Reset Stamp – Unified Minds
Date Reviewed: August 20, 2021
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 5.00
Expanded: BANNED
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
3rd-Place in our countdown goes to Reset Stamp (SM – Unified Minds 206/236, 206a/236, 253/236). This was our number one pick from its set, and 5th-best for 2019. Reset Stamp is a Trainer-Item that forces your opponent to shuffle their hand into their deck, then they must draw a card for each of their remaining Prize cards. This card is stupidly good. Is it a 4-per-deck staple? No. It it even a 1-per-deck staple? No. I believe it falls into the category of “loose staple” because of its track record in the Top 16 four Players Cup Global Finals we’ve had. At the first, only three decks ran it, and none ran more than two copies. For the Players Cup Global Finals II, two decks ran it at two a piece and that’s it. However, in the Players Cup III Global Finals, 75% of the decks ran at least one! 12 out of the 16 decks had at least one, with half of those actually running two. Finally, numbers were back down for the Players Cup IV Global Finals, as only 9 of 15, or 60%, of decks ran Reset Stamp, and one of them even managed to run three copies.
If Reset Stamp isn’t a 4-per-deck staple, then why do I say it is broken? Besides how even broken cards can be crowded out due to deck space constraints, especially when they are competing against more broken options, I am reminded of the problems Lysandre’s Trump Card caused. We received a list of reasons why it had to be banned, and one of those reasons was because it made it extremely difficult to lose through decking out. Reset Stamp ruins one of the core skills in card games: slowly cultivating a good hand! At least it isn’t a true come-from-behind card; while it sometimes does enable comebacks, it can also be used when you have a commanding lead to try and sabotage your opponent’s hand.
Reset Stamp is a gamble, but the cost is about as low as it can be in Pokémon, a Trainer-Item. If Reset Stamp was sticking around, I believe it would be as good as it has been throughout its Standard-legal run. Meaning, there will probably be stretches when it won’t be worth running, those when some decks run it, up to most decks running it heavily. As such, I’m rounding up and scoring it a fantastic five out of five. Oh, and you will not be able to enjoy it in Expanded, because it is banned!
Ratings
- Standard: 5/5
- Expanded: N/A (Banned)
Vince
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