Galarian Sirfetch’d – Rebel Clash Pokemon Review

Otaku

Galarian Sirfetch’d (SSH – Rebel Clash 095/192) a [F] Type, giving it good odds of exploiting Weakness, good (bad?) odds of crashing into Resistance, access to some spiffy type-support, and a vulnerability to some (seldom used) type-specific fighting counters.  Galarian Sirfetch’d is a Stage 1 Pokémon, evolving from Galarian Farfetch’d.  As per usual in the TCG, that “Galarian” in the name makes the line distinct from the regular Farfetch’d (which has no evolution).  Currently, there are no effects (helpful or hurtful) that specifically refer to Galarian Pokémon, but we’ve seen such things for other differently-named cards, so it could show up in a future release.  There’s only one Galarian Farfetch’d, and it isn’t anything special.  Being a Stage 1 means Galarian Sirfetch’d is neither slow nor fast, easy nor difficult to run.

Galarian Sirfetch’d has 130 HP, so it more likely to be OHKO’d than not, though you are on the higher end and thus not super fragile.  Galarian Sirfetch’d is [P] Weak, which means it is especially fragile in that match-up; this is probably a bigger concern right now than in a few weeks, as SSH – Darkness Ablaze is likely to boost the Darkness type, in turn diminishing the Psychic type.  No Resistance is typical, but technically the worst.  A Retreat Cost of [CC] is middle-of-the-road; low enough to play but high enough you’ll usually prefer not to, but Air Balloon can zero it out completely.

Galarian Sirfetch’d knows two attacks.  For [F] it can use “Pierce” to do 40 damage, while [FCC] pays for “Meteor Assault” to do 180 damage, but you then can’t use Meteor Assault again until Galarian Farfetch’d leaves the Active position.  These attacks do good damage for the Energy, and the drawback for Meteor Assault is one we’re used to dealing with on other cards.  Do they hit key amounts, though?  With sufficient bonuses and/or exploiting Weakness… yes.  Diancie {*} can tack on another 20 damage, while Martial Arts Dojo can earn a +10 damage bonus if you have a basic Fighting Energy attached to Galarian Sirfetch’d (+40 if your opponent has fewer Prizes remaining than you).

It is possible to build a deck around Galarian Farfetch’d.  Against targets that don’t need the damage bonus from Martial Arts Dojo, you can use Twin Energy and a Karate Belt – while behind in Prizes – to immediately access Meteor Assault, enough to drop most single-Prize Pokémon and (I think) all [F] Weak Pokémon (before protective effects).  You’ll also get smaller double-Prize Pokémon, like Dedenne-GX.  In fact, Pierce can take out Dedenne-GX if the larger damage bonus from Martial Arts Dojo is in effect!  There are no results from the top cuts of recent effects featuring Galarian Sirfetch’d, but it does enough that it might make for a budget deck, and should probably be remembered in case future support shores it up.

In Expanded, I have no tournament results from when Galarian Sirfetch’d is legal.  It gains access to more [F] support, but I don’t think it can really take much advantage of it.  Still, it likely could still lead to a functional budget deck.  In the Limited Format, Galarian Sirfetch’d is a prime pull.  Even if you can only use Meteor Assault once, it is still a great attack, and Pierce is relatively good here.

Ratings

• Standard: 2/5
• Expanded: 2/5
• Limited: 4/5

I want Galarian Sirfetch’d to be good, but it just missed out by a little bit.  It is a solid Stage 1 that can hit really hard, but needs a bit of help to reuse that attack… which won’t matter if it doesn’t survive the next turn.  Maybe in a few more sets, we’ll have the last bit of support it needs.