Note: Until I get a good tournament report, don’t expect a
lot of references to Worlds.
Name:
Boost Energy
Set:
EX Unseen Forces (latest printing of card)
Card#:
98/115 (latest printing of card)
Type:
Energy
Subtype:
Special Energy
Symbol:
(C)(C)(C) [Three Colorless Energy symbols]
Text:
Boost Energy can be attached only to an Evolved Pokémon.
Discard Boost Energy at the end of the turn it was
attached. Boost Energy provides (C)(C)(C) Energy. The
Pokémon Boost Energy is attached to can’t retreat. If the
Pokémon Boost Energy is attached to isn’t an Evolved
Pokémon, discard Boost Energy.
Attributes:
Boost Energy is a Special Energy card. This means you
can only have four copies in your deck and that it is very hard
to retrieve from the discard. It also means all the cards that
specifically cite Basic Energy or Basic Energy
cards won’t work with Boost Energy, like Energy Search.
Looking at the
corner, we already know that it provides at least three
Colorless Energy (the corner symbol determines an Energy card’s
“default” value).
Abilities:
Boost Energy can fulfill up to three Colorless Energy
requirements, but can only be attached to Evolved Pokémon, is
discarded at the end of the turn, and the Pokémon it is attached
to isn’t allowed to retreat (it can be switched out via other
card effects though). These are pretty heavy restrictions, but
as we’ve seen both in the distant past (Double Colorless
Energy) and the present and foreseeable future (Scramble
Energy), they are needed.
Uses/Combinations:
An “old school” combo with this card was Light Dragonite,
who shut off the effects of Special Energy cards in play and
rendered them all Colorless Energy. So ignore all the text on
Boost Energy so long as it was attached to something in
play while Light Dragonite was also on the field. A
‘true’ Triple Colorless Energy is a scary thing.
For most of
you, though, it’s pretty simple. This offers temporary speed
and surprise. You can now drop something like Jigglypuff,
Evolve to Wigglytuff ex, and finally drop a Boost
Energy on it so that it can attack right away. Evolved
Pokémon with at least a (C)(C) in their Energy costs can
surprise an opponent by attacking early… though this is less
surprising than before since we have some other options now (in
the form of the respective “team” Energy cards, Double
Rainbow Energy, and of course Scramble).
Pokémon with
generic discard costs like this since it almost eliminates the
main draw back of this card: just discard the Boost Energy
that you would have to discard anyway.
Pay close
attention to most new cards, as they seem to be more and more “Boost-able”.
All of the Hitmon-
family from EX Unseen Forces can make good use of Boost
Energy if they have been Evolved
from Tyrogue… and they have a good reason to be. We’ll
come back to that should we review those cards.
Last combo I
will mention is cards that count the number of Energy, but not
Energy cards. Take Gardevoir ex. Its second attack
needs (P)(C)(C)(C). The attack counts all Energy in play, then
does 10 damage times that number. So not only does this mean
you can use the attack when you’d only otherwise have one
Psychic [providing] Energy attached, but it gives
an extra 20 damage over most other
Energy you could use.
Ratings
Unlimited:
3.25/5-Not a card in every deck, but very vital to certain key
decks, like those based on Jungle Wigglytuff and
Wigglytuff ex, who can go from zero Energy to fully powered.
Modified:
4/5-It’s not for every deck, but it makes a lot of decks work
well, and several into fierce competitors. The loss of this
really hurt Gardevoir ex decks, but its return might mark
a return, for example.
Limited:
4/5-As long as you have a compatible Evolution (one that needs
at least two Colorless Energy and can
use Special Energy cards), run this. If you don’t, then the
score is an automatic 1/5, of course. Oh, and the latest set
has quite a few cards that can use it.
Summary
Boost
Energy
has a lot of built in restrictions, and despite that, it is
still a very potent card. This is an excellent example of card
balance for which the designers should be commended. Now, it
may look bad at first or second glance, but don’t be deceived,
even if someone you think is a pro tells you its no good. I
mean, check out the original CotD review for this card (back
when it was new from Aquapolis) to see how it can be
underestimated. Now check the last time we reviewed
this five months ago after its
initial re-release in EX Emerald. It has proven so important
that I felt justified having us re-review it this set – I can’t
emphasize enough how many cards appear to have been designed
with it in mind.
