Otaku |
If you are feeling a sense of deja vu, it probably is
because Heavy Boots (XY: BREAKthrough
141/162) has some major similarities to Heavy Ball,
last Friday’s CotD.
Both are Trainers, so Skyla and Trainer’s Mail
can snag them. Both are Items so you’ll need to be
aware of Item blocking effects. Both work with
Pokémon that have a Retreat Cost of at least [CCC].
Then they start to differentiate; for starters Heavy
Boots are a Pokémon Tool so for starters, there is
Pokémon Tool support (the best of which is simply
“okay”) and Pokémon Tools counters (like Startling
Megaphone which discards all Pokémon Tools on
your opponent’s side of the field). Startling
Megaphone might be a staple in a slower format, but
right now we come to the other aspect of being a Pokémon
Tool that is a mixed blessing: a Tool is attached to a
specific Pokémon and unless it says otherwise, stays
until something like Startling Megaphone discards
it or the Pokémon it is attached to is KOed. The
pace is such that for a little while now it has made
more sense to use space that would go to Startling
Megaphone to just push for the KO, getting rid of
problem Pokémon Tools by KOing whatever is bearing them.
As your Pokémon Tools can’t be used without a Pokémon
and most of the time won’t be exceeding your Pokémon in
play, this means all are competing against each other
for what is usually only a small amount (two to six)
card slots in typical decks.
Heavy Boots
also differs from Heavy Ball in that it looks at
the Retreat Cost of the Pokémon while it is in play
instead of in the deck and if you want you can attach it
to something with less; the rest of the effect will only
trigger if the minimum Retreat Cost of [CCC] is met or
exceeded, though. As such, effects that alter the
Retreat Cost of a Pokémon will apply. Usually that
will work in your favor as if you really wanted you
could bump up the Retreat Costs of your own Pokémon,
though as almost everything has a means of being negated
remember that Heavy Boots could be rendered inert
not just by Pokémon Tools being negated, but say an
opponent discarding Team Aqua’s Secret Base you
had used to make a Retreat Cost of [CC] into [CCC].
It also means there are a few extra counters to it for a
similar reason: if you have a natural Retreat Cost [CCC]
Pokémon like Landorus-EX with a Rainbow Energy
and Heavy Boots attached and your opponent drops
Fairy Garden on the field, Heavy Boots
will shut off but remain attached. So what is the
rest of the effect? Heavy Boots bumps the HP of
the equipped Pokémon by 20 and blocks Confusion.
While not useless, this seems pretty specialized; in
Expanded you’ve got Giant Cape to get the same HP
boost and a variety of effects that can block all
Special Conditions (not just Confusion). There are
also alternative options like Hard Charm to soak
damage instead of boost HP and Keldeo-EX with
Float Stone to “Rush In” and then retreat for free,
dealing with any Special Condition and most attack
effects so long as neither Abilities nor Pokémon Tool
effects are negated. All of these are not just a
single card, but are likely to come with additional
benefits that makes going at it with a combo still more
cost effective. There may be nice examples,
however, where you’ve got a Retreat Cost [CCC] Pokémon
and are primarily concerned with avoiding Confusion and
at least wouldn’t mind the HP bump and this tiny niche
is where Heavy Boosts can shine… hypothetically.
Also must run for Limited play so long as something in
your deck can use it.
Ratings
Standard:
1.9/5
Expanded:
1.9/5
Limited:
4.75/5
Summary:
While I might have preferred it be a little better,
Heavy Boots has an incredibly specialized role, one
that might be too Specialized for its own good.
Even its somewhat low score here is earned mostly
because I have heard of players experimenting with some
small success at using Haunter (XY:
BREAKthrough 59/162) as a supporting Pokémon,
Confusing both Actives because the rest of the deck
makes it a bigger problem for you than the deck of the
player using Haunter. In fact Landorus-EX
is one of the partners being used. Such testing is
not done by me personally and is in no way thorough or
conclusive. Still as the review is relatively shot
I thought I’d mention it here at the end.
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