Sonia – Rebel Clash Pokemon Review

Otaku

We begin another week with Sonia (SSH – Rebel Clash 167/192), a Trainer-Supporter that lets you search your deck for up to two Basic Pokémon or two basic Energy cards.  You cannot snag one of each, however.  Just one or two of either Basic Pokémon or basic Pokémon.  Which is a bit odd, because that makes Sonia a nerfed version of Roseanne’s Research (DP – Secret Wonders 125/132; POP Series 8 11/17).  Relative to actual game play, the only differences between the two are card name, and how Roseanne’s Research lets you grab one Basic Pokémon and one basic Energy, or two Basic Pokémon, or two basic Energy cards.

Is it worth your Supporter for the turn to have a card which functions as a “double Quick Ball” (sans the discard cost) or “double Energy Search”?  I’d say “No” but the results say something different.  As usual, I’m going to refer to the latest in the Limitless Online Qualifier series, as that’s the only major tournaments happening for which I have results.  Five decks in the top 118 finishers, including 1st-place, ran one or more copies of Sonia.  Part of why I think I underestimated Sonia is I didn’t fixate on what she does not restrict: any Basic Pokémon includes Pokémon-EX, Pokémon-GX (even TAG TEAMs), Pokémon V, Ultra Beasts, Prism Stars, etc.

There’s also one thing that is still relevant: using Item-based search saves your Supporter for something else.  Sonia can still double as draw power by grabbing something like Dedenne-GX, just like Quick Ball.  If you use Sonia to fetch an Eldegoss V, you can still Bench it immediately and recycle a Supporter, but you’ll have to wait a turn to play it (barring the handful of tricks that let you use multiple Supporters in a turn).  So far, I’m only seeing Sonia in Zacian V decks, and those decks are all running four Quick Ball.  Sonia is their only dedicated Energy search, though.

The Expanded Format pulls its usual trick of being better and worse for Sonia, just in different ways.  You have Items like Ultra Ball and Professor’s Letter, you have other Supporters like Brigette and Lady (yes, she’s also Standard-legal).  You also have Tapu Lele-GX and VS Seeker… but that also helps Sonia.  Since she has no restrictions beyond “Basic” and “up to two”, she can grab Shaymin-EX (XY – Roaring Skies 77/108, 77a/108, 106/108), Dedenne-GX, Crobat V (when it releases), etc.  For the Limited Format, if you pull Sonia, you run Sonia; you’ll often have a Supporter usage to spare, and even Mulligan decks will enjoy the Energy search.  Everything else will enjoy having both.

Ratings

• Standard: 3/5
• Expanded: 3/5
• Limited: 5/5

Sonia is a good, new Supporter that can fetch you up to two Basic Pokémon or basic Energy, though not one of each.  This should be functional in most decks, but so far has only proven worth it in some Zacian V builds.  Keep an eye on her, though, as when she’s snagging Pokémon they can be any kind of Basic.  That means Dedenne-GX, and soon Crobat V, will let her double as draw power.  Yes, this is just a summary of the review, but it seemed like a good conclusion as well.