- ↓ 11.21
- ꩜ 21.64
- ↑ 32.00
Pokémon Power ⇢ Hay Fever
No Trainer cards can be played. This power stops working while Dark Vileplume is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
{G}{G}{G} → Petal Whirlwind : 30×
Flip 3 coins. This attack does 30 damage times the number of heads. If you get 2 or more heads, Dark Vileplume is now Confused (after doing damage).
illus. Kagemaru Himeno · LV.29
External: Bulba ↗ · Shop: TCGplayer ↗, cardmarket ↗, eBay ↗
Perhaps because of their strong-smelling pollen, other Pokémon do not approach areas where Vileplumes live.
Mantidactyle
One of the most broken Pokémon in the Pokémon history.
When it is in play, you can only play Energy cards and Pokémon.
Stupid combos are so numerous that it would take too much time to list, but here are a few :
Aerodactyl · Fossil (FO) #1 + Dark Vileplume + Aggron ex · Crystal Guardians (CG) #89
Murkrow + Dark Vileplume
discarding opponent’s hand (easy to do) + Dark Vileplume
[List too long]
WilliamH.
So this card’s Power is very much like the modern day Vileplume only, since this card is very old, it targets ALL Trainers as well, not just Items.
Broken indeed.
PS. ROFL at Aerodactyl + Dark Vileplume + Aggron Ex !!
Ziggmiceter
Does Trainers include Stadiums and Supporters?
feyblade
This predates trainers (Gym leader sets) and the e-reader sets(E-Reader sets.)
As such, it reads stadiums and supporters as trainer cards, as well, due to errata.
HEZ
So it’s not really the card itself that’s broken but the official errata applied to old cards. I find it a bizarre ruling, especially because you must keep in mind when a card was printed and apply errata mid-game, promoting Unlimited play just isn’t in their current marketing strategy (and I doubt it ever will be) so the rules for it are kind of thrown together.
Brian Duddy
What are you talking about? The original intent of the card was to turn off all trainers. Any other errata would be stupid. The card is insanely broken.
Otaku
There are multiple misunderstandings here, though a lot of it may be due to the changing rules of the game, and the age of the earlier comments. If you need me to, I can answer questions about the details, but the broad strokes
1) Dark Vileplume originally released in April of 2000, as Dark Vileplume (Team Rocket 13/82) and 3) Dark Vileplume (Team Rocket 30/82). The latter has the wrong Weakness, but an errata was never issued.
2) Both rules and game mechanics change over time, and sometimes the line between them is blurred. In this case, there is a blanket ruling (errata?) that affects this Dark Vileplume at this time: instead of Hay Fever being disabled by Confusion, Paralysis, or Sleep, now any Special Condition stops it.
3) The oldest comments on this page are from shortly after a major change in the game rules occurred; during the Gen IV sets, Stadium and Supporter cards did NOT count as Trainer cards. This change was reversed, and Item cards introduced, at the beginning of the Gen V sets.
4) During Gen IV, you had to “interpret” Dark Vileplume. From Gen V to present, you have to “interpret” card effects from the Gen IV block, like Vileplume · Undaunted (UD) #24. That Vileplume has a Poké-Body that says it stops Trainers, but it actually only stops Item cards, because the terms meant the same thing at the time of the card’s release.
5) Subjective, but Dark Vileplume isn’t broken, or at least, it isn’t as broken as some other cards. Other cards appear to break it, but the card itself was relatively balanced for the metagame into which it released. Remember, Team Rocket was the fifth set released (Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Base Set 2).
Logan
60 hp………..
Mantidactyle
But utterly broken
Logan
60 hp. eh.
Ziggmiceter
With almost no way to bring it up and sniping not being popular in Unlimited, why does it matter?
Curtis
Well, there is Bright Look to bring it up, but that’s about it. Nobody really plays Luxray G Lv.X or Ninetales DRX in Unlimited, though.
Otaku
Ziggmiceter’s comment ignores that the real issue was Broken Time-Space. That’s why crazy combo decks could go off Turn 1/2 (depending on the exact first turn rules in effect at the time). I wasn’t overly familiar with the Unlimited Format at the time, but there were likely superior alternatives (Slowking from Neo Genesis), and there were good snipers; if players had stopped using them, the metagame just needed to adjust.
Dark Vileplume may still be broken, but if it is, it was and likely is a foothill in front of Mt. Everest!
Blob Takeshi
I always found Dark Vileplume so adorable!
Pumpkin Man
Card Data says flip a coins instead of flip 3 coins. same error for the non holo version.
LeoBN
Thanks. They’re fixed now.
Pumpkin Man
Anytime :)