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So I like Leafeon. I’m actively praying for the Armageddon that will ensue when they release a version of Palkia ex. To that end, here’s some food for thought as to how Leafeon ex can evolve past mediocre into something great. Be warned though, that may not happen until several sets are released.
Leafeon ex, much like Serperior before it, offers potent energy acceleration, primarily benefitting types like Celebi ex. Leafeon's ability, Forest Breath, which allows Leafeon ex to attach one per turn to itself or benched grass Pokemon, has allowed it versatility as it is able to generate without the deck having to run it. Leafeon even shares the Solar Beam name and 70 damage of Serperior, while fitting into a bulkier package with 140 HP as opposed to Serperior’s 110 HP, and requiring one less evolution. The main draw to Leafeon ex is its ability, which allows it to charge its attack—which requires a costly one and two energy—in just two turns.
Leafeon ex: Lacking as a Standalone Card
The current evaluation of Leafeon ex, gleaned from commentary on the Triumphant Light Tier List #1, is that while it has great potential paired with Celebi ex, its relatively low health pool leaves it quite vulnerable to one shots, negating one of grass’s strong suits—healing. It competes with Exeggutor ex to be the definitive grass ex option and falls into a similar role as an early game powerhouse.
Analyzing Leafeon ex’s Performance in Tournaments
Speaking specifically on its competitive performance, Leafeon ex Celebi ex’s current hold of 4% of the meta share in the top tournaments is declining and has had few notable entries into the top cut of the top tournaments. On week one of Triumphant Light’s release, its overall percentage of the meta ranged from 7-10% in Pocket Legends, Ursiiday #18, and BEC Exeggutive, with the successful decks that saw entry into the top cuts largely capitalizing on the prevalence of Darkrai decks left over from the previous meta.
The top sixty four of Ursiiday’s Pocket Weekly #18 saw five Leafeon decks escape the first round, each using a blend of trainers with the larger share using Irida in addition to a variety of healing effects, with Giant Cape and two Erika proving mandatory. Nearly all chose to run decks with five Pokémon, mirroring the popular Exeggutor ex Celebi ex decks which optimized for a clean start, and all feature at least two total of a combination of Sabrina and Cyrus. These successful decks have formed the core of the archetype, and various iterations have seen limited success since. The decks running Irida have chosen to take advantage of the versatility of Leafeon ex, which by virtue of its ability, can function smoothly while in non-grass decks much like Magneton GA, in order to capitalize on the extra healing a combination of running both Erika and Irida can provide.
While looking over the performance of Leafeon ex Celebi ex in tournaments since Ursii #18 to Ursii #20 which had at least three hundred participants, unsurprisingly the darlings of the current meta—Arceus ex Dialga ex and Rampardos Lucario—emerged as the primary antagonists of hopefuls playing Leafeon ex. Of those who did the best of all playing the deck in a given tournament, there was little consistency between the choice to run Irida or not, and while some experimented by including Shaymin TL, the majority stuck with the five Pokémon formula. Of personal interest to me was the most popular Eevee choice, which has been largely split between the ones from Genetic Apex and Mythical Island.
In Pocket League Legends #21, Hubi had a standout run placing them fifth out of a field of over three hundred and fifty.
Their deck ran seven Pokémon including Shaymin from Triumphant Light and no Irida. They faced five Arceus ex Dialga ex and lost twice, ultimately losing to the second place finisher who piloted an Arceus ex Greninja deck.
As the number of days since Triumphant Light's release grows, the number of Leafeon ex Celebi ex decks has seen a sharp decline in smaller scale tournaments, while more recently Ursii’s Pocket Weekly #20 Leafeon ex Celebi ex failed to clear the top cut once again, and further decreased its meta share of 4% to 2%. The status quo has painted a unmistakable image in which Leafeon ex lacks the means to threaten either Arceus ex Dialga ex, or Rampardos Lucario.
Why Leafeon ex is Failing
A broader summary of the state Leafeon ex finds itself in is thus:
- Leafeon struggles greatly against threats that can one shot it such as Gyarados ex, Palkia ex, and Rampardos Lucario.
- With the variety of sources of chip damage, Leafeon ex likely sports less than its full 140 HP on many occasions, leaving it vulnerable to a variety of threats in the last game as well as Cyrus. This trend encourages combating chip damage with numerous healing options, additionally limiting the flexibility of deck lists, and creating potential conflict between supporter usage.
- Grass hasn't offered a suitable partner for Leafeon ex. I'll elaborate on this point:
Firstly, with the current card pool, Leafeon ex really only has one friend, that being Celebi ex. Carnivine and Arceus ex, which may stand out as a good option, has the same goal of opening as Leafeon ex does and also suffers from poor endgame performance while not benefiting from Leafeon ex’s energy acceleration either. Tournament data has confirmed this through popular decision as Celebi ex remains the top choice, triumphing over alternatives like Yanmega ex.
To quickly discuss why I believe Yanmega ex is not a suitable partner, it too lacks the power in the endgame necessary to close out close matches. In addition, compared to other energy ramp decks such as those that use Manaphy or Moltres ex, the necessity of acquiring two Stage 1s as a win condition calls into question the reliability of such a deck.
Currently, Leafeon ex is best suited to defeat Darkrai and other popular type decks as well as other type decks, and plays fairly evenly into Articuno ex. The speed with which Arceus ex Dialga ex can set up leaves little opportunity to power up Celebi ex in order to take them out conclusively, and Celebi ex additionally runs the risk of quite easily being one-shotted by Arceus ex.
Rampardos stands out among Leafeon ex's poor matchups, seeing little meaningful counter play from Leafeon ex while suffering a reversal in win rate (37%) against Exeggutor ex Celebi ex. In fact, of notable grass decks, Leafeon ex fairs the worst against Rampardos Lucario, suggesting that optimizing that particular matchup may hold the path towards success in the future with Leafeon. I find it difficult to imagine a Leafeon ex deck of any sort that truly excels against Arceus ex Dialga ex will emerge soon, leaving Leafeon ex’s only path to relevance as a counter to the threats that emerge to deal with Arceus ex Dialga ex.
The Egg Strikes Back
After Triumphant Light’s release, Leafeon ex largely replaced Exeggutor ex in the latter’s role in Celebi ex decks. The energy generation provided by Leafeon seems to have settled the matter, but Exeggutor ex‘s potent early game power was not to be shelved just yet.
A new archetype of Arceus ex, in conjunction with Carnivine, has enlisted Exeggutor ex to threaten the beginning a new reign of terror. As previously discussed, Leafeon ex is unsuitable for this role as its ability lacks any benefit for non Pokemon. Furthermore, in a one to one comparison, Exeggutor ex is completely dominant in terms of damage and speed, requiring a measly to output an average of 60 damage per turn as soon as turn two.
Ursii's Pocket Weekly #20 has continued to expose this deck's power as Arceus Egg placed 3rd in the Swiss Rounds and 9th in the finals, with a conversion rate of 12.5% in the top cut far outshining the 3% overall meta share it possessed upon entry to the tournament. A first place performance earlier this month in Godlzy's 300+ player Triumphant Light Tournament as well as this high profile success may be hinting towards a return of the Egg
A Shaky Path Forward
Regular Leafeon?
What I am interested in bringing to the discussion is the addition of Leafeon STS to Leafeon ex decks. It serves to make starting with Leafeon—ex or not—more consistent and reaches notable breakpoints easily. Additionally, I believe beyond successfully setting up Celebi ex to be capable of one-shotting any opposing Pokémon, decks playing Leafeon ex will inevitably rely on taking out Pokémon in two attacks, and must be able to do so consistently.
Giovanni, while rarely featured in the Leafeon decks of tournaments, enables Leafeon STS to one-shot Lucario, Leafeon ex to one-shot a Rampardos that has knocked something out, as well as allowing Leafeon ex and Leafeon to team up to hit for one hundred and seventy damage, burying threats such as Palkia ex with a Giant Cape or Infernape ex.
The Eevee question
Next, to address Lucario and Rampardos, the issue with this otherwise easy matchup is blatantly caused by Eevee’s weakness to attacks, at least in my opinion. As evolving Eevee on turn one or two is essential to the game plan, losing Eevee can be considered a catastrophic event. When facing a deck, it is quite a real possibility that Eevee will be one shot by a boosted Sudowoodo or Riolu on your opponent’s second turn, or two-shot if you are unable to source a Leafeon from your deck.
Hopefully ameliorating the cause of Leafeon’s struggles into Rampardos Lucario, I present the promo Eevee which negates twenty damage from the defending Pokémon’s attacks. It is very much a band aid solution, but should improve the consistency of the matchup with fighting decks, helping to press the advantage when going second by ensuring your Eevee does not die.
Nonetheless, I must caution those who read this article; it is written from an optimistic viewpoint, and gustavo01gk—a notable player of Leafeon ex who has placed 10th in a 332 player tournament—has affirmed that Leafeon STS is not a surefire solution. Leafeon STS would ideally fall into a similar role as Origin Forme Palkia, but given it is an evolved Pokemon, it lacks the reliability that Origin Forme Palkia offers. The Eevee which reduces incoming damage may assuage its fighting weakness, but it doesn’t contribute much outside of that particular matchup. Even adding a card like Giovanni risks lessening the deck’s reliability as other cards are necessarily replaced by its inclusion. As the release of the new set draws nearer, perhaps a new partner for Leafeon ex will emerge. I hope so.