League Staff – Vivid Voltage
Date Reviewed: December 5, 2020
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 2.00
Expanded: 2.00
Limited: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
League Staff (SW – Vivid Voltage 153/185) is our second Card of the Day for today. I actually made a mistake when making the schedule. By the time I realized my error, it was too late to correct so we’re just going to roll with it. League Staff is a Trainer-Supporter that lets you draw two cards, and if Wyndon Stadium is in play, then has you draw two more. So, you’re always guaranteed to draw at least two cards, and if the correct Stadium is in play, you get to draw four. I’ve long said that Hop and the other “Draw 3 cards.” Supporters really ought to be “Draw 4 cards.” Supporters. Three cards just isn’t quite enough, but four likely would be, without any other conditions or costs.
We actually received some evidence of this in the Sun & Moon era because of Coach Trainer. This Trainer-Supporter also let you draw two cards, then another two if a condition was met; instead of it being about you running a particular Stadium, it was about your opponent having a TAG TEAM Pokémon Active. You couldn’t control whether your opponent was running TAG TEAM Pokémon in their deck, but they were the dominant force in the metagame when Coach Trainer released, so it did see some play in successful, competitive decks. League Staff improves on this by giving you a condition you control; the Stadium you have in play. Stadium cards aren’t the easiest to search out, but we do have a few tricks like Guzma & Hala, as well as Stadium Nav.
You’re locked into using a particular Stadium card if you want to reliably use League Staff, but in the end you get good, solid draw out of it that does not require trashing your existing hand, which makes it easier to build combos. So… how good is Wyndon Stadium? Its effect activates when you evolve your Basic Pokémon V by playing a Pokémon VMAX from your hand, during your turn. You heal 100 damage from the Pokémon you just evolved. Wyndon can activate multiple times during your turn if the conditions are met, and 100 damage is good… but it isn’t great. Big attackers that OHKO your Basic Pokémon V still OHKO your Basic Pokémon V. Even heavy hitters that aren’t quite into the “OHKO Basic Pokémon V” range may still be looking at a 2HKO against your partially healed, freshly evolved Pokémon VMAX.
Which isn’t to say that Wyndon Stadium is useless. Moderately sized attacks no longer set up for a 2HKO, and attacks which do 100 or less damage essentially have that damaged erased. After evolving, however, Wyndon Stadium isn’t doing your Pokémon VMAX any real favors. Other than letting you us League Staff to draw four cards. I was very excited when I first saw League Staff, and I’m not knocking it now, either… but the hype has long since faded. If you’re running a deck built around a Pokémon VMAX, League Staff plus Wyndon Stadium might be right for it… in Standard. In Expanded, there’s just too much competition for Stadiums, for draw Supporters, and even for healing. As for the Limited Format, a “Draw 2.” Supporter is better than no Supporter, and you may need Wyndon Stadium just to discard an opponent’s other Stadium, so League Staff is still useful.
Ratings
- Standard: 2/5
- Expanded: 1/5
- Limited: 3/5
What can I say? I blew it on this one. I had League Staff as my 13th-Place pick, which is why it made the site list at 20th-Place. There is some potential here, especially if we receive more connected card effects that are at least decent.
Vince
Note: League Staff did not make Vince’s Top 15, but League Staff with Wyndon Stadium (treated as a single entry) was an unnumbered, honorable mention.
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