Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Our good friend Professor Juniper

vaporeon

vaporeon

Moderator
Let me start by saying that I really love this card and it's pairs really well with Junk Arm. Problem is, we won't have Junk Arm much longer but Juniper sticks around.

I've been playing BW on since it was announced. While I don't play the powerhouse decks in the format, the game seems to have slowed down. Me and a few league buddies take prize cards with around 20 or so cards left in the deck. Now, I don't see the point in rushing my deck if I'm not taking prize cards. Another thing we no longer have Junk Arm so we can't be loose with Juniper anymore. In my deck I'm playing Recycle but not everyone will so I get a little leeway but without a reliable way to get cards back, Is she really worth playing more then 2 of?

What do you all think?
 
That's a great point. It may see more play in decks that feature Sableye as a Poke-JunkArm, but I think it will see play regardless. I mean, other than Juniper the only other hand-refresher we have is N I believe. And in terms of other Supporters that aid the hand in some way we have Cheren and Bianca, but neither actually refreshes the hand; they just draw. Now that we don't have PONT anymore, I think we'll still see some Juniper presence (even with the added risk), but we'll also see more creative use of the other Supporters. As with everything, it depends on what else you're running in your deck. For example, I could see a deck that has resources to get lost cards back (Eels, Sableye) playing Juniper. I could also see decks that make use of discard cards (Ultra Ball) being more willing to play cards like Bianca.
 
4 Juniper is absolutely necessary in every deck in BW-on, for a couple of reasons.

First, we have no good draw at all. We have N, which yes, early game gets you 6, but late game is useless for purposes of drawing cards (and fantastic for disruption at that point, of course). We have Bianca, which is alright but probably nets you an average of 3 cards, although it really shines in the late game if you draw it off of N. And then we have Cheren, which just draws you 3. That's it. That's all we've got.

Now compare those (6 but usually less, 3 but occasionally more, 3 always) to drawing a straight 7 cards. And take into account that with more Stage 2 and setup decks around you really need to hit the stuff you need. Juniper does that far, FAR better than any other card in the format.

The 2nd reason Juniper is a necessary 4 of I have already kind of alluded to, and that is the prevalence of N. Most decks will start running 4 N, always. It's good draw early game, and incredibly powerful disruption late game, and allows for comebacks. Now, what cards do you want to hit off of an N? Well, Junk Arm isn't around anymore, so no Junk Arming a Random Receiver. No, the ONLY truly good cards to hit off of an N are Juniper and Bianca. Bianca isn't useful all the time, but Juniper is. So of course you run 4.

Now, yes, the discard sucks, I completely agree. So it becomes a risk vs. reward kind of thing. Just stop playing 1 of techs and run mostly 3 or 4 ofs of every card, and 2 or 3 super rod, and you will be fine running 4 Juniper.
 
Thank makes a lot of sense. I forgot about N during that post. N would be a auto 4 of in any deck.
 
Yeah, I've been testing BW-On as Black & White to Dark Explorers (e.g. I am not creating proxies of unreleased cards). This coming set will mean some major changes, but the general thing I've learned is not to decrease Juniper, but to make my decks more Juniper friendly. Random Receiver is one way; either it's a relatively painless choice to discard if you have them in hand and need to Juniper, or you can take a chance you'll get less drastic Supporter to play by using it before you use Juniper.

I'm finding a lot of my decks are packing a double Super Rod, so that I can pretty freely toss Energy and Pokemon, and to counteract burning through my deck quickly I have to be willing to use N even when it's forcing me into a top deck or near topdeck experience. Now to be clear, this is something to do only when there is a very real chance of decking out, and has only become a regular occurrence while testing an Empoleon deck.

I haven't done much with Bianca yet, because almost everything I do to maximizer her usage will also maximize Junipers. Now if/when we get Ether, I think I've got a not-so-nice Genie Haymaker deck with both their names on it.
 
I think Bianca and cheren will now finally see some play as cheren doesnt have draw backs and bianca is not really a good alternative to juniper but i dont tihk juniper should be ran in 4s now as we dont ahve much to get it back apart from the Eels runners who get rid of electric energy and then pound for loads of damage
 
You really think Skyla will be worth it? The translation for her I saw was getting a single Trainer from your deck. Two trainers would be something, but just one makes me feel like I might as well be drawing for it.

Of course if decks are going to become all about TecH, I'd clearly be wrong. ;)
 
Yes.

Bulbapedia said:
Search your deck for a Trainer card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.

You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn (before your attack).
Click to expand...

So unless the Translation is off, that's what it does. Now I've been wrong about similar effects in the past, but... well that was Scott, who snagged a combination of up to three Supporters/Stadiums. I suppose making sure you pull off that clutch Rare Candy/Ether/etc. might be worth it. Possibly because we are going to be short the usual "draw/search" Supporter we've been using in HGSS-On.
 
That is how I am taking it. I didn't translate the card. ^^' Since this is from Cold Flare, it is well into the Japanese Black & White sets. So unless the translator really dropped the ball, it was any Trainer. I mean, would it really be that much less useful if it didn't grab Supporters or Stadiums? There really aren't a lot of Stadiums worth losing your Supporter for, and I don't really dig trading a Supporter usage this turn for the Supporter I want next turn, given the whole "N is everywhere in at least triplicate" thing I see when play-testing the next format.
 
The biggest problem I'm seeing with the next format's supporter line-up is that, with straight draw replacing PONT most of my decks empty out way too fast. I too often find myself with a Professor Juniper in hand late game and a good chance of decking out if I use it. I might run a pair of Skyla just to have that extra chance of drawing into the Pokemon Catcher/Switch/Max Potion I need to close a game.

Also, paired with the right Ball or Energy Search, Skyla could easily search your deck for any card you want short of special energy.
 
Fair points that I hadn't considered.

Still, let us examine exactly what you mentioned; what can Skyla grab that can grab something else? If I use Skyla to grab an Ultra Ball, sure I've gotten the exact Pokemon I want but at a cost of four cards and my Supporter usage for the turn. Poke Ball is flip based, while Heavy Ball and Level Ball can only hit specific targets. The only Energy most of us really need to search out a single copy of is Special Energy. You need to be running Energy Search and now to get a single Basic Energy card, you've have to burn your Supporter for the turn and another slot from your deck.

We end up getting a fairly specific build where we can't just use raw draw power (and more copies of other cards) to get what we want. I am thinking Skyla has more use than I thought, but only in builds that are using several other Trainers I am less than thrilled to use (or alternatively max out on so I am apt to draw into them anyway).

Your suggestion hits it on the head; in a deck that is running a lot of TecH trainers, Skyla could be fantastic. Possibly in a deck where the Trainers are more than just TecH but you only need them in bulk to ensure drawing into them.
 
Another this is the players got spoiled. There is plenty of draw right now. N replaces Oaks, you have Juniper, Cheren and Bianca. I think players should learn find another way to adapt. I way to often find myself decking out running through my deck because I'm stuck on Juniper. Its why I asked if its needed to play more then 2. It's still a great card but trainer lines are really delicate now.

We have to remember before if formats long ago we use to play cards like that.
 
Bulbapedia's main TCG editor here. Skyla does in fact search for a "Trainer card", which means an Item, Stadium, or Supporter.

Since it is being released with Freeze Bolt/Cold Flare, its main purpose is probably to search out the 1 Ace Spec Trainer card you are allowed to have in your deck.
 
Maverick Nate said:
Bulbapedia's main TCG editor here. Skyla does in fact search for a "Trainer card", which means an Item, Stadium, or Supporter.

Since it is being released with Freeze Bolt/Cold Flare, its main purpose is probably to search out the 1 Ace Spec Trainer card you are allowed to have in your deck.
Click to expand...

Kind of off topic, but when will bulbapedia tcg stuff be back up? This 503 error for multiple days makes me a sad panda.




Now to the topic on hand. Juniper will be played heavily. The draw is just too good. People will not be able to be as care free without junk arms, but I think many will play sableye + blend/prism energy as a single tech to allow compensation for juniper discard.
 
vaporeon said:
Let me start by saying that I really love this card and it's pairs really well with Junk Arm. Problem is, we won't have Junk Arm much longer but Juniper sticks around.
Is she really worth playing more then 2 of?
Click to expand...
Sure is!
If your deck needs speed, if it needs to set up fast to be successful, what better representation of the concept of speed is there than this card?
 
Slev said:
Kind of off topic, but when will bulbapedia tcg stuff be back up? This 503 error for multiple days makes me a sad panda.
Click to expand...

It is having a hard time with all the Black 2 White 2 traffic. It should clear up in a few days, before the Freeze Bolt Cold Flare expansions are fully released.
 
Skyla seems very good. In general with my BW-on testing, there are many turns that I play no supporter at all, even if I have one. Bianca would only fetch 2 cards. Juniper would discard too much. N would refresh my opponent's hand. The game won't need 100 different cards in one turn the way it does now, so perhaps a supporter that simply grabs a card you need to set up with no risk involved would see a lot of play?

Also hitting Super Rod when I need it is annoyingly hard to do, even with 2 copies.
 
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