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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	#1 Pokémon Collector (HeartGold SoulSilver)   Sooooo . . . we come to our #1 card of the year for 2010. It shouldn’t really be a surprise, but I do sense that some readers are going to be disappointed.   Why? Simply because it isn’t a sexy glamour money card like Luxray GL LV X . . . you know, the type of card that goes for a ton on eBay and has players calling for a ban. Instead, Pojo’s CotY is a staple Supporter that you can buy relatively cheaply, and even appears in a few theme decks.   Pokémon Collector does a simple, but vital job – it allows you to search your deck for Basic Pokémon. Cards like this have existed in Pokémon for years now, with slight variations, and with good reason – they are the foundation for almost every deck in existence (some highly specialised First Turn Win decks like Uxie Donk don’t need them). If you can’t get your Basic Pokémon out . . . then your deck is simply going to fail.   Even compared to other cards of this type, Pokémon Collector is pretty great. Sure, it doesn’t offer the flexibility of Roseanne’s Research (which gave you the option of Energy search), but what it does give you is THREE Basic Pokémon in your hand with no drawback whatsoever (unlike Holon Mentor, which needed a discard, or Pokémon Fan Club which only got two Pokémon directly to the Bench). That third Pokémon makes all the difference: it gives you pretty much what you need to set up and the option of a tech Basic . . . say an Uxie, a Mesprit, an Unown Q, or a Crobat G. You no longer have to compromise (as you often did with Roseanne) by grabbing an Uxie in place of an attacking or evolving Basic and hoping to use it to draw into some of the other Basics you need.   Like any set up card, Pokémon Collector becomes less useful after the first few turns, though it can still work with Pokémon Communication to search out Evolved Pokémon and Level Xs. Nevertheless, for the sake of getting consistently good starts, this is a card that 99.9% of decks should run 3-4 of.   I guarantee that Pokémon Collector has been responsible for more game wins than every other card on the list put together. That’s why it deserves to be #1.   Rating   Modified: 4.75 (yeah, I miss Roseanne’s Research too . . . but this is a very good replacement) Limited: 5 (Nothing better)   Combos with   Any of the 650+ Basics in the format. Yeah! Beat that, Luxray!
virusyosh	Happy Friday, everyone! Today our Top 10 Cards of 2010 countdown comes to an end, with a card that is definitely deserving of our top spot. This Supporter card from HeartGold and SoulSilver is so good that it has found its way into nearly every deck commonly played in Modified (and Limited, when people draw into it), and often appears in copies of 3 or 4. Today's Card of the Day (and #1 card of 2010) is Pokemon Collector. Pokemon Collector has a straightforward, yet very powerful effect: Once played, you can search your deck for up to 3 Basic Pokemon, show them to your opponent, and them put them into your hand, shuffling your deck afterward. First of all, it's a 3-for-1, so you are thinning your deck out wonderfully to allow you to draw into the other cards you need. Second, this card is excellent when played early game, as a well-timed Pokemon Collector can help you fill your Bench to avoid your opponent from getting an early game win. Third, many commonly played support Pokemon such as Uxie, Azelf, Mesprit, and various SPs are all Basics, meaning they are relatively easy to search out using this card. Pokemon Collector works well in the mid to late game as well - if you are trying to recover your field position and have all of the Evolution cards in hand, you can easily search out your Basics and then set up again. However, when you are set up this card can be a bit of a dead draw, but that's a small price to pay considering that you will want to draw into one within your first few turns of the game. Modified: 5/5 Pokemon Collector is run in nearly every deck in the Modified format, with most decks running 3 or 4 copies. It is of utmost importance in Gyarados builds, as they must get to their Regices and Magikarps quickly. It is also very important for SP toolboxes to get whatever they need as well, but this card really functions well in any deck. The only downside I really see about Pokemon Collector right now is its relatively high price on the secondary market (I've seen it as high as $10) but that has nothing to do with its playability. Limited: 5/5 Chances are in Limited you will draw into a few Evolution cards of which you don't have the Basics for, and Pokemon Collector will get those for you quickly (unless they're prized, of course). Plus, having searchability in Limited is always great, and Pokemon Collector is one of the best at what it does, especially in HGSS.
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Pokémon Collector   At last, here it is: the number #1 new card for 2010!   You may or may not be surprised to see this card in the top slot, but here it is! The triple threat that made the loss of Roseanne’s Research bearable.   Like most of the Supporters on this list (and indeed, in the current format) this card has a simple effect with plenty of complex ramifications. Collector grabs 3 Basic Pokémon from your deck and puts them into your hand.   Every worthy deck in the history of the game has run enough Basic Pokémon to make running this card worthwhile, and particularly now with the number of powerful Basic Pokémon who are either attackers (looks at the SP crowd) or techs (looks the other way at the pixies). Even the popular starters make this card better since you can use a quick Collector to set up for a bad start, grabbing the starter you wish you had last turn and a couple of other useful items along the way!   Roseanne’s Research had only one problem: you would look through your deck and find yourself spoilt for choice. Collector solves that by allowing you to grab an extra Basic at the cost of losing the versatility Roseanne’s enjoyed. And if you don’t need more than 2 Basics anayway, just use the extra as fodder for Pokemon Communication.   *In my review of Pokemon Communication, I accidentally typed that it went in a combo with itself, when I meant that it went in a combo with Pokemon Collector*   An often overlooked aspect of this card is that it thins your deck by 3 cards as well as being a powerful multiple-search card. Cyrus’ Conspiracy is loved for the same reason, as are all of the other Supporters which allowed you to search out multiple cards in the history of the game (Castaway, Twins, Scott, etc.).   Pretty much the only downside is that using multiple Pokémon Collectors is pretty much redundant; unless you have you hand shuffled away by Judge/Looker’s Investigation or otherwise disrupted by cards like Weavile UD and Cyrus’ Initiative.   Pokémon Collector is a staple card in every deck, and you should be running at least 2, 3-4 if you don’t have either Cyrus’ Conspiracy or Sableye SF to get you started.   Modified: 5 (every deck can use this card, and every deck should) Limited: 5 (multiple search is even better here, especially when combined with Pokemon Communication)   Combos with: Pokemon Communication, Cyrus' Conspiracy, Sableye SF
conical	1/14/11: Pokemon Collector(HGSS)-THE #1 Card, 2010 This is it. This is the best card released all year. And what a card it is. All of the cards thus far, from Junk Arm to Seeker, are all great cards in their own way. However, most of them benefit specific decks or styles of play. None of them are really staples in every deck, save maybe Pokemon Communication, but even then you're likely running 2, maybe 3 maximum. The trend ends here with Pokemon Collector, as this should clearly be in every deck. There's not much to review about the card itself. It's a Supporter which lets you search for any 3 Basic Pokemon in your deck and place them in your hand. It most obviously benefits SP, since it's comprised of nothing but basics, but really, given that every deck has to use basics, it benefits everything. There's not really much else to say about the card. It's pretty clearly one of the best cards in the format, given its ability to help setup any strategy. The only legitimate excuse I can think of to not be running this is the price; I believe it's still selling for about $8 each. If you have them, though, there is no reason not to play at least 3, and frankly, you should be running 4. It truly is...the best card of 2010. Long live the Collector. Modified: 5/5 Limited: 5/5 Combos With: Is there a card I can use to represent everything? Because it combos with that. And thus ends the Top 10 Cards of 2010. If you're really curious to see what my actual order was, be sure to check out the Top 10 article I did, even though it's not terribly different than the official Top 10. Criticism is much appreciated, unless you're rude about it. :P
Otaku	It’s time!  Today we look at the number one card released in 2010 (that wasn’t a reprint) and it is… Pokémon Collector!  Not sure I entirely agree with that choice, but it’s hard to argue that it is anything but a great card and my failure to grasp that quickly has lead to many a failure at playtesting.  I explained what it would take in my original review to make and nearly break Pokémon Collector.  I have to confess, I blew it: most of those changes either had happened, were happening, or were about to!   I was still stuck in the old “let your first attack do it” style of play, and supporting that with Roseanne’s Research.  The big changes I missed that are easy to explain are Special Energy usage, coming into play Poké-Powers usage, and some really general combos!  The first part is exemplified by how Double Colorless Energy (my original number one pick for the list until I was reminded “no reprints allowed”) has affected the format; simply put it is a heavily played card and you generally want it ASAP.  Since neither Pokémon Collector nor Roseanne’s Research can grab it, you’ll have to run something else to do it, which ties into the next two points.  Uxie is the best example: it’s a Basic that lets you draw until you have seven cards in hand when you Bench it from your hand.  It is such a potent effect that searching and Benching (normally a non-issue or even a slight advantage) suddenly becomes a substandard way of setting up.  Now you look at Roseanne’s Research: if you get Energy, it will reduce how much you get to draw with Uxie unless you play it right away.  If you play it right away, you might draw into something that makes you want to completely alter your set up.  If you just get Pokémon, then you were better off with Pokémon Collector!  The final generic, universal deck combo is Pokémon Communication: with it, you can snag any other Pokémon cards you needed.  It is a Trainer so you can use it the same turn as the above Supporters, and if you are getting a good draw of Uxie and running at least three, you probably can draw into this Trainer.  Now you’re a Broken Time Space, Rare Candy, or simply a turn wait from being able to Evolve.  No waiting to Level Up, say into Uxie Lv.X. X to further your set up this same turn!   I feel this explanation skimmed over a very important numbers aspect.  Clearly, one could still just use Roseanne’s Research and enjoy its versatility and settle for getting one less Basic Pokémon.  After all, I’ve implied that getting Basic Pokémon out of the deck is relatively easy right now, and even without your Supporter use it is relative to every other card type.  It comes down to numbers, and the fact that while the raw advantage is a single card the effective advantage multiplies: one more Basic Pokémon on your Bench so you can draw one more card with Uxie and that card won’t be that easily-searched-out Basic Pokémon!   At least I nailed this card for Limited play, but then again it is pretty obvious.  It’s a non-Pokémon card.  It is a search card, and a potent Supporter that searches out multiple cards.  All this makes it a “must play” card for the Limited format.   Ratings   Modified: 4.5/5   Limited: 5