Hello 6P, Stephan here with another CoTD. Today I will be reviewing Vanilluxe NDE, a very interesting card. I will review its attack, Ability, HP, retreat, weakness and artwork. So, let’s get right to it.
HP
pokegym.net130 HP was pretty awesome a set ago, but now that we have the EX dragons, it isn’t that great. It avoids the 1HKO from Zekrom BLW and Reshiram BLW still, but it shouldn’t be in the Active anyway. Not great HP, but not awful either.
Ability
Vanilluxe’s Ability reads: “Once during your turn, before you attack, you may switch your active Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon. If you do, your opponent switches his or her active Pokémon with 1-of his or her Benched Pokémon”.
It can be best described as a person who can’t get any Pokémon Catcher or Reversal’s way of sort of disrupting your opponent and getting a free Switch in the process, but your opponent gets to pick which Pokémon they send active, and its on a Stage 2 Pokémon.
It is interesting, but not very good. It could be useful in VVV or maybe The Truth, which are dead or almost dead, respectively. You do not need to go buy 50 copies to make a fortune off of them when the price rises because it never will; it has almost no play value and no collectible value.
Attack
Well… Crushing Ice is just plain bad. I could make a pun and say that it is vanilla, but that would be a lie. It is just awful. For (WCC), it does 60 damage +10 more for each energy in the opponent’s retreat. You should never be stuck attacking with it. It can 1HKO Emboar, but in the decks you would be playing it in, you would have almost no way to get it active unless it is your opponent’s only Benched Pokémon, because you need to run this under Item lock, if you are crazy enough to run it.
Weakness, Resistance and Retreat Cost
He has an irrelevant weakness, which is pretty cool. I know, my puns are awesome. But, seriously, his weakness is probably the only good thing about this card. A Retreat Cost of two isn’t awful, because of his Ability. His resistance is none, so nothing special.
What decks should he be used in?
pokemon-paradijs.comWell, none really. I can give a couple, and this article is running short anyway, so here they are. I know that most are dead/almost dead, but, still, here they are.
The Truth
The Truth obviously runs Vileplume which makes Vanilluxe immune to Catcher. You could run it to get Pokémon like Regigigas-EX or Terrakion out of the active, but it is another Stage 2 to set up, and you would probably have to run a pretty thick line of them. It is a possibility, and if you can get it set up, it can be used to get its really high retreat attackers out of the active if you have to, but it would be extremely hard to set up.
VVV
Well, it can be kind of disruptive, and you are already running Vanilluxe and Vileplume, but there is almost no reason to use this here. You will already be Paralyzing with Vanilluxe NVI, so you shouldn’t need to play this guy, because Paralysis is already disruptive enough. I can see it as a 1-of, but no more, and because you are already running Vanilluxe.
What do I rate this card?
I will have to give it a 4/10. In the decks you can use it in, you are already running two Stage 2 Pokémon, and adding a third one isn’t going to help your consistency. I really want this card to be good, but it is outclassed by Pokémon Catcher, Pokémon Reversal, Pokémon Circulator, Bellsprout TM, Carnivine TM, and Switch.
It falls really fast to Pokémon Catcher as well, and in the decks that you could run it in that have Item lock, you would need a 2-2-2 line, and a slightly disruptive Ability that can get a Pokémon out of your active is really not worth one-tenth of your deck.
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this article, and remember to +1 if you did! Until nEXt time, happy testing!
-Stephan
I love this ability. It’s a shame it has been wasted on a stage 2.
As you said, after I first read this card I thought about the Truth. I would love this ability in there. It would help out with the huge issue that is energy count/retreat costs. Then again there are about four or five abilities I would like in the Truth such as Klinkklang/Mismagius/Meganium/Blastoise, anything to move energy around.
If I was playing VVV — I would tech one. Afterall, I play four Rescue in my list so I don’t need 4 NV Vanilluxe. This ability could help swap out something your opponent throws in the active position to stall with.
He could also take down any fire pokemon in format with its attack which is a plus. (Assuming there are no eviolites).
Overall, it is a meh card but could serve a purpose. Keep in my it will be around for formats to come, but for now I give it a 5/10.
In VVV, I think this Vanilluxe is a little more useful than you give it credit for. One of the challenges with that deck is dealing with the return KO–once you’ve delivered the final blow to the active, your opponent gets one free attack in before you start paralyzing again. However, if you have Slippery-Soles Vanilluxe on the bench, you can force your opponent to bench their almost-KO’d active, and replace it with a brand new paralysis target. As long as you have a free retreater on the bench, you’ll get to choose which attacker you retreat for next. I’ve seen this combined with Kyurem, so that once your opponent has a couple guys reduced to 30 HP or less, you can choose to bring up Kyurem and Glaciate to score 2 KO’s (or even more, if they have babies benched) at the same time, AND protect your pair of Vanilluxes (because now it’s Kyurem taking the hit).
I’m not saying VVV’s BDIF or anything, but it is strengthened by the new focus on EX’s–you get more prizes per helplessly paralyzed opponent. You’ll still take your flip-induced losses with the deck, but I don’t think VVV’s getting the credit it deserves yet. And I think this Vanilluxe makes the deck even better.
Wait I just realized. He said he’d rate the artwork and no one caught that he didn’t rate the picture at all. Not sure whether to remove that from the intro or what. (It’s a nice picture though, I like the serious expression on a big ice cream cone. The ice looks good too.)
would be sweet also in chandelure decks letting you use 3 chandelure abilities a turn…but again you have the nagging issue .. its a stage 2… chandy runs vileplume….and then the idea dies…
No mention of Kyurem/Vanilluxe combo in VVV or Chandy/Vanilluxe? I know Chandy/Vanilluxe never saw competitive play, but it is an interesting way to use the card. And the Kyurem/Vanilluxe combo is what allows VVV to have any chance of succeeding in the future. Being able to score 2 KO’s for the price of one has always been VVV’s strategy, now that pokemon can OHKO Vanilluxe, ability Vanilluxe+Kyurem is really the only way the deck can continually accomplish the 2 for 1, or even 3 for 1 trade. Unless of course you hit no tails and can continue taking a 2 for 1 trade with EX’s, which isn’t very likely =/
Good article though, I always enjoy any mention of the ice-cream Pokemon :D
Sorry, forgot about that. Here is my review of the artwork:
I really love the artwork. In my opinion, the artwork is the best part of the card. I love the way the holo interacts with the rest of the card, (I own one, you have to have it in your hand to know just how awesome the holo looks on the card), I love the coloring, I love almost everything about the artwork. I give it a 9/10.
Look under the weakness, resistance, and retreat cost section. You will see the word “twob”. Just had to point that out because nobody else did.
I’m not editing these in the early morning anymore. Fixed that. (Actually the basic browser spell-checker caught that, I think that may’ve been punched in on accident when editing. Not sure, but that’d be kinda funny.)