Baby Mario
Top 4 UK Nats |
Expert Belt (Arceus)
At #7 in our Top 10 list, we have another new card that
maybe hasn’t been around long enough yet to be properly
appreciated.
Expert Belt is obviously a great card. It raises a
Pokémon’s HP by 20 and increases its attack damage by
the same amount. As the necessary drawback, if the
Pokémon it is attached to gets knocked out, then your
opponent takes two Prizes.
Sounds familiar? Yep, it looks as if the old EX Pokémon
are back! (Sort of).
But Expert Belt isn’t just a great card. More
importantly, it is a card that is great for the game.
See, the trick with Expert Belt is to find ways of
exploiting its benefits without falling victim to its
drawback. To do that, you can’t just stick it on any
underpowered Pokémon and instantly get yourself a
winner. What you’re doing there is giving your opponent
an easy bonus Prize.
The Pokémon that tend to work best with Expert Belt fall
into two categories. First of all, there are those
Pokémon with very low cost attacks that can be Scooped
Up or retreated to deny your opponent the two Prizes (Kingdra,
for example). Secondly there are those Pokémon that are
just very hard to KO in the first place. Dialga G,
loaded with Special Metal, would be one, as is good old
Tyranitar SF with Poke Healers.
There are many other excellent ways of using Expert Belt
to its full advantage: with Nidoqueen RR whose Maternal
Comfort PokeBody will help your Pokémon to survive; or
with Shuppet PL which inflicts damage before returning
to the safety of the hand. In fact, players are only
going to discover new and more powerful ways to run
Expert Belt. Ways that demand a lot of skill and careful
thought.
And that’s the sign of a great card.
Rating
Modified: 4.75 (Simply makes Pokémon a better game)
Limited: 4.5 (Still great, but much more of a risky
play)
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virusyosh |
Hello again Pojoers, I'm back after a long COTD
hiatus. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday
season and end of 2009. As you probably know, we are
reviewing the Top 10 cards of 2009. Today, we are
looking at a Pokemon Tool from the Arceus expansion and
#7 on our Top 10, Expert Belt.
As previously stated, Expert Belt is a Pokemon Tool
card. When equipped to a Pokemon, that Pokemon's HP is
increased by 20, and its attacks do 20 more damage.
However, there is a downside: When the equipped Pokemon
is Knocked Out, your opponent takes an extra Prize.
There are quite a few reasons why this card has been
played so much, and rightfully so. Expert Belt gives
Gyarados (SF) and Kingdra (LA) decks an extra punch,
allowing them to one-hit KO a wider range of enemies
under the right conditions (like Luxray GL Lv.X, in the
case of Gyarados). Additionally, the card is a major
help in tool decks based around Luxray (AR), and is
usually an important piece of decks built around Shuppet
(PL).
More generally, Expert Belt is good to use in decks
that can either tank well in addition to dealing a lot
of damage, or decks that have ways of getting rid of the
damage. Putting an Expert Belt on something with low HP
isn't a good idea, because your opponent will most
likely one-hit KO you and take 2 prizes in the process.
In addition to this survivability, using cards like Poke
Turn and Super Scoop Up can be good for bouncing a
nearly-beaten Expert Belt holder to your hand, saving
your Pokemon and Expert Belt while denying your opponent
Prizes in the process. Overall, a very good pick.
Modified: 4/5 It's not for every deck (stall decks
probably won't need it, for example), but when used
correctly, it can be deadly. Just be careful not to use
it in a situation where your opponent can easily take
out what you've attached it to.
Limited: 3/5 The extra power is very helpful in
Limited, but fewer options for healing or returning it
to your hand hamper its overall usability. Just be
careful to use it wisely, or else your opponent will end
up with half of your prizes from one KO (or possibly
more, if they have Salamence Lv.X).
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BoDragon |
Expert Belt (Platinum--Arceus, #87)
Expert Belt is a Pokémon Tool attached to a Pokémon who
receives +20 HP and does 20 more damage to the
opponent's active Pokémon before applying weakness and
resistance. When the Pokémon Expert Belt is attached to
is knocked out, the opposing player takes one additional
prize card.
I like this Pokémon Tool card for increasing my
Pokémon's HP and additional damage that can be done to
my opponent's active Pokémon. I usually do not use it on
my Pokémon who have powerful attacks and enough HP
before considering the use of any Pokémon Tool. In rare
occassions, additional health and damage dealt will be a
bonus.
When you play Expert Belt on one of your Pokémon, you
will risk your opponent drawing an additional prize card
for knocking out that Pokémon. Trying to be the opponent
playing against a Pokémon with Expert Belt, I will focus
on preparing one of my Pokémon to knock it out, and
advance myself in prize count.
Modified: 5/5
Limited: 4/5
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