Name:
Dusk Ball
Set:
Mysterious Treasures
Card#:
110/123
Rarity:
Uncommon
Type:
Trainer
Sub-Type: Ball
Text:
Look at the 7 cards from the bottom of your deck.
Choose 1 Pokémon you find there, show it to your
opponent, and put it into your hand. Put the
remaining cards back on top of your deck. Shuffle
your deck afterward.
Dusk Ball
is the counterpart to Master Ball: instead of
searching the top 7 cards of your deck, it lets you
search the bottom seven. Still limited to Pokémon, of
course, and it combos a bit different: things like
Celebi* from EX Crystal Guardians and the card you
don't add to your hand from Pokedex Handy 910 (if
it was a Pokémon) would easily and simply combo with
Dusk Ball.
There is one thing that is nicer about it than Master
Ball: unless your deck has seven or less cards, you
won't have that annoying "the next card was what I
wanted" or "the next X cards, which I could have drawn
with my Supporter, had it". Also good for the people who
claim "my good Pokemon are always stuck at the bottom of
my deck". Granted we almost always have a search card
available to run (it isn't Yu-Gi-Oh, after all), but
they guaranteed ones are Supporters and one's deck can
only handle so many.
I think this card has great promise: we already have two
cards left from the last format that can still combo
with it (though neither are worth building an entire
deck around). TPC seems to like working with the bottom
of the deck now. Even ignoring such combos, Master
Ball has long been a solid Normal Trainer to add to
one's deck, and very speedy, low Supporter decks may
indeed find running more than a combined four copies of
Master Ball/Dusk Ball handy.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1.5/5 - Not bad, but oh-so-outclassed by the available
card pool.
Modified:
3.5/5 - A very good card here. It isn't anywhere close
to a staple (but few things are now, much to my
delight), but like Master Ball, it will now be
one of the first things I turn to if I notice my deck is
too Supporter heavy or just amazingly has room left.
Limited:
4.75/5 - Search power in Limited is almost always a
must, though with me that is still only worth four of
the possible five points. The rest comes from not being
a Supporter or Pokémon (obvious though that might be)
and because your deck is much smaller in this
format. Do the math: 40 cards total less your seven card
opening hand, your four Prize cards, and initial draw
means just 28 cards left in your deck if you use this
card on your first turn (and you went second). Oh, and
this is the format that lacks draw power and where a
card hiding in the bottom of your deck is actually
likely to happen.
In closing, let me once again clarify what it is I am
trying to say: this isn't a card for Unlimited (that
should be Obvious), is a must-run in Limited, and for
Modified is one of those cards you should always look at
if there are any slots left after "staple positions"
(Main Pokémon line, any supporting Pokémon, draw and
search supporters, Pokémon-switching cards, maybe one or
two others). That isn't always going to happen, but I
find at least half my decks have such room. Also good if
you find you have too many Supporters, and maybe a
Celio's Network or the like is safe to cut. Finally,
I compare this card to Master Ball a lot, and
would score that card quite similarly. I mention this
because I noticed "we" (and this was before I was a CotD
reviewer) didn't score Master Ball very high five
years ago when it was first (and last) reviewed
here. Of course, we had Pokimon Trader then, and
there just wasn't as many good Supporters back then.
-Otaku
