The ambiguous “they” say that clothes make the man… do they make the Pokémon? Today we are looking at Rescue Scarf (BW: Dragons Exalted 115/124) and it might; Pokémon started out as a specialized JRPG and in most video game and pencil-and-paper role-playing games such accessories can be hugely important so…
Let’s get fashionable!
Stats
Rescue Scarf is a card that made me rethink my preferred terminology for breaking down a card. Trainers like this, alongside the “elemental” Types, are why I now refer to being a Pokémon, Trainer, or Energy as a “category”. That way I can refer to being an Item (or the other major divisions of Supporter and Stadium) as “Trainer Types”.
So Rescue Scarf is a Pokémon Tool, a sub-Type of Item, a Trainer. This means they face all the same peril and support as Trainers in general, Items, and whatever specifically refers to them. I will address that more in the “Usage” section.
Pokémon Tools have proven so useful that, like Supporters, their very existence has created a pseudo-resource, the “Tool Slot”. Pokémon can only use one Pokémon Tool at a time, and most stay in play for a bit with continuing effects (or waiting to be triggered by circumstances within the game).
If you don’t use your Pokémon Tool “slot”, it often feels like a waste since even a small bonus effect is nice for a Pokémon, but at the same time decks don’t run a lot to begin with, since the most you can have in play (barring some older combos I am likely overlooking) would be six, and since they stick around you usually won’t want to use more than half a dozen. So unlike Supporters, it is much more common to not utilize your “Tool Slot” than your “Supporter usage”.
Effects
Rescue Scarf triggers when the Pokémon it is equipped to would be KOed by damage from an attack. Before I even get to the actual effect, please note the restrictions this places on when you’ll get the effect. If it isn’t doing damage, but is the “effect” of an attack, it won’t trigger Rescue Scarf; that means attacks that use damage counter placement, simply KO the target Pokémon as part of the effect, or finish off your Pokémon by virtue of a Special Condition will not trigger Rescue Scarf.
Neither does KOing a Pokémon as the result of a cost; whether it is for an attack, an Ability, or the various precursors of Abilities, whether specifically the “cost” triggering the effect or merely as a part of the effect, KOing a Pokémon in such a manner just won’t trigger Rescue Scarf. On the bright side, the wording means your own attacks will trigger it and whether or not the Pokémon in question is on the Bench or Active is irrelevant.
Rescue Scarf the returns that Pokémon to your hand (your opponent still takes a Prize). All cards attached to the Pokémon (such as Energy or Pokémon Tools) are discarded; however like Rescue Energy all Stages of Evolution will be returned. I do not know if this would apply to a Level Up card, but that only matters in Unlimited right now. Should it matter, the effect is mandatory: you can’t “choose” to allow a Pokémon to go to the discard pile. Even if, for example, you desperately needed fodder for a card like Super Rod to replenish your deck, you must send the Pokémon to hand.
As a whole, this is a good, solid effect. It isn’t great; again your opponent still takes a Prize, but if you really needed to re-use that Pokémon this often saves several steps (returning the target to the deck, then either drawing for it or searching it out).
Usage
In my usual thorough approach, I’ll begin this section by addressing the state of Pokémon Tools in general. There isn’t any currently Modified legal support or counters directed at the broad category of “Trainers”, but scans with translations of pending Japanese cards indicate that at least two such cards will be coming. I mention it so players remember to be on the look out for more such cards and demonstrate this mechanic hasn’t joined the many others that have passed on into obsolescence.
Items are referred to by a few cards, but the notable ones are Sableye (BW: Dark Explorers 62/108) that uses an attack to recycle two Items from your discard pile, Zebstrika (BW: Next Destinies 48/99) that has an attack that does 40 points of damage while blocking Items from being played until the end of the opponent’s next turn, and Gothitelle (BW: Emerging Powers 47/98) which blocks the opposing player from playing Items while it is Active.
As discussed in a somewhat recent Card of the Day, Pokémon Tools don’t have any good support unless we (the general player-base) have failed to discover it. The two most obvious candidates are Cofagrigus (BW: Dark Explorers 52/108) and Mienshao (BW: Next Destinies 68/99). The former has an attack called “Chuck” that lets you discard Pokémon Tools to do damage: 40 points per Pokémon Tool discarded and it requires CC to use, but it hasn’t seen much play because off the difficulty of running enough Pokémon Tools to keep up a steady barrage.
The latter, Mienshao, has an attack for one Energy called “Haul In” which allows you to search your deck for two Pokémon Tools and add them to your hand. Both are Stage 1 and prone to being OHKOed, making them much less appealing to “trade” than Sableye; it is a trade since you are ultimately out an attack, the Energy and Energy attachments that went into setting up, a Basic Pokémon, its Stage 1 form, and your opponent takes a Prize.
There is one major counter for Pokémon Tools, and that is Tool Scrapper, from the same set we got Rescue Scarf in. This is a major hurdle, since it takes down two Pokémon Tools in play at once, and Rescue Scarf is one of those Pokémon Tools that will need to sort of just sit there until circumstances trigger it, making it likely you’ll have multiple copies waiting to become a two-for-one trade.
Getting directly to Rescue Scarf, it has a particular niche that again, I’ve touched upon in other reviews. Basic Pokémon have access to the Item Revive to instantly be played back to the Bench, so unless you needed a coming-into-play effect from them you can use Revive and still enjoy the Pokémon Tool Eviolite for protection. Something hard to set-up is better off with the small HP boost Giant Cape provides.
When you have something that isn’t going to survive a hit, especially if it is an Evolved Bench-sitter you aren’t going to bother energizing, Rescue Scarf is probably the almost certainly the best choice. Your opponent can take it out, but they are just ignoring your main attacker and if your deck runs well, you should have whatever Bench-sitter was taken out back in play quite quickly.
As an example, if you see a Trubbish in play (either version) alongside a Garbodor (BW: Dragons Exalted 54/124) with a Rescue Scarf, it is pretty obvious OHKOing Garbodor will only restore Abilities for part of your opponent’s turn. That is why this is probably the best Pokémon Tool to include in a Garbodor deck specifically to trigger its “Garbotoxin” Ability.
If it wasn’t for Gabite (BW: Dragons Exalted 89/124) and its Ability to search your deck for a Dragon-Type once-per-turn via an Ability, Rescue Scarf would also be the obvious choice for decks built around Altaria (BW: Dragons Exalted 84/124, BW Promo BW48) and Garchomp (BW: Dragons Exalted 90/124). It still might have a place, but Super Rod tends to crowd it out. Still, keep it in mind, especially if we get a similar scenario: an Evolved attacker that is easy to power-up, especially with a small, somewhat fragile Bench-sitter supporting it.
Rescue Scarf won’t matter in your average first turn win or lock deck, since nothing of yours should be KOed in a manner to trigger it. Using the next level of decks, you still have access to Focus Band, likely the superior option since it prevents a Pokémon from being KOed even if it only works about half the time (coin flip based effect). Even with all that Unlimited grants us, however, you can only run four copies of Focus Band. If your deck can afford the space while meeting the stipulations for Modified, Rescue Scarf can still be a good card here. After all, when re-playing Evolved Pokémon you can tap Broken Time-Space for speed.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
You should not be reading until after the bold text indicating I am past this part, unless like me you want to know about upcoming cards from Japan. There is a new mechanic in Japan called “Ace Spec” (or some similar spelling) that is basically a one-per-deck Trainer. It isn’t just one-card-of-that-name-per-deck, but one-card-of-that-designation. So even if they have two different names, you can’t run two “Ace Spec” cards.
This matters for Unlimited because unless TPCi changes it, Computer Search was released in Japan already and apparently, so has Item Finder. Their card names are different in Japanese (as they were in their original releases in the earliest days of the game), and it is always possible a simple mistake as been made or that this has changed. Still, this is huge for Unlimited, where few decks want to run less than three of either of these two cards, and it becomes especially important for the first turn win/lock decks. This could open the format up a little more, which would give all other decks (and their cards, Rescue Scarf included) a boost.
END SPOILER ALERT! END SPOILER ALERT! END SPOILER ALERT!
Limited play is where Rescue Scarf shines. First and foremost, anything that isn’t a basic Energy card is in demand here. Second, since they make up less of a set than Pokémon, Trainers and Energy are in extra demand here. Thirdly, barring some ridiculous, so-improbable-as-to-be-impossible pulls, you’ll always have room to include Rescue Scarf and you’ll always benefit even if you pulled lousy everything else… though the benefits rise exponentially if you did pull even a single great Pokémon: Rescue Scarf gives it another shot at being played!
Ratings
Unlimited: 4/10 – Take an Evolution that provides Trainer denial, slap this on its lower form, drop Broken Time-Space, and see your opponent wince. It does rely on several other potent cards and is still outclassed by quite a bit, though.
Modified: 7/10 – Rescue Scarf is a card that technically functions in just about any deck. It will not be optimal, but it will be functional unless your opponent takes great pains to win without KOing your Pokémon via damage. It usually isn’t the best choice, but where it is it shines.
Limited: 10/10 – Run it.
Summary
I really like Rescue Scarf. It is similar to Rescue Energy, but doesn’t burn an Energy attachment. The fast paced format, featuring many Basic Pokémon as main attackers that a card like Revive can easily recycle, coupled with other potent Pokémon Tools like Eviolite, as well as being about as vulnerable to Tool Scrapper as possible will make it only suitable to specific strategies, but it works appropriately well in such decks.
