aroramage |
Aromatisse doesn't look like much
at first. 90 HP, Stage 1, and a 3-for-60 vanilla Fairy
Wind don't add up to a whole lot. But what it lacks
in...well, a lot of areas, it makes up for with an
Ability like Fairy Transfer!
Fairy Transfer is a lot like
Klinklang's Shift Gear (BW), but instead of being
attached to a Stage 2, it's on a Stage 1, and instead of
Metal Energy, it focuses more on Fairy Energy. We've
seen how Abilities like this can be utilized - moving
Energy to attackers that need it, moving it off of
Pokemon about to get KO'd, or swapping the Energy around
while using Max Potion in the space when the Pokemon
needs healing but has no Energy to discard. So having
that kind of versatility on in Fairies would surely help
right?
Well, in the beginning of XY,
Fairies weren't much of a Type. Sure, they had Xerneas
and Xerneas-EX, but as a cohesive deck of their own?
They were only just starting out, and just as they were
getting better cards, Max Potion left the format,
bringing down Aromatisse's usefulness. That being said,
it didn't keep Aromatisse out - in fact, there was a new
little deck called the Fairy Toolbox that ended up using
Aromatisse in its strategy. In its infancy, the Fairy
Toolbox used Aromatisse's Fairy Transfer partnered with
powerful Pokemon-EX such as M Kangaskhan-EX, Yveltal-EX,
and Mewtwo-EX, switching around Fairy and Rainbow Energy
to keep things fresh while countering your opponent.
That said though, the biggest weakness to the deck was
the Enhanced Hammer, which could knock off those Rainbow
Energy with ease, and as it came back in, Aromatisse
fell out of favor.
Still, Aromatisse is one of the
better cards with an Energy transference Ability,
especially given that it's a Stage 1. That made it a lot
easier to use than Klinklang, and there's no doubt that
she'll continue to see play over in Expanded...even if
Fairy Toolbox isn't as powerful as it was once upon a
time.
Rating
Standard: N/A
Expanded: 4/5 (pretty good overall,
there's not much to critique about Aromatisse)
Limited: 4/5 (aside from needing a
better attack)
Arora Notealus: You know it's
pretty rare we get a Pokemon with a good supportive
Ability AND a good attack. Kinda like Aromatisse's
Ability or maybe stuff like Volcanion-EX, which have
Abilities to support others but also decent attacks that
aren't vanilla nonsense. Or heck, maybe a GOOD attack,
that would be nice. But then I guess the card designers
would have to start making common cards more powerful
instead of expending it on the rare stuff - I'M ONTO
YOUR GAME, DESIGNERS!!
Next Time: MY SWORD AND SHIELD
SHALL STRIKE YOU DOWN!!
|
Otaku |
17th place for our
Top 20 Cards Lost To Rotation is Aromatisse (XY
93/146). The review crew looked at it
here
when it was new, but I wasn’t a part of the team at that
time. As such I’ll give it the full review
treatment it would normally have, plus explain why
Standard losing it is particularly relevant. Being
a Fairy Type is okay; the only things they hit for
Weakness right now are XY-era Dragon Types and there are
some notable examples like Giratina-EX (XY:
Ancient Origins 57/98, 93/98) to make that useful,
while nothing (at least right now) is Fairy Resistant.
I don’t recall any effects being explicitly anti-Fairy
Type (Pokémon or Energy);there are some nice tricks
built around Fairy Energy but those based on the Pokémon
being a Fairy Type are underwhelming. Being a
Stage 1 is clearly not as good as being a Basic, but
it’s the second best Stage right now with just one turn
to Evolve and one extra card to get the Pokémon into
play. The 90 HP is poor, Aromatisse is
almost a guaranteed OHKO should it be forced Active.
It is Level Ball legal but that’s a small
consolation with most decks running three or four
Ultra Ball for to work better with Shaymin-EX
(XY: Roaring Skies 77/108, 106/108).
The HP makes the
Metal Weakness less relevant; almost anything can pop an
Active Aromatisse and it isn’t even that safe on
the Bench with the 90 HP, so mostly this means a select
few Metal Type attackers with low Energy, damaging
attacks can score a OHKO (usually with a Muscle Band
also required) without building up to their big
attacks. The HP diminishes the value of the
Darkness Resistance; they’ve often (and currently have)
some great attackers that can power through no problem,
but it does mean Aromatisse can survive a hit
when their set up isn’t all there. I don’t know if
Klefki (XY: Furious Fists 73/111) has ever
proven worthwhile in a competitive deck, but if you can
spare Bench space and deck slot its Ability causes the
Resistance on your Fairy Types to count as -40. At
that point, even Aromatisse becomes a tiny bit
more durable in this one matchup. Most would
probably use that space for Mr. Mime (BW:
Plasma Freeze 47/116) or Mr. Mime (XY:
BREAKthrough 97/162; Generations 57/83)
anyway, as the Bench protection is more likely to
matter. Aromatisse has a Retreat Cost of [CC],
which normally isn’t too bad or too good but on such a
tiny card, which we know is meant to be a Bench-sitter,
it is a problem. Thankfully one of the Fairy
Energy based tricks is Fairy Garden, so as long
as you can get a source of [Y] Energy onto Aromatisse
it can enjoy a free Retreat. Shaking things up a
bit, I’m going to cover the lower Stages and other
versions of Aromatisse next because it doesn’t
fit well in its usual spot.
Aromatisse
Evolves from Spritizee. Our options for
Spritzee are XY 92/146, XY: Flashfire
62/106, XY: BREAKthrough 105/162, and XY:
BREAKpoint 84/122. All are Basic, Fairy Type
Pokémon with Metal Weakness, Darkness Resistance,
Retreat Cost [C], no Ability, no Ancient Trait. XY
92/146 has 50 HP, “Sweet Scent” for [Y] (heals one of
your Pokémon by 20) and “Flop” for [CC] (does 30
damage). XY: Flashfire 62/106, has 50 HP, has
Fairy Wind for [Y] (just does 10 damage) and “Fickle
Attack” [YC] (does 30, but “tails fails”). XY:
BREAKthrough 105/162 has 40 HP and “Flail” for [C]
and does 10 damage times the number of damage counters
on Spritzee itself. XY: BREAKpoint 84/122
also has 40, but knows “Beat” for [C] which just does 10
damage. Use a 50 HP version. Two other
Aromatisse exist: XY: BREAKthrough 106/162
and XY: BREAKpoint 85/122. Both
Aromatisse have the same stats as today’s except
with a better Retreat Cost ([C] instead of [CC]).
Also both have two attacks, but no Ability or Ancient
Trait. XY: BREAKthrough 106/162 can Confuse the
opponent’s Active for [Y] with “Heavy Perfume”, and this
Confusion places six damage counters instead of three
when the afflicted Pokémon fails a Confusion check.
Its second attack “Hug” also costs [Y] and does 30 while
preventing the opponent’s Active from retreating. XY:
BREAKpoint 85/122 can use “Dizzying Cologne” for
[C], which does 20 damage and if the opponent’s Active
is a Pokémon-EX, does another 40 (so 60 total).
For [YC] it brings back Fairy Wind but this time doing
40 damage. Some of these might be decent if they
weren’t on a Stage 1 but they are, so stick with today’s
version.
So back to
Aromatisse (XY 93/146): just to get it out of
the way, we’ll cover the card’s attack first and
its Fairy Wind (again). This time it costs [YYC]
and does 60 damage, and that would be bad even on a
sturdy 60-for-three is bad in general made worse because
this is a 90 HP Stage 1. The “Fairy Transfer”
Ability is why Aromatisse made this list; as
often as you like before you attack, Fairy Transfer
allows you to move a [Y] Energy from one of your Pokémon
to another. It works on basic or Special Energy,
the Energy can provide more than just [Y], and
the Types of the Pokémon involved don’t matter unless
the Energy card cares (such as with Double Dragon
Energy or Wonder Energy). Energy
transferring effects are a form of Energy acceleration;
while you’re not directly increasing how many Energy you
have in play, you can optimize what you already have
attached and possibly even save some from being
discarded when a Pokémon is KO’d. Fairy Transfer
became the core of its own deck. Energy transfer
effects have been around since the Base Set but
while they were good, they haven’t always been “good
enough” as there are plenty of times when this nearly
identical effect has failed to yield a competitive deck.
Let’s really dig into that, because it will show that
what plagues Aromatisse is nothing new.
Venusaur
(Base Set 15/102; Base Set 2 18/130;
Legendary Collection 18/110) started it all with
“Energy Trans”, which works like Fairy Transfer
except it shifts around [G] Energy and not [Y].
It was a Stage 2, and just like now being a Stage 2 was
notably slower: Rare Candy was not released until
much later, but Pokémon Breeder also released on
Base Set and was functionally identical. It
wasn’t being a Stage 2 that crippled Venusaur,
however; it didn’t help but what really hurt was that it
proved too difficult to get and keep [G] Energy into
play quickly enough to keep up with the aggressive
nature of the earliest days of the game. Basically
think of what we have now, but Pokémon were smaller,
nothing was worth two Prized when KO’d, and all Trainers
functioned like Items. So why this trip down
memory lane? Aromatisse has had to deal most of
the same problems. It does enjoy complimentary
forms of Energy acceleration. Xerneas (XY
96/146, XY: Black Star Promos XY05, XY: Steam
Siege 81/114) and eventually Max Elixir (plus
a Benched Basic Pokémon) speed basic Fairy Energy
into play but is has to cope with
·
Ability denial
·
Damage spread/sniping
·
Energy discard tactics
·
Item lock
·
OHKOs
Some of these
technically were a problem for Venusaur, except
by the time they hit Venusaur was done or on its
way out.
Fairy Transfer
decks are still seeing some success in
competitive play in Expanded. At the very least,
one managed a Top 32 finish at the Arizona Regional
Championship this last weekend. We don’t have
enough data to know if this is part of an ongoing trend,
the start of a comeback, or one of the last finishes
we’ll see. Looking back, it seems like Fairy
Transfer decks are stuck in a rut; they keep placing,
sometimes even taking second at events, but I can’t
recall any major tournament wins for them last year in
the U.S.A. Of course, there is the entire rest of
the world that could have results proving me wrong, but
with what I could look up quick, Fairy Transfer decks
won’t go away, but they aren’t gaining any either.
Their peak seems to have happened all the way back
between XY: Flashfire and XY: Furious Fists,
when players realized that it was okay to lose a turn
Mega Evolving into M Kangaskhan-EX because with
240 HP, Fairy Transfer, and Max Potion it was
incredibly difficult to OHKO. Then came XY:
Furious Fists and Kangaskhan-EX had to worry
about being OHKO’d before it could Mega Evolve.
That isn’t to say
there aren’t modern deck variants running around using
Aromatisse, either now or within the last year. M
Gardevoir (XY: Primal Clash 106/160, 156/160;
Generations RC31/32) replaced M Kangaskhan-EX
as the Mega Evolution of choice when it released.
I know I do not like to see a Seismitoad-EX up
front, Giratina-EX on the Bench, and a
Spritzee waiting to Evolve as my opponent ends his
or her first turn. Fairy Toolbox never really goes
away; even with just Rainbow Energy and
especially in Expanded where it can tap Prism Energy
as well, you can field a nice variety of attackers to
maximize both Type matching and more card specific
tactics. I know I do not like to see a
Seismitoad-EX up front, Giratina-EX on the
Bench, and a Spritzee waiting to Evolve as my
opponent ends his or her first turn. All of these
have alternative deck builds that either use the same
cards with something replacing Aromatisse, or the
same strategy with different cards. Toolbox is a
generic archetype, transcending the Pokémon TCG and
applying to other games. Seismitoad-EX and
Giratina-EX have plenty of other dance partners as
well. The best example though is what replaced
M Gardevoir-EX based Fairy Transfer decks.
Xerneas BREAK
has the attack “Life Stream”, which is weaker version of
the “Brilliant Arrow” attack found on M Gardevoir-EX.
Both attacks hit harder the more [Y] Energy you have in
play, but while Brilliant Arrow does more damage, it
also is on a Mega Evolution and costs [YCC]. The
BREAK Evolution of a Basic nearly a Stage 1, and
Xerneas BREAK can BREAK Evolve from the original
Xerneas with Geomancy, a card both these decks would
already run. The copies of Mega Turbo that
would help M Gardevoir-EX are replaced with
Max Elixir. Sure it only attached to a Benched
Basic Pokémon and has a chance of whiffing, but as we’ve
learned that isn’t a huge drawback. Even in some Mega
Evolution decks, Max Elixir is preferred to
Mega Turbo. Without Fairy Transfer you have to
attach to the desired target to directly fuel attacks,
but Life Stream can power its damage no matter where the
Fairy Energy cards end up being attached.
The M Gardevoir-EX
in question seems to have been replaced by Xerneas
BREAK; doesn’t hit as hard and it isn’t as big, but
the BREAK Evolution of a Basic is a lot easier to work
with than a Mega Evolution. It also helps that
you’re already including a Xerneas in the deck
anyway. Its “Geomancy” attack and Max Elixir
do a pretty great job of getting Energy into play and
spreading it around, removing the need for a vulnerable
Stage 1 Bench sitter that relies on an Ability.
Now toss in some Exp. Share, maybe some Double
Colorless Energy or even Double Dragon Energy:
“Life Stream”, found on Xerneas BREAK, likes the
+40 damage Double Dragon Energy provides, even if
it requires running a Dragon Type in the deck. I
mean, Giratina-EX (XY: Ancient Origins
57/98, 93/98) is a fine alternate attacker. All
the strategies that typically work well with Energy
When your deck
revolves around Fairy Transfer, now you’ve got to worry
about Garbodor (XY: BREAKpoint 57/122),
Greninja (XY: BREAKpoint 40/122), and
Hex Maniac. All of these show up with one
or more of the other concerns, and Hex Maniac is
a near or loose staple, with VS Seeker allowing a
deck to try and spam a single copy. Of course just
one copy might be all that is needed; prevent a player
from moving Energy to prep a new attacker or move said
Energy off the current attacker so it is safe to Max
Potion, and your opponent has to retreat and give up
an attack (assuming that is an option) or go down
swinging and write off all the attached Energy.
Just one turn of Abilities being down can wreck this
deck. So can a well timed Lysandre if you
don’t have a spare Aromatisse handy, but that
brings us to the next threat, damage spread and sniping
attacks.
Of course there are
cards like Mr. Mime (XY: BREAKthrough
97/162) to offer some protection, but Trevenant BREAK
places damage counters with its attack, while Crobat
(XY: Phantom Forces 33/119), Golbat (XY:
Phantom Forces 32/119; Generations 31/83),
Greninja BREAK, and Trevenant BREAK are just
the highlights of the various attackers or Ability
Pokémon that could place damage counters. Trevenant
BREAK was usually locking down Items at the same
time thanks to Trevenant (XY 55/146), so
spread plus no Max Potion. Greninja BREAK
had either the aforementioned Greninja attacking
to shut down Abilities while the Ability on Greninja
BREAK and (sometimes) the Ability on Greninja
(XY 41/146) might take out your Benched
Aromatisse or help take down you current attacker. Crobat
could augment various other decks; sometimes aggressive
decks by handling the Bench while something else doled
out fast damage, sometimes by allowing Seismitoad-EX
to Item lock while offsetting the low damage output of
“Quaking Punch”, sometimes by augmenting other
snipe/spread attacks and effects.
Crushing Hammer,
Enhanced Hammer, Team Flare Grunt, and
Xerosic were not in every deck, but the threat of
even a TecH copy is an issue for Fairy Transfer,
especially the Supporters that VS Seeker could
spam. It usually takes a few turns before Fairy
Transfer has enough Energy amassed to really do some
good, so even losing one might slow it down another
turn. Another turn for the opponent to spring a
lock, take a KO, etc. Item lock meant you lost
healing tricks; when you’re counting on that clutch
Max Potion for healing or Exp. Share to
lessen how much Energy is lost due to KO, this is a
problem even if you’ve already set up. OHKOs also
trash prevent healing tricks and likely cost the Fairy
Transfer deck 2-3 Energy. More if combined with
Lysandre. There just wasn’t much Fairy
Transfer could do against stuff like Night March, other
than include a general Night March counter like
Jirachi (XY: Black Star Promos XY67) and hope
it was enough. I guess Fairy Transfer decks have
always lacked a good enough attacker that they were
not also sharing with something else. Some
people would back Seismitoad-EX and/or
Giratina-EX with Aromatisse, but manually
attaching Double Colorless Energy and Double
Dragon Energy, or using Bronzong (XY:
Phantom Forces 61/119; XY: Black Star Promos
XY21).
Wow, with all this
sounding so wrong, why is it so bad that Aromatisse
rotated from Standard? As I keep saying, so too
did a lot of competition. Hex Maniac isn’t as
easy to whip out of one’s deck now that the Battle
Compressor is missing from the Battle Compressor/VS
Seeker combo. Some of the alternative forms of
support like Bronzong also rotated, so there
would be less competition in that department as well.
No Startling Megaphone and no Xerosic mean
you lack an easy answer to Garbotoxin based Ability
lock, but it also means cards like Exp. Share
aren’t effectively limited to Regirock (XY:
Black Star Promos 49) anymore. The seeming
answer to Garbodor and Garbotoxin is Beedrill-EX
and the stereotypical Fairy Transfer deck seems quite
welcoming to it. How so? Well Fighting
Fury Belt is a given in a lot of decks, but hey it
will give Beedrill-EX an effective 200 HP,
carrying it out of OHKO range against many decks.
Its “Double Scrapper” attack only needs [C] to use, so
even if your opponent drops another Tool right away, you
can afford to Max Potion away a basic Fairy
Energy, slap another on Beedrill-EX, and
discard the next Tool off of Garbodor. Fairy
Garden means a Beedrill-EX with a source of
[Y] Energy retreats for free (like anything else); Fairy
Transfer is one of the decks that won’t need to burn a
one time resource or include something else just to get
Beedrill-EX out of the way after it’s done its
job. If the Fairy Transfer deck includes
Rainbow Energy, then Beedrill-EX is a flippy
but functional attacker to exploit Grass Weakness; two
out of four “heads” on “Pin Missile” and Fighting
Fury Belt (again) and Grass Weak Pokémon with 180 or
less HP are gone in one shot.
Ratings
Standard:
N/A
Expanded:
3.25/5
Limited:
4.35/5
Summary:
Aromatisse
may have been due had it remained in Standard, but we’ll
never know. What we do know is that it managed to
make Top 32 at this last weekend’s Arizona Regional
Championship; not amazing but good enough I won’t count
it out yet. Great pull for Limited, though it is
possible (but unlikely) you’d pull enough cards that
couldn’t make any use of Fairy Energy that you’d
skip Aromatisse even after pulling it. Also
possible it won’t show up at the right time to do you
much good, given its nature.
Aromatisse
did not make my own Top 20 list. With 15 voting
points it tied with the tag team of
Manectric-EX
and M Manectric-EX, as well as
Lucario-EX.
It came out on top of the threeway tie because when I
average out the lists, ties are displayed
alphabetically… and for various reasons I just went with
that this time. Tomorrow’s 16th place finisher had
a healthy 7 point lead, so even if I had broken the tie
in a different manner, none would have risen
above 17th place.
|
