Neo Revelation Review - Lightning

Neo Revelation didn't unleash any meta-shattering Lightning-types, but we do finally see the premiere of Raikou cards in the TCG. As is typical of the era, they kind of all pale in comparison to Rocket's Zapdos, but those are hard shoes to fill.

We also see the obsession with high-risk, high-reward gameplay returning at full force this time. While Ampharos rewards patience and planning, cards like Raichu and Raikou (lv 40) are all about hitting very hard by any means necessary.

Raichu's Lightning Strike can represent a turn 2 one-shot on various meta threats thanks to Promo Pikachu's Recharge. While the discard cost is pretty painful, the ability to safely remove bulky attackers in one attack is well worth the downside.

This also gives you a way to handle 'mons that don't have weaknesses, like Kingdra, Gengar, or the legendary birds from the Kanto sets. It's best used in aggressive builds with Pluspower, to potentially snipe high-value targets with 90 or even 100 HP.

Grade: 8/10

Chinchou is just a solid Basic. The conflicting energy costs may look frustrating, but it's not like you actually need to use both attacks. If it only had one or the other, it still would've been fine.

You'll usually be using Positive Ion, since Light Lanturn is the preferred Evolution, which means you're doing an average of 15 damage per energy. This is perfectly acceptable.

Grade: 5/10

Lanturn is usually overlooked for other options, but you can splash it into a deck that's already using Light Lanturn as a way to hit Fire-types. Submerge is an interesting power, even if it doesn't always come up in practice.

The compatibility with Double Colorless Energy and the potential combo with Base Blastoise are obviously tempting, but this is ultimately just a decent Stage 1. Rain Dance decks have better options.

Grade: 6/10

Neo Discovery Mareep can help you to power up this Flaaffy's Tail Shock on turn 2, and it's a very powerful attack in that context. Nothing else about the card is outstanding, but having a cheap attack like Electric Punch does add some resilience against Energy Removal.

It's probably just barely above average, but it does get a significant boost from the incredibly support ability of its pre-evolution.

Grade: 6/10

Ampharos struggles to keep up a steady assault due to the high cost of Gigavolt, but it's a perfectly respectable card. Make sure you use Attract Current when finishing off a foe, since it can accelerate your bench.

This is a decent option if you want to build a midrange Lightning-type deck, but this whole line is competing with Rocket's Zapdos for deck space. I could see it winning some games, but it's just not the best option out there.

Grade: 6/10

Raikou (lv 40) does have a pseudo-Gust effect in Lightning Burst, but it should be noted that it lets the opponent choose on the switch. This can still be a very disruptive effect if they're trying to charge up one specific attacker, though, since you can keep shuffling them around.

It's a little underwhelming as an attacker, but it shines in formats where Gust of Wind is restricted or unavailable. I honestly think it's too underexplored to have strong feelings about, though.

Grade: 7/10

Raikou (lv 26) is the third of the legendary beast pivots. You're mainly going to use it to soak up an attack or two and then switch out, so Lightning Spark rarely comes up in practice.

Still, it's a perfectly respectable attack. This card wouldn't even be in the conversations without that free retreat cost, but it's amazing what a little mobility can do to keep a card on the table.

Grade: 7/10

To me, it feels like this is around the time that they reached a sweet spot for high-risk, high-reward attacks. The attacks that have downsides feel legitimately worth it, without just being blatantly above-rate the way Base Electabuzz was in Base-Fossil.

It seems like the evolving philosophy for the Lightning-type is: "I'll knock out anything you point me at, as long as you're willing to clean up the aftermath."