dancingaway
New Member
Call of Legends – Set Review:
Every time a new set gets released I really want to see a comprehensive review, on a card by card basis, done by someone in the know. I would also love to go back and see this for every past set. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I know my way around the Pokémon TCG and I haven’t seen a full set review for Call of Legends so I give you my take here.
These are my opinions, feel free to disagree, just tell me why! I am rating all cards based on what they are. For example, Garchomp C Level X would get 5/5 for an awesome main attacker to base a deck around, while Gastly SF would also get 5/5 for being an excellent starter and the best basic form of Gengar (to use in a very successful deck). Garchomp C gets rated as an attacker, Gastly on his ability to help us set up. I will be marking each card on their use at the pre-release (PR) (don’t forget how fun these can be!), their use in our current meta-game (MG) and their art. I will not go into hideous depth for each card (we all want to go home tonight) but rather consider the standout features. I know the pre-releases have mostly been and gone but this being a reprint set it wasn’t possible to predict the set til this past weekend. Anyway, there’s launch parties next weekend in Derby and Nottingham in the UK, so there may be some where you’re from.
I should also add that this has become kinda epic so it’s being split into parts. I will post links to all the parts at the bottom of this as it gets posted. Also, if you want images of all the cards, they can be found in the Pokegym picture library (follow the link at the top of the page).
Part 1 (Rares 1-20): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141321
Part 2 (Rares 21-39): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141322
Part 3 (Uncommons 40-52): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141469
Part 4 (Commons 53-75): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141528
Part 6 (Conclusion, Overview and Awards): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141844
076 - Cheerleader’s Cheer
- Just like Dual Ball, we have a card that seems good but is just outclassed by so many better cards. It allows you to draw one but means you have to allow your opponent to draw one. Which, unless they are completely set up, they will. This is not a good thing. Your other options include Team Rocket’s Trickery (draw 2, opponent discards 1), Buck’s Training (draw 2, attacks do +10 damage for a turn), Engineer’s Adjustments (discard an energy, draw 4) and Volkner’s Philosophy (discard one card, draw until you have 6). This all comes down to preference. I would go Volkner’s but you know what suits your game. However, you shouldn’t be using any of them. For draw your first point of call should always be Uxie. Other than that I would recommend hand-refreshing supporters over draw supporters. PONT is awesome, Judge is awesome and Cynthia’s Feelings can be awesome. Looker’s Investigation can also be good in decks like Vilegar. As a side-note, put some Engineer’s Adjustments into fire decks. If you’re struggling to get Ninetails up and running, this will fill the void for a turn or two.
- PR: 5/5 (You should run this, drawing 3 cards is huge)
- MG: 2/5 (Drawing 3 is good but there are better options)
- Art: 4/5 (Come on, cheerleaders!)
077 - Copycat
- Copycat comes down to preference. If you’re thinking about using it then you also have the choice of PONT (6 cards automatically), Judge (can really mess up your opponent’s game) and Looker’s (see your opponent’s hand and make a good decision). It just depends on your deck really and what you’re facing. Against SP and Gyarados you will likely get a lot of cards but against other decks you could be unlucky. The most common use for this card is Trainer Lock decks but be wary. I play Machamp/Donphan which is supposed to be destroyed by trainer lock but in a match against Vilegar in cities my opponent used Copycat twice; once for 3 cards and then again for 2 cards. Both times they had to reduce their hand size. I am not, by a loooong way, the only player who makes sure they can cut their hand size if need be, especially with Vilegar so popular. In Vilegar I would play Looker’s (see their hand, if it’s not “Poltergeist” fodder then change their hand, if it is, change yours) but otherwise I would say it’s a choice between PONT and Judge. PONT is awesome for consistency but the biggest decks right now are SP (use BIG hands), Gyarados (Use BIG hands) and Vilegar (want you to have a big hand) so for this reason I favour Judge.
- PR: 5/5 (Any draw or hand refresh is awesome)
- MG: 2/5 (I really do think it’s inferior to PONT, Judge and Looker’s)
- Art: 2/5 (Not a fan, find some old Copycats, they look cooler)
078 - Dual Ball
- This has the potential to be absolutely awesome. If you hit 2 heads then you get to search for 2 basic Pokémon. This is as good as Roseanne’s and almost as good as Pokémon collector. We should at this point bear in mind that this is a trainer too, so it doesn’t take your supporter for the turn. On the flip side (see what I did there?) if you hit 2 tails then you’ve just wasted a card. If you play Cyrus’ Initiative you should have some understanding of this, after all, how many times have you flipped double tails and been crushed? If there was a similar card that allowed you to get rid of one of their cards, would you do it? You wouldn’t be able to kill 2 cards but it would mean you’d definitely get rid of one. Well, for dual ball this exists. It’s called Great Ball. It’s a trainer that allows you to grab one basic Pokémon from your deck. It’s not flashy but it’s consistent and means you WILL get a basic Pokémon. For this reason I would always run this over Dual Ball. In crunch times you need certainty and as little luck as possible. Dual Ball does not give you this.
- PR: 4/5 (Unless you get 2 tails this will be awesome, especially as you’re running many basics)
- MG: 1/5 (Use great ball or, better yet, Pokémon Collector or Luxury Ball etc etc)
- Art: 2/5 (Meh)
079 - Interviewer’s Questions
- Last format we had Roseanne’s Research and it was glorious. This season we only really have one sure-fire way to search for energy and that’s Cyrus’ Conspiracy which is great for SP decks and ok for other decks but only getting 1 energy really isn’t enough for most decks. Interviewer’s questions tried to plug that gap and it’s...... ok. Now it searches for “energy” which means special energies are fair game but there is a lot of luck to it. I’ve seen people pull 5 or 6 energies with this and I’ve seen people pull 0. Obviously the higher energy count you run, the more use it is. The average amount of energy in a deck seems to be somewhere around 12-15 so, in theory, you should get 1 or 2 each time. We all know it doesn’t work like that in reality. So here’s the deal: if you run an energy-heavy deck then this is worth running (especially when you can attach multiple energies per turn such as Feraligatr Prime and Shaymin Lv.X) but otherwise just make sure your deck is consistent and you won’t need it.
- PR: 5/5 (You will probably run lots of energy and this will be invaluable)
- MG: 1/5-5/5 (If you run something like Jumpluff this is useless but for Blastgatr it is gold)
- Art: 3/5 (Very standard, ok but nothing amazing)
080 - Lost Remover
- I have seen a lot of debate about this card for the past couple of weeks. I think that every deck that can find room should run two of these. Unfortunately, many decks just don’t have the room. If you’re playing Dark or Steel decks, they will rely on special energy. Many decks now run DCE as well and all of these can be removed with this card. Played at the right time it can really give an advantage. It can remove a special metal, allowing you to get a KO where you otherwise would not do enough damage, it can remove a special dark energy and leave you to attack for one more turn or it can strip a DCE, slowing your opponent’s deck down and possibly leaving them unable to attack. Now removing things like Warp Energy and Call Energy will largely be useless (they are rarely used to pay attack cost) but getting rid of Special Metal, Special Dark and DCE will be enough to make it worthwhile against almost all decks. As a side note, this will not work against Luxchomp to get rid of Garchomp’s DCE. Very occasionally they will pop it on early to use Earthquake but mostly they will put it on then immediately discard it for “Dragon Rush”. Don’t let this disturb you though, I think before this gets rotated you will see more than a couple matches turn when one of these bad boys is dropped. Oh, I almost forgot how popular Rescue Energy is getting. Decks like Gyarados and Vilegar really like their Rescue Energy, so use this to ruin their day.
- PR: 2/5 (There is Special Metal and Special Dark but you probably won’t see it used much)
- MG: 4/5 (Could turn games if played right)
- Art: 4/5 (Looks cool and is the same chain that seeker wears)
081 - Lost world
- I am going to be a little controversial here and not give a proper opinion. The reason is, we haven’t had states yet. If Gengar/Lost world sweeps states then this is obviously a beastly, game changing card. If not, then it’s massively overhyped and not worth our collective musings. Next format this could be one of THE key cards but it is, as yet, untested and nobody knows how well it will do in proper competition, especially as the lack of prize-taking will completely ruin your chances in a best of 3 (long drawn out win in game 1 + one prize card loss due to time in game 2 + 1 prize card loss in sudden death = lose overall). As it stands, I’m largely ignoring this card. IF it becomes big then I will tech against it but I’m waiting. One piece of advice I will give you, if you get these (especially reverse holo ones!) hold onto them. At the moment COL is the current set so they’ll be easy to get hold of but in a little while, when we’ve had some more sets and the boosters are hard to get hold of, and especially if Gengar/Lost world is winning everything, these will go up in value. A lot! Just a thought.
- PR: 0/5 (Good luck lost-zoning 6 Pokémon here, possible with cards like Zangoose but.... no)
- MG: 1/5 or 5/5 (I’m biding my time on this one)
- Art: 5/5 (Lost world must have the best art of any set ever and it was only 40 cards!)
082 - Professor Elm’s Training Method
- Is this just a poor man’s Bebe’s? Well, mostly, yes. It can only get evolution Pokémon, so no basics, legends or Levels Xs (which Bebe’s can) and it can’t help you to put a useless card in your deck (which, against decks like Vilegar, can be vital) BUT you can use it if you have nothing in your hand that you’re willing to shuffle back into your deck. Overall it’s just not as good, and 4 Bebe’s will usually be enough (or too much). However, there is one use for this I’ve found: If you run Sableye, run one of these as it will allow you to search for an evolution Pokémon without getting rid of any cards. This is good because early game you’re likely to need all of your cards AND you’ll need evolution Pokémon. I used this trick and it worked wonders.
- PR: 5/5 (You’ll likely to be running lines with 1 evolution Pokémon. This can help ya find it)
- MG: 2/5 (It’s good but if you want a supporter to search for evolutions, use Bebe’s)
- Art: 3/5 (I much prefer Oak to Elm but this is a nice cute little picture I suppose)
083 – Professor Oak’s New Theory (PONT)
- For the record, this card is amazing; easily one of my favourite cards in the format. I literally never make a deck without 2. If you need one particular card, or if you have a really bad hand this will help you a lot more than Uxie, who everyone regards as the best draw we have. In a recent game I was playing sudden death against a Vilegar and got a T2 Machamp SF (after going first) but didn’t pull any fighting energy. One PONT later and the game was mine. The only reason not to play this card is Judge (Copycat is unreliable, even if you play trainer lock). Yes, judge gets 4 cards instead of 6 but it can really screw up your opponent, especially if they play Gyarados or SP. Otherwise, you need this in your deck.
- PR: 5/5 (There is nothing better in this set for drawing or hand refresh)
- MG: 5/5 (If you don’t play judge, you need this in your deck)
- Art: 4/5 (Simple but he looks like a lovely granddad)
084 - Research Record
- I like this card. If anyone used it in the Prerelease they should have also realised it was pretty darn good. It not only allows you to fix what you get next turn (and for a couple turns after) but it also allows you to put cards you don’t need on the bottom (useful for people who play 4 Pokémon Collectors for example). Now everyone loves Delcatty and this provides a similar purpose; fixing what’s on top of your deck. Now I know it’s not as good as Delcatty but it also doesn’t sit on your bench, taking up space and waiting to give away a prize. If you need to control what’s on top of your deck, or you’re stuck top-decking, this is a very, very good card. It’s a trainer too remember so you can use your supporter for the turn. It also combos very very well with cards like Uxie that allow draw. The only real problem I see with this card is that it will be the 61st card in many decks and just get left out. If you have any space in your deck though you should be putting it in, some people will and I can guarantee that sooner or later it will win them a game.
- PR: 5/5 (YES! You will usually be top-decking and looking for one or two specific cards)
- MG: 4/5 (It really will save games, can you make space in your deck?)
- Art: 4.5/5 (It really does look very cool)
085 - Sage’s Training
- This card can be very useful for getting important cards but there are two big problems. Firstly, you have to discard 3 cards, and this can really ruin your game (I know sometimes, like in Gyarados, you need to discard but cards like Junk Arm and Volkner’s are far better for this). Secondly, there are much better options; PONT, Judge, copycat (sometimes), Uxie, Ninetails, Magnezone Prime, Engineer’s adjustments, and the list goes on. However, in a pre-release any draw is appreciated and you often have several cards in your deck which can be left out of a given match so here, it shines.
- PR: 4/5 (can get the cards to win and often the other 3 can be sacrificed
- MG: 1.5/5 (Can work but there are so many better options)
- Art: 3/5 (Simple but a very nice picture)
086 - Special Dark
- It’s like a dark energy but increases all damage by 10! This is awesome! Decks like Tyranitar have made a nice living off this bad boy and it’s easy to see why. There are downsides, most notable Scizor Prime (being invulnerable if you have special energy attached) and the new Lost Remover which can strip these off of your Pokémon, but these are not a big enough reason not to run it. As a bonus we now even have Energy Exchange Unit to help search this out. Don’t run just special darks (or Scizor will own you) but in any dark deck you should probably have 4 of these. With Gengar prime looking to become increasingly popular, so will Dark Pokémon (as a counter) and Special dark could kill that Gengar one turn earlier, which could be the difference.
- PR: 5/5 (With the already low average HP in a PR, this can really make a difference)
- MG: 5/5 (Dark decks need this, ‘nuff said)
- Art: 2/5 (meh, better than the RR ones I suppose)
087 - Special Metal
- It’s like a metal energy but decreases all damage by 10! This is awesome. Decks like Dialgachomp, Steelix Prime and Scizor prime have made a nice living off this bad boy and it’s easy to see why. There are downsides, most notable Scizor Prime (being invulnerable if you have special energy attached) and the new Lost Remover which can strip these off of your Pokémon, but these are not a big enough reason not to run it. As a bonus we now even have Energy Exchange Unit to help search this out. Don’t run just special metals (or Scizor will own you) but in any metal deck you should probably have 4 of these.
- PR: 5/5 (With the already low average damage output in a PR, this can really make a difference)
- MG: 5/5 (Metal decks need this, ‘nuff said)
- Art: 2/5 (meh, better than the RR ones I suppose
Every time a new set gets released I really want to see a comprehensive review, on a card by card basis, done by someone in the know. I would also love to go back and see this for every past set. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I know my way around the Pokémon TCG and I haven’t seen a full set review for Call of Legends so I give you my take here.
These are my opinions, feel free to disagree, just tell me why! I am rating all cards based on what they are. For example, Garchomp C Level X would get 5/5 for an awesome main attacker to base a deck around, while Gastly SF would also get 5/5 for being an excellent starter and the best basic form of Gengar (to use in a very successful deck). Garchomp C gets rated as an attacker, Gastly on his ability to help us set up. I will be marking each card on their use at the pre-release (PR) (don’t forget how fun these can be!), their use in our current meta-game (MG) and their art. I will not go into hideous depth for each card (we all want to go home tonight) but rather consider the standout features. I know the pre-releases have mostly been and gone but this being a reprint set it wasn’t possible to predict the set til this past weekend. Anyway, there’s launch parties next weekend in Derby and Nottingham in the UK, so there may be some where you’re from.
I should also add that this has become kinda epic so it’s being split into parts. I will post links to all the parts at the bottom of this as it gets posted. Also, if you want images of all the cards, they can be found in the Pokegym picture library (follow the link at the top of the page).
Part 1 (Rares 1-20): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141321
Part 2 (Rares 21-39): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141322
Part 3 (Uncommons 40-52): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141469
Part 4 (Commons 53-75): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141528
Part 6 (Conclusion, Overview and Awards): http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141844
076 - Cheerleader’s Cheer
- Just like Dual Ball, we have a card that seems good but is just outclassed by so many better cards. It allows you to draw one but means you have to allow your opponent to draw one. Which, unless they are completely set up, they will. This is not a good thing. Your other options include Team Rocket’s Trickery (draw 2, opponent discards 1), Buck’s Training (draw 2, attacks do +10 damage for a turn), Engineer’s Adjustments (discard an energy, draw 4) and Volkner’s Philosophy (discard one card, draw until you have 6). This all comes down to preference. I would go Volkner’s but you know what suits your game. However, you shouldn’t be using any of them. For draw your first point of call should always be Uxie. Other than that I would recommend hand-refreshing supporters over draw supporters. PONT is awesome, Judge is awesome and Cynthia’s Feelings can be awesome. Looker’s Investigation can also be good in decks like Vilegar. As a side-note, put some Engineer’s Adjustments into fire decks. If you’re struggling to get Ninetails up and running, this will fill the void for a turn or two.
- PR: 5/5 (You should run this, drawing 3 cards is huge)
- MG: 2/5 (Drawing 3 is good but there are better options)
- Art: 4/5 (Come on, cheerleaders!)
077 - Copycat
- Copycat comes down to preference. If you’re thinking about using it then you also have the choice of PONT (6 cards automatically), Judge (can really mess up your opponent’s game) and Looker’s (see your opponent’s hand and make a good decision). It just depends on your deck really and what you’re facing. Against SP and Gyarados you will likely get a lot of cards but against other decks you could be unlucky. The most common use for this card is Trainer Lock decks but be wary. I play Machamp/Donphan which is supposed to be destroyed by trainer lock but in a match against Vilegar in cities my opponent used Copycat twice; once for 3 cards and then again for 2 cards. Both times they had to reduce their hand size. I am not, by a loooong way, the only player who makes sure they can cut their hand size if need be, especially with Vilegar so popular. In Vilegar I would play Looker’s (see their hand, if it’s not “Poltergeist” fodder then change their hand, if it is, change yours) but otherwise I would say it’s a choice between PONT and Judge. PONT is awesome for consistency but the biggest decks right now are SP (use BIG hands), Gyarados (Use BIG hands) and Vilegar (want you to have a big hand) so for this reason I favour Judge.
- PR: 5/5 (Any draw or hand refresh is awesome)
- MG: 2/5 (I really do think it’s inferior to PONT, Judge and Looker’s)
- Art: 2/5 (Not a fan, find some old Copycats, they look cooler)
078 - Dual Ball
- This has the potential to be absolutely awesome. If you hit 2 heads then you get to search for 2 basic Pokémon. This is as good as Roseanne’s and almost as good as Pokémon collector. We should at this point bear in mind that this is a trainer too, so it doesn’t take your supporter for the turn. On the flip side (see what I did there?) if you hit 2 tails then you’ve just wasted a card. If you play Cyrus’ Initiative you should have some understanding of this, after all, how many times have you flipped double tails and been crushed? If there was a similar card that allowed you to get rid of one of their cards, would you do it? You wouldn’t be able to kill 2 cards but it would mean you’d definitely get rid of one. Well, for dual ball this exists. It’s called Great Ball. It’s a trainer that allows you to grab one basic Pokémon from your deck. It’s not flashy but it’s consistent and means you WILL get a basic Pokémon. For this reason I would always run this over Dual Ball. In crunch times you need certainty and as little luck as possible. Dual Ball does not give you this.
- PR: 4/5 (Unless you get 2 tails this will be awesome, especially as you’re running many basics)
- MG: 1/5 (Use great ball or, better yet, Pokémon Collector or Luxury Ball etc etc)
- Art: 2/5 (Meh)
079 - Interviewer’s Questions
- Last format we had Roseanne’s Research and it was glorious. This season we only really have one sure-fire way to search for energy and that’s Cyrus’ Conspiracy which is great for SP decks and ok for other decks but only getting 1 energy really isn’t enough for most decks. Interviewer’s questions tried to plug that gap and it’s...... ok. Now it searches for “energy” which means special energies are fair game but there is a lot of luck to it. I’ve seen people pull 5 or 6 energies with this and I’ve seen people pull 0. Obviously the higher energy count you run, the more use it is. The average amount of energy in a deck seems to be somewhere around 12-15 so, in theory, you should get 1 or 2 each time. We all know it doesn’t work like that in reality. So here’s the deal: if you run an energy-heavy deck then this is worth running (especially when you can attach multiple energies per turn such as Feraligatr Prime and Shaymin Lv.X) but otherwise just make sure your deck is consistent and you won’t need it.
- PR: 5/5 (You will probably run lots of energy and this will be invaluable)
- MG: 1/5-5/5 (If you run something like Jumpluff this is useless but for Blastgatr it is gold)
- Art: 3/5 (Very standard, ok but nothing amazing)
080 - Lost Remover
- I have seen a lot of debate about this card for the past couple of weeks. I think that every deck that can find room should run two of these. Unfortunately, many decks just don’t have the room. If you’re playing Dark or Steel decks, they will rely on special energy. Many decks now run DCE as well and all of these can be removed with this card. Played at the right time it can really give an advantage. It can remove a special metal, allowing you to get a KO where you otherwise would not do enough damage, it can remove a special dark energy and leave you to attack for one more turn or it can strip a DCE, slowing your opponent’s deck down and possibly leaving them unable to attack. Now removing things like Warp Energy and Call Energy will largely be useless (they are rarely used to pay attack cost) but getting rid of Special Metal, Special Dark and DCE will be enough to make it worthwhile against almost all decks. As a side note, this will not work against Luxchomp to get rid of Garchomp’s DCE. Very occasionally they will pop it on early to use Earthquake but mostly they will put it on then immediately discard it for “Dragon Rush”. Don’t let this disturb you though, I think before this gets rotated you will see more than a couple matches turn when one of these bad boys is dropped. Oh, I almost forgot how popular Rescue Energy is getting. Decks like Gyarados and Vilegar really like their Rescue Energy, so use this to ruin their day.
- PR: 2/5 (There is Special Metal and Special Dark but you probably won’t see it used much)
- MG: 4/5 (Could turn games if played right)
- Art: 4/5 (Looks cool and is the same chain that seeker wears)
081 - Lost world
- I am going to be a little controversial here and not give a proper opinion. The reason is, we haven’t had states yet. If Gengar/Lost world sweeps states then this is obviously a beastly, game changing card. If not, then it’s massively overhyped and not worth our collective musings. Next format this could be one of THE key cards but it is, as yet, untested and nobody knows how well it will do in proper competition, especially as the lack of prize-taking will completely ruin your chances in a best of 3 (long drawn out win in game 1 + one prize card loss due to time in game 2 + 1 prize card loss in sudden death = lose overall). As it stands, I’m largely ignoring this card. IF it becomes big then I will tech against it but I’m waiting. One piece of advice I will give you, if you get these (especially reverse holo ones!) hold onto them. At the moment COL is the current set so they’ll be easy to get hold of but in a little while, when we’ve had some more sets and the boosters are hard to get hold of, and especially if Gengar/Lost world is winning everything, these will go up in value. A lot! Just a thought.
- PR: 0/5 (Good luck lost-zoning 6 Pokémon here, possible with cards like Zangoose but.... no)
- MG: 1/5 or 5/5 (I’m biding my time on this one)
- Art: 5/5 (Lost world must have the best art of any set ever and it was only 40 cards!)
082 - Professor Elm’s Training Method
- Is this just a poor man’s Bebe’s? Well, mostly, yes. It can only get evolution Pokémon, so no basics, legends or Levels Xs (which Bebe’s can) and it can’t help you to put a useless card in your deck (which, against decks like Vilegar, can be vital) BUT you can use it if you have nothing in your hand that you’re willing to shuffle back into your deck. Overall it’s just not as good, and 4 Bebe’s will usually be enough (or too much). However, there is one use for this I’ve found: If you run Sableye, run one of these as it will allow you to search for an evolution Pokémon without getting rid of any cards. This is good because early game you’re likely to need all of your cards AND you’ll need evolution Pokémon. I used this trick and it worked wonders.
- PR: 5/5 (You’ll likely to be running lines with 1 evolution Pokémon. This can help ya find it)
- MG: 2/5 (It’s good but if you want a supporter to search for evolutions, use Bebe’s)
- Art: 3/5 (I much prefer Oak to Elm but this is a nice cute little picture I suppose)
083 – Professor Oak’s New Theory (PONT)
- For the record, this card is amazing; easily one of my favourite cards in the format. I literally never make a deck without 2. If you need one particular card, or if you have a really bad hand this will help you a lot more than Uxie, who everyone regards as the best draw we have. In a recent game I was playing sudden death against a Vilegar and got a T2 Machamp SF (after going first) but didn’t pull any fighting energy. One PONT later and the game was mine. The only reason not to play this card is Judge (Copycat is unreliable, even if you play trainer lock). Yes, judge gets 4 cards instead of 6 but it can really screw up your opponent, especially if they play Gyarados or SP. Otherwise, you need this in your deck.
- PR: 5/5 (There is nothing better in this set for drawing or hand refresh)
- MG: 5/5 (If you don’t play judge, you need this in your deck)
- Art: 4/5 (Simple but he looks like a lovely granddad)
084 - Research Record
- I like this card. If anyone used it in the Prerelease they should have also realised it was pretty darn good. It not only allows you to fix what you get next turn (and for a couple turns after) but it also allows you to put cards you don’t need on the bottom (useful for people who play 4 Pokémon Collectors for example). Now everyone loves Delcatty and this provides a similar purpose; fixing what’s on top of your deck. Now I know it’s not as good as Delcatty but it also doesn’t sit on your bench, taking up space and waiting to give away a prize. If you need to control what’s on top of your deck, or you’re stuck top-decking, this is a very, very good card. It’s a trainer too remember so you can use your supporter for the turn. It also combos very very well with cards like Uxie that allow draw. The only real problem I see with this card is that it will be the 61st card in many decks and just get left out. If you have any space in your deck though you should be putting it in, some people will and I can guarantee that sooner or later it will win them a game.
- PR: 5/5 (YES! You will usually be top-decking and looking for one or two specific cards)
- MG: 4/5 (It really will save games, can you make space in your deck?)
- Art: 4.5/5 (It really does look very cool)
085 - Sage’s Training
- This card can be very useful for getting important cards but there are two big problems. Firstly, you have to discard 3 cards, and this can really ruin your game (I know sometimes, like in Gyarados, you need to discard but cards like Junk Arm and Volkner’s are far better for this). Secondly, there are much better options; PONT, Judge, copycat (sometimes), Uxie, Ninetails, Magnezone Prime, Engineer’s adjustments, and the list goes on. However, in a pre-release any draw is appreciated and you often have several cards in your deck which can be left out of a given match so here, it shines.
- PR: 4/5 (can get the cards to win and often the other 3 can be sacrificed
- MG: 1.5/5 (Can work but there are so many better options)
- Art: 3/5 (Simple but a very nice picture)
086 - Special Dark
- It’s like a dark energy but increases all damage by 10! This is awesome! Decks like Tyranitar have made a nice living off this bad boy and it’s easy to see why. There are downsides, most notable Scizor Prime (being invulnerable if you have special energy attached) and the new Lost Remover which can strip these off of your Pokémon, but these are not a big enough reason not to run it. As a bonus we now even have Energy Exchange Unit to help search this out. Don’t run just special darks (or Scizor will own you) but in any dark deck you should probably have 4 of these. With Gengar prime looking to become increasingly popular, so will Dark Pokémon (as a counter) and Special dark could kill that Gengar one turn earlier, which could be the difference.
- PR: 5/5 (With the already low average HP in a PR, this can really make a difference)
- MG: 5/5 (Dark decks need this, ‘nuff said)
- Art: 2/5 (meh, better than the RR ones I suppose)
087 - Special Metal
- It’s like a metal energy but decreases all damage by 10! This is awesome. Decks like Dialgachomp, Steelix Prime and Scizor prime have made a nice living off this bad boy and it’s easy to see why. There are downsides, most notable Scizor Prime (being invulnerable if you have special energy attached) and the new Lost Remover which can strip these off of your Pokémon, but these are not a big enough reason not to run it. As a bonus we now even have Energy Exchange Unit to help search this out. Don’t run just special metals (or Scizor will own you) but in any metal deck you should probably have 4 of these.
- PR: 5/5 (With the already low average damage output in a PR, this can really make a difference)
- MG: 5/5 (Metal decks need this, ‘nuff said)
- Art: 2/5 (meh, better than the RR ones I suppose
Last edited: