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We finish our first week of BW: Plasma Storm
reviews and the best of the bottom half of our Top 10
Promising Picks of Plasma Storm with
Dowsing Machine
(BW: Plasma Storm 128/135).
As you probably noticed before you started
reading, I still will not be following my usual review
structure, as it is ill suited to Pokémon cards that
aren’t actually Pokémon, and while probably half as long
as normal, “short” isn’t a good description either.
Dowsing Machine
is one of the three new Ace Spec cards we received this
set. Like
all Ace Spec cards we have so far, it is a Trainer,
specifically an “Item”.
Its effect is a familiar one originally seen
(with slightly different wording) on
Item Finder,
a “normal” Trainer released in the Base Set (the
only kind, back then).
Said effect is that you discard two cards from
hand in order to reclaim a Trainer from your discard
pile. Junk
Arm was another attempt at “nerfing”
Item Finder,
though instead of being one-per-deck it was restricted
to targeting Items.
The similarities between
Dowsing Machine,
Item Finder,
and Junk Hunt
are a great starting point for understanding how to use
this new card, but the differences are quite important.
Had I not already been encountering this in
conversations, I would write this off as me being overly
thorough, but turns out its justified.
Item
Finder could be used in multiples, and without
giving up an intangible resource like your Ace Spec
slot.
Junk Arm
could as well, but it didn’t get back Supporters or
Stadiums.
Begin with how those cards were run, but don’t end with
that.
Item Finder
quickly became a staple in decks until it rotated out; I
don’t recall any competitive deck not running at least
one copy, usually three or four.
As long as the format has worthwhile Trainers, it
is worth trading three cards from your hand to re-use
one from your discard pile.
Junk Hunt
was still was one of the major (if not the major)
shaping force of the format it was in, in spite of being
restricted to targeting Items.
In fact, it was arguably more important than
Item Finder;
decks running less than the full four copies were
uncommon.
Decks can function without Trainers, but even in
Unlimited such decks don’t function well.
Trainers are so
important to speeding a deck up and maintaining a steady
flow of resources that even before factoring in
disruptive or damaging Trainers,
Dowsing Machine
proves valuable and potent.
Dowsing
Machine is only as good as the targets it can
recycle, and is often quite weak first turn.
Still, its power grows and in the hypothetical
average game it shouldn’t take more than a few turns for
its power to become significant; a variable Trainer that
also ends up being a spare copy, including the
unexpected “fifth [insert Trainer/]!”.
Again, based on actual discussions I have to emphasize
the importance of a spare copy of a Trainer, be it true
TecH, maxed out, or something in between.
You have the benefit of that extra copy without
being restricted to just that, though discarding two
cards from hand can be quite painful at times (most
decks don’t cards they want in the discard pile).
You also get the psychological benefit, when
using a card like
Dowsing Machine,
making a “safe” moment “unsafe”; keeping track of what
your opponent has used is an important game skill.
Computer Search
has become the default Ace Spec card because it
increases a deck’s reliability; it is a floating copy of
whatever the deck needs.
It doesn’t give you an extra use of a card,
though. On
its own, it doesn’t even greatly enhance reliability,
being just one of 60 cards.
Dowsing
Machine also only offers a small increase in
reliability, but with an extra use of a spent card.
The simple combos that make
Computer Search
good almost all work for
Dowsing Machine.
The chief exceptions would be those that retrieve
Computer Search
from the discard and/or are meant to be used early game:
spamming
Computer Search with
Sableye (BW:
Dark Explorers 62/108) and its Junk Hunt attack is
not recommended.
I’ve still had some insisting it is worth it, but
no one has proven it to me yet.
Past early game, a
Skyla and
two discards for any card versus a
Skyla and
two discards for any Trainer in your discard favors the
latter, at least in Modified. I expect
Dowsing Machine
to see significant play, and perhaps even to replace
Computer Search
as the “default” Ace Spec, used until a deck proves it
needs that early game search or the “tricks” granted by
other Ace Spec cards more than an extra use of the
potent Trainers most decks run.
In Unlimited play,
Dowsing Machine
is a waste as you still can run four copies of
Item Finder
and many decks don’t need a full four of that.
There are even more advanced tricks if more than
four uses of a spent card was needed
In Limited play, it depends upon having another
Trainer to target; useless without another Trainer but
probably a must play with.
This set is quite heavy with Trainers, so I will
score the card with the assumption you did indeed pull
at least one viable target.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5
Modified:
4.5/5
Limited:
5/5
Summary
Dowsing Machine
is definitely a worthy choice for your Ace Spec slot in
any deck, but may not be the best choice.
Those keeping track will notice I scored
Dowsing Machine
lower than
Computer Search, last reviewed just over a month
ago. My
review paints
Dowsing Machine as equal to or better than
Computer Search,
so what gives?
Competition:
Computer Search
now isn’t
as good as
Computer Search
then.
Dowsing Machine
was my number six pick as well.
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