorable, while a difficult match-up becomes a little
easier… unless your Abilities are turned off. For
specific usage, this is another Pokémon with an
effect, which means it can be used to fuel things like
the “Bee Revenge” attack from Vespiquen (XY:
Ancient Origins 10/98); just attach it to anything
one turn and the next, it will hit the discard. If
you don’t want to wait, try attaching it to an Unown
and then using that card’s effect to discard itself,
which also discards all cards attached. If you
need disposable bench filler, such as for an M
Rayquaza-EX (XY: Roaring Skies 76/108,
105/108) deck, it also serves there, and is as easy to
recycle as any other Pokémon. Which matters
because Karen is eventually coming; not so good
for Vespiquen (unless we get more cards like
Unown and this Klefki, in which case it might
not matter), but definitely good for M Rayquaza-EX
and replenishing itself after Sky Field is
discarded and many Pokémon removed from the Bench.
Give this a try in Standard and Expanded unless Mega
Evolutions are insignificant your metagame. For
Limited, odds are you won’t face many Mega Evolutions
due to their rarity; normally I am all for being
prepared, but this seems excessive even to me… unless
you’ve just got the room, then go for it.
Ratings
Standard:
3/5
Expanded:
3/5
Limited:
1.75/5
Summary:
Disposable protection for a threat you might not face,
and only lasting one turn when you do run into Mega
Evolutions, nonetheless Klefki is an okay card. Specialized
is not bad, it just means you don’t see as much
play, and this card isn’t even that specialized; it just
depends on the metagame and if/when Mega Evolutions next
become a major presence, expect to see this Klefki
popping up. Post rotation, some are expecting just
that to happen, though I don’t know myself.
Klefki
received two voting points from me, as I ranked it the
9th best card of the set. I was even worried I
ought to have ranked it higher; I mean it is amazing
when you’ve got something like Vespiquen staring
down an M Manectric-EX or M Rayquaza-EX…
but that’s one of the best care scenarios. The one
card it beat on my list (but not the final Top 10),
Magearna-EX, has already proven its worth at Worlds,
where Klefki did not (at least, not in the lists
of those who managed to Top 8). So for the time
being, yeah, I overrated it. Thankfully aroramage
didn’t.
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