Hi there! I’m back with another Card of the Day. This time’s we’ll be taking a look at Gloom from Undaunted requested by coolestman22.
Most people probably aren’t too familiar with what Gloom does, but at the same time, most of us have seen it a ton and not paid attention. That’s because unsightly Gloom evolves into the deadly Vileplume UD, a card that’s been amazing since it was first released.
Gloom isn’t that bad of a Pokemon, considering it isn’t intended to be out on the field for that long, but rather to evolve into a stronger form. Gloom has a rather low 80 HP, one retreat cost, and a good Psychic weakness (No weakness is ever really good, but Psychic is better than Fire).
While Gloom’s main use is obviously as a stepping-stone to get to Vileplume, its attack, Miracle Powder, isn’t that bad. For one Grass energy and one Colorless, it does a vanilla thirty damage. But then, you get to flip a coin; if heads, you may choose a Special Condition to inflict upon the Defending Pokemon.
This can be decent as a first attack to start a lock on the opponent - you can then bring in a stronger Pokemon to finish them off. The thing is, Gloom’s pre-evolution Oddish UD is an awful starter with only 40 HP. It’s tough for Oddish to survive the turn before you can evolve it, as so many things can one-shot it (besides obvious attackers like Zekrom and Yanmega, it can also be taken down by techs like Pachirisu or Tyrogue with a PlusPower). Having an active Oddish, while it is pretty much the only way to get off a turn 2 Gloom attack, is a huge liability.
Miracle Powder is decent, but it’s often just not good enough. Its downsides include the obvious flippiness (which, while it can be fixed by Fliptini, still isn’t great) as well as its cost. Two energy isn’t bad for a main attacker, but Gloom doesn’t exactly fall into that category. He’s more of an opener for a deck like Leafeon UD. The fact is, it’s costly, and usually not worth it, to devote two attachments to a card that’s going to end up KO’d or stuck on the bench after a couple turns.
Haven't I seen you before?
Conclusion
I really don’t have that much to say about Gloom – its cons outweigh its pros. A much better option is Lilligant EPO, which can inflict a special condition regardless of the flip, and only needs one energy to attack.
So, I’ll give a Gloom a 5.5/10 (Mediocre/Decent). Coincidentally, that’s about what it’s rated on TcgScans. Gloom just doesn’t have any sort of niche, other than being there to get to Vileplume. Even then, it’s better to use Rare Candy.
I guess Gloom is a bit sentimental for me just because it was one of the first cards I ever had (I basically got into the game via the Espeon UD theme deck). But it simply isn’t that great.
What do you guys think of Gloom? Have you ever used it in a deck on its own? Feel free go to the forums and request the cards you want to see reviewed! And lastly, thanks for reading!
