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Pokémon Ranger
(XY: Steam Siege 104/114; 113/114) ends our week,
the 13th place pick for the Top 10 Top 19 cards
of 2016. In some countries, 13 is considered a
lucky number; in others it is unlucky and in still
others it is neither. Nothing to do with the
review unless I really, really stretch, so let us get
down to business. Pokémon Ranger is a Supporter
that that removes all effects of attacks on each players
and their respective Pokémon. The only exceptions
of which I am aware are Special Conditions. Even
in cases like Darkrai (XY: Black Star Promos
XY194); its “Abyssal Sleep” attack leaves the opponent’s
Active Asleep but instead of flipping one coin to
see if the Pokémon wakes up, your opponent must flip
two. Another thing to keep in mind is certain
attacks are worded so what seems like an effect actually
isn’t. Some attacks are also carefully worded so
that Pokémon Ranger won’t make a
difference. The example here is Mewtwo (XY:
Evolutions 51/108); its “Barrier” attack checks to
see if any of your Pokémon used a Barrier attack the
prior turn, and Pokémon Ranger doesn’t actually
alter the game state so it won’t allow you to Barrier
multiple turns in a row. For an example of an
attack with an effect that will be reset, there
is Volcanion-EX; its “Volcanic Heat” attack
states “This Pokémon can’t attack during your next
turn.” so Pokémon Ranger can cancel out that
effect. Do I even need to bring up Seismitoad-EX
and its Item blocking “Quaking Punch” as an example of
an attack that places an effect on the opposing player?
This can provide a
useful trick to cancel out detrimental effects Pokémon
sometimes inflict on themselves and each other, but the
reason this card took
sixth place
when when we counted down our top picks from XY:
Steam Siege. So how has it actually performed
since its release? Quite well, just not quite as
well as expected. This is a good, solid piece of
TecH in general; a deck that relies on attack effects
that rest on either one player, both players, one
Active, or both Actives, usually occupies the
competitive sphere, sometimes more than one. A few
decks really need it, perhaps because they cancel out
one of their own (self detrimental) attack effects, or
because they have a bad match up against one or more of
the many Pokémon that rely upon such effects:
Giratina-EX (XY: Ancient Origins 57/98,
93/98), Glaceon-EX, Jolteon-EX, Regice,
and Seismitoad-EX spring readily to mind, and all
of them released prior to Pokémon Ranger.
Ratings
Standard:
3.5/5
Expanded:
3.65/5
Limited:
3.25/5
Summary:
By the time we actually reviewed Pokémon Ranger,
enough of the hype had died down that most of these
scores should look similar. At least for now it
isn’t the top Supporter TecH and unless a particular
metagame shift or card pool addition gives us a reason,
I don’t expect it will be. It is still useful in
most decks and essential to a few, so it scores well.
Expanded favors it just a bit over Standard play; while
there is more competition for deck space, Battle
Compressor with VS Seeker make it easier to
work with low count Supporters. The Limited Score
is much lower because I reconsidered the timing; there
are effects for it to cancel out, but you need to have
Pokémon Ranger handy when your opponent is making
use of one and you are not.
Pokémon Ranger
received five voting points, beating out the tie we had
for 14th and 15th place by one point, and itself tying
12th place. Considering our actual 10th place pick
only had six points, this card came quite close to
making the top 10!
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