Hero’s Medal – Vivid Voltage
Date Reviewed: December 9, 2020
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 1.00
Expanded: 1.00
Limited: 1.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Hero’s Metal (SW – Vivid Voltage 152/185, 201/185) is a Trainer-Item, specifically a Pokémon Tool. While it can be attached to anything, its effect only works for Pokémon VMAX. Specifically, while Hero’s Medal is attached to a Pokémon VMAX, it gives up one fewer Prizes when KO’d by the damage from an opposing Pokémon’s attack, but it also has its maximum HP lowered by 100. Lastly, there’s a final sentence informing you that you cannot attach Hero’s Medal to a Pokémon VMAX unless it has more than 100 HP remaining. Hero’s Medal is essentially a blank Tool when attached to anything that is not a Pokémon VMAX. If the equipped Pokémon VMAX is KO’d by anything other than damage from an attack, your opponent takes the full amount of Prizes. You’re also out of luck if you cannot play it due to Item-denial, if it gets discarded due to a card like Tool Scrapper, or if the effect is negated by something like Lysandre Labs.
Used well, Hero’s Medal can let you take advantage of everything a Pokémon VMAX has to offer except for its HP. Is -100 HP really worth giving up one fewer Prizes? Most Pokémon VMAX don’t gain a full 100 HP when they evolve from their Basic Pokémon V counterpart. There’s also how math can be odd in a game such as the Pokémon TCG. I’ve said before how damage bonuses, HP bonuses, damage reduction, etc. don’t really matter unless they shift how many turns it takes to score a KO or to trigger an effect? Reducing a Pokémon’s maximum HP score is part of the “etc.” If your opponent can easily KO your Pokémon VMAX next turn, but it has 100+ HP left, why not slap on Hero’s Medal to give up one fewer Prizes?
The answer is because you need the space in the deck or the Tool “slot” of that Pokémon for something else! Pokémon VMAX often work hard to leverage their HP scores, so do you include a Tool your opponent might discard just in case you can effectively play it without penalty, or do you stick to the tried and tested strategies with that Pokémon VMAX? The only other point to make about this card is that at least the powers-that-be are learning. Hero’s Medal can be thought of as the nerfed follow-up to Island Challenge Amulet. The same Island Challenge Amulet banned from Expanded, because players figured out a combo where you actually wanted your 90 HP Jirachi-EX to be KO’d from Island Challenge Amulet dropping its maximum HP by 100!
Ratings
- Standard: 1/5
- Expanded: 1/5
- Limited: 1/5
I appreciate what they’re trying to do, but I just don’t think there’s enough of a reward for pulling off this trick. There’s too much that can go wrong, and avoiding the exploit that “broke” Island Challenge Amulet means it is even less likely we’ll find a good use for Hero’s Medal. Even though a 1/5 is the lowest score we hand out here on Pojo.com, it isn’t that this card is abysmal. It is just super specialized and countered to easily.
Vince
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