With the release of Eevee Grove, we’ll be looking over what we think are some of the best cards from the set.
As a general disclaimer, these cards are not ranked in any particular order, nor is this list definitive. These are just our opinions on what we feel people would either enjoy using or be able to leverage in ranked matches.
Some Brief Honorable Mentions:
Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this list, we’d like to go through some promising, if a little unclear, cards in lightning round fashion.
Salazzle is an interesting vanguard unit. It’s no retreat cost, and single-cost attack makes it an excellent target for Dawn to accelerate the activation of your main damage dealer after a switch.
Galvantula shares the spotlight for having no retreat cost. On top of that, its guaranteed Paralysis makes it a nuisance with the right partner. Players running Volt Charge Magneton may find a use for this little guy.
Tsareena comes in as a nasty, if a little gimmicky, tech choice for Grass-type decks. Players can pair this Pokemon with Mars to make sure the opponent has no options left, and with Mallow, a one-shot is the only escape from this lock.
Alcremie is a funny gimmick. By the fifth use of Sweets Relay from any of its partners, Alcremie will be one-shotting anything in the current Pokemon roster.
Snorlax ex, is an adaptable body with a respectable damage output if a player can find the right energy acceleration engine to get this Pokemon going.
Leftovers doesn’t do much on the surface, but prolonging a Pokemon’s knockout by that sliver of 10 health might make the difference between a match loss or win.
Lastly, Tokoal makes for an excellent tech choice for any Fire-type-focused decks. With the Lightning-type Oricorio being a nuisance to ex Pokemon carries like Charizard ex (regardless of the version), Torkoal can easily tag-in and clear the path.
Eevee Grove’s Best Cards:
Eevee Bag
Eevee Bag comes in as a very versatile tool for Eevee-focused decks. With card space being a premium, being able to pivot to either healing or extra damage on the fly can allow a player to find a path to victory a little more often.
Being an Item card, Eevee Bag can stack with similarly natured cards for a more potent effect.
Hau
While Hau only offers his benefits to specific Pokemon, all three do good amounts of damage for their energy cost.
With Hau, Incineroar ex’s Scar-Charged Smash can easily do 170 damage, 190 with Burn, while Primarina ex can reach one-shot thresholds one energy earlier with its Hydropump.
Decidueye ex is already a fast Pokemon with its 2-Energy Cost, Hau extends its lethality range for more robust targets.
Eevee ex
The titular Pokemon from this set, Eevee ex allows more consistency for its evolutionary line as you can now field more than one kind of Eevee.
Its ex nature provides a tougher early game body, and if a player wants to protect their points, they can turn Eevee ex into a one point prize eeveelution down the line.
Flareon and Flareon ex
A two-for-one special. Regular Flareon is the sort of energy acceleration that Fire-type-focused decks have been dying to have.
While normal Flareon needs some initial investment, it’ll pull double-duty by getting your benched Pokemon up to speed with relative consistency. Even colorless Pokemon can take advantage of Flareon’s energy acceleration with the right setup.
When the time is right, a player can easily tag-out Flareon for any of its partners due to its retreat cost matching its attack activation requirement.
As for Flareon ex, it’s a Stage-1 Pokemon that can hit almost like a Stage-2. It can energy ramp itself once it gets going for the cost of a minor hit to its health.
If you’re able to draw into copies of Red, Giovanni, or even the new Eevee Bag, you can essentially knock out Pokemon on the tougher end of the roster.
Sylveon ex
This Pokemon’s value is short and to the point. It’s a Professor’s Research on legs.
In a card game where your max deck size is twenty cards, being able to draw two is a fair amount of card advantage, no matter what your win condition may be. If push comes to shove, Sylveon ex can still offer some bite.
Primarina ex
Hands down, one of the most powerful Pokemon in this set, Primarina ex takes advantage of the energy acceleration Water-types have easy access to by converting excess energy into excess damage.
With Supporter cards like Hau, Misty, and Rare Candy streamlining Primarina ex’s set-up, this card can find itself a place as a strong meta contender.
Dragonite ex
Rounding out the list, Dragonite ex exceeds Primarina ex’s damage output in terms of damage-to-energy ratio.
Unless the opposing Pokemon already has a body of more than 180 health (enhanced by a cape item or not), then almost nothing can survive the first hit.
And while Dragonite ex suffers from being unable to commit to consecutive attacks, its own 180 health pool can allow it to withstand all but the strongest blows.
This can help ensure Dragonite ex can keep going for another attack if the situation calls for it.