Pikachu #140- V-Union
Date Reviewed:
October 25, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: See Below
Expanded: See Below
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
If you skipped yesterday’s review, we’re looking at our first V-Union card, piece by piece! You should probably go back and read it, and/or read the official Pokémon site’s article explaining the V-Union mechanic before reading this review. Still, if you cannot or will not, here’s the quick and dirty explanation. V-Union are a new third kind of Pokémon V, made from four individual pieces (cards) that have the same name, with the card art each being a quarter of the same illustration. Yes, this means they are also another addition to the list of Pokémon with a Rule Box. You don’t put Pokémon V-Union into play from your hand, but instead there is a Rule Box on each card explaining how you need all four in your discard pile, at which point you can Bench the entire V-Union so long as you have an empty Bench space (which the V-Union then fills).
You can only put a particular V-Union into play once per game via the Rule Box instructions printed on it. This is one of those Rules/effects that does not reset just because the pieces moved from one zone to another. All four pieces of a particular V-Union share certain stats, which are printed on each card: Name, Stage of Evolution, Type, and a Rule Box explaining how to put your V-Union into play. This information is found on different areas for each piece, and the game recognizes it regardless of whether that piece is in your deck, in the discard pile, in the Lost Zone, or in play. The 4 Copy Rule still applies, so if you want a playable V-Union you’ll need one of each piece in your deck. You may run multiple V-Unions in the same deck: each can be put into play via its Rule Box text once per game.
With that background information addressed, today we’re looking at Pikachu V-Union (SW – Black Star Promos SWSH140). The reason we’re only looking at a single card per time is because it just gets messy looking at the whole thing at once. As with yesterday, the [L] typing seems good as most [W] types are [L] Weak, and Speed [L] Energy is a decent trick. We can now officially see that Pikachu V-Union has 300 HP, the minimum for a Pokémon V-Union, but still sturdy. While we’ll gloss over most aspects of Pikachu V-Union found on its other pieces, do note that 300 is difficult to OHKO but well worth it, because V-Unions are worth three Prizes when KO’d. Yes, just like Pokémon VMAX.
In terms of effects, this card only features one: “Shocking Shock” for [LC]. This attack lets Pikachu V-Union do 120 damage to your opponent’s Active, plus it has you flip a coin. If “heads”, your opponent’s Active is Paralyzed (on top of taking the 120 damage). If “tails”, you just get the damage. This is a decent attack, maybe even a somewhat good attack. [LC] isn’t easy to provide in a single turn, but there are Trainers that can help Pikachu V-Union out, like Bede. That is not a recommendation. Instead, you’ll probably want to back up Pikachu V-Union with Flaaffy (SW – Evolving Skies 055/203; SW – Black Star Promos SWSH122). Its “Dynamotor” Ability should make powering up Pikachu V-Union in one shot quite probable. For Shocking Shock, this is both a “pro” and a “con”. It makes paying for Shocking Shock relatively easy, but it also helps with more expensive attacks.
Which means, much like this combo can help you skip the “Union Gain” attack found on Pikachu V-Union (SW – Black Star Promos SWSH139), it can also let you skip Shocking Shock in order to use Pikachu V-Union’s two other attacks. Yes, Pikachu V-Union has four total attacks; V-Union quarters can – apparently – have up to two attacks or one attack and Ability on each fourth. I won’t be explaining what the other two attacks do, as we’ll be looking at the remaining two Pikachu V-Union cards soon, but I can tell you that they’re better attacks – in general – than Shocking Shock. Still, Shocking Shock ain’t bad. Indeed, there may be times when you really need it to try and Paralyze while doing solid damage for the Energy provided.
I am scoring each quarter piece of Pikachu V-Union separately: today’s Pikachu V-Union earns a three-out-of-five in both Formats. The HP isn’t as good as it could be, but 300 is still good… just like it is for the smallest Pokémon VMAX. Shocking Shock also does just enough that you’ll probably use it some of the time. Now, why is the Expanded score the same? While there’s a lot more competition, and more counters, this Format still has cards like Thunder Mountain {*} and Tapu Lele {*}. If you have both and a manual Energy attachment to spare, Pikachu V-Union can access its larger attacks Turn 2 (the first Turn someone can attack). However, all the times that you only have two of the three resources available, Shocking Shock is still in range, ready to OHKO smaller targets, and soften up while potentially Paralyzing larger ones.
Ratings
- Standard: 3/5
- Expanded: 3/5
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