Nickit – SnS Pokemon Review

Otaku

Nickit (Sword & Shield 125/202) may seem like an odd way to kick off our week.  Saturday is Halloween, and whether it makes sense to you or not, Nickit just reminds me of Trick Or Treating.  In general, not this specific card.  It is a Basic, Darkness type with 70 HP, [G] Weakness, no Resistance, a Retreat Cost of [C], and just one attack named “Instigate”.  For [D], Instigate forces your opponent to shuffle their hand, then bottom-deck it.  As long as this results in at least one card going to the bottom of your opponent’s deck, your opponent then draws a new card of three cards (from the top of their deck, as per usual).

The upside of this card are how being a Basic means it is easy to run and being a [D] type means it can make use of Black Market {*}, though I’m not sure how much that second bit matters.  With 70 HP, the bottom stats probably aren’t going to be too relevant; Nickit is an very easy OHKO.  That attack, though; no matter how large your opponent’s hand is, or how good the cards are in it, those cards are going to the bottom of their deck and your opponent is at the mercy of the top three from their deck, plus whatever is already in play.  Broken?  Hardly, but it might have use for Control decks.

Nickit can evolve into Thievul (Sword & Shield 126/202) or Thievul (SW – Darkness Ablaze 113/189).  Both are Darkness, Stage 1 Pokémon with 100 HP, [G] Weakness, no Resistance, a Retreat Cost of [C], and two attacks.  Sword & Shield 126/202 can use “Thief” for [D] to do 20 damage and not only see your opponent’s hand, but pick one card your opponent must place on the bottom of their deck.  Which builds on Nickit’s own attack.  For [DCC] Thievul can use “Darkness Fang” instead, doing 90 damage.  Not awful since you could fuel it relatively quickly (hello Twin Energy), but we’re getting to the point that just [CC] ought to do around 90.

SW – Darkness Ablaze 113/189 can use “Nasty Plot” for [D] to search your deck for any two cards, then add them to your hand.  This would be a slick Ability, but is only so-so as an attack.  It can also use “Sharp Fang” to do 70 damage, and this costs [DD]… which is definitely overpriced.  Having these two as options isn’t worthless, but it isn’t worth much, either.  The Expanded Format is a mystery; there’s more combo partners, so Instigate (and maybe Thief) could lead to some incredible combos… but we have so many other options and even Thievul is a probable OHKO (before Weakness).  In the Limited Format, Nickit seems pretty good.  You’ll need a source of [D] Energy you can spare, and you may need to watch your timing.  Wait until your opponent burns one of their few “big draw” or key search effects, then maybe Instigate.

Ratings

• Standard: 2/5
• Expanded: 2/5
• Limited: 3/5

If you’re wondering, yes, I am being generous.  I just have a gut feeling that Instigate could lead to something in the right kind of control deck.  I’m basically rounding up from a 1.5 out of 5 for this card.

Vince

Coming Soon