Neo Revelation Review - Colorless

It honestly feels like they were just crossing names off the list when it came to Neo Revelation, in a mad dash to finish up the Johto Dex.

The Colorless cards mostly just fulfill the expectations for their assigned species. This isn't necessarily a bad approach to card design, but these kinds of by-the-numbers cards don't really get my imagination revved up.

Farfetch'd is a bad card. It has stats befitting an evolving Basic, but will only ever be stuck as Farfetch'd. Leek Jab can do solid damage, but it's not worth the terrible stats.

TCG Pocket enthusiasts will recognize the art, though, since it was reused for a much stronger card in the mobile game. So at least the art eventually ended up on a viable card.

Grade: 3/10

Blissey actually only has the same HP as its pre-evolution, thanks to the completely overpowered Base Chansey. Still, it does see some play as a dedicated recovery card. By evolving into Blissey to take advantage of Softboiled, then devolving back, you gain even more longevity.

It should be noted that Chansey decks won't always find room for Blissey, but this was probably the best they could do since the Basic was so broken.

Grade: 8/10

Porygon2's Energy Converter looks incredibly tame by modern standards, but there weren't a lot of ways to fix your energy at the time. As a result, it sees some niche play as a way to support multitype decks.

But frankly, any deck that needs Porygon2 to function is probably just running bad cards or a bad combination of cards. I'm not trying to downplay the value of Porygon2, but don't expect it to bandage up your deck if the real problem is poor deckbuilding.

Grade: 7/10

This Aipom doesn't have a consistent place in the metagame. Grab may seem interesting if hate cards like Focus Band and Gold Berry, but you don't even get to send the card you're targeting to the discard pile.

If it did damage and discarded the card instead of shuffling it, then maybe it could have been a niche pick in aggro decks. Instead, it only really acts as a subpar pivot at best.

Grade: 2/10

This Snubbull is just a lesser version of the Granbull card it evolves into, but even that Granbull was already a pretty underwhelming card. None of its stats are especially bad for an evolving Basic, but I have to judge cards like this based on whether or not they have any value in a deck.

And the reality is that an average Basic with a bad Evolution has no real value in most decks.

Grade: 3/10

Delibird certainly looks like a card you'd only use if you lost a bet, but it does have some niche utility. If you use it on the opening turn, before your opponent has taken any damage, then it has no chance of healing them.

This actually makes its average damage output on the first turn pretty impressive, but keep in mind that this is a Neo format. In other words, there's probably a Baby in play to make this risky attack even riskier.

Grade: 2/10

Stantler was clearly designed to be forgettable pack filler. Terrorize is just a nerfed version of Amnesia and Overhead Toss was shamelessly stolen from Giovanni's Pinsir. Neither one of its attacks gives you impressive value for the energy cost.

The stats are about what you expect for a non-evolving Basic, but it never had a chance with attacks this mediocre.

Grade: 2/10

Ho-oh is a pretty powerful card. Rainbow Burn's energy requirements may sound harsh, but it's shockingly easy to get to 70+ damage. Take note that it really doesn't benefit from Double Colorless Energy. Instead, focus on cards like Porygon2 and Pluspower to increase the deck's consistency.

You do have to purposely build your deck around Ho-oh to make it work, but this is a rare case where the card in question is actually kind of worth it.

Grade: 8/10

Blissey, Delibird, and Ho-oh do deserve a little credit for being somewhat creative. But even Delibird and Ho-oh are just taking concepts from the games and reimagining them for the card game.

I do understand that this was the prominent design philosophy of the time, but when you compare Neo Revelation to a more creative set like Neo Genesis or Gym Heroes, the difference is night and day.