Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Prime's Thoughts: The Cards of Today seen in the format of Tomorrow

P

Prime

Content Developer<br>Blog Admin<br>Contest Host
[FONT=&quot]While making a list of the trainers/special energies that will be legal in the next season, I wanted to type out a short summary of how I felt the cards were going to played, including which ones were going to be popular, and which ones were going to be duds. This way, it could help me plan for the future and try to get my hands on some of the more useful cards earlier. In the pages below, I am just writing my opinions of the cards. How I feel the cards will be played and how popular I feel they will be. Only time will tell if I am right or wrong, and my opinions could be wrong already, but in the end, it’s just my opinion, not me stating fact. So keep that in mind when you voice your own opinions.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Supporters[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Bebe's Search[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Definitely a staple in every deck. It’s the replacement for Celio’s Network and the only supporter that can grab any Pokémon card from the deck.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Felicity's Drawing[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Can definitely grab you the most cards compared to any other draw card, but many decks won’t have a need to discard cards, so I feel this will become less of a general draw card and more of a specialized draw card for certain decks.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Fossil Excavator[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I could say this would be a staple only in fossil decks, but many fossil decks don’t even run this since they can grab all the cards through other means (Keen Eye, Bebe’s Search, etc). Definitely with the new ruling about this card not grabbing Old Amber, I don’t see this card seeing much play at all, especially with decks that don’t run fossils.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Mom's Kindness[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I don’t see a reason to even use this card. This card won’t see play because of better draw in the format. Even if you don’t like Professor Oak’s Visit’s effect of putting 1 card back under your deck, you still have Team Galactic’s Mars that draws 2 and puts one of the opponent’s cards under their deck. A 2 draw with a decent effect is better than a 2 draw with no effect any day of the week.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Professor Oak's Visit[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I could see this card being a pretty popular draw card in decks DP-on. It’s a consistent 3 draw, and you don’t have to discard anything. No other supporter right now allows for 3 draw without a discard and its draw is only inferior to Felicity’s Drawing where you have to discard 2 cards to draw 1 more.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Professor Rowan[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I could see this card as a tech draw, only since it wouldn’t be a draw to base your deck around. It works well with Claydol, so you can keep 1 card, shuffle the rest of your hand in, then draw 4, then keep 3-4 of those cards and shuffle 1 or 2 in to draw 2-3 more cards. But I don’t see it being played a lot during games like a regular draw might.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Roseanne's Research[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Definitely a staple in every deck (imho). It is just too good not to play it. No other supporter grabs energy from the deck, so there is one plus. Also, other than Bebe’s, no other supporter grabs Basic Pokémon from the deck. And then, no other supporter gives you as many options to what to do (maybe Felicity’s Drawing). This is a great card for early game, for mid-game and for late game. It’s just a great card.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rival[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card isn’t BAD but it relies on the opponent to choose which cards you draw. If you could combo this with cards that draw off the top of your deck, you could have a decent idea, but it might just be better running a better draw in the first place. This card wouldn’t be the first card I look at for draw.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Team Galactic’s Mars[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I think this will see some play, just because there isn’t a big difference between Draw 2 and Draw 3 in a format filled with Claydol. You might see people running lower draw like this over Professor Oak’s Visit just so they can draw an extra card with Claydol and get the extra disruption effect. It’s not a bad card, and I feel will see some play.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Team Galactic’s Wager[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I think this card will see a lot of play as long as Claydol is popular. It’s too fruitful to disrupt the opponent’s hand and you have a fallback to protect yourself when you lose. I see decks running these in good numbers just for the extra hand refreshing and constant disruption. It will make Lv.Xs harder to play since it will force the players to grab them the turn they are going to Level Up or they will be shuffled back into the deck. That’s true now, but in the future, we might see decks that use more Lv.Xs in them than we do now.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Trainers[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Amulet Coin[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I’ve never really thought highly of the card, but there is one person at my league that can get this card out really quickly (he plays 3 in his deck) and can get the draw effect pretty often. I think in that aspect, this card could see play in stage 1 quick decks to help accelerate. With the rotation of Windstorms, this card can stay around a little longer.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Armor Fossil[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Only really used with its evolution. [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Dome Fossil[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I really like the new Energy Evolutions. But, this is still just a fossil, so it will only really see play with its evolution.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Double Full Heal[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card has been around for a while now and nobody has really looked into it. Its effect is neat, but can be achieved through other means. You can Level Up to clear all status conditions and setup a Lv.X. You can Warp Point to remove all status conditions and retreat to the bench. There are various ways to remove status conditions that you don’t need to run this card in a deck.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Dusk Ball[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: The new Masterball. I can see this card seeing some play, just because we lost a lot of non-supporter Pokémon search in the rotation. Going 7 cards down to find any Pokémon can be great with Lv.Xs in the deck, and a good draw engine to reduce the deck a bit.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Energy Restore[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Thanks to PokePockets, I was mixing this card up with Energy Recycle System. Energy Restore is like a Energy-based Time Space Distortion. What I wonder is if that is even needed? I guess this could be useful in decks that lay extra energy from the hand, but you'd have to get it into the discard pile and flip 3 heads for that to work that well. I think Night Maintenance is the better idea. Put the energy into your deck, then go get it with Roseanne's Research. It's not bad, but flippy is not always good and it's effect is hard to combo with.
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Energy Search[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I’ve never really understood why this card was ever made. What is the difference between using a trainer to grab a Basic Energy and just running another Basic Energy? If this card could go get Special Energy, it would be rather decent (and not broken for DP-on with the rotation of DRE/Scramble), but alas, it doesn’t do much of anything.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Energy Switch[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I think this card shows a lot of promise, especially in DP-on with the loss of DRE/Scramble to quickly power Pokémon. Being able to move a basic energy from anything to anything could see some abuse with cards that discard energy every turn and cards that only bring back energy onto them or onto the bench.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Helix Fossil[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Energy Evolution is cool, but it won’t see play without its evolutions.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Leftovers[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: At first, I would put it in the same group as Amulet Coin, but I don’t think it is really as useful as Amulet coin. Removing 10 damage at the end of the turn just isn’t that big of an effect in this ever evolving game. Pokémon are doing more and more damage. 10 damage healed each turn isn’t much at all. The only real use for this card would be combined with other cards that can reduce/heal damage on your active.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Night Maintenance[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I definitely think this will be a staple card in every deck. No other supporter or trainer can grab Pokémon out of the discard pile and shuffle them into the deck. This will be even more vital for decks that only run 1 Lv.X that try to reuse them. Actually, that could be wrong since Premier Ball can grab the Lv.X from the discard pile, but Night Maintenance is really useful throughout the entire game, so I see it being played a lot.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Night Pokémon Center[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I feel this card’s potential has come and gone with the rotation of the format. There were a few cards that could move all the energy off of a hurt Pokémon, and then move it back on after you played this card (POP Sceptile for instance) and now, there isn’t much of that at all anymore. This card isn’t bad, but it’s too luck based to be of any use and if you are unlucky, you could shoot yourself in the foot and have to discard all the energy on a hurt Pokémon, making the situation even worse.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Old Amber[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I could easily say…”just a fossil, play it with its evolution only”, but it’s not just a fossil because of weird rulings we have had lately. It is in the fossil group, but it isn’t a fossil, meaning that nothing on this earth can grab it from the deck (other than Girafarig or some weird trainer grabber). That makes it a lot harder to get out. It doesn’t have Energy Evolution, which is a bummer, but it does have a nice protective wall effect where it can’t be hurt on the bench. Even with the weirdness of the rulings, this card will primarily be played just with its evolution, but its effect is so nice that it could see play with other stuff that hurt your own Pokémon like Zapdos.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]PlusPower[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I remember when this card came out in Diamond and Pearl around last Nationals. People were putting it into their decks to pull off a little more damage here and there. It was slightly popular. Now, nobody plays it (well, it’s not as popular). I think this card will be more popular in DP-on because of the low energy attacks people will be using a lot that won’t be doing 200+ damage. It’s always useful (unless you are spreading damage on the bench), unlike Amulet Coin or Leftovers attached to a benched Pokémon.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Poke Ball[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I’ve always wondered why nobody played this card. Last format, it was an easy flip to grab an EX. Now, I feel its use is lessened thanks to the loss of EXs and the addition of other ways to grab Lv.Xs (Premier Ball, Quick Ball, etc.). It will probably stay in the binder as it has done for many years before.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Pokedex Handy910[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I really like this card. It’s a great way to accelerate through a deck. But it can be lackluster when you really need a good draw card. Its use is debatable, but I think it will see play because of its quickness but it won’t be more than just a helper.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Potion[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Potion falls into the same category as Leftovers. It has an interesting effect to heal 20 damage, but 20 damage just isn’t much now with Pokémon doing 100+ for 3 energy. When it was originally released in Base Set, Pokémon only had 80-100HP (on average), now Pokémon have 120-140HP (on average). The damage has gone up a lot too. The game has evolved away from the actual need for small healing (imho).[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Premier Ball[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This is a very interesting card. I feel it could see some play, but only in small numbers since you can grab Lv.Xs with all kinds of other cards. Also, those other cards can grab any Pokémon, and Premier Ball is limited to just Lv.Xs. One good thing for Premier Ball is its ability to pull a Lv.X from the discard. For that effect alone, I feel this will see play in many Lv.X based decks.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Quick Ball[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card was kind of popular when it first came out, but its usefulness is lowered so much when decks running multiple lines of Pokémon. I could see this being played in Turn-2 decks, but in general decks, it is not that useful. It’s just too random. One thing going for it though, is that you are guaranteed a Pokémon (if there is one) unlike Dusk Ball and other cards.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rare Candy[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card will be a staple and will always be a staple in Stage 2 decks. It’s just too useful to skip a stage and go all the way up to the Stage 2 in a single motion.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Skull Fossil[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: It’s a fossil; use it with its evolutions.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Super Scoop Up[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card has always been useful in only a few decks. It saw its most play when there were EXs all over the place and people couldn’t use Mr. Briney’s Compassion to pick them up. Now that EXs are gone and there isn’t Mr. Briney’s Compassion around, this card could see play and it could not see play. I think this card will only see play in decks that need to pick up and be put back down on the field to activate Poke-Powers multiple times. The Legendary Birds from Majestic Dawn come to mind, each of them having a Poke-Power that only activates when you lay it from your hand to the bench. With the loss of Scramble/DRE energy, it will be harder to pick up a Pokémon and power it up quickly, so its use is quite limited to non-Poke Powered decks.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Switch[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Retreating has always been important, and this allows a Pokémon to retreat for free. But I feel this card is outclassed by its cousin Warp Point that provides the same effect but also adds in a disruption element of forcing the opponent to switch their active too. Until Warp Point gets rotated, Switch will always be second best.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Time Space Distortion[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: Time Space Distortion has a very nice effect, but has a few things going against it that (I feel) will make it not played that much. One, it’s mighty expensive, so only those that want to drop $20+ on a single trainer will actually be using the card. Two, there is a very similar, cheaper card that is considered by many to be a superior card, Night Maintenance. Three, it’s full of flips. You never know how many Pokémon you are going to get back from the discard pile, and you never know when you are going to whiff totally and not get anything back. Flip cards have almost never been that popular in the past when there has been a stable non-flip version of the card legal at the same time. Even though this card could potentially be better than Night Maintenance, the luck factor and the price factor make it very hard to become popular.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Warp Point[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: With Lv.Xs around, Switch and Warp Point could see more play since it allows you to get those Lv.Xs off the front or their non-Lv.X form active so you can Level Up. Also, forcing the opponent to switch their active can be very disruptive in the right circumstances and can combo greatly with Dusknoir, Omastar, and other cards that can mess up the opponent’s bench.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stadiums[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Dawn Stadium[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I’ve never been too into using a stadium that can help my opponent. But if grass and water decks don’t become that popular, this stadium could be useful in rogue grass and water decks. Removing all status conditions and 1 damage counter can be useful at times. It will be harder to grab this from the deck when you need to with the loss of Scott, but that can said about all stadiums.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Lake Boundary[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I feel this will be the most popular stadium. It doesn’t help you setup or anything, but it’s a vital card for teching for a metagame. Being able to hit those 130HP monsters for 2x weakness can be vital at times, and many times you can plan it so they can’t hit you back for 2x, so the opponent isn’t always guaranteed to be able to use it too. I feel decks will be all over the place for the early part of the new season, so this card might not be as useful then. But as the format solidifies, and certain decks rise to the top, this card will be used in any metagame breaking deck.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Moonlight Stadium[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card can be useful for dark and psychic decks, but free retreat isn’t the most useful thing in the world. I think this card would have been better if it were a dark/psychic version of Dawn Stadium, because healing and removing of status effects is much more useful than free retreat in many cases.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Speed Stadium[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This card can be used by any deck, that’s a plus and a minus because the opponent can use it too. This card has you flip, which means you never know when you are going flip all duds and your opponent is going draw his whole deck thanks to your card. I don’t see this card seeing that much play because of the potential advantage you could give your opponent. Stadiums as a whole in the next season should be very lightly played, if none at all.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Special Energy[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Darkness Energy (Special)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: This is like the fossils of Special Energy. This is only really useful in Dark decks.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Call Energy[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I feel this card will be very popular. I see decks being quicker in the future as Stage 2s are hurt by the loss of DRE/Scramble Energy. This will allow Stage 1 decks to get going earlier since they won’t have to sit behind a Pachirisu or Phione. It’s a fantastic card that I feel will be very popular.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Health Energy[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I don’t see this card seeing play at all other than in decks that can use a lot of colorless energy (Exploud, etc).[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Metal Energy (Special)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: The same logic behind Special Darkness Energy can be applied here. This is only really useful in Metal decks.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Multi Energy[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I see this card getting a lot more play in DP-on just because of the loss of DRE/Scramble energy. This will be the only way to pay for different types of attacks without running multiples of each Basic Energy. Sure, with Roseanne’s Research in the format, it will be easier to grab each of those different Basic Energy, but in the long run, it might be easier just to run Multi Energy. If Call Energy gets really popular, this card might not see as much play as it might be hard to not mix up and put Call Energy and Multi Energy on the same Pokémon and not be able to pay for any attacks. [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Recover Energy[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: I would put this with Health Energy; it just doesn’t have that much long-term use.[/FONT]
 
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"Energy Restore: its effect isn’t bad. I mean, it gives you 2 effects (put 1 basic energy from the discard into your hand or shuffle 3 basic energy from the discard into the deck). But the second effect can be achieved through Night Maintenance and Night Maintenance can shuffle in Pokémon too, so that makes it the better choice (imho)."

I agree with you on most of these cards, however, above, you are thinking of Energy Recycle System, not Energy Restore.

Energy Restore says "Flip 3 coins, for each heads, search your discard pile for a basic energy card and put it into your hand"

Hope that helps
 
Nice writeup here Prime, but I think (IMHO) you oughtta consider trainers from the future set (The ones we know, at least) as well. Cynthia's Plan, Energy Patch, Buck's Training, the Technical Machines, those will all see play.
Also, there are a few notes I'd like to place.

Switch - It has a few places in which its superior to Warp Point. Main one being Status based decks, and seeing as how they have a tendecy to attack for low energy (Meganium MT and Arbok GE come to mind), one can make a point for those returning in the format.
TSD - Turn 2 decks and Swarm decks will generally prefere TSD over Night Maintainance for the speed it provides.
Call Energy - Perfect tandem with Phione
 
Scipio said:
Nice writeup here Prime, but I think (IMHO) you oughtta consider trainers from the future set (The ones we know, at least) as well. Cynthia's Plan, Energy Patch, Buck's Training, the Technical Machines, those will all see play.
Also, there are a few notes I'd like to place.

Switch - It has a few places in which its superior to Warp Point. Main one being Status based decks, and seeing as how they have a tendecy to attack for low energy (Meganium MT and Arbok GE come to mind), one can make a point for those returning in the format.
TSD - Turn 2 decks and Swarm decks will generally prefere TSD over Night Maintainance for the speed it provides.
Call Energy - Perfect tandem with Phione
Click to expand...

i agree the new trainers should probably be included too. or at least mentioned when discribing the others, like rowan and cinthias.
 
I didn't add in the new trainers because they haven't come out in english yet. Like I said in the opening paragraph, I made this list primarily as a way of reminding myself what cards that we have now would still be useful next format and using that information to figure out which ones I needed to get now to be ready for the next format.

Also, I left it open to opinion, so that people could voice their thoughts on all the cards, not just the ones I left out. If they felt a certain card wasn't going to see play next format, then they could post it.

If people want to post summaries of newer cards (in LA) that they feel will be popular, (more than one sentence please), then they are welcome to.
 
An excellent article for a time capsole, Prime. These are the kinds of things I like to point out to league people who have forgotten the history of how we played at one time. I hope this gets bookmarked/saved somewhere.

Like you, I look at cards like Energy Search, Potion, and Pokeball, and feel that they are relics from a past time in which they were useful. I wish they would take to printing Super Potion or Hyper Potion in the place of Potion, and go back to Energy Arn instead of Energy Search.

I think Energy Search is geared to decks that run 2 or more energy and, like I said before, was made for a time when we didn't have so much draw power we have now. Playing a deck with fire and water? Instead of just playing one more basic energy card, consider you may draw the energy card that you don't want. Drawing energy search instead of a basic energy card allows you to go get the energy you want.

I sure get beaten with PlusPower atleast once each tournament. People no longer play it where you play?
 
Well, I don't see it being as popular as it was at Nats when it first came out. Sure, nobody plays it at my league, but that's not the reason I posted that. At Nats, it was popular. Infercatty ran 4 of it, I know Mario ran it, Absolutions ran some number of them. Now, how many decks run it? I think many decks have gotten past the time where they actually needed Plus Power and now can do the big damage without the extra support. But I really think Plus Powers are great and are interesting because you can spam them (attach more than 1 a turn). They are almost like the new trainers coming out in 2 sets that allow you to play more than 1 at a point for an added effect.
 
I think many players do stick to a certain number of most cards. I find that I only stick that that for the absolute best cards (imho, bebe and roseanne). The rest can be argued to any number. I don't think there is a "perfect" number of each card and I think if you look at the lists that win tournaments, you definitely don't see a common pattern.
 
Great write up. I'm an analyst by profession and new to the Pokemon TCG. Here's my two cents based on my own analysis. I agree with most everything you wrote with a few exceptions:

Felicity's Drawing vs. Professor Oaks Visit. Felicity's edge is to be able to dump 2 for 4. But that edge in my mind is completely erased by the fact the 2 are going to the discard pile instead of your deck. I view Felicity's as sort of a bailout card for someone that built a mediocre deck and/or is getting really bad draws. But Professor Rowan is much better of a bailout for a really bad hand. So I play 4 Professor Oaks in my decks and no Felicity. 1 for 3 with no discard is great. I consider Professor Oak one of the MVC's of trainers/supporters (along with Bebe's, and Roseanne's)

Roseanne's Research - My opinion is this is the most useful card. This is a key card to getting setup as quickly as possible. If you only draw one Basic on the start, this is a lifesaver. If you are low on energies in your hand (or have none), or many of your cards require lots of non-colorless for their attacks this is also a lifesaver.

Energy Restore - You underrated this card. It is very important for decks, especially in the later stages of the games and especially when playing stage 2 lines and/or cards that require 4 energies, or more If you are playing a Basic and/or Stage 1 deck with nothing that needs more than 3 energies, then this may be a less useful, but still useful.

Amulet Coin - This one always puzzled me. My kids like it. I never play it. It only lets you draw one card per turn. When you have cards like multiple Professor Oaks in your deck, this card is only valuable if your pokemon it is attached to lasts at least 3 or 4 turns before being knocked out. Otherwise I think it is a waste of a trainer/supporter spot in your deck. It's too iffy how helpful this card will be for you.

Energy Search - Want to reiterate - dumb card. Put 4 Roseanne's Research in your deck and get double the draw power and much more flexibility.

Pokedex Handy910 - Don't like it. It's like Felicity's Drawing in my mind. Only is "Handy" if you built a poor deck to begin with. Waste of a trainer/supporter slot IMHO, but maybe if I try playing it more I'll change my mind.

Lake Boundary - I think this is only a good card if you are able to determine early on what kind of deck your opponent is running. You could end up burning yourself by putting it out too early without having a feel for what types their deck is built around. I'd put one in my deck and if I drew it early just hold it in my hand until I saw more of their deck. Chances that you'll draw it early are low though with only one in the deck so it could come out most times at just the perfect time. Could be very useful later in the game if the matchup is in your favor and your opponent's top cards are weak to you. Definitely a great way to counter dominant decks if you are using the types your opponent's types are weak to.

Moonlight Stadium - Play a Dark + Psychic deck (Darkrai X, Honchkrow X, Cresselia X for example) then come tell me free retreat isn't that great. I put at least 2 in on my Dark / Psychic deck and it has helped save me many times when I've had a nicely loaded bench and the active pokemon is about to get Ko'd. And I didn't have to play a multiple trainers/supporters to get the free retreats. Having virtually total control of the order in which your Pokemon get knocked out is very important.

Speed Stadium - Me and my kids used this in all of our decks when we were first learning. It sped up the game and allowed us to learn how to play more cards faster. If I think I might be playing against a more skilled/knowledgeable player, there's no way I would put this in my deck. As you pointed out, it has a general effect that is not necessarily more beneficial to you and could backfire.

Warp Point - Just reiterating with this there's no reason to use Switch. Forcing the opponent to switch almost never results in putting them in a better position so might as well disrupt them when you need to retreat. If you are not running Dark or Psychic with Moonlight, then I'd put 2 or 3 of these in there.
 
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I don't like Energy Restore because Night Maintenance + Roseanne's Search can do a better job, and both Night Maintenance and Roseanne's Research have options to them, as Energy Restore does not. If you don't need energy in your hand, Energy Restore is useless.

I like Pokedex because it keeps the ball moving. Even though it doesn't do anything superb on it's own, it helps you grab that extra card that could do something superb. It helps thin the deck too, allowing you to grab what you need through topdecking easier.
 
I forgot Night Maintenance doesn't require 3 flips. So Energy Restore can easily end up being a dud with only 1 or none heads. And the fact that if you are running a mostly Basic deck like Darkrai X, etc., getting basics out of the discard is a valuable flexibility to have. However I think I still might put at least 1 Energy Restore in my deck. The reason is, I find in most cases what I'm lacking is a particular basic energy in my hand to complete the power-up for one of my key attacks. With Energy Restore you can get the energy you need (and with a little luck on the flip and then some) and use it right away. It could mean the difference between you powering up first and KO'ing your opponent versus having to wait another turn to fish the energy out with Roseannes and by that time your opponent powered up and KO'd you. But definitely Night Maintenance has more utility than Energy Restore.

If you are running multiples of Professor Oaks, Roseannes, Babes, and Night Maintenance in your deck I still see no use for Pokedex Handy910. It's most likely you'll always have something to use to draw or search with and it will get you more than one card. And if both top 2 cards are what you really needed you'll be hating life, when you could have used Oaks and got the top 3 cards instead.

I forgot to post about Legend Awakens Cards:

Bubble Coat - No weakness! With Lake Boundary out there and I think Psychic and Lv.X will be heavily used next format (and they usually have 2x weakness), Bubble Coat will be a very useful and popular card and it will counter a counter so to speak.

Both Technical Machines seem very interesting to me but are they useful enough to take up 2 or 3 slots in your deck?

Buck's Training - This is essentially a Professor Oaks that sticks around and give you +10HP. You get one less card off the top than Oaks but you still net 2 cards so this works very well if you like what you have in your hand already. So I may start playing this instead of Professor Oaks or do a 2-2 mix. Although +10HP is virtually nothing with the average HP rising on the sets. But sometimes 10HP is the difference between a KO and your opponent's attacker staying alive one more turn!

Energy Pickup - Not sure why you would want to play this instead of Energy Restore which gives you the chance to usually get more than 1 energy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does this card have an advantage in that you can attach two energy's on your turn or if you use it, you it counts as your 1 energy attachment for that turn?

Poke Radar - I was not enthused about this card when I first saw it. But then I just remembered, it is choose 'any' pokemon, not just basic. A very good card to play if you need to draw some stage 1,2 or X, a bad card to play if your hand is low on energy or trainer/supporters. Jury is out on this one. I'll have to see how it plays.

Snowpoint Temple - It will most likely benefit both players. Seems only useful to play if your opponent is evolving much faster than you. Tough to call. May be worth putting 1 in the deck?

Stark Mountain - Similar to Moonlight Stadium in that it only it worth putting in a deck that is built on the two associated energy types (fire and fighting). I did some predections on what types will be popular my guess is fighting (along with psychic) will be two of the top 3 most popular types in the next format: Gallade may still work well (with or without Gardevoir), and Gliscor and Rhyperior X are going to get everyone all hyped about them. Maybe fire will come back and we'll see Magmortar paired with either of those two guys, combined with Stark Mountain and that could be a potent deck.
 
Pokedex isn't meant to replace draw supporters, but to addon to their usefulness. There is a bit of a difference between drawing 3, ending your turn, and drawing 3, looking at the top 2, picking one, and ending your turn. I know Pokedex is nothing more than a draw Energy Search, but I find I often time need more draw than energy search in a deck. I don't use Pokedex a lot, but when I do use it, it does come in use more often than not.

Bubble Coat is just prologing the enevitable the way I see it. So you have no weakness for one turn. Next turn, you go explodey anyways, unless that one turn of protection was all your needed to win the game, in which usually it's not.

I don't know if I like Buck's Training that much. It has the same net gain as Oak's Visit, but I would almost want that extra card more often than the +10 damage. Maybe, it's useful. It's definitely useful is weaker damaging decks like AMU and Kingdra. Leafeon/Sceptile, Magmortar might not even need the extra 10 damage.

With Energy Pickup, it does not count as your energy drop for the turn. So that is why people like it. But it's so flippy.

I don't like Poke-Radar, as it's a weird Master Ball. I preferred Master Ball and like Dusk ball better too. 7 deep instead of 5 deep is a bit of a difference, even if it doesn't seem like it. I tested Poke-Radar out in my AMU deck and it was a dud (grabbing 0) 9/10 times. Stage 1 speed decks, or Turn-2 decks should not even consider this card.

Snowpoint Temple does benefit both players, but if your running a pure basic deck, the benefits for your opponent go away after the first few turns. It's definitely useful, but can often times not be useful either, when the opponent can still OHKO your basics.

Stark Mountain seems like a stadium that would be horrible in mirror matches, but fantastic in random rogue town. Most of the decks won't be able to abuse it like a deck made around it can.

I'm happy to see some decent stadiums added into the mix.

Thanks for bumping this. It was a good idea now that new trainers are out.
 
I don't think Felicity's is as "poor" as you say it is. Dumping 2 dead cards for the most draw any card will give you is definitely worth it.

Got an extra Baltoy/Claydol or Starter? Drop them for 4 fresh cards.

Thinning the hand and deck is advantageous, and sometimes that 1 card draw can make the difference.
 
"I don't think Felicity's is as "poor" as you say it is. Dumping 2 dead cards for the most draw any card will give you is definitely worth it."

I can see Felicity's combined with Energy Pick-Up.

You may be right about Ts-1, that it isn't searchable, but if Ts-2 will be used it could see some play
-- it may not replace Rare Candy completely, but could see some play.

Pokeradar does look like a dud though. Kind of like Sableye (Secret Wonders).
 
Prime said:
Bubble Coat is just prologing the enevitable the way I see it. So you have no weakness for one turn. Next turn, you go explodey anyways, unless that one turn of protection was all your needed to win the game, in which usually it's not.
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Unless you're using it in such a way that you prevent the inevitable for multiple turns, perhaps to the point that it's no longer inevitable at all. Armaldo is almost an auto-loss against Leafeon or Torterra without Bubble Coat, but if you can play one early, it could very well stand for two or three turns, which is an eternity in this format. Mewtwo Lv.X and Mr. Mime also can benefit from using it as insurance against your opponent catching you off-guard. It's certainly not for every deck, but it makes plenty of decks a lot more playable.
 
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