Um... DCE doesn't fuel powerful attack effects (Lugia EX is probably just the beginning), and wasn't deck searchable.
It fuels any powerful attack that requires :colorless::colorless:. You know, like X-Ball. :thumb:
Both when it came out in Base Set and when it was first re-released into Modified via HeartGold/SoulSilver, being DCE "compliant" has been a major bonus. Cards generally need to work with it, or work well without it. It is an Energy card, that
by itself speeds things up; :colorless::colorless: attacks can be used first turn. TPC forgets that a lot of balance issues come because powerful effects are available so soon... but that is an entire thread for another time. The only reason DCE isn't as big a deal right now is that many decks have alternative forms of Energy acceleration; Dark Patch/Dark Trance, Dynamotor, etc.
Focusing on the topic at hand, consider this; what if Colress Machine
did not exist but instead Plasma Energy had the following effect added to it:
"When you attach Plasma Energy from your hand to one of your Pokemon, search your deck for another copy of Plasma Energy and attach it to that same Pokemon".
Sounds potent, doesn't it? Well... that would be a
nerfed DCE. :lol: DCE provides twice the Energy for half the slots (or double the Energy for the same slots, depending on how you look at it). If you search and the second
hypothetical Plasma Energy wasn't in your deck, it'd just whiff. The only upside would be that removal effects would only discard one and not both. Now since the "effect" is on an Item, it means you can combine it with any normal Energy attachment, but takes up to twice as many slots!
I hope I am not sounding harsh, but I do want to make my point clear, especially this last point; if Lugia EX is any indication, Plasma Energy will at least sometimes be used to
restrict potent effects. Overflow probably exists as an Ability for a few reasons:
- to keep the effect text of Plasma Gale from being huge
- so that Garbodor can shut off the extra Prize taking effect.
- if we get a Team Plasma's Technical Machine or other effect that gives Lugia EX access to another attack
- So that Pokemon that copy attacks don't get the extra Prize effect.
So what about Plasma Energy fueling powerful effects? The way Lugia EX is worded, it
restricts the powerful effect. Imagine if this was a "plain" Lugia EX, didn't have access to Colress Machine but
also just needed to discard "an Energy" and
not "a Plasma Energy"? That would be
more potent, wouldn't it? Yes we don't know the rest of the set, but unless Team Plasma support provides a way to easily recycle those Plasma Energy,
not discarding a Special Energy that only provides :colorless: would be better.:biggrin:
