A_RAICHU said:
C defending pokemon is now confused.
DCC Flip 2 coins. if all of them are heads, discard all energies attached to the defending pokemon
If this translation is true, then the obvious combo is with Flip-tini. Umbreon falls in a similiar catagory with Sharpedo in that they both provide potentially game-changing disruption. In my opinion, however, it may be difficult to compare Umbreon with Sharpedo directly simply because the two target completely different aspects of the game. I've outlined the specifics below, highlighting their pros and cons...
Sharpedo:
Pros:
- 25% chance to empty the opponents hand via Strip Bare (43% chance with the Flip-tini factor)
- Hand disruption greatly affects the course of the game in the following turns.
- Yanmega Primes get shut down with successful Strip Bare flips.
- Benefits from Dark Patch acceration (though not by much).
Cons:
- Main attack only does 20 damage (30 with special Darkness Energy).
- Unsuccessful Strip Bare flips equate to "mostly" wasted turns due to low damage output.
- 90 HP within range of OHKO for many pokemon.
- Magnezone Prime's Magnetic Draw nullifies the impact of hand disruption, as do top decked PONTs and Junipers.
Umbreon:
Pros:
- 25% chance to strip the defending pokemon of all energies via second attack (43% chance with the Flip-tini factor)
- Confusion effect from first attack provide cheap early disruption against high retreat cost pokemon.
- Energy discard effect devestating against most pokemon requiring two or more energy cards.
- Unsuccessful second attack flips do not yield completely wasted efforts due to 60 base damage (70 with special Darkness Energy)
- Benefits from Dark Patch acceleration.
- 100 HP is somewhat usable.
- Two retreat cost (nullified by Darkrai EX, however)
Cons:
- Damage output still lower than standard expectations.
- Main attack (second attack) requires 3 energies (2 with DCE).
- 100 HP is still a tad low, KOable by many pokemon.
- Disruption attributes useless against Yanmega Prime.
- Weakness to Donphan Prime.
In my opinion, the two aren't meant to be compared. They're meant to be USED TOGETHER! Note that most of their respective cons are covered by the pros of the other. Sharpedo can't handle Magnezone Prime's draw power, yet Umbreon can starve it of Lost Burn supplies. Umbreon can't handle Yanmega Primes, yet Sharpedo can prevent it from attacking by way of hand disruption. Sharpedo is a decent early game attacker while Umbreon can make an impact mid to late game.
Okay, so they seem to work well. Does this mean they're competitive?
I'm gonna say no. As much as I love Eeveelutions, there's one deck that completely counters this idea: Megazone (Magnezone Prime and Yanmega Prime). It's also worth noting that despite Flip-tini's influence, you're still relying on the one thing you should steer away from: coin flipping. It would be one thing if it was only a 50/50 shot deal, something that Flip-tini could REALLY abuse, but it's not. Umbreon and Sharpedo are both decent in their own rights, but they suffer from the same flaw: they're luck-based. 43% chances just do not cut it in today's format. That said, they WILL be very fun league decks!
Last note - Umbreon's artwork is AWESOME! I look forward to the likely possibility of the other Eeveelutions showing up in this set!
The REAL Last Note - Umbreon will definately be in the next format, where as Sharpedo will be gone. The BW-on format, should it become that, will be vastly different than the HGSS-on format. Many things will change, so don't count Umbreon out yet, especially with Dark Rush's darkness engine!