Today we look at the
long time Trainer
Energy Retrieval, a
card originally
introduced in the Base
Set but that we have
never actually reviewed
on Pojo.com.
Is it buried
treasure, filler, or
simply a card whose time
has finally come?
Stats
Originally
Energy Retrieval was
classified as a “normal”
Trainer because that was
the only kind of Trainer
there was when it first
came out!
In its latest
iteration it receives
the sub-classification
of “Item” which opens up
a few opportunities for
it that currently don’t
result in a lot of
benefit.
Still there is at
least a chance we could
get something that does
in the future.
Effects
When first printed,
Energy Retrieval
lets you discard a card
to snag up to two Basic
Energy cards from your
discard pile.
This was quite
weak even when the game
was new: ultimately you
were just trading a card
from hand and
Energy Retrieval
itself for those two
Energy cards.
Fortunately they
decided like many cards
to update it for the
times.
Unfortunately I
was a twit and managed
to actually miss this
when I originally
wrote this review!
Yes, please enjoy
a laugh at my expense
since that at least
gives another purpose to
my mistake.
The primary
purpose of course was
unintentionally
validating my often
nitpicky approach to
reviewing: if I’d
obsessed over the text
like I usually due I’d
have noticed.
So now
Energy Retrieval has
you snag two basic
Energy cards from your
discard pile.
This is a small
but important upgrade
for the card.
You do use the
ability to use the card
to manipulate your hand
size more precisely, but
the fact that the card
now results in plus one
card advantage is more
important.
It still isn’t a
stellar effect but it
now becomes solid.
Usage
Getting the Energy to
your hand right away and
without burning a
Supporter creates a
small, specific use for
the card, but decks that
would care about that
almost universally have
the justification to
dedicate more expensive
resources (such as
Supporters) to the task.
Pachirisu (and by
extension
Zekrom) might
consider using it
because they’d rather
save their Supporter use
for more important
tasks, like getting the
Pokémon needed for
combos into hand (Seeker
or
Pokémon Collector),
and because two Energy
is exactly how much the
Self Generator Poké-Body
on
Pachirisu affects.
Now that I’ve had
someone hold it right in
front of my face, I do
have to concede that
running some of both
forms of Energy
recursion is indeed a
valid choice though I
still question if the
flexibility truly worth
the deck space when
compared with other
cards that could use
that slot.
I want to emphasize that
we really are in
something of a unique
position so far this
format mostly due to our
option for large scale
card recycling,
Flower Shop Lady.
Flower Shop Lady is
a good card but unlike
its predecessors (such
as
Town Volunteers)
Flower Shop Lady
specifies the exact
amount of Pokémon and
basic Energy cards you
can recycle, instead of
letting you select any
combination of those
cards up to a total of
five. In previous
formats, your deck would
usually set-up and over
the course of the match
there’d be a few turns
where you didn’t need to
burn a Supporter usage
on drawing, searching,
or some special effect.
You’d use those
turns for cards like
Town Volunteers and
all but the most Energy
hungry deck would be
satiated.
Even if you were
running something like
an Inferno Fandango
deck, as soon as you set
up you’d just use your
Supporter for the Energy
recycling since you had
Pokémon-based reusable
draw-power so your
Supporter use was often
available.
So that is my take for
Modified play.
What about
Unlimited?
Does this card
finally work here?
Not really: in
this format draw and
search are still handled
mostly by Neo Genesis
Cleffa (at least for
the first turn or two of
the game) and the
amazing draw and search
“normal” Trainers from
the earliest sets.
Bill may have been
updated into a
supporter, robbing us of
its safe deck shrinking
self, but we still have
Computer Search and
Professor Oak.
So in this format
Supporters still get
played, but are used
more for contingency and
the one area they still
top most old
normal Trainers,
recursion.
I’ll add to that
fact that decks in
Unlimited tend to be
quite heavy on the
Special Energies.
Those few that
are mostly about Basic
energy cards often have
access to unusual forms
of Energy recycling that
were once the basis of
entire decks.
The best example
is Rain Dance: unless
you really want to use a
Blastoise or
Dark Blastoise as a
main attacker, I’d be
hard pressed not to
upgrade the traditional
Unlimited Rain Dance
build to
Feraligatr Prime.
As you just need
one
Feraligatr Prime for
unlimited use of the
Rain Dance Poké-Power,
you can afford to run
two different
Feraligatr in your
deck, including
Feraligatr (Neo
Genesis 5/111), scourge
of the early Modified
formats who can attack
for big damage while
constantly returning
Water Energy cards
from your discard pile
to the deck through that
same attack.
It’s okay to give
up an attack to recycle
that Energy when said
attack is enough to OHKO
most Pokémon in the
format.
In Limited play,
Trainers are naturally
rarer as most sets have
just a few, and while
Trainer cards are rarely
anything but Commons and
Uncommons even in
Trainer heavy sets they
account for less than
10% of the cards.
So Trainers are
more potent here as long
as they have general
strategies, and it
doesn’t get much more
general than messing
with basic Energy cards.
If you run a
monotype deck as long as
Energy Retrieval
doesn’t show up early
game, you’ll always find
it effectively giving
you one more Energy card
than had you run just
another basic Energy in
its place.
If you run a
multi-type deck you’ll
find the exact same use
in addition to
smoothing out the
hiccups in your Energy
needs caused by the
different Energy Type
requirements.
If you’re running
just a few off color
Types that only
justified a handful of
their own Energy Type,
it truly becomes a
magnificent card as it
allows you to “waste”
said off-type of Energy
early game meeting
Colorless Energy
requirements.
Why would you do
that?
Its Limited: the
“wrong” Energy type is
probably the only one
you opened with, and you
can’t afford to waste
Energy attachments!
Ratings
Unlimited:
1.5/5 – There are a
select few decks that
would be better off with
it, but not many.
Modified:
2.5/5 – This is an
aggregate score.
As outlined
above, there is a
popular category of
decks that can make good
or great use of it, but
in most decks it will
merely be functional and
the space would be
better spent on
something else.
Limited:
5/5 –Yup, this becomes a
must run, though
remember it isn’t
perfect: it is usually a
dead card in hand for
the first few turns of
the game.
Combos with:
Pachirisu
Summary
Well, not the worst
humble pie I’ve ever had
to eat.
I am very glad
they dropped the discard
cost for this card
though I almost wish a
different approach to
modernization had
occurred, like snagging
Special Energy cards as
well and/or grabbing
more Energy cards.
As is the card
definitely has a niche
use even I can see now
that my fellow reviewers
have reminded me to pay
attention while reading
the card.
Of course I am still
selling my former
possessions on eBay
here.
Pojo.com is not
responsible for any
transactions.
