Energy Switch (Black and White)
Today we are going to look at one of
those Trainers that just always
seems to be
around in the format (at least since its
first printing in
Aquapolis anyway).
Energy Switch is a Trainer-Item whose
effect is as straightforward as its
name: when you play it, you can move a
Basic Energy from one of your Pokémon to
another. Are there times when this would
be useful? Of course there are. You can
use it to power up an attacker which is
more useful in a given situation than
the one you have active; or it can be
played when you need to preserve an
Energy dropped on a Pokémon which is
about to get KO’d.
However, Energy Switch is not a card
that you see often in competitive decks
for two main reasons. Firstly, there are
superior alternatives:
Shaymin UD
(which, unlike Energy Switch is
searchable) can use its Celebration Wind
PokéPower to
move any amount of Energy (including
Special Energy) in any way you like;
whilst the new Exp Share Tool is a more
efficient way of keeping Energy in play
as it is used whenever a Pokémon is KO’d
and you have it attached to the Bench.
Secondly, Energy Switch’s effect falls
into that category of effects which are
undeniably useful, but just not quite
useful enough to justify space in a 60
card deck.
If you ever find you have room for a
couple of these it almost certainly
means you have either left something
out, or are not maximising your copies
of better Trainers like Junk Arm,
Pokémon Catcher,
PlusPower or Switch.
Nevertheless, there are a few decks
which I have seen run Energy Switch.
Usually they are the kind of decks which
run two or more Energy Intensive
attackers (like, say the new EX
Pokémon). A single copy or even two
can be clutch in certain situations
and will most likely come as a surprise
to an opponent, leading to you being
able to use an attack they did not
anticipate. Overall, while I don’t think
that Energy Switch is an especially
important Trainer, it probably shouldn’t
be forgotten as much as it is.
Rating
Modified: 2.25 (can be a niche card in a
limited number of decks)
Limited: 4 (like almost any Trainer, you
take it in this format. Very useful to
preserve Energy drops)
