Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

2007-10-16 Bill's Maintenance - CG 071/100 & P5 6/17

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Finally an oldie, I was tired of seeing MT stuff everyday >_>

Decent supporter, still a good draw card, I would rate 8/10 but Prof Oak Visit from SW would be better since you shuffle the card after you draw unlike this one lets you shuffle one before draw. :)
 
Bill's Maintenance is ok. Not as good as draw cards like TV Reporter or Steven's Advice imo, but still playable in case you don't have either of the above. What makes Bill's Maintenance generally inferior is that it requires you to shuffle a card from your hand into your deck before drawing the 3 cards, thus disrupting whatever cards you might have lined up on top of your deck via another card effect. That and since many strategies involve recycling cards from the discard into your hand, deck, or a Pokemon you have out (Blaziken Firestarter, etc), Bill's Maintenance doesn't aid in that. And the final two nails in the coffin, Bill's will be rotated out next season and Professor Oak's Visit from the SW set does what Bill does, except better.

Modified - 6.5/10 (Ok, but still inferior to the other draw cards)
Limited - 10/10 (Excellent source of draw here)
Unlimited - 1/10 (No reason to play this here, since you have both the original Bill and Professor Oak here amongst other superior draw cards)
 
This is one of my favorite draw cards:

Pros:
Garunteed 3 Cards
No discarding

Cons:
Can't play if you only have Bill's Maintenance in your hand
Supporter
Sometimes if could be more beneficial in certain decks to discard stuff
Shuffle before draw, and you could end up with it again or draw it soon if it is bad.

In my deck I play these. I can shuffle a delta speieces into the deck and then retrieve it when necessary with my fearow. Another strategy, for early game, is to shuffle one of those useless TSD or Night Maintenance into your deck for later. Under such condiditons, it is amazing! Obvioulsy, Professsor Oak's Visit will replace this card since it shuffles a card in AFTER draw. But currently a great at 8.34/10 Modified -sadly in a month this rating will drastically fall :'(
 
You can play it if it's the only card in your hand. It says "If you have any cards in your hand" you shuffle it.
 
The Supes said:
You can play it if it's the only card in your hand. It says "If you have any cards in your hand" you shuffle it.
Click to expand...

Not as I'm concerned! It has the word "then" after that part about shuffling a card in. That makes it so the first requirement must be met before the part after the "then" can be achieved.

Here is a logical example:

Delcatty PK's Energy Draw PokePower:

Energy Draw: Once during your turn (before you attack), you MAY discard 1 Energy card from your hand THEN draw up to 3 cards from you deck. This power can't be used if Delcatty is affected by a Special Condition.

Someone could argue, that since it says you MAY discard an Energy Card, that you can just draw the cards without meeting the requirement. That however is not true. This is another example of when the word "then" plays a huge role.

If you don't believe me, check the Compendium ex or ask on the Ask The Masters Thread.
 
There is a ruling on this.
You cannot play it if you don't have a card in your hand to shuffle in.
 
With 10/10 would be castaway in the current format.

Bill get an 8/10
Very underrated card in the "current" format.

Certain decks Bill's works better. I can easily accept understand the thought that TVR's are better, but Steven's are dogs. Cosmos aren't bad, but they all fall in the class of sequencial draws. (Thus you don't give up your hands like copy cat, oak, or wager.)
+Steven was great when SS Dunsparse was ran in every deck that filled most bench's at least 4 pokemon by turn 2. In the current format, Steven's for 1 or 2 doesn't work.
+TVR's work well when there are match ups were you don't need large amount of cards in your deck for certain match ups. Thus if you run 4 cess crystals, and 4 Crystal Beach in a certain deck, then TVR will help you get rid of the cards if you mirror match. And obviously it works well in decks that need to discard nrg and stuff. (Blissey)
+ But if you run buffer pieces and plus powers, that very few cards you would want to jetison, then you run Bills.

At the very least, I would argue for versatility in the trainer lines. If you want to play straight sequencial draw, play 3 Bill, 3 TVR, and 3 Steven's. You will often find your self with 2 of the same draw card in hand and see which one you decide to play. (if you can think.)

We have several decks built, many use Bill's over TVR. I have many 4 castaway 4 Bill's and then 4 Wagers/copy cats in my deck bags. Many might disagree, but that is my 2cents.
 
this card is awsome, i was the kind of stuff that bumped up gardy RS by shuffling an energy to draw another in the 3 cards, you energy draw, spy shadow! 5 cards out of the deck. sweet.
 
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