Chill & Cilan & Cress – Fusion Strike
Date Reviewed:
December 1, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 2.00
Expanded: 2.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Chill & Cilan & Cress (SW – Fusion Strike 227/264, 258/264, 273/264) is not a TAG TEAM Supporter. I’m probably the only one who saw the name and got excited for nothing. This is one of the new Fusion Strike Supporters, so that’s something they has going for them. Which becomes even more obvious after you read their effect: you search your deck for up to three Fusion Strike Pokémon, reveal them, and put them into your hand. You’re getting a triple Pokémon search that doesn’t care about Stage, type, Rule Box mechanics, etc. but you’re restricted to Fusion Strike Pokémon.
Currently, there are only about 20 different Fusion Strike Pokémon split between 13 different Evolution lines. If something is a Basic, you can fetch it with Quick Ball. If it is an Evolution, then there’s Evolution Incense. Those are just the general options: Basic Psychic Pokémon, for example, can be searched out and added to your hand through Fog Crystal. Yes, so far I’m only naming Items that get a single thing from the deck… but they’re Item cards so you’re not out your Supporter for the turn. How can I be so down on Chili & Cilan & Cress when I was so hyped for Adventurer’s Discovery? That is exactly why I doubt Chili & Cilan & Cress: so far, I seem to have been utterly wrong about Adventurer’s Discovery! There are far more Pokémon V than there are Fusion Strike Pokémon, and Pokémon V include Crobat V and Gensect V.
Speaking of Genesect V, I checked the five highest performers in the Mew VMAX/Gensect V deck’s entry over at Limitless. As of writing this review, Mew VMAX/Genesect V is the top deck in the metagame, albeit by less than two percentage points. Looking at the five entries listed at the top of the page, none of them are running Adventurer’s Discovery or Chili & Cilan & Cress. Again, maybe this will change with time, or if another Fusion Strike deck were to emerge… but the reasons I just gave for Chili & Cilan & Cress are why I was most likely wrong about Adventurer’s Discovery. It is just more effective overall to dedicate more space to non-Supporter-based search options.
There is still some hope for Chili & Cilan & Cress. Maybe we’ll receive some more Fusion Strike cards and they’ll somehow make it worthwhile. I know they aren’t totally done, but I don’t know if we’re at the point where just a few more (only one confirmed) will trickle out, or if they’ll keep using this mechanic beyond the typical four-set cutoff. Of course, the above was all about Standard; in Expanded we still have Pokémon Communication and Ultra Ball; I don’t see Chili & Cilan & Cress being better in a Format with more competition. It really feels like this card ought to have snagged any Fusion Strike card in order to have a real chance, but maybe that would have made it too good.
Still, I understand why Chili & Cilan & Cress were a runner-up in our countdown. They didn’t make my list, but still managed to finish in 19th-Place. Or at least, what would have been 19th-Place.
Ratings
- Standard: 2/5
- Expanded: 2/5
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