Stormy Mountains – Evolving Skies
Date Reviewed:
September 3, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 3.00
Expanded: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Remember Brooklet Hill? It was a Stadium that proved to be rather good. Brooklet Hill’s effect is that once, during their turn, the turn-player may search their deck for a Basic [F] or [W] Pokémon, then Bench it. 8th-Place is Stormy Mountains (SW – Evolving Skies 161/203, 232/203), and it is Brooklet Hill except for Basic [L] or [N] Pokémon. You won’t be able to use coming-into-play effects for the Pokémon you fetch through Stormy Mountains, but there aren’t exactly a lot of those, let alone any that see regular competitive play. You can drop Stormy Mountains and easily snag a Basic… and unless your opponent is running some Basic Lightning or Dragon Pokémon, the best they can do is use it to look through then shuffle their deck. Any extra turns Stormy Mountains stick around are just a bonus.
Is this a Stadium all Dragon decks and Lightning decks will run? Maybe, even if they do, expect Stormy Mountains to be run alongside another good Stadium. Stormy Mountains is most useful early game, while you’re still setting up. Even if that wasn’t the case, there are Stadiums like Path to the Peak that are hard to pass up (unless it wrecks your own strategy). We’ll most likely see a Dragon/Lightning deck built around Rayquaza VMAX and Flaafy (SW – Evolving Skies 55/203; SW – Black Star Promos SWSH122), and this should be great for that deck, which uses a familiar, proven strategy. This is enough to earn a good, solid score in Standard, and even in Expanded as I could see the same deck working there.
That might seem a bit lackluster for a Top 15 pick, let alone one who takes 8th-Place, but I actually have Stormy Mountains as my 6th-Place pick. Why? This expansion has a lot of cards that seem like they’ll matter but there aren’t a lot of obvious, standout powerhouses. Honestly, that’s probably a good thing; a well balanced metagame strikes me as something that wouldn’t have a lot of blatantly strong cards. Stormy Mountains – pardon the pun – looks like a rock solid card, and when things are uncertain, that is very appealing.
Ratings
- Standard: 3/5
- Expanded: 3/5
Vince
Editor’s Note: Vince had Stormy Mountains as his 9th-Place pick.
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