Eeeeeeek
Talk about an iconic card. There's always one card in every format that finds its way into nearly every deck, and Cleffa is by far one of the most historically remembered one to this day. Such an incredibly strong card, some players loved it, many hated it. Why? Let's take a look.
First off, Cleffa was not only printed in Call of Legends, I just love its artwork more for the thumbnail. The first "Eeeeeeek" Cleffa on the left was printed in HeartGold SoulSilver base set in 2010, one year prior. Call of Legends acted as a celebratory set, like Crown Zenith and Legendary Treasures, which reprinted many cards with new artwork.
Not to be confused with the original "Eeeeeeek" Cleffa from Neo Genesis, nor the "Eek" Cleffa Black Star promo , nor the "Eeeeeek" Cleffa from Unseen Forces, nor the "Eeek" Cleffa from Diamond & Pearl either... There's been a lot of Eeeking in the Pokémon TCG.
Baby Pokémon have always had a gimmick, and in HeartGold SoulSilver, their era's gimmick was free retreat, no weakness nor resistance, no attack cost, and they couldn't be damaged from attacks when Asleep. Because who could harm a sleeping baby?!
The latter of which being the key component to their success. Cleffa could refresh a bad hand or even strengthen an opening turn, and as long as you flipped tails during checkup, your opponent couldn't do anything to Cleffa! And in 2011, after the emergency rotation prior to the 2011 US National Championships, there weren't many ways to deal with an active Pokémon that was simingly untouchable. There was Pokémon Reversal, which was the same as a Pokémon Catcher that required a coin flip. But that was about it, as there were no supporters like Boss's Orders, and Warp Point had just rotated. The only way to deal with a sleeping baby on the field, was to either wait patiently to attack, flip heads off a Reversal, ping it with damage counters or with a special condition, or greet your opponent with a sleeping baby of your own. And that's what most players did, nearly every deck in the format played baby Pokémon. (singular and plural)
Take a look at just how many decks played Cleffa and other babies in the 2011 Worlds format: Decks by Era: 2011 HGSS-BW
Cleffa was the most useful of the lot. It was a powerful draw Supporter in the form of a free attack, with the added buff of, "maybe my opponent won't be able to KO it". Which sounds great, some of you may have already started to think that a Cleffa in today's Standard format would be a great idea. Well, I wouldn't jump to such a conclusion so fast...
This era of baby Pokémon came with a major flaw, and I'm not so sure whether the game designers had even thought it out in full or not. Many players and decks were relying on these baby Pokémon to set up their boards each and every game, so much so, that games sometimes were not progressing! Dubbed "Baby wars", created long drawn-out stalemates, and sometimes they were a problem.
If Player 1 👦 Eeeeeeeks and flips tails, meaning their baby remains asleep, Player 2 👧 has little to no choice but to utilize a baby of their own as well. Player 2 👧 uses Eeeeeeek too, and also filp tails. Going into Player 1's 👦 turn, they then flips heads, but alas can't attack because Player 2 👧 is asleep. What does Player 1 👦 do? They use Eeeeeeek again, because why not, one could always use another hand of 6 fresh cards. But what's this? Player 1 👦 flipped heads, meaning their Cleffa wakes up! This of course means that Player 2 👧 could now KO Player 1's 👦 Cleffa, but Player 2 👧 still needs to flip for their sleep-check before they can begin their turn. Player 2 👧 flips tails into their turn, unable to attack, unable to retreat... Play continues into Player 1's 👦 turn, and they can't attack the still-asleep Player 2 👧, thus they use their baby again!
See the problem?
Baby wars often times made for some disgusting cycles. And while I absolutely love the HeartGold SoulSilver era, I for one am incredibly glad that I don't have to deal with baby wars outside of playing with these retro decks.
Enjoy this Card of the Month excerpt? Love Cleffa? Hate it? Any fun stories you have that you could share with the class? Tweet at us, @PTCG_Legends, using the button below with your Cleffa stories and your Eeeeeeeking thoughts! And if you enjoy what you see, consider supporting us on Patreon, link below!
