Togekiss V – Pokemon Vivid Voltage

Otaku

Remember the “lead-in” reviews we did during the Champion’s Path countdown?  Letting us cover things like the lower Stages of a Pokémon line before reviewing its final Stage of evolution that actually made the countdown?  The schedule did not permit that this time.  For someone like me, I basically end up reviewing a card like Togekiss V (SW – Vivid Voltage 140/185, 178/185) when I review something like Togekiss VMAX (SW – Vivid Voltage 141/185, 191/185).  As Togekiss VMAX is our 12th-place pick and there’s only the one Togekiss V, I decided to just schedule it as a bonus review, so that I can run through its stats, effects, and uses and just reference it in the main review for today.  Instead of making my Togekiss VMAX review a big mess.

Togekiss V is a Pokémon V, worth an extra Prize when KO’d, unable to make use of certain support like Scoop Up Net, while being targeted (usually alongside Pokémon-GX) by the detrimental effects of cards like Telescopic Sight.  These drawbacks come with some serious benefits, however.  Togekiss V is a Basic Pokémon, instead of a Stage 2 like the baseline version of Togekiss, with 60 more HP than the most recent baseline Togekiss card (SM – Unbroken Bonds 138/214), and might enjoy better effects than would normally appear on such a card, relative to costs or drawbacks associated with those effects.  For the very new, know that the “V” at the end of card’s name also means it is treated as being a totally separate entity from cards just named “Togekiss”.  For example, your deck could contain four copies of Togekiss V, four copies of Togekiss VMAX, and four copies of Togekiss (SM – Unbroken Bonds 138/214).

Togekiss V is a Colorless Pokémon; we aren’t worried about the Unlimited Format, so nothing is going to be Weak or Resistant to it.  Togekiss V can make use of Powerful [C] Energy, with there being no anti-Colorless effects in Standard.  Expanded adds a few more bits of support that could – but probably won’t – matter, plus some anti-Colorless effects which probably won’t – most of it is terrible – matter.  As mentioned earlier, Togekiss V is a Basic; the fastest Stage to hit the field, requiring the least amount of deck space to run.  In other words, the best Stage.  200 HP is low for a Basic Pokémon V, but still a decent amount; [L] Weakness means Togekiss V is a probable OHKO in such match-ups, while -30 [F] Resistance can help against specific attackers.  The Retreat Cost of [C] is good; most of the time this is easy to both pay and recover from having paid.

Togekiss V knows two attacks, “White Wind” and “Speed Wing”.  The former costs [C] and lets Togekiss V attack for 20 damage, or 90 if your opponent’s Active is an Evolution Pokémon.  For [CCC], the latter attack does 130 damage with no additional effects, good or bad.  Having purely [C] Energy requirements allows Togekiss V to be incredibly flexible in the Energy it uses, being off-type without one of the major drawbacks.  It also means you can pile on Colorless Special Energy cards without as much risk of them going to waste.  Neither are massive advantages, but they are appreciated.  White Wind is somewhat specialized; barring those with shortcuts, every Evolution has to go through its Basic, but not every Basic Pokémon has an Evolution… and Evolutions usually have more HP, meaning a diminishing return for hitting them harder.  Speed Wing isn’t good enough to justify running Togekiss, but it is a solid return for the Energy.

If Togekiss V couldn’t evolve, it would be filler.  Hardly the worst filler, but something you’d have zero reason to play.  It does evolve, so it instead becomes a stepping stone on the path to Togekiss VMAX.  You need it to be there, but it is neither a help or a hindrance.  As for Togekiss VMAX, see its actual review for details, but yes, the card brings enough to the table to improve Togekiss V’s scores… or it would, if I was still stressing about partial points.  Togekiss V arguably gets better in Expanded; more competition, more threats to face, but it gains access to Double Colorless Energy, Fighting Fury Belt and/or Muscle Band, plus some worthwhile targets where those two things can matter.

If you pull Togekiss V in the Limited Format, run it.  Though small for a Basic Pokémon V, and at risk due to the Lightning presence in this set, White Wind can help you deal with early Evolutions, until two turns later when you just start using Speed Wing to OHKO most targets, and 2HKO anything that is not the rare Pokémon VMAX.  If you yourself also pull Togekiss VMAX, all the better.  If you pull another Basic Pokémon V worth running, you can run both even in a Mulligan build.  If you are worried about the dangers of an opponent – especially a [L] type – that can overwhelm Togekiss V’s HP, it can still easily fit into any other deck.

Ratings

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

Togekiss V isn’t especially memorable, and for something fairly plain it is still decent.  Honestly, if it just had one more thing going for it, even something as simple as a natural free Retreat Cost, I’d have scored it higher.  It should go without saying that Togekiss V did not even come close to making my personal list, and no one nominated it for the countdown.  What I probably should mention is that, while Togekiss VMAX made the countdown, I didn’t have it on my list.  Togekiss V does seem to be better than I thought, however… still too far below a three-out-of-five to round up to that score.